Hoops Hobby

My oldest son had his tonsils out last year. Right after the surgery in the recovery area, after waking up from the anesthesia and in a groggy state, he whimpered out ‘Will I ever feel good again?’. Our response was, of course you will, and you’ll be better off for having this done, even if it doesn’t feel that way right now.

Whether it’s waiting for a better price on a card sitting on eBay, waiting to request a shipment from COMC to make the most of shipping charges, or parting with a card that doesn’t quite fit into your collection, it can be painful. Not in the physical sense, obviously, but it takes discipline and restraint to build a collection, and to make the most of your time, funds, and efforts.

Letting a card go that doesn’t pop up often, because it doesn’t fit in the budget, you might find yourself thinking… will I ever feel good again? Kidding, of course, but it can be disheartening.

The result of all the waiting, the shipping off of cards, the unsuccessful auctions, hopefully it ends up paying off with a satisfying collection with lots of enjoyment. You won’t find yourself with a figurative lingering sickness, starting at cards that you paid too much for, or maybe ones that you know you should part with.

A COMC shipment came in the other day, with many of these cards sitting, waiting to be shipped for 6 months or longer. Several of the cards I’d missed out on previously, one in particular case because I waited for a reasonably priced copy, even though it just about finished a parallel team set.

I will say, this package was a fun one. Almost every single card fit into a binder for a Pacers team set, a rookie year card collection, or the Pacers all-time autograph binder.

Usually I save the best for last, but let’s go ahead and talk about it now.

The scan cut off the top of the card, but no worries. A few copies were sitting on eBay for a long time for about 10x the amount I paid for this one on COMC. It was just about the last card I needed for my Pacers 2002-03 Fleer Tradition Crystal team set. These are /199 and all have a gray border instead of a team colored border. I’m just missing the Al Harrington now. There’s a copy of that one sitting on COMC as well, but it’s more than the Reggie was, so what kind of collector would I be if I didn’t follow my own advice and hold off on that copy?

Here’s the binder page. The Tinsley in the top middle is actually the 10th card in the team set. It’s filling the Al Harrington spot for now so that I have a complete page.

The Reggie parallels are always the most challenging to acquire. I’m excited to have this set about wrapped up for one of my favorite eras of Pacers basketball, and cards.

A couple others for binders. I was missing this Topps Draft Picks card of Austin Croshere, and the T.J. Ford refractor from 2009-10 Topps Chrome gest me one card away from completing that refractor team set (just missing Tyler Hansbrough).

I took advantage of the combined shipping by grabbing some cheap Al Harrington rookies that I was missing. Very familiar with all of these cards, and it seemed like they were already part of my collection, and yet, I did not have them. They’re now in the Al Harrington rookie year section of the binder. These E-X cards are just stunning, even the base cards.

Three Fred Jones rookie parallels? Cards that teenage me would have been over the moon to land back in 2002 or 2003. Both the Authentix and Ultra are /100. 2002-03 Authentix remains one of my favorite sets of all time. And the Gold medallion rookies in Ultra were numbered to 100 in both 2001-02 and 2002-03. The MVP card is a ‘Classic’ parallel, unnumbered, but any rookie parallel is a welcomed one.

From the last of the Fred Jones group of cards, I added a Pristine uncirculated Uncommon refractor, soon to be circulated and in my rookie year binder. This one is out of 499. All of these rookie cards just flash me back to my early 2000s collecting, and cheering for those Pacers teams. This Flair rookie card is no exception. The good ole’ days of collecting, and being a basketball fan, for me.

When I think I’ve identified a favorite from this lot, I find others that are just as good. What is going on here, you ask? It’s a Reggie Miller mini card from 2002-03 Fleer Box Score, next to a full-size Jermaine O’Neal First Edition parallel numbered out of 100. A first edition version of the mini cards also exists, numbered out of 100. Some of the mini cards even have relic versions.

Still possibly saving the best for last, it’s hard to say. This Brad Miller contenders auto takes the spot of a Hornets Autographics Brad Miller for my Pacers autograph project. I love any Autographics card, but a Pacers card, even with a sticker autograph, beats a Hornets card. This particular card is numbered out of 199.

This Teague is one of the few Pacers autographs that is thin enough to fit in a z-folio binder in a soft sleeve. Technically a Timberwolves card, but you can’t really tell without inspecting it closely. I let this 2017-18 Gold Fast Break Prizm /10 sit for a long time before finally adding it, and this is the card that prompted me to get my COMC order shipped.

Lastly, Tony Bradley played key minutes for the Pacers in the playoffs this past year. He may never appear on a Pacers card, so I grabbed an on-card autograph from his time with the Jazz. It just happens to be a jersey numbered copy – even better.

Great mix of cards in this lot, and I enjoyed adding nearly all of them to my binder projects. That exercise in itself was worth the wait.