Help me collect Basketball!

[HookEm19]

Hello fellow forum-members,

I'm relatively new to SCF. I've collected baseball and football cards for about a year and have grew tired of them. I enjoy watching and following basketball (Favorite Team: Bulls, Favorite Players: Jimmy Buckets, Ricky Rubio, Kemba Walker), but I have never gotten into the card aspect of it.

That being said, what is the rookie card to get in the basketball world? I know that in baseball it is a Bowman Chrome auto and in football it is a Contenders auto.

Also, where would you suggest I start? Picking up singles? Breaking boxes? I feel like everything is expensive when it comes to basketball cards lol.

Thanks for the read and your guidance!

-N

[Zeppelin1985]

Pre-Panini Era, the rookie card to get was the Exquisite RPA (Rookie Patch Auto), IMO. But I mean there were so many other solid and longstanding sets to get awesome RC autos from like the RPAs in SP Authentic. But if you're an old school guy and don't want no memorabilia but rather refractors and such, then RC autos in Topps Chrome, Topps Finest and Bowman/Bowman Chrome sounds like your cup of tea. The hard to pull Topps Rookie Photoshoot on-card RC autos from Topps were solid too. Remember, I'm referring to when UD & Topps had the NBA license and not the basketball cards UD is releasing now of player's in their amateur uniforms (which I can't stand, btw).

Now that we're in the Panini Era of basketball cards or as I like to call it, "The Panini Tyranny Era" of basketball cards, I would say the best rookie card auto to get would be the RPA in Playoff National Treasures. Granted, The Panini Tyranny regime are set to release a new, so-called "Flawless" set that will run you $1,250 - $1,300 per box but that technically hasn't come out yet, so those RPAs cannot be acknowledged just yet.. As for the rest of their sets, they kind of mix up everything year by year. There's no other sets where the designs have been the same since day one, as far as RC autos. Actually, Totally Certified have had the same designs & parallels for their rookie cards. But since The Panini Tyranny have discovered acetate autos, it can almost be found in every set from this past year. Not all but a good portion. Their version of Topps Chrome, which is called "Panini Prizm" have good prizm/refractor RC autos. But this past season was their first release of it. So, we'll have to wait and see if they manage to screw that up for next season (13'14).

Yes, you are right, everything is expensive when it comes to basketball cards. Which is why I'm going to now HIGHLY RECOMMEND that you DO NOT BUY any Panini basketball boxes.

You are better off taking that money and buying singles. Buy the cards you exactly want, of the player's you exactly want. Like the players you mentioned, Jimmy "Buckets" (is this supposed to be Jimmy Butler? lol), Ricky Rubio and Kemba Walker. It won't be as fun picking up their singles Vs. opening up a box of cards but trust me, you don't want to spend $100 on a box and pull autos of Ivan Johnson, Brian Roberts and Brandon Bass. And/or you could also be a team collector if you're that hardcore of a Bulls fan. That would definitely be more expensive since Michael Jordan was a Chicago Bull, lol.

But good luck in whatever decision you make and welcome.

[pwaldo]

Pick up singles. In all cases picking up singles is probably your best bet but especially in the current basketball market I would suggest that.