[KineticFs]

I've just started collecting basketball cards and I have few questions regarding some beginner stuffs.

1. I've seen some boxes/packs with blaster or hobby on their names.
What differences does it make? Boxes looked the same but its just that names were different.
(Apperently, boxes with "hobby" on it seemed more expensive)

2. I've seen UD, Fleer and Topps boxes of 09-10 and past years.
Where are 10-11 boxes of these retailers? I can only find Panini versions of these.

3. There are packs with 8~10 cards in it while some only contain 4~5 cards.
And it looks like packs with less cards are more expensive. (In most cases)
Does this mean that I have better chance of getting high valued or rarer cards when I buy more expensive packs?

4. Lastly, can you guys tell your personal tips on collecting basketball cards?
Which kind of boxes to buy and which to avoid.
Or which years and boxes are popular.
Types of cards and etc.

These questions might sound very newb for those of you guys whos been collecting cards for years,
but I just to want to be well prepared before I jump into this card collection!

Thanks in advance guys!

[mcleodfive]

ok well i can answer # 1. blaster is a retail box that you can pick up at places like target walmart etc. ad normally are not guarenteed anything. hobby are almost always more expensive because you are guaranteed hits which are autos and jerseys. on #2 i think it is mainly because panini is nba licensed but the others arent so there products cant have them in nba uni so it would be harder to produce. #3 has a bunch of answers so let someone else help you with that. #4 is i would stay clear of 10/11 products there arent to many players except john wall and cousins. if you go with 09/10 and are willing to spend a little more you have blake griffin, stephen curry, brandon jennings, jrue holiday darrenn collison the list goes on.
hope this info helps you
david

[got watcha want]

1) BUY HOBBY ONLY!!!

2) Panini is the only NBA licensed product to be produced now. You can find UD collegiate cards from this year.

3) usually less cards at a higher price means better chance of a hit in the pack.

4) It is your world and we are just living in it, so collect what you want that can be found within your budget.

Hope that helps. The only other advice I can give is - if you pull an extemely rare and expensive card from a pack or box, you need to just trade it to me.

I've just started collecting basketball cards and I have few questions regarding some beginner stuffs.

1. I've seen some boxes/packs with blaster or hobby on their names.
What differences does it make? Boxes looked the same but its just that names were different.
(Apperently, boxes with "hobby" on it seemed more expensive)

2. I've seen UD, Fleer and Topps boxes of 09-10 and past years.
Where are 10-11 boxes of these retailers? I can only find Panini versions of these.

3. There are packs with 8~10 cards in it while some only contain 4~5 cards.
And it looks like packs with less cards are more expensive. (In most cases)
Does this mean that I have better chance of getting high valued or rarer cards when I buy more expensive packs?

4. Lastly, can you guys tell your personal tips on collecting basketball cards?
Which kind of boxes to buy and which to avoid.
Or which years and boxes are popular.
Types of cards and etc.

These questions might sound very newb for those of you guys whos been collecting cards for years,
but I just to want to be well prepared before I jump into this card collection!

Thanks in advance guys!

[xstreaminsanity]

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.

[antriarc]

The as usual very long winded xstreaminsanity wins lol.. awesome job!

[xstreaminsanity]

The as usual very long winded xstreaminsanity wins lol.. awesome job!

lol. Thanks.

[mcleodfive]

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.

or the long way lol

[xstreaminsanity]

or the long way lol

lol. I did leave out some stuff but figured that was enough to digest right now.

[got watcha want]

Where were you Xtreme when I started collecting?

[xstreaminsanity]

Where were you Xtreme when I started collecting?

lol. I can honestly say that even though I've been collecting since I was 8, I wasn't a collector until I started on the forums here 3 years ago. I knew what inserts were, but I didn't really know much about parallels, didn't know GU had become more abundant, thought AU were impossible to pull, and I thought I could sell my $0.10 cards for $0.10. Since I've been on these forums and became a mod, my eyes have been opened.