Come for Connaughton's hair, stay for classic photo-shoot poses (Set Collecting)

[hopalong]

2015-16 Court Kings - Rookies Level 2
Subset - 33/33 Cards

I think this is a really nice looking design with the background colour blast matching the team colour. Oubre Jr. is already a natural model here. Panini did a great job on 32 of these, then handed Stanley Johnson to the intern who inexplicably cut his feet from the photo (unconfirmed story)

I'm set collecting like it's 1995 and I've started organizing it here:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/190897161@N02/albums

It's very much a work in progress, but if you're interested, feel free to flick through. Happy to discuss sets, photos, specific cards or collecting in general, just send me a message or leave a comment.

Thanks for looking!

[ClipsandVols]

This is a great set. Awesome to see them all together.

[hopalong]

Originally Posted by ClipsandVols

This is a great set. Awesome to see them all together.

Thanks! Agreed, they're really nice.

Originally Posted by Tallboy

No and yes, and I love this thread.

Re: Court Kings. I love that we get to see many different designs for the rookies and in that year, the design you've picked is absolutely my favorite.

Re: Classics. I quite enjoy that set too. Just so simple: Going all in on team colors. Works really well.

Re: 1990-91 SkyBox. I think this set needs to be seen as a really big deal. It's influence on modern basketball cards is astonishing when you think about it. Most of Panini's designs are abstracted off the court with some theme, and the first year of SkyBox is where all of that started.

Honestly what I think Upper Deck should do is make a new set that takes the original skybox design, and adds the shiny to it. I really have no doubt that with some minor changes you'd have something that looks brilliant today.

Thanks, glad to hear you're enjoying it.

Totally agree on the Court Kings rookies. I try to pick one each year to collect, although Levels 3 and 4 tend to be too expensive for me.

Re Skybox, it's hard to know how much nostalgia influences my enjoyment here, but I often feel like many of the base cards here look genuinely fantastic (there's definitely some variation, and not all look great). Would love to see it make a shiny comeback. I've enjoyed the Hoops tributes in the past couple of years also.

Edit: Will get back to the Skybox set once I have them all photographed.

[Tallboy]

Originally Posted by hopalong

Thanks! Agreed, they're really nice.



Thanks, glad to hear you're enjoying it.

Totally agree on the Court Kings rookies. I try to pick one each year to collect, although Levels 3 and 4 tend to be too expensive for me.

Re Skybox, it's hard to know how much nostalgia influences my enjoyment here, but I often feel like many of the base cards here look genuinely fantastic (there's definitely some variation, and not all look great). Would love to see it make a shiny comeback. I've enjoyed the Hoops tributes in the past couple of years also.

Edit: Will get back to the Skybox set once I have them all photographed.

Oh absolutely there are many cards whose designs are really exceptional by the standards of any era.



The way these cards accentuate the dynamism of the sport is something that was basically completely absent from any sports cards I'm aware of before then, and even now, most cards I see from Panini and its competitors don't seem to be thinking about this.

However, the draft rookies (among others) are just plain irritating to me.



Probably the most frustrating thing for me in a given set is when they handle the rookie photos badly. I get that there's a challenge of not having any photos of them playing a live NBA game if the release is early in the calendar, but you have to find a way to do it that isn't ugly...and these are ugly AND make a mockery of the motion theme. We end up just staring at the freaking ball which seems to be radiating out something that's probably cancerous.

[hopalong]

Originally Posted by Tallboy

Oh absolutely there are many cards whose designs are really exceptional by the standards of any era.

The way these cards accentuate the dynamism of the sport is something that was basically completely absent from any sports cards I'm aware of before then, and even now, most cards I see from Panini and its competitors don't seem to be thinking about this.

However, the draft rookies (among others) are just plain irritating to me.

Probably the most frustrating thing for me in a given set is when they handle the rookie photos badly. I get that there's a challenge of not having any photos of them playing a live NBA game if the release is early in the calendar, but you have to find a way to do it that isn't ugly...and these are ugly AND make a mockery of the motion theme. We end up just staring at the freaking ball which seems to be radiating out something that's probably cancerous.

Agreed, some of those rookies are atrocious. I do enjoy the back of the Danny Ferry rookie. "Played in Italy". Picture of him in front of the Colosseum. Classic.

Originally Posted by Tallboy

I'm a fan of this one too. You seem to have a really good eye for identifying the aesthetic stuff that feel like they should be more celebrated than they are.

Thanks! I have to admit there's a number of reasons I end up collecting a set. Often, it's because I like the look of it, other times it's because I happen to have one or two of the big/expensive cards and use that as a starting point, and then on a rare occasion it's because I purposely try to get something from a product I haven't collected much of.

[bigjbasketball]

Originally Posted by hopalong

Agreed, some of those rookies are atrocious. I do enjoy the back of the Danny Ferry rookie. "Played in Italy". Picture of him in front of the Colosseum. Classic.

Attachment 512565



Thanks! I have to admit there's a number of reasons I end up collecting a set. Often, it's because I like the look of it, other times it's because I happen to have one or two of the big/expensive cards and use that as a starting point, and then on a rare occasion it's because I purposely try to get something from a product I haven't collected much of.

The backs of some of those Skybox cards are just as iconic as the fronts. There’s the classic MJ golfing photo, and I always cracked up at the Barkley too…it looks like he’s in the middle of some photo shoot, but he’s wearing jeans and a gray t-shirt and it looks like he’s talking to someone off-camera.

[hopalong]

2014-15 Prizm - Fireworks
Insert - 15/15 Cards

Got around to taking new photos of this set also. There wasn't a non-prizm version of this insert back in 2014. Print runs were different back then.

[hopalong]

2015-16 Select - Courtside Silver Prizm
Subset - 87/100 Cards

Cast your mind back to the 2015-16 season.

I bought a Giannis Select Silver Courtside for about $1, but passed on the big rookies and big stars because "I'm not going to overpay...I'll just wait for the prices to come down".

I wasn't the only one making bad decisions. George Hill's bad decision is forever captured in this set (picture below). Marcus Smart decided to practice his 3-point shot, DURING GAMES! 25% on 4 attempts per game. He did improve in the end to 33% on nearly 6 attempts last season, so maybe it was a success. You can't mention bad decisions around this time without giving the New York Knicks their due. Fans booed Porzingis at the draft, only to do a quick 360 once they actually saw him play. And sure, Jerian Grant was useless, but should it all start to go pear-shaped there was always the backup plan of throwing a ton of money at Tim Hardaway Jr. In the end, I guess the Knicks improved as well (even if it was a 1st round exit 6 years later).

As for the cards, Magnitude says it best: POP POP!









Edit: Reduced size

[hopalong]

2010-11 Classics - Base
Subset - 100/100 Cards

One of the first products I started opening when I got back into collecting was 2010-11 Classics. I still love the base card look. Taking photos is a good excuse to flick through old sets and spend time looking at cards I own (not just the ones I want on ebay).

For the base vets (100 cards) they picked a minimum of 3 players from each team and kept them in order, which actually looks quite nice. I imagine they picked the top 3 players, which gives a nice little look back at what the different teams were like for that season. If your top players included J.J. Hickson (Cavs) or Sonny Weems (Raptors), you were likely in for a rough season.

Some of the top teams got 4 players featured in the base set. Miami featured their big 3 (first season together) + Erick Dampier. The New York Knicks got 5 players featured. Their players featured in the base set is Stoudemire, Galinari, Raymond Felton, Toney Douglas and Bill Walker. I guess because New York is a big market?

[hopalong]

Is it mad that I want to take photos of this entire base set? They look great, so I guess I answered my own question. It feels like a relic from a bygone era. An era where they'd just discovered computers and where Doc was Glenn and Spud was Anthony.

Value aside, do people like this set?

[Tallboy]

Originally Posted by hopalong

Is it mad that I want to take photos of this entire base set?

Value aside, do people like this set?

No and yes, and I love this thread.

Re: Court Kings. I love that we get to see many different designs for the rookies and in that year, the design you've picked is absolutely my favorite.

Re: Classics. I quite enjoy that set too. Just so simple: Going all in on team colors. Works really well.

Re: 1990-91 SkyBox. I think this set needs to be seen as a really big deal. It's influence on modern basketball cards is astonishing when you think about it. Most of Panini's designs are abstracted off the court with some theme, and the first year of SkyBox is where all of that started.

Honestly what I think Upper Deck should do is make a new set that takes the original skybox design, and adds the shiny to it. I really have no doubt that with some minor changes you'd have something that looks brilliant today.

[oshmeehan]

Originally Posted by hopalong

Is it mad that I want to take photos of this entire base set? They look great, so I guess I answered my own question. It feels like a relic from a bygone era. An era where they'd just discovered computers and where Doc was Glenn and Spud was Anthony.

Value aside, do people like this set?

Attachment 512835

I love how there are some VERY obscure names/players in this set that only had a couple seasons of sparingly playing in the NBA and this is their one and only cards that they have. I just went through the checklist and I knew a lot of the scrubs, but there are about 10 guys I had never even heard of.

Zarko Paspalj anyone????

[hopalong]

Originally Posted by oshmeehan

Zarko Paspalj anyone????

Yeah, I like that about the larger base sets. And no, have no idea who Paspalj was

[losangelesfan]

Originally Posted by hopalong

Is it mad that I want to take photos of this entire base set? They look great, so I guess I answered my own question. It feels like a relic from a bygone era. An era where they'd just discovered computers and where Doc was Glenn and Spud was Anthony.

Value aside, do people like this set?

Attachment 512835

These cards were the first cards I ever collected and opened so many packs I dont recall. Beautiful

[hopalong]

Originally Posted by losangelesfan

These cards were the first cards I ever collected and opened so many packs I dont recall. Beautiful

I know right, they're so cool

[hopalong]

2014-15 Hoops - Road to the Finals
Insert 77/84 Cards

Numbering varies depending on the Playoff Round. There are also Champions cards to /99 that are arguably part of this set. I'm kind of sad to see this was dropped in the most recent Hoops release (even though 14-15 is the only one I'm collecting). Maybe because it was in the bubble? Maybe they thought it wouldn't look as nice or be as interesting?

I hope it returns, otherwise we could miss out on future classics similar to 'The Block'. I've included a picture below (though it belongs to the 16-17 release, not the one I'm collecting).

It recently sold for $3,550 USD.

Hoops.

Numbered to /199

:O





Edit: Reduced size

[hopalong]

2012-13 Past & Present - Raining 3's
Insert - 15/15 Cards

I'm seeing pictures pop up of the 2020-21 Optic insert 'Raining 3s', so this is a good time to look back at an earlier version.

It first featured in 2011-12 Past & Present (as far as I can tell). Most inserts will focus on the top 20 or so players in the league (or rookies), so this is a nice little excuse to feature some players that excelled in a specialist role. There are no parallels and it's pretty cheap. Lillard (rookie), Kobe and Curry are currently the most expensive cards at around $10-20.

[Tallboy]

Originally Posted by hopalong

2012-13 Past & Present - Raining 3's

Insert - 15/15 Cards

I'm seeing pictures pop up of the 2020-21 Optic insert 'Raining 3s' insert, so this is a good time to look back at an earlier version.

It first featured in 2011-12 Past & Present (as far as I can tell). Most inserts will focus on the top 20 or so players in the league (or rookies), so this is a nice little excuse to feature some players that excelled in a specialist role. There are no parallels and it's pretty cheap. Lillard (rookie), Kobe and Curry are currently the most expensive cards at around $10-20.

I'm a fan of this one too. You seem to have a really good eye for identifying the aesthetic stuff that feel like they should be more celebrated than they are.

[hopalong]

Oh and one more thing on this set. Looking through I was reminded of the great Blazers team of that time (Drexler, Terry Porter, Petrovic, Jerome Kersey, Buck Williams, Duckworth)

Duckworth's photo might actually be the worst of them, but he had an erm...unorthodox jump shot, to the point where it's not 100% clear whether he's making a hook shot, layup or jump shot in this photo. Check it out on youtube. It may be captured in NBA2k also from memory. Sadly he passed away at age 44 from heart problems.

[hopalong]

2015-16 Select - Premier Level Purple /99
Subset Base Parallel - 91/100 Cards

Updated later in the thread

[hopalong]

2020-21 Hoops - Base Rookies
Subset - 50/50 Cards

Rookie base have been a distinct subset of Panini Hoops since Hoops restarted in 2012-13. It doesn't get much hobby love, but I've been a fan (well, much more when it was affordable at ~$70 per hobby box). I like the rookie base and usually find a few inserts that are worthwhile almost every year.

[hopalong]

2019-20 Donruss - Rated Rookie
Subset - 50/50 Cards

I feel that the simpler they made these designs the better they got. 2019 is a fairly minor variation on the 2108 design, which was also nice. 2017...not so much.

Interesting how they all have almost the exact same pose. Terence Mann, Zion and Claxton are some of the few that are not holding the ball with two hands to their left of their body.

These are very cheap too as they're as far from short-printed as you're going to come. Two recent sales for Zion at around $35 USD on ebay (a bit weird as you can pick them up for $15 at Comc).

[hopalong]

2014-15 Hoops - Trading Places
Insert - 20/20 Cards

If you were basing trades purely on photos, Rodman and Perdue has to be one of the more lopsided ones.

It is kind of a fun look back at some random trades that happened (even though they don't tell the whole story of that trade).

[molly1984]

Originally Posted by hopalong

2014-15 Hoops - Trading Places
Insert - 20/20 Cards

If you were basing trades purely on photos, Rodman and Perdue has to be one of the more lopsided ones.

It is kind of a fun look back at some random trades that happened (even though they don't tell the whole story of that trade).

this is a neat set! i want that Jason Kidd/Michael Finley card now.


Enjoyed looking through your sets!

[hopalong]

2018-19 Contenders Optic - Red Prizm
Base Parallel Vets - 100/100 Cards

We know cards generally look better in hand, and this is a prime example of that. It's on a nice, thick, shiny, optic stock and I like the prominent logo in the bottom left.

The rookies are a part of this set, but they're on-card autos and it's a loaded draft class that is very, very expensive, so I'm not going near it.