Welcome to Cataloged Clutter! No card is too common here! We try to give each and every one a video of its own!
This is the first card from ’97-98 Metal Universe Championship in our video collection, the #41 Kevin Garnett. We already looked at a Vin Baker from ’97-98 Metal Universe. So while we look at this fun Kevin Garnett card, we’ll have a refresher on what was happening with these two ’97-98 Metal sets, Metal Universe and Metal Universe Championship. The 1997-98 cards were the first with “Universe” attached to the Metal brand name. The addition of “universe” to the set name meant a lot more variation and freedom in the designs. Sometimes they were abstract and “out-of-this-world,” and other times they were literally out-of-this-world with players flying through space. So what’s the difference in the two sets, Metal Universe and Metal Universe Championship? First, the basics… The 125-card Metal Universe arrived on the market when a Series I would and the 100-card Metal Universe Championship arrived when a Series II would. Sometimes Metal Universe Championship will be referred to as a Series II, for good reason. Look at the back… Below the copyright we have the brand, a small “2”, and the season. The “2” kind of implies that Fleer was thinking of this as a second series. If you’re unsure which set your card comes from, look for that “1” or “2” on the back. But they are separate sets, individually numbered.
Next differences in design. We already mentioned that with Universe, there was a lot more freedom in design. In fact, the design is so important to this set that Metal Universe even lists the artists on the back of the card. That’s a difference between the sets. Metal Universe Championship does not list the artist. Also, Metal Universe Championship, the second set, has a pattern to the designs. Veteran players are placed into a landscape here on Earth, while the rookies get the intergalactic, outer space background. Looks like Kevin Garnett is stuck playing ball on a construction site. There were two different groups of these. Metal Universe Championship also has this extra profile not found in the first Metal Universe set. It comes from the photo on the back of the card.
Finally, the Precious Metal Gems inserts are different for the two different sets as well. It’s the first Metal Universe that has the gems numbered to 100 where the first ten are on a green background with the rest being red. We all saw some of those auction prices. The Precious Metal Gems from this second Metal Universe Championship don’t differ in design, but they’re still very rare, with only 50 of each card printed.
Before we go, check out Garnett’s scoring average improvement in 1996-97, now up to 17 ppg. No coincidence that this was the first season that the Timberwolves made the playoffs.
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