[hopalong]

Originally Posted by Tallboy

Oh absolutely there are many cards whose designs are really exceptional by the standards of any era.

The way these cards accentuate the dynamism of the sport is something that was basically completely absent from any sports cards I'm aware of before then, and even now, most cards I see from Panini and its competitors don't seem to be thinking about this.

However, the draft rookies (among others) are just plain irritating to me.

Probably the most frustrating thing for me in a given set is when they handle the rookie photos badly. I get that there's a challenge of not having any photos of them playing a live NBA game if the release is early in the calendar, but you have to find a way to do it that isn't ugly...and these are ugly AND make a mockery of the motion theme. We end up just staring at the freaking ball which seems to be radiating out something that's probably cancerous.

Agreed, some of those rookies are atrocious. I do enjoy the back of the Danny Ferry rookie. "Played in Italy". Picture of him in front of the Colosseum. Classic.

Originally Posted by Tallboy

I'm a fan of this one too. You seem to have a really good eye for identifying the aesthetic stuff that feel like they should be more celebrated than they are.

Thanks! I have to admit there's a number of reasons I end up collecting a set. Often, it's because I like the look of it, other times it's because I happen to have one or two of the big/expensive cards and use that as a starting point, and then on a rare occasion it's because I purposely try to get something from a product I haven't collected much of.