2025 Basketball Cards. Where to Buy?

Where can I buy basketball cards that have this year's rookie class?

What's a good set to buy?

(Wrong thread.)

Should I get this?

https://www.topps.com/products/2025-26-topps-basketball-value-box

Or this?

https://www.topps.com/products/2025-26-topps-basketball-mega-box

Are "Rookie Photo Shoot" cards good? What about these "Rise To Stardom" ones like they have for Kon Knueppel?

@Trueblood? Thoughts?

I don't like the look of those rookie cards I linked to, but can't find much else.

This Ace Bailey one is dumb. His name is Ace and they put him on a King card?

I'm not sure what the difference is between the value box and the mega box. The two cards that they highlighted seemed to be the same for both boxes

What am I missing?

Forgetting mixing up Ace with a King but just putting them in with the context of a playing card is lame

Agree. Don't like what Topps is doing at all.

I also found out yesterday that Topps makes unlicensed cards.

The licensed cards are by Panini Hoops. They do their rookie cards in January 2026.

So I guess I'll wait until then.

Meanwhile, I'll see if I can find a rookie Victor Wembanyama and Nikola Jokic somewhere, while also looking out for Giannis Antetokounmpo and Kawhi Leonard.

Here's an example of a Panini Hoops card. This design looks better too. At least it's generic and not trying to make a pun out of a player's name.

Scratch that.

Topps is now the licensed company, starting October 2025. Panini is now unlicensed.

I guess I'll get this, even though it has the dumb Ace Bailey card. I'd pay them to NOT include it.

https://www.topps.com/products/2025-26-topps-basketball-value-box

Then, I'll try to find a rookie Wembanyama, Antetokounmpo, Jokic, Leonard through Panini. Maybe an Isaiah Collier.

That makes the most sense. Now that Panini is unlicensed, can they fool people similar to how ticket scalpers give out fake tickets. Meaning, could they sell you a Giannis rookie for quadruple figures only for you to find out later that it's a fake but have no recourse being that they're unlicensed?

Topps also has these cards that are available for 2 or 3 days, called Topps NOW.

They celebrate statistical milestones that are happening in real time.

So in addition to Antetokounmpo's totals through his first two games, they also celebrate players like Asa Newell and Cedric Cowell.

They are also doing this for MLB. I just realized all of this today, because I hadn't paid attention to sports cards in years.

So I guess if your favorite athlete does something cool, look to see if there's a Topps NOW card celebrating that achievement.

Remember when Chris Kaman had a 23 rebounds against Minnesota or 22 rebounds against Charlotte? I wonder if those would have generated Topps NOW cards.

Good question. I wonder if there's a way to tell when the card was manufactured. If I bought a Panini rookie card from 2013, it would be real. If I bought one that was manufactured in October 2025 or later, it's not valuable. For me, I just....

If it's unlicensed, they can't use team logos or names. So I guess that would be one way to tell.

This Ace Bailey card might be worse.

It's not just him though. They are releasing packs of holiday themed cards.

I just want normal ones.

I have some baseball cards that say "1992 draft pick".

Should I put those next to the team that drafted him, or next to the team that he'd actually make his MLB debut with?

My other cards are already organized in alphabetical order by team name.

Then I have these draft pick cards in no order, at the end.

Also, I think it's funny that I have a Pedro Martinez card that says he's a relief pitcher. That's not what we think of him, now.

One of the sellers who sent a John Stockton 1989 All-Star game card, included a 1991 Mike Brown card.

I had to look him up. He's not the coach guy, he was someone else that played for the Jazz in 1990 - 1991.

One of the sellers who sent a Gary Payton card, threw in two MLB cards. Including 1989 Angels relief pitcher Rich Montelone.

I remember seeing Mike Brown at the Fox Hills Mall in Culver City with Karl Malone and Delaney Rudd, John Stockton's backup back in April of 1992.

If the Jazz and April of 1992 rings a bell then it's for a reason. The Jazz and Clippers were matched up in the first round of the playoffs only to have the series interrupted by the Rodney King Riots. They had to move the Clipper home games to the Anaheim convention center. It was a great atmosphere in such a small facility that only holds around 8,000. Clippers won both games there before being ousted in the deciding game 5 back in Utah

Did you go to games during that series?

I did not. I was a 20 year old without a driver's license lol and LA didn't have the mass transit that it does today. I lived on 20th and Pico in Santa Monica at the time so had the expo line been in effect, I could've gotten to the sports arena with a straight shot from 17th and Colorado station to the Coliseum/sports arena stop with no transfers. Unfortunately, the expo line was still over 20 years from being a thing

With the games being transferred to Anaheim, I could've taken the expo to downtown then transferred to the red line to Union station and then taken Metrolink to Anaheim and walked. Unfortunately, Metrolink was over a decade away from being a thing

That left me with a bus system that could get me relatively close to the sports arena but with no way of getting to Anaheim

Thanks. Were they shopping at the mall? Do you remember what stores they might have gone into?

I can find Reggie Evans Nets cards, but not a Clippers.

Does it count if it has a picture of him in a Brooklyn uniform, but has his Clippers stats?

I'm pretty sure clothing stores because in those days, the clothing stores were on the lower level where I saw them while books and music were upstairs. Of course, Amazon pretty much put those stores out to pasture. I'm guessing it's more tech and jewelry oriented nowadays although the only reason I go to that mall now is for BJ's, Lucille's and from time to time, Olive Garden. You can see them all on the ground level from the 405 freeway

So I bought the 2025 - 2026 9 pack set in November 2025, but haven't opened it yet. Maybe I'll do it in May. I've had to make some weird decisions for players like LeBron James and Kawhi Leonard. Players that have played on many teams. I am trying to organize my 9 card pages by team. I.E. One page will only have players from the same team. But with those two guys, they've switched teams. What makes it more confusing is that there's a card that talks about LeBron's 2009 - 2010 season, but has him in a Miami Heat jersey on the cover. There's a card that talks about Kawhi's career thus far, and his 2017 - 2018 Spurs season, but has a picture of him in a Raptors jersey. There's a card that talks about Kawhi's shot against Philadelphia game 7, mentioning that "hang time" doesn't just apply to hops, but to a ball in flight. But it has a picture of him in a Clippers jersey. In cases like these, I've decided that I am putting the card on the page that the back of the card is most associated with. So that LeBron card is going on the Cavs page, not the Heat page. BUT, the card that mentions the 2017 - 2018 Spurs season, is going on the Raptors page, because part of the written description says that Kawhi will look to bring Toronto its first title in 2018 - 2019. So it is referencing the upcoming Raptors season. AND, there's really nothing positive to talk about with regards to the Spurs 2017 - 2018 season with regards to Kawhi. The card that has Kawhi in a Clippers jersey but mentions Philadelphia game 7, is going on the Raptors page, because the description on the....

Thoughts on this?

I'm kind of thinking pass on this card. It doesn't talk about the Clippers in the written description. Only in reference to the just completed season. The written description is more about his career in general, than anything about his Clippers season.

So there is an Air Defense series card for Kawhi Leonard, but it's him as a Clipper.

I need to see something of him as a Spur, since that's when he won his awards.

Pass on it. My lasting image of Reggie Evans is of him giving Chris Kaman a noogie and then being pushed into the stantion behind the basket by Kaman and then just lying there with a goofy smile on his face

I bet you anything that if you do a search on ebay, it will show up

I've been doing that. That's where I buy my cards.

I even tried asking AI if there's a card with a defensive pose. AI said there wasn't for Kawhi, because he was a low key star. So he wasn't photographed as much, and if he was, it was for offensive poses.

I don't like that answer.

I was able to find several Mookie Blaylock ones last night in a defensive pose.

I thought a noogie was when you forcefully rub someone's head.

There's probably a different term for Reggie Evans grabbing Kaman where he did. I guess Evans was trying to do a prostate check.

Well, Evans has a good moment as a Clipper. He was on the court during game 7 against Memphis. Del Negro had his bench in the 4th quarter, and they were playing so well, that he left them in.

Using Popcorn Machine:

https://popcornmachine.net/gf?date=20120513&game=LACMEM

A 1 point deficit entering the 4th turned into an 8 point lead, while going on a 16 - 5 run, with a lineup of:

Nick Young

Reggie Evans

Mo Williams

Kenyon Martin

Eric Bledsoe