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Subject: Collecting Basketball Cards Posted by: Clevelandrocks - [3610541517] Tue, Nov 21, 15:39 ok.. I'm new to this. Brand spanking new. The only sports cards i have ever owned was a 1976 topps baseball set which was given to me, which i promptly sold for what im sure was less than it was worth, and a Derek jeter rookie card which i bought for 6 dollars a few years ago. Got no idea what its worth now. Now.. I'm interested in really collecting but I have no clue what brand name to buy. I'm mainly interested in getting rookies , but i hear that it is extremely difficult to get a rookie card in a box. And some of these prices just blow my mind. There are rookie cards from Upperdeck, Fleer, Bowman?, Topps, and every company puts out so many different sets each year. I dont know which ones to buy. Just to give you an example... my friend has a Vince Carter rookie card... Nice huh? Nope... its only worth 15 dollars because i think it was a fleer and came in a cheap pack and wasnt too difficult to get. The difficult one to get was in a Upperdeck SPx? box and is worth over a grand. So.. i guess my question is what do you guys recommend? Just buy expensive packs? or buy the rookies as singles and forget the packs? Maybe look on ebay and bid away? I'm sure there are a few collectors out there that have some tips. I just bought 3 packs of Upper Deck Pro's and Prospects @ $5.50 a pack!!! good lord... and each pack had only 5 cards. I didnt get any rookies but did get a special insert card of Lamar Odom. Anyway... i've written enough.. i'll let you guys comment. | ||||||
| 1 | Asha'man ID: 42981617 Tue, Nov 21, 15:59 |
Hey, what's goin on... I used to be way into basketball cards, I've got a couple thousand but I stopped to play a wonderful game called Magic. But I digress... Trying to get cards in boxes/packs is much more expensive, especially with the new "Premium" brands, when I collected a couple years ago the top brands were SPx, Bowman's Best, Topps Finest, and Upperdeck UD3 or Skybox EX2000. The advantage to these brands is that the cards are usually more sought after, worth more, and just cooler to look at, but the boxes/packs/singles all cost A LOT. If you just want to get specific rookies then I would go for buying singles, but otherwise it's fun to get packs/boxes. Hope I helped... | |||||
| 2 | BetaCamMan ID: 285301919 Tue, Nov 21, 16:02 |
I collect cards myself and a good place to start is to buy a magazine called Beckett's. They also have a web site which is pretty informative. On the other hand I wouldn't go to much on what they are valued it is the cards that YOU like that are what is important. If it is a VC rookie card it is still a VC rookie card whether or not the value is a couple thousand or not. My favorite card is one of Brett Favre with a BetaCam in his hands shooting video!!! It is worth about .20 cents. You can spend TONS of money on cards and drive yourself nuts trying to find the Insert edition of certain brands Like SPX or Bowman, etc. It is all what you want to do and what you can afford. Doing Rookies is, IMHO the way to collect cards and you are onthe right track!!! | |||||
| 3 | hannah99 ID: 145139 Tue, Nov 21, 16:03 | My favorite card: '84 Fleer: Glen Hubbard w/ a Boa Constrictor around his neck! :) | |||||
| 4 | poop ID: 5910151215 Tue, Nov 21, 16:12 | I collected basketball cards from 89 to 95. | |||||
| 5 | 6-9 With The Afro ID: 5410152011 Tue, Nov 21, 16:28 |
Cleve- You've inspired me. Back in High School I worked at McDonalds when they were having an UpperDeck give away. I got a ton of cards including a couple Jordan cards and Shaq rookie cards. According to the site below the Jordan's are worth $10 and the Shaq's $8. Cool www.pricemycard.com | |||||
| 6 | beastiemiked ID: 145191710 Tue, Nov 21, 17:34 | I used to be heavily into collecting basketball cards, I have no clue how many I got. I stopped collecting because my parents were paying for them and they soon stopped that after I turned 15 or so. Thought about getting back into it a year or two ago but the price of packs is just outragous(you can get a supersized meal at Mcdonalds for cheaper). By far my best card I got is a Jordan 86-87 Fleer rookie card(got it when i was 5, go figure). The best part about collecting had to be opening up the packs and searching for players, eventhough that can get expensive. | |||||
| 7 | patjams ID: 4310462117 Tue, Nov 21, 17:46 | A card is only "worth" anything if you plan on selling it and you can find a buyer. I have over 100,000 cards of all sports. (Baseball, Football, Basketball) I like to estimate the value of my collection, but when it comes right down to it I doubt that I would ever sell it. (Barring an emegency) The hottest thing in collecting these days is graded cards and once you get into that it will cost you an additional $15 or so just to have the card graded. I have hundreds of cards valued at over $100, but just to get them graded would cost me an arm and a leg. For example, I have a '94 SP Arod card that is valued between $80 - $100 if I sell it as is, but if I get it graded and it is in "mint" condition it could go for as much as $10,000. If you want to get into the hobby, start with the small stuff and work your way up to the premium product. That way if you find out you don't enjoy it as much as you thought it won't cost you too much. | |||||
| 8 | Eas KMS ID: 99422416 Tue, Nov 21, 17:48 | Ebay is probably a good idea if you are looking for a particular card, or in your case rookies. there are also brands that you can buy that have only rookies in them. I cant think of the sets name off the top of my head though | |||||
| 9 | Lutefisker ID: 3310192118 Tue, Nov 21, 18:28 | I got doubles of a rookie card by someone named Lew Alcinder. He had a real good college career and then a couple of great years in the pros before he disappeared. Did he get hurt or something... I mean his card seems to be pretty expensive but I can't seem to find the name Lew Alcinder in the NBA record books. ;) | |||||
| 10 | KnicksFan ID: 9892221 Tue, Nov 21, 19:40 | I'm not a big collector but i have some valuable cards such as a few 8RL rookies and a rare michael jordan coca cola card. my best recent card is my "lucky 13" kobe bryant rookie card (i have a similar camby one). | |||||
| 11 | KB8ers GM ID: 0616111 Tue, Nov 21, 20:08 |
I've been collectin basketball, baseball and football rookie cards for years. The hobby has helped me somewhat in SW games cuz it parallels the market psychology part of the game. Its all about speculatin future performance and buyin low. I remember buyin Kobe 96-97 Topps Chrome cards at $5 each back when he was a bench-warmin rookie. They're now worth $400 each (Beckett November). I also have its refractor version, paid $100 back then, its now worth $1,500. My crown jewel though is still an 86-87 Fleer MJ rookie. | |||||
| 12 | Mike D ID: 181015179 Wed, Nov 22, 06:37 | I know this isn't EBay, but I have a ton of old cards I'm too lazy to sell, if anyone's interested. | |||||
| 13 | Lutefisker ID: 3310192118 Wed, Nov 22, 08:08 |
Nice cards KB8ers! I have a Jordan rookie card too, but it has a couple of minor creases... (which, of course, is why I could afford it) ;) Nice calls on Kobe Bryant! | |||||
| 14 | ClevelandRocks ID: 26791510 Thu, Nov 23, 10:51 |
guys.. i took your advice and went looking for just the rookies from this set. upperdeck pros and prospects. there are 30 rookies in the set of 120 crds. the probability of getting a rookie is 1 in every box (runs at $130 a box) To purchase separatly.. becketts has the following rookies listed at: Swift- $120 Martin- $350 Good lord! so not only does no one have the rookies, but if they did they either wont sell or will sell at book price. i think i have no choice but to just buy a 2 or 3 boxes, hope i get lucky and if i dont.. i may have to find a more inexpensive hobby... maybe just buying Martin and Swift at book value on the internet would be the smart deal and just fork over 500 bucks and forget about the rest. Damn... has collecting basketball cards always been this expensive? | |||||
| 15 | allhair allstars ID: 5398182 Thu, Nov 23, 11:35 |
ClevelandRocks, I took a slightly different route back when I was active in the hobby. I collected MJs. A daunting task if you're looking to build anything resembling a complete collection, but great if you like sports cards and don't have a lot of money. There were always so many MJ cards around (because everyone seemed to be printing something with him on it) that it was easy to amass a pretty sizable collection without breaking the bank. No MJ rookie cards for me. Just a ton of low and mid-priced cards and a boat load of fun. You need to set up different expectations if your in it for the money than if you're in it for the fun. Is spending $500 on two cards really what you want to do? As always, the rule of thumb is to buy low and sell high. Don't stretch yourself thin buying expensive cards unless you have the means. Buying a card for $200 means that you bought it for $200, not that someone else will. | |||||
| 16 | KnicksFan ID: 9892221 Thu, Nov 23, 21:15 | CR, what you should do is go to a flea market. there are always guys selling boxes of cards from prior seasons for real cheap there. also this way you can get rookie cards of already proven players, instead of putting down a ton of money on rookies who could bust. 6 years ago i bought a box (about 20 packs i think) of NBA Hoops cards from the 89-90 season. i got a lot of good cards, none of which are VERY valuable, but many that can be worth some substantial cash in the future. I don't plan on selling any of my cards anyway. i just like to have them so i can look at them and say "Damn! Kevin Duckworth averaged 18 points a game! No way!" | |||||
| 17 | esposo ID: 481049258 Sat, Nov 25, 10:14 | my favorite card is the mistake one with MJ in a Sam Vincent jersey | |||||
| 19 | Raz ID: 35949280 Thu, Nov 22, 2001, 22:55 | When I was a bit younger and collecting was a bit less expensive, I was more into collecting baseball cards, so I have boxes full of them. One day about 5 to 6 years ago, I was looking through these boxes and came upon an unopened pack of 87-88 Fleer basketball. I figure I must have gotten it for my birthday or something, and just didn't care enough to open it at the time (mind you, I was about 9 years old). Anyway, I opened the pack, and not only did I get sticker inserts of Magic Johnson and John Stockton, but there was a Scottie Pippen rookie and a sophomore card of Michael Jordan. I was quite surprised and pleased (and one year too late!). Although obviously not as expensive as the rookie card, the sophomore MJ still carries a nice price (at least the last time I checked, which was a while ago). After that, I got a little more involved in collecting basketball cards, but that MJ is still my favorite (and probably second in value only to my ARod rookie card). | |||||
| 20 | Mr. Nice Guy ID: 389542719 Fri, Nov 23, 2001, 16:36 | Lutefisker: It may interest you to know that the card you own is the rookie of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar from 69-70 Topps. These cards were bigger than the standard card size. Alcindor changed his name to Abdul-Jabbar sometime in the 1970s for respect to his Muslim heritage. | |||||
| 21 | Raz ID: 35949280 Fri, Nov 23, 2001, 18:06 | If I may speak for Lutefisker...hint: it was a joke (note the wink). Give him a little credit. | |||||
| 22 | BoNkA Donor ID: 46314305 Fri, Nov 23, 2001, 18:33 | I used to collect cards, but stopped when I realized how much money I was blowing on them. I never really got any top cards out of all the boxes and packs I bought...I think the most expensive card I found was some type of MJ series insert that was worth $100 at the time. I have a few rookie cards here and there, but haven't looked at them recently. I could have something worth a few bucks, but not even know it. I have a ton of cards, so I'll never go through them all. Hopefully I can just sell everything one day for a decent lump sum. | |||||
| 23 | BoNkA Donor ID: 46314305 Fri, Nov 23, 2001, 18:39 |
Oh yes, I forgot about my McGwire Topps rookie card that I have. That would be the best card I have...unless those 5-10 MJ rookie cards are worth anything. Haha, those are the baseball rookie cards :) | |||||
| 24 | waltclydefrazier ID: 710411414 Sat, Nov 24, 2001, 01:39 |
whatever you do... don't spend loads of money on packs trying to bust out those short printed rookie cards... you'll grow discouraged and lighter in your wallet~ the best place I have discovered for BUYING sports cards is eBay! I have been on eBay for about 3 years and haven't had one bad experience yet~ I have assembled quite a high grade collection of "graded" cards of vintage superstars like west, russell, dr. j, frazier, monroe, havlicek, magic, mj etc.. if it's newer cards you like... either purchuse high grade singles of the players you like or buy full boxes on eBay... or from an elusive reputable dealer... personally, I like older cards... but as far as newer cards go.. I like topps chrome~ | |||||
| 25 | waltclydefrazier ID: 710411414 Sat, Nov 24, 2001, 01:45 |
yeah, stay away from pros and prospects... as soon as sp authentic and the other flavors of the month are released... pros and prospects will be less than half price... just like last year... be careful buying new product... what would you rather have for $350? Keynon Martin's rc? or Magic Johnson and Larry Bird? Stromile Swift or MOses Malone and Earl Monroe? Jamaal Tinsley or Nate Archibald? think about that one~ | |||||
| 26 | Wilt_The_Stilt ID: 16935313 Mon, Nov 26, 2001, 10:18 |
Hey Raz, if you opened a pack of '87-'88 fleer, then it's physically impossible for you to have pulled a scottie pippen or john stockton, since those cards do not exist. If it's their rookies, then it was '88-'89 fleer, also meaning that it's not a sophomore jordan, but a 3rd year. Just had to show a little of my expertise in the card industry (although I'm not really sure that I'm proud of that)... I just took 30 of those long white card boxes to an auction to sell... 30! each one holds about 7-800 cards, and those were just my crap cards that I'd gone through so many times and pulled every star or rookie that would ever amount to anything... I'm hopeless. My prize card is none other than a '61-'62 fleer Wilt Chamberlain rookie card, found cleaning out the back room of an old neighbor's garage for him. | |||||
| 28 | TaRhEElKiD ID: 42109719 Fri, Jan 04, 2002, 19:19 |
I was a HUGE card collect for a long time. I have card such as MJ Rookie (yes thats right, this particular rookie is worth over $10,000), Kobe Rookie, T-mac Rookie, as long as many other cards. I probably own about 15,000-20,000 different cards, good and bad. All the good ones are sorted in books by player and team. I collected all sports...it is quite a collection if I do say so myself. I recommend going in to little card shops and buying individuals which is what I did to get my collection rolling. I also bought 2-3 packs each time I went, and probably about 10 singles. I went there very often and spent a lot of my parents money, but it was a great time. I still have all my cards guarded safely in my closet and I am sure I will get back into the PROFESSION again. Good luck, it's fun. THK | |||||
| 29 | smallwhirled Donor ID: 119491116 Fri, Jan 04, 2002, 19:31 | I wasted a ton of money on cards! | |||||
| 30 | Bodacious Tatahs Donor ID: 58256119 Sat, Jan 05, 2002, 09:45 |
Man let me give you my advice. If youre in it to have fun; then have fun. Pick your favorite players and then build a collection rather economically. If youre like me and want to have fun but still buy something that you know will not be an economic nightmare; then the way to go is sets. Every year buy the most sought after set. It may seem expensive; but think ab it. If you have a set from every year; and the best set from that year; then you will have the best cards every year. Now let me tell you whi I think that is more economical than buying singles. I too used to buy all of the rookies in every "best set". You will soon find that purchasing the high priced cards separately will be exponentially more expensive than buying the whole set. You then will spend less money. You also wont spend $65 dollars as a 9 year old (alot of Xmas money and allowances)on a 1977 Dale Murphy rookie card (who was the reigning 2 time MVP) to realize when youre 25 that the darn card is now valued at 20$. so dont waste your time or money chasing down 3 Kenyon Martins to find one Kobe Bryant. Buy the best set and know you made the right decision. Values are very fickle. It is difficult to predict which rookie will make you money. It's not ab what you do on the floor as evidenced by Grant Hill. BUY THE SET! | |||||
| 31 | Gio ID: 4811291119 Sat, Jan 05, 2002, 16:32 |
Anyone have any other free websites that show values for cards? | |||||
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