Here are just a few of the basketball cards I picked up today.  I've been on a  vintage basketball kick lately.  I decided to head to a local card shop that is a bit further than the other shops in my area.  New Concept Sports Cards and Hobby is located in Medford,  NJ, and Marc is the owner I've seen on every trip to the shop.  Super nice guy, always helpful and he's very knowledgeable about the business.  I recommend that you check them out if you're ever in the area!


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Topps Series 1 is typically the unofficial annual start to a new season of products that collectors can get excited about. Topps Series 1, sometimes referred to as the "flagship" brand, gives collectors their first glimpse of players before the start of the new baseball season and has a long, storied tradition in the collecting world.

Reviews have been mixed - some of the topics causing debate are the design, the limited stats on the back, the use of social media handles on the back and number of SPs/inserts in the set.  Use the comment section and let us know what your thoughts are on Topps Series 1.

Personally, I don't see myself buying any boxes/packs this year.  I'll likely pick up some of the RCs at some point, but I'm trying to limit my bulk buying this year and focus more on key card purchases for my personal collection.   

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Greetings!  Sorry it has been awhile since my last post, and I'll try to close the gap between this one and the next.  The 2017 NSCC Show is upon us, and I WILL be attending this year.  My current plan is to attend Friday through Sunday, but there is a slight chance I may be able to come out on Thursday too.  Stay tuned....

As for what I'll be searching for this year for a number of things, here are a few that I'll share:

1) 1939 Play Ball Ted Williams RC: Same top item as last year.  Last year there were maybe 3-5 at the show, and all were very off-center.  I'm hoping to find one in PSA 2-4 condition, well-centered without creases.  Rough corners are fine with me!

2) 2017 Topps Heritage Blue Borders: I have most of the players I want, but will happily pick these up at the right price.  I'm really hoping to find some in the $.25-$.50 boxes, cross your fingers for me.

3) Cool PSA-graded Red Sox cards: Self explanatory.

If you're headed to the show this year, what are the top items you'll be looking for?  If you're not going, what are the top items you're looking to add to your collection?

One of my favorite players during the 2004 was Mike Timlin, who fit into the fabric of the team perfectly.  He was gritty, tough and probably one of the best 7/8th inning guy when it came to clutch situations. I was lucky enough to meet him at a signing when I lived in MA and he couldn't have been a nicer guy.  I'm glad that he's a TTM signer as it helped me add a few more of his autographs to my personal collection.  It was a quick return too, only about 2-3 weeks to get it back.  Hopefully a few more of my recent TTM requests will come back soon, and I'd like to keep my TTM habit going again as you can see from my TTM Successes page I've had some good luck with getting some cool autographs.

Greetings!  It's been awhile since I've posted, things have been busy, but I wanted to share some recent purchases for my personal collection.  Enjoy and, as always, my PSA graded PC items are displayed in the My Collection section of the site.  Until next time.

It's that time of year!  Spring training is right around the corner, and 2017 Topps Series 1 will be releasing on February 1st.  The flagship release of Topps is one of the most anticipated products every year, as it has strong history behind it and it signifies the start of the baseball card collecting season.

This year's base design breaks from the standard borders we've seen over the past few years and, dare I say, looks a bit innovative compared to what we've seen from base Topps in the past.  If you look at the Kris Bryant card below, you'll see that they've moved away from a traditional border that has been a trademark in many of their releases.  The design allows more of the picture to be visible and limits the excess coverage, outside of the name, team and logo.

​The initial checklist provided by Topps highlights the strength of the rookie class that will be included in Series 1.  Andrew Benintendi, Dansby Swanson, Alex Reyes, Yoan Moncada (in his Red Sox uniform, but now with the White Sox), Alex Bregman and David Dahl are just a few of the rookie cards that will be included in the first series.  Typically the Topps Update series contains some of the top rookie cards each year, but it is nice to see that the first release of the baseball card collecting season will be filled with some promising young talent.

Personally, one of my least favorite aspects of Topps flagship product is the overwhelming number of inserts (11 sets) and parallels (10 versions this year, not including printing plates).  Again, just my personal collecting preferences, but I feel that the large number of insert sets and parallels in this product typically deter me from purchasing it in greater quantity.  Those are precious spots in a pack that could be replaced by base cards that I need to complete a set.  The First Pitch inserts are back, and seem to be the one insert set that collectors seem to enjoy (I enjoy them too, at the right price).

Although typically not the driving force of sales for the product, but the release will also contain relics and autographs, although this is likely not the release for you if you are primarily looking for relics and autographs.  Topps has plenty of other releases that have more of that content, and personally, the sticker autographs in this product are a huge turn-off.

Well, those are my initial thoughts on the release.  I'm sure I'll be buying some at some point, either a box or blaster or singles (especially Benintendi RCs!).  Again, I think that this release of flagship typically gets purchased by the most collectors, as it's the first release of the year and we're probably all hungry to rip something from 2017 at this point.

What card(s) are you most excited about from the 2017 Topps Series 1 release?  Let me know in the comment section below - and perhaps there is a collector out there who will pull the card and trade it to you!

I have always been a fan of the Panini Prizm product for basketball, and I enjoy collecting the base rookie cards from each year. This year's rookie class has been pretty weak, with the only exception being Ben Simmons. Despite being injured and not playing an NBA game yet, he is still the hottest rookie card to collect from this years draft. He was a clear #1 pick heading into the draft, and with the amazing play of Joel Embiid, fans are anxiously awaiting to see how the two will play together.

I had bought a jumbo box of Prizm when it was first released, and I was fortunate to pull a base Ben Simmons RC, especially since the rest of the box was awful. While strolling through Target the other day, I decided to pick up a blaster of Prizm and see if I could get another of his base RCs for my collection. When I opened the last pack, I was stunned to see that I had pulled the best possible retail-only insert in this year's set - a Retail-Only Orange Wave Ben Simmons RC numbered out of 25 (link)!

I've decided to try and sell the card, as I already has his base RC and could use the funds to buy other PC items I've been wanting to add to my collection.

I'm interested to hear what your BEST retail pull has been. Share your stories in the comment section below.

Picked up a few Rookie Card PC items recently.  I ended up pulling the trigger on a 1989 Upper Deck Ken Griffey Jr. RC PSA 10.  Found a great sale at 4SharpCorners.com, one of the best sites to shop if you're a PSA collector.  Couldn't pass up the price, much lower than all recent eBay sales.

I also picked up a 2009 Topps Heritage David Price RC PSA 10.  I've been wanting to add one to my collection for Red Sox RCs, plus I like the Heritage cards so this was a great one to pick up.  Still keeping my eye open for other David Price RCs.

Finally, I picked up a 2009 Upper Deck James Harden RC.  James Harden is having a phenomenal season and I wanted to pick this one up before/in case it explodes like Steph Curry did.  The guy is playing amazing basketball now that Dwight Howard is out of the way, hopefully he'll get some nice pieces (or get traded to the Celtics) and pick up a championship soon.

Hope you enjoy seeing the new items.  Until next time.