Card-carrying fan: Rise of an Aussie hoops collector

• Ryan Mobilia has spent decades amassing one of Australia’s most eclectic basketball memorabilia collections
• His collection includes rare jerseys, figurines, Opals artefacts, and unique NBL artefacts filling a double garage
• Mobilia’s story charts the evolution of basketball collecting, from the 90s boom to the pandemic resurgence

For Melbourne-based collector Ryan Mobilia, basketball memorabilia is more than a hobby, it’s a way of capturing the cultural moment and history of the game.

From trading cards and jerseys to bobble heads and beer cans, his double garage has become one of the most eclectic shrines to basketball in Australia.

Mobilia has spent decades chasing, curating, and preserving items related to the sport.

His story reflects the journey of basketball collecting itself: from the early 1990s boom, through the quieter years, to today’s resurgence driven by online communities and a new generation of fans.

The Collector’s Journey

Mobilia’s love for collecting basketball memorabilia started the same way it did for many Australian fans of his era, with Michael Jordan.

“I think I was just obsessed with consuming anything I could in the sport,” he said.

“Back then, we didn’t have social media; we had replays of games once in a while. So if I could go to the milk bar or newsagent and find something with Michael Jordan on it, I ate all that stuff up.”

In late primary school and early high school, his room became a makeshift shrine to the NBA. Posters, magazines, and cards covered the walls. “Cards were accessible, so I went with that,” he explained.

Over time, however, the market and his tastes shifted. Cards became “less cool” in the late 1990s, and Mobilia branched out into figurines, VHS tapes, books, and DVDs.

Eventually, the walls of his childhood bedroom gave way to an expanding man cave.

By 2019, though, cards pulled him back in.

“I was running out of space! Cards became a really good way to reconnect with my youth, but also when you’re trying to keep a collection going, those little 3-by-2-inch things are much easier to keep, collect, and move from house to house," he said.

The Pandemic Effect

The world of basketball collecting was transformed during COVID-19, and Mobilia experienced it first-hand.

During the pandemic, the hobby boomed. People sought something they could invest in and enjoy from home,” he recalled.

This time, though, the hobby wasn’t limited to card shops or schoolyard trades.

“There was the online space too, not just eBay, but Facebook groups and online selling,” Mobilia said.

“With this new wave, people could go online and see the rarity, and there were more limited edition, numbered cards, sometimes with patches of a player’s jersey.”

Collectors who had once drifted away from the game rediscovered their boxes of '90s cards, while new fans joined online groups to buy, sell, and trade. “The market got flooded in the early ’90s in what’s known as the ‘junk wax era’. Everything was overprinted,” Mobilia explained.

“Now there’s a better balance, and people are a lot more educated about scarcity and value.”

The Collection Today

Today, Mobilia’s collection is staggering in scale.

“It’s a full double-car garage mainly filled with basketball memorabilia and collectibles from the last 30 years,” he said.

Jerseys, figurines, and posters sit alongside rarities like a Joe Ingles South Dragons NBL bobble head, Michael Jordan life-size cardboard cut-out, NBA and WNBA Barbies, and even a Coopers Beer Can celebrating the Adelaide 36ers 1999 championship.

What excites him now is the diversity of items entering the market. “Sneakers haven’t gone away, that doesn’t really fade. And then ultimately, it is the cards,” he said.

But collectors are going beyond the obvious. “Things like tickets from certain moments, records, magazines and comics related to basketball. It’s that peripheral collectible memorabilia around those moments in time," he said.

Mobilia is especially passionate about women’s basketball.

“The other thing that really excites me is the opportunity to support and collect women’s basketball memorabilia. I think that’s been underserved, and there are opportunities there as well. That’s only going to grow based on how popular it’s becoming in the States.”

What It’s Worth

Not all collectibles are about dollar value, though.

Mobilia treasures items that connect him to his own basketball story, including a poster from the 2006 FIBA World Cup in Japan or photos with his wife at NBA games.

“There’s nothing in there that’s overly valuable for any single individual item, but collectively, it represents different eras of basketball from Andrew Gaze and Michael Jordan in the mid-90s through to LeBron,” he said.

When it comes to value, he advises fans to do their homework.

“The best starting point is eBay,” Mobilia said.

“Have a look at what things have sold for, not what people are asking for, but what it’s actually sold for. At the same time, if something’s really sentimental to you, you make your own call.”

He also highlights events like Melbourne’s CollectFest and the growth of Instagram trading communities as ways for collectors to expand their knowledge and connect with others. “You can build your knowledge pretty quickly, with a bit of caution to begin with.”

Preserving the Game

With more than 1.2 million Australians playing basketball and the sport reaching record levels of visibility, collectors like Mobilia see themselves as part of something larger. Each jersey, figurine, or ticket stub tells a piece of the game’s history.

As basketball’s popularity keeps growing in Australia, collectors are safeguarding the sport’s history one card, jersey, and bobblehead at a time. It guarantees these tangible pieces of basketball culture stay for future generations of fans to find and enjoy.

Ryan showcases his collection across Instagram , Tik Tok and even makes his own custom trading cards enjoyed by collectors around the world.