GDYBL Home

Team
- Choose a Team
  - BOYS 5/6
  - BOYS 6
  - BOYS 7/8
  - BOYS 8
  - GIRLS 5/6
  - GIRLS 7
  - GIRLS 8
- Schedule
- Multi-Schedule

My my My my

For full functionality of this site it is necessary to enable JavaScript. Here are the instructions how to enable JavaScript in your web browser.

How to start collecting basketball cards

I'm new to collecting basketball cards, how do I start?

More and more NBA fans are into card collecting these days, and for good reason. What used to be a forgotten field of interest has now exploded as of late, driving the card industry and collectors alike into a wild frenzy. Rightfully so, because this hobby takes the game we all love and injects a new kind of excitement and adventure into it.

But of course, you just can’t wake up one day and decide to collect NBA cards. If you do, you’ll end up wasting your hard-earned money. Like any other hobby, it pays to study the intricacies of card collecting, the challenges that come with it, and the rewards you stand to gain once you’ve gotten past the learning curve. You can only do that if you familiarize yourself enough with how this hobby works. Shown below are some vital tips that would greatly help those who would like to start collecting basketball cards.

Know Your Cards

As of the moment, there’s only one name to know when it comes to collecting basketball cards – Panini. Back during the heyday of sports card collecting in the 90s, there was Fleer, Upper Deck, and Topps, among others, that produced cards for the NBA. In 2009, the league granted the exclusive right to manufacture and distribute cards to Panini. Ever since then, the Italian company has churned out a multitude of card brands under its wing that cater to different segments of the market.

For the beginner, taking a look at Panini’s vast number of offerings is reason enough to be intimidated. There are so many different products and variations that have been manufactured for more than a decade. To keep things simple, here is how to differentiate cards from within an individual set.

Base Cards

Basically, base cards are the standard offering whenever you purchase a pack or box. They feature most players from the 30 teams around the league. Almost all of these cards, especially those of players with little to no playing time or fanfare, are priced very low. The exception here is the base cards of popular NBA players or rookies from that year’s draft, which are often more sought after by collectors. Some example include those of The King himself, LeBron James, or the heir-apparent, Luka Doncic.

In the image above, the top left card is Luka Doncic’s 2019 Prizm base card.

Rookie Cards

By far, rookie cards are what most collectors go for in this hobby. As the name clearly suggests, these cards feature players who were drafted into the league during the card set’s manufacturing year. The iconic shield-shaped RC badge adorns these cards and solidify its value among card enthusiasts.

And speaking of value, you can expect rookie cards to command a higher price than their non-rookie base counterparts. A 2019 rookie card of Tyler Herro, for example would fetch a higher price tag compared to a regular base card of Kawhi Leonard or Kyrie Irving.

In the image above, the bottom left card is Luka Doncic’s 2018 Prizm rookie card, with RC patch visible on its corner.

Inserts

Inserts are special cards that are randomly inserted into packs. While base cards often feature the player within a standard layout, inserts often integrate fun little wrinkles into its card design. They usually feature the more popular players within the league in a design that’s different from their base variants.

For example, the Jam Masters insert from Panini Mosaic cards celebrates some iconic NBA highflyers, while the Splash! insert from Panini Optic shows off some of the league’s best shooters. The designs are usually more funky and adventurous than your normal base cards, usually giving some leeway for some fun and fresh looks.

Some of the in-demand insert cards in the modern NBA card market are the Optic My House, NBA Hoops High Voltage, Mosaic Stained Glass, Kaboom, and From Downtown cards, to name a few.

Parallels

Parallel cards feature the same design and layout as regular base cards, except they come with a distinct feature. The most common parallel from Panini’s modern releases is the silver or holographic or holo variant, which can be identified by its shiny and chrome-like finish. Different card sets come with different variations of parallels, from ruby red wave, hyper, fastbreak, or cracked ice.

There are dozens of different kinds of parallels, too many to list in fact. But the fun comes in finding and collecting different kinds as you immerse yourself more into the cards scene.

The image above features both Luka Doncic parallels and inserts on the right-hand side.

Patches

Patch cards are produced with a piece of clothing worn or used by basketball players inside them. As a result, they are thicker than most NBA cards in the market. Common variants of patch cards feature a single color of a player’s jersey. Those that have two or more colors are more in demand, especially if they belong to established players or up-and-coming stars.

Autographs

As the name implies, these cards are signed by the players that appear on them. Some of these stars sign on a translucent sticker, which is then attached to the card itself. The rarer version is when the player actually signs the card, which drives up its value more. These autographed cards are harder to pull because Panini only inserts one of them per box.

Graded Cards

For most collectors, the condition of the card is what primarily determines its value. Due to this fact, certain companies offer grading services to preserve a card’s condition and lock its value in. This is done by encasing the card within a hard plastic shell and grading its condition, with 10 being the highest. Keep in mind that the better grade commands a higher value on the market. There are people who focus their effort more on collecting these graded cards because of the benefits stated above.

Determine Who You Want To Collect

Now that you have a basic understanding of the different cards available on the market, you can then move on to the next step – determining which player you’d like to collect. There are safer options out there, with LeBron James being the safest player to go for. That’s because his reputation as the best player of this generation ensures you get a lot of value from his cards.

You can also base your collection on established veterans, players from your favorite team, or young stars that hold a lot of promise down the road. Moreover, you can opt to collect stars from yesteryears, the ones you’ve grown up idolizing since there are still many of their cards available in the market. Whoever you choose, it’s always best to stick to one or two players. In this way, you can focus on building up your collection faster and prevent you from making any purchases you might regret in the future.

RECOMMENDED

Julio Luis Munar · 3 months ago

Julio Luis Munar · 4 months ago

Protecting Your Cards Is A Must

As stated earlier, a card will only be valuable if you learn to take care of it. That means the card’s corners should never be bent or its surface scratched in any way. Even the slightest sign of damage would certainly lower its value on the market. To prevent that from happening, you need to protect your cards at all costs.

Doing so would mean investing in a set of items that shields your cards from harm. First off, you need to acquire plastic sleeves, toploaders, or magnetic cases, to prevent your collection from being damaged. You also need to get binders with pocket sleeves and storage boxes to keep your cards organized. Those with an expensive collection might consider buying dedicated cases that can hold a number of graded cards inside them. In any case, it’s always best to err on the side of caution when it comes to protecting your collection.

Learn How To Find A Card’s Value

Apart from knowing who to collect and learning how to protect your collection, it’s a must to know how much your cards are really worth. The simplest way you can do this is by going to eBay, enter the card’s name, and checking out its recent sales. More often than not, this can serve as a good guide to determine its market price.

There are also dedicated websites out there such as 130point that compile this data and present the card’s historical or recent prices in an organized manner. Again, you just need to enter a specific card to check its market value. Do keep in mind that a player’s card can fluctuate because of his performance on the court and to a degree, the latest news about him when he’s off it. It’s best to keep a close eye on these developments so you would be notified of any price change.

Find Like-Minded People You Can Share This Hobby With

Now that you’re familiar with the different kinds of cards in the market, chosen the player you’d like to collect, and able to protect your collection well, it’s time to share the joy of this hobby with other people. Doing so would give you a network of people who share your love for basketball and the pursuit of these cards. You get to have the latest info about the brightest prospects and developing trends in the community, as well.

Finding these people is easier than you’d expect. You can search for card groups using your preferred social media platform. Join one or several of these groups and you’ll end up meeting like-minded individuals. You can also join box breaks, a fun way to pull expensive cards while making new friends along the way.

Collecting basketball cards isn’t rocket science. You follow NBA games, collect the players you look up to the most while keeping their cards safe in your collection. Once you’ve overcome the learning curve of this hobby, you’ll understand the excitement and enthusiasm this hobby offers to basketball fans.

How to Invest in Basketball Cards: A Beginner’s Guide | by Andrew Wixley | Top Level Sports

This article was originally published on vocal.media

In no small part due to the covid-19 pandemic, the trading card hobby has boomed over the past year.

In February 2021, a Luka Doncic rookie card sold for $4.6 million, then the highest price ever fetched for a basketball card. Just two months later, a LeBron James rookie card snatched the crown away (as the King rightfully should) in a historic $5.2 million sale.

Image via PWCC Marketplace

Indeed, 23 out of the 24 most expensive sports card sales of all time have come since February 2020.

But while the market for the ultra high-end has stayed strong in recent months, prices for low- and middle-end cards have actually fallen.

Could that be an indication that the sports card bubble is bursting? Some certainly see it that way.

For others, though, the recent dip in prices represents little more than a market correction for an asset class with proven longevity and potential for long-term growth — in other words, a perfect buying opportunity.

If you’re a complete newbie looking to dip your toes into the exciting world of basketball cards — whether to turn a profit or perhaps just to indulge in the thrill of collecting — this article has you covered.

With interest in sports cards soaring, the past year has seen a massive influx of newcomers to the hobby looking to make a quick buck.

Unsurprisingly, not every veteran in the card game is happy with this sudden surge in popularity. As the number of hobbyists entering the space with a purely money-making mindset have risen, so have the grumblings of disillusioned old heads despairing at the diminishing appreciation for the heart and soul of the hobby.

Basketball cards are — first and foremost — collectibles designed to be enjoyed in their own right. For decades, passionate NBA fans have collected and traded while sparing little thought for profit. These people found fulfillment in the hobby itself: the satisfaction of adding to one’s personal collection of favourite players; the excitement of pulling a rare, numbered parallel from a retail fat pack. They found gratification in the little things that make trading cards so popular to begin with.

I won’t lie: I came into the hobby because of the money. But I stayed because I loved basketball, and I quickly grew to love the little things about card collecting. My hope is that any beginner reading this article will come to adopt this mindset as well. There’s nothing wrong with looking to make money in this hobby (indeed, that’s what this article is about), but I promise you that you won’t be here long if that’s all you care about. Collecting and investing aren’t mutually incompatible; learn to love both and you’ll make money while having a great time doing so.

So without further ado, let’s get right into it!

In the early days of the hobby, several companies — including Topps, Bowman, Fleer and Upper Deck — manufactured basketball cards. Starting in 2009, however, Panini America obtained exclusive rights to produce NBA trading cards and is today the mother company behind dozens of different brands.

Due to the sheer number of these brands, it can be a daunting task for beginners to figure out what to buy. Luckily, these brands vary tremendously in price, allowing fledgling collectors and investors to narrow down their options based on budget.

Though far from an exhaustive list, here are some of the most popular brands, broadly categorized into low-, middle- and high-end tiers:

Low-end

NBA Hoops
Donruss

NBA Hoops via Panini America

Middle-end

Prizm
Mosaic
Optic
Select
Revolution

High-end

National Treasures
Immaculate
Flawless
Opulence

2019–20 National Treaures via Panini America

Yearly sets for each brand are released sequentially throughout the NBA season, with lower end brands generally coming first. Panini also produces several college sets prior to their NBA releases, but these cards typically fail to hold value long-term.

Here’s a handy calendar to keep track of release dates.

Basketball products are split into what are known as retail and hobby boxes. Retail boxes, as the name implies, are sold at big box retailers like Walmart and Target, while hobby boxes can be found at your local card shop or online at sites like Blowout Cards or Panini’s official website.

The cards found inside these products can be split into the following types:

Base set: generic player cards, including rookies, denoted by a unique number.
Parallels: variations of base set cards, the rarest of which are denoted by a serial number (e.g. a parallel labelled /49 means that only 49 copies of that card were produced. Serial numbers can be as low as 1/1, meaning that that card is the only one of its kind in existence).
Inserts: themed cards distinct from the base set. These cards can also come in serial numbered parallels.
Autographs: cards autographed by the featured player. These cards are usually serial numbered and may also come in parallels.
Memorabilia: cards containing a patch of the player’s jersey, often game-worn. Patches featuring the NBA logo are known as a Logoman, and are generally the most sought-after. These cards are usually serial numbered and may also come in parallels.

Besides being sold in different places, retail and hobby boxes differ in the types of cards that can be found inside. While both carry the same base set, hobby boxes offer better odds for hits (rare cards) and contain guaranteed autograph and/or memorabilia cards. Both retail and hobby boxes contain exclusive parallels and inserts that cannot be found in its counterpart product.

For comprehensive overviews of every available card in a set, refer to set checklists by Beckett or Cardboard Connection (here’s one for 2020–21 Donruss).

Donruss 2020–21 LaMelo Ball base card (left) vs. yellow and green holo laser (right) via Panini America. Laser parallels were exclusive to Donruss 2020–21 hobby boxes.

Retail boxes are further broken down into the following products, in ascending size order:

Gravity packs: small packs of 4–8 cards
Fat packs: larger packs of around 30 cards; exclusive to low-end brands
Cello packs: several gravity packs wrapped in cellophane packaging
Hanger boxes: small box including either one large pack or several gravity packs
Blaster boxes: medium box of gravity packs
Mega boxes: large box of gravity packs

So what determines a card’s value in the eyes of collectors? Let’s break it down.

Rookie card

All other factors held equal, cards released during a player’s rookie year will always be the most valuable. After that, second year cards will generally be more valuable than third year cards and so forth, with some notable exceptions (e.g. Kobe Bryant’s 2012–13 Panini Crusade card, which features an angel wing design, exploded in value following Bryant’s tragic passing).

Rarity

As with any collectible, rarity is highly valued. With basketball cards, this can be easily ascertained thanks to serial numbers.

Patches & autos

Cards with jersey patches and player autographs are both highly sought after. The holy grail for most basketball card collectors are rookie patch autos (or RPAs), which feature both a patch and an autograph on a single rookie card. The record-breaking Luka Doncic card that sold for $4.6 million was a one-of-one Logoman RPA from National Treasures.

Condition / grade

Card condition is another extremely important determinant of value. Because condition is often in the eye of the beholder, collectors look to professional grading companies to act as an objective arbiter of condition — and thus value (I’ll go into more detail on grading later).

There are lots of grading companies out there, with PSA, BGS and SGC generally considered the most well-regarded. The following graph depicts auction sales for graded 1986 Fleer Michael Jordan cards (easily the most iconic basketball card of all time) at each PSA grade.

Price graph of graded 1986 Fleer Michael Jordan cards via PSA

In addition to specifying grades, grading companies also maintain publicly available records of the number of each grade they’ve awarded to any given card, known as a population report. Highly-graded cards with a low pop count (i.e. more rare) will generally fetch higher prices.

Player performance, health & accolades

Much like how stock prices reflect the success and health of a company, basketball card prices usually reflect a player’s performance. Naturally, a star player will garner more demand than a 15th man. But if a star player starts to slump — or, worse yet, gets injured — expect his value to decline. On the flip side, if a rotation player starts showing glimpses of breaking out, his value will rise.

Accolades, hype and team success are all factors that also play into a player’s card value. Winning one of the league’s major annual awards (Most Valuable Player, Most Improved Player, etc.) is almost guaranteed to spike a player’s prices, at least in the short-term. And if you’re bullish on a lowly-seeded team’s chances to make some noise in the playoffs on the backs of their underrated superstar, it might not be a bad idea to invest in his cards early before everyone else catches on.

This is where it pays — literally — to be a fan of the game. If you’ve got a good pulse on the league and a sharp intuition for these kinds of things, there’s a lot of money to be made.

Legacy, public perception & cultural significance

A great player will almost always fetch higher prices than a scrub, but greatness alone does not guarantee massive long-term growth in value; public perception matters too.

To illustrate this point, let’s take a look at Kobe Bryant. Most basketball purists wouldn’t include the Black Mamba in their top 5 greatest players of all time. But if I were to hedge my bets on any player’s cards to retain and grow in value long-term, I wouldn’t take anyone except maybe Jordan and LeBron over Kobe.

That’s because very few other legends hold a candle to the Mamba in terms of cultural significance. Everyone and their grandma has heard of Kobe Bryant. Two entire generations grew up yelling “Kobe!” when tossing trash into the bin. Especially in the aftermath of his passing, Kobe is revered and adored in a way that almost no other superstar even comes close to — and his card prices will reflect that.

Bar some kind of unprecedented scandal, all signs point towards LeBron James leaving behind a similar legacy. Michael Jordan, of course, is self-explanatory. After them, I’d single out Stephen Curry as the only other player with potentially-transcendent cultural significance; “Curry!” is the new “Kobe!”, after all. Finally, I wouldn’t underestimate the demand of alternative markets: in China, Yao is as relevant as Kobe and Jordan, and significantly more so than LeBron. In a similar vein, I would argue that guys like Hakeem, Mutombo and Embiid are great investments for the potential influx of African collectors over the next few decades.

Release timing

The basketball card market is volatile, and no one can truly predict where prices are going to go. However, there are some general cyclical trends that you can follow if you’re looking to liquidate your investments sooner rather than later.

Firstly, prices tend to dip in the offseason and peak during the playoffs.

Secondly, college sets tend to dip in value after the first NBA sets are released, which in turn dip in value when more expensive sets are released later on in the year. In practice, then, if you pull a slick parallel from a college set, you’d likely make the most money selling it before Hoops is released. Likewise, you’d be best off flipping your Hoops rookie cards before Prizm comes out.

Tracking the market

The easiest way to determine the current value of a card is to simply search for it on eBay (“set name and year”, “player”, “card number”, “parallel”/“serial number”/“patch”/“auto” [if applicable]) and sort by “Sold Listings”.

If you’d like to view prices over time, check out SportsCardPro for free sales charts. For more comprehensive data, Sports Card Investor offers a paid service called Market Movers.

Now that we have a solid grasp of what drives value, what should you be doing to turn a profit in this hobby?

Well, let’s first talk about what you shouldn’t be doing: buying and ripping boxes in hopes of landing big hits (this includes participating in breaks).

We’re in a bull market right now. The frenzied demand for basketball cards has led to a massive influx of scalpers entering the hobby looking to make a quick buck by flipping sealed product. These opportunists are camping outside of Targets and Walmarts overnight, clearing the shelves and re-selling product at up to 4x manufacture suggested retail price (MSRP). Things aren’t looking much better on the hobby side of things, as Panini themselves have marked up boxes significantly in response to increased demand.

But even if you luck out and manage to stumble upon a re-stock before the scalpers get there, it still wouldn’t be a good idea to be ripping boxes regularly. That’s gambling, not investing.

Of course, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do it at all. The best part of the hobby is pulling hits from a pack. Indulge yourself in that experience every now and then; just don’t make it your primary strategy if you’re looking to make money.

In my eyes, then, smart basketball card investment strategies fall broadly into long-term and short-term categories. The former is akin to throwing money into an index fund while the latter is more analogous to stock trading.

Long-term strategies:

• Investing in sealed wax

So long as we aren’t in another junk wax era of sports cards, buying and holding onto unopened boxes (known as “sealed wax” in hobby parlance) should be a relatively safe long-term investment. Since most people tend to rip boxes as soon as they get them, supply will gradually diminish over time, driving its value up. Additionally, as people get priced out of purchasing valuable high-end cards, more will turn to sealed wax for the chance of pulling them instead.

The main downside to this strategy is fighting the collector’s itch to rip those boxes yourself. But if will-power and delayed gratification are strong suits of yours, I’d definitely recommend picking up a few boxes and setting them aside for a few years (or even decades).

• Investing in the GOATs

In my mind, there are three players whose cards have close-to guaranteed potential for long-term growth: Michael Jordan, LeBron James and Kobe Bryant. No one else comes close in terms of player calibre, cultural significance and popularity. If you have the capital at hand, there’s almost no reason why you shouldn’t pick up a graded 2003 Topps Chrome LeBron James and set it aside for a few decades; it’s as safe an investment as there is in the basketball card world.

If you’re something of a risk taker, you might also consider investing long-term in younger, unproven talent. Do you think Luka and Zion will become all-time greats? Then you might want to hold on that numbered rookie parallel for just a little longer; it might be going for an exorbitant amount right now, but it might go for even more in a few decades.

And that segues us quite nicely into our first short-term strategy…

Short-term strategies:

• Prospecting

Prospecting involves investing in younger players with star potential while their cards are still (relatively) undervalued. Right now, this includes guys like Jayson Tatum, Donovan Mitchell, Michael Porter Jr. , De’Aaron Fox, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and many, many more. As a fan, this can add a whole new level of excitement when cheering on your favourite players and teams, too.

Of course, this strategy runs the risk of players not panning out the way we expect or hope. Remember when Brandon Jennings dropped 55 points in 2009 and everyone thought he’d be the next great point guard? Or how about when Tyreke Evans took home Rookie of the Year honours that same year? Both dudes are now out of the league at 31. The NBA is a brutal business, and no one — not even professional scouts or advanced statistical models — can confidently predict a player’s career trajectory.

• Flipping based on market trends, hype and events

This strategy is similar to prospecting but generally involves hedging your bets on well-established players.

For example, it could entail stocking up on a star player’s cards during the offseason and selling when he carries his team deep into the playoffs next season, knowing that prices tend to go up in the post-season.

It could involve buying the dip when a player gets injured in the hopes that he’ll come back stronger than ever (Klay Thompson, anyone?).

It could also involve forecasting awards, championships and other events (e.g. Hall of Fame induction) well in advance. Were you on the Jokic MVP hype train way earlier than everyone else this year? If so, you could’ve made a lot of money on his base Prizm rookie cards.

Short-term and long-term investing strategies can be synergistic, too. Because not everyone can afford to dole out hundreds of thousands on GOAT rookie cards, flipping and prospecting can be fun ways to slowly roll up your investment towards more valuable cards.

Alright, so you’ve figured out your strategy and you’re looking to buy some singles. Where do you look?

If you’re lucky enough to have a local card shop (LCS) in your area, that’s a fantastic place to start. Aside from supporting local businesses, frequenting your LCS is a great way to meet fellow hobbyists and maybe even strike some nice deals after you’ve built up rapport with the shop owners.

If you don’t have a LCS near you, eBay is your best option for buying and selling low- to middle-end singles. Here’s a great video on how to scope out great deals on eBay and here’s one on best practices for packaging and shipping cards.

Two platforms that make it incredibly convenient to flip cards are COMC and StarStock. As a seller, both sites act as consignment services that will list your cards for a small fee. When you buy a card, you have the option to immediately re-list the card for sale (or keep it stored in your inventory until you wish to list it), cutting out the time and hassle of waiting for your delivery, creating your own item listing and shipping out your card. Of course, you also have the option to have your cards shipped to you whenever you’d like.

The downside of selling on all of these sites, however, are the fees. For example, in addition to COMC’s $0.50 per card listing fee and 5% cut of every sale, they also slice off a whopping 10% every time you decide to cash out your money. If the idea of pesky fees eating away at your profit margins irks you, you can try social media instead: both Instagram and Facebook have bustling marketplaces for sports cards.

For super high-end graded cards, you can check out consignment auction sites like PWCC and Goldin Auctions.

And then there’s the new guy in town: Alt. Alt’s mission is to make alternative asset investing as transparent and liquid as stock trading. By signing up for their “exchange”, you can purchase cards (and, in the future, other collectibles!) from their vault and track your portfolio value in real time — something that no other service provides. As a seller, they also offer the lowest fees of any service.

Finally, there’s card shows. These events are a great opportunity to actually deal cards in person while having a good time with fellow hobbyists.

Condition is the name of the card game. This means that before you even think about buying cards, you need to stock up on the proper supplies — both for personal storage and to ensure that your cards will be shipped safely when you decide to sell.

Before we get into these supplies, it should be noted that basketball cards come in varying thicknesses, with higher-end cards typically being thicker. The unit of measurement for card thickness is a “point”; 1,000 points equal one inch. Keep that in mind when buying the supplies listed below.

[Affiliate disclosure: through the Amazon Associates Program, I get a small commission on products sold through the following affiliate links]

• Penny sleeves

Ultra Pro penny sleeves via Amazon

Penny sleeves are thin, transparent plastic sleeves that serve to protect your cards from surface damage. They’re pretty cheap, especially if you buy them in bulk, so there’s no reason why any semi-valuable card shouldn’t go straight into one of these.