Beckett 20 Questions … to start the NBA season
By Chris Olds | Beckett Basketball Editor
The NBA season tips off tonight with three games that will inevitably restart the fires with a few collectors and perhaps prompt a few others if there are any surprises.
But we’re not waiting for a 7 p.m. tip-off in Cleveland for the season to begin. We’ve got 20 questions about basketball and basketball cards that we’re curious to see how you, the collectors, answer.
Some are for fun, some are more serious … if you have more to say about the NBA these days — or collecting, of course — you can let us know in the comments below.
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See the rest of the questions … after the jump.
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Have anything else to add? Tell us in the comments below.
Chris Olds is the editor of Beckett Basketball magazine. Have a comment, question or idea? Send an email to him at colds@beckett.com. Follow him on Twitter by clicking here.
I collect sets, but my main focus (though I’ve been out of it for a few months) is collecting Pistons cards of all types, just so long as they are licensed. I don’t collect broder cards. I can’t, and probably never will, be able to afford to buy a box of cards that costs $500. I have a hard time spending $150 on a box of cards and haven’t really done that but twice. I would love cards to be more affordable, but I also want to see some creativity in them. One thing I think Panini has been lacking, though they seem to be doing a little more here and there, is some foil on their cards. I’m talking foil for the names of the players and the teams, maybe even their logo, but on most lower end cards (Prestige, Hoops, etc.), there isn’t much foil. Though, I don’t like when there are parallels of different foil, especially between gold and silver, because if the card sits in the sun, the color can change. One example would be 1996-97 Hoops. There’s a silver version, I think a copper version, and a basic version, though they’re hard to tell apart. All cards, not just basketball, need more on card AU. Basketball needs more shoe cards and less photoshoot cards. I am so glad the start of the season is today. :)
I would have like to have seen a question asking if exclusive contracts with players and exclusive contracts with a company like Panini are good for the hobby.
7. Of these, which is the most-iconic basketball Rookie Card?
How about 1961-62 Fleer Wilt Chamberlain?!?
Or 1957-58 Topps Bill Russell?!?
I would put those two over RCs of Kareem or Dr. J., both in terms of “iconic” status and certainly value.
Surprised there wasn’t an option for player collectors on 17?
Folkert: There is now.
Mark: “Of these” means it’s not an all-inclusive question … it’s a selection from those mentioned.
PLEASE bring back TOPPS BASKETBALL!!!
Question #11 did not include National Treasures. Will National Treasures be released again? That’s the only Panini brand that I enjoyed.
That list is only those products that have been released or have been previewed so far this year.
I like that the Magic versus Bird vote is split down the middle, it’s one of the gerat arguments in sports
I have stopped buying basketball wax because of Panini, I only buy my favorite one or two players on the secondary market or at my LCS. Panini is the worst thing to happen to the collecting hobby in history.
The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh shouldn’t be in the “other” category……and come on……2nd best after MJ? Wilt the Stilt any day, any year
I dont like all Panini Basketball cards. I think Topps Should get some action, as they produce quality.
Give meee chrome Topps Needs to blalance the Equation. Recent Panini sets for 11-12 look good but widen the scope a little with more companies.
I love the ability to open a box not get that player auto but still get that cool insert that make me want to open more.I really get a headache thinking was I wrong not to spend my house payment back in 03 for that chance of a Lebron EXQU. Rc auto. Or that Durant was I missing out on the investment. It seems the HOT cards are always the higest products (nat treas,exquis) a ripple effect of lowering the other values of any player accross the board.
It makes cool videso to watch and fun to see waht price it will sell for but is that what the Hobby has become.
Take it back to player and teams who you love the Mailman Reggie Clyde. These wern’t the tops guys the endorsment guys but the palyers you loved for the effort the love of the game. Thats why we collected them Jordan Magic Larry wild kobe lebron wade dirk.Hopefully more competitveness breads more FANS.
I have not collected basketball as much as baseball or football, but again I have to get on my soapbox and speak out against exclusive licenses for cards. I know for a long time there were too many products out there and it got pretty insane, but I truly miss having more choices. If we could get Topps, Fleer and Upper Deck back in the game without returning to the insanity of the late 90’s, I think that would be the best thing for basketball cards.
The hobby has become an “adult” hobby, which is very sad! We need to do everything possible to entice the kids to collect. Part of the problem is collectability. KIds want to collect everything, of a certain team or player. If they know they never will be able to collect Gold Standard, Equisite etc.. they will lose interest very fast. Make less, affordable and comprehensive products; i.e. Fleer and Upper Deck in the late 80′, early 90’s and they will come!
I really liked Panini Preferred cards, i bought 3 boxes. Never paid 200 bucks for a box of cards in my life and i probably wont again until Preferred comes back (if it does). I really like the look, each box guaranteed a booklet card and they have huge patch cards of past and present players and a lot of on card autos.
I think box prices need to be lowered a bit, the price is hurting the hobby.
I am with Kingbudd’s comment…
I would have like to have seen a question asking if exclusive contracts with players and exclusive contracts with a company like Panini are good for the hobby…??
Monopolies are never a good thing for the customers… I want to see competition amongst basketball card manufacturers….
I do not know why after hitting the “post comment” button it said I am posting comments too quickly…. I wrote a lengthy comment… & am not going to rewrite what I just said… this is the 2nd comment I tried to post… in the last couple hours…..
I would also would of liked questions regarding redemptions….??
Panini said they will cut the time it takes for redemptions to be fulfilled…
this is a joke.. because I been waiting since SEP 2011 for an Elgin Baylor Elite Black Box “status signature” #115 to be produced & shipped out…. I have received 3 responses from Panini… two said, in other words, there was miscommunication on the production of the card & they are working on it… while the last email was more personalized, which is good customer service. Panini employee left their name. Said that it should be released in the next two months…
The Baylor elite black auto was a sticker auto.. with print run of 24.. His autograph is found in every 2011-12 product.. why couldn’t panini produce the redemption card months ago..??
I also been waiting on 4 Jordan Farmar UD Signifcance cards since 2009… this card is not numbered… & has already shown up for sell a bunch of times on Ebay.. I own 3 of them, that I bought online… but I still want my redemptions filled. I do not want replacements…
With Upper Deck out primarily out of the picture, I have switched a lot of my focus to football. I feel that the recent wave of basketball products is largely average.
I think a lot of people confuse affordability with value. There are products like Hoops that are affordable to most at $2.00-$2.50/pack. But people shy away from hoops because it is very difficult to find big hits in it. A lot of people want big hits at a cheap price, which isn’t possible. If there was a big hit in Hoops every box, then either the product would go up in price due to demand, or the “big hits”, would no longer be worth as much due to a flooded market. At least a product like base Topps was collectible from a set building standpoint because of their history. But most people don’t seem to find base sets of any Panini product collectible.
I liked the upper deck products. Too bad the company had so many problems which were mainly self imposed. I am very disappointed with most of the Panini products. I like a few, but the overall quality has been lacking, although the recent “Prestige” release is a decent collectable set with nice glossy base cards. Hoops is really not that nice, and threads has a few nice cards, but I can not see value in buying boxes of it. It would be nice if there were a different variety, but I understand the difficulty of getting multiple companies to represent the leagues well. I think the leagues would be better off making their own plan, say 5-6 products and divide them among interested companies with perhaps 2 high end, two mid end, and two lower end set-builder type with competition among the companies. It could make for better products overall
suprised there was no mention about impact of auction websites on hobby values or is it unanimous :)
also suprised that upper deck beat out topps as most liked cards thought that topps chrome/ finest always took the cake with the fractors
Would be nice if Panini could issue some reprints of the pre 1970 players as some of the autos are extremely hard to locate, especally the deceased players. I’m trying/attempting to put together a Celtics album and have being having a difficult time finding certain players, yet Larry Sykes with his 2 minutes of fame is easy to find.