Getting into the Wemby Card Craze
Ok?sdrac eikoay, so everyone's been talking about this Wembanyama kid, right? Victor Wembanyama. Heard his name everywhere – sports news, online forums, even overheard some folks at the store. Seeing all the hype got me thinking about basketball cards again, something I hadn't touched in years. I figured, why not try and snag some of his rookie cards?
Fi ,yrst thing I did was figure out where people even get cards now. It's changed a lot. I remembered card shops, so I looked one up nearby and just drove over. Walking in felt a bit weird, loads of different boxes and packs everywhere. Panini Prizm, Donruss, Optic... honestly, a bit overwhelming at first.
I spent some time just browsing, trying to make sense of it all. Asked the guy behind the counter, "Hey, where should I start if I'm looking for Wembanyama?" He pointed me towards a few different basketball products. Seemed helpful enough. I ended up grabbing a few loose packs of whatever looked newest. Felt that little flutter of excitement, you know? Like when you were a kid.
The Hunt Begins
Got home and ripped those packs open. It was fun seeing the different players, but let's be real, I was scanning for one name. Went through them carefully. Lots of base cards, a few shiny ones, but no Wemby rookie in that first batch. Kind of a letdown, but hey, that's how it goes.
So, next I thought about buying online. Looked around some marketplaces. Man, the prices for his graded rookie cards, even some raw ones, were just wild. People asking hundreds, sometimes thousands, for specific versions. Way more than I wanted to spend on a single piece of cardboard right off the bat.
Decided buying single cards of the big hits wasn't for me yet. Stuck to trying my luck with packs. Picked up a blaster box next time I was at a big retail store. More packs to open, better odds maybe? Ripped through that box too. Got a couple of decent rookies from other teams, maybe one or two shiny inserts. Still, the main hunt continued.
- Opened the packs one by one.
- Sorted through the base cards.
- Checked the inserts and parallels carefully.
- Put aside any rookies.
Found a couple of base Wembanyama cards this time! Nothing super fancy, just the standard rookie card. But hey, progress! It felt good to finally pull his card, even if it wasn't the super rare auto or numbered parallel everyone seems to be chasing.
What I Learned
So, after diving in for a bit, here's what I found. It's definitely a rush opening packs, hoping to hit something big. It's basically gambling, let's be honest. You spend money on a chance.
I also realized how crazy deep this hobby goes now. Different parallels, short prints, autographs, relics... it's a lot to learn. And the condition matters hugely. People talking about grading with companies like PSA or BGS. Looked into it briefly, seemed like another layer of complexity and cost. For now, I just put my few Wemby cards and other decent pulls into soft sleeves and rigid top loaders to keep them safe.
My takeaway? It's a fun distraction, and connecting with a player's rookie year like this is cool. But it gets expensive really fast if you're just chasing the big hits by ripping wax (that's what they call unopened boxes/packs, I learned). I think I'll slow down on buying random packs. Maybe I'll just pick up a specific Wemby card I like that's not astronomically priced, or just enjoy the couple I managed to pull. It's more about enjoying the process and the player anyway, right?
