BCP #15 Collectors Spotlight starting next week - Playoffs Week #2 - INJURIES

In Episode #15 of The Basketball Card Podcast, I discuss the new weekly segment - "Collectors Spotlight", please send in your bio, projects you're working on, etc. I would love to spotlight you on a future episode.

Please send more mailbag questions! Mailbag episode coming in the next couple weeks.

I look at what interesting things are happening in the playoffs from a hobby perspective, and cry over the injuries we've seen the last week.

BCP #14 Kobe nets 60, Warriors hit 73, and the Playoffs are here!

In this episode the27guy discusses the impact to the hobby of Kobe's 60 point outburst, the 73 win record of the Warriors, and each of the playoff series.

My Panini Eminence Box - Update Number 1

See my first Eminence "build-a-box" post here. As you look at this update, and compare it to the first, you will notice an important omission. The Kobe Bryant Championship Tag Inscribed Auto #1/2. After a long and difficult decision, I elected to move the Kobe. Your question is surely - why?

I did not acquire the card to move it quickly. That simply was not my intent. My intent was for it to be one of the cornerstones of the case, but two things happened. 

First, a long time friend of mine contacted me as soon as I acquired it. He wanted it. And frankly, given his affinity for all things Kobe Bryant, he needed it more than I did. 

Second, the package that he put together in exchange allowed me to pick up some other important cards for my collection. Including several of the new cards you will find below. 

I am not going to lie though - I still miss that card. It's space is still empty as you'll see below.

The next thing you will notice is that I removed the base cards from my build a box. Where I once had 4 base cards, I now have four other important cards. I made a decision to keep the base on it's own and to use the 9 available spots for the 9 cards that I felt would fit the case most appropriately. Simply stated, I wanted to fill it with cards that are important to the product, and represent the history- both recent and from yesteryear- of the league. You'll notice that the Bird, Harden and Penny are all still where they were before, but you'll also notice, the inclusion of a few important acquisitions. 

Note the empty horizontal spot that has been vacant since trading away the Kobe. I realize that it's irreplaceable. but a time will come where I will find a card that can substitute satisfactorily. 

The precious metal cards are an important part of Eminence. I resisted at first, but after I acquired my first, I couldn't deny the appeal. These cards are extraordinarily unique.

I had to have Durant represented in the case. He's always been one of my favorites.

After moving the Kobe Championship tag card, I had to fill one of the remaining spots with another really nice Kobe. The case would be incomplete without him. The precious metal cards with the most appeal are the logomen. This one features a bold, strong auto in the Eminence Gold. Only a couple of these have surfaced. 

With the Durant and Kobe Silver Logomen serving as bookends, I needed to find a Gold Logoman of one of the leagues greats without paying the $5k+ that some of them have sold for. Bill Russell was the perfect find. As one of the most iconic and winning players of all time, he represents the history of the game, the celtics, and fills the gold spot in the case. A true one of one. 

As mentioned, half of the second level remains unchanged, with The Legend and Penny occupying their spots nicely. 

The second all time leading scorer, the Mailman, is my childhood idol. Not only that, he's the #2 All time leading scorer in NBA history. I had hoped to find a very nice USA patch of his. This is the nicest patch of his that has surfaced to date. With prevalent jersey wear, and three colors, I was thrilled to acquire this card. The Mailman Delivers.

The last two seasons have been historic. That is largely because of the man simply known as Steph. The case simply wouldn't be complete without him. While most of the stars in Eminence have several variations of Patch Autos, Steph only has the 1/1 tags, the /2 championship tags, and this one. That's right, there are only 16 total (/10. /5, /1) Steph Curry Patch Auto's out of Eminence. This is one of them. 

Although you've seen it before, the cornerstone of the case remains. A true piece of history. The Larry Bird Eminence USA Olympic 1/1 Patch. The only one of it's kind. The Legend - 

Eminence Project Number 1 - The Base set

Before Eminence released, the prevailing assumption was that Panini was capitalizing once more upon the popular 2014 draft class. After all, the class had been touted for years to be filled with once in a generation talent.

When the checklist finally went public high end basketball collectors were shocked to find within the entire product, only three rookies could be found--Andrew Wiggins, Jabari Parker, and Nikola Mirotic. Mitotic is not a part of the base set, leaving only two rookies. 

The base set is limited to ten - and has parallel's numbered to 5 and to 1. It includes a blend of current stars, hall of famers, and popular stars of yesteryear. Most boxes include one base card, but some include 2 and some boxes do not include a base card. With 50 cards in the set, there are a total of 500 base cards in existence and 300 additional parallels. 

When the set hit, I targeted Wiggins and Curry early, believing that they would be the two most difficult to find as the months past by. To date, not a single Andrew Wiggins has not sold at open auction, and no Curry's have since the first few weeks after release. 

If you have any base that you can see that I do not have, please let me know if you are interested in trading or selling. 

TBCP #13 Life as a Utah Jazz Fan

What did I do to deserve being raised as a Jazz fan? A crushing week of basketball. No playoffs for the young Jazz team. Sigh. But before that... a preview to two big posts that I'll be doing soon. Was planning to do them tonight, but my wife came home early. Hint - Eminence!

TBCP #12 Villanova! & Undervalued vs Overvalued

Now recording on Tuesday Nights!

In episode number 12, I discuss the NCAA tournament. The greatest game ever? And how do you determine when a good time is to buy? UNDERVALUED vs OVERVALUED!

Moving to Tuesday nights!

Yo. The basketball Card Podcast will now drop Tuesday nights! Cool? Cool.