AI Appraisal Estimate

This is a 1991 or 1992 Fleer Ultra brand football trading card featuring Dwight Stone, a wide receiver for the Pittsburgh Steelers. The card depicts Stone in action, wearing his white away jersey with the number 20 prominently displayed, paired with yellow team pants and a black helmet featuring the Steelers logo. The Fleer Ultra logo is located in the upper left corner, characterized by its metallic gold and ivory stylized text. At the bottom, a grey banner contains the player's name and position in white serif typography. The card appears to be standard 2.5 by 3.5 inches in size and is made of premium gloss-coated cardstock, which was a hallmark of the 'Ultra' line to distinguish it from base Fleer products. Regarding condition, the card is housed in a clear protective plastic sleeve and top-loader, which has preserved the corners well, showing no obvious blunting. The centering appears slightly heavy toward the left margin. There are no visible surface scratches, creases, or light-fading in the photograph, suggesting the color saturation has remained vibrant over three decades. This card represents the 'junk wax' era of collecting where high production volumes were common, yet the Fleer Ultra line was regarded for its higher-end photography and print quality compared to standard competitive sets of the early 1990s.

I have examined the digital representation of the 1992 Fleer Ultra Dwight Stone #176 card. The specimen appears to be authentic and in Near-Mint to Mint (NM-MT) condition. The corners show no visible wear, and the high-gloss finish characteristic of the Ultra brand remains vibrant. I note a slight centering bias favoring the left margin, which is common for this production era. The card is well-preserved within a protective top-loader, preventing surface degradation. From a market perspective, this card originates from the 'Junk Wax' era (late 1980s through early 1990s), characterized by massive production volumes. While Fleer Ultra was marketed as a premium product, the high supply of Dwight Stone singles keeps the market value nominal. Comparable sales for unindexed common cards from this set typically range from $0.50 to $2.00 in raw condition. Higher values are only achieved through professional grading (PSA/BGS), though the cost of grading significantly exceeds the card's secondary market value. The demand is largely limited to Pittsburgh Steelers team set collectors or Dwight Stone 'player collectors.' Limitations: While the image suggests authenticity based on font weight and stock texture, physical inspection is required to verify the stock's chemical composition and detect potential surface micro-scratches or trimmed edges. To confirm absolute authenticity, a microscopic examination of the 'Fleer Ultra' gold foil stamping and the halftone dot pattern would be necessary.