By Chris Olds | Beckett Basketball Editor

If you like Mike, then this set might be for you.

Well, 250 of you that is.

Upper Deck is readying what will be the most-limited – and most high-end – Michael Jordan card set ever made with the 2013 Upper Deck Michael Jordan UNC Master Collection, which will arrive this summer.

Each wood-boxed set will be limited to just 250 serial-numbered copies and include 23 standard cards. It also will include one hand-painted Masterpieces card – each limited to 30 – four signed cards and one complete patch set with the cards comprising either the standard or alternate Carolina logos. In addition, each box will include one Master Collection Shadowbox, Precious Metal Gem or a 1/1 autograph.

 “Upper Deck produced Master Collection sets over 10 years ago and fans still inquire about them frequently,” said Grant Sandground, Upper Deck’s director of product development. “We felt Michael Jordan would be the perfect subject to re-imagine these ultra-premium sets around. It’s the type of set that 99 percent of collectors can’t afford, but 100 percent of collectors would love to own.”

As an added bonus, each set also will include a replica 1982 UNC National Champions ring.

A price for the sets was not announced.

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.

Join Beckett Basketball‘s Brian Fleischer and Chris Olds as they rip into boxes of 2013 Upper Deck All-time Greats basketball cards in this latest edition of Box Busters.

What will they find inside? Watch and find out …

By Chris Olds | Beckett Basketball Editor

Psst … bookmark this page, you’ll need it soon.

With Beckett Basketball moving back to a monthly publishing schedule in 2013 (up from eight issues in recent years), we figured we’d start off the new year with a bang.

How? By giving away this 2011-12 Exquisite Collection Endorsements Dual Michael Jordan/Larry Bird autograph — a card that has a pretty steep asking price in a current auction for one of the other 19 copies out there.

As we prepare the January 2013 issue of Beckett Basketball, it is there where we will include the instructions on how to potentially get your hands on this card. It will tell you what to say in a comment when you come right back here after reading the instructions in the magazine. (No purchase necessary, of course … you just have to find it, read it and correctly follow the instructions given.)

From there, we’ll pick a winner at random from all complete entries received here on April 8, 2013. (Yep, we’re going to run this contest until it’s tourney time — the date is the NCAA tourney title game.)

Look for the January issue of Beckett Basketball at hobby shops and selected retail stores next month.

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.

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By Chris Olds | Beckett Sports Card Monthly Editor

In an upcoming issue of Beckett Sports Card Monthly, we’re going to explore the world of college collecting.

While we haven’t yet ironed out all of the items we’ll have inside The College Issue — there are lots of options — one thing we know we do want is to hear from you. We want to know a few things about how your school ties tie into what you collect and how you collect.

I finished my college days at the University of Alabama — a school that has produced many Hall of Famers on the gridrion (both college and pro), produced quite a few MLB and NBA stars, and even some stars in the literary and media world. My collection is all over the map from my days down there — and it’s a collection with plenty of variety beyond just the football greats. (I’ll have plenty to potentially write about in that issue.)

But that’s for later. We want to know about your college collecting habits.

Give us your name and location and answer the following questions … we’ll run a selection of the most-interesting answers in the issue.

1. Name, where from and what school do you collect?

2. What do you collect for your school? (It could be anything — or any sport — in particular. Cards? Game-used memorabilia? Autographs?)

3. What one item, do you feel, is perfectly symbolic of your school? (It’s the must-own item … for Alabama, it might be a Paul “Bear” Bryant autograph.)

4. Is there one card set you collect heavily as part of your college collection?

5.  Other: What university or college do you feel is most-collected? (It may not be your school.)

Please feel free to add more in your comments. Also, feel free to add links to photos of your collection.

Are you a college SuperCollector? Submit your info using the instructions here.

Chris Olds is the editor of Beckett Sports Card Monthly 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 | Commentary

The world is somberly whistling that familiar tune today, as television star Andy Griffith passed away today at the age of 86. Official reports indicate that he died this morning at his home in Dare County, N.C.

Today we pay hobby homage to the lovable, deliberate southern lead on The Andy Griffith Show and Matlock.

Despite being a television icon, Griffith doesn’t have many trading cards officially attributed to his name. His page in the Beckett OPG actually reveals that the only card in his name is a special Presidential Medal of Freedom (No. MOF19) from 2009 Topps American Heritage Heroes. The Andy Griffith Show, however, was featured in set form with various releases from Pacific and on several cards in an Inkworks non-sport set called 1998 TV’s Coolest Classics.

Perhaps until now, most of the Griffith-related cards that Beckett has cataloged are priced below one dollar. His trading card  popularity and value may spike in the days following his passing, but the mostly humble sales figures somehow match the unflappable, far-from-flashy characters that made him famous.

Today, all is quiet in Mayberry. But wherever Griffith is, I’m sure the fishin’ hole is full and that Aunt Bea has an apple pie cooling on the window sill.

Rest in peace, Andy.

Click here to view the embedded video.

By Chris Olds | Beckett Basketball Editor

Panini America has seven new members on its basketball team.

The exclusive licensee of NBA trading cards announced on Tuesday that it has signed exclusive trading card deals with seven projected top first-round picks in Thursday’s draft, meaning that Panini products will be the only places to find cards of Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Thomas Robinson, Harrison Barnes, Andre Drummond, Austin Rivers, Jared Sullinger and John Henson.

Kidd-Gilchrist was a member of the national champion Kentucky Wildcats, while Robinson was the Big 12 Player of the Year at Kansas and Barnes was an All-ACC honoree at North Carolina.

“We’re genuinely excited to add these gentlemen – the next generation of NBA superstars – to the Panini America family, and we can’t wait to get their first trading cards into the hands of fans and collectors,” said Panini America CEO Mark Warsop in a prepared statement. “The presence of these players in our complete line of 2012-13 products, in concert with the best rookies from the 2011-12 season, will create an unprecedented opportunity for fans and collectors to pursue a Double Rookie Card class in Panini America’s official NBA products throughout the entire season.”

Each of the 2012-13 Panini products will include a double rookie class — cards of both this year’s and last year’s draft picks, who did not appear on any standard cards in 2011-12 NBA products save for blind redemption cards that won’t be redeemed until after the first 2012-13 products arrive. (Need a checklist or OPG for a Panini basketball product? Click here.)

That’s a move that was lauded by the NBA.

“Panini America has bolstered what promises to be a great season for NBA trading cards,” said Lisa Goldberg, the NBA’s Vice President of Licensing and Global Merchandising, in a prepared statement. “Panini America continues to create new and innovative ways to generate excitement in the trading card industry and the 2012-13 double Rookie Card program is another example.”

Up first in August will be NBA Hoops, followed by Prestige in August and Threads in October. While Panini had just five products this past season — two of which have not arrived yet and are coming next week — the 2012-13 calendar may have as many as 20 NBA products for collectors to chase.

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.

Join Beckett Basketball’s Chris Olds and Rob Springs as they rip into a box of 2010-11 Upper Deck University of North Carolina basketball cards in this latest edition of Box Busters.

What will they find inside? Watch and find out …