Are Player’s 2nd Year Basketball Cards Worth Buying?
This is my second recent post about collecting 2nd year basketball cards.
The question is: Is it worth it to buy 2nd year basketball cards?
Well, my answer would be YES! But only parallels. I won’t go over this too much because I had talked about this in my other post here.
Obviously, when it comes to basketball card collecting, the rookies are the way to go. But an NBA player’s 2nd year cards are also highly sought after by collectors.
This post is all about showing you what 2nd year cards I have picked up lately. You can see them in my Youtube video above.
The cards you will see in the above video are as follows. And they are all parallels cards like Silvers, etc.
I have a sports cards addiction right now. I am addicted to buying 2nd year basketball cards off eBay.
Now don’t get me wrong. I do have some real nice rookie cards as well. For example, I have a Jayson Tatum 2017-18 Panini Prizm Silver rookie card as well as a Prizm Green and a couple Red White and Blue from that 2017 Prizm set.
Here they are on my Youtube channel below.
Obviously rookie cards are the best to collect, but let’s get back to talking about 2nd year basketball cards for the purpose of this post.
Back in the spring and summer of 2020, I began to buy a ton of 2nd year basketball cards. BUT! I only bought parallels of these players 2nd year, NO BASE CARD or “BASS” cards!
Only Silvers, Greens, Orange Ice, etc.
I say “BASS ” cards because that is a running joke over on the Blowout Cards forum. A member there posted BASS instead of BASE in the title of one of their threads. So it stuck!! LOL!!
The ONLY base 2nd year basketball cards I bought were the Luka Doncic 2019-20 Panini Prizm. I purchased a total of 19 of them in the Summer.
I paid $6 to $11. You can see the screenshots below.
I also purchased 4 Luka Doncic 2019-20 Donruss Optic Holo Silvers. I believe this card is way undervalued and could see a real nice spike in the next few years.
You can take a quick view of this card by clicking here.
Like most collectors, I got in late on the Luka Doncic rookie card explosion. So I am settling for his cheaper 2nd year parallels.
The main 2nd year basketball cards I was focusing on purchasing last Spring and Summer were Luka, Lauri Markkanen, John Collins, Marvin Bagley and Donovan Mitchell.
As mentioned earlier in this post, all the 2nd year cards I bought above were parallels, not BASE!
In the coming weeks I will shoot and download a video to my Youtube channel showing all of my 2nd year cards I have got.
So please come back and check this post.
What Am I Buying Now?
The 2nd year card that I am focusing on right now is the Jaren Jackson, Jr 2019-20 Panini Prizm Silver. I just started honing in on this card in the past few weeks.
As of this post, I have 4 Silvers, 1 Green and 1 Orange Ice
One of the Jaren Jackson, Jr 2nd year Prizm Silver that I bought is graded PSA GEM MINT 10.
You can see a video I shot of this beautiful GEM card below.
So, WHY am I buying these ? Well, I believe Jackson, Jr will be a solid NBA player and he is coming back to the Memphis Grizzlies very soon after being out with an injury.
I also believe that Jackson and his teammate Ja Morant will be a solid duo.
In closing I will just say that rookie cards are always the way to go. But if you are on a tight budget you can turn to the player’s 2nd year cards.
Just be sure you focus your buying on Parallels, not base. The parallel basketball cards will hold more value down the road.
If you got this far, thanks for reading. Leave a comment below and let us know what sports cards you have purchased recently.
Since the day it was released, I have been to my local Walmart and Target stores so much that the employees probably think I was hired.
I thought searching for this product would not be hard to find because I am in a larger area south of Seattle and we have 2 Walmarts and 2 Targets in our town alone. Not The Case!
I had searched and searched with no luck. I don’t know if there are other collectors that have an inside track on when these stores restock or not, but every time I would go look there were no Prizm at all.
But over New Year’s Eve weekend I finally hit the jackpot at the local Target. I entered the store not expecting anything as usual.
As my eyes scanned all the racing card blasters and other product I have no interest in…I SPOTTED THEM!!!
Hanging on the racks were 14 packs of 2017-18 Prizm Basketball retail cello packs!! I think I may have pulled an arm muscle from reaching up and grabbing these off the racks so fast.
The funny part about this is that I have not even opened the packs yet. I think I will just keep them sealed and hang onto them for a while. These same packs sell for between $15-$20 on eBay. It was nice getting them at the SRP of $10 a pack.
The reason I will not open these? I believe over time these could be a real sought after unopened product because this 2017 NBA Draft class appears to be loaded with talent.
The list of rookie players from this draft that are playing well is impressive.
Players like Dennis Smith, Jr, Kyle Kuzma, Donovan Mitchell, Lonzo Ball, Lauri Markkanen, Jordan Bell, Justin Jackson, Josh Hart, Jayson Tatum, John Collins, Jonathan Issac, Josh Jackson, Frank Ntilikina, Malik Monk, OG Anunoby, and DeAaron Fox (He is battling an injury right now).
And the #1 Draft pick, Markelle Fultz, hasn’t even played yet in 2017-18 because of an injury. So yeah, it is safe to say that this Draft class is loaded with potential.
Only time will tell where the 2017 NBA Draft class stacks up to other drafts, but right now it is on the right path for sure.
Have you had your fill and now have moved on to the next new product?
Not me! For some reason these cards have totally captured me and my wallet. I keep going to all the Walmarts and Targets in my area and grabbing blasters and retail hangers of this product. Please help me…I can’t stop!
1989-90 Fleer Basketball Boxes Have Skyrocketed In Price.
Oh yeah!! Good old 1989-90 Fleer basketball cards. Seems like only yesterday that I was a 20-year-old kid when this product hit the market back in 1989.
It was in that year of ’89 that the 1986-87 Fleer basketball card set took off in price. In late 1988 you could have gotten a Michael Jordan Fleer rookie card for about $5. If only I would have known then what I know now I would be a rich man.
With the sudden success of that 86 set, collectors, including myself, were really excited when the 89-90 product came out. I can still remember going to a baseball card shop in my hometown of Sacramento, California and buying tons of packs for 50 cents each.
The hot rookies we were trying to find in those packs back then were players like Kevin Johnson, Reggie Lewis, Hersey Hawkins and Mitch Richmond to name a few.
Of course, when we would pull a 1989-90 Fleer Michael Jordan 3rd year card out of the pack, we were really excited.
Over the years ,after this product came out, collectors started to realize that the 89-90 Fleer set would never live up to its 86-87 premiere issue because Fleer let the presses run and more product was produced. And of course, we know that the 86 set carries the Jordan rookie which obviously helps.
As the years continued to roll by, box prices of this product seemed to settle at around $45 to $50. Until recently!
eBay Prices For Unopened Boxes Have Taken Off
I hadn’t even looked at prices on eBay for years until recently when a collector posted a thread on the Blowoutcards forum. He mentioned that the prices of 1989-90 Fleer boxes have caught fire and have skyrocketed in price.
So I went over to eBay and checked it out for myself and I could not believe it! An opened box sold yesterday for $235!! See the screenshot below.
Unopened 1989-90 Fleer basketball boxes have skyrocketed in price.
Collectors Are Grading These 1989-90 Fleer Cards
What has driven this product up in my opinion is graded cards. Back in 1989 this Fleer set was noted for having some of the worse cut cards ever produced.
It seemed like every card you pulled out of a pack was off centered and cut wrong. This has driven collectors to look for the most centered cards that they can find and send them into PSA or BGS to get graded. Some of the high grades of 89-90 Fleer have brought in some hefty prices on eBay.
A graded PSA GEM MINT 10 1989-90 Fleer Michael Jordan just sold for $600. The stickers that were inserted into this set have sold for even more as a Michael Jordan PSA GEM MINT 10 just sold for $3,449.99 in late May 2016.
I have a ton of these cards and they have been sitting in boxes for years and years. I guess it is time for me start sorting through them again. Should be fun as it will return me to my youth back in 1989.
A Michael Jordan 1989-90 Fleer All-Star Sticker graded GEM MINT 10 sells for $3500 on eBay.
1991-92 Fleer Michael Jordan Cards Selling Well On eBay Too.
6/21/16-The 1991-92 Fleer Michael Jordan card has caught fire on eBay. This card is not selling for a ton of money by itself, but if it is sold in lots it is bringing in some surprisingly high prices.
I just sold some of these Jordan cards myself. I placed a 7-day auction a little over a week ago for a LOT of 12 1991-92 Fleer Michael Jordan cards.
I started the auction at $0.99. It stayed that way for a few days. I then started to get a few bids. It went up to $2.00 by the third day. Then the weekend hit and the bid was up to $18.89.
Okay, so I am figuring since there is only one day left of the auction, it might end at around the $30 range. As Monday approached and there were just minutes left of the auction, I was just itching to see what these cards would end up at in price.
Finally, at 10 AM the auction ended. I went to my eBay page and was astonished when I saw that the auction had a final sale price of $96!!
I was in shock. It seems like basketball card collectors are really zoning in on pretty much all of Michael Jordan’s early Fleer cards. Not just the coveted 86-87 rookie, but even his 6th year Fleer card like the 91-92 issue.
The 91-92 Fleer Jordan card really has a nice color appeal to it. The red and blue colors really stand out. The action shot of Michael is spectacular as well as it shows him gobbling up a rebound.
I pulled all 12 of these cards from packs back in the 1991-92 basketball season. They have been in card savers and sitting in a box for nearly 25 years.
In a way, it was kind of sad to see them go, but you know what? I still have 17 more of these Jordan cards. 🙂
Below is the actual photo that I took for the auction.
Michael Jordan 1990-91 Fleer 14 Card Lot
7-9-16-Here is another auction that I have up on eBay right now. It is a Michael Jordan 1990-91 Fleer 14 card lot.
As of right now, there are 6 bids and it is at $6.50. All of these Jordan cards are in great condition with sharp corners.
If you would like to see the auction, please click here.
Below is a screenshot of the auction. Click on image to enlarge.
Michael Jordan 1991-92 Fleer Pro-Vision 8 Card Lot
This other eBay auction that I have up now is an 8 card lot of Michael Jordan 1991-92 Fleer Pro-Vision cards.
These cards have become popular with collectors as they are buying them and sending them in to be graded.
I started this auction at $0.99 and it now has 3 bids and is currently at $2.85. The listing closes on Tuesday, July 12, 2016.
If you would like to have a look at this auction, please click here.
Screen shot below of this auction. Click on image to enlarge.
9 Card Lot Of 1991-92 Fleer Michael Jordan Cards
Finally, my last auction that will also end on Tuesday.
It is a 9 card lot of Michael Jordan 1991-92 Fleer cards. I started this listing at $0.99 as well.
It has one bid and stands at $0.99 with 2 days left.
Most Expensive Stephen Curry Rookie Cards From 2009-10.
I was surfing around eBay looking at what Stephen Curry 2009-10 rookie cards have sold for in the recent past. I wanted to see the highest prices that basketball card collectors paid for the Golden State Warriors’ superstar.
I clicked on the “Completed Listings” button and this first card caught my eye.
Topps Chrome is always a winner with collectors. However, this card is kind of dull in my opinion. The photo on the front features a baby faced Steph Curry.
Too bad that Chrome could not have captured an action shot of Curry instead of basically a mugshot. Still a very nice card though.
By the looks of what it sold for, collectors still love this card though. It sold for a solid $875.75.
Stephen Curry 2009-10 Playoff Contenders Rookie Ticket On Card Autograph RC.
I actually bought a hobby box of this product back in 2009. But my luck with busting packs has not been good. I did not get this sweet, awesome card in any of those packs.
But there was a lucky collector who did. And it may have been this eBay seller who recently sold this Stephen Curry 2009-10 Playoff Contenders ROOKIE TICKET On Card Autograph rookie card for $429.99.
I love the photo on this Curry rookie card as it shows the Warriors’ super player IN ACTION!
Show Off Your Stephen Curry Basketball Cards Below.
Do you have an awesome Stephen Curry rookie card or non-rookie card that you want to show off to other basketball collectors? If you do, you can submit it below.
Please let us know the brand and year in the description box. You can also add your website URL if you have one. Finally, you can download a couple of photos of your Treasured Steph Curry card.
