Shaquille O’Neal and Alonzo Mourning rookie cards energized the hobby in 1992-93. Topps and Fleer even entered two sets into the market, introducing the “premium set” to collecting, Topps with Stadium Club and Fleer with Ultra. These Ultra cards were glossy, full-bleed action photos with player and team names tucked discreetly below a gold-foil stripe on the bottom to maximize the photo. The green area at the bottom was referred to as “marbleized” in advertisements for this set. Knowing that collectors would be chasing those rookie cards, Ultra made sure you knew you had a rookie card with a gold-foil ribbon that says “Rookie” below the brand logo. Although with Shaquille O’Neal, this probably wasn’t necessary… The reverse of the Ultra cards was very nice. There were two photos of the player, one action and one close-up, against a basketball court background. The close-up is a great look at a 20-21 year old Shaquille O’Neal.
Ultra, at 375 cards, was a bit more condensed than the sprawling early ’90’s junk wax. And the two Series were balanced, 200 cards in Series I and 175 in Series II. This avoided the problem ’92-93 Skybox had where Series II packs seemed like they contained the same cards over and over again. But what can you expect when only 86 of the 413 cards were in Series II. You can watch box breaks on YouTube today and see people chasing the Shaq Skybox rookie only to get frustrating getting so many duplicates. Series II Ultra was loaded with rookies, more than 40 of them… This #328 Shaquille O’Neal rookie is not only the most sought after rookie, but probably the most valuable card in the whole ’92-93 Ultra set.
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