Placing it in Context: The 1998-1999 SP Authentic set was skillfully designed to appeal to collectors. The set can be characterized in one word: limited. The set is limited to only 120 cards. Subsets are limited to three: a Michael Jordan subset honoring his second retirement the previous season (cards 1-10), an 80 card base set and finally, 30 “rookie F/X” cards limited in production to 3,500 each. (At least one can hope…see a version without any serial number in the image below!!!) These final cards make completing sets a challenge. The design is “limited” as well, a white background that eliminates the majority of the photograph, forcing the eye towards the player alone. It is this concise, simple nature that has allowed these cards to remain popular with collectors who know a classy set when they see one.
The Card: The Vince Carter rookie card, #95 is clearly the gem of this set. Price guides printed near the date of the card’s production show a huge price discrepancy between the Vince Carter rookie and the rest of the set. The 2001 Standard Catalog of Basketball Cards listed it at $800 with the next most valuable card in the set being $150. In your search for the card, you might find some that are hand-numbered (as opposed to having a printed serial number). These were damaged card replacements from Upper Deck and are legitimate. Some collectors are turned off by the appearance of handwriting on the card, others view it as a curious variation. Another variation, although quite rare, is one that is missing the serial number entirely!!! This can be seen below. The bullet points on the back of the card are important and interesting, especially the reminder that the Raptors acquired Carter through a trade on draft day. It’s also nice to remember his first game as a rookie and the sixteen points he scored. You can see highlights (and all those points) here.
Interesting Price and Sales Details:
- BGS 10: On June 8, 2016 one sold for $650 (eBay item number 381568870602).
- July 24, 2017-Card 2619/3500 was a PSA 9 when it sold on April 3, 2017 on eBay (item 13214746037) but when it was sold on July 24, 2017 (item 401365660583) it was regraded from a PSA 9 to a PSA 10. Think before buying a PSA 10!
- August 20, 2019-Serial number matching jersey number 0015/3500 sells for $4494, a huge premium!!! This was eBay item 352749847524.
- Another Suspicious Resell: Card 1711/3500, a PSA 10, auctioned on eBay as item 351898069910 used to be a BGS 9 when it sold for $76 plus $3 shipping on July 12, 2016. Evidence of using easier grading companies to achieve that elusive perfect score. But the regraded PSA 10 sold for over $160! Think before buying a PSA 10!
In Short: The card is a worthwhile investment not only because of the personality depicted, but because of its limited production and the amount of people attempting to complete the set. The eBay sales history demonstrates this.
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