Acetate Appreciation: 2003 E-X

E-X was a brand released by Fleer that dabbled in clear plastic cards. The 2003 offering of E-X was made up of 102 base cards with cards 1-72 being veterans, 73-82 being short printed veterans and cards 83-102 being rookies designated by a small letter "R" in the bottom left corner, while only cards from 87-102 being actual rookie cards. The base set was paralleled with "Essential Credentials Now" with the cards tinted blue and serial numbered to the card number meaning card number 1 in set was limited to 1 and card number 102 was limited to 102. The "Essential Credentials Future" was tinted yellow with the serial number reversed meaning card number 1 was limited to 102 and card number 102 was limited to 1.


Somewhat strange design as most acetate cards are, the player photo and two blocks are die cut and attached to the rest of the card to create a 3D/layered effect. We also have some of the graphics printed on the front of the card and some on the back creating a 3D look there as well. The player number in the top corner is an alright idea, but makes things somewhat confusing in that the card number is tucked in by the stats on the back. The set also suffers from some sketch photoshop work leading to weird looking white spaces and shadows, this is very evident on the Rocco Baldelli and Robby Hammock cards. A basketball set was also released and shared the design and featured some of the worst photoshopping I have ever seen from a trading card company.