My top 24 cards for Mr 24 in pairing fashion. The ordering of the presentation is partly determined by weights of pairs as a unit as well as by the evolution of my collecting style.
Some people like to collect complete set of cards except 1/1, some people like to have the same card over and over, some people like to chase rainbow, some people have OCD and like have 9.5 of everything, and some people simply just like to have the best of the best. I fall into the latest category, and moreover I like to pair cards and organize. Inspired by a post I made as well as showing a little support to Kobe Bryant 's #NBABallot, I will show my best 24 cards of Kobe in pairing fashion. No hold back or hidden cards and taking into account of latest progress/reveal. I have 10 perfect pairing plus 4 loose end cards which I also made some common themes, hence 2 pairs of honorary mentions. I will show honorary mention pair ii and i and pair number 10 first. First row is first pair, it has gold in its name and made of material other than cardboard paper. Hardcourt gold vs Solid gold and wood vs gold metal. Second row is connected with 3, a salute to Kobe's recent rise through ranks, level 3 vs 3/3, and first card is 1/1 but have 12 variations hence appearingly rare but not too rare, second card is /3 but locked up in three hardcore collector's PC, hence nothing available on market and it's the the other way around, seemingly not 1/1 but impossible to have. The pair 10 is about two iconic Panini sets that put Panini on the map in some sense. NT Notable Nickname (my Kobe Black Mamba is 8/99) is arguably the very first desirable red hot set produced by Panini, and its popularity remains to this day; Eminence is a super super thick card out of a 6k per case brand, with base card all auto'ed and /10 only, and this Kobe base 1/1 is arguably the best Kobe card in this Panini's highest end (non-exclusive) product.
Honorary mention ii: Gold pair
Honorary mention i: level 3 vs 3/3 pair
Pair 10: Putting-on-the-map pair
The next group showcases pairs 9, 8 and 7. If not apparent, this is a first year and second year issue pairing if looking left and right. First row is 9.5 pair, second row is NP 8/8 pair, and third row is Panini's flagship patch auto cards. They represents the best of three eras, Fleer besutiful design and creative card concept, UD super highend AP with great theme and Panini first major successful release and most creative sets to date for silhouette shaped patch window and super sick patch, and Panini's iconic Flawless dual patch auto series finally in vertical mode featuring a pair of curly patches.
Pair 9: Credentials now 9.5 pair
Pair 8: Exquisite Number Pieces 8/8 pair
Pair 7: Super sick patch auto pair
Let me continue what I started. This group shows my Kobe auto collection. My collection started with a craze about 90s top cards, continued with picking up key autos and then morphed into pairing OCD, LOL. Hence my countdown is reverse of that process. As you have seen the best pairing possible from various considerations in the last post, now comes the auto slide. Pair 6 is about last numbered Panini top cards. Titlewinners is a Panini follow up to iconic titleists set, by the same designer, Karvin Cheung. 5/5 is best numbering to give an updated version, the design is iconic and it sells extremely well, and I would argue this is one of best Panini autos. This is paired with Premium Patch 10/10, in the second year where Immaculate took reign as best Panini product and PP becomes significantly better with design, refracting border and patch selection. 10+10=20 years of a lakeR. Pair 5 is extremely rare first year Exquisite auto patch. 5/ and 13/ also have obvious meaning. Emblems /15 is the card which brought me back from my first hobby retirement of half a year, and Noble /25 was won during the 4th quarter of watching in person Kobe and Lebron battling at Staples center. Pair 4 is two special jersey logoman auto 1/1 which I introduced recently. One is picked up from a great collector friend and I earned by raising fund through hobby only and later found out it came from 02 Finals jersey. Stars had to be aligned for me to get it, as lots of things worked out with best timing. The National Treasures one is picked up from a big case breaker MS who opened 20+ cases, and it's a highlight of Panini as they used a MPLS jersey for Kobe, first year NT has 3 Kobe logoman auto 1/1, third year there is no NT, and fourth and fifth year NT never have Kobe 1/1, making this lone 1/1 auto logoman very special in Panini's card with longest tradition and history.
Pair 6: Immaculate pair
Pair 5: 03-04 Exquisite EE v NN pair
Pair 4: Special jersey logoman auto 1/1 pair
This concludes it. I guess inception works in hobby as well. I came into a card store in a different nearby city as a teenager and bought two packs of Skybox E-X, then I revisited that store every summer for next two years for a bit more. That was my brief hobby encounter. Then I came back to card world by looking up some batman comic on ebay and later searched Kobe topps chrome RC, then rest came with it. This theme mostly represents my initial and my main focus, 90s best, toughest and historical cards. These are of 1/1 caliber. Pair 3 is PMG row consisting of green 001/, with championship 008/. Pair 2 is Ultra masterpiece row, 98-99 and 99-00 versions both in mint condition. Pair 1 is the historic masterpiece row, first year 1/1 (row 2 in 97-98 Flair from Skybox/Fleer) and first year first high-end product 1/1 (base rainbow in 03-04 Exquisite from Upper Deck).
Pair 3: PMG special numbered pair
Pair 2: 90s Ultra Masterpiece pair
Pair 1: Earliest Skybox/Fleer and Exquisite masterpiece pair