This probably belongs in the main Rockets forum, but what the heck... Just thought I'd share with you guys an upcoming Yao Ming Topps card that's scheduled to ship in February (as part of 2003 Topps Chrome Basketball). This particular parallel base card is unique because the entire card is in Chinese. Looks pretty sweet. I'm gonna see if I can get my hands on one. I hear they're going to be pretty rare.
If you right click on the graphic and choose properties you can paste that url into your address bar and the pic will show up.
Imagestation has given me nothing but problems. Can you see it now? Can you see it now? Geez, I feel like that tool in the Verizon commercials...
Yeah I can see it now. Time to go Yao Ming rookie card shopping I guess. I want a Yao Ming autographed card.
Vescey I have a question for you: I used to be an avid card collector when I was younger and I have just recently been looking over some card in my closet (including some REAL nice kobe, iverson, kg, mcgrady rookies etc) and a thought came to my mind. I used to either buy Becket magazine or Tuff Stuff. Tuff Stuff more generally because it listed multiple sports. But why are the prices sometimes different in each magazine. The rule of thumb, as I was told by most card dealers, is that Tuff Stuff prices are higher.......... so why are they different sometimes?
I'm in the same boat DrewP... I've been looking at my old cards from the late 80s and early 90s. I wanted to buy a Beckett magazine, like when I was a young teen, to check if any of them are worth anything. But I thought they stopped making Becketts. I guess not. Now I'm gonna have to look into this.
I think you can check the prices online at www.beckett.com I did it not too long ago. I try to stay away from sports cards and Ebay. I went on a binge a couple of years back and spent a few hundred dollars on cards, couldn't stop. I have a ton of cards, hope to give them to my son someday.
You don't need a price guide anymore. Whatever the card is selling for on EBay is what that card is worth. Price guides are obsolete nowadays.
I've loaded up on high end Francis and Griffin cards. That way I can trade some for a cool Yao card when the correct card comes out.
This is essentially true. When we (employees of the company) talk about card prices, usually the first words out of our mouths are, "Well, this card sold for X on Ebay, and this set sold for Y..." Ebay is the perfect market setting for seeing the average price of a card or set. The price of a card should be whatever the market will bear. You can get a general idea of the price of a card in Beckett or Tuff Stuff, but you can't get hung up on those prices. The trading card market is always in flux (much as sports is), so you can't rely on a magazine that comes out monthly to tell you what the price is today. That's why ThePit.com was started, to track the price of cards (usually graded cards, that is). (ThePit.com was bought out by Topps last year.) eTopps.com does this, too (okay, with just eTopps cards). Regarding selling cards, I would much rather use Ebay then go to a dealer. You can sell the card for its original value or higher on Ebay, while a dealer will only give you 50% or so of the card's worth based on Beckett/Tuff Stuff prices. DrewP - I'm not sure why Tuff Stuff is higher. Perhaps it has to do with competing with Beckett. Maybe they figure that higher prices = more dealers and collectors using their magazine rather than Beckett. I usually use Beckett myself (when Ebay is unavailable). Also, if you're looking for a particular card (like finding out what Frank Gifford's rookie card is), check out Beckett's searchable checklist feature (for paying customers only, though). It's been an absolute godsend for me when doing reprints and finding rookie cards of old players...
Please don't get me started on reviving another collection for another sport. I'm 6 cards away from completing my <i>last</i> baseball set - a 1998 spx. If I start up my basketball card collecting, my wife will kill me...but that card does look sweet! Are they in US 2003 Topps Chrome packs? I've looked at some auto cards from Ming, but at the time he was developing and I was too busy throwing $ at that stupid spx set (I've come to loath finishing that one). Right now I'm sure those same cards are more than I want to pay now.
Hey Vescey, I have a question that this thread would seem as good as any to ask in. When do NFL rookie cards begin to circulate? Are there any pre-draft? Or are they all in the June/July time period, after the draft? I haven't collected cards in a few years, but there's a certain player that I will be making a collection of next year.
