Regular 1996-97 Upper Deck…just a standard Upper Deck issue, two 180 card series. Wrong! I don’t know why this set doesn’t get more discussion. They dated and described every photo on the cards. Again, every photo is, as the Upper Deck advertising says, “game-dated” with information. Isn’t that why we collect? Memories, information, history! Companies try different ideas, but rarely do they involve this much more work for employees. This year, they brought back a border, bronze and silver foil with a basketball texture on the gold, nicely done keeping the team logo and even the Upper Deck logo unified with this same foil. Player name and position are very minimal, but also in the same small white font is a description of the game from every photograph…did I mention that yet? Yes, it clutters the front a little bit, but this is the first time a company tried this, and I really think this is a big deal. At least for those of us that like to spend time with and study all of our cards.
On this Kevin Garnett card, we have an image from a solid performance. Fourteen points and nine rebounds on November 5, 1996 when the Timberwolves just topped the Suns by only three points. The backs are nice. Fun pre-game picture of Garnett in this one. They mention that, at the time, he was the youngest player in the NBA as well as his High School Player of the Year award. But the backs are secondary here.
A short discussion this time, but in my opinion, this set deserves a lot of respect from collectors for those game-dated photographs. Really opens up a whole new world of history, memories and learning for collectors!
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