1987-88 Fleer #30 Clyde Drexler

Clyde Drexler's mainstream rookie card is the Fleer 1986-87 #26. Since we've already seen this set's card layout with Hakeem Olajuwon's rookie card, let's look at his second year card, the Fleer 1987-88 #30.

The card's gray and white border is much more subdued than the 1986-87's red, white, and blue border. Looking at this card makes you realize how far the hobby has come. The card stock is not of the highest quality. The in game photograph doesn't exactly show the action of an NBA game.

The back of the card has a nice set of statistics in a pleasing red, white, and blue. Because there are only four years of statistics, almost half of the card back is blank. A photograph on the back of a card was still a couple of years away, but you'd think they'd fill the blank space with a fun fact or some other text filler.

Basketball cards from this era seem to be a product in transition. They don't have the vintage look and feel of much older cards, and they also don't have the modern flash and quality of more recent cards. I'm glad these cards exist because the lack of mainstream cards from 1982 to 1985 leaves a gap for basketball card collectors, but I wish there was some feature about this card that makes me want to include it in my collection.