Overlooked and/or Affordable Collecting Ideas

[SacKingsCards]

I thought it would be a cool thread topic to share ideas of sets, parallels, collecting focuses, etc. that you like that aren't super popular and talked about 24/7. We all know about the gold prizms/refractors, Flawless patches, NT/Flawless RPAs, 1/1s. I'm talking cards you like that are relatively easy and affordable to find and acquire but you feel are high quality for one reason or another (design, photography, technology, theme, etc.) Could be stuff you personally collect or stuff you've seen or are just aware of. Hopefully we see lots of pictures in here.

I'll start with one: the 20XX sets from Certified. There's a lot to like, in my opinion in this set. It's a graffiti themed rookie insert set from 2017-2020 Certified/Totally Certified with great photography outside of 2020-21 (COVID). Some Court Kings vibes with the graffiti, but I think the draft year being graffitied makes it stand out enough. It certainly doesn’t feel like something rehashed from Panini’s other sets and looks totally different year to year, which is rare. Nice little shine on the cards. Foil? Holo? Idk. Here are my copies of the two notable Kings rooks from that time. Still think they could've coexisted in a competent organization...

[darz90scardz]

I don’t know if these are overlooked anymore, but they’re def still affordable

[SacKingsCards]

I don’t know if these are overlooked anymore, but they’re def still affordable

Nice cards. They're definitely overlooked by me as I've never seen that set before to my knowledge. I know, I know I'm an ignorant pre-Panini neanderthal. Gold and good photography is always a winning combo, that's for sure. Perusing ebay, It's interesting that some of the photos in the set didn't crop out surrounding players. The Hakeem is trippy with diving Shaq and a floating arm

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[darz90scardz]

I don’t know if these are overlooked anymore, but they’re def still affordable

Nice cards. They're definitely overlooked by me as I've never seen that set before to my knowledge. I know, I know I'm an ignorant pre-Panini neanderthal. Gold and good photography is always a winning combo, that's for sure. Perusing ebay, It's interesting that some of the photos in the set didn't crop out surrounding players. The Hakeem is trippy with diving Shaq and a floating arm

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I’m the same way with Panini inserts. It seems like every other week I see a new modern set I’ve been ignorant to.
My problem is I don’t really have an active player I’d want to collect. Being a Knicks fan I’ve been considering Action Brunson but he’s probably too newly “hot” to be featured in too many inserts. Maybe his Mavs playoff run already had that effect?

Limited with photos I have saved on my phone atm, how about some Fleer Mystique sensory overload? Checklist isn’t the greatest but these were really cool. Like other inserts and even parallels in this product, they came covered in gold foil on the fronts and backs, similar to the Mystery Finest sets that came before them.

[SacKingsCards]

That's a really cool set! Maggette was actually the motivational speaker at my high school a year or two back. It was pretty cool. Seeing him that young and in a Magic jersey is trippy. Maybe the set design contributes a bit too

I'd bet Brunson has a decent amount of stuff out there at this point being the best player on a premier team. I see he is in the fireworks set from this year's prizm, which just released yesterday. I think the inserts in prizm this year are really well done. I just captured this from a youtube break, and unfortunately the photo of Brunson isn't the best, but I just think this card is amazing. The team logo in fireworks in the background looks great.

[@cp]

Always been a fan of early Flair Basketball. I bought these in a lot among other things and have kept them. I love the look of these cards. Great contrast between the close-up and action shots. The colour and font selection. It looks high end, but can easily be had for a couple bucks or less per card. 95-96 Flair 'Style' subset cards.

[darz90scardz]

^ dope Brunson, thanks for the recommendation

I’m also a fan of the Flair Style subset, and to touch on horizontal cards in general, I like them even more than standard when done right

Speaking of, here’s a fitting one for this thread:

[mindcycle]

First of all, really great topic! Some solid ideas in here as well.

I have one I’ll share for now and will post some others later once I grab additional photos.

Prizm golds have gotten too expensive the last few years imo so I’ve switched focus to Optic for my team sets. This is last years design, and no rookies yet (I’ll give that a few years still lol), but it’s a solid looking set and won’t kill your wallet like Prizm.



An added benefit is the photography tends to be a lot better in Optic vs Prizm as well.

[darz90scardz]

“Sets” are easier to put together when it’s just one card.

This is from 95-96 Jam Session and was 1:360. Cool idea to pair it with his other ROY tribute card from 95-96 Hoops which had the same odds. People are prob more familiar with that one, it’s like an EX2000 prototype.

[SacKingsCards]

I must've forgotten to respond to this thread, but some great looking cards shared here everyone. I'm of course a huge fan of the Flair and really any dual image card. I'm not familiar with that Hill, but it looks really unique and definitely feels off-the-beaten-path

First of all, really great topic! Some solid ideas in here as well.

I have one I’ll share for now and will post some others later once I grab additional photos.

Prizm golds have gotten too expensive the last few years imo so I’ve switched focus to Optic for my team sets. This is last years design, and no rookies yet (I’ll give that a few years still lol), but it’s a solid looking set and won’t kill your wallet like Prizm.



An added benefit is the photography tends to be a lot better in Optic vs Prizm as well.

Nice team set! I'm not surprised that Optic is cheaper than Prizm but still would expect it to have a hefty price tag. Remember the 2018 days when people were talking about Optic overtaking Prizm? They got a great photo on the Jokic, I feel like he always gets pretty poor photography.

[darz90scardz]

I'm not familiar with that Hill, but it looks really unique and definitely feels off-the-beaten-path

This is the other Hill I mentioned that was also 1:360. Closer precursor to E-X2000 than even the Skyview insert set. Everyone ought to see this baby in hand if they get the chance. Super cheap card, been obsessed with it for a long time.

[SacKingsCards]

Oh ya, that's a nice looking card. And these were Grant Hill only ROY inserts? I wasn't in collecting in the 90s but I recall seeing a lot of Grant Hill sets and such from the 90s, but didn't know these were included. I'm also a general fan of commemorative sets; I just think it makes a card meaningful to chronicle a specific accolade or event.

[mindcycle]

Nice team set! I'm not surprised that Optic is cheaper than Prizm but still would expect it to have a hefty price tag. Remember the 2018 days when people were talking about Optic overtaking Prizm? They got a great photo on the Jokic, I feel like he always gets pretty poor photography.

I definitely remember the Optic vs Prizm debate over on BO lol. Not much has changed since 2018 on what's more desirable, but I do feel that Optic has had better photography outside of 2018-19 stuff which was pretty bad.

And yeah,I agree about the Jokic photo. Finally something other than him just dribbling or holding a ball!

[mindcycle]

This is the other Hill I mentioned that was also 1:360. Closer precursor to E-X2000 than even the Skyview insert set. Everyone ought to see this baby in hand if they get the chance. Super cheap card, been obsessed with it for a long time.

That Hill is nice! That's definitely on my radar now to grab a copy of.

I have two more suggestions that i'm stealing from my Nugget refractors thread that are really nice and still seem to be affordable outside of the bigger names (MJ, Kobe mainly).

96-97 and 97-98 Bowman's best atomic refractors.

[SacKingsCards]

That Grant Hill pair reminds me of the Grant Hill Dunks cards from 95-96 Hoops. I know he was huge at the time, but there's a lot of that sort of Hill focused insert/promo stuff.

Nice Best team sets! I'm glad to hear those are still affordable. I would agree, as I picked up the following rainbow for way cheap relative to Chauncey's career accomplishments. Sneaky cool with the cutouts in the card too.

[darz90scardz]

^ nice Billups rainbow. I'm still missing the Penny atomic.

Oh ya, that's a nice looking card. And these were Grant Hill only ROY inserts? I wasn't in collecting in the 90s but I recall seeing a lot of Grant Hill sets and such from the 90s, but didn't know these were included. I'm also a general fan of commemorative sets; I just think it makes a card meaningful to chronicle a specific accolade or event.

Yea, they were both Hill only, 1 card tributes to him winning co-roy. Would've been cool if they included Kidd too.

That Hill is nice! That's definitely on my radar now to grab a copy of.

[SacKingsCards]

Poor Kidd getting snubbed for the ROY tribute sets that really would've been cool as would have a dual card with both of them on it. Especially given how unique co-ROYs are.

[FrankAZHP]

Poor Kidd getting snubbed for the ROY tribute sets that really would've been cool as would have a dual card with both of them on it. Especially given how unique co-ROYs are.

Pretty sure they just did it for Hill because he was their spokesman/signed basketball athlete not because they were snubbing Kidd.

Fleer/Skybox used Hill for marketing for quite a while. Up until 1996-97 or perhaps until 1997-98

[darz90scardz]

Yea, he was the Fleer/Skybox golden boy. They even used him going into 98-99 product

[darz90scardz]

Unsung set from 94-95 Fleer. About as cheap as you can get.


Full set up for sale right now for a whopping 6 bucks
https://www.ebay.com/itm/176290349341

[SacKingsCards]

I like that Ewing set: really unique with the negative background photo, the texturing and effect is cool, and I like the backs with all the career achievements. Six card set is great, we need more of that. One of my complaints with Panini insert sets is that every one includes the top 25-30 players in the league. Every time. It feels like in the last five years, they don't have any insert sets that are themed or contain smaller groups of players. Maybe even groups of players that aren't superstar-laden. Can I get me some prominent bench player sets with Malik Monk? Defensive specialist sets with Davion Mitchell or Keon Ellis (I know he's new)? Heck, I'd even be surprised if Sabonis is in many insert sets. Don't know for sure though.

I'm gonna make a shot out for Donruss laser cards. The in game action version of Revolution Sunbursts, which gives them a totally different vibe that I like. They were first released in 16-17 Donruss, which is my personal favorite design due to its uniqueness relative to the other release years but also the superior photography that isn't as zoomed in on the player and captures more game action. 2021-22 is my favorite design for the rookies (angled, thinner borders, and rookie photos on a court). 2018-19 vet design would be the next up in terms of overall design after my top vet and rc designs.

Most years have 8-13 laser parallels (most being 16 in 23-24 Donruss), which is a reasonable amount of parallels to pursue for a "laser rainbow", and would probably be what I do if I ever wanted to pursue a Donruss rainbow. Donruss insert sets also have the laser parallels, but I've mostly picked up base parallels. I could probably write an essay no one would want to read on lasers, so needless to say I like em mucho. Oh, and they're dirt cheap. Anything numbered /25 or above from older sets aside from stars could be had within a couple bucks shipped. Even gold lasers /10 are easily attainable for $10-15 for stars (probably not superstar types)

Some samples from my favorite years (still no 21-22 rookies )...apologies for the photography

[mindcycle]

Oooh.. Love the laser parallels as well! I was going after a lower serial numbered run (maybe the /10 can't remember) of those for the Nugget a few years back but dropped it. I might need to pick that back up.

[SacKingsCards]

Oooh.. Love the laser parallels as well! I was going after a lower serial numbered run (maybe the /10 can't remember) of those for the Nugget a few years back but dropped it. I might need to pick that back up.

Nice, looking forward to see it if you decide to pursue it. Do you recall what year it was or what year's designs you like?

[green_stiller]

Something I've been enjoying as I tighten down a bit is engaging collecting in different ways... binders, cataloguing and finding game photos from my favorites!

[SacKingsCards]

Something I've been enjoying as I tighten down a bit is engaging collecting in different ways... binders, cataloguing and finding game photos from my favorites!

Oh ya, I'm a huge fan of trying to engage in the hobby in ways other than purchasing cards. Unfortunately, the takes time, and as a father of two young kids, admiring, organizing, photographing, cataloguing my collection requires time I don't quite have