I love to collect Hall of Fame basketball player autographs.
When I was a kid sports card collecting was so simple. I would walk or ride my bike down to Sunshine, our local family-owned store, and buy a few packs of baseball cards. The unknown treasures that hid inside of those wax packs called out to me. I grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio in the days (early 1970s) when the Big Red Machine was just coming into existence, so visions of pulling a Pete Rose, Johnny Bench, Joe Morgan, or Tony Perez danced in my head.
Another aspect of collecting that I enjoyed was trading cards with my friends. The negotiations could become intense as my friends and I tried to create a deal that would appeal to both of us. Their was great satisfaction in completing a deal that netted me one of my cardboard heroes.
Sports Cards are Different Now
In the early 1970s the only cards I knew were small pieces of cardboard with a picture of the player on the front and some stats on the back. When I got back into collecting a few years ago I was amazed at some of the sports cards that I saw. Cards now can have autographs, bat slices, and game-worn uniform swatches right out of the pack. They come in many different thicknesses.
There are high-end cards that cost hundreds or thousands of dollars for a pack that might be delivered to you in a metal suitcase inside shrink wrap inside a sealed box. If you have never seen a box of Panini Flawless basketball cards opened, check out this Panini Flawless box break on YouTube. When I first saw this I couldn’t believe it!
One of the features that I really like on higher end cards like Panini Flawless is that they are numbered. The 2014-2015 Panini Flawless basketball cards have a maximum print run of 25 on any one card. This scarcity clearly increases the value of these cards as do the autographs, jersey patches, and jewels. The card shown in the video preview is a 1 out of 1, meaning the owner of the card has the only one of that card ever created. Pretty cool!
Where It All Started…Again…on eBay
I no longer need to ride my bike down to the local mom and pop shop to buy my cards. Auction website eBay has become the preferred place for thousands of collectors to buy and sell their sports cards. One day I was surfing eBay and I was drawn to the elegant simplicity and bright white designs of the 2014-15 Panini Flawless basketball set. The autographs really seem to “pop” off of the cards.
As I was surfing…hold on a second…a 2014-15 Panini Flawless Ralph Sampson Hall of Fame subset card, numbered 2/10, was mine for $7.46. It was a beauty and I didn’t have to spend thousands of dollars to buy a box of Flawless cards. I was hooked.
Why Hall of Fame Basketball Cards?
The Sampson card started me on a collecting journey to find as many autographed basketball cards of players in the Hall of Fame as I could. Some of the Hall of Famers’ signed cards are very common and have a very reasonable price tag. Others, especially the mega-stars and those basketball heroes from long ago, are expensive and hard to find (if they are available at all).
As of the 2017 Hall of Fame induction class, there are 184 players that have been inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Many others have been inducted as coaches or contributors to the great game of basketball, but I have chosen to focus almost entirely on the players.
I think I enjoy collecting the Hall of Fame basketball players because of the rich history and interesting stories that I have come across as I learned about the great players of the past. I have learned about the early Lakers dynasty that featured Hall of Famers George Mikan, Vern Mikkelsen, Jim Pollard, and Slater Martin. I have read of the terrible injury that Maurice Stokes suffered as a result of a bad fall on the court and how Jack Twyman was there for him in his time of need (along with Wilt Chamberlain and many other players). I have watched Michael Jordan dominate the game, take some time off to try baseball, and then return for a second three-peat.
I am currently in the middle of a book written by James Naismith, the creator of the game of basketball. The origins, development, and history of the game fascinate me as I trace its evolution over the years. The early barnstorming teams, the Lakers and Celtics dynasties, the ABA with its flash and the red, white, and blue ball are all a part of the story. The characters are interesting and there is always more to learn.
The Characteristics of My Cards
Autographed Hall of Fame basketball player cards come in many shapes and sizes, with many designs, and distinguishing characteristics. I prefer the cards in my collection to have the following characteristics.
- I want as many of my cards as possible to be “on card” autographs. There is something a bit more special about knowing that the player actually held the card in his or her hand when it was signed. The other alternative, stickers, is one I try hard to stay away from. The idea of a player signing pages of stickers for a card company to slap on whatever card they want seems somehow less glamorous or valuable to me. Can you imagine an autographed sticker placed on a common object like a frying pan or a refrigerator? Would anyone like to buy a stickered Larry Bird frying pan or a Michael Jordan authenticated refrigerator? No thanks!
- I like my on card autographs to be cards that have been signed by the player as part of an agreement with the major basketball card companies like Panini, Topps, and Upper Deck as opposed to buying cards signed for the average sports fan at the arena. The autographs are usually nicer, because the player takes more time to sign it for the card companies, and the authenticity is usually not a question when it originates with one of these respected businesses. If no certified cards of an earlier player are available I will usually look for a card that has been authenticated by PSA/DNA or I will purchase the card (if the autograph checks out) and send it in to PSA/DNA myself.
- I prefer vertical cards rather than horizontally-designed cards. This is probably just a personal preference but they take up less space on a shelf and somehow seem more majestic “standing up” rather than “lying down.”
- I like a clean, white (or light colored) background for the player to sign so that the autograph “pops” off the card. Blue Sharpie autographs look great on a white background. This is one of the reasons why I enjoy the 2014-15 Panini Flawless basketball cards so much. I have seen far too many cards of great basketball players on dark cards where the autograph literally gets lost in the dark, so I try to avoid those cards.
- I enjoy numbered autographed cards that show that the card is a limited edition. It is somehow more exciting to know that a card that you own is one out of 599, one out of 10, or maybe even a 1 out of 1, which is truly unique.
- Some of the early Hall of Fame basketball players never had a card that they could sign. In those cases I have tried to find a signed postcard, bookmark, or photo of the player that is signed. As a last resort I will look for a “cut signature,” which is a player’s autograph on a magazine or index card that has been cut out and often authenticated.
The Autographed Cards on This Website
The Hall of Fame basketball player autographs that you see on this website are from my own collection. All of them have been purchased from eBay sellers over the years. Part of the fun of collecting is in the search. One of my favorite discoveries on eBay was a 1952 Wheaties cereal box card of Bob Davies from the early days of NBA basketball. I paid $26.65 for the card and have never seen another card like it. Bob Davies passed away in 1990.
Another one of my favorite cards is this 1985 Schick George Yardley card. There are very few signed Yardley cards available. I picked this one up on eBay for $44.99. The other signed Yardley cards that I have recently seen on eBay were selling for $600.00 and $1,800.00 so I was thrilled to find this one.
I have had both the Davies and the Yardley cards authenticated and encapsulated by PSA/DNA.
The Quest Continues
The journey to find authentic signed cards of all 206 of the players currently in the Hall of Fame continues. The Hall of Fame recognizes the top men, women, amateur, professional, and international players that the game of basketball has ever seen.
One player that is fairly easy to find, but that is still too expensive for my taste, is Pete Maravich.
I keep hoping that I might stumble across a signed card of Pistol Pete at an estate sale or swap meet like the time when my son and I bought a signed Oakland A’s baseball from the late 1960s that we found in a dollar bin at a local swap meet. The ball has signatures of baseball Hall of Famers Reggie Jackson, Jim “Catfish” Hunter, and Joe DiMaggio. DiMaggio was a hitting coach for the A’s at the time!
To my fellow collectors…May you find a treasure in an unexpected place!