Who do you think are the top ten hobby stars of all-time?

[regularp]

Been meaning to pose this question for a while and I didn't find anything similar when I did a search. A couple years ago, Beckett made a list of their top 25 (before Curry exploded). I think it was a little off, even at the time, but what would everyone else's list look like?

Beckett's:

1.) MJ
2.) LeBron
3.) Shaq
4.) Kobe
5.) Duncan
6.) Magic
7.) David Robinson
8.) Vince
9.) Garnett
10.) Bird
11.) Pippen
12.) Dirk
13.) Iverson
14.) Durant
15.) Barkley
16.) Nash
17.) Carmelo
18.) Rodman
19.) Ewing
20.) Malone
21.) Grant Hill
22.) Blake
23.) Wade
24.) Yao
25.) Chris Paul

I don't have as much perspective as a lot of you guys, but this would be my list:

1.) Jordan
2.) Kobe (have him over LeBron because of Asia)
3.) LeBron
4.) Shaq
5.) Duncan
6.) Durant
7.) Garnett
8.) Bird
9.) Magic
10.) Iverson

Kinda throwing darts with the back end of my list.

[imbluestreak23]

Carmelo and Chris Paul have no business on the list. I'd argue Blake and Wade as well, but really at the tail end it's kind of semantics.

One obvious replacement for those above is Penny.

[Nyfancam01]

id have iverson above plenty of those players ahead of him on the list... he's got plenty of collectors.

[duron]

Penny should def be on there, somewhere.

[MyckKabongo]

You cannot say all time and not have George Mikan high on the list. Also, Wilt should be on there as well.

[Czeslaw1513]

Except Jordan, LeBRon, Kobe I think we should rather look on the superstar series, cards rather than player.
Check out Jason Williams, Chuck, Reggie Miller - almost 0 cards from Panini (excluding J-Will) and look how expensive these are.

Same goes to Wilt/ Pistol Pete Memorabilia/autos. In the past I would add paralells but come on, right now They're in every series released by Panini.

Mikan? Considering his couple signed certified autos, rare memos and obviously rookie card, inserts and base are are available to anyone.

Superstar is always a prizm/chrome good rookie with a nice grade!

[DajuanWagner]

Yuta Tabuse.......

[sportzluvr1]

Jeremy Lin

[8collector34]

Top 10 in no particular order.

Jordan, Kobe, LeBron, Wilt, Russell, Magic, Bird, Shaq, Iverson, Duncan. Although I think Penny is gaining in popularity, and he did have a huge impact before the injury. I did not include Curry, Westbrook or any of the young guns, as they can still be another Grant Hill or Vince Carter. I am also ashamed to leave out KG.

[8collector34]

Except Jordan, LeBRon, Kobe I think we should rather look on the superstar series, cards rather than player.
Check out Jason Williams, Chuck, Reggie Miller - almost 0 cards from Panini (excluding J-Will) and look how expensive these are.

Same goes to Wilt/ Pistol Pete Memorabilia/autos. In the past I would add paralells but come on, right now They're in every series released by Panini.

Mikan? Considering his couple signed certified autos, rare memos and obviously rookie card, inserts and base are are available to anyone.

Superstar is always a prizm/chrome good rookie with a nice grade!

I absolutely agree. Just because you have 25 Curry rookies, and only one Wilt RC and an Auto, does not mean you prefer Curry over Wilt. It is very understandable that you want to collect Panini cards of Curry over Wilt, even if you like Wilt more. And you might like your Wilt auto more than any of your 25 Curry cards.

[hairyangryfella]

Beckett's list was a joke!

Top 10 probably should be something like:
Jordan
Iverson
Shaq
Kobe
Penny
Carter
Lebron
Pippen
Magic
Garnett

Then maybe the Curry, Durant, Hill, Robinson, Wade, Ewing, Wilt, Bird group, though Curry could arguably be above Pippen now.

[MyckKabongo]

I just really disagree with leaving Mikan, Wilt, Russell, Pistol Pete, etc. off a list of hobby stars. It would be like leaving Honus Wagner or Babe Ruth off a list in baseball.

These players are on some of the very most sought after cards in our hobby. Seems an odd standard to me to say that a player's Panini stuff must be collected to be a hobby star. We consider Penny, Barkley, Jordan et all hobby stars because of the demand for their 90s cards. Shouldn't we consider vintage era players hobby stars based on the demand for their cards from their playing days?

[regularp]

So nobody else is gonna drop an ordered top ten list, huh?

[hairyangryfella]

So nobody else is gonna drop an ordered top ten list, huh?
Mine was...

[401cards]

Chris Webber has to be up there. I've seen some insanely-high auction prices for his super high end stuff.

[regularp]

Mine was...

That can't be in order with Iverson second and LeBron seventh.

[hairyangryfella]

That can't be in order with Iverson second and LeBron seventh.
Lebron is popular, but doesn't have super collectors as far as I'm aware. Whereas Iverson has many hardcore collectors. My rankings are based on people specifically collecting those players.

[TWard]

1. MJ

2. Kobe

3. LeBron

4. Shaq

5. Iverson

6. Duncan

7. Vince

8. Magic

9. Garnett

10. Penny


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[k13]

Silly comparisons as most have players on the list that stopped signing or don't sign much. It don't really mean anything.

I've never had one person in my life ask for a Kevin garnett card at a show and never will.

The fair way to compare would be all players from the same set ...something like flawless diamond base.

[The Admiral]

T Mac cards seem to always sell well, he would feature somewhere on a top 25 list

[heyzusem]

MJ
Kobe

everyone else....

[Jin]

There's a difference between being collectible and being scarce

[CurryMeHome]

1. Jordan
2. Kobe
3. Lebron
4. Shaq
5. Iverson
6. Penny
7. Duncan
8. Olajuwon
9. Wilt
10. Curry

[CubKings]

Lebron is popular, but doesn't have super collectors as far as I'm aware. Whereas Iverson has many hardcore collectors. My rankings are based on people specifically collecting those players.

Yeah, that's how I'd rank lists too. People saying Mikan, Wilt, Russell etc, sure, they're all time greats, but I don't think ive ever seen a hardcore collector of any of those guys.

[drobfan8]

1. Jordan
2. Kobe
3. Lebron
4. Shaq
5. Iverson
6. Penny
7. Duncan
8. Olajuwon
9. Wilt
10. Curry

This a pretty solid list.

I would swap out Olajuwon for D. Robinson. He definitely gets more Hobby love even though I think Hakeem was the better player.

I would probably swap Bill Russell in for Wilt.

[8collector34]

Many interesting opinions, but I dont want to put more thought into this, cause I dont know if there would be anyone interested in them. But there is a sticky thread on top. Although the list has not been refreshed in quite a while. I will sum it up as best as I can.

Player to collect (# of collector IDs)
1. Michael Jordan (20)
2. Kobe Bryant (18)
3. Allen Iverson (13)
3. Rajon Rondo (!) (13)
5. Kevin Durant (11)
5. Stephen Curry (11)
7. Shaquille O’Neal (10)
8. Derrick Rose (9)
8. Lebron James (!) (9)
10. Tim Duncan (8)

So...
- hairyangryfella touched something there, and I dont mean like Michael Jackson. LeBron only coming in 8th.
- Kevin Durant was missed by everyone. I wonder how many still collect.
- Rondo in 3rd place cannot be right. I doubt half of those guys still collect him.
- No all-time greats.

These are just stats, and stats can be interpreted many ways, but they are there.

[csrockerzero]

Wow, no mention of several guys who took the hobby by storm in short spurts. For example.......



Steve Francis
Tracy McGrady
Peja Stojakovic
Paul Pierce
Jerry Stackhouse


Even Bonzi Wells and Larry Hughes were in the limelight for a little while.


Also gonna throw out there Wang Zhi-Zhi....... :)!

[vto47]

Did my eyes just deceive me? I didn't see Penny on the list?! Also....Nash and Malone have more following than Paul Pierce?! Hmmmm......

OK, I'm just biased cause Pierce is my boi....but Nash?!

[xavieronly1]

Nike wouldn't make Air Penny/Foamposite every other month if there are no followers. He should be in top 10 in shoes as well as in cards.

Also, Magic, Shaq and Kobe will always gain more fans because of the Lakers uniform.

[8collector34]

Nike wouldn't make Air Penny/Foamposite every other month if there are no followers. He should be in top 10 in shoes as well as in cards.

Also, Magic, Shaq and Kobe will always gain more fans because of the Lakers uniform.

How does Nike increace the price of basketball cards? If the Jordan RC isn't doing well, the #buyersgroup goes out and buys new Jumpmans.

[drobfan8]

Nike wouldn't make Air Penny/Foamposite every other month if there are no followers. He should be in top 10 in shoes as well as in cards.

Also, Magic, Shaq and Kobe will always gain more fans because of the Lakers uniform.

Plus, Magic, Shaq and Kobe were kinda decent players, like really amazing players.

[regularp]

Too soon to add Simmons to the list? Yeesh @ the current prices for his stuff.

[indyguy]

No Yinka Dare or Sergei Bazarevich? Abra would be rolling in his grave, if he was in a grave.

[bmf]

i have kobe at #2 because of the asia factor like OP said. i could see putting lebron at #2 because of the demand for his top exquisite cards but to have shaq ahead of kobe is just bonkers nuts. and i'm a huge diesel fan. has to be jordan, kobe, lebron, top three.

[Drdduet]

From my perspective its Jodan, Lebron, Kobe, then a dozen or so other guys in no rigid order no where close to the top 3.

[marinocollector]

Im putting hobby stars as people who have effected the hobby the most...

MJ
Shaq
Lebron
Kobe
Curry
Vince Carter
Grant Hill
Magic/Bird
Garnett
Derrick Rose

[Jasondr91]

Yeah, that's how I'd rank lists too. People saying Mikan, Wilt, Russell etc, sure, they're all time greats, but I don't think ive ever seen a hardcore collector of any of those guys.

There was a guy on HK years ago that was a Russell collector, big time and typically went after 6/xx stuff of him. I believe he had the rare stuff too like the Exquisite Titlists and such....I can't recall his name and hadn't seen him around in a long time.

As for LBJ not having super collectors, there's a post recently where it showed an old youtube video with an INSANE Lebron 23/xx collection....I can only imagine the value of that today. Bigtime LBJ collectors are out there....who else would buy/can afford his high end rookies next to a traditional deep pocketed flipper?

[rats60]

1. Jordan
2. LeBron
3. Kobe
4. Bill Russell
5. Wilt
6. Bird
7. Magic
8. Duncan
9. Shaq
10. Iverson

[gomiamigo]

Wilt
Dr J
Iverson
Simmons
Embiid

Moses
Tom Gola
Hal Greer
Barkley
Billy Cunningham

[mj2kb]

Jordan
Lebron
Kobe






The rest :)

[BigZigBoom]

How the heck are you going to leave Manute Bol off this list? Guy was playing when he was 50...

[Stat Monsters]

"Hobby Stars" may not equal best players nor short term hyped rookie crazes.

I think in part it's ambassadors of the game and those the card companies put on the boxes and wrappers who are clearly fan favorites, but those with more longevity who are still popular today whether retired or not. So, Penny Hardaway is a flash-in-the-pan is was Shawn Kemp, Jeremy "Linsanity" Lin and Larry "Grandma-ma" Johnson.

I'd say for sure you're going to have some Hall of Famer's in there like Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Michael Jordan, as well as votes for currently playing stars like LeBron James and Steph Curry ('tho he's not had enough years under his belt for me to be confident he'll be on that list 10 years from now).

I think it's players who still command hobby interest and retain if not continue to increase in value.

[Jpayne7787]

Well judging by prices..

1 MJ
2 Lebron
3 Kobe
4 Giannis
5 Simmons
6 Kawhi
7 Kyrie
8 Zinger
9 KAT
10 Iverson/Curry

[DajuanWagner]

Well judging by prices..

1 MJ
2 Lebron
3 Kobe
4 Giannis
5 Simmons
6 Kawhi
7 Kyrie
8 Zinger
9 KAT
10 Iverson/Curry



I would think judging by prices, Simmons would be #1.