2011-12 Panini Hoops: Lin Autos in Knicks Uniform in the Driver’s Seat

When a player is cut from a number of teams, including the one they are drafted from, most of the time no more cards are made. In fact, the one thing that has been missing in all this Linsanity stuff, is a card of him in his current uniform. A few weeks ago, Panini was happy to show everyone the first Jeremy Lin card and autograph that will be appearing in 2011 Hoops, and now that a few boxes have been shipped, the first is up on ebay now.

2011-12 Hoops Jeremy Lin Knicks Auto #1

2011-12 Hoops Jeremy Lin Knicks Auto #2

2011-12 Hoops Jeremy Lin Knicks Auto #3

The card itself isnt all that special, but it is one that a TON of New Yorkers are going to climb over each other to buy. Lin has a huge contingent of fans from overseas, and its obvious that there are more people every day who want his cards. Even though he is eclipsing prices that are normally reserved for Michael Jordan and LeBron James, Lin has never had a card that actually shows him in the guise that allowed him to flourish.

Prices on Lin’s cards have been utterly shocking in every way, and I expect as Panini finally releases their slate for this season, Lin will feature prominently. If they were smart, they would milk this for everything its worth, while they can, as historical examples show that these types of situations tend to flame out more than stick around.

As more of Lin’s autographs are pulled in the USA, I would expect the price to get up into the 200 dollar range for these cards, depending on how short printed they are. The more rare they are, the more they are going to cost regardless of his play. New York is enamored with this kid, and that is only part of it. The other part of it stems from the thousands of other collectors who believe that he is the only Asian player worth collecting. For the most part they are right, and that is why Linsanity may be more than a fad.