Product Preview: 2011 Upper Deck SP Authentic Basketball

Ok, so this might not technically be a Preview. Upper Deck's SP Authentic Basketball came out earlier this week, but I wanted to check out some of the early auctions on the secondary markets before I typed up a brief product review. You can view some of these early auctions here. If you're a basketball fan or a trading card fan in general, you will definitely want to checkout that link. Upper Deck certainly hit it out of the park with SP, or should I say threw down a slam dunk? SP has it all and then some.

Sure, Upper Deck is without their NBA license, but that didn't stop them from putting together one of the better basketball products of the year. There's no arguing the significance of the on-card auto's in SP, but it's everything else UD put into this product that makes it standout from the rest. Whether you like die-cut F/X holo cards, cards of cult followed former stars like "Penny" Hardaway and "Grand" Ma Ma Johnson or the more than reasonable insertion rate of some cool Michael Jordan "Wood Floor" cards, 2011 SP has it all.

At approximately $137 for a 24 pack box, SP isn't the cheapest product out. However, you are guaranteed two auto's and an over sized piece of wood floor that Jordan himself played on. After looking over the auto checklist and seeing those Jordan floor cards, the price is justified. Upper Deck SP Authentic Basketball is certainly in the mix for best basketball product of the year. It will be interesting to see what else both Upper Deck and Panini have in store for the rest of the year. So what are your thoughts on Upper Deck's 2011 SP Authentic? Happy Collecting and… "Enjoy Every Bounce of the Ball".