Nonsense Newsletter No. 100: Hockey talk, the MLB postseason, cool MTG cards and much much more!
Sponsored by SGC Cards gosgc.com
In this week’s tantalizing edition of the Nonsense Newsletter, John Dudley dives right into the MLB’s postseason tourney. I sit down with someone older (if you can believe that) and wiser that me to talk the hockey hobby, and of course, the Quick Hits section is magnificent once again. So buckle up and hold on tight because this 100th installment is a darn good one!
Contributor: John Dudley
It’s MLB Playoffs Time. Congrats to those who made it and better luck next year to the rest. While postseason success isn’t as critical to hobby value for baseball as it is for football and basketball, this is the time of year that people focus on baseball so postseason glory can spark a nice hobby value bump. This week I’m going through the teams ad figuring out which players warrant watching from a hobby perspective.
The Already Eliminated
That was fast. It’s kind of a bummer that all four series ended in only two games. It’s highly unlikely that two games will have much impact on any player, but let’s look at these teams regardless.
The Miami Marlins were just happy to make the postseason and it showed as they got absolutely steamrolled by the Phillies. Luis Arraez got a lot of good press and deservedly so. He started to produce slightly in categories other than batting average this year and turned into a top-25 player. His cards are still cheap and a young two-time batting champ is worth looking at.
The Milwaukee Brewers were a popular dark horse pick for the World Series with a stable of pitchers that, while inconsistent, are capable of shutting down any offense. Sadly, the bad version of these guys showed up. Corbin Burnes is one of the few pitchers in the league that is close to being hobby-relevant, but a mediocre season (by his standards) and a bad outing in the playoffs leaves a lot to be desired. His cards will continue to sell for cheap this offseason.
Contributor: John McTaggart
Before either of us could say a word, the smile crept across his weathered face, stretching from one ear to the next, wide, satisfying and filled with joy.
The lines in his face stretched and his eyes narrowed in a way only true happiness could reveal.
He celebrated his 84th birthday back in May.
He renewed his Red Wings season tickets, for the 40th season, not long after last year’s campaign came to an end.
“I want to celebrate one more Stanley Cup before I turn 100,” he smiled. “And after seeing this team, I’m believing this might just happen — maybe more than once!”
No doubt, the Wings are one of the teams off to a nice, if not somewhat surprising start, tallying five points in five games to start the 2022-23 season.
Lucas is a collector, as well, and he’ll pull binder after binder, shoebox-sized plastic container after plastic container out, each one loaded with hockey cards, dating back more than 70 years, right up to today’s top young talents.
When I spoke to him earlier this week, as usual, we talked about hockey, cookies and cards.
Quick Hits
Pop Culture News- Fan of the Princess Bride or Dr. Who? Well Magic: The Gathering has some cards for you. The uber-popular nerdom properties are the subject of the most recent Secret Lair Superdrop. Both sets of exclusive cards can be had for $40 in foil form or $30 in an unshiny format. There is also an Evil Dead set and some other great offerings. Available for a limited time here.
Vintage- I am going to be totally honest here, I have never purchased a single NASCAR trading card. That said, they do look super-cool! In this Sports Collectors Daily article, you can take a look back at what started it all for NASCAR collectors. Click here for this entertaining and informative article.
Hobby News- I’m sure you’ve seen it, but this is likely the most A-list studded card event ever. Check out Tom Brady, Kevin Hart, and Travis Scott showing up for a local Topps event in New Jersey. Fanatics has long harped on the lack of marketing in cards and if this is indicative of their plans, buckle up, it’s about to get interesting.
Hobby News- Topps released a Bob Ross-inspired set. While they might lag behind on incorporating trends a bit, the set is actually pretty well put together with an attractive design. The cards come in collector’s boxes with two autos and a nice pen or in Happy Little Boxes (love the name) that eliminate the autos. Given the early reception I’ve seen online, this could be a very strong release.
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.