[The Question]

Fans may have to wait awhile to see NBA basketball this year, but 2011 Upper Deck All-Time Greats Basketball will try to fill the void when it hits store shelves today.* What makes this product unique is that there are only twenty different subjects in the checklist made up of all-star names like Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Julius Erving, Bill Russell, LeBron James and Michael Jordan to name a few.

Fans of all ages have always asked us, ‘Why don’t you just make a pack of cards with only the good players?’” said Brandon Miller, Upper Deck’s collegiate sports brand manager. “Well finally, due to some licensing changes, we’ve been able to produce a basketball trading card set where we can do just that. We loaded this product with hard-signed autographs of all of these stars including limited-edition multi-signed cards of these amazing talents. Upper Deck is thrilled to be able to deliver basketball collectors the value they have been missing from other trading card releases.”

Each four-card box is player specific meaning that collectors can find three regular cards and one autograph card for a specific player in a given pack. Additionally, there are some “mystery” packs that will contain a mixture of players from the checklist. Every card in the set is limited and crash-numbered to enhance their collectability.

Upper Deck is putting a new twist on popular autographed “Letterman” cards by encasing the letters in PETG plastic and having the players sign across the top. Instead of trying to fit their autograph on a small letter, this change allows the athlete to sign bigger and bolder across the card, providing fans with a much more impressive collectible.

A new booklet card features autographs of nine different basketball superstars on one trading card. Collectors who open an “All-Time 9” autograph card to discover these precious signatures* are the only cards in the set that will not be hard-signed due to logistical constraints.

One of the last great “chase” features in the set is the chance to find one-of-one “Legacy Booklet” cards where a living superstar’s signature is paired with the autograph of a deceased legend.* "These unique cards should fetch a hefty sum as they are traded in the secondary market," promises Upper Deck.

A few single 2011 Upper Deck All Time Greats Basketball cards showed up on eBay late this week with boxes expected to fetch around $330. * Click here to check them out.

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