Nonsense Newsletter #21: Vegas, Baby! The Guys Report on the Mint Collective in Vegas, Hockey!, Plus the Top 10 Baseball Free Agent Moves by Hobby Impact, New Quick-Hits!
Welcome to another thrilling edition of the Sports Card Nonsense Newsletter! Thanks for letting us into your hearts and inboxes, or at least just the inboxes. This week hockey makes a return to the newsletter along with the top 10 MLB moves from the busy offseason. We are happy to also start adding a few quick hits on topics you may be interested in like pop culture and vintage. Let us know what you think of them in the comments.
-J. Dudley
Contributor: John McTaggart
This installment of my hockey hoopla (and yes, there is going to be hockey in this newsletter) is centered around the upcoming Stanley Cup playoffs, namely, a few somewhat under-the-radar players who may just heat up and, in turn, cause some attention to be paid to them within the hobby.
Now, this list will not contain the likes of Connor McDavid or Sidney Crosby. This caliber of player is a no-brainer, and a solid playoff performance from guys such as this would surprise absolutely nobody.Â
Instead, we’re going to delve a little deeper into the pond.
First up, Carolina Hurricanes standout, Sebastian Aho.
As of the time I pen this little article, Aho leads the Metropolitan-Division Leading Hurricane in both goals (29) and points (65). He’s also the unquestioned leader of a squad that seems poised to make a run at Lord Stanley this postseason.
And, as we all know, deep playoff runs translate into rising value within the hobby. I expect Aho to grab the spotlight this postseason and bask in the light, perhaps even all the way to the finals.
The guys are back from Vegas for their 16th episode. They share content from the Mint Collective in Las Vegas!
Mike and Jesse were on a panel with Rip, Pack, and Slab (Hoppy musicians) about creating authentic content for the hobby. Mike and Jesse also rip some NFT packs for a giveaway!
Finally, they look at some MLB cards at auction on Goldin!
As always, make sure to like, subscribe, comment, and follow to be entered in giveaways and stay on top of all things Sports Cards Nonsense!
Contributor:Â John Dudley
Perhaps the biggest bummer of the MLB lockout was the lack of big free agent moves to discuss. Signings and trades fuel speculation and purchases in the offseason and the lockout put that on hold for a time. Once the lockout was over though, the floodgates opened, and multiple All-Star players found themselves with new addresses. This week By the Numbers looks at how card values have been impacted by these moves. The players here are ranked based on how the moves have affected their current card values and not based on any future projections.
10. Trevor Story (Boston)
Story should be the clear winner in the hobby moving from stat-friendly but hobby-irrelevant Colorado to the media darling Boston Red Sox, but he is the surprising big loser. While he gets a much bigger stage, he does lose the thin Rocky Mountain air. He hit .293 at home last year compared to .203 on the road which is a major cause for concern. Story has been a borderline All-Star so any drop in stats could move him to the merely average category. Â
Story’s cards have had an interesting two-week journey. They went from roughly $60 to a high of $110 right before he signed. After the signing, his cards have plummeted to $51. Looks like collectors are betting against Story playing outside of Colorado. Â
9. Corey Seager (Texas)
Seager was the first of the All-Star shortstops to sign this offseason. He’s almost forgotten as he signed all the way back in November before the lockout began. Texas feels like a demotion from Los Angeles, but their spending frenzy means that they should be in contention this year. Seager is an MVP-caliber talent when healthy, but it is that when healthy caveat that is keeping his cards affordable.
Seager’s cards haven’t benefited from the move with Cardladder.com indicating a -11% loss over the past three months for the average sale price of his 2016 Topps Chrome RC in PSA 10 grade. Â
Quick Hits
Vintage-I ran across an article the other day while surfing the internet (yes, showing a man’s age with that expression) and it brought me back to my childhood, and to the stacks and stacks of baseball cards I had neatly placed on my dresser in my bedroom. I remember going to the store with my mom as a kid and getting four, five, even six-packs of Topps baseball. I remember the desperate search for that 1983 Topps Tony Gwynn rookie card. This article took a deeper dive into that iconic rookie year in baseball. Check it out here: https://www.sportscollectorsdaily.com/1983-topps-baseball-had-star-power-key-rookies/
-J. McTaggart
Pop Culture- While Topps Now won’t be releasing a Will Smith/Chris Rock card, there has been a brief bit of interest in Will Smith’s 1991 Hoops Jammin’ with Will Smith card. After months of almost no sales, either Smith’s Oscar win or his antics have driven collectors to this card with multiple sales in the $5 to $10 range.
-J. Dudley
Grading News- CSG announced a new grading scale as well as a new label. The new scale is akin to the SGC one with gem mint cards now being graded 10 instead of 9.5. The labels have long been a cause of division amongst collectors with Mike Gioseffi being ardently against the old ones and the reception to the change to 10s representing gem mint seems largely positive. The new scale and labels make CSG one to watch. Â
-J. Dudley
Need More Nonsense?
Drake keeps ripping packs. Did he hit $1,000,000 worth of Jordan cards? Probably not, but still pretty amazing. Â
Miscuts happen in almost every product, but sometimes they can be highly sought after. It probably doesn’t hurt to have Jackie Robinson on the card though.
In case you haven’t noticed, F1 is huge in the hobby right now. Is it too late to jump on boards? The author of this article doesn’t think so.Â
Upcoming Events
Mike and Jesse are back in Nashville for a while. On upcoming podcasts expect some soccer talk, a big baseball preview, and maybe even some Formula 1.
Jason Flynn from Soccer Cards United is joining the podcast Thursday to talk soccer!
Make sure you follow our social media as we plan on running more giveaways!
The Sports Card Nonsense newsletters reflect the opinions of only the authors and contributors. They are for informational purposes only, and are not a recommendation for purchases or of an investment strategy or to buy or sell any assets.