[bengu]

Xtremeinsanity your the best moderator of all time! Your easy going and actually chime in on conversations! Not to mention you welcome the rookie collectors! Sorry for my part in the LeBron thread, it's just something about him that tends to bring strong opinions on both sides lol. Maybe we should just ban his name all together lol... But anyways to the newbie, figure out what you like in this great sport and collect! Have fun!!

[taffster74]

I'll correct Xstream on one thing about basketball cards. First there was some cigarette company in the 1920's (mutli sport set), then there was bowman, then there was topps, then there was fleer, then there was topps again, then there was star..... and the rest we all know. lol

[KineticFs]

First off, welcome to Beckett.com and card collecting in general.

I'll answer them 1-4 first and then I'll give you some more advice/tips afterwards.

1. mcloedfive was correct in what he said but I'll elaborate. A blaster by definitely is not "retail" but it normally gets associated with retail stores because that's where you mainly find them. However, you can find retail/blaster boxes and packs online as well. The difference between retail and hobby are a few things. In a retail pack/box you are less likely to get a hit or you get fewer hits than you would in a retail box. I'll explain hits later. Also, you normally get more base for the price.
2. In the beginning, there was Topps. Then there was Star. Then there was Fleer. Then there was Fleer and Hoops. Then Fleer, Hoops, SkyBox and Upper Deck. Them Topps came in as well. Then some merged. However, the big thing to know is the following. Right now, starting in the Basketball year 2009-10 Panini is the exclusive maker of NBA cards for 4 years (ends season 2012-13 if not renewed). This means that there should be no other manufacturer making cards where the player is in an NBA uniform or the card shows the NBA logo of the team the player plays for. Topps doesn't have any basketball products this year because Upper Deck has an exclusive NCAA license (I think). Upper Deck is making NCAA products, but they aren't doing so well in my opinion. Topps and Upper Deck had a 3-4 month window before Panini's license took hold so they got out a few 2009-10 Products.
3. In regards to Topps, they have Jumbo packs at times, but they contain sometimes like 50 cards or something (not sure). In that situation, it's just the size of the packs/box they decided to make, but they'll have regular packs and boxes with 8-10 cards a pack. Packs with fewer cards in them generally do run higher in price because they have better QA and the cards are worth more. Doesn't mean you're more likely to get a hit, just a better hit. For instance, a Game Used card from a product with 8-9 cards a pack might be $6 while a Game Used card of the same player and same style of card (essentially) with only 3-4 cards in the pack might be worth $10 (not always the case). As you get into the higher valued cards, the prices per pack are higher and the number of cards is lower, but they are some awesome cards (see Youtube for breaks of UD Black or Exquisite).
4. This is where I'll expand a lot of information, not just personal opinion, but I'll start with opinion.

I'm a Pistons collector and I collect every card of a Pistons player in their uniform, if the card says they were traded to the Pistons, or if the card says the player plays for the Pistons. Therefore, I am not worried about hits per se. A hit is an insert, parallel, Game Used/Event Worn, or Autograph card.

Insert - a card that does not belong to the base/main set.
Parallel - a card that looks similar in makeup to the regular card (base or insert) but has different attributes. A good example is Topps Refractors. The base is Chrome, but the refractor has a rainbowish shine to it. There are subsequent types of refractors such as X-Fractors, Atomic Refractors and Superfractors. Another kind of parallel, as seen in 2010-11 Donruss as an example, are die cut cards. These cards are not a simple rectangle, but part of the card is purposely cut into a design. Some cards may have parallels where there's a JSY or an AU, or both, but the main card is plain. The type of parallel depends on the product and the manufacturer.
Game Used/Event Worn (JSY/GU/Patch/Prime) - Jersey, Shoes, Ball, Patch cards are all Game Used/Event Warn. Game Used seeks higher attention than Event Warn. A Patch is a card that contains stitching of the letters/logo (or iron on from older uniforms).
Autorgaphs (AU) - Just as it says, the players autograph. There are a few kinds. Different color ink, sticker and on card. More people seem to prefer on card (I have no preference) because Stickers seem impersonal and at times part of the autograph gets cut off and it lowers the value.

As far as what you collect, that really depends on you. If you're going for value, RCs and HOFers always seem to be the way to go. But purchasing them can get expensive. If you're collecting for sets, then as long as you're going for a set that has no difference between the cards at Wal-Mart, Target, etc. and the hobby boxes (2010-11 Absolute is an example while 2009-10 Absolute had different versions) then you can by the cards wherever you want. And if you are collecting sets and there is no difference, Wal-Mart/Target are normally better because you get more base out of it, unless you're going for an insert set, then it's better to get Hobby.

Some of my favorite products are 2007-08 Stadium Club, 2009-10 SP Game Used, 2009-10 Studio, 2009-10 Upper Deck, 2010-11 Donruss, 2010-11 Rookies and Stars, 2010-11 Absolute Memorabilia, 2008-09 Topps T-51 Murad, and many others. You can look at my Organize (if you have a subscription of some sort) and see that I collect quite a few sets along with Pistons.

In terms of this site, I'll give you this advice. These forums have wonderful contributors and awesome traders. If you wish to trade on here, it has to be through the Beckett tools and that means you have to use Organize. If you have not purchased and OPG or Organize subscription, you can only have 100 cards in your account max. If in a trade you go over, you cannot clear them out and Beckett won't do it for you unless you purchase a subscription of some sort. To me, and I'm not being biased because I'm a mod here, the trade tools on this site supersede any other site's (I'm not trying to open a debate on this topic). It's an awesome way to keep your inventory as compared to normal lists and it's awesome for managing inventory.

If you need anything, a lot of the members on this forum are very very helpful, or you can PM me. Happy collecting.

Just like I said on the PM that I sent you,
Thank You very much for your help xstreaminsanity!!

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and I also appreciate previous replies as well guys!

[xstreaminsanity]

Just like I said on the PM that I sent you,
Thank You very much for your help xstreaminsanity!!

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and I also appreciate previous replies as well guys!

No problem, and if you have any questions, we're always here. This can be quite overwhelming to step right into. A lot of collectors don't "play", this is a very obsessive hobby. (I speak from experience.)

[mcleodfive]

Xtremeinsanity your the best moderator of all time! Your easy going and actually chime in on conversations! Not to mention you welcome the rookie collectors! Sorry for my part in the LeBron thread, it's just something about him that tends to bring strong opinions on both sides lol. Maybe we should just ban his name all together lol... But anyways to the newbie, figure out what you like in this great sport and collect! Have fun!!

i dont know floydtown is pretty good he helped me step by step for everything on here and even made a trade for my first trade ever on here. i dont do much on this board as much as football but i do a little basketball.

[xstreaminsanity]

I'll correct Xstream on one thing about basketball cards. First there was some cigarette company in the 1920's (mutli sport set), then there was bowman, then there was topps, then there was fleer, then there was topps again, then there was star..... and the rest we all know. lol

lol. You forgot the BREAD COMPANIES!!!!!!!!!! lol. And I thought the cigarette companies only did baseball, but I could be wrong.

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i dont know floydtown is pretty good he helped me step by step for everything on here and even made a trade for my first trade ever on here. i dont do much on this board as much as football but i do a little basketball.

floydtown is the one that brought me on so I have a ways to go before I get to his status.

[kukid15]

xstream i have a dennis rodman in a pistons uniform its fleer 91. but i cant find it in my org so if you want it and can help me find it i could send it your way

[taffster74]

I did too forget the bread companies. Also forgot the bleachers cards and a couple of the 1970's Fleer pizza cards. There was one set way back when - cuold have been earlier than the 1920's that was a multi-sport set put out by one of the cigarett companies - it had a really old basketball card in it. Can't remember who posted the cards originally - might have been the guy who's really into vintage stuff.