Hacka's epic journey of the last 30 years of NBA cards

[hairyangryfella]

Your Rodman 93-94 Finest is a subset rather than base so you could add a card if you wanted.

Man I loved almost everything about 93-94 Fleer. Those Internationals were such pretty cards. Tower of Power were so cool. Living Legends, well, legendary. Even the base really appeal to me, especially the name on the back. UD was probably my all-time favourite (as it was my first), but Fleer was right up there.

 

[nike1]

had been waiting for this to get up to fleer 93-94 & 94-95
i've got that penny, in a sleeve SINCE THE DAY i got it... almost perfection condition

and a random story.
first two packs of 93-94 fleer i bought i pulled the jordan base card in both packs.

 

[hackadeandre]

I'm a bit late to this thread but am enjoying it. Especially the 91-92 Hoops which were the first cards I ever saw.

Just wanted to point out regarding your Run TMC reference -

That IS Tim...

Card says it's Mitch, but the photo is Tim (with Mully in background). I collected both Tim and Mitch at various points and that card always bothered me...

Damn, you're right! There's no way that's Mitch! Would have bothered me too

Your Rodman 93-94 Finest is a subset rather than base so you could add a card if you wanted.

Man I loved almost everything about 93-94 Fleer. Those Internationals were such pretty cards. Tower of Power were so cool. Living Legends, well, legendary. Even the base really appeal to me, especially the name on the back. UD was probably my all-time favourite (as it was my first), but Fleer was right up there.

Thanks for that mate, do you know what they called that subset?

had been waiting for this to get up to fleer 93-94 & 94-95
i've got that penny, in a sleeve SINCE THE DAY i got it... almost perfection condition

and a random story.
first two packs of 93-94 fleer i bought i pulled the jordan base card in both packs.

Oh, how good were the days when the base cards mattered

 

[hairyangryfella]

Thanks for that mate, do you know what they called that subset?

Unfortunately not, just know them because of the brick background, but as you can see from my 2010 Beckett, the Shaq base card (#3) is worth more than his 'Atlantic's Finest' subset (#99) -

 

[drobfan8]

Damn, you're right! There's no way that's Mitch! Would have bothered me too


Thanks for that mate, do you know what they called that subset?


Oh, how good were the days when the base cards mattered

I can't remember the name of the subset but it was made up of the best players in each division I believe.

 

[hackadeandre]

OK, it's been a while and a long way to go yet. Been busy chasing these last 372 cards I need to complete this chase. It's getting bloody hard and expensive!

1993-94 Skybox

You still regularly see sealed boxes of this stuff getting around, particularly Series 1. They must have printed copious amounts of these cards as they were quite popular back in the day and even some of the Jordan inserts get good money for high grades.

Base card #207 Toni Kukoc
Great Skybox design, full colour glossy game photo again with the trademark orange ball motion shadow. This example is a rookie card, the only difference from the standard base is the '93-94 ROOKIE' above the team logo. One of the more notable 'second round steals', you will notice that Kukoc was drafted number 29 back when there were 27 NBA teams meaning the second round started at pick 28 (31 currently).

Subsets

1993-94 Skybox NBA on NBC

These subsets look really cool with old school television lines on the background of the card with the player placed over the top. Not sure whether the photo is from the actual game stated on the back but would be even more awesome if it was.

1993-94 Skybox NBA Inside Stuff

The 90's NBA poster 'nice guy' (off the court) pictured here just doing general nice guy stuff. Little disappointed Ahmad Rashad doesn't feature somewhere on this card although I'm sure Damon Taylor didn't care and will probably never forget that moment.

1993-94 Skybox Changing Faces

A set dedicated to new additions for NBA teams, here's Rodman on his first NBA move from Detroit. Nice pick up for an already 49 win team.

1993-94 Skybox PC

I'd love to picture all of these cards but there's already too many to get through. They were easily one of the coolest subsets of the 90's with each card having a black border around a different art design and a photo of the player on top. The 'Glide' card stood out to me as it shows Clyde in a background pretty much bang on where you would expect a plane to be. Perfect!

 

[hackadeandre]

Insert Sets

1993-94 SkyBox Premium All-Rookies

These inserts showcased the 1994 All-Rookie First Team that were very much the same design as the base cards with a black strip replacing the white strip and an all-foil background. Check Shaq's first year stats!

1993-94 SkyBox Premium Center Stage

Iconic. Only thing that describes this 9 card set. I still remember buying these packs and praying for a Jordan Center Stage. I chose Cliff Robinson to show off this set as he was the only sixth man to feature in this set. Going by the numbers he produced coming off the bench, why shouldn't he be!

1993-94 SkyBox Premium Draft Picks

Penny, drafted after Shawn Bradley LOL. I wonder if we will see this situation at the top of the draft this year With Ben Simmons and Brandon Ingram? Will Philly pick Simmons and then will the Lakers make an offer to Philly that they can't refuse to swap?

1993-94 SkyBox Premium Dynamic Dunks

It would be a crime to not pick the Reignman for the other highly desirable insert set in the 1993-94 Skybox showcase focused on rim rattling.

1993-94 SkyBox Premium Shaq Talk

Shaq has warned you, DO NOT PUT IT BACK UP!

 

[hackadeandre]

1993-94 SkyBox Premium Showdown Series

Check the stats, sooooo close but Jordan always seemed to get the better of you. At least Drexler can say he made 2 more 3's from the same amount of attempts.

1993-94 SkyBox Premium Thunder and Lightning

Following on from last year's set and again with full foil back and front, this card features probably one of the best 'also-rans' to Jordan and the Bulls.

1993-94 SkyBox Premium USA Tip-Off

These USA cards were obtained by pulling a USA Redemption card from packs and sending it in for the complete 13 card set. Is it just me or does it look like Mark Price is leaning on a cardboard cut-out of John Stockton?

1993-94 SkyBox Premium USA Tip-Off Gold

This version features gold foil on the Skybox and USA Basketball logo's. Redemptions for this parallel set was also inserted into packs.

 

[hackadeandre]

1993-94 Stadium Club

Base card #281 Nick Van Exel RC
The other second round steal, Nick The Quick. These were a fun design both back and front, the rookie cards were differentiated from the base cards with the gold foil '93 draft pick' stamp.

Subsets

1993-94 Stadium Club Triple Double AND 1993-94 Stadium Club Super Teams NBA Finals (redemption set)

This subset featured players who recorded triple doubles in the previous season. Pictured here is the NBA Finals parallel, the regular subset card didn't have the '1994 NBA Finals' gold foil logo. How these Super Teams parallels were acquired will be explained in the redemption card section.

1993-94 Stadium Club High Court

This subset honoured players who spent much of their time 'up high'. The Admiral most certainly did that dunking, rebounding, blocking and just generally being unstoppable.

1993-94 Stadium Club Frequent Flyer AND 1993-94 Stadium Club Frequent Flyer Upgrades

Another aerial worshipper subset, the card pictured here is actually a parallel 'Frequent Flyer Upgrade' which was obtainable by collecting 50 points (no not Panini points) of that certain player found in packs. The points cards are not in this chase as they don't contain a picture of a player and the card is exactly the same as the base parallel except it is made with a chromium finish instead of the glossy photo finish.

1993-94 Stadium Club Super Teams Division Winner (redemption set)

Same as the 1994 Finals redemption parallel earlier, the only difference between the base card and this one is the gold foil 'Division Winner' logo. Look how far Jordan is off the floor!

 

[hackadeandre]

1993-94 Stadium Club New Wave

Same design as the base card with the addition of a 'New Wave' gold foil stamp.

Insert Sets

1993-94 Stadium Club First Day Issue

All of the base cards and subsets were paralleled with this First Day Issue holofoil stamp. They came in packs at 1 every 24 pack box and were a regular feature in most 90's Stadium Club releases.

1993-94 Stadium Club Beam Team

The second year of Stadium Club Beam Team, and once again another great insert set.

1993-94 Stadium Club Rim Rockers

Like the subsets, this insert set is very similar in design to the base except with the 'Rim Rockers' gold foil stamp.

1993-94 Stadium Club Super Teams Redemption Card

So this card explains the '1994 NBA Finals' and 'Division Winners' cards previously. Each of the 27 teams had 1 redemption card (Celtics pictured here). In a nutshell, if your team wins the finals you get a full 360 card parallel set with each card having the '1994 NBA Finals' gold foil stamp on it. Conference champions get a Master Photo set (super sized cards which I don't collect), and Division Winners get 10 'Division Winners' parallel cards of their particular team.

 

[OutlawNinja]

93-94 Skybox, first set I ever collected, got me into the game.
Brings back such fond memories.

 

[hackadeandre]

93-94 Skybox, first set I ever collected, got me into the game.
Brings back such fond memories.

It so does hey. It'd be fun just to bust open one of these boxes for memories sake! It would also be fun just to open any box without the pressure of trying to pull something out that reflects the copious amount of money spent on buying that particular box.

 

[OutlawNinja]

It so does hey. It'd be fun just to bust open one of these boxes for memories sake! It would also be fun just to open any box without the pressure of trying to pull something out that reflects the copious amount of money spent on buying that particular box.

Oh the dollars I spent busting pack after pack of that product, loved every moment of it.

 

[hackadeandre]

So onto the the back end of 1993-94 and let's begin with...

1993-94 Topps

Base card #334 Anfernee Hardaway RC
Again, Topps was the most basic of releases in 1993-94 featuring their standard white bordered base card with 'Topps Gold' parallels. This Penny Rookie Card is the same as the non-rookies except for the '1993 1st Round NBA Draft' logo.

Subsets

1993-94 Topps Highlight

Pretty cool 'film reel' design, this is the parallel 'Topps Gold' version with the gold foil logo and the player's name in gold foil as well. I wonder who were the 2 numbskulls that didn't vote for Shaq as the ROY???

1993-94 Topps 50 Point Club

Wow. Not only did The Admiral score 52, he filled up the box with 14 boards and a huge 7 blocks as well!

1993-94 Topps All-Star Team

When Reggie only makes the 3rd Team, you can be rest-assured the league is in a great period of its existence.

1992-93 Topps All-Rookie

Spree's stats for his rookie year were 'off-the-charts' for a 24th pick. What a great addition to any already awesome Warriors team.

 

[hackadeandre]

1993-94 Topps Playoff MVP

Well, Topps picked it! Sure enough less than 12 months after these cheap cards were hot off the press, Olajuwon was hoisting both his Finals MVP trophy along with the Larry O'Brien trophy. Granted, there were other awesome players in this subset that were dubbed 'Future Playoff MVP' that didn't get close unfortunately.

1993-94 Topps Scoring Leader

Again Topps going all-in on the predictions, Shaq claimed his first of 2 scoring titles in his 3rd year in the NBA.

Insert Sets

1993-94 Topps Black Gold

The only true insert from this years Topps, wasn't all too exciting really.

 

[hackadeandre]

1993-94 Ultra

I'm excited about this one. Overall, I'm going to call it as the best overall release of the year. Not the most exciting base set in the world, although many of the cards have some great photography, but the inserts were fantastic and features one of the most iconic sets of the 90's.

Base card #305 Anfernee Hardaway RC
Nice game action shot of Penny going hard at the rim. This rookie version of the base only differs to the non-rookie version with the gold foil '1st Round Draft Pick' flag under the Fleer Ultra logo.

Subsets

1993-94 Ultra USA Basketball

The only subset of the base cards, but a really cool one at that. They could pass easily as a nice low end insert set for sure with the American Flag background and gold foil USA Basketball logo.

Insert Sets

1993-94 Ultra All-Defensive

Really simple design but a surprisingly hard set to complete, I'm still chasing numbers 6 and 7 if anyone has them! I thought I would give Larry Nance Senior a run here, a defensive specialist on a great Cavs team at the time.

1993-94 Ultra All-NBA

Another key member of the great 90's Cavs, Mark Price took his game to an elite level in the 1992-93 season dishing and swishing his way to his first All-NBA First Team selection.

1993-94 Ultra All-Rookie Series

Another simple but effective design, Webber got straight out of the gate in his rookie season to make an immediate impact at the Warriors.

 

[hackadeandre]

1993-94 Ultra All-Rookie Team

Nice idea with the hole in the hardwood on the front and the broken piece on the back. Ellis had a great start to his NBA career with the Nuggets for 6 years but only mildly successful and relatively short hanging up the shoes in 2003.

1993-94 Ultra Award Winners

Full-foil insert featuring the winners of the player's end of regular season awards. M-V-P! M-V-P! I'm sure Chuck would trade his only MVP award for a Championship. I sure wish he would sign some more damn NBA licensed cards!

1993-94 Ultra Famous Nicknames

One of my personal favourite 90's insert sets, it featured 15 player's and their associated nicknames. Couldn't go past 'The Mailman' as the nickname I like the most. Although it would be an insult if it was in reference to our favourite Australian Postal service...

1993-94 Ultra Inside/Outside

Thunder Dan epitomises this awesome and really easy to get insert set. With the size and strength to get it done down low, as well as the shooting ability to let in rain from beyond the arc, Majerle had it all going on inside and outside!

1993-94 Ultra Jam City

I absolutely love this set. An all-foil card with the 'halloweenish' city landscape in the background celebrating the games greatest finishers at the rim, what more could you ask for! With D.C. finishing 17th in the league in scoring at 20.7 and 10th in the league in rebounding at 11.2, there must have been some bloody decent scorers and rebounders going around in the 1992-93 season.

 

[hackadeandre]

1993-94 Ultra Karl Malone

The second installment of Ultra's 'tributory' set features Karl Malone. Again, these cards came with rare autographed versions. Karl looks slightly creepy to me on both the back and the front of this card.

1993-94 Ultra Power In The Key

Another widely-recognised 90's insert, this set was also replicated in the recent Fleer Retro releases. All-foil and like the Jam City's, really hard to get in stunning condition. Thought I would give Otis a run here because he doesn't get enough love, he was one of those guys that teammates worshiped, whilst fans were asking their mates who that guy is.

1993-94 Ultra Rebound Kings

Who better to showcase this insert set with the guys who do all the dirty work than 'The Round Mound of Rebound' himself? Probably the shortest guy of the set, you can't put a price on heart, grit, determination.

KEY MOMENT HERE

WAIT FOR IT...

DRUM ROLL

5

4

3

2

1

1993-94 Ultra Scoring Kings

Well here we are at this big moment in the 90's NBA card timeline. Photo's can't do these inserts justice, the strong colours and the foil actually makes it look like active lightning on the card. Fleer absolutely nailed this one and the search continues for many collectors trying to get their hands on that BGS9.5 or 10 Jordan. These were also replicated in Fleer Retro but nothing will ever beat the original. I thought I would also be tricky and pick a different player other than MJ to show off this one, I'm sure @OutlawNinja will appreciate this one!

 

[OutlawNinja]

1993-94 Ultra Karl Malone

The second installment of Ultra's 'tributory' set features Karl Malone. Again, these cards came with rare autographed versions. Karl looks slightly creepy to me on both the back and the front of this card.

1993-94 Ultra Power In The Key

Another widely-recognised 90's insert, this set was also replicated in the recent Fleer Retro releases. All-foil and like the Jam City's, really hard to get in stunning condition. Thought I would give Otis a run here because he doesn't get enough love, he was one of those guys that teammates worshiped, whilst fans asking their mates who that guy is.

1993-94 Ultra Rebound Kings

Who better to showcase this insert set with the guys who do all the dirty work than 'The Round Mound of Rebound' himself? Probably the shortest guy of the set, you can't put a price on heart, grit, determination.

KEY MOMENT HERE

WAIT FOR IT...

DRUM ROLL

5

4

3

2

1

1993-94 Ultra Scoring Kings

Well here we are at this big moment in the 90's NBA card timeline. Photo's can't do these inserts justice, the strong colours and the foil actually makes it look like active lightning on the card. Fleer absolutely nailed this one and the search continues for many collectors trying to get their hands on that BGS9.5 or 10 Jordan. These were also replicated in Fleer Retro but nothing will ever beat the original. I thought I would also be tricky and pick a different player other than MJ to show off this one, I'm sure @OutlawNinja will appreciate this one!

Damn straight, a proud addition to my collection too.

 

[hackadeandre]

Change of plans update.

Coming to the realisation I may be retired from work by the time I get through this (with my current strategy) and that having the last 30 years of cards on this thread will be really hard to navigate through to get the best value out of it, I've teamed up with my IT guy at work and registered a website and have a 2-sided scanner in transit. So now I'm going to focus on getting this all scanned up and the website design in the capable hands of my IT guy. The website will be up in the next 6 months at worst and I'll update this thread when it's done

Down to the last 178 cards of this chase so if anyone can help here it would be much appreciated :

http://www.ozcardtrader.com.au/thre...now-not-so-massive-updated-26-07-2016.186663/

THANKS ALL WHO HAVE BEEN ADDING GREAT CONVERSATION TO THIS THREAD, REALLY APPRECIATE IT!!!