Best Basketball Card Boxes To Buy
Every year, basketball card collectors worldwide seek out these rare gems. And the 2022-2023 NBA season is no exception. With promising young rookies like Paolo Banchero and Jaden Ivey entering the league, and stars like LeBron James, Kevin Durant, and Steph Curry still ruling the court, you can bet that some of the cards released today will be prized for years to come.
best basketball card boxes to buy
Before investing in any NBA basketball card, you should be confident in its brand. The quality and scarcity of a card greatly impact its value, and some brands are known for turning out collectibles in high demand. Panini, the largest and leading sports card manufacturer in the world, is the gold standard in sports cards.
While some of the most expensive sports cards were manufactured by Topps, they lost their license to produce NBA cards in 2016 and left a gap for Panini to fill. Founded in 1961, Panini has since grown to become a billion-dollar company. With their focus on quality, artistry, and prestige, most people agree that the best basketball cards to buy come from Panini.
The brand made its mainstream basketball card debut after signing agreements with the NFL, NBA, and MLB to become their exclusive trading card licensees. Those deals allowed Panini to buy up its competition and offer cards under multiple lines. Some of the most popular sets of NBA cards from Panini include National Treasures, Prizm, Donruss Optic, and Select. With all of those options, there's a Panini card for every collector.
Panini's Prizm is a favorite among NBA card collectors who want a good variety. Their base sets feature rookie cards as well as sought-after veterans. Their extensive rainbow of parallels makes them perfect for collectors who like to hunt down complete sets. One base card can have up to 22 parallels in a given set. The colorful and playful patterns on Prizm cards, plus the images of top players in action, are an instant draw. They also feature several creative inserts, like Fireworks, Fearless, and Prizmatic, with over-the-top designs. These short print inserts are often some of the most expensive basketball cards up for sale.
Basketball cards have become a hot collector's item in recent years, and they're not just for kids anymore. Collectors of all ages and interest levels enjoy chasing down basketball cards. You might be in it for the cool designs featuring your favorite players or the opportunity to monetize your passion for basketball. In either case, here are some of the best basketball card packs you can buy in 2023.
Panini Prizm cards are an affordable way to get into the world of NBA trading cards. These are official NBA cards that are known for their bright colors and sharp designs. You can easily fish out world-renowned NBA stars like Kobe Bryant and Zion Williamson with beautiful Prizm parallels. The 2021-22 hobby box pulls from a set that includes 22 parallels and 10 unique inserts. Just like previous boxes, this season gives you a shot at several prized autographs, including the Rookie Signatures line. Cade Cunningham, Scottie Barnes, and Evan Mobley are among the most anticipated rookies to join this already illustrious pack of NBA stars. Be sure to keep an eye out for these top rookies in your hobby boxes.
Another great option is Panini Select. These cards come in sturdy, thick cardstock and the set contains an array of inserts and parallels to bring out the best of the NBA. Select provides a wide variety of valuable cards with favorite rookies and veterans. A 2021-22 Panini Select hanger pack comes with 15 cards and an average of four insert cards or Prizm parallels (not to be confused with the Panini Prizm line) per pack. Scoring one of those rare parallels or autographs can make this pack a worthy investment.
National Treasures are rare and highly-desired sports cards, and their NBA cards are no exception. Unfortunately, that quality is reflected in their price. But while your wallet may be wincing, your portfolio could be sitting pretty with the right NTs in your collection. These limited edition cards feature intricate designs and high-quality artistry that will make you the envy of basketball collectors all around the world. National Treasures hobby boxes come with four autograph cards and four memorabilia cards, giving you good odds of pulling some valuable collectibles.
The Michael Jordan Nike Promo card is one of the first-ever basketball cards to feature Michael Jordan. The iconic Jumpman pose captured here was used for advertising the original Air Jordan 1 sneaker. In June 2021, this card was bought for $203,000 from Collectable.
His rookie cards are the most valuable among all sports cards, beating out even LeBron James and Steph Curry. Though you can't invest in Collectable's 1985 Michael Jordan Nike Promo card anymore, you can still access other Jordan basketball cards and memorabilia on their platform. All you have to do is sign up for an account and buy some shares, then sit and wait for them to rise in value. When an asset's price increases, so will the value of your shares.
The 1986 Michael Jordan Fleer RC #57 is arguably the most recognizable and sought-after basketball card ever produced. The card hit a $40,000 auction price by the end of 2019 and was recently sold for $200,000 on eBay in June 2021.
The 1996 Kobe Bryant Topps Chrome RC #138 is one of the most valuable basketball cards ever produced. The card hit a staggering $1,795,800 through Goldin Auctions and is destined to rise in value.
One of the most endearing blasts from the past in sports cards, the 2009 Stephen Curry Topps Chrome RC #101 also happens to be one of the most valuable basketball cards of all time. It features a baby-faced Stephen Curry in his Golden State Warriors jersey, smiling in school portrait mode rather than the action shots on most of his other rookie cards.
Basketball cards are one of your best options for investing in sports memorabilia. Many cards have accessible price points and great potential for ROI as basketball continues to grow in popularity. Cards featuring b-ball royalty keep increasing in value as the legacies of these players become more celebrated over time. While many collectors want to build a physical collection, it's relatively easy to own limited edition rookie cards thanks to platforms like Collectable and Public.
Inside this box are 36 packs containing 10 basketball cards each. This gives collectors a chance to pull base and parallel cards, not only those of Curry or Harden, but of Blake Griffin, DeMar DeRozan, and Jrue Holiday, among others. And in the event that Curry grail is pulled, its current PSA 10 value is now at $10,140 in the market.
Families staying at home during the height of the pandemic began going through old boxes in the garage or attic and finding sports cards passed onto them by relatives or re-discovering collections from their youth. With more free time at home, sports card enthusiasts flocked to stores or online sites to buy more boxes in order to expand their collections or to have some activity to bond with their children.
This also caused a boom for people looking to capitalize on the increase in value by buying large quantities of sports card boxes online and in-store. The hope was that they could stumble upon rare and valuable cards in boxes that could be quickly flipped for a tidy profit on online marketplaces such as eBay.
Retailers like Target and Walmart couldn't keep any product on the shelf and had to impose a limit on boxes per customer transaction per day. Even fighting and attacks occurred amongst consumers in store parking lots over the demand for sports trading card boxes.
Online marketplace websites such as eBay can be a great source for a wealth of products, especially hard-to-find or limited-edition merchandise. eBay reported a boom of 142% in card sales for 2020, with basketball cards experiencing a nearly 375% increase.
Local sports card/trading card stores, sometimes referred to as hobby shops, can be a great resource for finding basketball card boxes for sale. Their stock can vary based on geographical locations due to the different popularities of certain sports in certain regions over others.
Sports card/trading card stores may be able to get access to the boxes and products that aren't available elsewhere. Hobby shops want to know what their customers are looking for so that they can stock it specifically for their clientele, so never be afraid to vocalize what it is you're looking for.
Hobby shop boxes have a better likelihood of hitting a rarer card, versus retail boxes, and have guaranteed autograph/memorabilia cards, Hobby shops are limited though sometimes with the stock they can have in-store and on the shelves.
As a reminder, the beauty with the basketball market currently is that the rookies are holding value. These mega boxes usually offer some kind of parallel exclusive so you are almost guaranteed to get some great rookie parallels out of those boxes.
Online retailers sometimes commit case hits, where a case containing 3 to 12 boxes is opened until a coveted card is found inside. Knowing they have found the best card, they see no reason to keep the remaining boxes and sell them on the website, making it less likely that a customer will find anything of worth because it has already been cherry-picked.
The best basketball card boxes to buy depending on the price range that you are willing to spend. Blasters are more affordable. Mega boxes have already been covered, hobby boxes range from hundreds of dollars to thousands, and cases are bigger versions of boxes.
Every NBA basketball cards box within the past few years is a Panini basketball cards box due to their exclusive license. Panini is the only company that can feature NBA logos on their product since 2008. Upper Deck, Fleer, and Topps are the most common brands for vintage cards. 041b061a72