Topps: Brands of Basketball Cards New Collectors Should Purchase

The 1990s were considered to be the golden age for basketball cards under the Topps brand. Topps was and still is the best trading card brand for hobbyists to start their collection with. At the age of eleven, I decided to get into the card collecting hobby, but money was an issue for me since I was only a child. Lucky for me, Topps was the only trading card brand I could afford at the time due to my monthly allowances. The very first pack of cards I purchased cost me only $1.49 at a Thrifty store. I remember the first trading card I pulled from that pack was a Clarence Weatherspoon RC. RC basically stands for "rookie card" and rookie cards from the early 1990s do not have much value since there weren't many NBA superstars drafted around that time.

One of the rarest Michael Jordan cards of all time would be the 1995-96 Topps Finest orange bordered refractor. This card was released in limited quantities around the world and can fetch for a pretty penny depending on which website you visit. This card has been spotted at www.eBay.com for over two thousand dollars in mint condition. They are typically stored in a 3x5 plastic case to help prevent it from getting damaged. If anyone owns this card, it is best to keep it for a while longer since it will likely increase in value within a few years. Bordered refractors from the 1995-96 Topps Finest set are quite rare since most refractors have no colored border. I own a Grant Hill card from that set and it does not have a border. The card is worth a little over twelve dollars, but a borderless refractor version of this card may be worth over sixty dollars.

Another brand of trading cards collectors can easily invest on would be from Fleer. Fleer is best known for producing the extremely rare Michael Jordan rookie card from the 1980s. According to www.jordancards.com, the Jordan rookie card is actually one of the most sought after basketball cards in the world. Finding one in pristine condition is almost impossible since the card is made out of cheap cardboard. After the 1980s, rookie cards started to become insert cards with special features or designs. Insert cards are not basic cards and are typically worth much more money. Inserts became increasingly popular during the late 1990s when players like Kobe Bryant became an NBA player. If you are a young collector, try purchasing trading cards from the mid 1990s instead of the early 1990s.