Buzz Break: 1989-90 NBA Hoops Series 2 basketball cards

From time to time, Buzz will break a box of something and post the results here. Like this and want to see more? Or maybe there's a box you'd want to see busted? Send Buzz an email at BlowoutBuzz@blowoutcards.com.

The packs: 1989-90 NBA Hoops Series 2 basketball cards (two)
Where to buy: Will take some looking ... BlowoutCards.com for other Retro Rips

Keep reading for a full breakdown and gallery of what was in this one.

Cards per pack: 15
Set completion: 30 of 353 (8 percent)
Duplicates: 0

Notables on base cards – Larry Bird, Isiah Thomas, Alex English, Spud Webb (corrected version), Moses Malone, A.C. Green, Dell Curry

Rookie Cards (6) – Vernon Maxwell, Rik Smits, Will Perdue, Eric Leckner, Mark Bryant, Steve Colter

Insert/short-print cards: None

Autographs/Memorabilia: None

What's Buzz-worthy: Series 1 of this release was 300 cards and for Series 2 the creators added 53 more cards and mixed them in with first-series cards, pulling out some cards (making them mildly short-printed) from that mix. Most don't matter but David Robinson's Rookie Card seen holding a jersey on draft day was not in Series 2 -- it was replaced by an in-action shot of him taking a free throw. Other players who changed unis or were drafted to the new expansion Orlando Magic and Minnesota Timberwolves also had this happen and they got new card numbers as part of Series 2 -- so those are not variations (just like Robinson). A "rarer" SP card is the Detroit Pistons' championship card that also has two versions (logo vs. photo), while a small number of cards do have legit errors that were fixed. Iconic cards here are of the big names of the era such as Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird and perhaps Phil Jackson as the Bulls' coach and then rookies that include Robinson and Steve Kerr. Few here are all that pricey but the sloppiness of the printing and packaging in the baggies here do make elite high-grade copies tough and that can mean valuable cards in some instances. There are a lot of things that can go wrong on that front -- a lot of top edge curls here from packaging -- but the appeal of the clean design is one that has been emulated more than a few times over the years, further reinforcing this one's arrival as a new-wave of NBA in its time beyond Fleer (1986-87 forward) and then earlier Topps, which returned to NBA a few years after this one. Like Pro Set and Score in the NFL, this one ushered in photos on card backs with full stats and perhaps more details than seen elsewhere for NBA (though not as dramatically better than in the NFL). Little Buzz ripped into a lot of these but never landed a main Robinson in packs but did have a number of his second card -- there's a lot to like here and it can be found on the cheap ... so it's collector friendly. Singles or a cheap box might be worth the look ... just for fun.

Product Grade: B (Series 1 is better with David Robinson's standard RC)
Lot Grade: B (all about the names you pull ... but not much value here now unless you land some key names in elite grades)
Fun Grade: C (not a lot to chase here ... it's basically all base cards and maybe some smaller errors/corrections)

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