Hobby Library

1992 SkyBox NBA Trading Card T-Shirts – Rare Collectibles from the ’90s

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SkyBox turned their cards into collectible T-shirts in 1992. Originally featuring 22 players, these sold out quickly—Today, if you’re lucky enough to find one, be prepared to pay a premium for this wearable slice of ’90s card culture.

I learned about these through the April 1992 issue of Trading Cards Magazine. Rick Celum used to write a piece called “Hot off the Presses,” where he shared current events about notable collectibles. Here’s an example image from the article and the words he wrote about them. I’d love to find a shirt with that Dee Brown card!

Unfortunately, I don’t know what 22 stars were first made available or who the list expanded to if you’re looking for a childhood favorite. But, as I said in the intro, no matter the player, these T-shirts aren’t cheap today.

This Larry Bird was listed on eBay in November 2024 for $120.

The seller of this XL Jordan T-shirt wants $600 for it on Etsy (and it’s missing a tag on the bottom front). I did find another example there for just $183, though.

This Magic Johnson Skybox shirt had an auction minimum bid of $150 with a buy-it-now option of $400.

And finally, and more reasonably, this Clyde Drexler shirt sold for $50 in October 2024.

If anyone’s got a stash of these shirts, fresh in the box, congrats—you’re sitting on a cotton goldmine!

Revisiting 1912 T202 Hassan Triple Folders – An Auction Snapshot From 1991

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Back in September 1991, goober’s auction catalog dedicated a full page to 1912 T202 Hassan Triple Folders, with estimated values that might surprise collectors today. Three decades later, I’m taking a look at what those values were back then—and how much they’ve changed in today’s market.

I’m presuming those card conditions are accurate; here’s an approximate comparison of each lot to the most recent sale on PSA’s Auction Prices Realized page (which isn’t as all-inclusive as it used to be but still a decent guide). And as for inflation, $1,000 in 1991 is approximately $2,314 today.

  • 1912 T202 Hassan Triple Folders #7 Street/Johnson $2000-2250; $7,500 PSA 8 in May 2020
  • 1912 T202 Hassan Triple Folders #8 Birmingham/Turner $2000-2200; $990 PSA 8 in May 2020
  • 1912 T202 Hassan Triple Folders #23 Speaker/Wood $700-800; $3,585 PSA 8 in May 2016
  • 1912 T202 Hassan Triple Folders #29a Mathewson/Devlin (Giants) $2250-2500; $3,120 PSA 7 in May 2000
  • 1912 T202 Hassan Triple Folders #29b Devlin (Rustlers)Mathewson $800-900; $6,751 PSA 8 in November 2017
  • 1912 T202 Hassan Triple Folders #29d Mathewson/Meyers $1000-1250; $7,800 PSA 8 in May 2020
  • 1912 T202 Hassan Triple Folders #35 Engle/Speaker $650-700; $1,596 PSA 8 in November 2019
  • 1912 T202 Hassan Triple Folders #39 Cobb/Moriarty $3250-3500; $18,600 PSA 8 in May 2020
  • 1912 T202 Hassan Triple Folders #48g Jennings/McGraw $750-800; $2,880 PSA 8 in April 2020
  • 1912 T202 Hassan Triple Folders #48h Mathewson/Meyers $$800-850; $4,920 PSA 8 in May 2020
  • 1912 T202 Hassan Triple Folders #50b Young/Kling $1000-1250; $6,060 PSA 8 in August 2017
  • 1912 T202 Hassan Triple Folders #75b Cobb/Moriarty $3250-3500; $23,330 PSA 8.5 in August 2018

Generally, the relative prices have held over the last 30 years; happy collecting!

Topps Remembers The Magnificent Multi-Sport Champion Jim Thorpe

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I shared Topps Magazine’s tribute to Willie, Mickey & The Duke in early October. Well, the ‘Topps Remembers’ series continued, and in their final issue (Fall 1993, No. 16), Topps featured a fantastic piece on the legendary multi-sport champion Jim Thorpe!

Given the article, I thought sharing some of his most significant cards made sense. Note that PSA does have a Master set for Thorpe that currently requires 112 cards, though no one currently even has 10% of them.

Today, his two most well-known cards are probably his 1955 Topps All-American card (I highlighted the original wire photo in April 2024) and the 1933 Goudey Sport Kings card.

In the spring of 2016, REA sold this 1955 Topps All-American PSA 9 copy for $5,100.

Heritage sold this PSA 8 1933 Goudey Sport Kings Thorpe card for $7,767 in May 2015.

However, he has a few cards that are much tougher to track down, like this 1916 Famous & Barr card (there are a handful of variations of this card) that Heritage sold for $4,182 in November 2010.

Thorpe also has a Zeenut PCL card; REA sold this one in the spring of 2022 for $39,600.

And if you’re looking for a cheaper Thorpe, I recommend the card he shares with Teddy Ballgame.

Unlicensed Treasures – The 1974 Broder 1957-58 Pacific Coast League Popcorn Baseball Card Set

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A single ad in The Trader Speaks can be a window into a whole new world of vintage cards—like the 1974 Broder Pacific Coast League Popcorn set!

That’s Maury Wills, then of the Seattle Rainiers, pictured in the ad, card #1 in the set.

Today, a “Broder” is often referred to as any unlicensed set, but the Broder’s were actually a father/son duo who made a bunch of unlicensed cards starting in the ’70s through the ’90s.

The 2” x 3” black-and-white 1974 P.C.L. Baseball “Popcorn” Cards set is based on the cards that Seattle Rainiers put in popcorn boxes starting in the mid ’50s. The 1974 set was printed on really thin cardstock, and in sheets that were crudly cut, since you’ll see remnants of other cards on the edges of the cards pretty often. The back’s are pretty minimalistic, too. PSA has only graded a handful, but this Steve Watson was listed on eBay in November 2024 for $28.88.

Beckett says the set has more than 200 cards, and that they were issued over two series that were available for $5.75 each. The advertisement above shows two 55 card series for $4.25, but it’s likely the Trader Speaks ad was for an early release (so maybe the set extended into 1975 since the ad was placed in a December 1974 issue) since TCDB lists 235 cards in its checklist and there are complete sets available on eBay for $450 (with a Best Offer option) advertised as also having 235 cards.

For more about the Broder family, the PCL, and these cards, check out this blog post from Wrigley Roster Jenga and this one from SABR.

Early Wrapper Redemptions – The Limited-Edition 1992 Fleer Rookie Sensations Promo Sheet

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I know 1991 Fleer is the more click-baity set, but how many of you sent in for one of these 1992 Fleer “limited-edition” Rookie Sensations promotional sheets?

I joke about them being “limited” because they’re numbered out of 250k!

I scanned the following advertisement for the sheets from the June 1992 issue of Allan Kaye’s Sports Cards News & Price Guides, which tells us getting one required ten 1992 Fleer Baseball wrappers plus a dollar for shipping and handling.

They showed up to your house in a solid manilla envelope along with the following letter from Fleer.

Beyond the NFL – Topps Football Cards from the AFL, USFL, and CFL

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A couple of older hobby periodicals have so much alpha that I recommend completing the back issue runs to everyone. One example is Topps Magazine; sure, it had a lot of self-advertising, but it also had great pieces like this one about Topps’ Non-NFL sets.

How many of you have all 14 Topps AFL, CFL, and USFL sets Dwight Chapin mentioned in this article?

Now, let’s see how pricey some of the cards mentioned in this Fall 1993 article are today (Near Mint 1993 prices compared to recent PSA sales).

  • 1958 Topps Cookie Gilchrist: $22/$151 PSA 6 in October 2020
  • 1961 Topps Joe Kapp: $20/$109 PSA 8 January 2024
  • 1961 Topps Jack Kemp: $110/$221 PSA 9 June 2020
  • 1964 Topps Checklist #176: $125/$1,480 PSA 9 in May 2024
  • 1965 Topps Joe Namath: $1,250/$36,400 PSA 8 in May 2024
  • 1966 Topps Funny Ring Checklist: $325/$4,446 PSA 8 in September 2023
  • 1984 Topps USFL Jim Kelly: $185/$91 PSA 8 in October 2024

Unopened Packs – To Open Or Not To Open?

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Here’s another great mid-90s article from Sports Cards Magazine about the unopened collecting niche; this one from Doug Koztoski includes info from Mark Murphy, the Baseball Card Kid.

Here are a few key takeaways:

  • “For every pack that is opened from a particular year, all remaining packs are that much rarer.”
  • Doug interviewed Mark Murphy, the Baseball Card Kid, for insights; he was the Steve Hart (The Baseball Card Exchange) of the hobby then.
  • Murphy said that Wax was the pack of choice with unopened collectors; I think that’s still true.
  • At the time, a 1-cent 1933 Goudey Sports Kings pack was ~$600
  • The article highlighted that ’59 football penny packs were pretty common, but a penny pack from ’60 is tough to find.
  • A run of 1950s baseball nickel packs was estimated at $61,500 in the mid-’90s.
  • Fake packs were already very commonplace at the time.

Check out The Unopened Archive for more!