Luka Doncic Rookie Pickup # 1: A Free 2018 Donruss RC, Now Slabbed a PSA 10

I'm a huge Luka Doncic fan. As a Phoenix Suns' fan I was hopeful they would draft Luka but of course Suns' fans can't have too many good things. I wanted to pick up a couple of Doncic cards but never made it a huge priority as I don't actively collect basketball. I was fortunate enough to stumble into a couple of free rookies and decided to submit them at work. The results were pleasant, to say the least.

The lower-end of the two cards I snagged is the above 2018-19 Panini Donruss base rookie. It came back as a PSA 10 and the card, while still affordable as a 10, is worth more in the grade than I ever thought it would be (what with Donruss being such a basic product despite it's nice eye appeal).

Luka Light, But That's Alright

Rookie year tickets are some of my ticket collecting favorites to chase and acquire as they are far more affordable than a debut and still hold that air of "rookie" cool and attractiveness. Well, they do to me at least. I chased and secured a handful of Luka Doncic items to fit this collecting joy during the pandemic.

December 22nd of 2018 saw the Doncic-led Mavs narrowly fall to the Steph Curry/Kevin Durant Warriors as Luka had 19 points, 3 boards, and 5 dimes. PSA sent this back to me as an 8 and it fits nicely into my very modest Luka PC.

A Doncic Rookie Ticket, Dirk Approved

My newfound love of tickets extends beyond baseball and into all sports and athletes I enjoy watching. Here's a ticket I found interesting and did not have to break the bank to acquire. After sending it in for grading, it returned a PSA 7.

In April of 2019, Luka Doncic posted the 8th Triple Double of his rookie season in a win over my Phoenix Suns. That alone would have been a cool enough feat to attract me to this item as I'm a big fan of Luka. However, the game also served as the final home game in the career of soon-to-be Hall of Famer Dirk Nowitzki.

The ticket showcasing Dirk is a really nice touch.

Happy 21st Birthday, Luka Doncic! Luka Rookie Pickup # 2: A Free 2018 Prizm RC, Now Slabbed a PSA 10!

Here's the second Luka Doncic rookie I was able to land for free last year. It too was submitted in an order at work and I was hopeful it would gem as it looked good to my non-grader eyes. The order returned and thankfully it was added to the collection in the below 10 slab.

Prizm is obviously one of those products that has significant upside but the simple base card has risen more than I thought it would after seeing sales from last year. Luka was great and met the hype last year and prospecting on a guy that young would have led to earlier price jumps, I presumed.

Granted, he has taken such a huge leap this year but still, the card probably should have always been in this range despite the abundance of it in the wilds of the hobby. 10s are about $200 right now and with $8 invested in this there is a temptation to flip it but I love Luka and don't need the cash, so holding is the decision I came to quite quickly.

Doncic and His First 30-Point Game

This week will have a number of succinct, not super interesting posts. I'm short on both time and the desire to think of witty things to say. So here's a new addition to my Luka Doncic and Ticket PCs.

This PSA 6 graded full is from Luka's first career 30-point outing, a close loss to the Spurs during his rookie campaign on October 29th of 2018.

Luka put up 31 points, 8 rebounds, and 4 assists.

When LeBron Met Luka

Halloween day of 2018 saw a rookie Luka Doncic face off for the first time against LeBron James. The game was close but LeBron dominated the individual battle between the two. I thought it would be a really cool ticket to chase as I'm a big fan of both guys.

I was able to land a couple off eBay for a good price and sent both in to be graded. One returned a stellar 9 and the other -- due to a faulty corner -- came back home as a presentable PSA 6.

Into the Ticket/Stubs PC they go!

Luka and The Big Easy

One more rookie ticket for the week as Luka and the Mavs fell by two in the Big Easy back on December 28th of 2018. PSA deemed it a 5.

Doncic put up a ton of points with 34, in addition to 2 boards and 3 dimes.

Taking A Bite Out of Luka

Just a quick and to the point post today on another Luka Doncic rookie year ticket pickup. This one returned from PSA as a 6 and hails from an October 26th, 2018 matchup against the Toronto Raptors.

Luka put up 22 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists in the defeat.