Player collectors, 3-5 cards you should be able to find but cant

[Harper]

I'm always curious about what cards are scarcer than most realize.... or just don't make their way to the secondary market. So, player collectors, what are the top 3-5 cards that you are surprised you haven't had the chance to add to your collection, not because of price but because you just haven't seen them.

My top 5 for Ron Harper are:

1) 1999-00 Topps MVP Promotion - Announced print run of 100, but haven't seen one in 5 years of collecting and can't even find pictures on worthpoint. Not actually serially numbered, so maybe some folks don't realize how rare they are. Or maybe the low end product was just busted by more casual fans who have these tucked away in closets collecting dust.

2) 1998-99 Skybox Thunder Rave /150 - I've heard rumors that the print run was not accurate and is lower than the /150... from my experience this seems legit. I've seen one card pop up at auction, with SN 000/150, and it went for much much more than I was expecting. I was very wary of the 000 SN and didn't even bid much. Other folks really did though! Never seen another.

3) 2010-11 Panini Elite Black Box Champions Quad Prime (Pippen, Rodman, Kukoc, Harper) /25
I've never seen one up for auction in the 5 years I've been back in the game. This is the highest print run card from Panini generation that I don't have. I don't know if I'd be able to afford it if it popped up, but really surprised I've never even had the opportunity.

4) 1998-99 UD Choice Reserve Premium /100 - I've never seen one of these either. Even on worthpoint. Same as with the MVP promotion set, I think I've had trouble finding this because it was a low end set and this was difficult to differentiate from a lower tier parallel.

5) 2012-13 Flawless Patch Auto Gold /10 - only card I'm missing from this rainbow, despite having the /5, /1, all four plates AND 4 of the /25. Such a famous set that nearly all has been busted... I started collecting again briefly before this released and was busy picking up 90s cards.... since that first 3 month window after release, I've never seen another listed....


I updated prior to nationals as I saw this thread was linked in the "what to look for at nationals" thread

[afrederick12]

Great topic. Going through the some football woes due to the same thing. Cards I should be able to get, I'd think, just can't.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Doublexthebeast]

Great thread! I obviously touched on this in the other thread with one of the ones that are tough to find. The top 5 for Grant Hill are below.

1. 98-99 Hoops Slam Bams /100- brutally tough to hunt down. Great design and I want one badly. I've seen 1 of them in the last 1.5 years.

2. 98-99 UD Choice Prime Reserve /100- These are tough to track down and aren't my favorite design. I still need one though.

3. 97-98 Stadium Club Triumverate Illuminator- I don't think I've seen one of them in over a year. You'd think one would come up for sale eventually.

4. 97-98 Hoops High Voltage 500 Volts /500- Coming from a low end product that likely got opened by tons of kids, these are super tough to track down.

5. 98-99 Autographics- An extreme short print in the set and very difficult to find. I really want one but have trouble locating one of them.

[lietuvalabas]

I think the choice reserves look similar to the base one's so people maybe don't flip the card over. I've owned and flipped 2 of the kobes, made a killing lol.

But seriously....always check the back of your cards..

[Jasondr91]

04-05 Topps Total and 05-06. I believe they were /10 for the base, and Bazooka Blue was /5 for the base set. I need the Sasha Pavlovic cards! Hell I've got the plates, and most color variations, all 1/1s.....but those /10 and the blue /5.....not a chance.

[kukocitb]

I enjoy this thread a lot. Will have some input tonight or tomorrow.

[oshmeehan]

These are all for my PC guy Ersan Ilyasova. Nothing exciting on here, but these have all been evading me for awhile:

2013/14 Panini Pinnacle Autographs
It's a rather large set and I know some of the guys in it are SP'd. But I have never seen a copy of this card pulled or for sale.

2013/14 Panini Retail Red Knight
Again, never seen this card of Ersan but have seen them of other players. Probably an even tougher one to get as time goes by as you probably can't buy this in retail stores any longer.

2014/15 Donruss Stat Line Career #'D /106
By far the highest serial numbered card I still need. Surprisingly have never seen this card either. Though some of the serial numbers differ in this product from what Donruss gave out. So it is possible it really isn't numbered out of 106 and is numbered out of something like 16. Who knows!

2015/16 Panini Complete Gold
A cheap product with a large checklist and the golds came at only 1 per box. I have seen plenty of golds of other players, but not Ersan. I feel this is the most likely card I will be able to find from this list.

2015/16 Panini Excalibur Light Blue
Another card available only through retail. Have seen a decent amount of other players, but again, this product is probably hard to come by now in retail stores.

[buckunteer]

great idea Harper...I'm gonna think on this for a bit then edit this post with my top handful or so

EDIT: Here goes. First off, I'm with you on the MVP Promotion set. No clue what it even looks like honestly.

Low-end stuff:

99-00 and 00-01 Gold Label parallels: Man these are maddening to track down. Are they locked in sets or something? Still need class 1 and 2 black labels from 99-00 (only reason I have class 3 is because a member on another board had it and traded it to me) and class 2 and 3 from 00-01. I'm fairly certain I haven't even seen one of them from 00-01.

00-01 UD Silver /400. I've seen, maybe, 2-3 of these at most in the last 4-5 years. What the heck? It's not THAT rare, in theory.

00-01 Topps Stars /299. Again, I stopped collecting around '97 and these early 2000s parallels elude me.

95-96 Collector's Choice Crash the game golds: There are 3 different ones (1 against 3 different teams). Just super tough to track down I only have 1 of the 3.

Higher end:

98-99 Stadium Club #223 One of a Kind /150 AND First Day Issue /200. Really? I have the 97-98 version and have seen 3-4 more, have the 99-00 as well. I think I've seen one of the one of a kinds and none of the first day issues. What gives?

97-98 through 00-01 Ultra Platinum Medallions: I have NEVER seen 3 of these and only saw the 98-99 one once...since 2013. NO clue where these all are. I know they're rare and desirable but random ones pop up constantly, so why not Mitch??

Now I'm frustrated with collecting again after typing this out haha. Hopefully people keep sending me refractors to assuage my anguish

[M4YH3M1]

I don't have any old rare stuff I'm chasing.. but these 3 come to mind.

1. 12-13 Crusade Majestic Prime - Card #3 - Dennis Rodman
( print run of only 2 cards... Never even seen a jersey version in over 3 years.)

2. 12-13 Crusade Majestic Prime - Card Card #1 - Blake Griffin
( Print run of only 5 cards... Never seen one in 3 years.)

3. 13-14 Flawless Patches - Shawn Kemp 1 of 1
( never saw a picture of it.. doubt it's even been pulled yet.)

[Jasondr91]

Originally Posted by M4YH3M1

I don't have any old rare stuff I'm chasing.. but these 3 come to mind.

1. 12-13 Crusade Majestic Prime - Card #3 - Dennis Rodman
( print run of only 2 cards... Never even seen a jersey version in over 3 years.)

2. 12-13 Crusade Majestic Prime - Card Card #1 - Blake Griffin
( Print run of only 5 cards... Never seen one in 3 years.)

3. 13-14 Flawless Patches - Shawn Kemp 1 of 1
( never saw a picture of it.. doubt it's even been pulled yet.)

The first year Gold Standard had a short print Rodman in a Mavs jersey that was numbered to either 9 or 10.....which was the last run of /299 in the set. Its probably the closest thing to wildly rare Panini Rodman cards....I own one courtesy of Randy.

[Stifle]

Purchased a huge lot of 90's basketball last week for a grand. I new most of it was junk early 90's but he had some mid 90's as well. The issue I had after bringing it home was that some of the mid 90's cards had suffered damage do to excessive moisture. He had placed cards in top loaders without soft sleeves, " a gold Medallion Iverson RC stuck in the top loader because the years of mousture sealed it against the plastic, made me sick"
Not many people can afford to take chances on spending the money to locate the items that some collectors need in their PC. It's a gamble but some of these rare cards could be hiding in collections just like this ?

[SteveO21]

Solomon Hill - 2013-14 Hoops Artist Proof

Literally never seen a single copy of the card.

[Harper]

Originally Posted by Stifle

Purchased a huge lot of 90's basketball last week for a grand. I new most of it was junk early 90's but he had some mid 90's as well. The issue I had after bringing it home was that some of the mid 90's cards had suffered damage do to excessive moisture. He had placed cards in top loaders without soft sleeves, " a gold Medallion Iverson RC stuck in the top loader because the years of mousture sealed it against the plastic, made me sick"
Not many people can afford to take chances on spending the money to locate the items that some collectors need in their PC. It's a gamble but some of these rare cards could be hiding in collections just like this ?

Find anything good??

[yiguiri2002]

Originally Posted by oshmeehan

These are all for my PC guy Ersan Ilyasova. Nothing exciting on here, but these have all been evading me for awhile:

2013/14 Panini Pinnacle Autographs
It's a rather large set and I know some of the guys in it are SP'd. But I have never seen a copy of this card pulled or for sale.

2013/14 Panini Retail Red Knight
Again, never seen this card of Ersan but have seen them of other players. Probably an even tougher one to get as time goes by as you probably can't buy this in retail stores any longer.

2014/15 Donruss Stat Line Career #'D /106
By far the highest serial numbered card I still need. Surprisingly have never seen this card either. Though some of the serial numbers differ in this product from what Donruss gave out. So it is possible it really isn't numbered out of 106 and is numbered out of something like 16. Who knows!

2015/16 Panini Complete Gold
A cheap product with a large checklist and the golds came at only 1 per box. I have seen plenty of golds of other players, but not Ersan. I feel this is the most likely card I will be able to find from this list.

2015/16 Panini Excalibur Light Blue
Another card available only through retail. Have seen a decent amount of other players, but again, this product is probably hard to come by now in retail stores.

I think there's still tons of 14-15 Donruss around. Which I don't get because it's cheap, nice and have a decent amount of hits. I'll keep a look for it, I bust some packs from time to time.

I think you're gonna have a tough time with Complete. Not a lot of people busting it. Wait a few months and 15-16 Excalibur Retail will be sold online. I think that and the Donruss one are the next ones to pop up.

Originally Posted by SteveO21

Solomon Hill - 2013-14 Hoops Artist Proof

Literally never seen a single copy of the card.

Those are super tough. 1 per box and not a lot of Hoops have been busted. On top of that, prices for that year were super cheap. I remember pulling the Gobert last year and noticing that the last one sold for 5 bucks.

[Tarheelsfan2012]

Edit: Panini told me the card doesn't exist.

[Tarheelsfan2012]

Originally Posted by SteveO21

Solomon Hill - 2013-14 Hoops Artist Proof

Literally never seen a single copy of the card.

Says on Beckett a copy sold back in 2013 on eBay for $5.26

[gatorboymike]

1999-00 Stadium Club First Day Issue #127 Avery Johnson (/150)
2002-03 Hoops Stars Future Stars Blue #3 Mike Dunleavy
2004-05 Hoops 100 #157 Mike Dunleavy (/100)
2012-13 Panini Threads Century Proof Red #74 Marreese Speights
2015-16 Prestige Bonus Shots Light Blue #69 Mike Dunleavy

I'd like to track down the guy who invented the concept of retail-exclusive parallels and decapitate him with his own dismembered tailbone.

[jcayce]

Originally Posted by Tarheelsfan2012

Says on Beckett a copy sold back in 2013 on eBay for $5.26

How does one find this on beckett? Thanks

[Tarheelsfan2012]

Originally Posted by jcayce

How does one find this on beckett? Thanks

I was just looking in the organize to see if anyone had one listed FT and they have started adding market data for cards, if there are eBay sales or sales through their marketplace.

[LovelyLlamas]

For Kris Humphries, I've been collecting since September 2005 and have NEVER seen these.

1) 2004-05 Bazooka Signs- Don't think it exists

2) 2004-05 Skybox LE /15

3) 2004-05 Upper Deck All-Star Lineup Gold/25

4) 2004-05 Upper Deck R-Class Gold/50- This one is maddening

5) 2004-05 Upper Deck R-Class Signatures- Don't think it exists

Honorable Mentions:

2005-06 Luxury Box The Machine Auto- Gonna say no

2013-14 Hoops Artists Proof- Saw it once and didn't buy it. Doh.

[Hornet21]

Here's a few that you'd think I would have seen by now as a Faried Collector but have not see a single copy:

1) 2012-13 Panini Basketball Black Knight #/10
2) 2012-13 Timeless Treasures Glass Auto Gold #/10
3) 2013-14 Crusade Crusades Green #/5
4) 2013-14 Spectra Autograph Threads #/35
5) 2013-14 Panini Red Knight
----

The spectra #/35 I'm actually shocked that I've never seen considering how much this product has been opened and that it's not all that low numbered in the bigger picture of things. Panini swears it was packed into product but after this many years I am doubtful.

The Crusade green #/5 is the final piece I need to complete the rainbow, I even own the 1/1. The thing that bugs me with this is that I know of 5-6 other player collectors that say the same thing - they've never seen the green variation. In another product that was busted a lot, with a lot of people doing master sets, you'd think at least a single copy of not just mine but the other players also had shown up years after release.

[Cervantes]

Taj Gibson 14-15 Gala Cinematic Signatures 1/1

That's it.

[Jasondr91]

Originally Posted by SteveO21

Solomon Hill - 2013-14 Hoops Artist Proof

Literally never seen a single copy of the card.

Oddly enough I cracked a number of Hoops hobby fat packs last week. Just by chance I missed initially the Hoops Artist Proof.....I hit one, but it was Jonas V. Those things are quite easy to miss. Odd that those loaded jumbo fat packs only contained one. I saved the base and went back thru them all.

[Andy5]

Convinced these Andrew Nicholson cards don't exist.

2012-13 Elite Status Red /44 #270

2013-14 Panini Energizers Ink #3

2014-15 Hoops Red /299 #44

This one is a recent release but still yet to see one:

2016-17 Panini Prizm Orange Wave /25 #299

[kingofsnake]

12-13 Panini Retail Knight #83
12-13 Panini Threads Red Century Proof #4
13-14 Panini Red Knight #61
13-14 Panini Pinnacle Artist Proof Blue #221
13-14 Panini Prizm Brilliance Blue Prizm #4

I think what all of these have in common are that they are Panini, retail only and not serial-numbered. Therein lie my difficulties.