Kevin Garnett topps rookie card boom

[ninjacookies]

Originally Posted by duron

What llamas mentioned about the centering is true, but people are really underestimating how many of these are out there.

POP 1 OF Something NUNN GRADED HIGHER RARE L@@@@@@K


https://www.ebay.com/itm/PSA-10-MICH...cAAOSwjDJezc0S

[Totalpackage]

1995 Finest are Garnett's best rookies and should followed by 1995 SP. Topps are great choice but I would put them on third place. However, I am curious how much a gem mint Topps Redemption will go since the Topps are already in 2k range. In my opinion, the recent boom of Topps will push the 1995 Finest to an another high level, so hold your Finest and do not sell.

[duron]

Originally Posted by ninjacookies

POP 1 OF Something NUNN GRADED HIGHER RARE L@@@@@@K


https://www.ebay.com/itm/PSA-10-MICH...cAAOSwjDJezc0S

Praise be to the godz and da earfz we ain’t the ones buying this trash.

[Pathora]

Originally Posted by Totalpackage

1995 Finest are Garnett's best rookies and should followed by 1995 SP. Topps are great choice but I would put them on third place. However, I am curious how much a gem mint Topps Redemption will go since the Topps are already in 2k range. In my opinion, the recent boom of Topps will push the 1995 Finest to an another high level, so hold your Finest and do not sell.

The main problem with Chrome and Finest cards from Mid 90's is I expect all of them to go green eventually. You don't have to worry about that with the Topps Base RC.

I actually expect the gap to shrink or see KG's Topps move ahead of the Finest, along with Kobe's closing the gap to the Chrome.

[drobfan8]

That Topps card is horrendous.

Grab yourself an Upper Deck SPx Base or Gold or an Upper Deck Special Edition Base or Gold..

[SK40]

Originally Posted by asujbl

Not at all.

You clearly don’t know k13 and his shtick

You don’t collect Hockey. Go ask that board.

He’s notorious

Haha, I still enjoy your comments.

[Illustrious]

I think the Finest looks gaudy as hell, with a not so great photo. The base Topps has simple and clean aesthetics with a good action shot.

[mc1]

Originally Posted by asujbl

Not at all.

You clearly don’t know k13 and his shtick

You don’t collect Hockey. Go ask that board.

He’s notorious

You dont know what I know. I know youre a hardcore PSA defender, so theres that.

[aaronking23]

who the hell is paying 2k for kg topps paper base rookie

[sebreg]

Good thing I held my Flair KG rookies from chlldhood. 25 year hold, 7x'd my return, going to make $40!!!

I'm in the 95 Finest looks awful camp.

[Totalpackage]

Originally Posted by aaronking23

who the hell is paying 2k for kg topps paper base rookie

Plus one here. I am also wondering who is actually buying these at that price range. I think PSA just want more submission from these Topps base cards since there are tons of them in raw condition.

[i4gotmyid]

Originally Posted by Totalpackage

1995 Finest are Garnett's best rookies and should followed by 1995 SP. Topps are great choice but I would put them on third place. However, I am curious how much a gem mint Topps Redemption will go since the Topps are already in 2k range. In my opinion, the recent boom of Topps will push the 1995 Finest to an another high level, so hold your Finest and do not sell.

Since I got back into collecting in 2018, and as Garnett was always a favorite, I can say that PSA 10 Topps Redemption doesnt show up very often. I think only one came up in the last two years.

Its crazy to imagine the pump has pushed the topps base to the same level as the finest, when finest was always considered his "best" rookie. For the collectors, some actual rare ones to hoard...er...search for along with the topps redemption, are the collector's choice player's club platinum and the electric court gold parallels.

[JimCa]

Originally Posted by drobfan8

That Topps card is horrendous.

Grab yourself an Upper Deck SPx Base or Gold or an Upper Deck Special Edition Base or Gold..

Nice cards, but not True RC's.

[Totalpackage]

Originally Posted by i4gotmyid

Since I got back into collecting in 2018, and as Garnett was always a favorite, I can say that PSA 10 Topps Redemption doesnt show up very often. I think only one came up in the last two years.

Its crazy to imagine the pump has pushed the topps base to the same level as the finest, when finest was always considered his "best" rookie. For the collectors, some actual rare ones to hoard...er...search for along with the topps redemption, are the collector's choice player's club platinum and the electric court gold parallels.

Agreed. The 95 Topps Redemptions are so rare in both BGS 9.5 and PSA 10. I had a couple chances back in the day when they were still affordable but unfortunately I missed them.

[Totalpackage]

Since the Topps are in 2k range, what about the 95 SP? They do seem quite undervalued.

[lietuvalabas]

hah just wait it'll trickle down. today its garnett topps, he was pretty stand alone as far as superstardom in his rookie class. but look at the spinoffs and trickle down effects.

first is was just Kobe, then iverson, then nash and now ray allen, dont get me wrong 3 of those 4 guys are in my all time favorite top 10 players list (not iverson) but similar type sets of an already hot/hyped player helps. look at the iverson stardate, raws going $800 lmao.

Then you have duncan heating up, surely mcgrady will follow suit.

The mcgrady played with vince carter. well hey Vince and Dirk are both in the same rookie class, shoot man both those guys were good right? jason williams? why not?

Then Yao stuff (which admittedly his stuff is already up)

man remember when dwight howard was the next KG/Shaq?

Obviously once dwight gets pump the next star was CP3...its almost predictable at this point.

[ljandkg]

Originally Posted by aaronking23

who the hell is paying 2k for kg topps paper base rookie

Everyone

[Luni]

I think I'll throw myself in the 'Finest is ugly' camp as well. I personally don't find the card very good looking, it will green over time and it isn't rare (1 per box). The greening in particular is what stopped me from getting more than like 6 of them otherwise I would have hoarded them pretty hard I think.

I think the Topps base card is nice, but certainly is quite plentiful. I busted a box of Topps 95 Series 2 a couple years ago and I believe I got 4 KG rcs from the box. I currently have about 12 raw ones that I need to send it, but I'd imagine only 1-2 might gem.

Overall, the rarest true rookie cards in Gem Mint condition for KG are the Topps Gallery and the SP Championship. However, since both of those sets didn't really have staying power, I personally think that KG's best rookies are his Topps, Upper Deck and Hoops. I do like the look of his Ultra and Skybox as well though.

As far as rarer KG rookie year cards, I think these are all very sweet cards (in no particular order):

Collector's Choice - Base RC Player's Club Platinum (1:35 - Series 2)
E-XL - Natural Born Thrillers (1:48)
Hoops - Grant's All-Rookie Team (1:64 - Series 2)
SP Championship - Champions of the Court Die-Cut (1:75)
SP Championship - Championship Shots Gold (1:62)
Topps - NBA Draft Redemption
Upper Deck - Base RC Electric Court Gold (1:35 Series 2 Retail)
Upper Deck - Special Edition Gold (1:35 Series 2 Hobby)

Some eye candy:

[duron]

Only took 68 posts for his best rookie year card to be mentioned.

[Tallboy]

Originally Posted by Illustrious

I think the Finest looks gaudy as hell, with a not so great photo. The base Topps has simple and clean aesthetics with a good action shot.

Yeah, I don't want to be a bully and make people feel like there's something wrong if they love their Finest KG RC, and I'm also not denying that relative scarcity matters.

But I can't help but notice that a lot of folks are speaking as if the Topps KG card offends them on an aesthetic level, and I just don't see where that can be coming from.

Do folks honestly think they'd like the Topps card better if it had a picture of KG with a baseball hat on? Are they actually bothered by a shot of a soon-to-be all-time great defender playing intense defense? I'm skeptical.

I will say that I have do have some quibbles with the design itself, so it's not like I'm saying the "Topps does it perfect", but if you're focused on collecting a KG card because you like what KG was, to me the Topps card is awesome. It's okay to like both the Topps and Finest cards certainly, but what is there to actively dislike about the Topps card?

I tend to lean on what I recall from the time, and how I didn't even consider buying any "Topps" cards back when these cards were coming out. Because back then Topps was viewed as "bottom of the barrel" rather than "the flagship", it makes sense that those with long hobby memory still see things through that lens and are confused when newer collectors/investors come in and have different preferences.

Where I think the veterans can really go a bad way is in assuming that there must be something aesthetically wrong with what the newer folks are choosing. Fine to bring up print run, but printing more cards with a slightly less expensive process doesn't mean that the card is ugly, particularly when that card has great subject aesthetic.

(More than anything else though, my pet peeve here is that I don't think people are actually spending time focusing on the photography itself, and as a result Panini in particular has learned to be really, really lazy.

As an example, I'm a Steve Nash guy and I just realized that his Prizm cards in '15-16 & '18-19 use the exact same photo after not giving him a card in '16-17 & '17-18. It just screams that they aren't really paying much attention to the images they are putting on their cards because the hobby isn't making them. I'd like for that to change.)

[Luni]

Oh and then there are his high school XRC cards!

[stalemonkey30]

SP Authentic base is miles better than the Topps in my opinion

[Tallboy]

Originally Posted by Luni

I personally think that KG's best rookies are his Topps, Upper Deck and Hoops. I do like the look of his Ultra and Skybox as well though.

Your tastes and mine are pretty similar. I'd add Fleer & SP to the mix. I like the Hoops design because of its background which harmonizes with a decent (if not great photo). SkyBox and Ultra are okay, but I don't like the gigantic "ROOKIE" mucking up the design.

To me the two standouts are the Topps & Upper Deck here. The Upper Deck has a lovely full bleed design and captures KG in an off-balanced in-game intensity. Completely get if anyone likes that one best.



But the Topps card really captures the true essence of KG's greatness as a player in a way that you rarely see in a RC. It's easy to capture a moment of a rookie with great athleticism, harder to capture the mind of someone who would prove to be a particular strain of basketball genius.

(Incidentally, the SP card has KG on defense too and is good, but there's an intensity to the Topps card that the SP just can't match.)

[i4gotmyid]

Originally Posted by Luni

Oh and then there are his high school XRC cards!

Haha I was just wondering if someone was going to mention his ihsa card

[Twoinar]

Originally Posted by packerfan4200

Definitely weren’t rare by any means. But last I checked (early January) KG was less than 200 in PSA 10 in 25 years. We know why that pop is so low, but the thing is, because of that same reason, there’s not likely to be a sh!tload more of them. 75% of these were ripped, tossed into a box unprotected, and jostled around for 25 years. There’s not too many gems left to be graded to be honest, I know how hard it is to find any good copy (say psa 9 or better) of any 90s Topps rookie card in raw form these days.

I disagree. I know I'm not the only one sitting on unopened boxes. I'm betting some are sitting on cases.

Untitled by Twoinar, on Flickr