[bkey24]

I've collected cards for several years(15+), stopped for awhile but now getting by into it. Just had a few questions to ask. I'm new to the website so I'm just trying to figure out how everything works and refresh my mind on collecting.

1. When do the new RCs come out, Best brand?
2. Whats the best brand to collect these days, worth the most?
3. Whats trending, Rookie Cards, Personal Collections, or Sets?
4. I'm buying a subscription tomorrow, just curious how to list ALL of my cards, memorabilia, etc.? Is there anyway i can just type in what card i have for it to go into my organize?

ANY advice would be greatly appreciated, Glad to be back collecting and hope to make some deals with some of you on here! Thank you!

[jdetter23]

1. Which rookie class? This draft with Anthony Davis,MKG and Barnes or the 2011 class with Kyrie Irving?
2. UD is all college now since Panini has the exclusive rights to the NBA for the next 2 or 3 seasons. SP Authentic is always good but like I said , the players are in college uniforms. UD is coming out with Fleer Retro which will use some old Fleer and Skybox Premium styles with the current players. Of course the one good thing about UD is they have all Jordan and Lebron autos since they have exclusive rights with them. Panini has all exclusive rights in products with Kobe and Durant,unless you buy products from 09 or before. Panini has some products coming out this month with 2011 rookie redemptions in them. They are redemptions due to the lockout and having no rookie premiere. 2012-13 products will start coming out in late august to september I believe. Gold Standard is a good product from Panini, as well as Contenders and National Treasure(NT is a lot more expensive though lol)
3. That would be personal preference. I know there are lots of collectors that have PC's and then theres always going to be people who go for the sets.
4. lol this will lengthy if you have lots of cards. I would recommend typing in keys like player and set its from and then you can go from there in the organizer to click which card you have so you can add it. There is a thread somewhere that tells how to add everything into your organize as well as marking them for trade or not.

lol sorry for the lengthy anwser

[bkey24]

JDETTER I really do appreciate you taking the time to help me out man! No problem for the lengthy response at all, you answered all of my questions and i thank you for that! So, I see your a Cam fan, I live about 2hrs from the stadium and go to a lot of the games, have a ton of Cam memorabilia that i might be selling here shortly if you are interested. You said NT,Gold Standard and Contenders are good products, how much would a pack or so cost in those products? Do they guarantee a certain amount of autos, etc. PER pack? Lastly, do you purchase from a local card store or do you get your packs elsewhere?

[jdetter23]

Sweet, I think we could be really good this year,depending on the Defense. Im an hour outside of Charlotte here in NC. haha unfortunately Cam stuff is really expensive ha so I doubt id have the money for any of it. I did get my mini helmet signed by him last year at training camp. as to your other questions The prices vary considerably on them. each of those products is a one pack product with a few base and then the guaranteed mem and autos. I usually check on like Blowoutcards.com or dacardworld.com because they will tell what comes in the boxes like how many autos are guaranteed and what not. When I do purchase packs or boxes I split it up. Most of it I buy at my LCS but there are times when they are more expensive and so I will buy online from blowoutcards, since they are in VA and it doesnt take too long to ship down here.

[bkey24]

Yeah i def think we can win the division with everyone back on defense, injuries killed us last year on D. Some of the Cam stuff is kind of expensive but some isn't too bad, if your ever looking for any Cam stuff just hit me up with a PM. I'm about to check out those websites you suggested and see what i can find and again, thanks for all your help man!

[quavis]

More NC members! Thats awesome. Im in Charlotte bout 15 minutes from stadium and arena. If you dont have a LCS near you, there is AAA collectables in Matthews. may be a bit of a drive, but a good shop if you dont have one. A product I am excited about is Fleer Retro. Its a UD product but should have some very nice cards in it. Welcome to the boards!

[crimedawg47]

Welcom bkey...send those Gerald Hendersons my way

[bkey24]

Thanks a lot quavis glad to be here! I'm a huge Bobcats,Panthers,Canes fan and try to make it to about 8-10 Bobcats games a year as well. But, the Panthers are #1 in my life when it comes to sports teams lol. Back to collecting cards, I usually go to Cary to some store (cant think of the name right now) to buy my packs and that's where i've had the most luck but I'll def. check out that place in Matthews. When do the UD Retro cards come out your talking about?

CrimeDawg - I don't really have any GH cards at the moment but ill be sure to contact you if i do get any in the near future! I think I'm going to start collecting MKG or Kemba as a superset.

[xstreaminsanity]

I've collected cards for several years(15+), stopped for awhile but now getting by into it. Just had a few questions to ask. I'm new to the website so I'm just trying to figure out how everything works and refresh my mind on collecting.

1. When do the new RCs come out, Best brand?

As jdetter23 said, there were no rookies in this past year's (2011-12) products due to the lockout, but there were some redemptions in Past & Present, Limited (not released yet) and Gold Standard (not released yet). The redemptions are for the first cards of 2011-12 rookies and XRC cards for 2012-13 draft picks. The 2011-12 redemptions will be autographed, the 2012-13 cards will not be autographed. The 2012-13 draft redemptions are obvious because they're based on pick and the draft has just happened on Thursday. But the 2011-12 draft redemptions don't say who they're for because they're going to be holding a live draft on their blog in October I believe. New products will start with 2012-13 Hoops which releases 8/8 (I believe). As far as best brand, depends on what you're referring to? Best brand for rookies? National Treasures. Best brand overall? That's a tough one. I really liked Past & Present this year, but that's because I'm a set collector (also PC Pistons). But the best brand question is really a matter of preference.

2. Whats the best brand to collect these days, worth the most?

Worth the most that were ever released, you're looking at Exquisite, UD Black, Chronology, and National Treasures. The next tier might be SP Game Used, SP Rookie Threads, Timeless Treasures, Gold Standard, Limite, Bowman Sterling, Topps Triple Threads, and others. However, the brands worth the most that have yet to be released will be from Panini since they have the exclusive license until after this upcoming season (from 2009-10 through 2012-13). Panini's highest brand is National Treasures. But as with most products, it's a hit or miss and you're probably better off buying a case if you're looking for any ROI.

3. Whats trending, Rookie Cards, Personal Collections, or Sets?

Again, matter of preference. Though, I wouldn't say anything is really "trending" in the hobby. Almost everyone has a PC or multiple PCs, there aren't too many of us set collectors out there (and most that are, are normally lower end set collectors). People always try to go for rookie cards of the superstars or who they think will blow up. I only collect rookie cards of non-Pistons players if they're in a set I'm collecting, that's it.

4. I'm buying a subscription tomorrow, just curious how to list ALL of my cards, memorabilia, etc.? Is there anyway i can just type in what card i have for it to go into my organize?

Depends on how you have your cards organized in real life. I've always found it best to enter cards in by set, not just for the sets I collect. If I have a whole bunch of doubles or cards from mixed boxes or freebies, I'll separate them into sets. That way, it's less to type. If I have 20 cards from a set, I can type in the set, select the 20 cards, then add them all at once, but if I have all of my cards separated by team/player, I may have to type in 350 players rather than 100 sets. Make sense?

ANY advice would be greatly appreciated, Glad to be back collecting and hope to make some deals with some of you on here! Thank you!

My answers are above in Blue.

If you have any further questions, or need exact instructions on how to add cards to your Organize, mark them for trade/sale, or use any functions of the site, don't hesitate to ask. Thanks.

[bkey24]

Thank you so much streamsanity, your answers def helped me.