1999 Skybox Premium Star Rubies Kobe Bryant 45/45 #50 PSA 5 EX

In 1996-97, Fleer/SkyBox introduced the Rubies parallel to SkyBox Premium, adding modest hints of red foil to the base cards and inserting one per box. The following year, SkyBox dug deeper into the mine to revitalize the parallel with a touch of rarity and rebranded it as Star Rubies – an /50 set that helped catapult serial-numbered parallels into the mainstream. In nature, star ruby gemstones feature a unique internal star-shaped phenomenon called an asterism. A star ruby featuring prominent color, cut, clarity, and carat ranks among the scarcest gems on the planet, and considering these SkyBox parallels stand among the toughest-to-find cards from the ’90s, the Star Rubies name fits perfectly. In 1998-99, the /50 Star Rubies returned for a second year with a more impactful design before the parallel finished its brief—but revolutionary—run with twinkling stars in the background and a production run of /45 in 1999-00 SkyBox Premium Basketball. Throughout the ’90s, Fleer/SkyBox had an important rule regarding the design of its cards—they could be eccentric, but the player had to remain the focus. This tactic led to the creation of several iconic parallels where designers highlighted action photos of players and plastered them on top of colorful backgrounds. These guiding principles are on display in this 1999-00 Star Rubies Kobe Bryant, one of the key parallels from the early part of his career. Further elevating this particular copy is the fact that it is the bookend copy, numbered ""45 of 45."" Because of the full bleed of the front foil on these issues, collectors do not often find high-grade examples of 1999-00 Star Rubies cards. The certification number on this card has been checked against the third-party grader's online database and is active as of 04/22/2026.