If you’re opening packs of ’92-93 Stadium Club cards, other than the Beam Team cards, you’re looking for one of two things…the Shaq rookie card or this #297 Alonzo Mourning rookie card. Both appeared in the 200-card Series II. The chase was on for these two rookies for ’92-93. It’s part of the reason Topps returned after a long hiatus after their 1981-82 set. As with all of the Stadium Club cards, the design is all about the full-bleed photograph with everything else minimized. The only items intruding on that photograph are the Stadium Club logo and the “’92 Draft Pick” gold foil. As we’ve mentioned before, not all rookies in this set were stamped with this foil, an oversight on Topps’ part. Handle this one with care, collectors! The dark background extending all the way to the edges will show all imperfections. Very difficult to find this looking perfect.
On the reverse, as with the Shaq rookie, “The Sporting News Skills Rating System” has a ranking for “Intimidation.” This was category and ranking is rarely seen on cards in this set. It was reserved to highlight only the most dominant cards. Shaquille O’Neal’s rookie has an “Intimidation” ranking as well. But Latrell Sprewell’s rookie doesn’t have this…neither does the Jordan card from this set… Mourning deserves it because, as the card says right below, he was the NCAA’s all-time leading shot blocker. And Mourning and Patrick Ewing were the only two Georgetown players with at least 2,000 points and 1,000 rebounds in their college career.
Whether it’s this card or the regular 1992-93 Topps rookie seen on the reverse here, all collectors should have an Alonzo Mourning rookie in their collection!
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