Set Showcase #3: 1999/00 Fleer Ultra "Parquet Players"

The art of set building... it can be stressful and frustrating when you can't find the cards you need... yet exciting and rewarding when you finally finish your set.

Right now... I'm in the process of building six sets. Three of them are baseball... one football... one basketball... and one multi-sport. So if you have any of these products laying around... PM me:

1984 Topps baseball set (need 39 cards)
1972 Topps A's team set (need 7 cards... all high #'s)
2002 Fleer Fall Classic "HOF Plaque" set (need 18 cards)
2008 Score Select football set (need 5 cards)
08/09 Topps Signature "Black Facsimile Autograph" basketball set (need 62 cards)
1995 Classic Assets "One Minute Phone Card" multi-sport set (need 5 phone cards)

Cards from all of these sets are fairly easy to find, so it's just a matter of coughing up the money. But, I'm too cheap and won't dish out full book value, so it may end up taking me a while.

So... when I find a cool insert card that I like, I'll sometimes find someone on the internet selling a complete set. It saves me the time and also a ton of money. I know... I don't get the thrill of completing the set... but I figure I have enough on my plate with those other sets already.

That's what happened when I strolled across Kobe Bryant's 99/00 Ultra "Parquet Players" insert card. Without sounding like a freak... it was "love at first sight". The card's design really stood out to me, because of the player's photo (taken from above), the parquet floor (reminds me of 08/09 Topps Hardwood), and the team emblem (jumps out at you with a wooden background).

Set: 15 cards (1:72 hobby/retail packs)

Hall of Famers: 6% (Scottie Pippen)

Future Hall of Famers: (Shaquille O'Neal, Kevin Garnett, Tim Duncan, Kobe Bryant... and maybe... Paul Pierce)

Rookie Year Inserts: 13% (Elton Brand & Baron Davis)

Obviously, the player selection is a little sub-par... however back in 1999 these were some of the hottest commodities in the hobby. It's not Fleer's fault that Jason Williams and Keith Van Horn would turn out to be role players (at best)... And who would have guessed that Stephon Marbury would go crazy?

The set still has some of the game's greatest players of all-time and (in my opinion) has a solid design. Throw in the fact that these were tough pulls (one out of three boxes) and to me... it's a keeper.

I'm sure a lot of you could care less about Beckett, but if you're wondering the set currently books at $100 (when I bought it... it booked for $150). Kobe books at $30, but all of the other major stars are listed between $12 and $15. Beckett has the two rookies at $20 (Brand) and $25 (Davis), but you can pick these up from COMC for $3.50 and $7.50 respectively. In fact, COMC has singles of Van Horn, Jamison, Pierce, Walker, Marbury, Williams, and Hughes for under a $1 each.

Unfortunately, I couldn't find any recent sales of this stuff on eBay... but I picked up the whole set for around $25.

Anyways... here's today's question of the day: Do you think Paul Pierce will end up being a member of the NBA's Hall of Fame?

Thanks for reading and have a great day!