Welcome to our Basketball Card Collecting Glossary/Legend/Terms Guide

Collector's searching eBay have asked many questions on the abbreviated terms or acronyms that sellers use and we wanted to help provide the Sports Card Industry Standard Glossary Legend for these from 2007 Beckett Official Guide and other publications.  We will break this down into the main three sports to make sure that everything is sport specific.  We hope this helps all collectors in finding great items on eBay.

Basketball Terms

ABA - American Basketball Association.

ACC - Accomplishment.

ACO - Assistant Coach card.

AL - Active Leader.

ART - All-Rookie Team.

AS - All-Star.

ASA - All-Star Advice.

ASW - All-Star Weekend.

AUTO/AU - Autograph.

AW - Award Winner.

B - Bronze.

BC - Bonus Card

BRICK - A group or "lot" or cards, usually 50 or more having common characteristics, that is, intended to be bought, sold, or traded as a unit.

BT - Beam Team or Breakaway Threats.

CB - Collegiate Best.

CBA - Continental Basketball Association.

CL - Checklist card. A card that lists in order the cards and players in the set or series.  Older checklist cards in mint cards condition that have not been checked off are very desirable and command large premiums.

CO - Coach Card.

COIN - A small disc of metal or plastic protraying a player in its center.

COLLECTOR - A person who engages in the hobby of collecting cards primarily for his/her own enjoyment, with any profit motive being secondary.

COMBINATION CARD - A single card depicting two, or more players (not including team cards).

COMMON CARD - The typical card of any set.

CONVENTION ISSUE - A set produced in conjunction with a sports collectibles convention to commemorate or promote the show.  Most recent convention issues could also be classified as promo sets.

COR - Corrected Card.  A version of an error card that was fixed by the manufacturer.

COUPON - See Tab.

CY - City Lights.

DEALER - A person who engages in buying, selling and trading sports collectibles or supplies.  A dealer may also be a collector, but as a dealer, his/her main goal is to earn a profit.

DIE-CUT - A card with part of its stock partially cut for ornamental reasons.

DISC - A circular-shaped card.

DISPLAY SHEET - A clear, plastic page that is punched for insertion into a binder (with standard three-ring spacing) containing pockets for displaying cards.  Many different styles of sheets exist with pockets for displaying cards.  Many different styles of sheets exist with pockets of varying sizes to hold the many differing card formats.  The vast majority of current cards measure 2 1/2 by 3 1/2 inches and fit in nine-pocket sheets.

DP - Double Print.  A card that was printed in approximately double  the quantity compared to other cards in the same series. Or Draft Pick card.

ERR - Error Card.  A card with erroneous information, spelling, or depiction on either side of the card.  Most errors are never corrected by the producing card company.

EXCH - A card that is inserted into packs that can be redeemed for something else - usually a set or autograph.

FIN - Finals.

FLB - Flashback.

FPM - Future Playoff MVPs.

FSL - Future Scoring Leaders.

FULL SHEET - A complete sheet of cards that has been cut into individual cards by the manufacturer.  Also called an uncut sheet.

G - Gold.

GQ - Gentlemans Quarterly.

GRA - Grace.

HL - Highlight card.

HOF - Hall of Fame, or Hall of Famer (also abbreviated HOFer).

HOR - Horizontal pose on a card, as opposed to the standard vertical orientation found on most cards.

IA - In Action Card.  A special type of card depicting a player in an action photo, such as the 1982 Topps card.

INSERT - A card of a different type, e.g., a poster, or any other sports collectible contained and sold in the same package along with a card or cards of a major set.

IS - Inside Stuff.

ISSUE - Synonymous with set, but usually used in conjunction with a manufacturer, e.g., a Topps issue.

JSY - Jersey Card.

JWA - John Wooden Award.

KID - Kid Picture Card.

LEGITIMATE ISSUE - A set produced to promote or boost sales of a product or service, e.g., bubble gum, cereal, cigarettes, etc.  Most collector issues are not legitimate issues in this sense.

LID - A circular-shaped card (possibly with tab) that forms the top of the container for the product being promoted.

MAG - Magic of Skybox cards.

MAJOR SET - A set produced by a national manufacturer of cards, containing a large number if cards.  Usually 100 or more cards comprised a major set.

MC - Members Choice.

MEM - Memorial.

MINI - A small card or stamp (the 1991-92 Skybox Canadian set, for example).

MO - McDonalds Open.

MVP - Most Valuable Player.

NNO - No Number on Back.

NY - New York.

OBSERVE - The front, face, or pictured side of the card.

OLY - Olympic Card.

PANEL - An extended card that is composed of multiple individual  cards.

PC - Poster Card.

PERIPHERAL SET - A loosely defined term that applies to any nonregular issue set.  The term most often is used to describe food issue, giveaway, regional, or sendaway sets that contain a fairly small number of cards and are not accepted by the hobby as major sets.

PF - Pacific Finest.

POY - Player of the Year.

PREMIUM - A card, sometimes on photographic stock, that is purchased or obtained in conjunction with, or redemption for, another card or product.  The premium is not packaged in the same unit as the primary item.

PREMIUM CARDS - A class of products introduced recently, intended to have higher-quality card stock and photography then regular cards, but with more limited production and higher cost.  Determining what is and isn't a premium card is somewhat subjective.

PROMOTIONAL SET - A set, usually containing a small number of cards issued by a national card producer and distributed in limited quantities or to a select group of people, such as major show attendees or dealers with wholesale accounts.  Presumably, the purpose of a promo set is to stir up demand for an upcoming set.  Also called preview, prototype, promo, or test set.

QP - Quadruple Print.  A card that was printed in approximately four times the quantity compared to other cards in the same series.

RARE - A card or series of cards of very limited availability.  Unfortunately, "rare" is a subjective term frequently used indiscriminately to hype value.  "Rare" cards are harder to obtained than "scarce" cards.

RC - Rookie Card.

REGIONAL - A card issued and distributed only in a limited geographical area of the country.  The producer may or may not be a major national producer of trading cards.  The key is whether the set was distributed nationally in any form or not.

REVERSE - The back or narrative side of the card.

REV NEG - Reversed of flopped photo side of the card.  This is a major type of error card, but only some are corrected.

RIS - Rising Star.

ROY - Rookie of the Year.

S - Silver.

SA - Super Action Card.  Similar to an In Action Card.

SAL - Skybox Salutes.

SASE - Self-Addressed Stamped Envelope.

SCARCE - A card or series of cards of limited availability.  This subjective term is sometimes used indiscriminately to hype value.  Using strict definitions, "Scarce" cards are not as difficult to obtain as "rare" cards.

SERIES - The entire set of cards issued by a particular producer in a particular year; e.g., the 1978-79 Topps series.  Also, within a particular set, series can refer to a group of (consecutively numbered) cards printed at the same time, e.g., the first series of the 1972-73 Topps issue(#1 through #132).

SET - One each of the entire run of cards of the same type produced by a particular manufacturer during a single year.  In other words, if you have a complete set of 1989-90 Fleer cards, then you have every card from #1 up to and including #132; i.e., all the different cards that were produced.

SHOOT - Shooting Star.

SHOW - A large gathering of dealers and collectors at a single location for the purpose of buying, selling, and trading sports cards and memorabilia.  Conventions are open to the public and sometimes also feature autograph guests, door prizes, films, contests, etc. (Or, Showcase, as in 1996-97 Flair Showcase).

SKED - Schedules.

SP - Single or Short Print.  A card which was printed in a lesser quantity compared to the other cards in the same series (also see Double Print, DP).  This term can be used only in a relative sense and in reference to one particular set.  For instance, the 1989-90 Hoops Pistons Championship card (#353A) is less common than the common the other cards of any other set.

SPECIAL CARD - A card that portrays something other than a single player or team.

SS - Star Stats.

STANDARD SIZE - The standard size for sports cards is 2 1/2 by 3 1/2 inches.  All exceptions, such as 1969-70 Topps, are noted in card descriptions.

STAR CARD - A card that portrays a player of some repute, usually determined by his ability; but sometimes referring to sheer popularity.

STAY - Stay in School.

STICKER - A card-like item with a removable layer that can be affixed to another surface.  Example: 1987-88 through 1989-90 Fleer bonus cards.

STOCK - The cardboard or paper on which the cardis printed.

STY - Style.

SUPERSTAR CARD - A card that portrays a superstar, e.g., a Hall of Famer or player whose current performance may eventually warrant serious Hall of Fame consideration.

SY - Schoolyard stars.

TC - Team Card or Team Checklist card.

TD - Triple-Double.  A term used for having double-digit totals in three categories.

TAB - A card portion set off from the rest of the card, usually with perforations that may be removed without damaging the central character or event depicted by the card.

TEAM CARD - A card that depicts an entire team, notably the 1989-90 and 1990-91 NBA Hoops Detroit Pistons championship cards and the 1991-92 NBA Hoops subset.

TEST SET - A set, usually containing a small number of cards, issued by a national producer and distributed in a limited section of the country or to a select group of people.  Presumably, the purpose of a test set is to measure market appeal for a particular type of card.  Also called a promo or prototype set.

TFC - Team Fact Card.

TL - Team Leader.

TO - Tip-Off.

TR - Traded Card.

TRIB - Tribute.

TRV - Trivia.

TT - Team Tickets card.

UER - Uncorrected Error card.

USA - Team USA.

VAR - Variation card.  One of two or more cards from the same series with the same number (or player with identical pose if the series is unnumbered) differing from one another by some aspects, the different feature stemming from the printing stock of the card.  This can be caused when the manufacturer of the cards notices an error in one or more of the cards, makes the changes, and then resumes the print run.  In the case there will be two versions or variations of the same card.  Sometimes one of the variations is relatively scarce.

VERT - Vertical pose on card.

XRC - Extended Rookie Card.  A player's first appearance on a card, but issued in a set that was not distributed nationally or in packs.  In basketball sets, this term refers only to the 1983, '84, and '85 Star Company.

YB - Yearbook.

20A - Twenty Assist Club.

50P - Fifty point club.

6M - Sixth Man.

! - Condition-sensative card or set.

* - Multisport set.