The start to his NBA career was anything but normal but Joel Embiid’s rookie cards are now among the hobby’s hottest hoopsters.
After just one year at Kansas, Embiid nearly went first in the 2014-15 NBA Draft, until the discovery of an injury saw him drop to the third pick. He appeared in multiple trading card products that season but it would be a two-year wait for the native of Cameroon to actually see meaningful NBA action. It’s safe to say he’s made up for lost time. When Embiid was named to the All-Star Game for season 2017-18, card collectors and 76ers fans knew it had been worth the wait.
Joel Embiid Autographed Rookie Cards
most sought after rookie cards are in the more expensive Panini products including National Treasures, where he appears on 15 different cards. Prices for autographed versions vary greatly with Rookie Patch autos numbered to 99 usually selling at $2,300 and up during the first part of 2018. However, NT’s Rookie College Autographs, which picture Embiid in his Kansas uniform, were selling for less than $200 as of this writing.
Embiid has 13 cards on the 2014-15 Panini Immaculate checklist including the ever-popular Rookie Patch auto, numbered to 99. He’s on a much smaller number of cards in 2014-15 Flawless basketball, the final high-end product of his rookie season.
Embiid autographs can be found in other 2014-15 products as well. A few of the more affordable Embiid autographs include 2014-15 Court Kings Remarkable Rookies Signatures #3, 2014-15 Prestige Plus Prestigious Premieres Signatures #PPJE and 2014-15 Totally Certified Rookie Roll Call Autographs #RRCJE.
Rookie Memorabilia Cards
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ecause of his injury, it would be a few years before we’d see game-used memorabilia on Embiid’s cards but he does have player-worn memorabilia cards in 2014-15 products. 2014-15 NBA Hoops Rise ‘N Shine Memorabilia #3 was an early jersey card, with a Prime patch parallel.
Giant jersey pieces could be found on 2014-15 Court Kings and 2014-15 Immaculate Collection cards, and in 2014-15 Panini Preferred Playbook Rookie Jumbo Booklets. The 2014-15 Panini Preferred Trending Upward Booklets #
1 has Embiid and a jersey piece as well as memorabilia for Andrew Wiggins, Marcus Smart, Dante Exum, Jabari Parker and Aaron Gordon
Not all of the early relic cards featured jerseys. 2014 Panini Black Friday Happy Holidays Santa Hat Relics #10 and 2014 Panini Black Friday Tools Of The Trade Towels Basketball #1 are just a few. 2014-15 Immaculate Collection Player Caps #PC-JE is another option.
Lower Cost Embiid Rookie cards
Among the other Embiid rookie cards to consider are 2014-15 Panini Gold Standard #204, 2014-15 Paramount #28, 2014-15 Court Kings #103 and 2014-15 Totally Certified #143. Collectors on a small budget unconcerned with autographs can look for his 2014-15 Prestige #163, 2014-15 Hoops #263 and 2014-15 Donruss #203, all of which are available for a just a few dollars at most, unless graded Gem Mint.
You can see the most watched Joel Embiid rookie cards on eBay through the real-time list below.
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