We’re looking at a common card today from 1994-95 Jam Session, but this card is interesting because I believe this is the exact season that it became a “common card.” Price guides often distinguish between between common cards and minor stars, especially during the ’90’s before sets became more selective and compact. For example, in this set, Toni Kukoc and Rik Smits are “minor stars” in a price guide I was browsing. So let’s take a look at this Kevin Edwards where, in this 1994-95 season, he was on track for “minor star” and fell to “common card.” We’ll also talk a little bit about this type of card, the “tall boy,” and 1994-95 Fleer Jam Session in general.
Let’s look at the stats and we’ll see some momentum building here. In his first season with New Jersey, observe the career high in points. He remained near career highs in rebounds, assists and steals. And look at the scoring average…definitely trending in the right direction. Also of note, he started in every game of the season, a fact that Jam Session found notable enough to mention in the informational blurb on the back of the card. But, unfortunately, this was his peak…his best year in the NBA. The next season he would only play 14 games, and he would never play more than 46 games in a season again. His points in ’94-95 were 196 and he would never go above 400 for the rest of his career. It was a partly torn achilles tendon in a game against the Phoenix Suns, a difficult situation to recover from. So to me, this card has a lot of history, although a sad one. We see the momentum and promise going into the season, but his cards from this season were the last where there was the possibility of achieving “minor star” status.
Basketball collectors only have a few chances to collect tall boy cards. By definition, these are 2 1/2″ x 4 11/16″ cards. But it’s easier to think of them as basically adding another third of a standard card length (actually more like 35%, but a third will do). So that’s a tall boy, a standard card plus a third. The only other tall boy we’ve looked at so far is the 1969 Topps Jerry West. And for basketball collector specifically, for tall boys, we have 1969 and 1970 Topps, and that was it for a while. But in the mid-’90’s collectors had the chance to collect tall boys again with these fleer Jam Session cards. Hope you enjoyed! A common card, but one that still captures a moment in basketball history.
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