Top 100 Cards of My Collection-#94 96-97 Topps Chrome Allen Iverson RC

When Topps initially introduced Topps Chrome for basketball during the 96-97 season, it was supposed to be a one shot deal. It was just supposed to be a retail level only product available at Wal-Mart. No big deal and that's exactly what I thought when I first saw this product at my local Wal-Mart. I saw a couple boxes and decided eh why not try a pack (if ONLY I had a time machine and go back and buy up the entire product). Curiosity got the best of me, I was always willing to try new product at least once, so I bought my one pack for a little over 3 bucks after taxes and was on my way. I opened the pack and pulled a Kerry Kittles Chrome Youthquake, and this beauty right here. At the time though, it was just another rookie card, in fact I have this EXACT same rookie card without the chrome finish, since Topps Chrome was basically a glorified parallel set to the regular Topps base set. I thought nothing of it, I collected Iverson, but I never thought in a million years this card would end up being Iverson's best rookie card (besides the refractor parallel of course). But all of sudden, the perception of
Topps Chrome changed. Fueled by a young star studded draft class
that included Iverson, Marcus Camby, Shareef Abdur Rahim, Stephon
Marbury, Ray Allen, Steve Nash, and Jermaine O'Neal and oh yeah
and a guy named KOBE BRYANT, who was taking the league by storm
and possibly fueled by perceived scarcity since they were only available at
Wal Mart, Topps Chrome become the hottest set in the market in a long time.
It overtook Topps Finest as a player's "best rookie card" and month after month
these cards took on a life of their own and  skyrocketed in the price guides. Guys like
Antoine Walker and Stephon Marbury booked up to $150. When I pulled my Iverson
it debuted at a modest 12 bucks, at it's peak it had reached $150. This set was compared to
86-87 fleer on so many levels that it basically became this generations 86-87 Fleer set. Like all
things, hype eventually faded, and newer sleaker and rarer rookie cards became available in later years
and Topps Chrome was pushed aside as no longer a high end rookie card but a mid level (although, still desriable) rookie card, and prices came back down to earth. I believe the Iverson has settled in the $60 range
but for those of us who collected, no-one will ever forget "Chrome-mania".  Like I said earlier, I'm very surprised I only bought 1 pack ever, usually when I do buy packs I buy multiple, but for some unexplained reason I bought this one, but to buy one pack and still be able to pull the Iverson, was just awesome and lucky. That's why this card is on the countdown at #94, Iverson's best rookie card...and I pulled it out of 1 pack.