Card Identification Forum

I've got this Karl Malone card, but I am not sure what to make of it. It's the 1993-94 Ultra design, but the marble pattern is MUCH darker than a standard card. I know Malone was the adman for Fleer that year, and appeared on the advertising. I suspect this may be a promo, but I'm not 100% sure. I have not seen the box since probably 1997 so it may be a card that was cut off the box- although since it has a full back an actual promo seems more likely. Anyone have any ideas? I've had this card since the 1990s and don't remember where/how I got it. It's also slightly wider than standard cards, but a small enough difference that it is within the realm of tolerance for different cutting...less than a millimeter difference, but enough that when you are holding it in a stack with other cards, you can tell there is a difference. Thanks in advance!

I would normally guess that it was just poor quality control on the production of that card.  But honestly I don’t know. I wouldn’t be aware of any promos.  If something about NBA cards has you stumped, I don’t think anyone on this planet has an answer lol

On the one Billy shows, the "R" in Fleer is not touching the fingers, the one on the data base, the "R" is touching the fingers.   I think

Thanks for the vote of confidence, but there are still things I don't know. My gut feeling is a promo. Especially as the logo is in a slightly different place, good catch Joe!

I completely see what you are saying Billy. The marbling is much darker than the rest of the cards in the set. I checked all of mine and none show up that dark. They used the same design for the 1993 MLB set and while the marbling was a different design, they were much darker than the NBA cards. The 1993 NFL set also used that design, but the main color was black for the marbling. I wonder if there was some sort of Fleer Ultra Promo set that included all sports (pretty sure 93-94 NHL Ultra had the same design too) that was sent to dealers to get them interested in the new products. If they were printed on one sheet OR as one sheet and then cut, it could certainly explain the darker color for the NBA card and the minor size difference.

Also, the background on the back of the card is not aligned the same as the base card version.

On your "promo" you can see more of the hoop over his shoulder & the little guy to the right of his shoe.

The ad sheet feaures your version of the card too.

Good catch!

One other thing I forgot to mention- "texture" wise, this feels more like a 1992-93 Ultra card in hand than 1993-94.

I would be really excited about this find if Karl Malone wasn't one of my least favorite players of all-time. But... cool find for you!