Newbie Question

[yang258]

Hi All,

I used to collect basketball cards about 15 years back and notice that there are so many more types of cards than back then.

Question, my mates bday is coming up and he is a basketball fanatic. I was after Upper Deck rookie cards for Lebron and Kobe but when I look around there are so many different Upper Deck rookie cards!

Which one is considered the original rookie card? Back in the days you only had the one, say Jordan Upper Deck rookie card...

Thanks in advance!

[bdrr]

They're all considered rookie cards, believe it or not.

In terms of the best "basic rookie" as in, the nothing special rookie - you're actually looking at either Topps Chrome or Bowman Chrome.

And Jordan never had an Upper Deck rookie. His true RC was 84-85 Star, while his fist nationally distributed card (and generally accepted RC) is 86-87 Fleer.

[yang258]

Thanks mate, will look for Topps and Bowman. Hope there are not too many variations of these.

[bdrr]

Thanks mate, will look for Topps and Bowman. Hope there are not too many variations of these.

Oh - no there are. You want Topps Chrome, not Topps. Bowman/Bowman Chrome came out of the same packs, but they're not the same card.

[yang258]

Yep I meant chrome for both. Cheers

[kornbreadchild]

if you buy topps chrome for 96 or 03 (kobe and lebron RC years) be ready to shell out a lot of money as boxes go up in the 800-1000 USD region.

[bdrr]

if you buy topps chrome for 96 or 03 (kobe and lebron RC years) be ready to shell out a lot of money as boxes go up in the 800-1000 USD region.

03-04 only goes for 250-300

[yang258]

Had a look on ebay, do I need to be worried about fakes?

Seems Kobe Topps Chrome go for $150+ and Lebron $50+. Im not after a box?

[yang258]

Also, I notice that there are now "gradings" for cards. Does the group grading the card make a difference on the cards value? ie. Beckett, Mint etc. As an example, a diamond graded by GIA are usually more valuable....

[yang258]

And can somebody tell me what the Lebron chrome rookie cards values are in Beckett? For both Topps/Bowman.