Hobbies And Interests
History
Basketball cards grew out of a general sports-card trend, which was started by tobacco companies in an effort to sell their products. Cigarettes were replaced by gum when companies realized that children would buy them, and with the great success of baseball and hockey trading cards in the first half of the 20th century, basketball seemed like a natural addition. Unfortunately, it took some time to find traction. Topps produced a series of basketball cards for the 1957 NBA season, but they were discontinued after 1 year. The same company started again in 1969, and continued until 1982, when it dropped out again.
The NBA itself was undergoing considerable difficulties during this time, which likely led to the sluggish sales. It wasn't until the rise of the superstars in the 1980s--when Magic Johnson's LA Lakers and Larry Bird's Boston Celtics engaged in a decade-long rivalry--that interest in pro basketball reached a fever pitch. Card companies were able to cash in on that phenomenon more readily than they had in the past, starting with Fleer, which introduced a new series of cards in 1986. Newcomer Upper Deck began producing them in 1990, and Topps--realizing that they were losing market share to their competitors--started again in 1992. Fleer filed for bankruptcy in 2005 and was absorbed by Upper Deck ... which made an unsuccessful bid to purchase Topps in 2007. Both companies have undergone financial turmoil in recent years, which may impact the production of basketball cards in the future. Topps and Upper Deck remain the two key producers of basketball cards as of early 2009.
Types
Basketball cards are driven by their after-market value, which dictates how much collectors are willing to pay for them. Rookie cards from big stars are in the highest demand, but since one never knows whether a given rookie is going to become a huge star, it can be difficult to predict which ones will be worth the most. Cards from years other than a player's rookie season are worth substantially less, though superstar cards obviously generate more interest than those of rank-and-file players. Both Fleer and Topps made fortuitous decisions by starting (or restarting) their basketball-card production during key years: Fleer in 1986 (the rookie season for Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley) and Topps in 1992 (the rookie season for Shaquille O'Neal). Upper Deck has less success in that department, but scored a coup by releasing its first batch of basketball cards the same year it acquired the licenses for the NHL and NFL (making it the first company to have the rights to all four major sports leagues in the same year).
Types
Complete sets are also enticing from a collector's standpoint, including a collection of all of the cards for a given team or (more commonly) an entire print run from a given company during a given year. The dramatic recent rise in the number of different sets has made the task more difficult, but it serves as a catalyst to drive collectors who are in search of elusive cards to complete a given set. It also makes it easy for younger collectors to start, since they tend to be focused on current teams rather than the stars of yesterday.
Types
A recent innovation in basketball-card collecting has been the inclusion of inserts, which are limited-edition cards containing autographed copies of cards or pieces of jerseys worn by famous players. The most noted set is Upper Deck's Exquisite Collection from 2003, which contains "patch" rookie jersey cards from the likes of LeBron James, Carmello Anthony and Dwayne Wade.
Types
Unopened boxes are another popular way of collecting basketball cards. Because cards are randomly inserted, any pack can contain a valuable rare card, and the allure of mystery can drive unopened sets far above their listed price ... especially those that feature rookie cards of a given star or insert cards from famous players.
Features
As with other trading cards, the overall value of basketball cards is further determined by both their rarity and the state they are in when sold. Cards that have been damaged by use or handling are not as valuable as those in mint condition, while scarcer cards see their price driven up by the law of supply and demand. Collectors go to great lengths to protect basketball cards, keeping them in Mylar frames or sealing them in plastic to ensure that they are not touched.