By Chris Olds | Beckett Basketball Editor

It’s a busy time in the NBA with the postseason marathon ongoing and the awards season generating headlines beyond the court.

On cardboard, it’s just as busy with several new products arriving and stars making their own pushes with strong performances. (Need a checklist or OPG for one of the 541 basketball sets already made this year? Click here.)

Here’s the latest Beckett 20 Questions on cards and the court. Tell us what you think about the state of cards today, its stars and more with your votes and the comments below.

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See the remaining 19 questions … after the jump.

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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.

By Chris Olds | Beckett Sports Card Monthly Editor

For toy fans, they’re no secret. But for sports fans? Well, there just might be something cooking.

In the world of vinyl toys, that is.

Lynnwood, Wash.-based Funko is readying its second offering of Pop! vinyl toys coming in late summer with a handful of World Wrestling Entertainment stars getting the collectible anime-style treatment. Six WWE stars will be appearing on 4-inch, $10 figures — The Rock, CM Punk, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, John Cena, Sheamus and Rey Mysterio.

The figures will arrive in August — but won’t be the first sports toys from the company as it signed a deal with the NBA last year. Its second series of NBA player figures arrives in April — part of a massive offering of entertainment licenses that, if one isn’t purely a sports collector, should entice.

Literally everything from The Walking Dead to Elvis Presley, Michael Jackson and even Alan and Carlos from The Hangover have appeared on pieces of the pop culture-inflused art.

The NBA Series 1 line included 10 players — LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Derrick Rose Blake Griffin and Jeremy Lin to name a few — with the Lin figure a bit more limited and in his New York Knicks uniform. Series 2 will include eight players — with an updated Lin Rockets figure. He’s also the only player to appear in both series. Debuting in Series 2 will be Kobe Bryant, Dwight Howard, Chris Paul, Ricky Rubio, Amar’e Stoudemire, Dwyane Wade and Dirk Nowitzki.

No other pro sports leagues are in on Pop! Sports just yet, but if interest on eBay for sports figures comes anywhere close to demand for any limited edition San Diego Comic Con figures made for the brand’s entertainment properties more people will notice. It’s not uncommon for many of those figures to fetch $100 and up, while some groupings have gone for $300 and up in recent days.

The sports figures aren’t perhaps where Pop!’s strength is — that would be in its massive entertainment offerings. Both Marvel Comics and DC are on board as are many musical acts and movie studios. Need a set of KISS figures? How about Hello Kitty figures in KISS makeup? Yep, they’re in there. So are The Ramones. So is Ozzy Osbourne. So are some of The Sex Pistols. And then there are The Beatles — and The Blue Meanie, too.

Quentin Tarantino‘s Kill Bill is found in vinyl — as is Pulp Fiction. Need a little Clubber Lang in your life? Mr. T is among the Rocky lineup. Then there’s Tony Montana from Scarface, Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz (her little dog, Toto, too), The Hobbit, The Big Lebowski, Mars Attacks, Ace Ventura, The Muppets, He-Man, Beetlejuice, Freddy Krueger … and so much more.

Oh, and then there’s Star Wars.

Unless one lives in a galaxy far, far away — or only is an MLB, NHL or NFL fan — there’s literally something that might appeal to a collector.

Who — or what — would you want to see? Check out the gallery below and tell us in the comments below.

Chris Olds is the editor of Beckett Baseball magazine. Have a comment, question or idea? Send an email to him at colds@beckett.com. Follow him on Twitter by clicking here. Follow Beckett Media on Facebook.

By Chris Olds | Beckett Basketball Editor

A year ago, Linsanity was taking the NBA by storm and creating cardboard calamity that hadn’t been seen in some time on the hardwood.

This year, James Harden seems to be injecting himself into the top-player spotlight as he’s dominating with a new team and rubbing shoulders with the likes of Kobe and LeBron.

For the Your Turn page in Beckett Basketball, we simply want to know … who do you think is break-out star of the 2012-13 season?

Maybe it’s one of today’s rookies or a guy who’s been around but found a key spot where he can shine — and turn common cardboard into something more.

Tell us who and why and we’ll run a selection of your answers in the issue.

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.

By Chris Olds | Beckett Basketball Editor

As 2012 winds down, we figured we’d take a few minutes to take a look back at 2012 via the covers of Beckett Basketball — a magazine that only published eight times this year but will be making the move back to monthly in 2013.

Heck, we’re already working on March’s issue.

It was a choppy time for NBA collectors with limited releases and no Rookie Cards, but that time is over as we’re pretty fan into a new season and a double-dose of RCs to make up for lost time.

Here’s a gallery of the 2012 covers — we want to know, just for kicks, which one you liked best.

And if you want to give us your rundown of 2012, do that in the comments.

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.

By Chris Olds | Beckett Basketball Editor | Commentary

From sixth man to main man in seven days.

When the Oklahoma City Thunder traded reigning Sixth Man of the Year James Harden a week ago today, more than a few pundits figured that this would be his chance to become a leading man in the NBA.

It didn’t take long. After two games in a Houston Rockets uniform, he’s already there.

In the second game of his Rockets career Friday night, the shooting guard scored a career-high 45 points. In the season-opener on Wednesday, he scored 37 while dishing out a team-high 12 assists — more than fellow Houston newcomer and point guard Jeremy Lin, who did a little card-selling of his own last season.

This kind of showing, of course, has resulted in some brisk selling of his cards, autographs and memorabilia.

Harden has appeared on 546 cards since his debut in 2009-10 NBA products, and he’s got a bit higher cardboard statistics in some categories reflecting the slightly different basketball card landscape of that time. Specifically, he appears on 27 Rookie Cards from Panini America, Upper Deck and Topps — the latter two were in the final stretch of their NBA deals — while he appears on 195 certified autograph cards.

In all, Harden’s portfolio is presently valued at more than $12,794 not including those cards that are too rare to track a reliable price range.

Harden’s earliest cardboard actually stems from his appearance in the 2007 McDonald’s All-American Game, which had its players — a roster that also included Blake Griffin, O.J. Mayo, Derrick Rose, Eric Gordon and Kevin Love — showcased on a pair of Topps sets. One set featured action photos, while a second featured portraits on the cards, which were to be autographed and distributed in packs when the player was eligible and signed a deal with Topps as a pro. (A limited quantity of those cards arrived in 2009-10 Topps.)

Harden presently has 16 certified autographs that are tracked at $100 or more with two National Treasures from Panini America cards leading the way. His 2009-10 Playoff National Treasures Century Gold jersey autograph is limited to just 25 copies and typically sells for about $800, while the standard version of that card (limited to 99) typically sells for $700.

Speaking of ink, Harden also has a new contract — five years, $80 million — and perhaps a few more fans after those first two games.

The only thing we have to wait on now?

His first Houston Rockets card.

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.

By Chris Olds | Beckett Basketball Editor | Commentary

One of this past season’s biggest stories was the tale of Jeremy Lin, who came out of nowhere to become the biggest thing in The Big Apple as a star for the New York Knicks for a couple months and then faded just as quickly due to injury.

The point guard’s meteoric rise was one that’s perhaps unparalleled — at least in a few years — and sparked a run on cardboard not seen on the hardwood in some time for a player not named LeBron. His 85 total cards, not including those too rare to price, still command a total of $13,994 to own. (Need an OPG or checklist? Click here.)

Now, he’ll return to the Houston Rockets — a team he briefly played for — after signing a $25.1 million three-year deal, according to ESPN.

We want to know … what do you think this will do for his cardboard?

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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.

By Susan Lulgjuraj | Contributing Editor

Gold Standard Basketball is coming back for its sophomore campaign.

With Panini America’s release of 2011-12 Gold Standard Basketball just a couple of months away, it’s time to get a closer look at some of the cards in the product.

Collectors can expect some of last year’s features back such as 14K gold discs embedded in cards or 14K gold trading cards. But Panini is offering even more to make 2011-12 Gold Standard Basketball even more successful. (Need a checklist for last year’s set or an OPG? Click here.)

Beckett had a first look at Gold Standard in April. But here are more preview pictures to enjoy.

Susan Lulgjuraj is a contributing editor for Beckett Media. You can email Susan here. Follow her on Twitter here.

Join Beckett Basketball‘s Chris Olds as he rips into three 2011-12 NBA Hoops hobby packs in this Box Busters teaser video.

What did he find? Watch and find out …

We’ll have a full box break later this week.

Update: The auction ended at $42,388 after 34 bids.

By Chris Olds | Beckett Basketball Editor

Interest in Jeremy Lin‘s meteoric rise to the biggest name in The Big Apple might be waning just a bit, but a key piece of his memorabilia is on the auction block and could change some people’s minds once again.

Because it, too, is a bit lin-sane.

It’s his game-used New York Knicks jersey from Feb. 10 — the night he scored a career-high 38 points in a win over the Los Angeles Lakers — and it’s being sold as part of a package with four Knicks tickets and the chance to meet Lin through CharityBuzz.com.

The auction ends at noon on Tuesday and bidding presently stands at $31,388. It benefits The Garden of Dreams Foundation.

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.

By Andrew Tolentino | BSCM Editor

The New York City arm of Beckett Grading Services just slabbed a piece of Linsanity.

After landing the card, a Jeremy Lin 2010-11 National Treasures Century Materials Prime Signatures numbered to 25, collector Yair Rozmaryn turned it over to the New York office with the same hope that every grading customer has. In his case, the grade was high and Rozmaryn was soon holding a gem mint BGS 9.5 Lin (for the win).

Currently sitting in a safety deposit box, the card just went live in an eBay auction.

With the help of BGS New York’s Charles Stabile, we connected with the 29-year-old collector to pick his brain about the phenomenon and what he’s planning on doing with his Linsanely hot Rookie Card.

Beckett Media: When did you pull the J-Lin card?
Yair Rozmaryn: Ha, wish I could say I pulled it. But I purchased it from another collector/investor before his meteoric rise to fame. Right after the game vs Utah.

BM: Tell us about how you reacted to your hit/acquisition?
YR: I was really happy but at the same time somewhat nervous. I didn’t know if this was a fad or if he could actually play. Then the Lakers game happened and he outslugged Kobe in a game for the ages. At that point, I knew I had something special.

BM: What’s with all the Lin-sanity? (What’s your take on why people are going nuts over Jeremy Lin?)
YR: Jeremy Lin-mania is here to stay. He has the rare opportunity to transcend the sport of basketball across East Asia and beyond. To give some perspective, Tracy McGrady apparently had over 1,000,000 followers on Twitter just because he played with Yao Ming. Yao Ming, while a tremendously skilled player, was not very exciting to watch, played for a small-mid size market team, and did not speak English particularly well so he had trouble connecting with the casual American basketball fan. Jeremy Lin is quite the opposite. He’s articulate and bi-lingual; he’s very exciting to watch; he’s religious; and he plays in the biggest market in the country.

Furthermore, we rarely hear of players in the NBA coming from relative obscurity to superstardom especially in such a short period of time. The curious case of Jeremy Lin is not only interesting because of his ethnic background but also because of his astonishing road traveled. Here is a guy who couldn’t get a Division-I scholarship. He went from barely playing as a walk-on for Harvard to achieving all-conference honors in his junior year only to then go undrafted. Then, he’s constantly tossed around the NBA just so teams can make cap room for bigger stars … he floats around the D-league and has to crash on his brother’s couch. And now, he’s the biggest name in sports. It’s really such an inspirational story that moves you every time you hear it.

We could be mentioning Jeremy Lin in the same breath as Tiger Woods and Pele very, very soon.

For more information, or to schedule an appointment at the New York BGS office, contact BGS Regional Sales Manager Charles Stabile via phone at 212-375-6760, fax at 212-375-6738 or email at cstabile@beckett.com.