Mail Week April 11 - 15: Cool Kobe and Jordan Inserts, etc.

michael jordan

In this mail week, I got a Shaq refractor and Dwight Howard wood auto for my main PC and cool Kobe and Jordan inserts for my side PC. Also got a nice patch for my trade baits.

Check out my mail week for April 11 - 15.


Just click on the image for a larger view.

The best card from this mail week is a Kobe Bryant 96-97 Topps Draft Redemption Redeemed card.

I also got my first ever graded Kobe Bryant rookie card: a 96-97 Topps RC graded BGS 9.5 (Gem Mint).

Another Kobe card I got is this cool 98-99 Skybox Thunder Flight School insert with a lens viewer.

Some Kobes are a 97-98 Hoops High Voltage and 97-98 Topps Inside Stuff.

On to the Michael Jordans.

I got these base cards and inserts:

94-95 Emotion #100 - MJ is wearing a jersey numbered #45 (check out the reason behind it)
93-94 Finest #1 - from the first ever premium basketball product
1996 SPX Record Breakers - hologram card where MJ actually winks at you
93-94 Upper Deck Triple Double
95-96 Finest Dish and Swish - Scottie Pippen is at the front (Dish). MJ is the Swish.

For my Shaq PC is a 05-06 Topps Chrome Refractor and for my Dwight Howard PC is a 05-06 UD Hardcourt Hardwood Signatures where the autograph is on wood.

Then, for the trade bait: a 09-10 Crown Royale Rookie Royalty Materials Prime patch card of the top three rookies from the class of 2009, Tyreke Evans, Stephen Curry and Brandon Jennings. Just leave a comment here if you have something to trade for it.

Mail Week March 28 - April 1: 1 of 1 Inserts and Autos, Carter Exquisite and Jordans

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I have been literally flooded with mails this month.

While I really like my March 21-25 mail week because of the rare Shaq 90's inserts, nice Dwight Howard autos and Kobe 2nd year inserts, my mails for the past week is not too shabby either because, finally, my Dwight Howard white whale has arrived.

Check out my mail week for March 28 - April 1.

The centerpiece is of course the card at the center, a 07-08 Topps Triple Threads Printing Plate Jersey Auto White Whale 1/1.

Next one I got is this cool rookie card of Dwight Howard that contains a beautiful piece of patch.

However, that same patch is the reason why this only got a BGS 6 grade (Excellent-Mint). You see, the thickness of the patch made creases at card's surface as shown in red circles below.

Nevertheless, it still is a beautiful card. In fact, I plan to acquire as many rookie cards of this kind as I can from now on. The card is serial numbered out of 350 so, there are still 349 out there.

On to the Michael Jordans.

I can't really afford an original rookie card so I just have to settle with the Michael Jordan 86-87 Fleer Rookie Card Reprint. Or fake if you want to be more technical.

Also to be added to my Jordan side PC are these hologram cards from 96-97 Collector's Choice. This is an oddball set I must say as they are released outside the US. Becket value for this Jordan's Journals set is $50.

I also happened to chance on this beautiful set from the same seller, southsidestore1 of eBay so I also bought it to take advantage of the combined shipping. This is a 95-96 Fleer Flair Perimeter Power set featuring the top 15 outside shooters during the early 90's including the likes of Reggie Miller, Scottie Pippen, Gary Payton, Anfernee Hardaway and Clyde Drexler.

For my Shaq PC is this 99-00 Black Diamond FINAL CUT parallel card serial numbered 001/100. Yes, the first card in the series so this is somewhat special. It also happens to be my first Shaq card  to have a 001/** serial number.

Just a side note, my Shaq card to feature the last number in a series is this: 1995 Classic Five Sport Hot Box Autographs 655/655!

 Speaking of special serial numbered cards, I was able to buy this lot at hobbykings composed of:

2003-04 UD Manu Ginobili Green Reflections #20/100 - Ginobili's jersey number
2009-10 Absolute Steve Nash Spectrum #1/25 - first card in the series
2009-10 Absolute A.J. Price Spectrum #25/25 - last card in the series
2009-10 Absolute Kevin Love FF #42/100 - Love's jersey number
2007-08 Stadium Club Jason Kidd jsy #280/499
2003-04 UD Reflections Jason Kidd Gold #47/50
2005-06 Finest Refractor Chris Bosh 323/349

What's even more special with the Ginobili and Love cards is that they are serial numbered to both player's respective jersey numbers.

Cards like this typically carry some premiums as they are considered as 1/1s by hardcore player collectors.

Last but not the least with this mail week is the redeemed card for a 09-10 Exquisite Collection Vince Carter Buyback auto.

I redeemed it last July 22, 2010 along with 2 Dwight Howards and 1 Chris Paul. So after 8 months, Carter finally signed but not Howard and Paul. :-(

So there you go. I hope you enjoyed my mails as much as I do.

Michael Jordan 86-87 Fleer Rookie Card Reprint... Err, Fake

michael jordan

Michael Jordan is widely considered as the greatest basketball player ever.

It is therefore understandable that in the world of basketball sports cards, his rookie card, the 1986-87 Fleer #57 is considered as the "Holy Grail"; the most coveted card every fanatic wants to add to his collection.

However, it is also expensive as the ungraded ones usually sell for $200 - $500 and the graded ones, for way more.

Heck, a 1986-97 Fleer #57 Michael Jordan BGS 10 Pristine copy sold for $82,000 in 2009!

Since I can't afford to sell my arms and legs just to have one, I just settled for the best alternative, the REPRINT. Or if you want to be technical, the FAKE.

FRONT

BACK

I was able to purchase a 10-count lot off the bay. I will keep 5 for my side PC and 5 I will resell. This is included in my mail week for March 28 - April 1.

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BACK

The copies above are exact replicas of the original. You can not even find the word REPRINT on the card at all. To the untrained eye, they could easily pass up as an original rookie card.

So, how can you determine if the one you're holding is an original or a fake?

That's for my next post so watch out for it.

Mail Week March 21-25: Shaq RARE Inserts, Dwight Howard Autos and Kobe 2nd Year Inserts

michael jordan

I think this is one of my best mail weeks because I have added something to my Shaquille O'Neal and Dwight Howard main personal collections as well as to my Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan side PCs.

Check out my mail week from March 21 - 25, 2011.

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BACK

Finally, I got my first Flair Legacy parallel card. This is from the first edition, the 96-97 one and is numbered 058 of 150. 

I also got the 97-98 Flair Row 0 card which makes my 97-98 Flair base set complete from Row 0 to Row 3. It is numbered 179 of 250. Check out my 97-98 Flair rainbow set.

The 95-96 Flair Hot Numbers is actually my second one. I decided to get multiple copies of this card because it is really beautiful and sells well. Good as a trade bait as well.

Thanks to irv*2010 of eBay for these beautiful cards.

The top card is a rookie-year card, 04-05 SP Signature Edition Rookies Incorporated. This is only graded as 8 due to an 8 grade on the edges and 7.5 on the corners. Still, the autograph is graded as 10 and is on-card. This is only RARE as only 100 cards were ever produced.

The bottom card is from 07-08 Topps Triple Threads which features 3 jersey swatches, one of which is a patch. The autograph is sticker but since this is pretty limited and is the first numbered (1/9), I will take it anytime.

Thanks to dhmhoops of eBay.

Bought this lot from kamino of NBA Cards Philippines primarily for the 2nd-year Kobe inserts.

The shiny Planet Metal insert is really beautiful to look at in person.

Mail Month January: Lebron, Wade, Bosh Topps Chrome RCs, Beam Team Set, etc.

michael jordan

It's a good way to open up the New Year.

I finally got the 03-04 Topps Chrome rookie cards of the Miami Heat trio, Lebron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh.

Check out my mail month for January 2011.

The lot contains the following cards:

03-04 Topps Chrome RCs of Lebron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh and Carmelo Anthony + Lebron James 2004 Upper Deck City Heights 3D card - bought from cardfan808 of eBay. 

95-96 Topps Stadium Club Beam Team MEMBERS ONLY Set - These cards are different from the regular Beam Team cards in that these are stamped with the Member's Only gold logo. You can't get these in packs as they were available only via redemption. Not too many cards were redeemed too adding to their scarcity. I purchased this for the Michael Jordan alone. For my side PC. I will feature it later. Bought from vicator_nba_cards of eBay.

Glen Davis 07-08 Exquisite Collection Auto Patch RC #d/225 - one of the Big Baby's best RC's. I like the patch on this one. I have seen many with only one or two-color patch. Bought it from member867484 of eBay. It also comes with his 07-08 Hot Prospects #d/599 Auto Patch RC as a bonus.

Thanks for looking!

Beckett Basketball Card Hall of Fame - Class of 2005

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I was scanning through some of my old Beckett magazines today when this one has caught my attention.

If there's a Hall of Fame for basketball players, coaches and teams, there's also a Hall of Fame for basketball trading cards.

A total of 10 cards made the inaugural Beckett Basketball Card Hall of Fame.



Here's a scan:

Ordered by year:

1. 1948 Bowman George Mikan RC #69
2. 1957-58 Topps Bob Cousy RC #17
3. 1957-58 Topps Bill Russell RC #77

4. 1961-62 Fleer Wilt Chamberlain RC #8
5. 1961-62 Fleer Jerry West RC #43
6. 1969-70 Topps Lew Alcindor RC #25
7. 1970-71 Topps Pete Maravich RC #123
8. 1972-73 Topps Julius Erving RC #195
9. 1980-81 Topps 34 Bird/Erving/Magic RC #6
10. 1986-87 Fleer Michael Jordan RC #57

REFERENCE: Beckett Basketball Monthly #184 November 2005, Marvin Williams cover

09-10 Greats of the Game Basketball Box Break

michael jordan

The itch to open basketball boxes is becoming unbearable again  so I decided to buy unopened basketball boxes from Dave and Adam's Card World last November 3. The package arrived two weeks later on November 19.

Here's my 09-10 Greats of the Game Basketball box break.

A box contains 16 packs. Each pack contains 8 cards. Each box is guaranteed to contain 3 autographs or memorabilia card.

These are what I got:

The notable base cards
* 2 pcs. Michael Jordan
* 4 pcs. Lebron James
* Ricky Rubio RC
* Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Bill Russell

Parallel cards
* Derrick Rose #d/199
* David Robinson #d/199

The hits!

 Michael Ray Richardson jersey card, Michael Jordan Old School insert card

Bobby Hurley and Calbert Cheaney autos

VERDICT: ****** 6 out of 10 stars!

Mail Month 1st Half of November: OJ Mayo Ultimate Auto RC, Brandon Roy UD Black Auto, etc.

michael jordan

From November 1 - 15, I got a few mails of my recent card pickups from eBay and the local online trading site: NBA Cards Philippines.

Check out my mail month for the first month of November.

The lot contains the following cards:

Brandon Roy 07-08 UD Black Ticket Auto #d/50 - I traded my Tyreke Evans 09-10 Timeless Treasures RC Auto #d/399 and two Tyreke Evans jersey cards plus I got P1,300 cash in exchange for this card. Thanks to bounty_hunter23 of nbacardsph.com

O.J. Mayo 08-09 Ultimate Auto RC #d/150 and Russell Westbrook 09-10 Timeless Treasures auto #d/10 - paid through PayPal. From Wink3 of nbacardsph.

Kobe Bryant 97-97 Hoops Frequent Flyers UPGRADE Plastic Parallel - with high odds of 1:360, this is a RARE card and books $80. Bought from dhmhoops of eBay.

Jason Kidd 02-03 Ultimate Signatures Auto - bought from emiebou2007 of eBay.

Brook Lopez 07-08 Chronology XRC Parallel #d/99 - bought from greatliving2008 of eBay.

Michael Jordan 97-98 Topps Chrome and 96-97 Ultra GOLD Medallion Parallel - bought from cloven of nbacardsph.

Lebron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh 07-08 Finest REFRACTORS - bought from willsmith48  of eBay.

Thanks for looking!

Mail Week September 20 - 24: Tyreke Evans and Brandon Jennings Exquisite RCs, Huge Rudy Gay lot, etc.

michael jordan

Coming home from a week of field work yesterday, a huge stack of package was waiting for me.

Two came from eBay and the two from online trading site: NBA Cards Philippines.

Check out my mail week from September 20 - 24, 2010.

The centerpiece of this mail week would be the 09-10 Exquisite Rookie Card of Tyreke Evans. I got it from  chris02jammers of eBay.

The 09-10 Exquisite Rookie Card of Brandon Jennings is not shabby either. I got it from mundoniwet of eBay along with the Ken Shamrock auto.

vto47 of nbacardsph sold me the Michael Jordan 96-97 UD3 Superstar Spotlight and the Shaquille O'Neal 97-98 Bowman's Best Cuts Atomic Refractor.

 

I also got this nice lot of rookie and jersey cards with two autos and a FREE  9-pocket album from rafmondcruz_93 of nbacardsph.

The lot is composed mostly of Rudy Gay rookie cards (around 20 pieces) and jersey cards (around 15 pieces). There are also rookie cards from the Class of 2009: Tyreke Evans, Brandon Jennings, Tyler Hansbrough, Blake Griffin and Stephen Curry.

Also included are assorted rookie cards from players like Lamarcus Aldridge, Monta Ellis and Marc Gasol, assorted jersey cards from players like Carlos Boozer and Gilbert Arenas and assorted refractors.

The two autographs included are a David West 08-09 UD Black Flag Patch Auto #d 1/50 and some rookie auto from 09-10 Playoff Contenders.

Overall, it was a nice lot and mail week.