Hoops Hobby

As I continue to look for cards to add to my Pacers autograph collection, it’s becoming rarer that certified autograph cards of players I need pop up. Several players only appear as Pacers in one or few sets.

Orien Greene’s been a part of my Pacers autograph collection for quite some time. He kindly signed a custom index card for me before a game in the 2000s, along with a few other Pacers. But index cards won’t fit in my Pacers autograph binder, so I wanted a card for Greene as well.

Greene’s only autograph cards as a Pacer are from 2006-07 SP Signature Edition, and since I started watching out for these, I hadn’t seen one pop up. So when one appeared on eBay from a seller in China, and the price was very reasonable, I didn’t waste any time.

Ian Mahinmi was a solid backup center for the Pacers for several seasons between 2012 and 2014. He eventually became the starting center for the 2015-16 season, which led to career best averages. Then he signed a solid contract with a sizable pay increase with the Washington Wizards.

Mahinmi only has one Pacers autograph card, and it’s from 2012-13 Panini Signatures on a Signatures Film card. Luckily this one has a print run out of 49, whereas some of the other Pacers from this set are only out of 10.

I knew of this card first because of it showing as a ‘sold out’ card on COMC. And then eventually, after waiting for a good number of months, it showed up again. I didn’t make an offer. I didn’t want to miss it again. Fortunately it was good price to begin with. I can’t get enough of these film cards, even the non-autograph versions.

Chuck Person is in more autograph sets as a Pacer than all the others in this post combined, and by far, but this is the only autograph set he’s in that ever caught my eye. I opened a box of 2013-14 Pinnacle 8 or so years ago, and the Essence of the Game autograph card I pulled (Steve Blake) was a highlight, not because of the player, but because I thought the set was great. It’s a set with on-card autographs, a clean design, and are acetate cards where you can see the signature on both the front and the back of the card. It’s harder to tell with the card in hand, but the stars in the background are a fun part of the design.

Tim Hardaway finished his NBA career with the Pacers, appearing in 10 games toward the end of the 2002-03 season, as well as 4 playoff games in their first round series loss to the Celtics. That being his only time with the Pacers, it would make sense if he didn’t have any Pacers certified autograph cards. However, he appears in 2014-15 Luxe in the Die-Cut autographs set, the Hardaway being out of 60, which also has a gold parallel out of 10 and a black parallel which is a 1/1. I’m a big fan of die-cut cards, and the on-card autograph looks great on the white background.

My only complaint with this card is the thickness, but that’s to be expected with a high-end product like Luxe. The cards end up being very thick, which isn’t great for someone displaying their collection in a binder. For this one, I plan to keep the card in a toploader and print out a picture of the card and put it in the binder. It’s not ideal, but it’s the route I’m going for this one.

This card took a roundabout way to get to me. It started in Indiana, then went West, instead of East like I would have expected it to. It first moved to a hub in Montana, then to Wyoming, and Colorado, nowhere near my home in South Carolina. Next was positive progress to New Jersey, then Richmond, and finally to South Carolina. Overall it took more than 2 weeks to arrive, which considering all those stops, really isn’t bad.

It’s always interesting to see what cards end up being difficult to track down. Sometimes it’s the veteran point guard who only played 10 games with the team at the end of a hall of fame career, or a backup center who finds his way into a starting role for a season or two.

What I enjoy about it is all of these cards tell the story of the history of the franchise. It’s why I’ll continue to pursue autograph cards of Pacers in a variety of ways, even though it’s getting tougher the farther it goes. It’s all about the journey, and seeing that progress along the way.