Hoop
Stars

No Michael Jordan — But Everyone Else Is Here

The Hallmark Hoop Stars series launched in 1995 with Shaquille O'Neal — then 23 years old, in his third season with the Orlando Magic, already unmistakably the most physically dominant player in the NBA — in a dunking pose, 6 inches tall, traded card included. The series ran for eleven consecutive years through 2005, producing one ornament per year, each one a different NBA player in his active or recently retired prime. The trading card included with each entry makes Hoop Stars unique in the Keepsake sports series catalog: every ornament comes with a printed card featuring the player's statistics and biography. The ornament and the card together make a complete commemorative package — the figure for the tree, the card for the collector's file.

The notable absence across all eleven years is Michael Jordan. Jordan played in the NBA throughout the series' entire run — winning championships in 1996, 1997, 1998, returning from his baseball retirement, retiring again in 1999, returning again with the Wizards in 2001. He is the most famous basketball player in the world during precisely the years the Hoop Stars series ran. He is not in it. Licensing complexity almost certainly explains the absence — Jordan has historically been selective about his image licensing. The Hoop Stars series responded by making its choices deliberately: Larry Bird and Magic Johnson as legends in 1996 and 1997, Jordan's Chicago Bulls teammate Scottie Pippen in 1999, Karl Malone (who lost the 1997 and 1998 Finals to Jordan) in 2000, Kobe Bryant (Jordan's most direct heir apparent) in 2003. The roster tells the story of the Jordan era by surrounding his absence with the players who defined that era beside him.

Tips for the Collection

• 01
  Display the complete 11-entry roster as a decade of NBA history. The Hoop Stars series covers 1995–2005 — the Jordan era and its immediate aftermath. In order, the ornaments trace the arc of the league: Shaq's Orlando dominance (1995), Bird and Magic as living legends (1996–97), Pippen without Jordan (1999), Malone's Jazz dynasty (2000), Duncan's Spurs beginning (2001), Kobe post-dynasty (2003). The complete roster is a timeline of a decade of NBA basketball, one Hall of Famer per year.
• 02
  Keep the trading cards — they double the value of each ornament as a collectible. The trading card included with each Hoop Stars entry is part of the complete collectible. If you have boxes with original inserts, keep the cards inside. If the ornaments came without cards, note which entries are card-complete — the Shaq and Kobe entries in particular are among the most sought-after in the secondary market as complete box-plus-card collectibles.
• 03
  The 2003 Kobe Bryant (QX8237) is the series' most collected individual entry. Released in 2003, after Kobe's three consecutive championships with Shaq (2000, 2001, 2002) and at the height of his individual fame, the Kobe Bryant Hoop Stars ornament is consistently the most sought-after single entry in the series on the secondary market. If you are collecting to complete the set or looking for the single most valuable individual entry, the 2003 Kobe is the one.
• 04
  All 11 Hoop Stars Hallmark ornaments — the complete series from 1995 to 2005 — are at Already Christmas. Shaq, Bird, Magic, Grant Hill, Pippen, Malone, Duncan, Garnett, Kobe, Kidd, and Carmelo. The full roster. The trading cards. All eleven here.