Some Sets Are Made To Collect But The Amount Of Parallels Make You Say "Forget It!"

One of my favorite sets of the year is Panini’s 2014 Prizm World Cup, which came out in May. I am a huge soccer fan and every four years during the World Cup I am in heaven so this set is ideal for me.

 

I have not been a big fan of Panini’s Prizm releases, they just never sat well with me, but the collaboration of soccer and Prizm works well here. I dig this release and have decided to put together a set, something I have not done in many years. The set itself is not huge and consists of the base set (201 cards), ten inserts (210 cards total) and three autograph sets (62 cards total) for a total of 472 total cards on the checklist. I plan on skipping the autographs for now so the 411 base card/insert set shouldn’t be too difficult to put together. I may pick up a hobby box but so far I have been slowly building the set using hanger boxes and singles.

 

As I entered my cards in to Zistle I noticed that the base set was added but nothing else. Zistle uses “Set Experts” to keep individual sets up to date and complete as possible and there was not a set expert for the 2014 Prizm World Cup release so I applied and was accepted. I put in some serious time this weekend and was able to complete the entire checklist for the release. As I was verifying the checklists I noticed the total amount of cards on the checklist is an insane 5,688 cards.

 

I feel sorry for the completest set collectors who need every single card an all of its parallels. The main 472 cards are manageable but the problem here, as with most modern sets, is that there are tons of parallels. Most of the cards have 10-12 parallels with some, the Black and El Samba parallels, limited to 1/1, there are also parallels limited to #/5, #/7, #/10, #/25, #/99, #/149 and #/199.

 

This product is made for the set collector and the positive thing about collecting this set is that there have been so many cases busted, Panini actually sold out, that you can pick up base cards cheap on the secondary market. It is actually cheaper to pick up a lot of 20-25 cards for $5 than it is to purchase a $20 hanger box with 24 cards. It is going to take some time but I look forward to the challenge.

Not So Chat-Worthy

So the other day I got an email blast from Terry Melia promoting Chatograph, which I had never heard of before even though it has been around for a bit. The information included in the email describes the service as a way to allow a fan to have a personalized interaction with their favorite athlete, artist or personality. I thought “That is pretty cool”, who wouldn’t want to have a one on one with someone they idolize, even if it is a simple chat session. Additionally you get an autographed copy of the interaction, a nice kicker.

 

So I look in to it and find out that it is not really an interaction as much as you submit a question or comment that is then forwarded to the star, who answers it. A print out is made, the star autographs it and the print out is sent to you. So basically they took the idea of fans sending their favorite athlete a letter and TTM request (roughly $1 for the stamps and a SASE) and added in a middle man and charge up to $30 for the same thing. This left me scratching my head as to why this would succeed unless they can bring in big stars or people who are not known for signing autographs. I think I will pass.

The History Of The NBA's #1

Last month I compiled a “History of the NFL’s #1” post where I listed each #1 NFL pick back to the origination on the NFL Draft in 1936. I had some fun putting it all together so I decided to put together a “History of the NBA’s #1” list dating back to the beginning of the BAA/NBA in 1947.

I am trying to be as uniform as possible but with basketball there were years where only one company, or in some cases no companies, producing basketball cards. This is where I used the player’s first available cards. In the first couple of years of the BAA/NBA there were no cards produced at all and by the time the first cards were produced nearly a decade later these early players had already retired or moved on from the sport, in these situations I was able to find pictures of the players (except Howie Shannon in 1949).

 

2013 Anthony Bennett, Cleveland Cavaliers

2012 Anthony Davis, New Orleans Pelicans

2011 Kyrie Irving, Cleveland Cavaliers

2010 John Wall, Washington Wizards

2009 Blake Griffin, Los Angeles Clippers

2008 Derrick Rose, Chicago Bulls

2007 Greg Oden, Portland Trail Blazers

2006 Andrea Bargnani, Toronto Raptors

2005 Andrew Bogut, Milwaukee Bucks

2004 Dwight Howard, Orlando Magic

2003 LeBron James, Cleveland Cavaliers

2002 Yao Ming, Houston Rockets

2001 Kwame Brown, Washington Wizards

2000 Kenyon Martin, New Jersey Nets

1999 Elton Brand, Chicago Bulls

1998 Michael Olowokandu, Los Angeles Clippers

1997 Tim Duncan, San Antonio Spurs

1996 Allen Iverson, Philadelphia 76ers

1995 Joe Smith, Golden State Warriors

1994 Glenn Robinson, Milwaukee Bucks

1993 Chris Webber, Orlando Magic

1992 Shaquille O’Neal, Orlando Magic

1991 Larry Johnson, Charlotte Hornets

1990 Derrick Coleman, New Jersey Nets

1989 Pervis Ellison, Sacramento Kings (1990-91 Hoops Basketball)

1988 Danny Manning, Los Angeles Clippers (1989-90 Hoops Basketball)

1987 David Robinson, San Antonio Spurs (1989-90 Hoops Basketball)

1986 Brad Daugherty, Cleveland Cavaliers (1987-88 Fleer Basketball)

1985 Patrick Ewing, New York Knicks

1984 Hakeem Olajuwon, Houston Rockets

1983 Ralph Samson, Houston Rockets

1982 James Worthy, Los Angeles Lakers (1983-84 Star Basketball)

1981 Mark Aguirre, Dallas Mavericks (1983-84 Star Basketball)

1980 Joe Barry Carroll, Golden State Warriors (1981-82 Topps Basketball)

1979 Earvin Johnson, Los Angeles Lakers (1980-81 Topps Basketball)

1978 Mychal Thompson, Portland Trail Blazers (1979-80 Topps Basketball)

1977 Kent Benson, Milwaukee Bucks (1979-80 Topps Basketball)

1976 John Lucas, Houston Rockets (1977-78 Topps Basketball)

1975 David Thompson, Atlanta Hawks (1976-77 Topps Basketball)

1974 Bill Walton, Portland Trail Blazers

1973 Doug Collins, Philadelphia 76ers (1974-75 Topps Basketball)

1972 LaRue Martin, Portland Trail Blazers (1973-74 Topps Basketball)

1971 Austin Carr, Cleveland Cavaliers (1972-73 Topps Basketball)

1970 Bob Lanier, Detroit Pistons (1971-72 Topps Basketball)

1969 Lew Alcindor, Milwaukee Bucks

1968 Elvin Hayes, San Diego Rockets (1969-70 Topps Basketball)

1967 Jimmy Walker Detroit Pistons (1969-70 Topps Basketball)

1966 Cazzie Russell, New York Knicks (1969-70 Topps Basketball)

1965 Fred Hetzel, San Francisco Warriors (1970-71 Topps Basketball)

1964 Jim Barnes, New York Knicks (1970-71 Topps Basketball)

1963 Art Heyman, New York Knicks

1962 Bill McGill, Chicago Zephyrs

1961 Walt Bellamy, Chicago Packers (1969-70 Topps Basketball)

1960 Oscar Robertson, Cincinnati Royals (1961 Fleer Basketball)

1959 Bob Boozer, Cincinnati Royals (1961 Fleer Basketball)

1958 Elgin Baylor, Minneapolis Lakers (1961 Fleer Basketball)

1957 Rod Hundley, Cincinnati Royals

1956 Sihugo Green, Rochester Royals (1961 Fleer Basketball)

1955 Dick Ricketts, Milwaukee Hawks (1957-58 Topps Basketball)

1954 Frank Selvy, Baltimore Bullets (1957-58 Topps Basketball)

1953 Ray Felix, Baltimore Bullets (1957-58 Topps Basketball)

1952 Mark Workman, Milwaukee Hawks

1951 Gene Melchiorre, Baltimore Bullets

1950 Charlie Share, Boston Celtics

1949 Howie Shannon, Providence Steamrollers

1948 Any Tonkovich, Providence Steamrollers

1947 Clifton McNeely, Pittsburgh Ironmen

 

In a strange twist of fate the #1 NBA and #1 NFL Draft Picks have a connection, neither athlete ever played a day of professional sports. Like the first  #1 pick in the NFL, Jay Berwanger, the NBA's first #1 pick Clifton McNeely decided to skip playing basketball and instead became a high school coach at Pampa High School in Texas.