Some basketball card sets have what seems to be an unlimited amount of information written about them, and some don’t.
While sorting one of the monster boxes from my million card purchase, I stumbled across a sweet die-cut insert set from 1996 Fleer USA basketball. I was all set on scouring the net to research all the interesting facts of this set, but upon clicking search on the Google machine I was soon disappointed.
In the first several pages of search results, there was not one article written about the set. There were several pages where you could buy the cards, but nothing written about the sets background, collecting stories, etc.
I couldn’t get enough of the original “Dream Team” in 1992, and while this 1996 set came out during my “dark years” of collecting, seeing it now brought back memories of that original team.
I’m not always a fan of die-cut cards, but there is something about these that I really like. Each player is pictured in their NBA uniform and is layered overtop an American flag image. The backs of each card features a write-up with some interesting facts about the player and a portrait style head shot.
From what I could find, these inserts came one per hobby box. While these cards are not exactly rare, their relative scarcity still commands a pretty strong price for collectors wanting to pick them up. For example 9 of the 10 cards are available on COMC for prices ranging from $12-$35. Only three are available on Sportlots for around $15 per card, and on eBay pretty much all ten cards can be found in limited quantities for about the same $12 - $35 I saw on COMC. That adds up to a roughly a $150 complete set. Pretty nice for a ten card insert set!
Shaq and Penny are my favorites of this set.
A couple years ago, a fellow LCS owner gave me some advice as I started to get more into buying and selling cards. “You have to make a decision. Do you want to be a collector, or do you want to be a dealer.” And while that advice definitely rings true if you are trying to make selling cards your full time job, I think there is a little more leeway if you are trying to take more of the “self-sustaining hobby” route.
With my recent purchase, I’m hoping to find some of those million cards to keep for my PC, but at the same time I first need to focus on covering my cost of inventory. Cards like these are going to really challenge me!
Checklist
Anfernee Hardaway
Grant Hill
Karl Malone
Reggie Miller
Hakeem Olajuwon
Shaquille O’Neal
Scottie Pippen
David Robinson
Glenn Robinson
John Stockton
Also, if you haven’t heard, I started a new Podcast called the WaxPackHero Sports Card Minute! It’s available here directly on the site at the Podcast link at the top of the page, or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Play, and TuneIn! Check it out, let me know what you think, and tell your friends!
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