Panini Announces Contenders Short Prints
Per a press release from Panini, the following players are short prints in the Contenders set:
"The following players are printed to 499 or fewer: Hasheem Thabeet, James Harden, Tyreke Evans
, Jordan Hill, Brandon Jennings
and Tyler Hansbrough.
These players were produced to 649 or fewer: Blake Griffin, Dante Cunningham, Earl Clark
, Jonny Flynn
, Stephen Curry
and Terrence Williams."
We here at Penny Sleeves guessed that Harden, Evans, Jennings and Clark were SPs but we did not see it coming with Griffin and Curry.
Clearly, the big names get listed en masse like Griffin and Curry and we believe that's what threw us off.
Additionally, although there are SPs in this set its really not quite the same as football with guys #'d to 21 etc. Click the player names above to see what of the SPs is available on eBay!
Contenders SP Tracker: 2/13/2010 Update
There are now 1,100 items open if you search Contenders in basketball on eBay and an additional 2,100 closed. When I started this tracker there were only 400 open.
I will continue to update the numbers as often as I get the chance.
| Player | Listed | Sold |
| Brandon Jennings |
6 | 16 |
| Tyreke Evans |
8 | 17 |
| James Harden |
8 | 11 |
| Blake Griffin |
13 | 18 |
| Jrue Holiday |
13 | 14 |
| Ty Lawson |
22 | 37 |
| Jonny Flynn |
14 | 14 |
| DeJuan Blair |
19 | 28 |
| Earl Clark |
8 | 8 |
| Stephen Curry |
7 | 23 |
To see what's listed of any particular player, just click their name. It will take you to the eBay search for their Contenders Autos. So here are my predictions:
Non-SPs: Griffin, Lawson, Blair, Curry
Possible SPs: Harden, Evans, Jennings
Sure SPs: Clark
All the others, it is too early to call, do you think my predictions are right?
Contenders SP Tracker – 2/10/10 Update
There are now 1,100 items open if you search Contenders in basketball on eBay and an additional 1,500 closed. When I started this tracker there were only 400 open.
I will continue to update the numbers as often as I get the chance.
| Player | Listed | Sold |
| Brandon Jennings |
6 | 12 |
| Tyreke Evans |
10 | 8 |
| James Harden |
9 | 7 |
| Blake Griffin |
13 | 12 |
| Jrue Holiday |
9 | 9 |
| Ty Lawson |
23 | 22 |
| Jonny Flynn |
14 | 9 |
| DeJuan Blair |
21 | 19 |
| Earl Clark |
5 | 5 |
| Stephen Curry |
8 | 13 |
To see what's listed of any particular player, just click their name. It will take you to the eBay search for their Contenders Autos. So here are my predictions:
Non-SPs: Griffin, Lawson, Blair
Possible SPs: Harden, Evans
Sure SPs: Clark
All the others, it is too early to call, do you think my predictions are right?
Contenders SP Tracker – 02/08/10 Update
There are roughly twice as many Contenders auctions in the basketball category than when I started this tracker.
I will continue to update the numbers as often as I get the chance.
| Player | Listed | Sold |
| Brandon Jennings |
8 | 8 |
| Tyreke Evans |
3 | 6 |
| James Harden |
6 | 6 |
| Blake Griffin |
17 | 6 |
| Jrue Holiday |
7 | 6 |
| Ty Lawson |
19 | 16 |
| Jonny Flynn |
12 | 6 |
| DeJuan Blair |
17 | 14 |
| Earl Clark |
6 | 3 |
| Stephen Curry |
6 | 11 |
If you are interested in checking my totals, or finding out what of each player is listed, you can simply click through on the player's name and see the total cards listed presently.
It seems like Lawson, Griffin and Blair are out of the running for SPs and the early Contenders (sorry) for SPs are Earl Clark, James Harden and Tyreke Evans.
Another note, there are 963 auctions currently when you search "Contenders" in the eBay category basketball. There are 1,081 closed auctions under the same search parameters. That just isn't very many auctions, this product is not being busted en masse even though I view as Panini's best basketball effort to date.
Contenders Basketball SP’s – 2/5/10 Update
There are roughly twice as many Contenders auctions in the basketball category than when I started this tracker yesterday.
I will continue to update the numbers as often as I get the chance.
| Player | Listed | Sold |
| Brandon Jennings |
11 | 5 |
| Tyreke Evans |
1 | 6 |
| James Harden |
5 | 4 |
| Blake Griffin |
11 | 4 |
| Jrue Holiday |
6 | 4 |
| Ty Lawson |
17 | 7 |
| Jonny Flynn |
8 | 4 |
| DeJuan Blair |
10 | 12 |
| Earl Clark |
4 | 2 |
| Stephen Curry |
6 | 6 |
If you are interested in checking my totals, or finding out what of each player is listed, you can simply click through on the player's name and see the total cards listed presently.
It seems like Lawson and Blair are out of the running for SPs and the early Contenders (sorry) for SPs are Earl Clark and James Harden.
Contenders Basketball SP Tracker – 2/4/10 Update
There are roughly 20% more Contenders auctions in the basketball category than when I started this tracker yesterday.
I will continue to update the numbers as often as I get the chance. Again, its early to try and guess SPs but the one notable thing I saw since yesterday was a Tyreke Evans redemption selling for $200, simply incredible
| Player | Listed | Sold |
| Brandon Jennings |
5 | 2 |
| Tyreke Evans |
3 | 1 |
| James Harden |
0 | 3 |
| Blake Griffin |
4 | 2 |
| Jrue Holiday |
5 | 1 |
| Ty Lawson |
4 | 2 |
| Jonny Flynn |
2 | 4 |
| DeJuan Blair |
4 | 7 |
| Earl Clark |
2 | 1 |
| Stephen Curry |
5 | 3 |
If you are interested in checking my totals, or finding out what of each player is listed, you can simply click through on the player's name and see the total cards listed presently.
Although the results are very preliminary, it sure doesn't seem that DeJuan Blair is an SP. It also intrigues me that the 3rd pick, James Harden, doesn't have any autographs listed right now.
2009 Playoff Contenders Basketball on eBay – SP Tracker
2009 Playoff Contenders cards have hit eBay! On-card autos, NBA jerseys and possible SPs to be announced later all add to the excitement of this product. Contenders has been a huge hit in football since 1998, it remains to be seen how the basketball card collectors will react to it.
One of the most exciting parts of this release is trying to guess what players will be SP'd. Often, after SP information is released, huge price spikes happen. So lets try tracking 10 notable rookie autos. I will update this list as time goes on and educated guesses will be made on who, signed how much, of what. I will track the player and the amount of each autograph listed and sold:
| Player | Listed | Sold |
| Brandon Jennings |
4 | 0 |
| Tyreke Evans |
2 | 0 |
| James Harden |
2 | |
| Blake Griffin |
3 | |
| Jrue Holiday |
2 | |
| Ty Lawson |
2 | |
| Jonny Flynn |
4 | |
| DeJuan Blair |
5 | 1 |
| Earl Clark |
1 | |
| Stephen Curry |
3 | 1 |
If you are interested in checking my totals, or finding out what of each player is listed, you can simply click through on the player's name and see the total cards listed presently.
It is too early for prognostication upon what cards are short prints and which are not. The next few days should bring us a great deal more information as this product makes its way into the hands of more collectors.
Brandon Jennings Cards – still selling for a small fortune
There was no way Brandon Jennings could keep up his hot start to the season. However, his cards sure seemed to have. Check out these auctions on eBay, he is still selling very well!
In spite of the fact that he has #1 - cooled down statistically and #2 - had many more cards issued, Jennings is still selling extremely well.
2009-10 Panini Base Basketball Review
One of the questions often floated around by the powers-that-be of card collecting is, "how do we get kids back into collecting." If you measure by age-at-heart, there are still many kids involved in collecting, myself included. However, children between the ages of 8-18 are not nearly as engaged as they once were. Those of us kids at heart are involved because we feel like kids when collecting but can play with big people money.
When I was busting 1990 Topps, I paid $.44 for a pack, got a piece of gum and a chance at cards that were truly worth something. To attract kids back to the hobby, we must offer them this same proposition. A product to entice young kids must be:
A. Relatively cheap - allowances are not hundreds of dollars a week.
B. Provide variety (large set with all their favorite players) - just a base set with nothing else (a la 1990 Topps) no longer cuts it.
C. Quantity - these kids are buying a pack, spending all their allowance and coming away with three cards just won't work.
D. Give them a chance to hit something meaningful - kids aren't dumb, in fact, many know crap when they see it quicker than some adults.
I believe this is what Panini is trying to accomplish with its Base Basketball release. Lets compare it to my criteria above and see how it measures up.
A. Cheap Cost: check, $40 a box for 36 packs of 12 cards each. 432 cards a box!
B. Variety: check, 9 different insert sets, 400 card base set, sticker autos, on-card autos
C. Card Quantity: check, 12 cards per pack, 432 cards per box, over 8,000 cards in a case
D. Chance for meaningful hits: check, one auto per box, the on-card autos are very rare and command high $
If you are looking for refractors, multi-color patches, high gloss on-card autos, huge $$ hits or high-end packs, look elsewhere. If you are looking for a solid basketball product to break for cheap, this is your product.
I picked up 4 blister packs (the 42 cards per pack deals) at Wal-Mart. I got a Danny Green auto, a handful of rookies (including Jennings and Evans) and a variety of inserts. As an adult, I know I am not going to make my money back on the Danny Green auto but the fact that I got one is sweet. As a kid, I would have been stoked to pull an auto. Scans are below. For whatever reason, the stickers were a favorite of mine. Reminds me of the 1994 FunPack I used to love so much.
Timing – now that's timing – Brandon Jennings Patch Auto
Anyone busting any 2009-10 basketball products right now is hoping to see Brandon Jennings cards.
Apparently, h2doit on eBay hit the jackpot.
I'm not a huge fan of how the auto smudged on the sticker but you know what, I'd take the card if you forced it upon me 
