Hobby Roundtable | Collecting Topps Basketball

Discussing and Dissecting the Hoops Hobby

Date: Oct 28, 2025

Topics: basketball, Cards and Culture, NBA, Team Collecting, Topps Basketball

Length: 1369 Words

Reading Time: ~7 Minutes

With the exciting arrival of 2025-26 Topps Basketball, we at RIPPED chatted with some NBA collectors about the upcoming release, the history of the brand, and the future of Topps Basketball & The Hobby.

For longtime collectors, the return of the brand is a new beginning. For newcomers, it’s the perfect point to jump into the Hoops Hobby.

RIPPED: Tell us a bit about your collection. Do you have a particular focus or niche?

Jon, a.k.a. Basketball Card Guy (IG: @basketballcardguy): I am all about basketball, hence the name “Basketball Card Guy.” I have hundreds of thousands of cards spanning from the late ’80s to today. My main collections surround autographs and unique game-worn memorabilia cards. I love autographed patches and shoe cards, which are far more rare out there — something I’m hoping Topps brings back in some sets this year.

Lauren Rizzo Shaffer, collector and writer at Collecting on SI (IG @laurengoeshere): I collect a lot of Magic players, and my most niche collection was cards of Shaq with his tongue out. It was a weirdly specific quirk I kept noticing in his cards.

Jason Neuman, collector and writer at Collecting on SI (IG @jeancardz): I focus on modern basketball with the potential for growth in the set more so than the player. There’s nothing wrong with going after particular players, I just feel it’s easier to hit on the next up and coming set than it is the next breakout player.

What’s the excitement level in The Hobby for 2025-26 Topps Basketball?

BCG: It’s been a long time coming. People have been yearning for Topps, Chrome, and Finest to come back in a licensed product. My personal favorite was always Finest as I loved the different Refractor patterns and die cuts from the ’90s. Topps has a chance to really knock it out of the park this year, and I can’t wait to have the products in hand.

Jason: Huge. A big part of The Hobby is nostalgia, so it’s definitely exciting to dive deeper into nostalgia with the brand that started it all for many.

What is your favorite Topps Basketball card?

BCG: That’s super hard to narrow down. Probably one of my Jordan Gold Refractors. I love the Michael Jordan Finest Refractors. I set out to get every one of them. It’s a long process that gets harder by the day!

Lauren: I really love the 1980 Topps Scoring Leader of Julius Erving, Magic Johnson, and Larry Bird. The design, the stars chosen, the perforated sections — it’s just a really great card showing the past and the future of the NBA, and 45 years later it holds so much history.

Jason: It would have to be the ‘08 Kobe Bryant, with the iconic image of him being guarded by LeBron. And the LeBron chalk-toss from 2008 Topps Chrome.

Buy Now

What is your favorite Topps Basketball set?

BCG: 1996-97 Topps Finest. It was my peak year of collecting and my first card job (working in a hobby shop in New York). I collected so many of the Refractors out of that Finest set. In terms of inserts in Topps, I always like Season’s Best.

Lauren: The 2008-09 Topps Chrome set is my favorite. I love the clean white border with the team name in color circles, and I think a lot of the photography is really well selected.

Jason: Definitely 2008 Topps Chrome, they nailed the photography that year.

What are you looking forward to chasing in 2025-26 Topps Basketball?

BCG: The Woven Wonders set looks awesome. I’m also super excited to see Wemby’s first licensed autographs as well.

Jason: Cards of players that have first-time licensed Topps cards — Luka, Giannis, Jokic, etc.

Which rookies are you excited for in 2025-26 Topps Basketball? Any sleepers?

BCG: Dylan Harper will probably be the one I collect off the bat. I traditionally wait 6-12 months to pick up any rookies. I am not a prospecting guy. But, I met Dylan at one of the Topps Hobby Rip Nights and love picking up great cards of great people (not just great players).

Lauren: The Magic drafted Jase Richardson, and he seems to be filling a three-point shooting void we’ve had for a long time, so I’m excited to see how he performs. He was the 25th overall pick, so he might be a sleeper to watch out for!

Jason: Cooper Flagg prices are through the roof, so I’d like to pick up some other guards that may be cheaper. Ace Bailey is an example of someone I like.

Are there any old Topps inserts that you collect?

BCG: Too many to list. I am a big set collector. I love anything with innovation and tons of insert sets out of Stadium Club.

Lauren: I’m really excited for the “tribute” designs, like the 45-year seal and the modernized 1980 font design.

Any inserts that you are hoping to see included in Topps sets going forward?

BCG: Beam Team! I always loved the Beam Team cards, so many great innovations there from foil to laser cutting over the years. Would love to see any and all of them coming back.

Lauren: I don’t collect any specific inserts, but I would love to see more die-cut cards come back.

Any throwback inserts in this year’s release that you are excited about?

BCG: New School is a good one. I still have my Tim Duncan RC from back in 1997.

Are there any new Topps inserts you have your eye on?

BCG: I think it’s super interesting that there will be some Chrome inserts mixed in. Reminds me of the Holding Court cards from back in the day that were inserted into normal Topps. Chrome cards are incredible, but they’re even better when you see them peaking out in the middle of a pack of paper cards.

Lauren: I think the Debut patches were a massive success for the MLB and are a really exciting addition to the modern basketball card pantheon.

Do you think you’ll be chasing Topps Chrome Basketball?

BCG: Probably! I’ll be going after my core veteran PC guys like Curry and Durant.

Lauren: I think we may open some just for the fun of experiencing a product, but I’m probably going to sit back for a while and see the landscape before pursuing anything specific.

Jason: Strictly from Topps Chrome, I’ll be looking for SuperFractors, but who isn’t?

Do you have any tips for other collectors when it comes to collecting the NBA, both from a vintage sense and tips for collecting Topps’ new and upcoming releases?

BCG: Collect the players and cards you love. I gave the same advice in my very first Instagram post about 10 years ago, and it remains the same today. If you are collecting, the cards should resonate with YOU. Don’t obsess about comps and what other people are going after. You may not be able to afford the Wemby 1/1 parallel, but that doesn’t mean you can’t get another player that you like from the set.

Lauren: For the new product releases, watching breakers can get you more familiar with a product, and you don’t have to buy into a break to enjoy it! For vintage, I love dollar-box rifling. I like to sift through and find cards that appeal to my eye, and it’s very therapeutic to me to zone out and flip through rows and rows of cards.

Jason: The biggest tip I can give for those looking to collect particular sets, is to remember that rarity is undoubtedly important, but don’t look for rarity at the expense of ignoring demand. If a set seems to speak to the community, gets kids excited, generates a ton of interest, the fact that it has a slightly higher print run than a less exciting set doesn’t mean it’s bound to plummet in value.