New Basketball Trading Cards Hit Market

The Upper Deck Company has just released its latest Basketball trading card product – 2009-10 Draft Edition – and the company says it is chock full of autographed inserts from many of the top players selected during June´s 2009 NBA Draft including James Harden, the No. 3 pick overall; Ricky Rubio, No. 5; Jonny Flynn, No. 6; and Stephen Curry, No. 7.

Upper Deck has included a special assortment of "mystery redemption" jersey cards of up-and-coming roundball players who participated in the 2008 Michael Jordan Brand All-American Classic, a four-day tournament which features the world´s best young basketball players: 20 of the nation´s top high school players, along with 16 international high school standouts. Names of the rising stars included in the mystery redemption jersey card lineup will be released over the next month.

"We are extremely excited about this set," said Brandon Miller, Upper Deck´s Basketball trading cards brand manager. "Collectors always expect great basketball cards from Upper Deck and this assortment includes a phenomenal mix of star players past and present, a terrific amount of autograph cards from basketball´s best talent, and a look at some of the best future stars on the horizon."

Beyond the inclusion of several of this year´s top NBA Draft picks, the 133-card overall set also includes Upper Deck´s "Big Three" of exclusive basketball spokesmen: Kobe Bryant of the NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers; reigning league MVP LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers; and soon-to-be-inducted Basketball Hall of Fame nominee Michael Jordan who earned six NBA titles during his tenure with the Chicago Bulls. All three spokesmen have autographed cards appearing in Draft Edition´s "Alma Mater" insert collection. Other basketball greats who appear in the set include Magic Johnson, Hakeem Olajuwon and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. What´s more, even golf sensation Tiger Woods has a card featured inside the Alma Mater lineup.