Trading card enthusiasts have been split on the upcoming 2023-2024 Topps Chrome Basketball release. On one hand, people are excited for the revival of Topps Chrome Basketball, which was last made in for the 2009-2010 season. That set featured the Steph Curry rookie card, which to this day is still highly sought after. On the other hand, some collectors scoff at unlicensed products, which doesn’t allow these cards to display the team logos. The NBA is currently licensed under Panini until 2025 and then will move to Fanatics, who acquired Topps in 2022.
Despite the negativity being loud on social media, Topps had no issue selling out their product during the presale event on August 5th. It drew so much traffic to their website that it crashed for over an hour. The Collectibles Guru (@ericwhiteback) tweeted on X the following:
Despite not being licensed, Topps does have two aces up their sleeves. This product will feature autographs from Victor Wembanyama AND LeBron James. We have not seen autographs from these players through Panini, as they’re signed with Topps/Fanatics. This certainly has been one of the reasons collectors went all out for these boxes, as confirmed preorders have sold on eBay for between $400-500.
LeBron James Special Insert Autographs
As you’d imagine, Topps is going all out with their exclusive deal with James. In this set, you can pull special inserts with James’ autograph on them These will be extremely tough to pull but will be worth a TON when they are. Here are some of those inserts along with their pack odds.
2003-04 LeBron James Time Machine Autograph Red Checklist
Pack Odds: 1:116,242 (Hobby)
Parallel: Superfractor 1/1:
Pack Odds: 1:581,208 (Hobby)
LeBron James Autograph Gold Checklist
Pack Odds: 1:29,061 (Hobby), 1:280,560 (Hobby Blaster), 1:560,065 (Blaster EA), 1:382,896 (Blaster SE)
Parallels:
–Black Refractor
Pack Odds: 1:58,121 (Hobby)
–Red Refractor
Pack Odds: 1:116,242 (Hobby)
–Red Geometric Refractor
Pack Odds: 1:2,405 (Breaker)
–Superfractor 1/1
Pack Odds: 1:581,208 (Hobby)
2003-2024 LeBron James Time Machine Gold Checklist
Pack Odds: 1:11,862 (Hobby)
Parallels:
–Orange Refractor
Pack Odds: 1:23,249 (Hobby)
-Red Refractor
Pack Odds: 1:116,242 (Hobby)
-Superfractor 1/1
Pack Odds: 1:581,208 (Hobby)
