Did you collect NBA cards in the 90s? Australian kids became NBA card collectors in the 90s because the popularity of Jordan, Shaq, Barkley, and others took the NBA worldwide.
I remember filling folders with sets of cards from Upper Deck, Fleer, Skybox, Topps and others - I still have my collection of Larry 'Grandmama' Johnson cards but my Spreewell cards lost their shine since he choked everyone.
But to answer the question - Yes! NBA cards are still a thing but if you haven't collected since Jordan and Pippen were together you should get up to date before you get back in the game.
New Kid On The Block
All those names from the 90s still make sports cards but the big player in NBA today is Panini - yeah, the guys who make stickers! In January 2009, the NBA announced Panini was the exclusive trading card partner of the NBA. It was a big change to have a new company take over the license.
The Next Level
The next change was the introduction of different levels of trading cards. There are still sets for beginning collectors with names you might recognise like Hoops but now there are cards for collectors with all kinds of cash. You can step it up a notch with cards like Select ($19 per pack) or spend some serious money with 'Immaculate'.
You have a chance of pulling out cards with patches of game worn uniform and autographs from the top athletes on them; you can see why some cards sell for 4 figures or more!
There are new sets of cards every month because so many companies make cards and collectors snap them up - the release schedule is busy!
Break It Down
The last change to collecting has been the 'live break'. With so many new sets released card shops started doing case breaks for their customers - collectors buy a share of a 'case' of cards and whatever team's cards they're assigned are theirs to keep.
There are random breaks where you pay a flat fee to participate and the list of teams are randomised and there are team breaks where you buy all cards that come out of a case from the team you buy. Some teams are worth more than others - I'm looking at you Wizards.
It's exciting because you don't know what cards will get pulled and you get to watch LIVE while the breaker opens the packs live via the magic of YouTube or Facebook Live.
Cherry has live breaks that happen every week. Teamz starts from $4.99, Machos is $69.95 and there are always others to join in. You watch live with all the other collectors and give feedback in the chat room.
So now you're up to date you should get involved! If you collected in the 90s and were thinking of collecting again join a Cherry break because they're great fun and you never know what might get pulled!
