My Favorite 150 Items in My Collection-#136 Anfernee Hardaway 1996 Upper Deck Metal Collector Set

Why I like It: 1996 was right in the middle of the peak of Penny's career. He was my favorite player and as a kid I wanted every collectible I could get my hands on. I remember seeing this at K-Mart and I wanted it badly. That Christmas, this was one of my gifts. A unique different kind of trading card featuring my favorite player of all time.

My Favorite 150 Items in My Collection-#137 Anfernee Hardaway 1996 SPX

When I heard about 1996 SPX Basketball I was super excited. I always loved Upper Deck's hologram inserts, and now a whole base set dedicated to that was my kinda set. I then heard the absurd details (at the time, lol) 1 CARD PER PACK...what?!?!!? ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! The price of the pack at my local shop...6 BUCKS. FOR ONE CARD! But to me..it was well worth it for the quality of the card. When it finally debuted I bit the bullet bought a pack and pulled a Hakeem Olajuwon. Eh..not terrible..it's not MJ or Penny, but to me it was well worth it. I wanted the Penny soooooo bad. To this day, it's my favorite of the 3 hologram based SPX sets (for the 98-99 SPX turned to SPX Finite and basically moved away from the hologram technology in their base sets and became a serial numbered tiered product). Later on that year, I spotted this card at a card show and if I recall paid $6 bucks or basically the cost of another pack. I was stoked to own this card. So beautiful. Today, the card's not worth much, but it symbolized what was starting to happen around this time..the concept of the "high end brand". I view it as a pioneer to what was see in today's higher end products.

My Favorite 150 Items in My Collection-#138 Brian Williams IP Autograph Photo

 

Why I Like It: It's my first ever autograph. Brian Williams, at the time was a prospect for the Houston Astros (1st round pick in 1990) and was one of the signers at our local mall here in Corpus. Now I actually went for another certain player who I'll be showcasing later in this countdown, but Brian Williams was free, and even though as a kid, I had no idea who he was, I figured "why not, he's a major league baseball player". Brian not only signed the photo but personalized as well. It's funny looking at all the autographs I have in my collection like Jordan, Kobe, Lebron, Emmitt etc..and remember that it alllll started with Brian Williams.

My Favorite 150 Items in My Collection-#139 1989-90 NBA Hoops David Robinson RC

Why I Like It: I know I'm beating a dead horse, but the cards left in my collection are not going to be jaw dropping by any means. If I kept any card, it was due to the story behind the card, not the card itself. That's why, although tough to sell my MJ Fleer Rookie, or Topps Chrome Kobe Rookie, there wasn't a real sentimental tie to those cards for me. The 89-90 David Robinson Hoops Rookie Card was THE CARD to have when I first entered the basketball card collecting hobby back in 1991.It's crazy to think that when I first started collecting basketball cards (baseball and football were the first sports I collected) David Robinson had only played 2 full seasons in the NBA. Man that makes me feel old. I distinctly remember going to card shops and seeing unopened packs of 89-90 Hoops with the David Robinson Rookie on top going for astronomical prices. It was the ultimate card to own. I remember this card booking for like some weird amount like $36 in the first Beckett I ever owned. Nowadays you can't sell these for a dollar (unless it's graded). I still overpaid for this as I remember paying $5 dollars at a San Antonio card show back in the late 90's. Although it's lost a lot of its luster, David Robinson turned out to be "ok" (Top 50 NBA Player, two time champion and Hall of Famer) and I'd rather just keep it then lose money on it by selling it on Ebay.

My Favorite 150 Items in My Collection-#140 1992-93 Fleer Slam Dunk Shaquille O'Neal

Why I Like It: It's the first Shaq card I ever pulled. For me I always look fondly back on Shaq-mania. As I've stated before, it was my first experience with rookie that had so much hype and promise. Being a kid, I basically knew the real good stuff I'd never be afford, and my only real way to obtain Shaq cards was pulling them the old fashioned way. This isn't even Shaq's true RC (which I would pull at a later date as well) but it's the first Shaq card I pulled and I was beyond excited to pull it. It's funny how recently, with selling the majority of my collection, it was so easy to not blink and sell autograph cards of Sandy Koufax, Walter Payton, George Mikan, etc..but this card which would probably bring in 25 cents on a good day, I would never be able to part with. That's nostalgic sentimental value for ya!

My Favorite 150 Items in My Collection-#141 1990 Score Frank Thomas RC

Hadn't realized it's been a couple months since I last posted anything. Haven't had time to but now that I do, on to the countdown.

Why I Like It:  It was one of my first "big" purchases and it was of one of my favorite baseball players as a kid. I remember being so jealous that my friend had a  1990 Topps Rookie Card of Frank Thomas, and he knew he'd never trade it so I had to have a rookie card of The Big Hurt. I bought this at our local flea market for 5 bucks over 20 years ago. For a little while, it was the best card in my whole collection. I loved it so much. Sentimental value is what keeps this card in my collection.

My Favorite 150 Items in My Collection-#142 99-00 Mattel NBA Superstars Vince Carter FP

Why I Like It: Vinsanity took over the hobby in the late 90's/early 2000s and everything of Vince Carter was scorching hot. This piece brings me back to the time where EVERYTHING Vince Carter was high in demand. In the sports figures world, Hasbro had bowed out of the NBA market in 1998, opening up the chance for Mattel to come in with their own line of sports collectible figures. This piece was one the most coveted of the time. Vince Carter's rookie piece was in high demand and was a very difficult figure to find. I waited until after not only Vinsanity subsided but interest in the Mattel Line of figures waned to finally add this piece to my collection. Vinsanity was probably the most fun I ever had in the hobby, and this brings back so many fun and awesome memories.