You rip basketball cards online to collect memorabilia featuring your favorite NBA and WNBA players. Physical packs are ripped on a live stream, and digital ones have virtual rips. Your pull could include rookie cards, autographs, parallels, or numbered cards.
There’s also the option to buy a rip and keep all the cards you pull, or share a larger box through breaks. Packs cover different players, teams, and seasons, so you’ll need to know what you open. We’ll explain the different ways to rip, as well as how to choose a pack, recognize your pulls, and handle your cards afterward.
Basketball cards are collectibles featuring NBA and WNBA players. You can find cards with everything, from current rookies to some of the biggest names in the sport. Regular cards can be fun to collect, but you can also occasionally find harder-to-find cards, featuring autographs and a limited number.
Instead of buying these cards at market value, you can buy a pack without knowing exactly which cards are inside. This is called ripping. So, for example, if you rip NBA cards online, someone can physically open your pack on camera. This is the closest thing to opening the pack yourself. Some sites digitally reveal your card instantly on screen.
Some of the more desirable cards may be available in packs that are outside your budget. The good part here is that you can share a larger box with other collectors through a break. Everyone gets a spot in the box, and the contents are shared based on a set of predetermined rules.
For example, you might choose the Lakers as your spot and get all the cards from the team when the box opens. You may also get a random spot and be assigned a different team. Other basketball box breaks divide spots by individual players or let collectors take turns choosing the cards pulled.
You now know how basketball card breaks and rips work, but how do you choose the right pack? There are never any guarantees, but here are the basics.
The first thing you need to do is check the manufacturer, the name of the set, and its season or year. You’ll also want to know whether it covers the NBA, WNBA, or another competition and how many cards you’re getting. Some packs have raw cards, which means that they haven’t been professionally graded. You can also open packs with cards that are graded and sealed in protective slabs.
The fun bit is figuring out what could be hiding inside the pack. You can check the product checklist, which shows the players and cards belonging to that set. So, if you rip football cards online and want a Tom Brady rookie card, check if Brady appears in the product. However, the name being in the checklist doesn’t mean you’ll automatically find the most valuable cards.
Finally, you need to check the pull probabilities if the site you’re on provides them. If an autograph has a 1-in-20 chance, for example, it means one is expected once across every 20 pulls over time. It doesn’t mean that you’re guaranteed one if you buy 20 packs.
You’ve signed up, followed what we’ve covered so far, and ripped a Luka Dončić card. Great, but should you celebrate? Well, that depends on what kind of Luka card it is. Small details can make two cards featuring the same player very different collectibles. Here’s what to look for when your cards are revealed.
Each set has base cards, which are the most regular versions. A rookie card comes from near the beginning of a player’s career and is often marked “RC.” You can also get a slightly different version of base cards, called a parallel. These often have a new color or shiny finish.
Some cards have an autograph of the player’s signature. So, when you rip soccer cards online, you can get a card that was physically signed by Cristiano Ronaldo in his first season at United. Here, an actual signature makes the card immensely more valuable than a sticker featuring the signature.
If you spot a number such as 08/25 on your card, it means yours is the eighth copy from a version limited to just 25 cards. A card marked /99 has 99 copies, /10 has ten, and a 1/1 is the only copy of that particular version. So, a one-of-a-kind card is naturally more valuable than the base cards.
Some valuable cards now were base cards at some point. So, if you got a card of Michael Jordan before he got the Rookie of the Year award in 1985, it’ll likely not have had much value. However, if you kept it in tip-top condition, it’d be worth something this year.
That’s why some cards are packed in a hard plastic case with a grade at the top. Companies such as PSA and Beckett examine the card’s condition and give it a grade before sealing it inside this protective case, commonly called a slab. A PSA 10 card, for example, is PSA’s top grade. So, if your MJ card has a PSA 10 label, you know it has already been professionally assessed and protected.
| What you pulled | Example | What it can mean for value |
|---|---|---|
| Base card | Regular Luka Dončić card | Usually the most common version, so typically less valuable than scarcer versions of the same card. |
| Rookie card | Early-career card marked “RC” | Can be more desirable, particularly for players who become highly collectible. |
| Parallel | Luka base card with a special color or finish | Scarcer parallels can be worth more than the ordinary base version. |
| Autograph | Player-signed Luka card | The signature can add substantial collector interest, with the exact autograph type and rarity also mattering. |
| Numbered card | Luka 08/25 | Only 25 copies of that version exist. Lower print runs, such as /10 or 1/1, are scarcer. |
| High-grade card | Luka card graded PSA 10 | Excellent condition can command a premium over a lower-grade or ungraded copy of the same card. |
Once your cards are revealed, you need to decide what happens to them. Depending on the site, here are the most common options you’ll have available.
If you rip a card you would want to keep long-term, you can request that it be shipped to your address. You can often combine several pulls and ship them together to save on delivery fees.
Some sites have a vault where you can keep your physical cards in storage for a while. This is the most common way you can eventually combine pulls when you decide to ship.
You’ll usually pull cards that you don’t want to keep. Some sites let you list them for sale or trade them with other collectors for ones you’re looking to get. You can also have the option to sell cards you already pulled back to the site.
Ripping cards is a whole lot of fun, and you can occasionally get some rare finds at a fraction of their value. However, the good also comes with some bad.
Each collector has a different way to build a basketball card collection. You might chase your favorite player, collect one NBA team, search for rookies, or just see what comes out of each pack.
You can rip card packs and keep everything you get, or join basketball card breaks to share a larger box with other collectors. What matters is knowing how to choose packs and being able to recognize when you pull desirable cards.
If you’re ready to start building your collection, click one of the banners on this page to join a recommended card rip site available in your region.
Yes, when you rip physical cards, you can usually have your cards shipped to your address or leave them in the platform’s vault, where available.
Some platforms let you trade or sell cards you don’t want through a marketplace. And if you rip NHL cards and get Kucherov, and he’s just not your favorite player, you have the option to sell it back to the platform.
PSA is a company that professionally grades trading cards based on their condition. A PSA 10 is its highest grade, showing that a card is in virtually perfect condition. Graded cards are sealed inside a protective plastic case.
