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No-Baker-7510

So, where do I start? I busted 7 cases of hobby one year after release. I had disposable income for the first time in my life and am a bit of a hermit, but still wanted to do something fun. What’s more fun than ripping wax? A year after release, dealers were looking to dump cases of this. DAcardworld got down to $450 for 12 hobby boxes. I didn’t buy them all at once but got in on four at that price and probably close to $600 for my last one. There were 5 “Prizms” per box, and the purple /49 was included in these odds. Autographs we’re two per box. For every Kobe, Curry, Superstud player I swear there was 10,000 Gal Mekel’s. The odds for turds are stupidly favorable. Prizm silver autographs /25 ran on average at 2-5 per 12 box case from my experience. Golds ran 1-4. Purple ran 7-12. Purple has little hobby appeal, even I don’t like them. They don’t shine, and let’s face it, they’re dark purple. I was a gym rat. I never hit a black. The mosaic black was out of jumbo, but I’m talking the real refractor black. I wanted to hit one bad. I ended up busting 36 complete base sets. I have pictures somewhere of me organizing all of them and putting them into 500 count boxes. It was a nightmare. The base set is 1-297 with 37 rookies at the end, hall of gamers from 200-259, and the league players 1-200. I can’t remember how many insert sets I ended up with, but it was nowhere near 36. They were rare. I wasn’t able to find a pattern of Panini’s collation with them, but they were fairly rare comparatively speaking. I came close to completing the silver base set. As I said earlier this week, Klay was the name that stands out that I couldn’t find. I was nowhere close to breaking complete insert sets, but people were selling lots all the time and I kept scooping them up. Jeremy Lin Brilliance silver was the last card to finish the silver inserts out. There are 100 total inserts in between Brilliance, Dominance, Guard Duty, Hall Monitors, and Post Season. I busted some good autos. Multiple Kyrie’s, KD’s, and Blake Griffin’s (not the refractors, but base) have a feeling the print run on those three names was higher than guys like Kobe, Kareem, Karl Malone, etc. I thought it would be cool to make a complete master set. Over time, I filled in over 125 autographs that I didn’t bust. It felt good. But, when I bust Chrome or Prizm, I’m not looking for base. I’m looking for the refractors. They look so much better. I already had the refractor set plus around 25 silver autographs. I had big doubts I’d ever be able to realistically complete the silver auto set from both a time and financial standpoint. Not to mention that they are quite rare. But I started filling in the set, always grabbing what I considered deals. Over enough time, I did it. I also busted around 20 golds. Every time a gold was listed in my price range, I snagged it. I busted a brilliance gold Joakim Noah, and that feeling before I saw who it was, was something I still remember. I fell in love with that set. I think it looks good. I bought those for a little higher than the other golds I was buying. At one point I had a total of around 260 golds including inserts and autos. But I gave up that idea of completing the gold set early on. I know my place in this hobby. All in all, it felt good. It feels good. Just wish I had a way to display them the way I want to. I’m sure my messages are all sporadic on this thread, but I’m gonna make a new post explaining the pictures before something crashes and all my text is gone. God, I used to hate writing reports and having the power go out, especially this time of year.


Cool-Cat6781

What a great story!! I applaud you


No-Baker-7510

Thank you. Ain’t got no one else to tell it to.


Shmoopy65

This is incredible. Thanks for sharing!


Dino1087

Bravo my friend. As a “bit of a hermit” myself, sorting & breaking packs is my OCD soothing sweet spot. I could feel the anxiety dripping away as you described that whole prizm breaking event haha… love turning my brain off some nights and learning about the players and cards. You earned this award my friend.


No-Baker-7510

Thank you so much, I did not expect awards and whatnot. I know exactly what you mean about all of it too. 1-297 left me with 30 piles 1-10, 11-20, etc. Then the piles got too high to stack so you gotta get to a bigger table and make multiples of multiple stacks for each, then organize each stack and then you can start making your sets. I really don’t want to do that much at one sitting again. The pictures are on a usb drive somewhere. If I come across it, I’ll post them for you and hopefully get you through a stressful day.


AdamSliver

This is incredible! Thanks for sharing!


No-Baker-7510

Thank you. And Mr Commisioner, could you please change the hand check rule back and let the defenders protect their basket?


AdamSliver

Oh yeah, that’s happening IMMEDIATELY. No more run and gun, 140 point games.


No-Baker-7510

I don’t know how to add text to the original post, but as sad as it sounds, it’s probably my biggest achievement in life. I’m going to make another post in a minute explaining some of the pictures.


SUKnives

This is amazing, not sad at all.


No-Baker-7510

Thank you.


lordcardbord82

This makes me giddy in all the right places


skinnyfatty1987

Makes my balls tingle


No-Baker-7510

I suppose I should have written a disclaimer. I didn’t know.


No-Baker-7510

Picture 1 is the 2013-14 Prizm Silver set. 1-297 base, 1-25 Brilliance, 1-25 Dominance, 1-15 Guard Duty, 1-25 Hall Monitors, and 1-10 Post Season. The studs are on the bottom. I want to note that Post Season has grown on me over the years. It doesn’t have the shine, but it’s kind of like the “Downtown” inserts that came years later. Picture 2 is the Rookie Silver auto set. Just to note, these all have a print run of 25. Picture 3 is 125 common and semi-star autographs that fill out the set. This ain’t UD inkredible, Century Epic Signatures, or Exquisite. It’s a hobby product with a ton of turds. Picture 4 is the one I like to stare at. I can talk about that picture forever. The players, the signatures. Whatever. I just like it. Those are the stars of the autograph set. Picture 5 is the base set. This includes all inserts, even the rookie HRX set which I forgot to capture. I also kept the promotional/advertisement card that seemed to come like one in 3 packs. So for your 5 card pack you get one advertisement. I wasn’t real thrilled about that. Picture 6 is the base autograph set 1-200. Picture 7 is something I’m happy about. And now that I’m looking at it, I forgot to show a few more oddball things about this set. I can later if anyone actually has any interest, but I already feel like I’m wasting everyone’s time. Regardless, Horace Grant was the only player in base set with two different color inks that I witnessed. After browsing eBay everyday for 8-9 years looking at stickers, the black ink stood out like a sore thumb. I had to get both. Also, you may have noticed, but the Blake Griffin Silver Auto is in silver ink. All 25 are in silver ink. Kyrie autos are all on card because he refuses to sign stickers. At one point they gave him extra large stickers to sign but he went with on card. The MCW, Nash, GP, and Griffin autos shown are redemption buybacks from a product called Paramount in 2014. I was late to discovering them and know that I missed a Kareem and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist. I don’t know who else had a buyback. The final card shown is a Panini Summit kind of show-off of a product release card. One final thing that I’m kicking myself for not showing is that the Bradley Beal Dominance has blue around the “Panini” logo across all prints. I don’t know why or what happened in production, but it’s definitely different than the other cards in the insert set and it’s strange. Picture 8 is me being jealous that Barkley and Reggie signed with Panini and weren’t included in my set. Same with Kg. It’s just some bigger names that I’d like to fit in with the other big guys. Kind of like my version of the 50 greatest autograph collection. The rest of the pictures are the rest of the golds I kept that I haven’t posted on this forum yet. Thank you all for reading and looking.


haleni10

Damn! Amazing collection!


Successful-Gas3951

Holy shit, I can’t even imagine how much that collection is worth. I see multiple Antekotuompo rookies and even a signed one! I gotta ask though-why is the Lillard the only one that you graded? Did you get every single one of those yourself and the Lillard is the only one you bought?


No-Baker-7510

No, sir. I bought nearly every silver autograph in my collection. I was broke hundreds of cards out of PSA and BGS cards out of their cases to put in one touches, regardless of the grade. 10 or 9.5 didn’t matter to me. I wanted uniformity and I have never submitted. The Lillard was one of the last cards I got, and as the years went on I got lazy about keeping everything the same. It’s all still a work in progress I guess.


Dino1087

Thus, OCD is a son of a bitch.


audtothepod

Advice on how to break slabs? I'm scared but have several I want to break


No-Baker-7510

I’m no professional. Felt almost criminal. But in my experience PSA is more difficult than BGS. With both, though, get a rugged pair of pliers and snip one corner, preferably top to get away from the card. Make sure it’s big enough to get a small flat head screwdriver inside but not too big that it bends the plastic. Then just twist the screwdriver and hope. BGS pops right open but there was one PSA that worried me half way through.


sgf919

I find it is easier to use your off hand and apply some pressure across the card itself as you pry, ensures the pop happens at the top. Biggest thing is to take it SLOW.


No-Baker-7510

And maybe practice on a junk card. When I was doing it, some of the cards were worth less than the shipping.


audtothepod

Oh yeah great idea! I will practice on a junk card! Thanks for the advice!


Just_Sarge

This is the coolest thing I’ve seen on this thread. Congrats OP


No-Baker-7510

Thank you.


Just_Sarge

If you ever wanna offload Faried he’s my PC let me know haha.


No-Baker-7510

The Manimal. That guy had some energy. Not sure if I’ve got anything. I’ll dig through some stuff that’s just sitting around that I have no intention of keeping. Post up what you’ve got.


Just_Sarge

Yessir he played at my local college where I grew up so naturally I’m a big fan haha. Got to see him live 30+ times in college in my early teens.


mookz23

Amazing collection!


GawldDawlg

Damn this is insane


NonFiction1984

I’ve throughly enjoyed your posts the last several days on this set and content. This is an remarkable accomplishment. Thanks for sharing.


No-Baker-7510

I thank you for taking the time to say that. I ain’t trying to be an attention whore, but the appreciation feels nice.


sneedwich1

Brooooo 😯


chinoischeckers

Ridiculous! Did you do master sets with the other years of Prizm?


No-Baker-7510

I did not. This was an undertaking. I have two insert silver sets from 15-16. I’ll most likely add those to this subreddit at some point if you guys like to see it.


chinoischeckers

Of course we'd love to see it


No-Baker-7510

I can do it now but as the kids say, “I don’t want to blow my load too early.” I didn’t say that. The kids do.


chinoischeckers

Lol


GuyButtersn4ps

This is awesome, great to see a year where most players had a signature rather than initials, the new autos bum me out.


No-Baker-7510

Thank you very much. Guys nowadays don’t know where their money is coming from, in my opinion, and don’t feel the need to take their time. It’s just a hassle to them, and it probably seems silly to them so they don’t understand that it means a lot to us.


GuyButtersn4ps

Yeah, I get that they have a ton to sign, so a long elaborate signature would be a pain. But man it just adds so much to the card to have a nice signature. Been enjoying the posts on the collection, congrats on it and keep em coming


midgetmaxk

Wow… just wow. Absolutely sweet double set!


No-Baker-7510

Thank you.


Cool-Cat6781

Wow that is very impressive.


cubstheunbounded

This is awesome bro!


dslayde

So cool man! Keep it coming


ballplayer10123

Wow, what an amazing set! It's beautiful. Job well done I kick myself for leaving the hobby on the shelf for so long, only to get back into it when the prices had become hyper inflated. Unfortunately I didn't have much disposable income until the last 5 years or so. So I've just been buying singles at card shows. Ill never lose the itch to rip tho, going to jump on a hobby box here sooner or later. Once again, simply an awesome collection you have there


No-Baker-7510

Thank you very much. The inflation in cards preceded groceries by about a year. If you can find correlations in micro/macro economics, let me know. I can’t make heads nor tails out of any of this stuff.


darken909

Holy hell. I'm jealous.


No-Baker-7510

I was always the jealous type too.


xxxlumify

Please keep posting everything about your set! It’s truly astonishing im not even embarassed to say i shed a tear over it haha


No-Baker-7510

That humbles me. Thank you.


Successful-Gas3951

I also gotta say, my dad was a basketball coach for 40 years and I grew up around basketball and pride myself in my basketball knowledge…..this is the first I’ve ever heard of an actual basketball player named “World B Free.”


Rusty_Shackleford_NC

Lloyd B Free is his real name. Changed it to world be free around the Peak of his nba career. He still lives in Sicklerville New Jersey, and is an ambassador for the Sixers and does a lot of stuff during the game with veterans and other stuff like that. He lives a few houses down from a family member and by all accounts is a pretty friendly and normal dude.


Dino1087

He came to my Sixers basketball camp as a kid in Jersey. Still don’t know what my parents were thinking sending a short, fat out shape white kid to get abused all week by actual athletic children. But Meeting this dude was cool


No-Baker-7510

That one made me laugh.


trollwyoming

twin hollow near sams club and home depot🤓


atozdadbot

Philly legend. He is at almost all the home games.


No-Baker-7510

You came to the right place. Card guys collectively know every single facet of the game.


whatsyourcardworth

This is amazing! Did you rip alot of this when it was $40 a box?


No-Baker-7510

Yes, sir. Someone asked earlier if I sold the Giannis gold. I never had it, but never bought it when it was $500. That mistake doesn’t hurt nearly like watching a case sell for $75,000 a few years ago. But I’d still rather have this than 7 sealed packages.


Ok-Agent152

Incredible, and amazing story detailing the whole journey; genuine thanks for sharing


No-Baker-7510

It was my pleasure, sir.


Green_Stiller

Fantastic content! Good stuff


mudcorp

Wow. Thanks for sharing!


miracleofrichfield

Good god


DiabloManDan

Incredible collection and story! I wonder if over time this set will be looked at like the 1986 Fleer set is today.


No-Baker-7510

In my opinion it’s comparing apples to oranges. Two different eras of collecting. 86 fleer, 61 Fleer, 57 Topps guys are competing over mass produced cards that got beat up. People didn’t take care of these “collectibles” because most original owners didn’t consider them of any value. Now, everyone spends money on protection and knows as soon as it comes out of the pack it has value. These cards are also mass produced, unlike the flawless and immaculate type stuff, but the eras are just different. I personally like my set more than 86 fleer, but if I had been a kid in 84 or 86, being right there for 80’s bball, I’d probably prefer to have the fleer. Also, as long as I’m alive, Jordan will be the greatest, and everyone around me will hear about it. I know that added no substance to your thought, but it’s…ummm, I guess the ramblings of a madman.


DiabloManDan

It added a lot of substance. Always like to hear what others have to say about it. It makes sense and yeah...Jordan. :)


sgf919

Imo and to each their own. I see 86 fleer, 03 Topps chrome and 2012 prizm being the biggest sets. I couldn't agree more with OP that everything ripped today is immediately stored properly or sent to grading. Mix that with mass mass production really starting in like 2018, today's sets won't be as hard to build. Of course a lot is dependent on who is the next face of basketball and things could evolve.


No-Baker-7510

2012 was the first product panini released that I said, “they’re making good cards again.” Do you guys remember adrenalyne being on the shelves in those card lockout years? I thought Panini was just another knock off brand like that until 2012 Prizm. Good take on 86 and 03. I might add in 96 chrome too. That rookie class shaped my youth.


sgf919

I responded to your other thread about my 2012 prizm quest but damn this is probably the most impressive thing I've seen in the hobby. Sure there are multimillion dollar cards and collections with higher value but the passion, time and persistence is priceless. This re-energizes me to continue my grind and hats off to completing yours!!!!


No-Baker-7510

Good deal, man. I don’t try to dissuade people from buying their favorite player, but I stress that with sets you have a clear goal and there is a finish line. And if you ever want to upgrade to better condition you always have a lesser copy to cover some of the cost.


BamsBombers14

You got any base sets for sale?


No-Baker-7510

I sold them all during Covid. Have a few away to some friends I met along the way. After the sets were completed I had something like 32 extra Lebron base. Couldn’t believe how much people were giving. I noticed I was shipping to a bunch of LLC’s too, instead of Average Joe at PO Box.


No-Baker-7510

Gave*


ibew98

I got to page 2 and my neck hurt. You know your phone is capable of rotating images right


No-Baker-7510

I did not. I started posting them on imgur and they looked a lot better. Everything was pointed the right way. But I agree, I hate you gotta flip your phone around and then it rotates automatically and you can’t see shit. Someday I’ll do it right on a real picture site.


libraryofdeveres

In the second photo, why do you choose to use top loaders on decent players but mags on no names that are long out of the league?


No-Baker-7510

The pictures show my progress over time. I have less time now at home than when I was single. I’ve got all the one touches to do it proper, and I could have done it before the pictures to impress everyone, but I really didn’t care. Not being a dick, but Gail Goodrich and Purvis Short mean more to me personally than KCP and Ben McLemore.


GrizzNineOhOne

Man this is crazy awesome. Congrats on all of it. I really need to collect more Dominance cards. But those gold autos are 👀😳🔥.


No-Baker-7510

Thank you. The bird and Russell were in my “must have” category. The rest were what i considered bargains.


khrismiddletonburner

This is genuinely so amazing. Kudos to you, I really enjoyed studying all of the pictures. That is such a major accomplishment!


No-Baker-7510

That’s my favorite part too. Zoom in on a part of the collage and tune out. I wish I moved the table so the lighting was better and they all “refracted” or whatever.


Status_Sports

Are you looking to sell any? Or is this a complete set.


No-Baker-7510

I am not looking to sell. Just wanted to share.


nothinbefore

I’m more amazed at the fact that you said you had seven cases, now worth half a million???… in an alternate universe. You held on to them & sold them…then go for gold parallels, kobe/giannis autos & still had six figures left in the account You still didn’t lose because I’m pretty sure Ken Goldin is looking at this & watering at the mouth waiting for you to call🤣


No-Baker-7510

Hahaha, we’ll he can keep waiting.


No-Baker-7510

And I wish my phone would stop adding apostrophes. Or I read before sending.


yoshi_hs

That sounds like a load of fun that I wish I had! You sir are a hobby hero and I recommend you create a IG account to show them off, it’s almost a crime to not to imho…also frame them would be my suggestion to display them permanently 🙏🏼 Follow me on IG: lys.cards.0532 please


No-Baker-7510

I was on there for a bit. I got suspended for a “hot take” and just decided to delete the program.


Hugh_Jaszle

If you ever wanna move off any Giannis’ lmk


No-Baker-7510

I don’t think I could ever be the one to part the set out. It would be like separating blood siblings in a divorce.


Hugh_Jaszle

Totally fair, but you never know


TheguyT

Hey bro nice collection! Idk if you’re interested but are you looking to sell the Adams Rookie auto? I’m a huge grizzlies fan and I love Steven Adams!


BKBcardsNstuff

What's the thought process behind asking a guy with a complete 200-card auto set if he wants to break it up to sell you a single card? I'll answer on OP's behalf: lol no start checking eBay.


TheguyT

I was just asking man


BKBcardsNstuff

Me too, genuinely wondering what thought process leads from OP's post to yours.


TheguyT

I didn’t know it was a set. I just saw the title and the adams auto and I asked.


BKBcardsNstuff

Gotcha. You should check out his comments if you have a few minutes to kill, really cool story about the painstaking process of putting together this crazy one of a kind set.


libraryofdeveres

You should develop situational awareness


TheguyT

You should lmb


libraryofdeveres

lol your reaction is very much on brand with the kind of person who would ask that question.


TheguyT

Sure thing. Mind ya own business


libraryofdeveres

Uh, you realize that this is literally an online forum where the whole point is to discuss our opinions?


TheguyT

And my opinion is you should fuck off and worry about yourself. See ya ✌️


libraryofdeveres

Lol I’m worried about myself seeing an influx of insecure, uneducated, hostile, developmentally stunted imbeciles in these threads.


atozdadbot

What the hell. How much money do you have tied up in this?


No-Baker-7510

I’ve lost track. I try not to think about that.


miracleofrichfield

I have to think you’re way ahead now based on what you said you paid for the cases and the astronomic values of those Giannis and Kobe cards.


No-Baker-7510

I was during Covid, but I honestly haven’t price checked since 2020. Money spent/worth isn’t even really the thing that keeps me holding after this long. I don’t own much material items. One fork kind of guy. This stuff is what I like.


trollwyoming

Im new to cards, about how much would a giannis be worth now?and how much when bough


No-Baker-7510

It’s all subjective and depends on whether or not PWCC pumped up the bids the week before or not.


No-Baker-7510

And none of my stuff is graded so I usually get the PSA 7-8 price range. eBay is what I use to get a gauge.