The Official Kobe Bryant Thread

[goodole13]

I loved all the stories.

[Poncho74]

I missed the Ceremony. What was Lebron's speech like, and his emotions during the ceremony? I imagine it must have been a powerful speech that would lift the spirits of Lakers fans at this moment in time, while also knowing that the NBA will be rigging the Championship as a feelgood story hoping to get ratings and revenues back up.

[westcm31]

Originally Posted by Poncho74

I missed the Ceremony. What was Lebron's speech like, and his emotions during the ceremony? I imagine it must have been a powerful speech that would lift the spirits of Lakers fans at this moment in time, shile also knowing that the NBA will be rigging the Championship as a feelgood story hoping to get ratings and revenues back up.

Lebron was nowhere to be found. It was appropriate to have MJ and Shaq speak though. God bless his wife for getting on that stage. Bless UP. RIP Gigi and Kobe #MambaOut

[regularp]

Originally Posted by Poncho74

I missed the Ceremony. What was Lebron's speech like, and his emotions during the ceremony? I imagine it must have been a powerful speech that would lift the spirits of Lakers fans at this moment in time, while also knowing that the NBA will be rigging the Championship as a feelgood story hoping to get ratings and revenues back up.

Get a life.

[Cervantes]

Vanessa was absolutely amazing. I especially loved the stories about Gigi; they were gut-wrenching, beautiful, heartbreaking, and inspiring. I couldn't have shown the poise and strength that she did. What an absolutely beautiful eulogy.





*I remember a few years ago, being such a huge Kobe fan, I wanted to buy a Kobe auto. Just a nice card for my pc, to keep forever. I never did, but will now. I've been hoarding Kobe rookies, base, inserts, etc. forever. I'll most likely sell off a few, just to get a 'nice' piece. I love all of the pictures you all have shared; Kobe's picture, signatures, and his 'aura', I guess, is something to be proud to own.



Quick question: I'm sure there's more than one (dozen), but who is 'the' Kobe collector, and do they have their collection available to see? Thanks.

[bjho852]

Originally Posted by Cervantes

Quick question: I'm sure there's more than one (dozen), but who is 'the' Kobe collector, and do they have their collection available to see? Thanks.

Quite a few. spinotron, croatiantwins, as well as the good ol' (but banned) tristan20 come to mind. There are definitely more though.

[Cervantes]

Originally Posted by bjho852

Quite a few. spinotron, croatiantwins, as well as the good ol' (but banned) tristan20 come to mind. There are definitely more though.

Oh, wow. I remember Croatian twins. I believe I saw some videos.

Spinotron definitely rings a bell.

What ever happened to Tristan? Not trying to derail, but is he still collecting?

[bjho852]

Originally Posted by Cervantes

Oh, wow. I remember Croatian twins. I believe I saw some videos.

Spinotron definitely rings a bell.

What ever happened to Tristan? Not trying to derail, but is he still collecting?

Tristan is still collecting. Pops up from time to time on IG.

[goodole13]

Originally Posted by Cervantes

Oh, wow. I remember Croatian twins. I believe I saw some videos.

Spinotron definitely rings a bell.

What ever happened to Tristan? Not trying to derail, but is he still collecting?

I found spinotron's website the other day when I was browsing Kobe cards. It's pretty cool to look it.
https://www.spinotron.com/mamba.html

[Cervantes]

Originally Posted by bjho852

Tristan is still collecting. Pops up from time to time on IG.

Originally Posted by goodole13

I found spinotron's website the other day when I was browsing Kobe cards. It's pretty cool to look it.
https://www.spinotron.com/mamba.html

Awesome. Thanks, guys!



Oh, yeah - smh smh smh smh smh smh

[KhalDrogo]

Mike's speech was perfect. I cried the whole time.

[istheskyblew]

Lebron and Melo were two faces I was surprised not to see in the crowd today.

[bjho852]

Question(s) for you all. How many of you had thought of submitting an item to Panini for a paid Kobe send-in signing, but didn't do it, and now regret because of his untimely passing? If so, aside from financial restraints, what is/are the reason(s) that you didn't pull the trigger?

[regularp]

Originally Posted by Cervantes

Vanessa was absolutely amazing. I especially loved the stories about Gigi; they were gut-wrenching, beautiful, heartbreaking, and inspiring. I couldn't have shown the poise and strength that she did. What an absolutely beautiful eulogy.





*I remember a few years ago, being such a huge Kobe fan, I wanted to buy a Kobe auto. Just a nice card for my pc, to keep forever. I never did, but will now. I've been hoarding Kobe rookies, base, inserts, etc. forever. I'll most likely sell off a few, just to get a 'nice' piece. I love all of the pictures you all have shared; Kobe's picture, signatures, and his 'aura', I guess, is something to be proud to own.



Quick question: I'm sure there's more than one (dozen), but who is 'the' Kobe collector, and do they have their collection available to see? Thanks.

natsturner has a fantastic Kobe collection.

[ichirorox]

Originally Posted by regularp

natsturner has a fantastic Kobe collection.

spinotron has one of the best on the planet also

[RandyC]

Originally Posted by istheskyblew

Lebron and Melo were two faces I was surprised not to see in the crowd today.

Lebron was there.

[8collector34]

Please let me know if you are not able to see the pics. They are linked from Facebook.

"If you want to create yourself, then you do not begin with the best and the highest, but with the worst and the deepest" - C. G. Jung

To me. Kobe and Shaq are inseparable. I truly believe that the only way to bring out the best of someone is also to bring out the worst in them. That is what their relationship was about, and that is what resulted in a 3-peat, and 3 other championships individually in an era where everybody was hungry to fill the void MJ left and be the next multi-million dollar face of the NBA.

[aramwot]

Originally Posted by 8collector34

Please let me know if you are not able to see the pics. They are linked from Facebook.

"If you want to create yourself, then you do not begin with the best and the highest, but with the worst and the deepest" - C. G. Jung

To me. Kobe and Shaq are inseparable. I truly believe that the only way to bring out the best of someone is also to bring out the worst in them. That is what their relationship was about, and that is what resulted in a 3-peat, and 3 other championships individually in an era where everybody was hungry to fill the void MJ left and be the next multi-million dollar face of the NBA.

Bro that is on point.



Sent from my SM-G973F using Tapatalk

[bjho852]

Acquired this a few years ago. Appreciate it more and more.
The Prizm parallel, unfortunately, is likely out of my price range now.

[8collector34]

Originally Posted by aramwot

Bro that is on point.



Sent from my SM-G973F using Tapatalk

Thanks!

Let's move this thread from 8 pages to at least 24. Shall we?

I was lucky enough to go to school in the United States and even more lucky to have lived in Florida, so I visited some Heat games while Shaq was playing there, but also Magic games too. My Mom, my brother, and I were standing in the lines for tickets at the arena to a Magic vs. Lakers game way passed the jump ball when we were told that the game is sold out. Disappointed, we eventually decided to leave when we were approached by a ticket scout who just happened to still have 3 of his last tickets. He was willing to sell them for half price too, since there was no way we would make it inside before half-time. Lucky for us this monstrous dunk happened in the second half, so we were able to witness it from our seats. It happened so fast, that I would be lying, if I said I remember like it was yesterday, but thank God for basketball cards (and TV).

Since I am very sentimental towards my cards, there was just no way I could look at them again after Kobe's passing. I started collecting with my brother and even my mom was collecting back in those days, so I knew what I had to do to move on and engage with the hobby again. I grabbed a mag, a plastic stand, one of only four Panini cards I own, and a ticket stubs I had kept from that game, and gave it to my brother as a gift on his name day. A European, originally Catholic tradition in case you are wondering what is a 'name day'. The reason I collect Shaq today is because my brother was collecting him back in the day, but not anymore. He is older, bigger and stronger than me, so I often imagined us being Kobe & Shaq when we reigned on the streetball courts anywhere we went. Needless to say that those times have everything to do with why I still collect today. So peep this;




This scan below. Well, consider this the first of my everything. My first scan when I started digitizing my collection. The BJ. Armstrong is my very first basketball card. Before I even knew who B.J. or the Warriors were. I only knew Jordan at that point. Webster was my brother's first card. We picked them out on our first trip to the LCS. Our first big pull ever was a Grant Hill Z-Force Super Rave /50, while he was still hot with the Pistons. In the first trade I can recall we traded the Hill to many smaller Kobe and Shaq cards, wax, and cash with the LCS owner. These cards became the cornerstones of my Kobe and my brother's Shaq PC; the Finest Kobe RC, the Bowman Kobe RC, an EX-2000 RC, and the Shaq Scoring King Plus. The cases were also included in the trade and that is where they are till this day. The LSU Shaq is our first graded card, that my brother got for one of his birthdays. It is still the only graded card in my collection as I break cases whenever I do get one new. I have been holding on to these cards for more than 20 years now and hope to do so for at least 20 more.




This is the card that brought me back into the hobby in 2013. I sold most of my collection in 2012 to make rent except for the Kobe & Shaq cards of course.




My all-time favorite set. The '98 Gold Kobe is pack pulled, and the biggest pull I still have.




...and some more expensive stuff I acquired since I have been back.




But the hobby, isn't hobby without you. The fellow collector. I got this card all the way from Asia and the seller was nice enough to take this beautiful photo of it on my request, as he does with all of his cards before sending it to me. Of course it is not by accident I wanted this particular card. Another card guy, a Shaq and Penny collector here in Hungary, whom I befriended over the years, and is actually calling me right now on my cell phone. I am not going to answer. It is 6 AM. Does he really want to talk about cardboard at 6 AM? I guess he is just like me Long story short, he has a Shaq card with the same type of damage as this Kobe. Just way more extensive. It should be all too familiar to anyone who busted wax in the 90s. I would never have thought to find a Kobe to pair up with his Shaq, but it was meant to be.





Since we are on the subject of rarities. Last, but not least; my white whale. Well not this card, because this card is in my collection. But I do want to get the version that is signed on the back by non other than MJ. The wonderful action shot is from the historical All-Star match-up from 1998 between MJ and Kobe. What a play it was. Jordan shoots, he misses. Shaq grabs the rebound, tosses it to Kobe for the 360 jam.

https://youtu.be/qRAs5Ju3j7k?t=60




As we grief the loss of those who held our hands trough life, we reminded that men were not created to walk alone. So thank you Kobe, and thank you Shaq, to contentiously teaching the lessons of life trough example. And thank You for being an audience. Because what would this post be without You.

[goldkobe]

Originally Posted by 8collector34

Thanks!

Let's move this thread from 8 pages to at least 24. Shall we?

I was lucky enough to go to school in the United States and even more lucky to have lived in Florida, so I visited some Heat games while Shaq was playing there, but also Magic games too. My Mom, my brother, and I were standing in the lines for tickets at the arena to a Magic vs. Lakers game way passed the jump ball when we were told that the game is sold out. Disappointed, we eventually decided to leave when we were approached by a ticket scout who just happened to still have 3 of his last tickets. He was willing to sell them for half price too, since there was no way we would make it inside before half-time. Lucky for us this monstrous dunk happened in the second half, so we were able to witness it from our seats. It happened so fast, that I would be lying, if I said I remember like it was yesterday, but thank God for basketball cards (and TV).

Since I am very sentimental towards my cards, there was just no way I could look at them again after Kobe's passing. I started collecting with my brother and even my mom was collecting back in those days, so I knew what I had to do to move on and engage with the hobby again. I grabbed a mag, a plastic stand, one of only four Panini cards I own, and a ticket stubs I had kept from that game, and gave it to my brother as a gift on his name day. A European, originally Catholic tradition in case you are wondering what is a 'name day'. The reason I collect Shaq today is because my brother was collecting him back in the day, but not anymore. He is older, bigger and stronger than me, so I often imagined us being Kobe & Shaq when we reigned on the streetball courts anywhere we went. Needless to say that those times have everything to do with why I still collect today. So peep this;




This scan below. Well, consider this the first of my everything. My first scan when I started digitizing my collection. The BJ. Armstrong is my very first basketball card. Before I even knew who B.J. or the Warriors were. I only knew Jordan at that point. Webster was my brother's first card. We picked them out on our first trip to the LCS. Our first big pull ever was a Grant Hill Z-Force Super Rave /50, while he was still hot with the Pistons. In the first trade I can recall we traded the Hill to many smaller Kobe and Shaq cards, wax, and cash with the LCS owner. These cards became the cornerstones of my Kobe and my brother's Shaq PC; the Finest Kobe RC, the Bowman Kobe RC, an EX-2000 RC, and the Shaq Scoring King Plus. The cases were also included in the trade and that is where they are till this day. The LSU Shaq is our first graded card, that my brother got for one of his birthdays. It is still the only graded card in my collection as I break cases whenever I do get one new. I have been holding on to these cards for more than 20 years now and hope to do so for at least 20 more.




This is the card that brought me back into the hobby in 2013. I sold most of my collection in 2012 to make rent except for the Kobe & Shaq cards of course.




My all-time favorite set. The '98 Gold Kobe is pack pulled, and the biggest pull I still have.




...and some more expensive stuff I acquired since I have been back.




But the hobby, isn't hobby without you. The fellow collector. I got this card all the way from Asia and the seller was nice enough to take this beautiful photo of it on my request, as he does with all of his cards before sending it to me. Of course it is not by accident I wanted this particular card. Another card guy, a Shaq and Penny collector here in Hungary, whom I befriended over the years, and is actually calling me right now on my cell phone. I am not going to answer. It is 6 AM. Does he really want to talk about cardboard at 6 AM? I guess he is just like me Long story short, he has a Shaq card with the same type of damage as this Kobe. Just way more extensive. It should be all too familiar to anyone who busted wax in the 90s. I would never have thought to find a Kobe to pair up with his Shaq, but it was meant to be.





Since we are on the subject of rarities. Last, but not least; my white whale. Well not this card, because this card is in my collection. But I do want to get the version that is signed on the back by non other than MJ. The wonderful action shot is from the historical All-Star match-up from 1998 between MJ and Kobe. What a play it was. Jordan shoots, he misses. Shaq grabs the rebound, tosses it to Kobe for the 360 jam.

https://youtu.be/qRAs5Ju3j7k?t=60




As we grief the loss of those who held our hands trough life, we reminded that men were not created to walk alone. So thank you Kobe, and thank you Shaq, to contentiously teaching the lessons of life trough example. And thank You for being an audience. Because what would this post be without You.

Thank you for share those sweet kobe/Shaq cards and amazing stories

[hatemyswagger]

Share some of my kobes

[phdbeckett]

I have a moderately comprehensive 1990s to early 2000s Kobe collection that focuses purely on inserts/parallels and not so much on autographs or his early jerseys.

[REGGIE206]

Thanks, phdbeckett, for the advice on the counterfeit COMC Kobe Ovation Auto. I truly appreciate it. I immediately returned it to COMC after I received the card. The return process at COMC was extremely smooth and I got my money back via PayPal in 2 days.

I ended up getting this card on eBay and now I am extremely happy:

2010 Panini Timeless Treasures Kobe Bryant Auto /99

[Pathora]

Just pulled this monster out of a GB of 14/15 Donruss #25/25 3 Color Patch Auto! Not sure what I'll do with it as I don't like sticker autos but might keep it still.