Tony Parker Cards: Undervalued?

[Ripken]

He's on the verge of winning another title, raising his international profile yet again and pushing him closer to the Hall of Fame. So why aren't more collectors chasing Tony Parker's basketball cards?

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[pwaldo]

I don't know if Tony Parker's cards are undervalued or not but he's not at the level Tim Duncan is and Tim Duncan's stuff sells for squat considering how great he is. Normally the players from outside the US are popular with their original country of origin. I don't think France really buys that many cards so that probably limits the popularity of him there.

[jordan23]

He's on the verge of winning another title, raising his international profile yet again and pushing
him closer to the Hall of Fame. So why aren't more collectors chasing Tony Parker's basketball cards?

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Spurs being a small market team contributes to low demand.

[WilyWestbrook0]

I have always thought the big Spurs three (Duncan, Ginobili, and Parker) are undervalued. jordan23 makes a good point about their market. I do not buy the argument I've seen elsewhere (not here) that it's because the Spurs are "boring," because they are not. As for France, I see quite a few collectors there, but they don't seem to be as "into" Parker for some reason.

[cardcollectorman]

I have always thought the big Spurs three (Duncan, Ginobili, and Parker) are undervalued. jordan23 makes a good point about their market. I do not buy the argument I've seen elsewhere (not here) that it's because the Spurs are "boring," because they are not. As for France, I see quite a few collectors there, but they don't seem to be as "into" Parker for some reason.

Spurs are good but they are not that exciting of a team, look at Blake Griffin for example he is not the greatest player but he routinely makes highlight reel dunks and therefore his cards sell for alot, where as you have other 20 point and 10 rebound forwards like Zach Randolph etc, who no collectors care about. How often do you see a Spurs highlight on Espn's top ten plays etc?

[WilyWestbrook0]

Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker routinely make circus shots. And that doesn't even cover their pinpoint execution as a team, which is always interesting to break down, IMO. If people would bother to watch and analyze games in more depth, they'd see just how un-boring the Spurs really are. Then again, in today's shallow society, I am probably expecting too much even there, aren't I? I guess the average fan nowadays only cares about dunks. Dunks are exciting, but they are just one part of the game. Do we want to see basketball games, or dunk contests only?

[cardcollectorman]

Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker routinely make circus shots. And that doesn't even cover their pinpoint execution as a team, which is always interesting to break down, IMO. If people would bother to watch and analyze games in more depth, they'd see just how un-boring the Spurs really are. Then again, in today's shallow society, I am probably expecting too much even there, aren't I? I guess the average fan nowadays only cares about dunks. Dunks are exciting, but they are just one part of the game. Do we want to see basketball games, or dunk contests only?

true but lets say Jordan never dunked would he be as popular? I think not, look at Carmelo Anthony for example, his cards are not that desired either but he almost won the scoring title this year. Its like in baseball, the players who are most popular hit home runs.

[magic_bobcat]

Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker routinely make circus shots. And that doesn't even cover their pinpoint execution as a team, which is always interesting to break down, IMO. If people would bother to watch and analyze games in more depth, they'd see just how un-boring the Spurs really are. Then again, in today's shallow society, I am probably expecting too much even there, aren't I? I guess the average fan nowadays only cares about dunks. Dunks are exciting, but they are just one part of the game. Do we want to see basketball games, or dunk contests only?

One thing I can think of regarding watching and analyzing every game is that most Spurs games are on about 9pm ET which in the UK is 2/3am (depending on if its Summer time or not) and France is another hour ahead. So a lot of the time I find myself being forced to watch highlights or skim through games because I am rarely able to watch them live. This may just be me, but I'm guessing its quite similar for a lot of European fans.

[pwaldo]

Do we want to see basketball games, or dunk contests only?

Vince Carter winning that dunk contest powered his cards and hobby stardom for years. The majority of NBA fans probably don't care about the dunking but the casual fans that will drive up prices do prefer dunking. ESPN has labeled the Spurs "boring" and every time you mention them to a person in conversation they always tell me they don't watch Spurs games because they are too boring. Yet it is a totally different team than when they were labeled "boring" but yet the label sticks.

[WilyWestbrook0]

Good replies, folks. Thanks.