In 1992, the NBA players were allowed into the Olympics, and it would turn out to change the NBA forever, although it would not really be noticed for several years, as the players influenced by it would now show up for a while. The only set issued for the Dream Team was this one by Skybox, and not a single image in the set shows any of the players in the USA uniform- as it was issued before the Olympics were held! (1992 was the first Olympics I actually remember, more on the Olympics in my Olympic list, forthcoming)

Complete! 1992-93 Fleer is one of my favorite Fleer sets, I ranked it #11 in my top 20 Favorite Sets countdown. The only 444 card set in NBA history, although for some reason card #4 has two different back photos, both showing the player it's supposed to.

To me, the 1992-93 season was the start of the greatest era in NBA card history, which lasted until and including 1997-98.

1992-93 Hoops was, along with Skybox, the first NBA set to denote rookies as rookies on the card front. Each team's got color coding, something that was a hallmark of Hoops in the early 90s.

Complete! For the first time in it's 3-year history, Skybox actually gave you a real photo...sort of. This is actually my favorite Skybox NBA set. The only 413 card set in NBA history.

Topps came back to the NBA in a big way in 1992-93, with three sets, including the premium Stadium Club. (of which I need only one card to complete at the time of writing). The first Topps-released set to NOT have a white border- in fact, it has no border at all. The photos in Stadium Club's first year were not as exciting and dynamic as they would become in later years.

Topps issued their first set since 1981-82, and the first with glossy(ish) white cardstock on the back. When I first began collecting the NBA in 1996, I started getting these cards as well and I don't think I really appreciated how great they were at the time- actually, I think I didn't appreciate how much I enjoyed them until I took my break from the NBA and came back in 2012.

The first NBA set to include a Parallel, which was the one per pack Gold. I am a BIG parallel fan- I would rather get a parallel instead of an insert, even an autograph or relic. (but not as much as I would like to get a base card I need)

Complete! This set is both one of my favorite concept and so very frustrating. When Topps came back, they issued this set to show the top rookies from each season using the designs of the baseball sets from those years on the front. I always wished that Topps would have expanded out on this and produced sets for each of the seasons missed retroactively, and I held out that hope for the entire decade that I built most of my collection during, and was always disappointed when they didn't.
This set was the first to have a Factory Set parallel and was the first set that I completed the parallel on before the base set- I bought a sealed Factory Set in 1996, and didn't complete the base version until 2016!

Complete! The debut of the Ultra brand, which would become my favorite NBA brand ever, I finally completed it recently. I ranked it #17 in my top 20 favorite sets countdown in 2016, but I would probably rank it higher were I to make the list now.

Complete! The set I ranked one spot above 1992-93 Ultra. This was the first UD set to include foil, but it did NOT include a glossy UV coating, giving these cards an interesting texture. The first NBA set to have one of the cards in the set be available only by mail.

I love the design, but this set causes me some heartbreak. In 2002, my dad was in the hospital with cancer, We lost him on 2/5/02. On 2/3/02 we went to a card show at the Danbury Mall in Connecticut. I got the mail in version of card #1, the Shaquille O'Neal card, which I had been chasing since I began collecting the NBA in 1996. To me, at the time, it felt like a card I had been chasing forever. My dad gave me the money and convinced me to go to the card show- he was planning to go with us before he had to go in the hospital. We went. At the time, I thought my dad would be coming home...I was wrong. I have felt terrible about going over there to that show ever since. I can't see that card and not feel a wave of emotion, regret and sadness.

Honestly, my regret over that one card show, and card, is part of the reason I left the NBA in 2006. Those thoughts gnawed at me all that time, from 2002-06, and they still bother me to this day. I have not looked at that card since I scanned it circa 2014. I'm not sure I want to look at it.

As it turned out, that was the last card show in my area. Despite being in an area with several powerful sports teams (Yankees, Mets, Knicks, Nets, Rangers, Islanders) it's now been 16 years since we had a card show. I didn't know at the time it was the last one either.

This whole set has been...I guess you could say tainted...by my thoughts on that one card. I don't know how, or if, I will ever be able to reconcile that in my head and move past it.

The first Finest set...unfortunately they are not aging well. Many of them are turning green, as the Admiral is here.