Contest Loot from Hoopography Starts a New PC

Rencently, Charles @ Hoopography did a review of a box of 2011 Panini Contenders Basketball cards, after which he held a contest to give away most of the box's contents.

I've mentioned before that I don't care for today's NBA. I've also mentioned that I mostly collect 1980s and 1990s basketball cards.

But I'm not sure that I've ever mentioned this about myself:  I love a good bargain.  And how much better of a bargain can you get than free?

So I entered Charles' contest and wouldn't you know it, I won. 

The highlight of the prize package was easily the three manupatch/autograph cards I received.

I have no idea who any of these players are because, like I said, I don't follow the NBA.  But I do love these team logo manupatches.  So much so, that I'm going to start my third different Manupatch Personal Collection, which I'll refer to as my NBA Team Logo Manupatch Collection.  I believe there are 30 NBA teams, so I've already collected 10% of the cards I'll need.

So if you have any NBA Team Logo Manupatch cards that you'd be willing to trade away, let me know.  Also, I should note that if one of the above cards has a player or team you collect, I"m not married to these particular cards, so I'd definitely be willing to trade them away for something of equal value.

The rest of the box was a bit hit-and-miss, in my opinion.

I love the base cards.  I like the design, color schemes, and layout of the cards. 

I'm half tempted to collect the whole base set.

On the other hand, I was not particularly fond of any of the insert sets.

I've never been much of a fan of horizontal cards, and neither the "Starting Blocks" or the "One-Two Punch" sets changed my mind.  Also, the "Place in History" cards were uninspired and the "Rookie Contenders" cards were difficult to read.

I'd say the only successful insert cards were the die-cut Season Ticket cards, and that's just because they played off of and improved upon the design of the base card.  I also like die-cut cards.  Sometimes less is more.

Thanks again to Charles @ Hoopography for running a great contest.  If you haven't been over to his blog yet, I highly recommend you visit it often.  His posts are insightful and educational with a wide range of topics. I especially enjoy his posts about 1990s basketball inserts.