📅 When did NBA Ballers Series 3 come out? 🔗

ZURU hasn't published an official release date for NBA Ballers Series 3, but it's already on US shelves and has been since late August 2026 at the latest.

How do I know, if the brand never said it? Amazon.com. The Series 3 two-pack has verified US buyer reviews going back to August 22, 2026, and you can't review a capsule nobody has received. Target carries the single capsule too. As far as I could find, ZURU's own site still stops at Series 2, which is why so many people end up typing the question into Google.

🔍 Is the 90s Collection Series 3? 🔗

No. The 90s Collection is its own product, with its own model number, its own UPC and its own Target listing. The mix-up is understandable, though.

Some retailers muddy it. ToyWiz, for example, sells the 90s capsule under a "Series 3 90's Collection" name. And both lines lean on legends, so the same faces show up in each. But if you compare the backs of the packaging, the numbers don't lie.

So which one is "the real" Series 3? The 40-player numbered line. The 90s Collection is a themed throwback drop that lives next to it, the same way a store exclusive sits next to a mainline wave.

💰 Price and where to buy in the US and UK 🔗

Target is the cheapest place for both: $9.99 for a 90s capsule and $9.99 for a Series 3 capsule. Everything else costs a bit more or comes in a bundle.

Prices checked on October 5, 2026. They move, so treat them as a reference.

A few things jump out. The 90s capsule is not on Amazon.com at all, which fits the "Only at Target" ribbon on its listing. ToyWiz asks three dollars more for the same capsule on preorder, so unless your Target is empty, I'd skip that. And Series 2 dropping to clearance is the classic sign that the shelf space is going to Series 3.

📦 What's inside each capsule 🔗

One figure, a player card, a mini ball and a court tile. That's the base kit Target lists for the 90s Collection, and it's what you see built up in the official photos.

The court tile is the real hook, and that's no accident. Each one carries half a logo and a slice of the free throw line. Open one and you've got a loose square. Open six and suddenly half a court is sitting on your desk with the players planted on it. Sales trick? Totally. Does it work? It worked on me with Series 1, so I'm not going to pretend otherwise.

📋 90s Collection checklist 🔗

Target's official panel shows the whole lineup, so for once there's no guessing. Five players, two mascots, sorted by rarity.

How it splits by team

Chicago and Toronto get the best of it, which makes sense: they're the two teams that bring a mascot. Look at the panel and the Bulls and the Raptors take four slots each.

If you're tracking the whole line, I keep the full NBA Ballers checklist with every series in my NBA Ballers collector guide (in Spanish), and the rest of the sports lines live on the ZURU Ballers hub (in Spanish).

👑 Commons, rares and the Shaq super rare 🔗

Ten commons, four rares, one super rare. Simple on paper, but Target's wording trips people up.

The panel says "4 rare players". Two of those four slots are Benny the Bull and The Raptor, though, and they're not exactly players. So it's four rare designs, not four rare players. Small thing? Sure. But if you're building your checklist at home, you want it right from day one.

What really separates a rare from a common here is the sculpt. The ten commons stand in a neutral pose, no base. The rares get an action pose and a nameplate base: Rodman holding the ball up with green and blue hair, Carter driving to the rim with his tongue out. You can tell what you pulled from across the room.

And at the top, Shaq. Lakers gold, number 34, mouth open, both fists clenched. He's the chase of the set and ZURU treats him that way: on the back of the packaging, he's the only figure named. When a brand bothers to print one player's name on the box, it's telling you who to hunt.

In the official artwork the extras seem to follow rarity too: the rare Rodman comes with a hoop on a base and the super rare Shaq with a gold trophy. That's my read of the images, not something ZURU spells out, so don't count on it until more people post their pulls.

"When a brand prints one player's name on the back of the box, you already know who you'll be chasing." Víctor, looking at the back of the capsule

♻️ Repeat sculpts from Series 2 and Series 3 🔗

A new collection doesn't mean fifteen new sculpts. This is the part I'd want to know before opening a stack of capsules.

When I compared the 90s lineup with the Series 2 checklist, three pieces looked familiar: the special pose Shaq, Benny the Bull and The Raptor. Then there's Series 3. The white Bulls Rodman, number 91, shows up both in the main Series 3 image on Target and on the 90s panel. One Target reviewer went further and called the 90s set mostly the same as Series 3, apart from the Orlando Shaq, the throwback Iverson and the black Rodman.

Is ZURU selling us the same toys twice? Not quite. It reads more like a themed throwback pick with its own SKU than a wave of fifteen new molds. Without the official 40-player Series 3 checklist, I can't say exactly how big the overlap is, so take the reviewer's take as one buyer's view. If you already own a full Series 2 or you're deep into Series 3, expect a few doubles. Starting from zero? It's a great way into the line.

I covered the early Series 3 listings when they first showed up, in my NBA Ballers Series 3 article (in Spanish).

💭 My take: is 15 figures too few? 🔗

❓ Quick questions 🔗