Exquisite Basketball Takes a Final Bow

UD released pics of 09-10 Exquisite Basketball today, right on the heels of 08-09 Exquisite Basketball taking the net by storm. This will be coming out next week on 9/30 (?!?) and looks like this is a wonderful end to a set that redefined the hobby. Back in 2004 when Exquisite was first released, it was quickly elevated to legendary status with the stratospheric prices of the shortprinted Melo, Lebron and Dwade rookie auto patches.

Although the design is EXACTLY the same as the 03-04 set, it will feature cards that Basketball has never had before. This includes throwback Rookie Auto Patches of people like Jordan, Tiger and John Elway, as well as people like Sidney Crosby, all in the old design. It also features some ridiculous duals, including a Tiger/Bron dual auto, and a Tiger/Jordan dual auto patch. Can you imagine how much these will be worth? Its absurd to even fathom.

It will also feature the non-exclusive 09-10 rookies, as well as the usual suspects, so you can assume that Limited Logos and all the faves will be back. Its also going to have a logoman set as well as a few cards that are new(er) looking, so it wont all be 03-04.

Im still not sold on the use of an old design with no changes to it, but 03-04 is such an iconic set, its almost like the first High End retro product. Its probably going to have a normal MSRP, so its going to be tough to afford for those of you who dont normally buy it, but I think the possibilities are endless. The only issue I see is that the promotional materials are advertising that there are at least 2 autos per box, which means that for 600+ you may only end up with two autos. That sucks. That sucks major fucking balls. Im sure most of the boxes will contain much more than that, but the prospects of a two auto box with one being a rookie is awful. We will have to wait on the first breaks to see.

Well, Exquisite Basketball, it was nice knowing you. Thanks for the memories.