My Kings (+More) Collection

[volblorx8634]

I wanted to share my collection, which is obviously Kings-centric and where it will start, but I do collect some other players and sets I intend to eventually share too. Hopefully this thread can chronicle my current collection and its future development.

The Kings' 1998 first round, 5 game series loss against the Jazz was my first memory of really rooting for a basketball team. Pair their exciting style of play with the eventual emotional rivalry against the Lakers in the coming years, and my growing up in a Laker-hating southern California household, the Kings were a no-brainer team for me. That has stuck for the last nearly 30 years. Yes, I am loyal to a fault. So, my main collection is Kings players from that 98-99 season through the present. My binders are organized chronologically by player and set, so I'll likely share that way beginning with each player and then moving into team sets. I don't really have a concrete direction with it, so I'm just gonna see what happens.

Thanks for looking, and to anyone else who hates themselves enough to collect Kings cards, feel free to share as well!

[volblorx8634]

The first player I collect to join the Kings was Peja Stojakovic (1998-2006), who was drafted by the team with the 14th pick in the legendary 1996 draft right before and after some random dudes named Steve Nash and Kobe Bryant, respectively. He played in Greece for a couple more seasons, where he was league MVP, before coming over to the NBA for 1998-99 season. With Sacramento, Peja was a 3x All-Star and was selected for the All-NBA 2nd team in 03-04, in which he finished 4th in MVP voting. It just so happened the top two MVP vote-getters were also forwards in Kevin Garnett and Tim Duncan and occupied the 1st team spots.

After eight seasons with the Kings and seeing the team trade away the rest of the core that took them to eight straight playoff appearances, Stojakovic was traded to the Pacers in January 2006 for Ron Artest after seeing his abilities begin to decline due to back issues that would linger the rest of his career. After winning a title with the Mavs in 2011, Peja retired and his jersey was retired in Sacramento, after which he joined the Kings as a director of player personnel and then the assistant general manager, both under Vlade Divac's tenure as GM.

TL;DR: Peja is one of the greatest Kings in the Sacramento era who was robbed of the majority of his prime due to back injuries.

Here's my small Peja collection (minus cards that are part of a team set):
Early base Tradition being the only non-RC. Kinda interesting that his poses in all of them are all pretty similar. Absolutely love the blue and red foil on the Stadium Club RC and the Tradition. Do we see that on base cards anymore?


Inserts and Parallels numbered /100+

Anyone know what's up with those symbols on the UD rookie? The "99" and eye (rookie watch?) and such. That bronze /100 was annoyingly difficult to find and cost me more than I thought it should btw!


GU jerseys and patches
Topps Pristine does jersey cards better than any other brand I can think of. And I love multi player cards for team collection purposes. Awe Pairs is /250
I wish the Press Clippings card did a better job of highlighting the game it features. Does the patch come from the game featured in that article on the card? We'll see that red all star uni in just a bit...



Autos and lower numbered
Nearly have a team set of the BC golds, but it was unintentional so yeah. Oops?


GU autos
I guess if there's one to have, this one is a pretty good one.


PEJA CARDS I'M HUNTING FOR
2000-01 Fleer Futures Copper /750 (team set)
2002-03 Upper Deck Ultimate Spectrum /25
2003-04 Upper Deck Ultimate Allstars Authentic Buyback /16

[drobfan8]

Very nice

2004 Trilogy is so nice. I tried to go after the /10 Rainbow parallel but they are just so scarce. Try and track one down.

And Exquisite. The best!

[duron]

^ +1 on the 04 Trilogy. Their base parallels are awesome.

Add that to the list of early 00 sets I’ve slept on or am still relatively clueless about. That card is a beauty.

[mrmojorisin71]

I lived in sactown and graduated CSUS in the early 2000’s. What a great team! I’ll never forget game 6 of the WCF.

Peja was awesome and historically underrated.

[bas]

Nice logos, I liked that kings team with peja webber was a good team

[mrmojorisin71]

Originally Posted by bas

Nice logos, I liked that kings team with peja webber was a good team

Bobby Jackson, Brad Miller, Vlade Divac, Mike Bibby Doug Christie. Stacked

[Exquisite074]

Sweet cards and post! I have a Kings & Warriors mini PC since I live right between the two teams - especially love the 80's and 90s players... have some Peja to post:
I love this set for some reason:


And I have a lot of Peja Exquisites, but since I collect serial 74/xx and you posted the LL 47/75 (which is the reverse and I'll also grab if I can) here is 74/75:

[volblorx8634]

Originally Posted by drobfan8

Very nice

2004 Trilogy is so nice. I tried to go after the /10 Rainbow parallel but they are just so scarce. Try and track one down.

And Exquisite. The best!

Originally Posted by duron

^ +1 on the 04 Trilogy. Their base parallels are awesome.

Add that to the list of early 00 sets I’ve slept on or am still relatively clueless about. That card is a beauty.

I'll have to add the /10 rainbow to my want list! I specifically remember being really impressed with how that gold court looked in hand, so I agree about the trilogy fanfare, at least in regards to the gold parallel.

Originally Posted by mrmojorisin71

I lived in sactown and graduated CSUS in the early 2000’s. What a great team! I’ll never forget game 6 of the WCF.

Peja was awesome and historically underrated.

Originally Posted by bas

Nice logos, I liked that kings team with peja webber was a good team

Originally Posted by mrmojorisin71

Bobby Jackson, Brad Miller, Vlade Divac, Mike Bibby Doug Christie. Stacked

I'm obviously biased, but I did too Will hopefully make posts on all those guys. I'm excited because it'll really show me where I may be lacking in terms of individual player collections.

Originally Posted by Exquisite074

Sweet cards and post! I have a Kings & Warriors mini PC since I live right between the two teams - especially love the 80's and 90s players... have some Peja to post:
I love this set for some reason:

And I have a lot of Peja Exquisites, but since I collect serial 74/xx and you posted the LL 47/75 (which is the reverse and I'll also grab if I can) here is 74/75:

Dude awesome and thanks for sharing. Always happy to see others collecting Kings too. Spoiler alert....I love that Topps Pristine Auto set too.

I kinda love that our two LL are "mirrors" of each other. Both in numbering and in patch. May I ask the significance of the number 74/xx (or 47)? I look forward to seeing more of your collection!

[kingofsnake]

Thanks for making this thread. I look forward to you sharing some nice Kings cards. Here are a couple from a Contenders set a few years back:











Interesting that they had so many rookies that year.

[volblorx8634]

Great team set of those 2017 rooks. I agree about the number of rookies. It is wild that number of rookies. They had two first round picks, infamously traded away pick 10 (?) for two later first round picks which became Giles and Jackson and then got Mason in the 2nd round. Bogie I believe happened to also come back from Europe that year. But five rookies in one year is insane.

[PuddleMonkey]

I feel bad. My first thought when I read the thread title was, "why is this guy posting hockey in the basketball forum?". Somehow completely forgot this franchise existed. Good looking cards.

[volblorx8634]

Originally Posted by PuddleMonkey

I feel bad. My first thought when I read the thread title was, "why is this guy posting hockey in the basketball forum?". Somehow completely forgot this franchise existed. Good looking cards.

Honestly, that's hilarious, but I don't think I'd be able to be a fan of a team that was consistently dominant or even good, so it works

Before I move on to the next player, here's a Peja I forgot. And I can't believe I did, it's one of my favorites that I was after for a while:


2001-02 Fleer Force Patch /50

The next player I'll share is one of the more controversial members of Sacramento Kings history: Vlade Divac. Famously traded for Kobe, he made his way to the Kings as one of their best free agent signings still to this day. His passing and shooting range for a center at the time were pretty crucial in unlocking the team's potential. After six seasons in Sacramento, he betrayed them (only partially kidding) by returning as a free agent to the Lakers where he spent his first seven seasons in the league to play out his final year. His jersey is retired by the Kings like Peja, and he was (a pretty awful) team GM from 2016-2020.

My Vlade collection pales in comparison to Peja. Seems I've gotta pick up more of his cards...

Don't ask me why some of my first cards in my collection were these Vlade MVP base and parallels.


And the lone auto (gifted by GeechQuest, thanks again!)


Searching for
2007-08 Exquisite Number Pieces /13
2017-18 Flawless Autographs Green /5

[mrmojorisin71]

Vlade was a KING in sac.

[JimCa]

Nice stuff you've posted so far.... I don't want to step on anything you've yet to share... so here are a few Pre 98-99 era contributions...

[bjho852]

Originally Posted by volblorx8634

When did Divac stop including his first name in his autograph?

Here's mine, from 2000-01 Fleer Autographics:

[volblorx8634]

Originally Posted by JimCa

Nice stuff you've posted so far.... I don't want to step on anything you've yet to share... so here are a few Pre 98-99 era contributions...

Appreciate it. You've got an incredible collection of Richmonds, particularly Finest refractors. The atomics are just hit so different, especially with those action shots. Mitch is the the most common pre-1998 King that I consider collecting, given that he's one of the greatest players in the franchise's history, but I never can get myself to pick anything up. Though seeing your cards does make me realize that would be a great gateway to collecting some 90s cards.

Do you collect Kings? I'd love to see more, including 98-99 and beyond. No need to hold back, if anything I want to see cards other than my own! Plus, I'm cool to share cards out of the order I intended.

Originally Posted by bjho852

When did Divac stop including his first name in his autograph?

Here's mine, from 2000-01 Fleer Autographics:

Great card! I don't think I even knew Vlade used to sign his full name. I'm not sure when he stopped signing it. I'm sure the amount of space to sign on that Autographics doesn't hurt! Everything I've seen since coming back in the hobby in 2010 has had just his last name. There's an exquisite scripted swatches from 08-09 that's the same, but obviously there's less space to sign on the swatch.

Speaking of his autos, does anyone have info on 07-08 Exquisite Number Pieces? It's numbered out of 13, but is the only one on the checklist that doesn't seem to match up with the player's jersey number (21 in Vlade's case)

[volblorx8634]

Originally Posted by mrmojorisin71

Vlade was a KING in sac.

Vlade's obviously an interesting figure in Sac. Obviously a great player whose passing and shooting range kind of unlocked that offense. Jersey was retired. But then he did awfully as GM, trading DeMarcus Cousins for a nominal return and obviously choosing Bagley over Luka. He and Peja together kinda tarnished their legacy a bit to fans in the short term, I think. I think in the grand scheme of things they'll be remembered for their time as players. As I think they should be.

[JimCa]

Originally Posted by volblorx8634

Do you collect Kings? I'd love to see more, including 98-99 and beyond.

I wouldn't really say that.. I started collecting around the same time they started getting respectable... but had sort of an All-of-the-above approach... busting a variety of products (and keeping them) and chasing singles of the usual suspects of the time... some of whom happened to be Kings....

Here are a few more...





To be continued....

[volblorx8634]

Originally Posted by JimCa

I wouldn't really say that.. I started collecting around the same time they started getting respectable... but had sort of an All-of-the-above approach... busting a variety of products (and keeping them) and chasing singles of the usual suspects of the time... some of whom happened to be Kings....

Here are a few more...

That's really cool, so did you pull those cards yourself? Just makes the collection more special. Those are beautiful cards, the action shots and the multi photo designs hit different.

[volblorx8634]

Next up is the player who maybe most embodies the spirit of those late 90s, early 2000s Sacramento Kings teams, which is ironic given that he was traded away before the team really saw the height of its success. When people hear the greatest show on court, the first player they visualize is likely Jason Williams. He's remained really relevant in basketball culture, and his card and autograph values have reflected that, though I think the more recent Panini stuff has definitely made those cards more affordable and attainable. He was drafted in 1998, overlapping rookie seasons with Peja, and then was traded for 1998 draft classmate Mike Bibby after his third season with the Kings. Thus, Williams doesn't have many playing days cards in Kings uniform. I don't care about the playing days card thing but thought it might be worth noting. Onto the cards...

Rookie base (plus that Brilliants Blue parallel)


Non rookie base
These hold a sentimental value in my collection because all of these were personally pulled by my brothers and me during our days collecting sports and TCG cards in the late 90s and early 00s.


Inserts
I didn't picture this but I came across the funko pop that matches this slam magazine cover/card (along with the Duncan from the set) on clearance on Amazon, so thought that was a pretty cool little match.


And lastly...


Some context/story for this last card, along with an IP authentication question. I initially was searching for the 98-99 Stadium Club One of Kind parallel /150. I think I saw at the time one on eBay, which is still listed, for $280 OBO and a members only /250 recently sold for $52+shipping. So I thought to myself when I came across this autographed copy that it just made sense. Why would I pay $100 for a card that looks relatively similar to the base but is stamped /150 when I can get an autographed copy that the player held and signed for $30? Compound that with the fact that I didn't have a JWill auto in my collection, and this is the route I took. I'd still potentially be interested in adding a parallel, but I'm happy.

As for the IP authentication. This card is authenticated by Pristine Collectibles and I looked up the serial number when I received the card and it simply pulled up a webpage saying that the serial number is associated with a Jason Williams signed basketball card. No image of the autographed item, no record of when it was signed or authenticated, no image of the autograph occurring or anything. I just find it odd and lacking legitimacy haha not sure if anyone has any thoughts on this or other experiences with authentication.

Looking for
2000-01 Fleer Futures Copper /750
2018-19 Flawless Momentous Autographs Green /5 (or really any Flawless auto)

[bjho852]

If you want to and if the price is reasonable to you, try to find out regularly if there is any J-Will paid signing in the future that you can send your own card to sign. The one that you have here might be from his past signing(s).

[volblorx8634]

Originally Posted by bjho852

If you want to and if the price is reasonable to you, try to find out regularly if there is any J-Will paid signing in the future that you can send your own card to sign. The one that you have here might be from his past signing(s).

Yeah he had one here in LA in October, but it was tough to justify paying for shipping both ways and the cost of the signing. Would've probably come out to ~$50ish and I think I can get an authenticated auto for less than that. I'm just flabbergasted at how meh the authentication info is on Pristine's site.

[babyfaceposey]

Love this thread. Bringing back childhood memories. Grew up going to Kings games until I moved away 27 years ago. Keep posting guys.

[volblorx8634]

Originally Posted by babyfaceposey

Love this thread. Bringing back childhood memories. Grew up going to Kings games until I moved away 27 years ago. Keep posting guys.

Thanks man, the nostalgia of the team and my childhood sports experience is definitely one of the reasons I enjoy collecting, so I appreciate hearing that it takes you back.