Shaq rookie question

metsfan · April 24, 2005 8:40AM

I noticed in the current Tuff Stuff that the 1992-93 U.D. Shaq rookie is worth $50. Then I found out there is a 1a and 1b version of the card. I checked on ebay and the fronts look the same. How can I tell the difference? Thanks

EagleEyeKid · April 24, 2005 8:42AM

The 1A says Draft Pick on top. The 1B says Trade Card on top.

Stone193 · April 24, 2005 9:29AM

Metsfan
My son pulled this from a pack in the 2nd series in 92.

Couldn't find the trade card that was mailed to him...I want to say it has 1b on it?

mike

Southsider · April 24, 2005 10:02AM

The pack-issued card is on top, the trade card is on bottom. It's kinda hard to see, but on the fronts the gold foil is different: It says "Trade Card" on the trade card. In addition to the numbering being different on the backs, the text is also different. Hope this helps.

Stone193 · April 24, 2005 12:15PM

Southsider
Thanx for the scan of the trade card - glad to see that I'm not totally losing my memory.

mike

DirtyHarry · April 24, 2005 2:00PM

Yes - I'm lazy....What are these trading for? Is it worth having them graded if you end up with an 8 or 9? I have a bunch somewhere.

PS - plese excuse if double post.

metsfan · April 24, 2005 8:33PM

Southsider:
Thanks for the scan. I think I pulled one from a pack in '92. I'll have to find it.

Wayne

SoFLPhillyFan · April 24, 2005 8:39PM

Isn't this the 1a? The redemption for the Shaq UD rookie.

How is this for dumb. I pulled this card and never sent it in.

CDsNuts · April 24, 2005 10:06PM

Really a genius marketing strategy by Upper Deck. They didn't have the rights to Shaq yet, but they insert this Trade Card for "The #1 draft pick" at a rate of about 50 per box so collectors get all pumped about the 1000 Shaq Upper Deck rookies they're getting in the mail. Then they insert a slightly different Shaq RC in series two. Amazing. They were the only ones that year that sold the hell out of both series. Hoops had the redemption set card in Series 1 but it was next to impossible to pull. Too bad everything was so overproduced that year (because for once the demand warranted it), because Shaq really doesn't have a rookie that you'd bend over backwards to try and pull now. Also, I can't believe that's the photo/s that Upper Deck finally went with for their most sought after basketball card.

Lee

Southsider · April 24, 2005 10:17PM

I kind of like the picture. But, I also liked when they did a similar multiple action shot with Nolan Ryan in 89.

SoFLPhillyFan · April 24, 2005 11:18PM

I do however have a few graded and ungraded Classic Draft Pick Shaq RCs.

Of course they aren't worth squat either.

Keith

gregmo32 · April 24, 2005 11:22PM

Just as a correction, the #1 Draft Trade Card was not inserted at 50 per box. they were pretty tough and you would get between 0-3 per box of 36 packs as I recall... These cards are very tough to find MINT and PSA is tough on grading them for PSA 10's...

CDsNuts · April 24, 2005 11:28PM

Yes, the 50 per box was an exaggeration. Nothing in the history of cards was ever inserted at a rate of 50 per box. But I do remember getting at least 2 in every box I opened, and in some cases 4 or 5, making it somewhat more common than most of the other cards in the set (or so it seemed). And yes, condition was tough on any UD card with a non-white border back then. What I didn't understand was why UD sent you the Trade card back with a hole punched in it. Did anybody really want the Trade card back?

Lee

Stone193 · April 25, 2005 3:57AM

<< <i>Also, I can't believe that's the photo/s that Upper Deck finally went with for their most sought after basketball card. >>

Lee
If you look at Shaq's RC pics - Skybox, Topps, Hoops, Classic etc. - none are very good IMO- he always has this constipated look on his face and the action is not the best.

I haven't checked the price of Shaq cards but I do remember the bottom fell out on the "trade" card and the regular 2nd series card goes for more money. I want to say the Stadium Club card was the next best in terms of value?

My son collected back then and I have a ton of Shaq crap!

mike

CDsNuts · April 25, 2005 5:57AM

All that Classic stuff makes me cringe when I think about how muh I spent on it. It's like the hobby brainwashed normal-thinking adults into throwing their money into crap that had a 0% chance of holding its value. Remember how much those Manon Rheaume and Desmond Howard 4-sport cards went for? Really, has there ever been a situation where every single one of any overhyped player's cards has held its value? Even with Shaq who was a guaranteed star, there's no way he could've had the career that made his 437 different rookie cards investment worthy. God we were such idiots.

Lee

Stone193 · April 25, 2005 6:25AM

<< <i>God we were such idiots. >>

Lee
But, ahhh, those were the good ole days! There was card shops all over the place, local shows all over town, SCD was delivered "by the pound", QVC, HSN and SAH filled the airways with superfluous crap and Brien Taylor was the next Nolan Ryan!

mike

Knuckles · April 25, 2005 6:38AM

There was even a sports card collector program on TV on a local channel here.. Showing new product.. this and that.. one new show per week, re-runs daily. Yes those were the days.

In '96 a local shop had a pro set burning where they burned hundreds of thousands of pro set cards.. local collectors also threw theirs in.

Robby · April 25, 2005 7:23AM

Is the Shaq Promo Card worth anything , that were passed out to people attending the National Convention ? ..........Robbie

CDsNuts · April 25, 2005 7:49AM

That was the year the hobby completely lost its mind. Everything from Classic to Brien Taylor to Rookie Sensations and Fleer cellos (Phil Plantier went for $25- PHIL PLANTIER!!) to a fmale minor league hockey goalie. Also, don't forget about Wild Card.

Lee

Futureman · April 25, 2005 11:06AM

So which Shaq card is it that books for $50? (I realize that getting $50 is another matter.) I have the trade card (and the punched redemption) which I've had since I was 11. How far Shaq has come since my youth: he came into the league endorsing Pepsi and Reebok, clearly a young, marketable super star. Now he's pushing Icy/Hot bandage wraps. Talk about a sign you're getting old!

gregmo32 · April 26, 2005 12:12AM

This is a good place for a question :
Has anyone noticed that the 1992 Fleer Shaquille Oneal PSA 10 is far far and away the lowest population of any of his RC's. The numbers are staggering, even when compared to his 1992 Upper Deck #1.
Last time I looked there were less than half as many of those as there are any others in PSA 10 condition.
I will check the numbers, but I believe there are only about 50 PSA 10's...

gregmo32 · April 26, 2005 12:17AM

Here are the numbers from the Population Report:

1992 Fleer Shaquille Oneal PSA 10 ------------- 62
1992 Upper Deck #1 Shaquille Oneal PSA 10 ----122
1992 Upper Deck #1b Shaquille Oneal PSA 10 ---74
1986 Fleer Micheal Jordan RC PSA 10 --------------102

I think this card is EXTREMELY underrated and am always looking to buy and sell copies of it....
gregmo32@aol.com

CDsNuts · April 26, 2005 1:54AM

That is pretty odd. I would think that the UD would be more condition sensitive with the black flaky border. Maybe some collectors feel it's not a valuable enough card to send in. I always liked the Stadium Club the best, but that's just me.

Southsider · April 26, 2005 4:02AM

The numbers don't tell the whole story unless you look at the percentages. The Fleer card isn't as valuable, there isn't much demand, and it's UGLY. Seriously, gold-borders?

Percentage of 10's to total sub:

Fleer: 62 10's out of 1003 total subs = 6.18%
UD 1: 122 10's out of 6227 total subs = 1.96%
UD 1b: 74 10's out of 3737 total subs = 1.98%

By the way the Jordan RC:

102 10's out of 10,763 total subs! = 0.948%

Shaq rookie question

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