In The Mail Yesterday

Bought these two off of Ebay last week and they were delivered super fast. The 00-01 Ultimate Collection (Duncan) I couldn't pass up for $1 (+$2 s&h), I've always loved the design and I'll pick up a star every time I can (if it's cheap enough). I also picked out the Stockton refractor to bring the total to $5. I thought it was a good buy. Not sure if I want to hold onto the Stockton or give it to a Stockton-collecting friend.

Show Report

Jackpot!

Wasn't sure what to expect from a 10-12 table show at the Mermaid Event Center and Hotel with the very odd mermaid statue that adorns it. But I found a table with awesome deals. I learned never to underestimate the dime box. That's right each card was a dime. I found each of the cards on the bottom row of the image above for $.10 each. I even had to ask the seller to be sure. The deals were so good that I had to ask if he had any additional cards that he didn't already have out and he dropped another unpriced box on the table for me to sift through. I found one of my favorite cards (the Robinson jersey above) for $2.00!!! I guess one collector's trash...

In The Mail Today

Dream Teamers

Picked these two up online for under $5 (including shipping). Sure, there not flashy autographs or jersey cards, but they are relatively difficult to find. The first is a Platinum parallel version of the 95-96 Collector's Choice Chris Mullin (one of my personal favorites) with a Beckett value of $12.00. The second is a gold version of the Follow Your Dreams redemption of John Stockton (picked-up for a friend) with a Beckett value of at least $2.00 (since only the silver version is listed).

If Money Didn't Mean Anything...

2005-06 Upper Deck Portraits Quad Kidd/Stockton/Nash/Billups

Limited to only 10 copies, this 8x10 card would be the centerpiece of any playmakers collection. These four point guards are the NBA's best ever, minus Cousy, Magic, Thomas... okay, so it might not be the best-of-the-best (see Today's Top 5), but it's still damn cool.

If I Only Had The Money...

1996 NBA 50th Anniversary Autograph Lithograph

Sure the design isn't all that great, but for the NBA collector, this is the "holy grail" of any collection. Signed by 49 of the 50 players (minus Maravich who passed away in 1988) this lithograph was limited to 250 copies with the first 50 going to the players. A majority of the remaining 200 were distributed to league officials with the few remaining copies offered to the anyone willing to cough-up $25,000. But there was a cheaper option with an unsigned version numbered to 500 copies which sell for $50-$75 each.

This Week's Best: Week 5

1999-00 Upper Deck HoloGrFX Shoetime

Released in the early days of memorabilia, this 19 card insert was the one bright spot in a very heavy retail set. The set features some of the few memorabilia cards of some big names like Iverson, Barkley, Ewing, and Pippen. Plus there were autographed copies of the Karl Malone and Michael Jordan cards. Not only did the full-bleed design cause condition (chipping) problems, but if you were lucky enough to pull one (1 in every 431 packs) you had issues locating a case that it would even fit into. Still the unique memorabilia and all the big names are enough to consider this set one of my favorites.

If I Only Had The Money...

2005-06 Upper Deck Portraits Timeless Tens

Okay, so they're on-sticker autographs and there's no Jordan autograph here, but with only 3 copies produced and the level of players on an 8 x 10, it would be difficult to pass up. One copy recently sold for $1,600. To some a small price to pay for Magic, Bird, Thomas, Dr. J, Russell, Kareem, Stockton, Rodman, Pippen, and Olajuwon, making up a virtual dream team autograph collection on one card.

This Week's Best: Week 2

1996 Upper Deck USA Follow Your Dreams Exchange Set

How can you go wrong with a set that includes Barkley, Robinson, Miller, Pippen, Hill, Richmond, O'Neal, Hardaway, Malone, Payton, Olajuwon, and Stockton? I rarely see these sets for sale, but when they sell, they go for surprisingly low prices. Could be that mint condition copies are even more difficult to find because of the full-bleed printing that make the smallest of chips extremely visible. Released in a silver and a gold version, this set was only available in exchange for a contest card of either Reggie Miller or David Robinson that were both inserted into packs. No Barkley, Payton, or Richmond cards were included in the regular set (these were late additions to the team), and these are Gary Payton's only olympic cards (he did not have any in the SkyBox Olympic release that same year).

Show Review:Earle Brown Heritage Center

With all the online auctions, it's easy to forget that collector's still enjoy sifting through rows and rows of cards to find that treasure that they were looking for that the seller didn't want to pay to put it up on Ebay and just wants to get rid of it.

I attended my first card show of the year (sorry TwinsFest) and was pleasantly surprised. Lately the shows have been the same vendors with the same cards. Of course it doesn't help going to the same show nearly every time. This show had a couple of the usual vendors, but some new participants with some great deals (shown). In this economy, there's obviously more and more customers going through the $5 and less bins and I didn't mind finding some of the cool 90's inserts and some new cards of old favorites.

Advertised as having 30 tables (which might have been the number available to vendors), I think there were more like 13 or 14 vendors. Plus there was one vendor in the center (like an island) that I almost missed/forgot about. Something I took away from this show (besides my cards)? Don't try to talk down a price that you know is a good deal to start.

Hall of Fame Announces 2009 Finalists

What is probably the most eagerly anticipated list of finalists for induction to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, at least for my generation, was announced today. The list includes John Stockton (one of my favorites), Chris Mullin (another favorite), David Robinson (again, a favorite), and Michael Jordan (to a former Jazz fan, not so much).

The ceremony is scheduled for September 11, 2009 and already individual tickets were availalbe starting this afternoon and are already sold out!

More Information

Authentic?

Since the 2005-2006 season, I've noticed that more and more jersey, warm-up, and patch cards have less and less to do with the player that is pictured on the front of the card. On previous releases, depending on the manufacturer, you can read on the back of the memorabilia card a phrase similar to "On the front of this card is an authentic piece of a jersey worn by (player's name) in an NBA game" (top). Recent releases have a more vague phrasing such as: "On the front of this card are pieces of memorabilia that have been certified to us as having been used in an NBA game" (bottom). And some examples even say "NBA game or event."
Theory #1: This might be that the manufacturer, in an attempt to increase production of memorabilia inserts, are using any stitch of clothing used by any player. Who knows, maybe not even a player? I'm not saying that I still don't appreciate pulling a "jersey" card out of a pack, but it's definitely not as exciting as it used to be.
Theory #2: To reduce cost or production, the manufacturer came up with a form letter version that is consistent on all their products.