Absolute newbie to collecting NBA cards

Kai5 · Apr 30, 2023

Hi All
Joined this site to learn a bit (ok alot!) more about collecting NBA cards..

Been watching NBA for several years now. My fave player was KD but have become a really big fan of Doncic in recent years.

Open to any advice and guidance on how to start investing/buying cards- i.e is it best to buy hobby/blaster, or even those $30 retail packs?

My reason for getting into the card scene is more about my love of nba and collecting nice cards of my fave players rather than finding rare cards to resell (but hey always good to know if i find something valuable)

Thanks!
Kai

TheCardExperience · May 1, 2023

Welcome to the forums KD and Doncic I can see you have very nice taste in players! They're some of my favourites too.

With their cards, I tend to find KD autos are undervalued compared to other top echelon players. Doncic cards are definitely overvalued considering he hasn't achieved the top tier stuff like MVP or Championship (yet.. hopefully soon!).

In saying that, the market has dipped big time so the prices you currently see are a fraction of what was, so it's a great time to buy.

My best advice for someone starting out is don't drop any big dollars on singles on eBay just yet, do your research, try get to some card shows and look at the cards in person. Meet a few people, check out their collections, see what you like. Also check out YouTube channels like Mattscardshop (local Aussie) and Packman (US based) to see pack openings and maildays. This will give you an idea on what cards are popular.

OutlawNinja · May 1, 2023

Welcome to the forum mate and wish you all the best on your voyage of discovery.

GarnettFan4Life · May 1, 2023

Welcome!

If you're in it for mainly collecting and have players in mind I'd definitely say sign up for a few places where you can browse wide ranges of cards and see what catches your eye.

In Aus you have good sellers on ebay.com.au but also MERQARY (link in my signature), sjay2k, and here on ozcardtrader.

Further out you have ebay international sellers and COMC. COMC could be the greatest help - you can submit offers there and see a huge range of cards and narrow down to your budget. You can send back to AUS with there basic service which may be slow but if you wanted faster service send them to @ShipMyCards and they forward them here using FedEx which has been great for us collectors here in AUS!

Browsing those places will also let you know whats out there in terms of other players and cards and you might be able to get an idea of the market and find a bargain or future good investment/flip you mentioned. We all even stumble upon those sometimes and often put the $ profit right back into our PC players haha - but that's ok in my opinion, why not!

Plenty of helpful people here, so ask any questions that may come up and someone can surely help. This era of collecting is quite confronting at first and hard to navigate but so fun with the power available now to buy from people all over the world! Have fun!

cheers

Matt

jimbo2193 · May 1, 2023

Welcome! Great to hear you’re collecting for the love of it.

Kai5 · May 1, 2023

OutlawNinja said:
Welcome to the forum mate and wish you all the best on your voyage of discovery.

Thank you

Kai5 · May 1, 2023

TheCardExperience said:
Welcome to the forums KD and Doncic I can see you have very nice taste in players! They're some of my favourites too.

With their cards, I tend to find KD autos are undervalued compared to other top echelon players. Doncic cards are definitely overvalued considering he hasn't achieved the top tier stuff like MVP or Championship (yet.. hopefully soon!).

In saying that, the market has dipped big time so the prices you currently see are a fraction of what was, so it's a great time to buy.

My best advice for someone starting out is don't drop any big dollars on singles on eBay just yet, do your research, try get to some card shows and look at the cards in person. Meet a few people, check out their collections, see what you like. Also check out YouTube channels like Mattscardshop (local Aussie) and Packman (US based) to see pack openings and maildays. This will give you an idea on what cards are popular.

Thank you for the reply, i appreciate it.
I’m definitely finding it very confusing to know which cards are the valuable ones, unless of course its a 1 of 1 or a logoman card. There are so many different autographed/coloured holographic cards they all seem the same to me

Is it even worth buying panini hobby/blaster packs?
And if so who are the reputable sites to buy from as i keep reading about sellers weighing the boxes & opening/resealing them…

Kai5 · May 1, 2023

jimbo2193 said:
Welcome! Great to hear you’re collecting for the love of it.

Absolutely for the love of it

Kai5 · May 1, 2023

GarnettFan4Life said:
Welcome!

If you're in it for mainly collecting and have players in mind I'd definitely say sign up for a few places where you can browse wide ranges of cards and see what catches your eye.

In Aus you have good sellers on ebay.com.au but also MERQARY (link in my signature), sjay2k, and here on ozcardtrader.

Further out you have ebay international sellers and COMC. COMC could be the greatest help - you can submit offers there and see a huge range of cards and narrow down to your budget. You can send back to AUS with there basic service which may be slow but if you wanted faster service send them to @ShipMyCards and they forward them here using FedEx which has been great for us collectors here in AUS!

Browsing those places will also let you know whats out there in terms of other players and cards and you might be able to get an idea of the market and find a bargain or future good investment/flip you mentioned. We all even stumble upon those sometimes and often put the $ profit right back into our PC players haha - but that's ok in my opinion, why not!

Plenty of helpful people here, so ask any questions that may come up and someone can surely help. This era of collecting is quite confronting at first and hard to navigate but so fun with the power available now to buy from people all over the world! Have fun!

cheers

Matt

Thanks so much Matt.
It definitely seems exciting but also super confusing haha
Is it silly that i kind of like the idea of mayne being lucky enough to find a great card of one of my fave players in a pack like a lucky dip? (A very expensive lucky dip)

Hornso · May 2, 2023

Welcome to the forum!

There is a wealth of knowledge from some very experienced collectors on these forums who I'm sure will be happy to help and answer any of your questions.

See you in the NBA section.

GarnettFan4Life · May 2, 2023

Kai5 said:
Thanks so much Matt.
It definitely seems exciting but also super confusing haha
Is it silly that i kind of like the idea of mayne being lucky enough to find a great card of one of my fave players in a pack like a lucky dip? (A very expensive lucky dip)

Not silly at all and that’s what probably got most of us hooked on this hobby - going to a newsagent or local card shop and busting packs and maybe finding a card of a player who we then decided to collect.

The disappointing thing for kids these days is that a lot of them are priced out of a cheap packet and even anywhere to buy them and that’s what built the online dominance of sellers and destroyed card shops.

I think I’m getting a bit negative lol

Key thing is budgeting between packs and single cards and don’t get into debt for the hobby. Make it fun and you will not resent if card prices go down.

SharpysSports · May 2, 2023

Welcome to the site!

As has been said before, joining the hobby can be a little overwhelming at first but don't hesitate to ask any questions you may have. I've found that OZCT members are much more helpful than those on Facebook but there are good people everywhere in the hobby.

If you have any questions relating to MERQARY.com please reach out. I run that site which is currently a great place to keep track of your trading card collection and/or buy/sell on our dedicated trading card marketplace. OZCT is the preferred and recommended forum of MERQARY. I can give you some pointers on how to get started if you need any.

With regards to which cards to buy, my recommendation would be to start out with some cheaper stuff. They generally have great images of players in action and you will know if this is the hobby for you.

And just have fun! That's what it's all about!

TheCardExperience · May 2, 2023

Kai5 said:
Thank you for the reply, i appreciate it.
I’m definitely finding it very confusing to know which cards are the valuable ones, unless of course its a 1 of 1 or a logoman card. There are so many different autographed/coloured holographic cards they all seem the same to me

Is it even worth buying panini hobby/blaster packs?
And if so who are the reputable sites to buy from as i keep reading about sellers weighing the boxes & opening/resealing them…

The hobby box vs blaster box etc is a tough one to get your head around.

You'll need to find out what hits are exclusive to the product itself.

For example, using Mosaic product as a guide..
You might want to collect the Genesis parallel but that's only available in Blasters and Multi Packs.
Whereas say you're chasing a Gold Mosaic /10 then that can only be pulled from Hobby Boxes.

You can check the checklists on sites like 130point.com or if you have access in person just read the back of the packs/boxes to see what hits are possible.

Absolute newbie to collecting NBA cards

Kai5

OzCardTrader

TheCardExperience

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OutlawNinja

Dom Wilkins Collector

GarnettFan4Life

jimbo2193

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Kai5

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Hornso

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GarnettFan4Life

SharpysSports

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TheCardExperience

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