Need some friendly advice...

[MarkGL]

Hi,

As you can see I'm new to the site.

I used to collect a lot of basketball cards back in the 90's but due to being from the UK it was hard to get hold of many products available. I mostly was able to buy the low end upper deck packs.

I recently suddenly felt the urge to start collecting again, mainly due to the excitement of the playoffs! but obviously I have missed a lot of years and releases.

I just wondered what sets would you guys recommend me buying to start off with? I'm really looking to buy sets where I will pull some good auto's etc...

Also being in the UK I will have to order online so which online retailer is the best to look at?

Thanks in advance.

[tarheelsnipe]

Welcome to the site. I'll try to answer both questions.

Two popular online retailers are www.blowoutcards.com and www.dacardworld.com.

As far as autos go, pretty much all boxes contain autos and game-used memorabilia cards. They do vary in quantity and quality. Most low end and midrange products contain primarily base set cards with one to three autos per box on average. The autos in these boxes are typically sticker autos. The card company sends a sheet of stickers to the athlete, the athlete signs each sticker, then he sends the sticker sheet back to the company. The company then uses that same sheet across several different product lines and years. The high end boxes usually contain one pack of cards with 3 to 8 cards per pack, and at least half of the packs are autos. These autos are generally on card autographs, and they tend to hold more value. I know I didn't really recommend a specific set, but there are so many on the market that it's tough to pin down just one or two set. I recommend going to the card manufacurers' websites and look at the product releases. Also check www.Beckett.com for product reviews and previews.

[helstad]

Welcome mate

Just to say that blowoutcards don´t ship to Europe.

[MarkGL]

Thanks for the advice, I have checked out dacardworld and I am pretty impressed so will probably make purchases with them.

[helstad]

Bought from them 2 times and everything was perfect.

I don´t know where you´re from, but when i lived in London 3 years ago there was a comic book store near Wimbledon that ordered cards. You chose the box, pay and they´ll take care of it.

[shaqattak]

As far as sets go a lot of people like Topps Chrome. They do have autos w/them, but they are stickers, but I still really like the look of those cards and love the look of the refractors. I would go w/a hobby box of those from a year that has rookies you like if your looking to build a set.

[MarkGL]

As far as sets go a lot of people like Topps Chrome. They do have autos w/them, but they are stickers, but I still really like the look of those cards and love the look of the refractors. I would go w/a hobby box of those from a year that has rookies you like if your looking to build a set.

Yeah I was looking at Topps Chrome, may go with 07/08 see if I can get myself a Durant rookie card.

I will post up the boxes I am thinking of ordering later to see what you guys think.

[MarkGL]

Ok quick question, would you go for...

2003/2004 Upper Deck Hobby Box

or

2003/2004 Fleer Showcase

???

[vikingfan101]

Welcome back to the Hobby!

Out of those two at the bottom I would probably go with 03/04 Upper Deck. Upper Deck has some real nice patch cards in that year that are I think 1 per case or maybe a bit more. Plus the Lebron Rookie in there is pretty nice!

[XxViSiOnxX]

First off Welcome to the Site I'm sure you will enjoy your time spent here there are alot of great traders with tons of knowledge in the sport so if you have any question feel free to contact any staff member and we will get back to you, Now as far as getting back into the game well tuff call....It really depends on your budget first, Most of todays product averaged from $50-$500 for a Hobby Box so right there is your first step you need to decide what you can afford if you go for Hobby boxes, Secondly there is always Ebay, Its a great way to pick up Individual cards if your Player or Set collecting, And there is also a few sites like mentioned above with another not mentioned is www.pghsportswholesale.com/ Now weather they ship to your area i cannot answer that but you can always contact them, So there are tons of options out there it kinda depends on what you want to start with, Give us a little more background on what you like/dislike weather it be players/inserts/parallels etc and we will be able to help you out even more.

John