What Else Is There Besides Topps?

So yesterday I pulled a 2000-01 Steve Francis Fleer E/X No Boundaries Insert. Looked like a BGS 9 to me. Four sharp corners, no surface scratches, 55/45, and smooth edges. Huh? Confused? Don't worry, so was I. I'll get to that later.

(It's a lazy Saturday afternoon not too long ago, I casually stroll by a sports card store in the mall. I hesitate, peek inside and eventually walk in. I look around at the vast selection of sports memorabilia and cards and think to myself: Gosh it's been a long time since I collected cards. A young man in a t-shirt and jeans approaches me.)

Young man: What can I do for you today? Need help with anythin'?

Me: Ummm… yeah... you have any basketball cards?

Young man: (sarcastically)Yeah, what do you want?

Me: I don't know. Topps?

Young man: Topps? Topps what? We have Finest, Regular, Chrome.. take your pick. Finest and Chrome are 5.95/pack and regular is 2.75.

Me: What?! 5.95 a pack? How many cards come in a pack? Geez, they better put like 100 cards in there.

Young man: (dully) 6 cards per pack.

Me: (gasping) You're kidding me. I remember when baseball cards were 40 cents for a pack of 15 cards AND I got a stick of gum.

Young man: (stares at me blankly) We also got Fleer E/X, Ultra, Showcase, Metal and Upper Deck SP. They range from 3.50-7.95/ pack. If you want individual cards, we have ungraded and graded. I have a real nice '89 Upper Deck Griffey PSA 9 for 500… also have a 1993 SP Jeter BGS 8 for 200.

(Young boy approaches me)

Young boy: Hey Mr. - I'll sell you my Topps Finest Bronze Refractor PSA 9 Kobe for $200. You want it?

Me: …Huh?

Young man: (inpatiently to me, while glancing at the other customers in the store) C'mon. I don't have all day. I have a business to run.

Me: Uhhh… ok… (stalling) lemme think about it and get back to you. I have to find my girlfriend in Victoria's Secret.

(I run out of the store, sweating and gasping for breath, wondering how basketball cards could possibly cause me to actually want to go to Victoria's Secret.)

Back in the 80's it was simple. There were 3 brands of basketball cards: Topps, Fleer, and Star. Topps was the premier brand and all of their cards were worth the most. End of discussion. Fast forward to today. With a million brands, inserts, autographs, graded cards, subsets, and skyrocketing prices, I feel like I'm investing in the NASDAQ when I buy a pack of cards.

What have they done to this innocent, child-like industry? We used to buy cards for the gum with our weekly allowance. We used to stick cards in our back pocket and trade our favorite players with our friends. We used to shove our idols into a vinyl binder and collect sets. Not anymore. Nowadays, you need the Amex and MasterCard to buy a box of cards; no one cares about sets anymore, and don't even think about touching the cards. God forbid you fray a corner or scratch the surface - you're literally shaving thousands of dollars of value off the card. Recently on Ebay a Gem Mint Kobe Bryant Rookie sold for $2,000. Take that same card, bend a corner and you'll be lucky to get a bid worth an extra value meal at McDonalds. I'm serious. It's really that insane. Try to go into a store to buy some basketball cards and you'll have an overwhelming encounter like the one I had above. And how do you know if a card is Gem Mint or just Mint? Why you send it to a grading service of course! These grading services charge between $10-30 per card to tell you that you're card is worthless. They are so stingy with their Gem Mint ratings that it's a wonder a Gem Mint card goes for $2,000. Hmm… I wonder who is making money here?

Speculators, or collectors (a term to be used very loosely in this case), hoard all of the rookie cards from the premier sets every year, grade them, and then stash them away in hopes that they will skyrocket in value in the future. Oh yes… Trajan Langdon and Erick Barkley… they might be superstars someday. Let's buy all of their cards and grade them so that kids who are actually fans of them can't afford them or find them.

Bring us back to the days of our childhood when the art of collecting was for pure enjoyment and fun and not for our portfolio. I remember when John Stockton showed up in a pack of cards and I was happy. Now, if I don't hit a Vince Carter Autographed Jersey card insert with 1:3600 odds, I throw all the other cards away in disgust. What happened?

So I promised to explain about the BGS 9 2000-01 Steve Francis Fleer E/X No Boundaries Insert card (worth $15) I pulled out of a pack the other day. What the heck does all this mean?

BGS 9 = BGS stands for Beckett Grading Service. They grade cards on a scale of 1-10, 10 being the highest grade a card can receive. As of this writing, about 0.2% of graded cards receive a 10. To receive a 10, a card must have 50/50 centering, 4 sharp corners and edges, and a scratchless surface. This is a lot harder than you think. One tiny tiny imperfection and you can kiss that 10 goodbye.

2000-01 = Set year.

Steve Francis = This is obvious.

Fleer E/X = This is the name of the set. Yes, yes I know, Fleer used to be one brand by itself but now Fleer has all kinds of sub-brands like Ultra, Mystique, Showcase, and E/X.

No Boundaries = This is the name of a subset within the Fleer E/X set. Most sets have insert sets within their sets to make the packs more attractive. Usually these subsets are limited in printing and are therefore more valuable and harder to receive in a pack of cards, thus making them highly coveted.

So there you have it… Basketball Cards 101. Pure insanity isn't it? If I've managed to confuse you even more and you're thinking of running to your local Victoria's Secret, don't worry: you'll probably be LESS confused there. Otherwise, go to your local sports card store and ask for a pack of basketball cards. I dare you.