The word "premium" meant something very different in the basketball card world of the 1990s. Back then, superior photography and card stock were enough to earn that title, whereas it now brings mostly to expensive cards with lots of gimmicks. Stadium Club Basketball returns on the date of its 15th anniversary hoping to bring collectors the best of both worlds.
The 2007-08 version of Topps Stadium Club features an autograph or relic card in each six-card pack. Hobby boxes hold 12 packs, and on average they break down with four autographs and eight relic cards.
Base Cards and Parallels
Previous incarnations of Stadium Club were known for crisp, borderless photos, and Topps stays true to that tradition for the new set. The 100 veterans and retired stars that lead off the 2007-08 edition are caught in dynamic action pictures that bleed off the top and sides. Team and player info are contained in a team color and silver foil stripe at the bottom, and Topps makes good use of both vertical and horizontal arrangements.
Card backs are almost garish by comparison, with several different shades of orange and a big basketball logo. There are some nice player write-ups though, and stats from the 2006-07 season are broken down several different ways.
Parallels for the commons also have some history, as Topps brings back both 1st Day Issue and Photographer's Proof. The former is marked by a small foil logo and numbered to 1999, while the latter contains a film strip logo and has several different levels with print runs of 199 or less.
Rookie cards have a drastically different look, with a player photo superimposed against a larger, ghost-like image on Chrome cards. Standard rookies are numbered to 1999, and Refractor parallels run from 999 down to a single copy.
A single hobby box won't get you too far toward the base set, as a sample box I opened contained only 36 veterans and six rookies. There were plenty of parallels, with 10 1st Day Issue, two Photographer's Proof and six rookie Refractors.
Autographed Cards
Collectors back in the early 90s never would have dreamed of getting four autographs in a box - or any, for that matter. Topps leads off with Beam Team Autographs, another name from years past. These cards feature a pretty wild design with lots of random lines, though they incorporate an autographed sticker better than a lot of similar cards. The checklist has some big names but also some lesser ones, like the Speedy Claxton and Samuel Dalembert signatures I pulled.
Twenty 2007-08 NBA rookies signed Chrome X-Fractor cards, which also hide the sticker well. It's just the autograph that's hard to pick out against the holographic background. The most sought after cards are likely to be Topps exclusives Greg Oden and Brandan Wright.
Every 12-box case will contain a Future/Foundation Dual Autograph Relic card, which pairs rookie and veteran autographs and player-worn gear. There are 10 different combos in all, including Greg Oden/Bill Russell.
Along with the Beam Team autos, my sample box held autographed X-Fractors of Marcus Williams and Nick Fazekas.
Relic Cards
At eight per box, Stadium Club also serves up quite a few relic (or memorabilia) cards. Beam Team Relics put swatches on the original 1992-93 insert design, and the 25-player checklist is very good. I pulled five from the About.com review box: Kobe, Carmelo, Steve Nash, Dirk Nowitzki and Jermaine O'Neal.
The remaining game-worn cards come from the Full Court Press Relics series, and they can be found in single, double or triple versions. My box held two singles numbered to 499 and a Yao Ming dual numbered to 199.
One last insert that is not a relic but is still worth mentioning is the Super Team set. Also taking its name from an insert of old, Super Team cards can be traded in for parallel sets of Stadium Club rookies depending on how well the pictured team performs in the 2007-08 NBA season. With only one card per 12-box case, cards of the better teams should be in high demand.
The Last Word
It's not like 2007-08 Stadium Club isn't true to the original, because the 1992-93 set was expensive for its time and jump-started the whole idea of premium cards. That said, there are plenty of one-hit-per-pack products out there, so while the original was a trendsetter, this feels like more of a follower.
The return of the brand's trademark photography is certainly welcome, but the high pack price may put off set-builders who appreciate that aspect of the cards. It's nice to have Stadium Club back in the fold, it just may take some time before it finds its way in a new hobby world.