After Pinnacle’s first WNBA set in 1997 (the cards-in-a-can), the Fleer/Skybox company brought out two sets in 1999, a Hoops WNBA series, as well as this 1999 Ultra WNBA set.
Corporate Drama: First, a brief tangent about the Fleer/Skybox merger… Marvel Entertainment had purchased Fleer in 1992 and Skybox in 1995 bringing these two companies under the same umbrella. Fleer/Skybox was sold to another company in February 1999. So both of these WNBA sets are products of this new corporate structure. The Ultra set arrived after the Hoops set in late August 1999 trying to catch the marketing tailwinds of the WNBA Finals getting underway.
As mentioned earlier, these sets are important in and of themselves because, although Pinnacle has the title of “first WNBA cards,” these sets were of a higher material quality. The 1999 Ultra WNBA set contains 125 cards (90 base, 10 All-WNBA, and 25 rookies) forming a nice, compact set. The rookie cards were made more desirable by a slightly lower placement (1:2 packs). The design is classic Ultra with the same borderless, simple design that Ultra had become known for since the 1992-93 NBA set. Rookies are distinguished by a border on the bottom in the color of the team logo and the word “Rookies” in foil within.
The landmark card in this set is the Chamique Holdsclaw rookie card, #102. Other highlights include the first card of the set, Sheryl Swoopes, base cards of Cynthia Cooper, Lisa Leslie and Rebecca Lobo, and the Dawn Staley rookie card.
Information on individual cards:
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