Need help identifying these rare Ray Allen cards

[pwaldo]

The first card is like a playing card in the texture and feel. Was this handed out or sold at the 2006 All Star game in Houston? The second card I know is from 2000-01 UD Ultimate Collection #31 #D/750 but it is missing the numbering and has a hole punched in it instead. It wasn't done with a regular hole punch and I know the card companies sometimes did that with old redemptions but with a regular base card? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

[WilyWestbrook0]

Here is a LeBron poker style playing card that looks to be from that same release:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/335457144918

There was a similar set produced that year that was more general than All-Star related; I wonder if there's a connection?

https://www.politicards.com/products...-playing-cards

[WilyWestbrook0]

Had to dig a bit harder for the Ultimate Collection type of card, but here's one of Tim Duncan:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/134026920928

They are indeed some rare oddball cards, with the Ultimate Collection ones in particular possibly even being 1 of 1s.

[pwaldo]

@WilyWestbrook0

Thanks for the help I appreciate it.

I went through COMC with every card of Ray Allen on the Sonics and came up with nothing. Glad I didn't try and do that for others on the All Star game roster because it only shows up for Lebron and he would have had way too many cards to scroll through. I would think if the set was given away in a conventional way more of Lebron or other players would have been sent to COMC but maybe instead of being a rare item it could have just been a special playing card deck that was sold there. Can't imagine too many of those would have been sold but still they should have shown up more.

Probably going to need to find a player collector of some all star level guy from this era but there aren't many of them around anymore. Even back then there wasn't many. Before Lebron James the basketball market was soft after Jordan retired.

And if anybody player collects Ray Allen and wants to trade for this or something hit me up because I don't collect him and if these are as rare as the guy in the Ultimate Collection eBay auction says they would be better off in your collection and not mine. I can't imagine too many of the Ultimate Collection with the whole punched were made and then survived so that's probably the rarer of the two. The playing card should be a mass produced card but I was a bit surprised that I couldn't find info on it. That means it has to be a little be rare or we are both really failing at searching for it.

[WilyWestbrook0]

Yeah definitely some cool items there. Years ago I think we had a Ray collector, but hard telling now. The market now is dominated so much by group breaks and a lot of younger people. I remember that era between MJ and LeBron; Fleer tried really hard to market Vince Carter, and of course there was Kobe and Shaq for awhile, but nothing like the singular star power of MJ and LeBron, for sure.

[pwaldo]

Bump to see if maybe any new members have any information about what these Ray Allen cards are