The toughest modern cards you're still looking for...

[dodgerfanjohn]

I have a few cards that I've been looking for for a very long time:

1994 Fleer Ultra had two insert sets specific to retail boxes that were one per series. These are hard pulls at one per box.

I need the RBI Kings Matt Williams...I've actually never seen one up on ebay.

I also need the Andres Gallaraga On Base leaders. One came up on ebay for the first time in a few years. I put a snipe over $10 on it which I thought was an insane price, but I wanted the card and I figured its worth $10 to cross it off my list for so long. The one initial bid had a max bid higher than that. Go figure

The other really tough ones...and I'm not sure that they were even made...The company Signature Rookies had some really nice insert sets of HOF's and sports heroes of various sports...in particular their Gold Standard set, and the Tetrad Titans insert sets. For those that don't know, SR went down in flames sometime in 1996-1997 because the CEO Tim Flatt was into some shady business practices. However, I do believe most, if not all, of their autos were authentic. Lots have found their way into TPG slabs as authentic. I do know that one of the shady business practices is that the owner or someone close to him absconded with autos that were supposed to be redemptions from packs.

So I assembled the Tetrad Titan from 1994 without too much difficulty, and for not much money. Includes autos of Bruce Jenner, Larry Holmes, Bobby Hull, Bobby Allison, Larry Bird, Isiah Thomas and some other olympians. Also an infamous OJ Simpson auto which I do, and will not, ever own. The 1995 one is only a 5 card set. 3 were easy and inexpensive for what they are...Dennis Rodman, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, and Katarina Witt. The last two...well I don't remember ever seeing them on ebay...

Bob Griese
Roberto Duran

I'd love to own these(if they actually exist). The 1994 ones are nicer and feature easier to read autos.

FWIW, there was a near impossible set of cards to get...the Kromax product had an insert set of 5 autos of all star NBA players..Dominique Wilkins and Tim Hardaway had productions of around 1000. Those pop up on ebay every now and then. However the Scottie Pippen I believe is numbered out of about 30, and the Charles Barkely and Patrick Ewing are numbered out of 5. Those came up a year or two ago on ebay and I think went in the $350-400 range.

[steve B]

Originally Posted by dodgerfanjohn

I have a few cards that I've been looking for for a very long time:

1994 Fleer Ultra had two insert sets specific to retail boxes that were one per series. These are hard pulls at one per box.

I need the RBI Kings Matt Williams...I've actually never seen one up on ebay.

I also need the Andres Gallaraga On Base leaders. One came up on ebay for the first time in a few years. I put a snipe over $10 on it which I thought was an insane price, but I wanted the card and I figured its worth $10 to cross it off my list for so long. The one initial bid had a max bid higher than that. Go figure

The other really tough ones...and I'm not sure that they were even made...The company Signature Rookies had some really nice insert sets of HOF's and sports heroes of various sports...in particular their Gold Standard set, and the Tetrad Titans insert sets. For those that don't know, SR went down in flames sometime in 1996-1997 because the CEO Tim Flatt was into some shady business practices. However, I do believe most, if not all, of their autos were authentic. Lots have found their way into TPG slabs as authentic. I do know that one of the shady business practices is that the owner or someone close to him absconded with autos that were supposed to be redemptions from packs.

So I assembled the Tetrad Titan from 1994 without too much difficulty, and for not much money. Includes autos of Bruce Jenner, Larry Holmes, Bobby Hull, Bobby Allison, Larry Bird, Isiah Thomas and some other olympians. Also an infamous OJ Simpson auto which I do, and will not, ever own. The 1995 one is only a 5 card set. 3 were easy and inexpensive for what they are...Dennis Rodman, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, and Katarina Witt. The last two...well I don't remember ever seeing them on ebay...

Bob Griese
Roberto Duran

I'd love to own these(if they actually exist). The 1994 ones are nicer and feature easier to read autos.

FWIW, there was a near impossible set of cards to get...the Kromax product had an insert set of 5 autos of all star NBA players..Dominique Wilkins and Tim Hardaway had productions of around 1000. Those pop up on ebay every now and then. However the Scottie Pippen I believe is numbered out of about 30, and the Charles Barkely and Patrick Ewing are numbered out of 5. Those came up a year or two ago on ebay and I think went in the $350-400 range.

I knew there had to be someone else collecting Signature rookies.

The 8x10s were plentiful and cheap for a while, but I don't see them anymore. Most weren't numbered but I think they weren't common.

The retail only set was pretty tough too. It looked like a boxed set, but wasn't and had its own inserts. There was a TV shopping version of the same set that had what I think were exclusive signature cards.

There's a lot of their stuff that's not cataloged, and a lot of their sets from the very end that just didn't seem to get totally released. One of the last hockey sets I think was only about 60% signed.
I also think some of their less common stuff was held internally as a golden parachute of sorts. There's a whole class of stuff that I don't ever recall seeing when it was current that showed up a couple years after they closed.

Steve B

[dodgerfanjohn]

Originally Posted by steve B

I knew there had to be someone else collecting Signature rookies.

The 8x10s were plentiful and cheap for a while, but I don't see them anymore. Most weren't numbered but I think they weren't common.

The retail only set was pretty tough too. It looked like a boxed set, but wasn't and had its own inserts. There was a TV shopping version of the same set that had what I think were exclusive signature cards.

There's a lot of their stuff that's not cataloged, and a lot of their sets from the very end that just didn't seem to get totally released. One of the last hockey sets I think was only about 60% signed.
I also think some of their less common stuff was held internally as a golden parachute of sorts. There's a whole class of stuff that I don't ever recall seeing when it was current that showed up a couple years after they closed.

Steve B

What's curious is that some of the stuff that I beleive someone scurried off with has never popped up for sale AFAIK. Or at least not recently. I suspect a lot of redemption items never made it...like you said, nearly half of one set didn't get released.

[DaClyde]

Originally Posted by dodgerfanjohn

I have a few cards that I've been looking for for a very long time:

1994 Fleer Ultra had two insert sets specific to retail boxes that were one per series. These are hard pulls at one per box.

I need the RBI Kings Matt Williams...I've actually never seen one up on ebay.

You mean this? There are three of them on Sportlots.

[ChrisNTx]

I'm hunting 2 modern cards for my Chris Sabo Collection

1995 Upper Deck Electric Diamond GOLD #433
and
1995 Upper Deck Special Edition GOLD #152

obviously both are low end and probably stashed in a 5000 ct monster box somewhere. Believe these came 1 or 2 per box from what I have been able to determine, but they're just not easy to come across. Not many people have the stack of cards 20 years old to look thru.

So similar to others, they're cheaper cards but are some of my white whales to complete my Chris Sabo super collection or regularly issued cards!

[Jantz]

Originally Posted by ChrisNTx

I'm hunting 2 modern cards for my Chris Sabo Collection

1995 Upper Deck Special Edition GOLD #152

There is one for sale on Sportlots

[dodgerfanjohn]

Originally Posted by DaClyde

You mean this? There are three of them on Sportlots.

I actually got that for a good price on ebay eventually. Thank you for the link to that site though.

One thing that concerns me is no picture for any of the cards. For that issue its a concern, not because of condition(its unrealistic that you'll find anything above NrMt because of border chipping out of the pack), but because sellers so often confuse years. In 1994, it was a difficult pull(I believe 1 rbi king per retail box). In 1995, the RBI King insert set was very common...something like 1:6 packs. Sellers mistitle things all the time and without a pic its impossible to veryify.

[egri]

Originally Posted by dodgerfanjohn

One thing that concerns me is no picture for any of the cards. For that issue its a concern, not because of condition (...) Sellers mistitle things all the time and without a pic its impossible to veryify.

A couple months ago, I thought I'd scored a bargain when I picked up a 1953 Topps JW Porter card on sportslots for $1 plus shipping. The seller had listed it's condition as 'Very Good'. I once heard someone say that a card in Poor condition is one that looks like a truck ran over it; I think the condition of my card would be improved if a truck ran over it. There are pictures on my site here if you want to see what I mean. When I sent it to Mr. Porter for him to sign, he felt so bad about its condition that he tossed in his own signed card.

[mrmopar]

2003 Donruss Team Heroes Beckett Sample GOLD Steve Garvey.

If I remember correctly, these sample cards were issued one per Beckett monthly, glued with that rubbery, semi sticky stuff that was meant to allow for no damage and peel right off, to a subscription card. I remember getting a run of several magazines that had these cards in them at the time and they we're also hitting ebay pretty heavy.

This is one that could easily exist but be tucked away in full magazines, tossed by uninterested collectors or perhaps it was never actually made. I have the silver one and the gold shows up on checklists, but i have not seen one offered. i know the gold versions were supposedly made in a fraction of the quantity of silver versions (15% according to an online source), but you'd think someone, somewhere would have one for sale or at least share a photo or mention of it, but no dice. Of course, how many silvers were made to begin with?