What could have been, cards that were never produced

[auburn35]

I recently acquired a really neat collection of Fleer design notes/proofs for the 1998-99 Flair Showcase set and not sure if these have been shown before, so I figured I would share.

Michael Jordan was originally designed to be in the base set but with his retirement, the NBA wouldn't allow him to be included, unless there were 1000 cards (without parallels). This decision, added Jordan and dropped Tracy McGrady from the takeit2.net insert set and is the reason the production changed from 500 to 1000.

Here's the design of the two Michael Jordan cards, mocked up with the Legacy Collection stamp. Bummer these didn't end up being produced but having Fleer sneak Jordan into the takeit2.net set turned out well.









Interesting to see the design of the card/player (Tracy McGrady) that was bumped from the takeit2.net for Michael Jordan to be added. Also the late addition Jordan mock-ups sent for the NBA approval.

[frankie350]

This is awesome, great information, thank you for sharing!

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

[croatiantwins]

Wow ! Thanks for all those pics and informations.
Indeed very interesting!

-kiki

Gesendet von meinem SM-T580 mit Tapatalk

[Jasondr91]

Now this is a fantastic thread! I love reading the production notes on stuff like this. From time to time I've come across items like this, but never featuring Jordan etc.

[MIRRABB]

cool as hell and where is abra

[the27guy]

This is absolutely stellar knowledge sharing right here. I didn’t know any of this and am really grateful that you shared!

[auburn35]

Here's another interesting note regarding Stephon Marbury's photo selection for the takeit2.net set. The NBA wasn't a fan at all of the first photo selection.


Original design

Accepted design

[MIRRABB]

^lol good to know

[SteveO21]

Excellent post!! This is some pretty fun info.

[gameissued]

Wow, thanks for sharing that!

[Rob 23]

Very interesting, thanks for sharing this.

[sammyjankis]

The corrected Marbury pic is so much better. Amazing stuff!

[frisbeesteve]

It's as if the photo that would have been used for the back of McGrady's takeitto.net card was taken, right when he was told that he was being swapped out of the set for Jordan's inclusion.

Very cool share OP - thanks!!!

[mindcycle]

This is really cool. Thanks for sharing!

[myusasets]

wonder how many prototypes escaped fleer before or after the bankruptcy

[Deadshot]

I love this stuff. Thanks for posting!

[jrfillini]

Very cool - thanks for sharing!

[bjho852]

Very cool info. Do you know any additional info about adding just-retired player(s) to an insert set, aside from what is posted here? I am curious why NBA didn't allow Jordan to be in the base set, but in an insert set.

[hairyangryfella]

This is very cool.
Both Marbury photos suck btw...

[swerve]

Really cool stuff, thanks for sharing.

[duron]

Now this is fantastic. Most interesting thread in a while. I recently picked up the Vince class of 98 and had no idea about the original intended print run.

I'm now imagining the mj photo of the takeit/row 3 used on the class of 98 design. Would've looked absolutely godlike.

[JMarchand1981]

This is cool to know.

[auburn35]

Originally Posted by bjho852

Very cool info. Do you know any additional info about adding just-retired player(s) to an insert set, aside from what is posted here? I am curious why NBA didn't allow Jordan to be in the base set, but in an insert set.

Here's some more notes and another early Jordan mock-up (from a different product) that I have on my phone, which discusses the topic. The mock-up shows a vertical design and with the actual design becoming horizontal.
I believe it was a combination of the NBA and Upper Deck, limiting the use of Jordan in 1998/99 products, after he retired.

From the notes that I have looked at, Jordan had to be in a set with at least 1000 cards (with no parallels), six other players and not represented on more than two cards. The parallel requirement eliminates the base Flair showcase set, unless Fleer choose not to make the Legacy and Masterpieces parallels.

[buckunteer]

Originally Posted by hairyangryfella

This is very cool.
Both Marbury photos suck btw...

Haha thought the same thing. I mean yes the second one was an improvement for, ahem, obvious reasons, but still not that great. Still a great set overall though.

Crazy cool info here as well. Like a little peek into the process behind the hobby we all love!

[AbraCalabro]

Originally Posted by MIRRABB

cool as hell and where is abra

lol





Thanks for posting these OP, I've seen the Jordan stuff before, but not the other stuff you posted. Really disappointed that McGrady was given the boot for MJ, but the MJ Takeit2.net is a damn nice card, although seeing him in the base set may have been just as great. The fact that he was going to be number 91 at the end of the set reminds of of Topps Finest and Skybox E-Motion inclusions from 94/95.

Here are slightly larger images of the MJ, plus mockup images of the back of the cards. These were originally posted by Leximo WAY back in the day on HK. Again, these images are printed on paper and are not physical samples.

Some of the rules for including Jordan are pretty stupid, I don't know where they get these arbitrary number requirements, but, whatever. The original Marbury image looks 100x better than what they ended up going with.