Shaquille O’Neal was one of the first rookie chases of my collecting career. Michael Jordan was the guy we always wanted to pull, but he was far from having rookie status in the late 80s and early 90s. Shaq was dominant and had both cultural and on-court success! I wanted to put together a post covering some of the favorite Shaq cards in my collection. They are also very affordable if you want to pick up some copies for yourself on eBay, Sportlots or COMC!

1992-93 Topps #362

I’m going to start off with the Topps Flagship rookie. The photo shows both the strength and intensity that Shaq played with as he posts up under the hoop. I also love the “oh crap” look of his defender! These cards have had a bit of a run up over the last few years, but they can still be picked up for around $20-$25 on eBay.

1992-93 Upper Deck #1 (and 1b)

The first series of 1992-93 Upper Deck released before they were able to get a card ready for Shaq. So instead of including him in the set, they issued a #1 Draft Pick redemption card in Series 1 packs. When you sent in the card, you eventually received a copy of this Shaq Card (#1b) with “Trade Card” in gold foil at the top of the card. Series 2 packs included the card on the left with “#1 Draft Pick” on the top and carried the standard #1 designation.

1996-97 Topps En Fuego #3

In the mid to late 90’s the design and allure of inserts were starting to take hold and the Topps En Fuego set is one of my favorites. This was one of the last “current” cards with Shaq in a Orlando Magic uniform as he actually played for the Lakers at the start of the 1996 season. The coloring and “wave refractor” like finish makes this card shine!

1997-98 Stadium Club Hoop Screams #HS1

I don’t really know the back story on the name of this Stadium Club insert set, but I love how the image of Shaq dunking is used as the main photo as well as two background images. The scan does not really give the card its full justice. As I said before, the late 90s had some great insert sets and this is one of them in my opinion!

1998-99 Fleer Ultra #93

It would be hard to put together a list including 80s and 90s basketball cards and not have a card from Fleer or Fleer Ultra! I love the photo and design of this card. I always knew Shaq was a bad free throw shooter, but while looking through the stats on the back I was reminded of just how bad. Through the 1997-98 season, he had a career free throw % of .535 and a career field goal % of .578. Yes, that’s right, he made a greater % of his shots (and dunks) than he made from the line when there was nobody guarding him. There was a data driven reason for “Hack-a-Shaq”!

2008-09 Topps #32

At the tail end of his career, Shaq played a couple seasons for the Suns, Cavs, and Celtics. While he wasn’t quite as dominant as the early part of his career, he still had enough in him to embarrass his opponents from time to time as evidenced by this image! Ball, meet face. Try to shoot over me, I dare you.

1999-00 Skybox E-X #22

Man, there were some beautiful basketball cards produced in the late 90s and early 2000s. This was the era where I wasn’t in the hobby so I never had the privilege of opening any of these fresh from packs. However, as I started buying more and more collections upon my return to the hobby I was able to fill my binders with all these cards I missed the first time around. I’m typically a bigger fan of full photo designs, but the color and shine that goes with the background of this card is fantastic.

Wrapping It Up

Shaq is one of those iconic players from my youth that still takes me back to my early days of collecting. I love how he continues to maintain relevance through commentating and involvement in a variety of commercials (as cheezy as they might be sometimes). I hope you enjoyed seeing some of my favorite Shaq cards. Let me know if you pick up any of your own!

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!