1998-99 Hoops Slam Bams Sample

[tapaz]

Hi Blowout Card Forum Fam,

I recently picked up this card and after a ton of research I couldn't find anything about the origins of this card, and how it came to have a hole punch, and labeled by BGS as a "sample".

Does anyone here know about these, and can someone shed some light on this card? Is it real? Is it fake?

I think it's real, and might just be a backdoor copy, but I'm no expert.

TIA

[jetta20162]

I think the label on the slab shouldn't matter, you can ask them to write whatever you want, it looks like a backdoor copy. It's still a nice card

[tapaz]

Yea I think it is a backdoor copy as well. I guess I was curious if anyone here had some historical context on what made this a sample, and why it was hole punched, vs. just a regular copy that is whole and missing the serial number?

I'd like to know the story behind that if there is one, and if it was a legitimate "sample" that was given out for promotion or something, rather than a copy that leaked onto the market after the Fleer backruptcy.

[Archangel1775]

Originally Posted by tapaz

Yea I think it is a backdoor copy as well. I guess I was curious if anyone here had some historical context on what made this a sample, and why it was hole punched, vs. just a regular copy that is whole and missing the serial number?

I'd like to know the story behind that if there is one, and if it was a legitimate "sample" that was given out for promotion or something, rather than a copy that leaked onto the market after the Fleer backruptcy.

I know with Donruss/Pinnacle in the mid to late 90's, they did have "salesman" samples, if that's the proper word to use, that were clipped at the corner. I haven't looked deeper into it to look for other differences. I recently bought a collection that must have been a card shops at one point with a lot of "SAMPLE" and those clipped cards. I believe the clipped cards were in a folder or binder. Of course, they aren't Upper Deck, so not sure the history on yours.

[tapaz]

Thanks for sharing. Curious if others know anything or have an opinion.

[Nomad]

Originally Posted by jetta20162

I think the label on the slab shouldn't matter, you can ask them to write whatever you want, it looks like a backdoor copy. It's still a nice card

I think this is old Beckett policy? I remember when I found the silver Kobe Beckett, probably because of this misleading practice, was no longer grading errors at all.

They could have simply researched backdoor sets and had some nomenclature for those.

Lack of a standard ruined potentially the funnest part of the hobby.

I know CSG, probably in response to this dreck, were inflexible on their "wrong foil color" nomenclature, even if it sounded biased.

I propose a clear standard across the hobby that has indicators such as "sample" "backdoor" "sheet cut" and "error" (anything pack pulled) to allow for grading of any card legitimately produced and let collectors understand the type of card in hand.

[minnesotachill]

I'd classify these as a salesman sample type card as well.

I owned the complete set /250 many years ago. They are definitely legit. Fleer clearly did not want people adding fake serial #s to them, hence the hole punches.

[tapaz]

Thanks. Yea everything I've heard so far is what I imagined, and others have shared.

I'm wondering if there are others who can chime in who know with more certainty how cards like this came to be.

I know the company had backup copies in the event one was damaged, etc., similar to Panini black box 1/1's of a card like a cracked ice, that is not numbered for example.

But yea, just curious more about the back story of these as much as possible to help differentiate it between the true backdoor copies that someone might have tried to stamp the number, etc.