Do you remember this set? For someone out there, it was worth a million dollars. Not so much for us today. But this set is more complicated than it appears at first, so stick around for our discussion.
On the surface, this is a simple, and common insert set. There are 50 cards in the set and every, single pack of 1997-98 Fleer had one. Collect all 50 cards before August 31, 1998, and you had a chance at winning a million dollars. The first complication that most are aware of, is that cards #46-50 were short prints and much harder to find. And they meant much harder. To this day, these cards are extremely difficult to locate.
The cards contained in packs look like this Kevin Garnett on the reverse. Lots of fine print and “You’re One Step Closer to Winning $1,000,000!” in a white box. But there’s more to collecting a particular player. At the end of the game, a 45-card set could be redeemed for a 50-card redemption set (hence cards #46-50 being so rare), but these cards are different on the back! There were also redemption prize cards and these would say “This is Not An Official Game Card” in that white box. But there’s still more!
Look at the fine print. As most of us know, when you have these games with chances to win money, the law often requires this “No Purchase Necessary” situation. You could write into Fleer and receive a 50-card set without pictures along with the official rules! So there also are non-photo versions of the cards. Not so simple of a set after all!
All that being said, there are nice moments listed on the front of the card. Here we have the date of a game where Kevin Garnett matched his career high of 33 points. His career high now is actually 47 points against Phoenix in 2005.
Just a reminder to not overlook those common cards. And subscribe and collect with us. We’re building sets one card at a time and studying each of those cards in depth, no matter how common.
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