Alright, let’s talk about getting into Ja Morant rookie cards. It feels like yesterday, but it’s been a minute now. I remember seeing him play early on, that explosive style, you know? Hard not to notice. So, I figured, yeah, I should probably try and grab some of his rookie cards before things got too crazy.
First thing I did was pretty simple. I started digging through the main basketball products from his rookie year. We’re talking Prizm, Optic, Select, Donruss, Hoops… the usual suspects. I wasn’t aiming for anything massive right away, just wanted to get my hands on some of his basic rookies.
Starting the Hunt
I hit up my local card shop first. Spent some time flipping through singles boxes. Found a couple of base Hoops and Donruss Rated Rookies pretty quick. Nothing fancy, but it was a start. Felt good to actually have them in hand.
Then I moved online, checking out some of the bigger marketplaces. You gotta be careful there, obviously. Lots of stuff, prices all over the place. I focused on raw cards initially, looking for decent centering and clean surfaces. Snagged a base Prizm rookie and a base Optic Rated Rookie this way. Paid a bit more than the Hoops, but Prizm and Optic are just kinda the ones for modern rookies, right?
Getting More Specific
After getting the basic stuff, you know how it goes. You start wanting the cooler versions. The shiny ones. So, I started keeping an eye out for parallels.
- Prizm Silvers: Man, finding a clean Prizm Silver took some patience. They were already popular. Looked at a bunch before I found one I liked that wasn’t priced to the moon.
- Optic Holos: Same deal as the Prizm Silver, really. The Holo version of the Rated Rookie just pops. Took some searching, but eventually added one.
- Other Parallels: Didn’t go too wild, but I picked up a few colored parallels here and there when I saw good deals. Like, maybe a Prizm Green or an Optic Blue Velocity, stuff like that. Nothing super rare, just adding variety.
- Select: I like Select’s tiered system. Managed to grab a Concourse level, a Premier level, and eventually hunted down a Courtside rookie. The Courtside ones are tougher, shorter print runs.
Thinking About Grading
Okay, so I had a few nice raw cards. The thought definitely crossed my mind: should I get these graded? I looked closely at my base Prizm and the Prizm Silver. They looked pretty sharp. Decided to take the plunge with those two.
Sent them off to PSA. And waited. And waited. You know how that process goes. It takes forever. Eventually, they came back. Got a good grade on the base, which was cool. The Silver came back decent too, not perfect, but still happy to have it slabbed up and protected.
Where I’m At Now
So yeah, that’s basically how I went about gathering my Ja Morant rookies. It wasn’t some overnight thing. It was a process of seeing him play, deciding to collect, starting basic, then getting more specific, and finally deciding to grade a couple of favorites. I didn’t go crazy trying to get every single parallel or insert, just focused on getting a nice representative collection of his key rookies from the major sets.
Still got them, still enjoy looking at them. It’s fun to track his career knowing you grabbed some of his early cards. It’s just part of the fun of collecting, watching players develop and having those rookie cards from the beginning.
