Nonsense Newsletter #22: Mike and Jesse Sink or Swim on YouTube, We talk a little NFL Draft. We look at unlicensed cards, and have a few Quick Hits for you to enjoy.
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Welcome to the next installment of your favorite sportscard newsletter! This week’s edition is packed with useful and somewhat useful, depending on whether you’re a glass-half-full or glass-half-empty person, info on the upcoming NFL Draft. We also delve into the deep dark depths of unlicensed trading cards, and more! So buckle up, grab your cup ‘o Joe and be ready for Nonesense Newsletter No. 22!
-John McTaggart
Contributor: John McTaggart
To QB, or not to QB?
That is the question.
In the hobby, that really is the question facing many collectors in regards to this upcoming 2022 NFL draft class. Although the top of the board appears to be dominated by defensive ends, (Michigan’s Aiden Hutchinson, the consensus top pick as of now), there really aren’t many quarterbacks generating a ton of buzz heading into this year’s draft.
It’s a somewhat unusual predicament for collectors who are accustomed to clinging to signal-callers year after year.
And who can blame them, as a general rule, the football hobby is dominated by quarterbacks.
Players such as Joe Burrow, Justin Herbert, and Josh Allen, not to mention Lamar Jackson and others, have dominated the hobby chases for the past few years, while all-time greats such as Tom Brady, Russell Wilson, and Drew Brees, for example, have been the stuff hobby dreams are made of for decades.
In this episode, Mike rips some Mosaic football and Ryan reports from the card show in Cleveland, Ohio.
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!
Fact or Fiction #3- Don’t Buy Unlicensed Cards
Contributor: John Dudley
Welcome to this week’s Fact or Fiction where conventional hobby wisdom and advice is put to the test. Most conventional wisdom has at least a grain of truth, but a lot of it does not stand up to empirical examination, but this series puts the hobby wisdom of the ages to the test. This week we tackle one of the most common pieces of advice (and the one offered constantly unsolicited and almost gleefully): don’t buy unlicensed cards.
Hobby Wisdom: Don’t buy unlicensed cards. For the purposes of this article unlicensed cards refer to cards still produced by major brands but without league-approved licenses. Knockoffs or the increasingly common homemade cards are in another category.
Any time a picture of an unlicensed Panini baseball card or a box break gets posted online, it doesn’t take long for armchair quarterbacks to come out of the woodworks to say things like, “unlicensed is garbage,” or “better off setting your money on fire,” or “enjoy your pajamas card,” or the ever-classy and severely over-used, “Poopnini.”
Quick Hits
Pop Culture - While zerocool’s first release sold extremely well, it wasn’t for everyone. Their next one is a bit more mainstream in the pop culture world. The guys from Jackass are moving from the screen to the cardboard world in zerocool’s second offering. Want a Johnny Knoxville RC? It can be yours if you win a box in zerocool’s Blind Dutch Auction format.
Grading News- A massive 1.2 million cards were graded last month. Almost a million of these were graded by PSA. For perspective, PSA has graded roughly 40,000,000 cards total since opening their doors in 1991. One of the more interesting nuggets from this report is that gaming cards (Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh, MTG, etc…) are the largest category for PSA. Looks like Logan Paul was on to something.
Vintage-A little tidbit for vintage card lovers aimed at celebrating opening day of the 2022 MLB season. Read about it here.
More Nonesense
Another T206 Honus Wagner sold for millions recently. This time, the PSA 1 Wagner went for $3.1M at auction, a healthy return on the $402,900 price tag the same card carried back in 2013. Read more about this auction here.
Sports cards aren’t only collectible hobbyists are coveting lately. A surge in popularity of game tickets and other memorabilia has the hobby buzzing. Heritage Auctions will feature these types of items as part of its spring auction beginning April 21, 2022. For more information, click here.
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.