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To say Shaquille O'neal didn't have a Hall of Fame career is ridiculous. However, did he maximize his talent throughout his 19 year career? Did he really get everything he could have out of that 7'1'' 300 plus frame? I've argued for many years that he did not. Sure, I was a big fan of the Shaqdaddy throughout his illustrious career, but there were certainly times that I questioned if he was fully invested in the happenings on the court.
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| Reebok Shaq Pump |
We all have our different body types, but it didn't look like O'neal spent the necessary time a professional athlete should have on his body as other great centers did like a David Robinson. I wonder how much more dominant Shaq could have been had he worked to keep his body in peak conditioning. How many more injuries could have been prevented at at what level he could have performed at had he worked to keep his body in better physical condition. Let's face it, that "Shaq Versus" show was entertaining, but it really was the cross-training workout he was touting.
No doubt, O'neal is a top 10 all-time great, but could he have been in the top 5 or even 3? Maybe, but I guess we'll never know. One thing is for certain. I like collecting the early O'neal inserts and auto's. A couple of my favorites from my collection are posted above. Enjoy the NBA Finals and… "Every Bounce of the Ball".
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| '93 Topps Stadium Club Shaquille O'neal Beam Team RC |
This was easily one of the most sought after cards in the hobby during 1993 and for good reason. The "Shaq Attack" was well underway and TSC was hot. In fact, the entire TSC Beam Team set was on fire (click here). I remember seeing this card, along with the Jordan Beam Team, in cases at card shops for around $150-$175. That's a much different story today (click here). I somehow pulled an eBay miracle out with a $35 winning bid (plus $5 for shipping) for the entire 21 card Beam Team set!
As great as all the other cards in my countdown are, no card symbolises the fingerprint smudges and fogged up showcases than this. That's why it takes the #2 spot on my Top 25 PC Countdown.
| Anfernee Hardaway '93 Draft | Shaquille O'neal '92 Draft | Chris Webber '93 Draft |
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| ('92 Classic 4 Sport Gold Future Superstars Quad Auto 5,510/9,500: Phil Nevin, Shaquille O'neal, Roman Hamrlik & Desmond Howard) |
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| (Shaquille O'neal 1993 NBAHOOPS Redemption RC) |
Is there another O'neal RC that was hotter than this 1993 Hoops Redemption RC back in the day? Maybe, but not many. Will I highlight one of those other hot Shaq' RC's in a future Hoopography Top 25 PC Countdown post? Absolutely! But more importantly, did anyone every have a bigger and more squared-off hat sitting on their giant head than that Orlando Magic billboard sitting on the top of O'neal's dome? Not that I could find.
The "Shaq' Attack" was pretty hot back in the mid 90's and this Hoops Redemption card was right in the middle of the "Attack". I love this card. It totally screams 90's with the previously mentioned giant square hat and graphically rad necktie. The card once had a huge $100+ book value, but now has a more modest $60 value. Luckily for collectors, this O'neal gem can be had for an eBay price of $25 - $35. Not bad for one of Shaq's most sought after RC's.
Between the 90's feel this card oozes and the amount of time I spent fogging up my local card shop's showcase glass, this '93 Hoops Redemption O'neal RC takes the #5 spot on the Hoopography Top 25 PC Countdown. Stay tuned for the top four cards in the countdown and… "Enjoy Every Bounce of the Ball".
As I'm sure you're all well aware of, I love 90's inserts sets. The quality of design and creativity was at its peak during that time. Whether it was holograms, die cuts, acetate or the early jersey and auto'd cards, 90's card companies had it going on. I have about five separate 90's insert set collections going right now between basketball and football products, but none is more exciting to me than the '97 Ultra Court Masters acetate basketball set.
I've been working on putting the 15 card set together for sometime now, but it seems there are also a number of other collectors assembling the set. Many of these cards sell for above their book values. Not by much, but enough to make it difficult to put the set together quickly. I'm used to the half priced cards on eBay, so $5 or $10 over book value is expensive to me.
The set has all the usual 90's suspects including Grant Hill, David Robinson, Charles Barkley and John Stockton. Of Course, the Michael Jordan is the most sought after card and fetches the highest price tag of $100 to $125 (checkout this overpriced BIN Jordan Court Masters). The Hardaway is the gem of the set for me. His cards are easily my favorite to collect (click here), and the Court Masters PSA Graded 10 is a very nice addition to my "Penny" Hardaway collection.
The other three cards in the set I've been able to secure are of Juwan Howard, Reggie Miller and Shaquille O'neal. I'm not a huge fan of graded cards. Basically, I only search out graded cards if I'm looking for a vintage card. The reason I have three graded cards in the start of this set is solely due to price. Most of the time there are 3 or 4 cards from the set listed at the same time by one seller. In order to keep shipping costs down or to get a jump on completing the set, collectors are driving the bid prices up by zeroing in on the multiple listings. I bought all four of these cards from sellers who only listed one Court Masters card at a time. Three of them just happen to be graded.
Either way, these cards are fairly rare with an insertion ratio of 1:180. The set isn't cheap either at $450. So I'll try to grab these awesome acetate cards anyway possible, graded/ungraded, trade/buy, whatever. I have a ways to go with 11 more cards in the set, but hopefully I'll be able to update any progress soon.
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| (1994 Shaquille O'neal Fleer Ultra Jam City) |
I've had a lot of fun with this countdown, and hopefully everyone else has enjoyed it as well. There're only seven cards left in the countdown, and I'm sure you'll pickup on a common theme. For now, stay tuned for the next Hoopography Top 25 PC Countdown post and… "Enjoy Every Bounce of the Ball".
There certainly were insert sets before 1993, but it really wasn't until that year that inserts really exploded. Many companies only had one or maybe two insert sets per product in the late 80's and early 90's like Fleer with its Stickers sets ('87 - '90) and Upper Deck with its Award Winner Holograms ('92). However, as the trading card industry took off in the early 90's, so did the size and scope of its products. Companies started producing smaller sets to insert into base product packs to entice the influx of new consumers that were flooding the hobby and market. Also known as the "Golden Age" of trading cards, the 90's helped spur-on creativity and design in the hobby. As far as the basketball trading card hobby was concerned, a perfect storm was created to coincide with the insert revolution.
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Here's the number 12 card in my personal collection Top 25 countdown. This 1993 Shaquille O'neal Classic Future #NNO is really a no brainier for me at the number 12 spot in this countdown. It's an extra large acetate early Shaq' card. As many of you know, I love the acetate plastic cards. This Classic Futures card is translucent, but it's tough to tell from the scan. It's really one of those cards that looks better in hand than on scans. Checkout the basketball Shaq' is dunking. He truly had the world in his hands when he came into the Association.
Sneakers, or kicks as the kids call them these days, are a collectors item in themselves. New releases and custom artist designed kicks can sell for big money (click here). For something as simple as the rubber and leather that covers our feet, the sneaker head obsession does seem a bit ridiculous. However, as with any other collectible, the beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I myself collect sneakers. More importantly, I also wear them so as to get the full use and enjoyment out of each pair. I'll highlight some of the kicks in my collection as well as some of the more iconic footwear from the past 30 or so years in a series of "Kicks:" posts right here on Hoopography.
The first installment of "Kicks:" features the ultra rad Reebok Pumps. I love the old school Reebok Pumps from the late 80's and early 90's. It seemed that Nike had every great NBA superstar signed up to the Swoosh, but Reebok had it going on for a while too with spokesman like Dominique "Human Highlight Film Wilkins, Doc Rivers and Shaquille O'neal. Plus, they put together one heck of a cool marketing campaign to go head to head with Nike.
The Pump technology was truly innovative. The air pockets inflated to allow for a highly desired tighter fit. Whether tying ones shoelaces tighter couldn't also accomplish this same feat is another topic entirely and it didn't really matter to consumers weather the air pockets really made that much of a difference or not. Between the cool factor and creative TV commercials like the one to the left, Reebok had found a winner with the Pump.
My favorite Pump sneaker was the original Shaq Attack kicks. Shaq was the hot commodity of the early and mid 90's for sporting apparel giants like Reebok and Starter. You could even get a small pressurized tube of air called the Insta Pump for the Reebok Shaq Attacks. The Insta Pump filled the air pockets automatically. Although the Reebok Shaq Attack line did not sustain the same longevity as the Nike Air Jordans, they were just as hot at their brief pinnacle.
