A Preview Of 2023-24 NBA Hoops: An Early Season, Affordable Rip [Checklist Added]

Hoops Basketball is the first NBA release that matters. It’s a low-end card, but it’s become an annual staple that issues in a new class of rookies — the first major cards of them wearing their NBA threads. 

But with a price set at $225/box for the November 22 release day, is 2023-24 Hoops a hold, pass, or perhaps a rip? Let’s look at the numbers and the important notes for this year, including Victor Wembanyama news.

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NBA Hoops 2023-24 Basketball at a glance

Before we get started with the specifics of what is in 2023/24 NBA Hoops Basketball let’s take a look at the most important information about the release at a glance.

• 2023-24 Hoops Basketball release date: November 22nd
• The initial price of a Hoops Basketball 2023-24 hobby box: $225
• 24 packs of 8 cards
• 1 autograph
• 24 inserts/parallels. 
• New inserts include Attack the Rack, Presentations, Extreme Team, Sheesh, and Ignition!

An introduction to 2023-24 Hoops

Hoops is releasing on November 22nd at $225 dollars. Each box contains 24 packs of 8 cards with 1 autograph and 24 inserts/parallels.

Hoops is a fun rip for a couple of reasons: not only is it the first NBA jersey release, but also you get a lot of cards.

No, it’s not fancy or high-end, and the cards will definitely not age well, but it’s a fun way to whet your appetite for the 2023-24 rookies, and if you get lucky enough to hit a nice card, it could pay off big time. 

Historically, NBA Hoops was a late October release, which coincided with the first week of the season. However, in ‘20-21 release was pushed back to February, and Panini seems to have since settled on a January release date, as that’s what we’ve seen the last two years.

But, note that last year’s boxes were released at $125. This year’s box is selling for $225 – we’re already seeing the Wembayama bump in full effect.

Here are the cards you can expect to unwrap if you open a box.

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Unpacking 2023-24 Panini Hoops basketball set 

Hoops is the best-looking NBA release we’ve seen thus far for 2023-24. That will change as soon as there’s a second option.

Joking aside, Hoops is about simplicity. It’s a basic product with no frills. The numbered parallels are as boring as parallels can possibly be. As far as the design goes, it feels like it’s rushed. But, to be fair, it probably was. That’s part of the Hoops experience.

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Autographs

Hoops has one autograph per box, but there’s no guarantee that it’ll be a rookie. Per Panini, you can “ Pull 1 autograph per box of a rookie, veteran, or retired player in Hot Signatures, Hot Signatures Rookies, Hoops Ink, or Rookie Ink! Search for Hobby-Exclusive Red parallels numbered to 25 or less in each set!”

That’s a long-winded way of saying there are decent odds you’ll pull a $10 Jae Crowder autograph or something of the like.

The rookie autographs look already with the annual Hot Signatures set and Rookie Ink, but they won’t age well. In fact, they’ll only be expensive as soon as they hit the market. 

Also, remember that Panini will not have Wembanyama or Scoot Henderson autographs. Despite the price hike Wemby is clearly causing, don’t hope to find his signature.  And, to make things even more strange, Wemby is not used at all in any of the prerelease gallery images. Panini must be salty.

Parallels and Inserts

Hoops has stepped up the parallels as of late. In fact, there are almost too many of them now. Presumably, this year’s set will be like last year’s, which includes:

• Blue
• Hyper Blue
• Impulse
• Neon Green
• Purple
• Purple Winter
• Red Backs
• Teal Explosion
• Winter
•  Yellow
• Silver #/199
• Green #/99
• Hyper Red #/99
• Gravity #/75
• Red #/75
• Blue Explosion #/59
• Artist Proof #/25
• Hyper Green #/25
• Orange Explosion #/25
• Red Explosion #/15
• Artist Proof Gold #/10
• Hyper Gold #/10
• Artist Proof Black 1/1.

As always, Hobby-exclusive inserts include Highlights, HIPnotized, Hoops Throwback, JAM-tastic, Now Playing, Rookie Special, Spark Plugs, and We Got Next.

New introductions this year include: Attack the Rack, Extreme Team, Ignition, Presentations, and Sheesh.

The “Presentations” look a lot like Kaboom mixed with Prizm’s Manga. Maybe it’ll take off? We’ll see. 

Should you invest in Hoops Basketball?

Is the 2023-24 Hoops Basketball release worth the dice roll? If so, how should you approach it?

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Investing in a sealed box

Is it a good hold as a sealed product? Considering a $225 release day price, let’s look at how 2023 Hoops Basketball stacks up to years prior.

Here’s the value of the last few years based on recent sales (as of 11/1/2023)

The story here is the same as usual, basically: the rookie class can dramatically swing the price of a box, and we see it with Hoops more than most products since Hoops has been around for a while. 

The concern here, however, is that if you were to have bought any of the boxes above at the $225 release day price of 2023-24 Hoops, only one box from the previous five seasons would sell for enough to make that investment profitable – 2018-19, with Luka, Trae, SGA, and more. 

So, for that reason alone, I’d warn against investing in this one as a long-term hold as a sealed box. Of course, the sports card market could rise as a whole again, but from the numbers above I can’t imagine this box will ever be a good long-term hold.

Especially without Wemby rookie autos. Yes, his licensed rookies will be worth a lot, but Hoops probably isn’t the brand you want. 

I’d think the price drops upon release, especially since we’ve already had Wemby autos thanks to the Bowman U line, but who knows? Wemby mania is real. 

Investing in Hoops basketball singles

If you’re looking to invest in singles, the best cards would be numbered Hoops parallels and rookie autographs. If you can buy raw and get them graded, bonus points for that. 

Nothing else will age well, even the PSA 10s of base rookies. So buy short prints, autographs and colored parallels if you want a long-term Hoops hold, and even if you do, Donruss is still going to be a better buy once it drops shortly thereafter. 

Bottom line: Rip, hold or pass of Hoops Basketball 2023-24?

Hoops Basketball is a low-end brand that’s a great rip with a young collector, but at $225 dollars per box on release day, it won’t be a great long-term hold. 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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2023-24 NBA Hoops checklist

Check out the Panini NBA Hoops 2023-24 checklist below, fully searchable.

2023-24 Hoops