My Attempt to Photomatch Some of Panini's Clyde Drexler Relics

[Deadshot]

I've looked at enough patches over the years that...whenever I see something I can't immediately identify, it becomes my own little challenge to figure ouw where it came from. Recently, I've taken this game to the next level by trying to find where Panini purchased the source material as well. I recently saw this 2018-19 Status Clyde Drexler relic pop up on COMC. I had my suspicions it was from a warm-up, because the material was different than the usual Rockets mesh.



A quick Google search revealed this jersey/warm-up combo from Grey Flannel, one of Panini's favorite spots to buy source material (https://www.greyflannelauctions.com/199 ... 32366.aspx). I noticed the bidding ended August 2014, so I set out to see if they started using these relics sometime during the 2014-15 release calendar.




I noticed Excalibur had relics with the black stripes like on the warm-ups. Crown Royale Silhouettes had some patches that could possibly match the jersey. But the key was found in 2014-15 Luxe. All of the /15 and /10 parallels I found contained pieces from the collar, sleeves, and bottom of the warm-up. Additionally, the /5 and 1/1 parallels contained pieces from the Rockets logo on the chest.



While I was piecing this research together, the 5/5 came up for sale on eBay, so I went ahead and bought it.



Subsequent releases contained more of these pieces, like National Treasures and the inaugural release of Panini Eminence.



The most helpful pieces showed up in 2014-15 Flawless. There were 3 nameplate pieces that I was able to match up exactly to the jersey sold on Grey Flannel (by using mesh holes).



I did the same with a couple of the number pieces.



This let me know that Panini did in fact purchase the Grey Flannel jersey. My next task is to try and photomatch it to a game. You might be surprised to see what I found...stay tuned!

In the meantime, here's a video I made talking through some of this information in more detail!

[SacKingsCards]

Excellent stuff as always, I appreciate having someone to model for me how to be a patch collector really looking forward to part 2 and photomatching to which games the jersey was worn in.

[donny_bobes]

Wow, this is a really great video! I love your analysis on when the warmup was starting to get used in cards and where the mesh holes aligned. I've seen these warmup pieces pop up online often but I never really thought twice about which patches were which. Cant wait for part 2!

[mindcycle]

Another great photomatch video, really enjoyed it! Appreciate all the work you put into these.

[Deadshot]

Wow, this is a really great video! I love your analysis on when the warmup was starting to get used in cards and where the mesh holes aligned. I've seen these warmup pieces pop up online often but I never really thought twice about which patches were which. Cant wait for part 2!

Thank you! Expect to see Part 2 in about a week!

Another great photomatch video, really enjoyed it! Appreciate all the work you put into these.

Some day I'll do another Nuggets player. Alex English has some pretty insane patches (I still need to get one, too).

Excellent stuff as always, I appreciate having someone to model for me how to be a patch collector really looking forward to part 2 and photomatching to which games the jersey was worn in.

Thank you! Just trying to help counter a lot of the misinformation that's out there!

[Deadshot]

I know you guys have been on pins and needles to read Part 2...I kid, I kid.

When I last left off, I had matched some of Panini's Clyde Drexler relics to a jersey that sold on Grey Flannel. My next step was to see if I could find out what game that jersey was used in.

I was shocked at how few good Clyde Drexler Rockets pictures there were on Getty Images. This left me scrambling to find other sources. I Googled "drexler rockets 1996" and quite a few sports cards came up in the results. From there, I went to COMC and zeroed in on a card from 1995-96 Fleer.



With a good enough scan, I could zoom in on the mesh holes. It seemed improbable, but in this case it worked! Not only that...but the stripes and mesh holes matched!



The only problem was, I couldn't tell what game was pictured on the card. So I tried the same thing with 1995-96 Stadium Club. Same result! The mesh holes matched, but I couldn't date the card image itself.



This led me to YouTube to look for possible matches. I started with a Bulls game. Using the nameplate on the back, I could tell that this game was NOT a match.



Next, I looked at a Warriors game from 11/3/95. The front stripes matched up. And the lettering on the back matched up as well!



This made me think about the TSC card again. Most of the Rockets photos from this set were from early November (specifically a Bucks game on 11/7/95).

I don't have 100% proof, but the clues all line up where this jersey was used in the first week of November for multiple games, including the 11/3 and 11/7 games referenced above.



What do you think?

If you'd like to see me run through this in even more detail, check out the video I posted to my YouTube this morning!

[SacKingsCards]

Now that is some good Sunday morning entertainment

[donny_bobes]

Damn!!! Incredible research once again, I love it.