In true Shaquille O’Neal fashion, Dwight Howard brought down the shot clock after a monster slam during the Orlando Magic’s Game 2 Eastern Conference Finals win over the Cleveland Cavaliers.

When Shaq retires, the one person that will continue to embody the true center position is Dwight Howard. This also rings true when it comes to my NBA trading cards player collections. I collect both players so that when Shaq retires and don’t have new cards anymore, Dwight will be there to fill-in his large shoes.

These are Dwight Howard’s jersey and patch cards I have managed to acquire since 2006. I refuse to call them game-used because it is often untrue nowadays.

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This season, Dwight Howard emerged as the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year, the youngest player to ever win that award at age 23. He also led the league in rebounds and blocks with averages of 13.8 and 2.9 respectively. Only four other players have achieved that feat, the last one being Ben Wallace in the 2001-02 NBA season.

I’m a big Shaquille O’Neal fan but his playing days are already numbered. The first time I saw Dwight play, I know he will be Shaq’s successor to the Superman moniker. His chiseled, 6-foot-11, 265-pound frame and his incredible vertical leap makes him a legitimate candidate. Any more doubt about that has been erased due to his superb season.

That’s why I also decided to collect his trading cards. These are Dwight Howard’s autographed cards I have managed to acquire since 2006.

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In the NBA trading cards hobby, a player collection is incomplete without oddball and promo cards. These are cards not typically released mainstream by card companies. Some are produced by card companies who have no NBA license. Others are inserted into magazines. Various ones are released as promo giveaways along with  certain products like cereals, crackers and hotdogs (yes, you read that last one right). There are even which also double-up as phone cards.

I virtually collect all kinds of Shaquille O’Neal (the ORIGINAL Superman) trading cards. I have more than 1,000 DIFFERENT Shaq cards including the oddball and promo ones.  I also collect trading cards of Dwight Howard (the NEW Superman) but only his autographed ones, rookie cards and jersey/patch cards.

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Upper Deck’s Exquisite Collection line of trading cards is one of the most expensive products in the sports trading cards hobby today. One pack which contains 5 cards costs $500! So, it is always a joy whenever I acquire an Exquisite card.

Especially if that card is of one of the Supermen in the NBA today, Dwight Howard. Shaquille O’Neal is the other one. They also happen to be my most favorite players and the ones I collect in the hobby.

This card is my first Dwight Howard Exquisite autographed card. It is from the latest issue, 2007-08 Exquisite and from the Noble Nameplates set. The card contains a swatch of the player’s jersey nameplate and an on-card autograph.

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These cards are one of the most unique cards in the NBA trading cards hobby because they are not made of the usual cardboard. They’re actually not made of glass either but of hard plastic. They are also very thick just like the Exquisites so storing them is a little harder. They are also very cool to look at because they are transparent and not easily damaged because they’re not made of cardboard.

And the most important thing of all…

… the autographs are on-card!

These cards were first released in 2002-03 UD Glass, followed suit by 2003-04 UD Glass and have been produced by UD Trilogy from 2004-05 to 2006-07 until the last batch was released in 2008-09 UD Radiance.

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