Hey all - trying something new on Mantel. Posting a BUY ad. I’m looking to buy or trade for NBA, baseball or football E-X essential credentials. Looking for 1997, 1998, 1999, and 2003-04 and 2006 specifically but will look at any. Especially stars. Shoot me a DM if you have any! Picture is for attention (but this is one I have in my collection).

How soon people forget… Nomar and Jeter both entered the league around the same time. There was a debate over which player was better at the time. Sadly, Garciaparra‘s injuries prevented him from having as distinguished a career as Derek Jeter. Still, for a time, Nomar’s cards, especially his 1992 tops of gold traded, were the hottest cards on earth. I love being able to collect this rare parallel at a reasonable price.

While this set is in the 2000’s, many still consider it as part of the 90’s insert craze due to the legacy of the E-X 2000 brand and its ever-popular Essential Credentials Future/Now parallels. The cardboard cut outs laying on colored, thick acetate always stands out as groundbreaking, innovative, fun and aesthetically pleasing. I have never pulled a credentials out of a pack. Ever. And boy, I tried! Clearly, boxes now are so far out of my price range that even if you for so lucky as to pull one, you’d have to hit a star to get your money back. And with people CT scanning boxes, probably not a good idea to try! Still, glad I got this one for relatively cheap, compared to today’s prices, about 6 years ago. KG was a hard-nosed trash-talking PF who had inside out moves. Still one of my all-time favorite basketball players. Need to get this one graded as they are very condition sensitive, especially on the surface.

Got this in a pack at Legends of the Game in Toronto way back in the day. Had it graded a few years back and it’s still the highest grade for the card. Miss LotG!

Grade or Not?