Advice on NBA Packs and Boxes: Ask your questions here!

mattyeah said:

Mate this hobby is very expensive these days, if you want to get a decent box locally or abroad you'd be looking at a minimum outlay of around $100 - $120, unless you can snag a deal for an old school cheaper box domestically on ebay.

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Thanks for the heads up mate, will probably do it once haha what's a decent box to get these days? I guess with the possibility to pull some nice cards which I will probably move on

Bobz said:

Thanks for the heads up mate, will probably do it once haha what's a decent box to get these days? I guess with the possibility to pull some nice cards which I will probably move on

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If your plan is to bust and sell, you'll be wasting your $$$..

Find something you might collect and bust that.

I would suggest

Prizm
Revolution
Optic
Select

There should be some decent sales on blowout for these. Or cherry may be able to find you something

drobfan8 said:

If your plan is to bust and sell, you'll be wasting your $$$..

Find something you might collect and bust that.

I would suggest

Prizm
Revolution
Optic
Select

There should be some decent sales on blowout for these. Or cherry may be able to find you something

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Thanks for the response gents, a shame to see that it's impossible to pull cards over the values of purchase.. Will look into the box mentioned and see what nice cards there are

Cheers

This thread has scared me away haha. AFL cards I get the market and their value, but looks to be no after sale value in NBA cards at all, boxes seem to be a total waste of money.

From the way Panini has been packing out cases, you're usually guaranteed 2 great boxes out of a 10/12/16 box case. and then again 1 out of 5 cases will be really good cases.

Finding boxes giving more return than you invested is probably a 1 in 10 ratio. Hence I wouldn't buy with the intent to 'make money' as the odds are against you the same as walking into the casino.

Bust for the enjoyment and thrill of busting!

Hey new (returned from a long hiatus) to collecting I recently brought a couple of cheaper boxes on the market 16-17 Panini Complete and 15-16 Panini Hoops. I wasn't a fan of the Complete and have started collecting the Hoops with the aim of completing the base set and maybe a few of the insert sets. I've so far busted a 10pk box (110cards) and a 24pk box (288 cards) at present im a dozen or so cards off completing the base. I have scored a couple of nice insert cards (one numbered 1 of 99) and some autographs but nothing that i think is overly exciting. Is beckett still around? or how do you check prices nowdays?

Is it easier to keep busting packs or am i better to just buy the remaining cards individually?

Also does anyone have a recommendation of what to collect next (around $100 per box)? I was thinking Prestige, Threads or Clear Vision...but after being out of the game for so long I have no idea where to start.

I am fortunate to have a small card/hobby shop (Stars 24) nearby so can visit them once I make a decision.

Other than them though where is best to buy? I've heard to steer clear of ebay and look at some big american card exporter but dont know their name.

zorb_rules said:

Hey new (returned from a long hiatus) to collecting I recently brought a couple of cheaper boxes on the market 16-17 Panini Complete and 15-16 Panini Hoops. I wasn't a fan of the Complete and have started collecting the Hoops with the aim of completing the base set and maybe a few of the insert sets. I've so far busted a 10pk box (110cards) and a 24pk box (288 cards) at present im a dozen or so cards off completing the base. I have scored a couple of nice insert cards (one numbered 1 of 99) and some autographs but nothing that i think is overly exciting. Is beckett still around? or how do you check prices nowdays?

Is it easier to keep busting packs or am i better to just buy the remaining cards individually?

Also does anyone have a recommendation of what to collect next (around $100 per box)? I was thinking Prestige, Threads or Clear Vision...but after being out of the game for so long I have no idea where to start.

I am fortunate to have a small card/hobby shop (Stars 24) nearby so can visit them once I make a decision.

Other than them though where is best to buy? I've heard to steer clear of ebay and look at some big american card exporter but dont know their name.

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Hey mate nothing beats busting some packs aye.. sortsof.com is what most people use for a price guide. I'd say bust what u can afford and like the look of.. and if u want to pm me the numbers u r missing for hoops 15-16 base set I should have what u need.

BeauZo said:

Hey mate nothing beats busting some packs aye.. sortsof.com is what most people use for a price guide. I'd say bust what u can afford and like the look of.. and if u want to pm me the numbers u r missing for hoops 15-16 base set I should have what u need.

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Thanks mate appreciate the help. I've got another 110 card box of Hoops coming this week sometime once I've busted that. I'll let you know what I'm missing.

As for what to go with next I'm looking at something mid-level price and quality wise and probably from the last season or 2. There's just so many options. I've still got 1000s of cards from the late 80s to early 90s..but back then it seemed like there was much fewer varieties.

zorb_rules said:

Thanks mate appreciate the help. I've got another 110 card box of Hoops coming this week sometime once I've busted that. I'll let you know what I'm missing.

As for what to go with next I'm looking at something mid-level price and quality wise and probably from the last season or 2. There's just so many options. I've still got 1000s of cards from the late 80s to early 90s..but back then it seemed like there was much fewer varieties.

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Yeah there are toooo many options now. Which is good and bad I guess. But studio looks sweet. I think there a little over a $100 a box

Okay so just brought a box of Aficionado and a couple of packs of Revolution. Are they a step up from the basic Hoops and Complete i started with?

Also I've been looking into these team box breaks (I've just come across Cherry collectables). Im a big Spurs fan and wouldn't mind collecting team cards. Are these breaks worth while?

zorb_rules said:

Okay so just brought a box of Aficionado and a couple of packs of Revolution. Are they a step up from the basic Hoops and Complete i started with?

Also I've been looking into these team box breaks (I've just come across Cherry collectables). Im a big Spurs fan and wouldn't mind collecting team cards. Are these breaks worth while?

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I'm a big fan of Revolution myself. I don't normally like cheaper products much, but Revolution is a really fun break because there are so many cool variations and the autos are:

1. Not too common
2. REALLY great looking
3. Mostly of decent players (pretty limited checklist)
4. 100% on card audographs (no stickers, which is very rare for a product at this price point)

For a cheapish product you also have potential for some quite valuable hits - a Galactic of a good rookie can sell for big money, and the Galactics are just the right amount of difficult to get (not common enough to kill the value, but not so rare that you'll never get one in a loose box).

I personally prefer it to other affordable products (e.g. Prizm) because with a lot of those products it just feels impossible to get anything of value unless you buy cases - and if you don't get a big hit, everything else looks pretty boring and tends to be worth very little.

Studio is interesting too - haven't busted it before myself, but I've watched a few breaks and it looks like a fun product. Even some of the base cards look really classy, and plenty of insert sets to collect - though I do believe the autos are all stickers (could be wrong).

Just looking at buying some cards from dacardworld.

Does anyone have any experience purchasing their "24 pack lots"?

Are they sold as loose packs? I noticed they are cheaper than buying a sealed box, is this possibly because they keep the thick packs for themselves?

Example:

http://www.dacardworld.com/sports-cards/2015-16-panini-hoops-basketball-retail-pack-lot-of-24

http://www.dacardworld.com/sports-cards/2015-16-panini-hoops-basketball-retail-box

Surely they would have been searched

JDan said:

Just looking at buying some cards from dacardworld.

Does anyone have any experience purchasing their "24 pack lots"?

Are they sold as loose packs? I noticed they are cheaper than buying a sealed box, is this possibly because they keep the thick packs for themselves?

Example:

http://www.dacardworld.com/sports-cards/2015-16-panini-hoops-basketball-retail-pack-lot-of-24

http://www.dacardworld.com/sports-cards/2015-16-panini-hoops-basketball-retail-box

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They are cheaper because you aren't guaranteed the box hits. You may get more hits or less, but generally will get less. The loose packs are often purchased in bulk off Target, etc.

JDan said:

Does anyone have any experience purchasing their "24 pack lots"?
x

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No the 24 packs hoops that you are talking about.

But about 3 months ago bought about 20 of the 15-16 prizm Triple packs with the RWB bonus pack.. there was about 8 of the packs were opened and searched then re-sealed.

DACW don't do thorough enough checks on them as they are ex-retail stuff that they buy back from other stores.

Appreciate the advice guys!
Their prices are so cheap it makes it very tempting to buy.
Do you think all of their products are just as dodgy? Like if I was to buy a standard box is there a chance it could have been repackaged as well?

JDan said:

Appreciate the advice guys!
Their prices are so cheap it makes it very tempting to buy.
Do you think all of their products are just as dodgy? Like if I was to buy a standard box is there a chance it could have been repackaged as well?

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If sealed, nope
DACW is the best of the best

Awesome, thanks mate

Afternoon all.

Getting back into the game after 14 years away from it. Collected pretty heavily as a teen between 2001-2005. Spent most weekends, unsuccessfully, convincing my parents to make trips from the outer suburbs to Glenferrie Road (Card Heaven) and Northland Shopping Centre (Ace Colour Copy) to see how far I could stretch $50. 10 packets at $5 each, take a risk on one expensive pack or buy a card outright. Being 15, 10 packets always trumped one and I never found buying a card enjoyable. It was all about the rip.

A lot has changed since then. Walking into a card shop with $50 saved over two weeks as a kid vs walking into a card shop and conceivably being able to buy anything that's for sale as an adult, no more Upper Deck, Panini seemingly dominating the shelves, etc. I definitely feel a bit lost and I've come here to get some help and advice!

I used to collect sets and I'd have seperate folders for each. I'd buy the odd pack from left-field that would guarantee me something special which would also have it's own folder. Anything super-special got locked down in a nice case.

What got me interested in collecting again? Seeing Panini packets at my local K-Mart (Northcote!) Purchased a few and got the bug, did some research and came across Cherry Collectables and bought a box of 17-18 Panini Prestige's. Had a heap of fun breaking them open last night to my girlfriends dismay (I already spend enough money on records as a DJ, the last thing I need is another expensive hobby).

So, some questions I would love to have answered!

1 – What happened to Upper Deck and where did Panini come from? I assume there are no Jordan and LeBron auto's because of this? Being the holy grail, I'd imagine opening new packs knowing there's no chance you could land one would be a bit of a buzz kill?
2 – Do people still collect sets or are they more focused on individual players, teams, inserts, rookie cards, auto's, etc? I'm still deciding on what I want to do. Leaning towards completing the Prestige base set as a starting point and working my way from there.
3 – Do people still store their cards in 9-pocket sleeves or are more in top-loaders cases?
4 – Do people still buy individual packets? I used to almost strictly (unless my parents would buy me a box for my birthday or Christmas) however it seems a bit pointless if you can save up, buy a box and get a guaranteed auto/patch/#'d card.
5 – Any suggestions on what product I should look at next? Something affordable and then something a bit more on the pricey side.

Would welcome any other general suggestions, comments and updates!

Thanks, and sorry for the long post!

Accidental double-post. Good start!