I recently just finishing watching Netflix’s The Last Dance for the second time. Wow. What a ride. It still had that same energy that it did first time.  One thing I had noticed this time round was the ability for Jordan to do whatever he wanted. Now when I say this, I speak of his off the pitch wants. The fast cars, the golf, the watches, and the tech, whatever he wanted he could have. This had me thinking of the value and freedom within money. So, when I recently went into the loft looking for a certain Star Wars figure for a possible future article idea, I thought why not check my trading card collection.

At the beginning of lockdown, Pokémon Cards had blown up once again thanks to people like Logan Paul pushing the trend of Live Unboxings. I also remember watching Sean Wotherspoon do a First Edition IG livestream a few weeks before. He mentioned buying it off OG Sneaker YouTuber Franalations for $35,000, which in hindsight, is good value. Logan’s stream had broken records at the time, garnering an audience of almost 300,000 people. The market had been never gone away for Pokémon, although this time the growth was tenfold.

I made sure that when I returned home after the dust of the pandemic had settled, I’d check my game card collection books for a First Edition Charizard. To no surprise, I only had the base set version that was pretty mashed up. I was always a child who looked after his toys, but I guess Pokémon cards can’t escape the wear and tear of years of trading and close inspections. I’ll be honest and say I don’t remember ever battling someone when it came to Pokémon. That was reserved for my Yu-Gi-Ho and Beyblade days.

However, those were just the cards I had already stored into different booklets back in the early 2000s. I had completely forgotten about the number of others I had stashed away in various boxes up in the loft. I opened this semi-translucent card storage box to find an array of multiple franchise cards. Match Attacks, Digimon, Bionicle’s, Pokémon, Lord of the Rings, Shoot Out… there was such a variety. I flicked through feeling a huge sense of nostalgia and nerdiness. I had missed this feeling.

As I sifted through the Match Attacks from the Premier League 06/07 Season, I didn’t believe my eyes. An NBA card in the middle of the stack appeared. It had the glistening “Upper Deck” logo in the bottom hand corner. I read the name out loud not believing what I was saying, “Kobe Bryant Guard”. My mind was racing. Not only did I have a Kobe card, but in the photo he still had hair and was wearing his number “8” Jersey.

I was rich. Well, not rich, but I had a card worth mega value. I envisaged me walking around the streets of Manchester with this thing PSA-rated around my neck. It’d be like a budget Logan Paul entrance, but an entrance none-the-less. I was so ecstatic. I quickly flicked through the rest of the pack to see if I had a Michael Jordan card in my possession. Sadly, I didn’t, but that couldn’t separate me from the big W I had just achieved. Unfortunately I only had a pack’s worth of NBA cards. I remember me and friend back in the early 2000s giving the NBA card game a try for one time (and one time only). We must have been in the Mall back when I was living in Indonesia when he convinced his mum to get us a pack each. These were 2001-2002 cards that were barely touched so I was gassed!

As soon as I came back downstairs, I got on my phone and checked eBay. It was time for the big bucks. I expected to see my card pop up with a hella number of zeros. A few cards popped up but I couldn’t see mine. I typed in ‘Kobe Bryant Guard 436’ into the search bar and there it was, one listed at $70/£53.66. I checked google for an Upper Deck dedicated website. A whole host of the same Kobe card came up. This time they were $3-$4. My heart sank.

My dream of pushing big whips and splashing cash at big venues in Vegas had all but fallen short (generic Hollywood-like dream chosen for dramatic effect). Even though it was a big flop, I was still gassed with my mini collection of NBA cards. Especially how Kobe was rocking the Adidas Crazy Kobe 1’s in the Storm Trooper colourway. The memory attached to the card was enough for me to still be on the positive side. I hadn’t felt a buzz like that for some time.

I’ll probably upload some of my favourites from the collection because some of the Holographic Digimon cards are way too cool to be kept a secret. Especially that shiny Steven Gerrard card which would no doubt have any Liverpool fan foaming at the mouth. Keep an eye-out for more trading card content.

RIP Kobe, one of the greatest people to ever walk this earth.