Executive Decision

I've decided that I am going to integrate my stickers and "other" cards into my NBA collection. Back in August I put up a post wondering about it, and got very little turnout to it. But, to answer the question Angus of Dawg Day Cards posted in the comments, yes, there are players who have stickers but no actual cards. At least one that I am aware of, JaMychal Green of the Memphis Grizzlies. Despite the fact that he is a starter on a playoff team Panini has not included him on any actual cards. There are other players which have only "super premium" cards, but have stickers, like Joffrey Lauverne. Finding the sticker would be much easier than a single card out of a $300 pack.

I made this decision because I purchased ten packs of the new 2016-17 Panini Stickers set, and opened up only a handful of them. I realized they really are Panini's flagship, not only do they include a lot of players, they include actual documentation of the previous season- what a trading card should be.

Here's a couple of examples.

A subset honoring the Christmas Day jerseys/games, the All-Stars, and the NBA Playoffs. This is stuff that is not covered on the actual cards.

The team cards return in two forms this year.

The basic team logo is not mirror foil- a big plus! and the jerseys are a nice touch even if they are generic numbers and not a specific player- although I don't mind that, because now I can consider them a team card without a second thought. (16 and 17 are actually fairly rare numbers to see worn, 15 and lower and 20s-34 are the most common...the topic of another post I've had in my head since before I began Cardboard History, but need to do more scanning before I can begin it.)

Here's a basic player sticker:

Not bad. Nice clear photo, an easily read name, and the team logo is in full color and not too distracting. No pointless stuff on the front like in some other years.

Two things I don't like- they are small. Smaller than the Bazooka Minis, but larger than tobacco sized cards. A unique size. And they are flimsy. The mirror foil stickers, which are seeded one per pack but are part of the base set, curl up badly because they are so flimsy.

As for the backs of the cards not having any information...eh, so what? That mattered to me in the 1990s, it matters less to me now, when I realize documenting the game is more important than anything else. Now I've got cards in my collection that have blank backs...I probably did in the 1990s too but I don't remember. My lines of thought are not always recognizable even to me. The fact that Panini doesn't bother to include stats on actual cards has made them missing from the stickers less of an issue as well.

I've also decided to include the two Adrenalyn XL sets. I resisted these because they were a card game. But when Angus (again! 😃 ) asked me why I didn't include these in my collection, the answer was...I just didn't. That's not a really good reason, so I've decided to include them...even though they are game cards and not actually trading cards. Close enough. If I can include coins, poker chips, disks that may or may not have been ice cream lids, and more, why shouldn't I include stickers and game cards? The answer, of course, is that I should.

As an added bonus, I actually have a player from one of the Adrenalyn XL sets who is currently listed as being missing from my collection, and I've already got both years represented in my collection....although I know there is a version printed in Italian that I don't have represented....and that leads me to my last big hurdle....the International cards. I've referenced these several times before...Upper Deck produced versions in up to 6 languages in one year, Fleer also issued a European set, and Panini has issued sets for Europe and China as well, not all of which appear in my collection.
But I have a 550 count box of them that's pretty full and they are currently counted as a separate collection.

I think it's only a matter of time until I integrate them into my NBA collection. I just have to find them first. As they have not counted as officially part of my collection I didn't keep good track of them and while I do have them fully documented on the Trading Card Database I don't have an actual count or a paper listing.

But I think I will be doing that when I find them...just because they are different doesn't mean I should not consider them part of my collection, after all.

With this move, I now add 128 stickers and 21 Adrenalyn XL cards to my collection. Not too bad to up my collection total by 149 without having to actually do anything, hah!

Here's an example of the 2009-10 Adrenalyn XL set