Does anyone here collect basketball cards? I was curious about getting into it and was wondering if anyone had any advice or tips. Panini has a couple different sets that came out recently. Wasn't sure what to go with. Thanks.
Buying packs/boxes are a crap shoot. When I used to collect, I would just go on eBay, and buy cards that I specifically wanted. Occasionally, I bought packs, but never really got anything of great worth.
I had a very sizeable collection from about 93-2001, including over 300 different Hakeems. After Hakeem retired it wasn't as fun anymore chasing different Hakeems that I didn't have so I lost touch with it. Everything went to high-end jersey swatches and graded cards after that. I sold my Hakeem collection to a bbs member like 3-4 years ago. A few years after that I sold my last remaining prized card on ebay, a 6.5 BGS graded Jordan 86-87 Fleer Rookie. All I have left now is a folder with a bunch of "star player" cards from the 90s. Shaq, Jordan, Kemp, Kobe, Payton, Reggie Miller. I bet the entire folder is worth maybe $20 tops. Cards from that era just aren't worth ****.
I haven't collected or bought any cards in the last 15 years. I do have about 5 shoe boxes full of cards. About 40 Jordan cards an tons of Hakeem, Barkley, Shaq, Alonzo, Penny Hardaway, Clyde, Pippen, Shawn Kemp, Isaiah Rider...
I used to collect as a kid and I usually will buy like one box of cards a year (under 75 bucks) just to have fun opening them and hopefully getting that big hit. The problem is that for me I loved (like moes) collecting Hakeems and I had a lot of good cards that had value but around 99/early 00s when I stopped the industry changed and insert cards (the ones that had value) dropped in value dramatically. Serially numbered cards parallels, rookies and game-used patches/signatures became the go to insert. Skybox actually had an autograph insert back in the mid 90s but they were popular but didnt really do too much. So basically all the cards I had saved up hoping they would be worth something in the future were worth just the sentimental value I put on them. Some rookie cards still had value of course but many were worth noting. I sold whatever I could for cheap and left it at that. Whatever I do get now when I buy that box I either try to sell back or I keep (I've gotten some cool jersey patches of Harden and other rockets and signatures) just for the sake of keeping and not for the prospect of selling later. I enjoy opening packs and hoping to get that big card -- it brings back a lot of childhood memories. Thats it really - you do not go into card collecting unless 1) you do it for the sake of the cards themselves and not the value of them 2) you have enough disposable income to purchase some of the really really high end sets to get the super rare inserts that you can then flip for a profit. Thinking you will spend like 500-1k and make like 2k is not going to happen. Some "packs" cost over 1k on their own (i think panini makes some product now that contains like 10-11 cards and comes in a briefcase - its a really expensive product) so yeah do it for the fun aspect - not for the profit one
Are you collecting just to collect? or are you collecting for profit? Because the latter will never happen unless you just get really lucky. I recently just bought a case of panini spectre I think it was. Did not hit anything. Like someone else said its a crap shoot. Panini is artificially inflating the value of its card by putting the numbered cards saying its 1/100, 1/5, etc. Except for the fact that they release like 30 different sets of cards every year. Also Panini is the only one that has the licence to the NBA product so they are milking it for what it is worth. So collect if you like cards, don't collect for profit.
I love collecting. I think you can have fun and profit. My recommendation is to collect the top 2 stars in each sport and your favorite players. Focus on autographs or jersey cards limited to 25 or less. Do not buy rookie autographs or jersey on ebay, as they are inflated and very few hold their value. Buy on E-bay as the poster recommended. I would not open packs myself as that is more like a losing lottery system even if fun. Now is a great time to be a buyer as the market remains limited and price friendly. Especially for cards in the 60's. If you can get in on a first series ( say like when the Netpro cards first came out for tennis you can score big time ). Right now I think the Political and Historical autographs are fresh and limited and will expand in the future making these runs more valuable. Start slow, do your homework, and learn the trade because it is easy to get confused by the print numbers, colors, series, ect...I generally collect players I know will be in demand 25 years from now ( Jordan, Lebron, Federer, Ripken, Nolan Ryan) , cards that are unique ( A Jordan shoe card for example), a first run ( say Netpro for Tennis ), and cards that are limited to 25 or less. That way you can have fun and have a chance to profit. My top 5 cards thus far are: Orville Wright autograph James Madison autograph Jordan Spx Shoe and autograph Sampras rookie auto and jersey Jordan and Lebron rookie dual auto. I'm not at the top of the ladder in collecting, but I have fun, and I enjoy the hobby very much. Think there is a lot of rusty gold here because production and collecting will only expand as the population grows, and 25 years from now what you collect today will be very limited by comparison. Jump in. Now is a good time for the collector.
And one more thing, profit comes from all of the above, but generally speaking the big bang for a seller in my opinion comes when the 12 year old kids collecting now become 32 years old, and have a disposable income and want to finish off their collections and relive their childhood. This is the one given in the business and predictable. So profiteering in the industry as a collector/seller means holding cards for about 20 years, or flipping cards that are 20 years old for a smaller margin than if you held the card.
During the mid 1990s. Beckett's magazine checking the value of my Olajuwons. Too bad they were never worth more than a few dollars.
My son is six and I will buy him a pack of cards or even a box here and there. I am always amazed packs now have 7-8 cards instead of 15 like they did when I was younger. I was shocked when I was at target a a box of panini cards was 79 bucks. At Target! I don't know what kind they were but that was about a buck a card. I am like the guy who was mentioned who is trying to collect the heroes from my youth. I go on eBay and pick up a rookie or two every 5-6 months.
I use to buy packs for fun b/c you couldn't find stats back in the day unless it was on cards or some magazine (damn u internet for killing the card industry). Then when it became more main stream, I would just buy rookie cards of the new draft classes and random packs for fun. Now I don't buy much at all, but if I did I would just buy bgs rookie cards of the players I liked. The odds now these days on getting the card you want from a pack aren't very good especially if your paying ~$10/pack. Funniest pulls I ever got were back when Yao/Amare were rookies, I bought 4 Bowman Signature Series packs @ $12/pack and got a Yao signed card encased, a Amare gold signed card encased (1 of 99 I think), Mugsy Bogues signed encased and Brandon Rush signed encased (forgot his first name, the sg from missouri I think).
I do. I guess I have a few tips. 1. NEVER buy boxes, you will lose 50+% 95% of the time 2. Don't buy cards of the newest rookie class. Even if they play well and win ROY their cards will go down over the next year or so (For example John Walls Rookie autos were selling for $120+ his rookie year, and now you can buy those same cards for $30-40 (I think it's a good time to buy Wall) 3. Only collect top 10 players, every single other player's cards are worth next to nothing just a few years after they enter the league. 4. No centers, even the best guys like Dwight and Gasol are worth nearly nothing. Cs are very unpopular for some reason. If you're looking to start a collection I would highly recommend buying some Harden stuff, his RC autos sell for ~$30 while Curry's sell for $60+ and KDs sell for $150(at the very lowest) so there is a ton of room for his cards to increase in value.
