Are we ever going to see new Kobe cards?

Torro · 03-17-2025, 04:22 AM

Last Kobe cards were printed 2019-2020 season (2020-21 Hoops Slam Kobe was the only 1 printed in 2020-21). I’m pretty sure Panini is not printing Kobe as they are not allowed due to some IP rights or something (surely they don’t just choose not to print his cards).

I’m not able to find any information on that topic, panini has not said a word about it. Now Fanatics and Topps taking over in the second part of the year, what are the chances they will start printing Kobe cards (would love to add some new Topps Chrome refractors to my PC).

Has anyone an idea what is going on exactly and what will it take for Fanatics to start printing Kobe cards. Hoping that someone in this forum has some valid information on this topic, let’s discuss!

KhalDrogo · 03-17-2025, 05:42 AM

Hopefully not. The Bryant family should not allow Rubin to profit off his likeness.

90skid · 03-17-2025, 06:52 AM

Just like Jordan, there's no need to introduce new Kobe cards. I personally would like to just keep it that way.

nbahobbyaddict · 03-17-2025, 08:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 90skid

Just like Jordan, there's no need to introduce new Kobe cards. I personally would like to just keep it that way.

Agree with you

Torro · 03-17-2025, 09:46 AM

Yes sure, no new Kobe and MJ cards might be great for people who own nice PCs, but at the end of the day nobody from the production side cares about that. If they could, they would go hard on the printers (10 different Kobe 1/1 in each product to sell it to breakers etc).

With MJ its simple, Upper Deck does not allow anyone to print his cards (as we know he cant even be on any of the photos of the cards).

But seems like nobody knows anything when it comes to Kobe. The purpose of this thread is to discuss and hopefully get a better understanding on what is the situation.

KhalDrogo · 03-17-2025, 10:01 AM

The Bryant family is not licensing his likeness. They control everything Kobe. It’s the right move.

dizzy4111 · 03-17-2025, 12:47 PM

Hopefully not. None of these scummy companies should be able to profit off him at this point.

kingofsnake · 03-17-2025, 01:11 PM

I think it's refreshing not having any new Kobe cards. I will not miss seeing Fanatics airbrush jersey cards.

SandStoneSports · 03-17-2025, 01:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KhalDrogo

Hopefully not. The Bryant family should not allow Rubin to profit off his likeness.

Completely agree. To take it a step further there is little to no reason to ever put historical players into a set as a base or parallel card. If its not an auto what is the sense?

I think overprinting players past the end of their career is a bit of a legacy killer.

boxbuster7 · 03-17-2025, 02:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KhalDrogo

The Bryant family is not licensing his likeness. They control everything Kobe. It’s the right move.

agreed

wait,

I just agreed with khaldrogo

BoSoxFan1999 · 03-17-2025, 02:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KhalDrogo

The Bryant family is not licensing his likeness. They control everything Kobe. It’s the right move.

Is this something they have publicly stated (i.e. they will not approve any more licenses to grant approval to produce more of his cards), or is this something inferred by collectors based on the Bryant family not saying anything on the subject?

boxbuster7 · 03-17-2025, 02:16 PM

I'd say it is a reasonable assumption

Scottish Punk · 03-17-2025, 03:08 PM

I would like to see less vets in the "standard" products across all sports - regular topps, prizm, optic, etc. I am ok with including them in patch and auto type stuff. I would much rather have the occasionally HOF/legend only set. I know there are contracts with number of sets and rookies muddying up that whole thing.

It use to be kind of cool to pull a Bird or Magic prizm color parallel. Now they are in every prizm set and sometimes donruss/optic as well.

jcmel323 · 03-17-2025, 03:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KhalDrogo

Hopefully not. The Bryant family should not allow Rubin to profit off his likeness.

Who is Rubin?

kipgen · 03-17-2025, 03:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jcmel323

Who is Rubin?

Rick Rubin, famous producer

Torro · 03-17-2025, 04:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KhalDrogo

The Bryant family is not licensing his likeness. They control everything Kobe. It’s the right move.

That’s my thinking also at this point, while at first I thought they just had other more import things to take care of and it will just take some time, but now 5 years have passed already..

drobfan8 · 03-17-2025, 09:22 PM

Kobe has enough cards out there as it is.

What idiot wants more crap?

Kobe probably is the best player to collect of all time.

He's got the best of the 90s, Exquisite + Panini era.

All with 1 team.

Nomad · 03-17-2025, 10:04 PM

Maybe I am the lone voice in the wilderness, but I want a Full Capacity Kobe.

Torro · 03-18-2025, 08:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by drobfan8

Kobe has enough cards out there as it is.

What idiot wants more crap?

Kobe probably is the best player to collect of all time.

He's got the best of the 90s, Exquisite + Panini era.

All with 1 team.

Yes thats true, Kobe has tons a of cool stuff, but I would love to have Kobe Mosaic genesis for example, why they didnt put him in 2019-20 Mosaic checklist so that there would be at least one (they put other legends in that checklist)

I loved to pull some cool Kobe cards from wax, now there is 1 more reason not to buy wax and look for singles instead

BoSoxFan1999 · 03-18-2025, 09:22 AM

If his family ever approves new cards being made of him, I'm sure it will be only for some special occasion as a limited run thing, and we won't be seeing any new Kobe cards in the form of junk wax base cards. I wouldn't be shocked if sometime down the road there is some Kobe-only commemorative set released. Also won't be shocked if no new Kobe cards are ever made.

pejc300 · 03-18-2025, 10:20 AM

I for one, am bummed that we don't have a leisure suit Kobe PMG like those epic MJs out there.

KhalDrogo · 03-18-2025, 02:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BoSoxFan1999

Is this something they have publicly stated (i.e. they will not approve any more licenses to grant approval to produce more of his cards), or is this something inferred by collectors based on the Bryant family not saying anything on the subject?

Well, there have been no Kobe cards in five years. So it can be inferred that all pre-existing deals were terminated by his death and no new deals have been signed. I’m not sure what Kobe-affiliated products are being produced anymore outside of his Nike shoe line.

Nomad · 03-18-2025, 02:36 PM

The recent Kobe design action, as always I am sure, is in the Philippine t-shirt market.

BoSoxFan1999 · 03-18-2025, 03:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KhalDrogo

Well, there have been no Kobe cards in five years. So it can be inferred that all pre-existing deals were terminated by his death and no new deals have been signed. I’m not sure what Kobe-affiliated products are being produced anymore outside of his Nike shoe line.

Truly a tragedy. If his oldest daughter were still alive, she would most likely be preparing for her first March Madness playing for UConn right now. She was expected to become the next big thing in women's college basketball. IIRC, when the helicopter crashed, they were traveling to one of her basketball games.

MyckKabongo · 03-18-2025, 04:48 PM

Worth noting Kobe was a very much a Panini guy. Italian connection. He was their first endorser when they got the license. He signed a lot for them and they did that Kobe set with him.

Might affect the family's willingness to work with Fanatics.

03-17-2025, 04:22 AM	#1
Torro Member Join Date: Aug 2023 Location: EU Posts: 369	Are we ever going to see new Kobe cards? Last Kobe cards were printed 2019-2020 season (2020-21 Hoops Slam Kobe was the only 1 printed in 2020-21). I’m pretty sure Panini is not printing Kobe as they are not allowed due to some IP rights or something (surely they don’t just choose not to print his cards). I’m not able to find any information on that topic, panini has not said a word about it. Now Fanatics and Topps taking over in the second part of the year, what are the chances they will start printing Kobe cards (would love to add some new Topps Chrome refractors to my PC). Has anyone an idea what is going on exactly and what will it take for Fanatics to start printing Kobe cards. Hoping that someone in this forum has some valid information on this topic, let’s discuss!

03-17-2025, 05:42 AM	#2
KhalDrogo Member Join Date: Aug 2017 Posts: 41,079	Hopefully not. The Bryant family should not allow Rubin to profit off his likeness. __________________ I love PSA!

03-17-2025, 10:01 AM	#6
KhalDrogo Member Join Date: Aug 2017 Posts: 41,079	The Bryant family is not licensing his likeness. They control everything Kobe. It’s the right move. __________________ I love PSA!

03-17-2025, 12:47 PM	#7
dizzy4111 Member Join Date: Jul 2015 Location: Wisconsin Posts: 625	Hopefully not. None of these scummy companies should be able to profit off him at this point. __________________ https://www.flickr.com/photos/197828227@N07/ Sets In Progress: 1998-98 Topps Chrome Base Refractors: 114/228

03-17-2025, 01:11 PM	#8
kingofsnake Member Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Napa Valley Posts: 4,375	I think it's refreshing not having any new Kobe cards. I will not miss seeing Fanatics airbrush jersey cards. __________________ I collect Joe Johnson - 2,732 different cards, 513 1/1's. www.ilocust.com/hobby.htm

03-17-2025, 06:52 AM	#3
90skid Member Join Date: Jul 2020 Posts: 1,795	Just like Jordan, there's no need to introduce new Kobe cards. I personally would like to just keep it that way.

03-17-2025, 09:46 AM	#5
Torro Member Join Date: Aug 2023 Location: EU Posts: 369	Yes sure, no new Kobe and MJ cards might be great for people who own nice PCs, but at the end of the day nobody from the production side cares about that. If they could, they would go hard on the printers (10 different Kobe 1/1 in each product to sell it to breakers etc). With MJ its simple, Upper Deck does not allow anyone to print his cards (as we know he cant even be on any of the photos of the cards). But seems like nobody knows anything when it comes to Kobe. The purpose of this thread is to discuss and hopefully get a better understanding on what is the situation.

03-17-2025, 02:16 PM	#12
boxbuster7 Member Join Date: Aug 2016 Posts: 11,994 boxbuster777	I'd say it is a reasonable assumption __________________ Psa 9 > psa 10

03-17-2025, 03:08 PM	#13
Scottish Punk Member Join Date: May 2013 Location: Ann Arbor, MI Posts: 9,362 scottishpunk	I would like to see less vets in the "standard" products across all sports - regular topps, prizm, optic, etc. I am ok with including them in patch and auto type stuff. I would much rather have the occasionally HOF/legend only set. I know there are contracts with number of sets and rookies muddying up that whole thing. It use to be kind of cool to pull a Bird or Magic prizm color parallel. Now they are in every prizm set and sometimes donruss/optic as well.

03-17-2025, 09:22 PM	#17
drobfan8 Member Join Date: Apr 2013 Location: Brisbane, Australia Posts: 17,798 drobfan8 drobfan8	Kobe has enough cards out there as it is. What idiot wants more crap? Kobe probably is the best player to collect of all time. He's got the best of the 90s, Exquisite + Panini era. All with 1 team. __________________ Wanted, 03/04 Exquisite Base Gold Tim Duncan and 05/06 Exquisite Base Gold /25 Michael Jordan

03-17-2025, 10:04 PM	#18
Nomad Member Join Date: Jul 2021 Location: Fomenting FOMO on the down low. Posts: 8,058	Maybe I am the lone voice in the wilderness, but I want a Full Capacity Kobe. __________________ Fomenting FOMO on the down low.

03-18-2025, 09:22 AM	#20
BoSoxFan1999 Member Join Date: Jun 2023 Location: Maryland Posts: 1,997 bro19991 Bro19999	If his family ever approves new cards being made of him, I'm sure it will be only for some special occasion as a limited run thing, and we won't be seeing any new Kobe cards in the form of junk wax base cards. I wouldn't be shocked if sometime down the road there is some Kobe-only commemorative set released. Also won't be shocked if no new Kobe cards are ever made. __________________ Veriswap inventory: https://veriswap.com/profile/trader4449011

03-18-2025, 10:20 AM	#21
pejc300 Member Join Date: Nov 2010 Posts: 10,651	I for one, am bummed that we don't have a leisure suit Kobe PMG like those epic MJs out there.

03-18-2025, 02:36 PM	#23
Nomad Member Join Date: Jul 2021 Location: Fomenting FOMO on the down low. Posts: 8,058	The recent Kobe design action, as always I am sure, is in the Philippine t-shirt market. __________________ Fomenting FOMO on the down low.

03-18-2025, 04:48 PM	#25
MyckKabongo Member Join Date: Nov 2014 Posts: 1,771 MyckKabongo	Worth noting Kobe was a very much a Panini guy. Italian connection. He was their first endorser when they got the license. He signed a lot for them and they did that Kobe set with him. Might affect the family's willingness to work with Fanatics.