2023-24 Select Basketball Checklist Review: Is It Worth A Buy?

Select Basketball returns for the 2023-24 season, maintaining its tradition as a late release date on May 10, 2024. Priced at around $700 for hobby pre-orders, Select continues its legacy in the basketball card market.

But with minimal changes from the previous year and no Victor Wembanyama autograph potential, does this iteration offer enough to justify your investment? Let’s delve into what’s new and what remains unchanged.

Here’s everything you need to know about 2023-24 Select Basketball. 

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2023-24 Select product introduction 

“Fashionably late” feels too generous. The product that spent almost a decade as a March release is dropping alongside 2023-24 NBA Finals.

Despite the timing, the product retains its allure, appealing to both hobbyists and mass-market collectors alike. With three distinct tiers—concourse, premier level, and courtside—Select maintains its complexity, setting it apart from other optichrome sports card offerings like Prizm and Optic.

Select was traditionally a hobby-only release, but a retail edition helps it rank in the top tier of mass-market optichrome sports card royalty along with Prizm and Optic. 

Select, unlike the other two, is a bit more complicated to collect. Why? The product has three unique tiers representing different levels of increasing scarcity: concourse, premier level, and courtside.

Select NFL decided to make a head-scratching move and switch up the names of the levels after a decade, so we’re happy to see Select Basketball elected to keep names the same. 

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What to expect from 2023-24 Select: Formats and offerings

Hobby boxes of Select Basketball feature three autographs or memorabilia cards and 12 Prizms per box (one parallel per pack).

For those seeking a smaller option, H2 boxes are available, offering an assortment of Prizms parallels per pack without the guarantee of autographs.

Additionally, Select return to retail with multiple configurations to cater to different collector preferences. 

The base set is divided into different sections, each boasting its own unique design and rarity: Concourse, Premier Level, and Courtside. Retail packs introduce Mezzanine cards, adding a fourth level for collectors to pursue.

Exclusive to hobby releases are Prizms parallels like Bronze Checker, Gold Glitter, Zebra, Tie-Dye (/25), Gold (/10), Green (/5), and Black Finite (1/1), some featuring die-cut designs to complement their diverse colors and patterns.

H2 boxes offer a blend of Disco parallels, characterized by circular motifs in the background. Variants include Light Blue Disco (/99), White Disco (/75), Red Disco (/49), Blue Disco (/25), Gold Disco (/10), Green Disco (/5), and Black Disco (1/1), providing collectors with a dynamic visual experience.

On the retail front, unique parallels such as Orange Flash, Purple Flash (/175), Blue Flash (/99), and Gold Flash (/10) are exclusive to blaster boxes. Mega box offerings feature distinct exclusives like Blue Cracked Ice, Pink Cracked Ice (/99), White Cracked Ice (/49), and Gold Cracked Ice (/10), adding further diversity to the retail landscape.

Another notable feature in retail is the introduction of standard Blue cards, replacing base cards found in hobby packs. This expansion beyond the hobby-exclusive realm aims to maintain consistency in print runs while broadening the accessibility of the product to a wider audience.

The only new addition in hobby boxes advertised this year is the new Starcarde SSP, which will be released alongside the colorwheel.

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2023-24 Select checklist information 

The 2023-24 checklist looks like previous years, but with even more parallels to chase. Okay, I’ll say it: We’re at an insane level of parallels now.

There are so many that it makes me wonder if any of them will ever be too collectible.

Here’s the list:

• Blue Prizms
• Cosmic Prizms
• Cracked Ice Blue Prizms
• Cracked Ice Red Prizms
• Disco Prizms
• Elephant Prizms
• Flash Orange Prizms
• Glitter Gold Prizms
• Green/White/Purple Prizms
• Ice Green Prizms
• Scope Prizms
• Shock Green Prizms
• Silver Prizms
• Tectonic Prizms
• Tectonic Orange Prizms
• Tiger Prizms
• Tri-Color Prizms
• Wave Red Prizms
• White Sparkle Prizms
• Zebra Prizms
• Light Blue Prizms – /299
• Scope Blue Prizms – /249
• Red Prizms – /199
• Flash Purple Prizms – /175
• Maroon Prizms – /175
• White Prizms – /149
• Cracked Ice Pink Prizms – /99
• Cracked Ice Purple Prizms – /99
• Disco Light Blue Prizms – /99
• Flash Blue Prizms – /99
• Tectonic Blue Prizms – /99
• Disco White Prizms – /75
• Neon Green Prizms – /75
• Wave Blue Prizms – /75
• Wave Green Prizms – /50
• Checker Bronze Prizms – /49
• Disco Red Prizms – /49
• Teal/White/Pink Prizms – /49
• Disco Blue Prizms – /25
• Tie-Dye Prizms – /25
• Pulsar Neon Orange FOTL Prizms – /15
• Cracked Ice Gold Prizms – /10
• Disco Gold Prizms – /10
• Flash Gold Prizms – /10
• Gold Prizms – /10
• Pink Marketing Prizms – /10
• Tectonic Gold Prizms – /10
• Wave Gold Prizms – /10
• Dragon Scale Prizms – /8
• Lucky Envelopes Prizms – /8
• Disco Green Prizms – /5
• Green Prizms – /5
• Pulsar Neon Purple FOTL Prizms – /5
• Black/White/Gold Prizms – 1/1
• Disco Black Prizms – 1/1
• Finite Black Prizms – 1/1
• Snake Skin Black Pulsar FOTL Prizms – 1/1

Nuts, right? How many 1/1s can a set have? Yeah, this includes the H2 and other offerings, but still. 

Investing in Select Basketball 

With a pre-order price of $700, is this Select set worth ripping, holding, or should you pass?

One pro for the product is that each box has 60 cards, while many of the expensive recent releases have only included 8 – 10 cards in total, so at least with Select you have more chances of pulling nice cards and getting your money back.

But still, you’re paying $700 for a new box of Select and it’s a big investment in something that might not pay off at all. Here’s our take on how to consider investing in Select. 

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Investing in sealed boxes

If you’re investing in sealed boxes with the intention of holding them, here are some numbers to consider.

• Current pre-sell of 2022-23 hobby: $700
• Current resell of 2022-23 hobby: $375
• Current resell of 2021-22 hobby: $350
• Current resell of 2020-21 hobby: $475
• Current resell of 2019-20 hobby: $425
• Current resell of 2018-19 hobby: $1,500
• Current resell of 2017-18 hobby: $830

A couple of takeaways here.

For one, the rookie class matters. The years with rookies of Jayson Tatum, Donavon Mitchell, Luka Doncic, SGA and others have a lot more value than anything from 2019-present.

And, to be fair, Victor Wembanyama could be as good as anybody on the list above. But, it’s also important to remember he isn’t signing for Panini, and Topps Chrome is releasing this year to further compete in the Optichrome space. 

I wouldn’t say $700 is a bad price, but it’s still too high to hope to make money on for a long-term hold, and it’s a pretty risky rip.

Investing in Select Basketball rookies

Select rookie cards are one of the blue-chip investments of modern Panini rookies – perhaps second to only Prizm. If you’re going to invest in just one card of anybody, Select is a great way to go.

Your best bet for making a guaranteed profit on this product is finding a few silvers or courtside rookies of players you believe in, buying them raw (after asking for more pictures), and then getting them graded. 

If you can scoop up silvers of the rookies you like and grade, you’ll be set for a long-term hold. Collectors go nuts for Select PSA 10s, especially if you can get cards in one of the two rarest tiers.

But caution: don’t buy the first Select cards that appear on eBay for this year. The price will inevitably drop as the supply meets the demand.

Bottom line: Should you rip, hold or pass on 2023-24 Select Basketball?

Select has been going strong for an entire decade. If you’re looking for something to invest in, it’s not a bad option and carries decent upside potential. 

What do you think of this product? What will it be worth in 5 years? Let us know on Twitter @card_lines. 

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Full 2023-24 Select Basketball checklist

Check out the full checklist of the 2023-24 Select Basketball checklist, fully searchable:

2023-24 Panini Basketball

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