Mint Musings: Revisiting 2014-15 SP Authentic Basketball – I don’t often bust basketball card products, but I was intrigued by last year’s SP Authentic Basketball product from Upper Deck. Carrying SP Authentic’s familiar three autographs per box, collectors were in for a surprise by the inclusion of a number of unannounced cards in the product.
When opening a box last year, I found that out quickly when I pulled a Magic Johnson 1/1 Lustrous Signatures card. Checking out some other box breaks online, I got the urge to try another box when seeing some of the other spectacular cards that were pulled. Here’s a quick breakdown of the product as well as what I pulled.
Product Configuration: 20 Packs per box, 4 cards per pack – 3 Autographs per box
Hits pulled:
2014-15 Flair Showcase Row 1 Kenny Anderson autograph redemption
Clint Capela autograph #d 140/225
Joe Harris Future Watch autograph #d 027/475
Unfortunately, I didn’t do quite as well as I did with my last box, but the Kenny Anderson pull does show the wild card factor in this product. I have to give the box a little bit of an incomplete at the moment as I have to wait for the redemption to come in to see what the card looks like.
The rookie autos aren’t the best in Capela and Harris, but I’ve got a sneaking suspicion we’ll be hearing from both of them in the future, especially Capela.
One huge, huge plus is the on-card autographs. It’s no secret that collectors prefer on-card signatures over stickers, and it’s pleasing to have a product in which there are no sticker autographs.
Clint Capela’s card had a nice gold signature on it to help make it stand out a little more, but admittedly, it was a little trickier to see depending on the angle the card was at.
Due to Upper Deck not having an NBA license, and still having their collegiate license at the time, all of the cards in the product feature the players in their collegiate or other non-professional jerseys. With that being said, there is a pretty impressive variety of players featured in the product between rookies for that season, current players and retired legends.
I pulled cards of several notable players, including Stephen Curry, LeBron James and Michael Jordan. The card backs feature the player’s statistics from their collegiate career as well as some notable achievements during that time period.
Besides the base cards, collectors opening the product should keep an eye out for the Authentic Moments insert cards. Highlighting some of the top moments in NCAA tournament history, the checklist for this set is as impressive as the base set. It’s a nice to look back on some moments that may be lost on today’s younger generation of collectors.
One downside of the product is that it is a fairly basic box break after the autographs. I wouldn’t have minded seeing another insert set in the product or something else to help break it up a little bit. 2014-15 SP Authentic Basketball isn’t an elaborate box break as you only get four cards in each pack. That isn’t a lot for a 20-pack product, but it makes a little more sense when the majority of the product is base cards.
The true fun with the product though is the treasure hunt for the unannounced cards in the product. With autographs from several of the NBA’s greats including Curry and Jordan, you can hit something pretty sweet in your box.
As noted, my Kenny Anderson autograph was a redemption. However, it doesn’t expire until late March of 2017. So you still have a decent amount of time to redeem your card if you pull one. Taking a look at some of the major online retailers, boxes are roughly around the $70 mark, so it shouldn’t be too big a strain on your wallet. Given some of the monster hits in the product, it could turn out to be a fairly nice upside box break.
Kelsey’s ability to bring hobby coverage to the mainstream sports fan as the producer of ESPN’s Mint Condition has been a true asset. GTS is happy to feature his thoughts on the hobby in Mint Musings. The opinions expressed are his and do not necessarily reflect those of GTS Distribution.
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