!!!---TOP 10 Cards from your Player Collection---!!!

[AbraCalabro]

Okay it's time we do one of these here. I know my tastes have changed over the years. These don't need to be in any particular order, mix'em up and do a Top 5 in order if you want, or Top 3 from your Top 10. My list is in no particular order.

10 - 96/97 Fleer Thrill Seekers
Come on, what kid didn't have his mind blown when seeing pictures of these cards? The 3D Lenticular explosion of team colors was unlike anything seen before. Sure, there were some TEAM USA Lenticular cards...and sure, there were Lenticular cards in 95/96 Flair...but look at those not so subtle team colors, the card's stock, the tasteful thickness of it. Oh my God, it doesn't even need a watermark.

9697_Fleer_S2_ThrillSeekers_7 of 15 Shawn Kemp

9 - 96/97 Fleer Ultra Court Masters
As a kid, you definitely had a figurative boner over acetate cards. Especially ones with the right action photo, the team's colors matching the photo of the player. There was some douche bag kid in my grade that pulled one of these cards, I think it was the Shaq, I think the kid's name was Paul Allen, listened to Huey Lewis and the News from time to time. No one liked this kid, especially me.

9697_Fleer_Ultra_CourtMasters_7 of 15 Shawn Kemp

8 - 96/97 Flair Showcase Row 0 Legacy Collection
When it comes to 90s...there's nothing better than this. If you disagree...you certainly have a right to your opinion, even if it's completely wrong and stupid and shameful.

9697_Flair_Showcase_Row 0_Legacy Collection_30_x150 Shawn Kemp

7 - 1997 Upper Deck SPx ProMotion Autographs
When it comes to 90s autographs, particularly of players named Shawn Kemp, there is nothing better than this one. THIS is the Cadillac Eldorado of Kemp autos, everything else is just a set of steak knives. So if you think there's a better Kemp auto from the 90s, then I guess you love being number two.

1997_SPx ProMotion_4_x100

6 - 96/97 Skybox EX 2000 Credentials
Fully licensed and credentialed to be f*cking awesome, you bet!

9697_EX2000_67_Credentials_x499 Shawn Kemp

5 - 97/98 Upper Deck SP Authentic Profiles Level 3
Upper Deck's mastery of lines, common shapes and slick fonts is well displayed with these cards. Die cuts and great photography? Yes please. The aesthetic pleasure derived from the union of the framing around the photos and their integration with the rest of the design is top notch. Beats slow loading jpegs, hand lotion and popping cialis any day of the week!!! Amirite!?!?!?

9798_SPAuthentic_Profiles3_P21_x100 Shawn Kemp

4 - 98/99 Upper Deck SPx Finite Spectrum TOP FLIGHT subset
Looks like it's got Intel Inside but even Intel's most powerful modern processor can't process how f*cking cool these cards are. Beware if you catch a glimpse of one in real life, you may succumb to the amazement that emanates from it's boldly stamped heart.

9899_SPx Finite_188_x50 Shawn Kemp

3 - 1998 SPx Grand Finale
You're a 20 something male in the 90s, high paying job, you're loaded. You've got a Mercedes with a sun roof and a Ferrari garage queen. You shop at Sharper Image and your house looks like Captain Picard's quarters.

Slick. Masculine. Alluring. Mysterious.

Grand Finale for Men.

1998_SPx_Grand Finale_9_x50 Shawn Kemp

2 - 19/20 Panini Flawless Dual Patch
Panini triumphs where Upper Deck sh!ts the bed and fails miserably. Reignman. Sonics. Patches. Finally.

1920_Panini Flawless_Dual Patch_DP-SKE Shawn Kemp

1 - 16/17 Panini Immaculate Sneaker Swatches
I know that UD and Fleer have both done sneaker cards, but they never did them like this. Simply the best. This card is a brick. 360 PTs of good stuff. Had to load this one into the mag using a forklift.

1617_Panini_Immaculate_Sneaker Swatches_SS-SK_x14 Shawn Kemp

[ChrisP57]

These are always fun to me. I love these kind of lists. I can do this for a few players I PC. I'll start with Luka. This was kind of difficult to limit to 10 as I have a pretty decent Luka collection. But I think I've narrowed it down. Here we go. Top 10 Luka Doncic cards in my collection

10- 2018-19 Status Pursuit Die Cut RC


A relatively hard to find parallel and I'm a sucker for die cuts

9- 2018-19 Revolution Cosmic Parallel RC (/100) BGS 9.5


Revolution parallels are some of my favorites in basketball, especially the Cosmics. Numbered to 100 and just really pops.

8- 2018-19 Optic Pink Velocity Holo Parallel RC (/79) BGS 9.5


Velocity parallels are my favorite in Optic and although I prefer Black, Pink's are nice as well.

7- 2018-19 Absolute Memorabilia Tools of the Trade Level 2 6 Swatch/Auto RC (/25)


My first ever big Luka pull. Bought a couple of boxes off Ebay when this product came out and pulled this beauty. Numbered to 25 copies, multiple patches and an auto (albeit sticker) gets this on the list. Pulling it makes it extra special.

6- 2018-19 Contenders Optic Preview RC BGS 9.5


I honestly feel like this is one of the most underrated rookies of his out there. They aren't numbered, but are super short printed rumored to be in the 15-20 range. I love the shine on this.

5- 2018-19 Prizm Choice Yellow Green Blue Parallel RC BGS 9.5


I absolutely love this card and I consolidated the Luka Prizm Rookies I had (Green, Silver, Hyper, Pink Ice, Red Wave) to buy this one. I know people get annoyed and overwhelmed with millions of Prizm parallels out there, but I absolutely love the look of this one.
It's not numbered, but it comes from the Prizm Choice SKU so although not too rare, there's also not as many as other unnumbered parallels

4- 2018-19 Optic Autograph RC


On card auto from one of the most popular brands in basketball. Kinda all that needs to be said there

3- 2018-19 Certified Freshman Fabric Gold Rookie Autograph Patch (/10)


I am a sucker for gold, and it's just a really nice looking card. I was lucky to pick this up after Luka's rookie year ,during the offseason. I don't think I've seen another Gold since.

2- 2018-19 Obsidian Orange Etch Parallel RC (/25)


I'll clarify with this is from the TRUE Obsidian set, not the Preview set from Chronicles. I LOVE the Obisidian brand. I pulled this myself. Just a gorgeous card

1- 2018-19 Chronicles Titanium Draft Year Parallel RC (/18)


This will always be my #1 Luka card for a very sentimental reason. June 9th, 2019, I unexpectedly lost my Dad to a massive heart attack. I was completely devastated as me and my parents are super close and especially my Dad who I considered my best friend. To this day, it's still something I struggle with.
A few weeks had passed and I just wanted a pick me up..something to take my mind off the pain of losing my Dad. So I decided to buy 3 boxes of 2018-19 Chronicles off Panini's Website and I would open them during ZIon's debut summer league game. Now cards I usually something I do on my own, but I asked my Mom if she didn't mine being with me while I opened these boxes. These were the first boxes of cards I had opened since my Dad's passing. What proceeded to happen was one of the most memorable, emotional breaks I've ever had. In the first box, a couple packs in I pulled this. Titanium rookies were tough rookies to pull as it is, but pulling the draft year parallel to 18 was amazing. I pulled a few other special cards that night and it just really felt my Dad had a hand in this break. Like he knew I really needed a brief moment of happiness during a very trying time. It will always be #1 for that reason.

I left off a bunch of other nice rookies, I could easily have expanded this to 20 at least, but condensing it to 10 was fun and challenging. I look forward to not only seeing others Top 10 but doing this with other players I PC as well

[AbraCalabro]

Appreciate the commentary, personally I love that Status diecut, super aesthetic.

Damn, that's a great story about your number 1 card. What a story! Sorry about the loss, that's some heavy stuff, I'm certainly not celebrating that. At the very least, you've now got a powerful memory to go along with the card. Crazy how much weight a card can hold some times, when it's personal. Thanks for sharing.

[darz90scardz]

Abra, amazing cards. You ain’t lying that tastes change, I know mine definitely have over the years. That ProMotion auto is actually insane. There are certain dream wants for my Penny pc that I don’t even expend the energy on, because apart from being ghosts they’d also serve as wallet evaporators. That’s one of them.

Chris, I’m sorry to hear that but that’s a great hobby experience to commemorate to him. I’ve had some scares myself in recent years with my dad and ongoing stuff with my in-laws, the former of which have brought us closer together. Love the status diecut, I wanted to grab on of those early on but it’s prob too late now price wise. The Cosmic is dope too, I imagine it as some 3rd year Z-Force insert that never got a chance to be released.

A bunch of the Penny cards I’d include in a top 10 list is stuff I’ve posted here before but I’m going to attempt to put them in an actual order and post it up later. Will try for an mj list too.

Hoping to see a lot more lists from other player kuhlectahs.

[darz90scardz]

4 - 98/99 Upper Deck SPx Finite Spectrum TOP FLIGHT subset
Looks like it's got Intel Inside but even Intel's most powerful modern processor can't process how f*cking cool these cards are. Beware if you catch a glimpse of one in real life, you may succumb to the amazement that emanates from it's boldly stamped heart.

9899_SPx Finite_188_x50 Shawn Kemp

Speaking of Finite Spectrum, figured you’d get a kick out of this:

[ChrisP57]

Appreciate the commentary, personally I love that Status diecut, super aesthetic.

Damn, that's a great story about your number 1 card. What a story! Sorry about the loss, that's some heavy stuff, I'm certainly not celebrating that. At the very least, you've now got a powerful memory to go along with the card. Crazy how much weight a card can hold some times, when it's personal. Thanks for sharing.

Thank you for the kind words. Off topic a bit, but one of the worst thing that happened to this hobby was basically the death of personal breaks. I have great memories and stories of pulling cards myself and those days are basically over now, as even though I could afford it, it just makes zero sense opening most modern product..even stuff like Hoops and Donruss is just stupidly priced.

[ChrisP57]

Abra, amazing cards. You ain’t lying that tastes change, I know mine definitely have over the years. That ProMotion auto is actually insane. There are certain dream wants for my Penny pc that I don’t even expend the energy on, because apart from being ghosts they’d also serve as wallet evaporators. That’s one of them.

Chris, I’m sorry to hear that but that’s a great hobby experience to commemorate to him. I’ve had some scares myself in recent years with my dad and ongoing stuff with my in-laws, the former of which have brought us closer together. Love the status diecut, I wanted to grab on of those early on but it’s prob too late now price wise. The Cosmic is dope too, I imagine it as some 3rd year Z-Force insert that never got a chance to be released.

A bunch of the Penny cards I’d include in a top 10 list is stuff I’ve posted here before but I’m going to attempt to put them in an actual order and post it up later. Will try for an mj list too.

Hoping to see a lot more lists from other player kuhlectahs.

Thank you for the kind words! I have a few other players (including Penny, but I doubt my top 10 will come close to what you have!) that I'll be sharing when time permits.

[Hondo]

Oh man this is gonna be fun! I'll try to join once i figure out what top 10 to post lol

Abra! I love all the cards you posted. As i've mentioned in the past, Kemp was one of my favorite Non-Celtic to watch back in the day so i really enjoy seeing all these cards.

Chris, Sorry about the loss, Incredible story with you no.1 card. Love hearing cards having real-life significance other than aesthetics and value.

[SacKingsCards]

What a thread and what a couple of lists to start with! I felt like I was on the edge of my seat throughout both lists.

Abra, you're a freaking storyteller, seamlessly oscillating between hilarity and enlightening analysis of beautiful cards. Very cool to see cards ranging the span of 20 years, though with the notable absence of any cards from 1998-2016. I'm really tripping out from the photos on the front and back of the Credentials. That isn't the same photo right? The Sonics patch on the shorts is missing and it looks like Kemp's body is mirrored but his jersey is oriented the same way. Again, I'm tripping. My favorites are all the die cuts, the Flair Legacy, and that chunky flawless patch. Probably my two favorite card types. I've never noticed how intricate that SP Authentic was until reading your descriptions. There are so many thoughtful design elements without it feeling too busy. You are masterful at visually presenting your cards. Seeing the front and back side by side really gives an appreciation for the totality of the card, such as the way the photos and the windows/framing on the SP authentic flow together from front to back.

Chris, just pure incredible. Each of those cards could be the grail of a really nice Luka collection, and you not only have them all but have pulled several of them yourself. I completely agree that pulling a card yourself makes it hold a special place in your collection. In 20-21 I would rip Donruss and Chronicles just to have personally pulled Haliburton cards in my collection. Obviously it only resulted in base and I think maybe one unnumbered chronicles parallel, but better than nothing haha I've definitely read your story before about your dad and pulling that Luka Titanium; I'll echo my condolences and hope that time has eased things to the extent that it can while providing a special association for you to that card and your collection. I agree with you about the prizm choice; that's a really beautiful parallel, as I think most choice prizms are. My favorites are the Contenders Optic preview (I had no idea it even existed and that's very cool) and the Optic pink velocity. Velocities are also my favorite Optic parallel. Pretty cool that you have the superior pink parallel and 2018 Optic's design is just plain beautiful.

I'll have to start trying to spam this thread with Kings players, though I think the only person I'll be able to get up to ten with is Haliburton.

[darz90scardz]

Straight away you can probably tell I love loud designs. It was tough leaving some cards off, so much so that I'm confident this list would look slightly different if I made it on another day. Some honorable mentions would go to his 96-97 Ultra Platinum Medallion (non-subset card), 97-98 Ultra Ultrabilities Superstar, 97-98 Skybox Premium Golden Touch, 97-98 Z-Force Rave (series 1), and 97-98 Showcase Row 0.
Admittedly, it's also not a purely aesthetic list, which is something I used to be a real stickler for and tried to remove the very real rarity bias you see on display everywhere now (including this post). For example, his 1996 SPx Gold parallel is one of my favorite looking cards of all time. But it would also be that much harder to attempt a top 10 on pure looks, as I'd probably have to narrow the field from 100 instead of 20.

10. 97-98 Finest Silver Embossed Refractor


9. 97-98 Stadium Club Triumvirate Luminescent


8. 97-98 Ultra Star Power Supreme


7. 96-97 E-X2000 A Cut Above


6. 1996 SPx NNO Auto (have matching cert)


5. 96-97 E-X2000 Credentials


4. 96-97 UD3 Court Commemoratives Auto


3. 97-98 Hoops High Voltage 500 Volts


2. 96-97 Showcase Legacy Collection Row 2


1. 97-98 UD3 Season Ticket Auto

[ChrisP57]

What a thread and what a couple of lists to start with! I felt like I was on the edge of my seat throughout both lists.

Abra, you're a freaking storyteller, seamlessly oscillating between hilarity and enlightening analysis of beautiful cards. Very cool to see cards ranging the span of 20 years, though with the notable absence of any cards from 1998-2016. I'm really tripping out from the photos on the front and back of the Credentials. That isn't the same photo right? The Sonics patch on the shorts is missing and it looks like Kemp's body is mirrored but his jersey is oriented the same way. Again, I'm tripping. My favorites are all the die cuts, the Flair Legacy, and that chunky flawless patch. Probably my two favorite card types. I've never noticed how intricate that SP Authentic was until reading your descriptions. There are so many thoughtful design elements without it feeling too busy. You are masterful at visually presenting your cards. Seeing the front and back side by side really gives an appreciation for the totality of the card, such as the way the photos and the windows/framing on the SP authentic flow together from front to back.

Chris, just pure incredible. Each of those cards could be the grail of a really nice Luka collection, and you not only have them all but have pulled several of them yourself. I completely agree that pulling a card yourself makes it hold a special place in your collection. In 20-21 I would rip Donruss and Chronicles just to have personally pulled Haliburton cards in my collection. Obviously it only resulted in base and I think maybe one unnumbered chronicles parallel, but better than nothing haha I've definitely read your story before about your dad and pulling that Luka Titanium; I'll echo my condolences and hope that time has eased things to the extent that it can while providing a special association for you to that card and your collection. I agree with you about the prizm choice; that's a really beautiful parallel, as I think most choice prizms are. My favorites are the Contenders Optic preview (I had no idea it even existed and that's very cool) and the Optic pink velocity. Velocities are also my favorite Optic parallel. Pretty cool that you have the superior pink parallel and 2018 Optic's design is just plain beautiful.

I'll have to start trying to spam this thread with Kings players, though I think the only person I'll be able to get up to ten with is Haliburton.

Thank you for the kind words!

[ChrisP57]

Straight away you can probably tell I love loud designs. It was tough leaving some cards off, so much so that I'm confident this list would look slightly different if I made it on another day. Some honorable mentions would go to his 96-97 Ultra Platinum Medallion (non-subset card), 97-98 Ultra Ultrabilities, 97-98 Skybox Premium Golden Touch, 97-98 Z-Force Rave (series 1), and 97-98 Showcase Row 0.
Admittedly, it's also not a purely aesthetic list, which is something I used to be a real stickler for and tried to remove the very real rarity bias you see on display everywhere now (including this post). For example, his 1996 SPx Gold parallel is one of my favorite looking cards of all time. But it would also be that much harder to attempt a top 10 on pure looks, as I'd probably have to narrow the field from 100 instead of 20.

10. 97-98 Finest Silver Embossed Refractor


9. 97-98 Stadium Club Triumvirate Luminescent


8. 97-98 Ultra Star Power Supreme


7. 96-97 E-X2000 A Cut Above


6. 1996 SPx NNO Auto (have matching cert)


5. 96-97 E-X2000 Credentials


4. 96-97 UD3 Court Commemoratives Auto


3. 97-98 Hoops High Voltage 500 Volts


2. 96-97 Showcase Legacy Collection Row 2


1. 97-98 UD3 Season Ticket Auto

I knew you'd have top notch Penny's. I don't even know which one I'd pick as my favorite honestly. A lot of 90's goodness here!

[mindcycle]

Amazing cards and stories everyone! I’m definitely joining in on this once I have some time to grab photos of my McDyess PC.

Loving the SPx Finite Abra, I’ll for sure have my McDyess copy in my list.

Chris, great Luka cards and a great story, although sad, to go along with your #1. Sometimes it’s those real world connections that make cards so memorable. I lost my mom in 2018 but prior to that I have some fond memories going through my Garbage Pail Kids OS sets I had completed years back. She was the one who originally bought some of those cards for me and essentially started my lifelong obsession with collecting cards lol.

Darz, awesome Penny cards as always! Love that season ticket auto, I always thought that was a stellar designed card.

[ChrisP57]

So sticking with the Mavs theme, these are my Top 10 Dirk cards in my collection. I have so much respect for Dirk and his career. He's a Top 5 favorite player of mine

10 2001-02 Fleer Premium Star Rubies BGS 9.5 (/100)


My most recent pickup. These aren't as heralded as the 90's counterparts, but I still really like the way they look

9 2018-19 Panini Revolution Galactic


Definitely not the most valuable or close to the most valuable but Galactics are so awesome in person.

8 2016-17 Optic Court Kings Gold Holo (/10)


Gold and numbered to 10. I'm a sucker for Gold Prizms (or "holos" as they are called in Optic)

7 2004-05 Topps Chrome Black Refractor PSA 7 (/500)

Not rare by any means, but early 2000's Black Refractors look awesome



6 1998-99 Bowman's Best Refractor RC PSA 9 (/400)


I think Bowman's Best Refractors are pretty underrated compared to Topps Finest and Topps Chrome Refractors. These are shiny and numbered to 400

5 2002-03 Topps Pristine Dirk Nowitzki Die Cut Gold Refractor PSA 9 (/99)


Just a gorgeous Gold Refractor. Really Pops

4 1998-99 Topps Finest Dual Sided Refractor RC




I think the Dual Sided Finest Refractors are super nice. I love both sides have that shine

3 2012-13 Donruss Elite Passing The Torch Dirk/Larry Bird Dual Auto BGS 9.5 (/25)




I absolutely love cards you don't see often and this is one of them. One of the coolest dual autos I have. I know it's a sticker but I don't care. So awesome with two of the greatest to play the game. It was also cool that Larry Bird was there for Dirk's Jersey Retirement.

2 1998-99 Topps Chrome Refractor RC BGS 8.5



This was tough because in my opinion it's THE rookie card to have, or at least Rookie Parallel all respect to his SP Authentic Rookie. I really really love this card but there is one card I just love a little bit more

1 2018-19 Prizm Black Gold Dirk Nowitzki (/5)


This is such a beautiful card. Black Gold's are the most stunning Prizm Parallel there is in my collection and are super hard to come by being numbered to 5. It's also from Dirk's final season so it being from his playing days is a plus. It was tough to choose between this and the Chrome Refractor but the scarcity
and aesthetics put it just a tad over the Chrome Rookie Refractor

[siuwongkee]

Abra, great thread. I was just sharing the SPX Finite on my IG and I was like, it was really an underappreciated set. The chop makes the card look insanely valuable and the pose and everything are so great.

Chris, I love the story. I guess, in many cases the hobby is wrong focusing the chase cards. Call me conventional, I love hearing why a certain card means something an individual. Possibly we are the only people who can echo the stories. When I tell my friends about sports cards, 99% of the time, "Wai you mean a piece of paper worths 10k?" They do not get the joy like, we know this is a 5k card and for whatever reason we get it at $3k. (If you tell your friend they will then ask, "So you sell it now, you will earn $2k easy?") Thank you for the story.

Darz, same taste for Penny, a lot of cards showcase wrinkle on Penny's forehead and it instantly destory the cards. 2 notable examples, 1997 Star Rubies series 1, Penny is like holding the ball and think, "WTF am I doing!", same things for 98 24 KT gold.

[AbraCalabro]

Abra, amazing cards. You ain’t lying that tastes change, I know mine definitely have over the years. That ProMotion auto is actually insane. There are certain dream wants for my Penny pc that I don’t even expend the energy on, because apart from being ghosts they’d also serve as wallet evaporators. That’s one of them.

Thanks dude, appreciate it. I feel the same way about the ProMotion, that's the alpha dog in 90s autos and there were only five players in the set. One of my dream grails from the time I was a kid and was happy to add it years ago. If / when prices tumble, you should definitely grab the Penny...although, I think you're already thinking the same thing.

Speaking of Finite Spectrum, figured you’d get a kick out of this:
6795C163-E42A-465E-AF4D-1248DCAAE883.jpeg

Oh snap, that actually fits perfectly within the buildings lines lmao.

Thank you for the kind words. Off topic a bit, but one of the worst thing that happened to this hobby was basically the death of personal breaks. I have great memories and stories of pulling cards myself and those days are basically over now, as even though I could afford it, it just makes zero sense opening most modern product..even stuff like Hoops and Donruss is just stupidly priced.

Thanks again for sharing and I agree with your point. I wish there was also still variety (competition) and maybe some releases that were dedicated to 90s era players. Everything is massively inflated though, I largely feel the same way about singles as well. I COULD buy stuff, but...for that kind of dough, rather not.

Oh man this is gonna be fun! I'll try to join once i figure out what top 10 to post lol

Abra! I love all the cards you posted. As i've mentioned in the past, Kemp was one of my favorite Non-Celtic to watch back in the day so i really enjoy seeing all these cards.

Chris, Sorry about the loss, Incredible story with you no.1 card. Love hearing cards having real-life significance other than aesthetics and value.

Awesome! Thank you. Looking forward to seeing what you post up! Kemp was a beast, I still go back and watch some of his highlights from time to time. Miss those days.

What a thread and what a couple of lists to start with! I felt like I was on the edge of my seat throughout both lists.

Abra, you're a freaking storyteller, seamlessly oscillating between hilarity and enlightening analysis of beautiful cards. Very cool to see cards ranging the span of 20 years, though with the notable absence of any cards from 1998-2016. I'm really tripping out from the photos on the front and back of the Credentials. That isn't the same photo right? The Sonics patch on the shorts is missing and it looks like Kemp's body is mirrored but his jersey is oriented the same way. Again, I'm tripping. My favorites are all the die cuts, the Flair Legacy, and that chunky flawless patch. Probably my two favorite card types. I've never noticed how intricate that SP Authentic was until reading your descriptions. There are so many thoughtful design elements without it feeling too busy. You are masterful at visually presenting your cards. Seeing the front and back side by side really gives an appreciation for the totality of the card, such as the way the photos and the windows/framing on the SP authentic flow together from front to back.

I'll have to start trying to spam this thread with Kings players, though I think the only person I'll be able to get up to ten with is Haliburton.

Hey bro, thanks a lot. I was going to do some runner up cards which would've had samplings from 98 onward, but I decided not to. Excluded star rubies and credentials cards in favor of the ones I did post. We have to stick to what we truly like, otherwise we'd get caught up in the waves of hype. The Flair Legacy is definitely one of my favorites, they're truly something to witness in hand and the Flawless patch, I ripped that one off eBay as soon as I saw it. I was amped up to finally add a SICK dual patch card of the Reignman. Looking forward to your Haliburton stuff, I also wanted to post other players, but not enough cards of any one else lol.

Straight away you can probably tell I love loud designs. It was tough leaving some cards off, so much so that I'm confident this list would look slightly different if I made it on another day. Some honorable mentions would go to his 96-97 Ultra Platinum Medallion (non-subset card), 97-98 Ultra Ultrabilities, 97-98 Skybox Premium Golden Touch, 97-98 Z-Force Rave (series 1), and 97-98 Showcase Row 0.
Admittedly, it's also not a purely aesthetic list, which is something I used to be a real stickler for and tried to remove the very real rarity bias you see on display everywhere now (including this post). For example, his 1996 SPx Gold parallel is one of my favorite looking cards of all time. But it would also be that much harder to attempt a top 10 on pure looks, as I'd probably have to narrow the field from 100 instead of 20.

6. 1996 SPx NNO Auto (have matching cert)


5. 96-97 E-X2000 Credentials


1. 97-98 UD3 Season Ticket Auto

Amazing cards and stories everyone! I’m definitely joining in on this once I have some time to grab photos of my McDyess PC.

Loving the SPx Finite Abra, I’ll for sure have my McDyess copy in my list.

Thanks man, looking forward to seeing some Dice! One of my favorites as a kid and an absolute powerhouse dunker. I hope to add some nice Dice for a little mini PC in the future...and KG...and Penny...and TMac...and so on and so on lol.

So sticking with the Mavs theme, these are my Top 10 Dirk cards in my collection. I have so much respect for Dirk and his career. He's a Top 5 favorite player of mine

7 2004-05 Topps Chrome Black Refractor PSA 7 (/500)

Not rare by any means, but early 2000's Black Refractors look awesome


1 2018-19 Prizm Black Gold Dirk Nowitzki (/5)


This is such a beautiful card. Black Gold's are the most stunning Prizm Parallel there is in my collection and are super hard to come by being numbered to 5. It's also from Dirk's final season so it being from his playing days is a plus. It was tough to choose between this and the Chrome Refractor but the scarcity
and aesthetics put it just a tad over the Chrome Rookie Refractor

Easily my two favorites of the bunch. The black refractor is framed nicely and with the gold, well...you have the best of both worlds here.

Abra, great thread. I was just sharing the SPX Finite on my IG and I was like, it was really an underappreciated set. The chop makes the card look insanely valuable and the pose and everything are so great.

Thank you. Yes, I think the same. This set has a lot of great photos with dynamic action going on and they truly stand out. This is another case of Upper Deck doing a lot with simple lines, shapes and fonts, I think that even the back design / layout of these cards constitutes a work of art.


Thanks for the looks guys and even more so, for posting. Can't wait to see what else gets shared and you've all nudged me with some inspiration to build mini PCs of another..............or several players from back in the day. I'm sure I'll get over it when I see prices.

[Cardiac kemba pc]

Some terrific cards in this thread!

As the name suggest my primary collection is focused around Kemba Walker. Thus all panini era cards. Whilst not the best manufacturer imo, the cards noted in my current top 10 keep me thoroughly happy.

10. 2015 Galactic. The first and the best!

9. Totally certified mirror gold /10 diecut. First and only. Immaculate shine.

8. 2015 spectra nebula 1/1. The first panini nebula.

7. 2017 status Kaleidoscope 1/1. Also the first.

6. 2017 prizm black 1/1. The first 1/1 I owned.

5. 2016 optic gold vinyl. The first

4. 2018 immaculate logoman GU 1/1. His last hornets issued logoman.

3. 2013 black prizm 1/1 hobby release. This is the first for basketball and also the best.

2. 2012 gold prizm bgs 9.5 /10. I picked this up during the time of the releases 10th anniversary and was at the same time kemba made a brief stint with the Mavs scoring +30 points. (Exciting time)

1. 2012 Immaculate 1/1 player worn logoman AU. This is the holy grail of my PC. I'd say it is Kembas best card ever made. He has a NT logoman RPA however it's horizontal and therefore not as desirable to me. I gave up my MJ 86 fleer plus cash for this one...yes you heard me I traded a jordan for Kemba. I figured a 1/1 it literally was a once in a lifetime opportunity to pickup the best card of my favourite player of all time. I don't regret it and glad I did it and just adds to the story.

Thanks for checking them out.

[Hondo]

What a Kemba collection! Wow!

[darz90scardz]

Um, wow. What Hondo said. Those are some incredible Kembas.

@chrisp
Those are some of my favorite Dirk refractors. What’s great about refs of the 98 rookie class is they’ll never green.
And I love seeing reverse shots of the no-protectors. This might seem like a reach to some, but I’m a big fan of checklist refractors and it’s a similar aesthetic to me with all the text. Plus the added benefit of a player image. So nice.

[Cardiac kemba pc]

What a Kemba collection! Wow!

Thank you!

[SacKingsCards]

Straight away you can probably tell I love loud designs. It was tough leaving some cards off, so much so that I'm confident this list would look slightly different if I made it on another day. Some honorable mentions would go to his 96-97 Ultra Platinum Medallion (non-subset card), 97-98 Ultra Ultrabilities, 97-98 Skybox Premium Golden Touch, 97-98 Z-Force Rave (series 1), and 97-98 Showcase Row 0.
Admittedly, it's also not a purely aesthetic list, which is something I used to be a real stickler for and tried to remove the very real rarity bias you see on display everywhere now (including this post). For example, his 1996 SPx Gold parallel is one of my favorite looking cards of all time. But it would also be that much harder to attempt a top 10 on pure looks, as I'd probably have to narrow the field from 100 instead of 20.

10. 97-98 Finest Silver Embossed Refractor


8. 97-98 Ultra Star Power Supreme


4. 96-97 UD3 Court Commemoratives Auto


1. 97-98 UD3 Season Ticket Auto

Great group of ten! Apparently I like loud designs too, along with clean autos, because these four stand out to me. The effects on the 97 Finest and Star Power are beautiful and the Star Power is so unique. I'm unfamiliar with UD3 but it looks like they did autos right; those are so clean.

So sticking with the Mavs theme, these are my Top 10 Dirk cards in my collection. I have so much respect for Dirk and his career. He's a Top 5 favorite player of mine

10 2001-02 Fleer Premium Star Rubies BGS 9.5 (/100)


My most recent pickup. These aren't as heralded as the 90's counterparts, but I still really like the way they look

7 2004-05 Topps Chrome Black Refractor PSA 7 (/500)

Not rare by any means, but early 2000's Black Refractors look awesome


4 1998-99 Topps Finest Dual Sided Refractor RC




I think the Dual Sided Finest Refractors are super nice. I love both sides have that shine

1 2018-19 Prizm Black Gold Dirk Nowitzki (/5)


This is such a beautiful card. Black Gold's are the most stunning Prizm Parallel there is in my collection and are super hard to come by being numbered to 5. It's also from Dirk's final season so it being from his playing days is a plus. It was tough to choose between this and the Chrome Refractor but the scarcity
and aesthetics put it just a tad over the Chrome Rookie Refractor

I don't wanna comment on everything, but all such great cards. I agree with you about the early 2000s rubies, though I prefer the green of the emeralds. I always found it a little funny that people ooh and ahh about the 90s versions so much and couldn't care less about the early 2000s iterations. I'm going for the 02-03 team set. Just need the CWebb emerald. The photography on those premiums and the chrome refractors, including your black, are usually top notch as well.

I didn't know the Finest refractor RC was refracted on both sides. Is that a Dirk specific thing? Unique to that year? All 90s Finests? Finally, in regards to your Prizm black gold, great description of that card. Dirk's final season and Luka's rookie year (always found that cool), the last year that before I think Panini's designs really started to fall off as a whole, and I feel like the black gold does a good job of bringing together the beauty of the gold /10 and the black 1/1. Awesome card man!

Some terrific cards in this thread!

As the name suggest my primary collection is focused around Kemba Walker. Thus all panini era cards. Whilst not the best manufacturer imo, the cards noted in my current top 10 keep me thoroughly happy.

10. 2015 Galactic. The first and the best!

9. Totally certified mirror gold /10 diecut. First and only. Immaculate shine.

8. 2015 spectra nebula 1/1. The first panini nebula.

7. 2017 status Kaleidoscope 1/1. Also the first.

6. 2017 prizm black 1/1. The first 1/1 I owned.

5. 2016 optic gold vinyl. The first

4. 2018 immaculate logoman GU 1/1. His last hornets issued logoman.

3. 2013 black prizm 1/1 hobby release. This is the first for basketball and also the best.

2. 2012 gold prizm bgs 9.5 /10. I picked this up during the time of the releases 10th anniversary and was at the same time kemba made a brief stint with the Mavs scoring +30 points. (Exciting time)

1. 2012 Immaculate 1/1 player worn logoman AU. This is the holy grail of my PC. I'd say it is Kembas best card ever made. He has a NT logoman RPA however it's horizontal and therefore not as desirable to me. I gave up my MJ 86 fleer plus cash for this one...yes you heard me I traded a jordan for Kemba. I figured a 1/1 it literally was a once in a lifetime opportunity to pickup the best card of my favourite player of all time. I don't regret it and glad I did it and just adds to the story.

Thanks for checking them out.

Dude now that is a modern player super collection!! All those 1/1s and logomen I think the logomen take the cake; I do love the photos on the 16 optic and 17 status too. I love the story of obtaining your 2012 immaculate logoman. That's quintissential collecting to me. Regardless of player, set, value, etc. you traded a card you had for one you wanted more that may have been impossible to obtain otherwise. Great story!

[ChrisP57]

Some terrific cards in this thread!

As the name suggest my primary collection is focused around Kemba Walker. Thus all panini era cards. Whilst not the best manufacturer imo, the cards noted in my current top 10 keep me thoroughly happy.

10. 2015 Galactic. The first and the best!

9. Totally certified mirror gold /10 diecut. First and only. Immaculate shine.

8. 2015 spectra nebula 1/1. The first panini nebula.

7. 2017 status Kaleidoscope 1/1. Also the first.

6. 2017 prizm black 1/1. The first 1/1 I owned.

5. 2016 optic gold vinyl. The first

4. 2018 immaculate logoman GU 1/1. His last hornets issued logoman.

3. 2013 black prizm 1/1 hobby release. This is the first for basketball and also the best.

2. 2012 gold prizm bgs 9.5 /10. I picked this up during the time of the releases 10th anniversary and was at the same time kemba made a brief stint with the Mavs scoring +30 points. (Exciting time)

1. 2012 Immaculate 1/1 player worn logoman AU. This is the holy grail of my PC. I'd say it is Kembas best card ever made. He has a NT logoman RPA however it's horizontal and therefore not as desirable to me. I gave up my MJ 86 fleer plus cash for this one...yes you heard me I traded a jordan for Kemba. I figured a 1/1 it literally was a once in a lifetime opportunity to pickup the best card of my favourite player of all time. I don't regret it and glad I did it and just adds to the story.

Thanks for checking them out.

This is a top end PC!

[darz90scardz]

Thank you for the kind words! I have a few other players (including Penny, but I doubt my top 10 will come close to what you have!) that I'll be sharing when time permits.

Can't wait to see it, there's so many other cards I wish I could've included, I bet there's a lot of crossover into your list.

Darz, awesome Penny cards as always! Love that season ticket auto, I always thought that was a stellar designed card.

I lucked out with that one, for sure. IG seller had 2 copies that he graded, I opted for the one with lower grade / better auto. I'm pretty sure that's the only time I've ever done a cash + trade deal.

Darz, same taste for Penny, a lot of cards showcase wrinkle on Penny's forehead and it instantly destory the cards. 2 notable examples, 1997 Star Rubies series 1, Penny is like holding the ball and think, "WTF am I doing!", same things for 98 24 KT gold.

Lmao, instantly thought of his Fleer Brilliants before even getting to the end of your sentence.

Thanks dude, appreciate it. I feel the same way about the ProMotion, that's the alpha dog in 90s autos and there were only five players in the set. One of my dream grails from the time I was a kid and was happy to add it years ago. If / when prices tumble, you should definitely grab the Penny...although, I think you're already thinking the same thing.

What year did you grab the Kemp? But yea, I definitely have that in mind. I love how the matching blue looks on the Penny. Here's to hoping!

Great group of ten! Apparently I like loud designs too, along with clean autos, because these four stand out to me. The effects on the 97 Finest and Star Power are beautiful and the Star Power is so unique. I'm unfamiliar with UD3 but it looks like they did autos right; those are so clean.

Loud & proud baby. I'd def check out 96-97 and 97-98 UD3, you'll probably love the designs. Such a cool and unique product, the base cards themselves were intended to look like inserts.

[ChrisP57]

So admittedly my Penny PC isn't the greatest. Unfortunately, I sold the bulk of my Penny PC along with everything else in 2011 and got out of collecting for 5 years before coming back in 2016. I've picked up some things here and there, but it will never compare to my original collection.
Still, I have some decent stuff I believe. Here is are my top 10 Pennys

10-1993-94 Topps FInest RC


I know on it's face this seems underwhelming. It's not even the refractor! But, this has a ton of sentimental value to me as it's the card that my parents bought me for Christmas when I was 10 years old. I'll always cherish this card, because my parents, who knew little to nothing about cards, went to the trouble of going to our local flea market to find one and pick it up. I believe they paid $10, which is actually a pretty good price at the time. There was no Ebay, so finding a Penny Finest, especially in Corpus Christi, Texas, wasn't the easiest thing to do. I may have sold a lot of my original collection, but this was something I could never sell

9-2007-08 Topps Chrome White Refractor (/99)


I love this card for a ton of reasons. It's kinda crazy to think that despite all of his injuries, Penny actually played into KD's rookie season. His brief stint with the Heat would be his final games of his career. I always found it bizarre that they waived him for Luke Jackson, when I thought he was playing decent enough to keep a roster spot. I love the White Refractor as well.

8-2015-16 Panini Immaculate Sneaker Swatches (/44)


This card is THICKKKKK lol. The uniqueness of being a swatch from a game used shoe puts this on my Top 10 list

7-2000-01 Upper Deck Game Jersey Autograph


Another card I kept from my original collection, on card auto and a swatch of a Penny Hardaway Game Used Suns Jersey. Although I much prefer the 1997-1999 versions of UD Game Jerseys, this would kind of be the last year I felt these were special pulls as Memorabilia cards became more and more common.

6-2016-17 Donruss Optic Dominator Gold Holo Autograph (/10)


It's post playing days, and it's a sticker auto, but I love Gold Prizm/Holos regardless and I actually like the way this insert set looks with the Gold Prizm finish. Doesn't hurt that it's numbered to 10 as well

5-1997-98 Topps Generations Refractor


I've stated this before, but I am a sucker for Die Cuts and I've always loved the Die Cut Sets Topps had in the late 90's. Whether it be this one Rock Stars, one of my favorite inserts of this time. Being a refractor makes it that much sweeter

4-1998-99 Topps Stadium Club Triumvirate Luminescent


Again, another favorite shiny Die Cut of mine in what would be Penny's last year in Orlando.

3- 2013-14 Panini Preferred Silhouettes Auto/Jersey (/25)

I love it's on card and I love that it's a giant swatch.

2-1997-98 Skybox Premium Golden Touch


Maybe it's controversial, but I much prefer this design over the 1996-97. Again, a running theme with the die cut insert, this is my favorite Penny insert in my collection.

#1-1998-99 Fleer Brilliants Gold Parallel (#/99)


Outside of the rarer 24K parallel, this is my favorite 90's parallel of all time. I luckily got this when I first got back into collecting, so it didn't cost my crazy money. I love this card so much and though I'd give anything to own the 24K version, that's way outta my price range and I'm thankful
to have this one at least

[mindcycle]

Great Penny cards Chris! 00-01 game jersey auto and the Fleer Brilliants are my favorites of the bunch. All great cards though.