Nonsense Newsletter No. 121: The Wild West, Young Guns are More than Connor Bedard, 1984 and More!
In this week’s gorgeous edition of the Nonsense Newsletter, John Dudley dives head first into the MLB’s west divisions. Meanwhile, I refresh the memories of those who forgot that Young Guns cards were not make exclusively for Connor Bedard. Plus, the Quick Hits is magnificent (again)! So, as spring approaches and the flowers begin to bloom, it’s time to plant yourself in your favorite chair and enjoy another edition of the Nonsense Newsletter!
By John Dudley
Baseball time! It’s not quite Opening Day, but Spring Training is in full swing and collectors are starting to get actual gameplay to evaluate. I like to have a good grasp on the league at least at the start of the season and so each year I run through the league looking for the biggest hobby storylines on each team.
This is not a list of the best players on each team. Rather, it is just a look at one player on each team that is of interest specifically to the hobby this year. For that reason, most of these players are younger as older established stars have to do something truly spectacular to move the hobby needle. Let’s start out west as they normally get covered last. Today, it’s off to the front of the line for our Western divisions in an attempt to mitigate that East Coast bias. The Central and Eastern divisions will get their turns in a week or two.
AL West
California Angels- Ohtani is gone. Trout is the other hobby stalwart on the roster. Writing about Trout’s place in the hobby is overdone though and really nothing is left to say other than to speculate on injuries. The other player who can turn a collector’s head is Zach Neto. The shortstop tore through MiLB before finding things more difficult at the MLB level. Neto is a scrappy guy who has the makings of a fan-favorite. He also was a two-way player and is apparently a decent pitcher. He’s a hitter only now and the Angels will need a breakout year from him to avoid having a fire sale.
By John McTaggart
The last 24 hours or so my social media feed has been swamped with Connor Bedard Young Guns photos.
Literally dozens and dozens of them.
Now, I’m not going to drone on about this card in particular.. today anyhow.
But I do want to give people a little rundown on the cards themselves, and why they are such an important facet of the hockey hobby.
Believe it not, I was in the hockey hobby when the first Upper Deck Young Guns rookie cards landed in the wax product.
In fact, in 1990-91, when these first Young Guns rookie cards appeared, my brother and I were pretty deep into the hobby, and already a fixture as a dealer set up at card shows all over the area.
And, believe it or not, hockey was a pretty fair chunk of our business.
Not only because we were based in Detroit, but also because Upper Deck did a magnificent job of promoting the sport within the hobby, and the Young Guns rookie cards were a big part of this plan.
Quick Hits
Grading News- CGC’s grading volume woes are getting even worse in terms of sports cards. At one point the company graded 85,000 cards a month. Last month that number was down to 11,000. With monthly drops of 30%, it is worth asking if CGC will be grading sports cards in 2025. Their TCG business is doing well though. More info and great data at Gem Rate.
Vintage- Now we’re talking my speed here — 1984 Donruss! This was my Golden Age of collecting. Before I was ever concerned with values, pop counts, profit margins and condition. I just loved the cards and the players and the game — period! Take a look at this awesome article on this awesome set by clicking here.
Grading News- Premiums for graded cards might be down, but collectors continue to send in cards for grading at a record pace. It’s a good sign for the health of the hobby. With over 1.6 million cards graded last month, one starts to wonder if they can get to 2 million. Even though I’ve been tough on CGC’s sports numbers, all four companies saw growth in their grading total from the same month last year.
Hobby News- Topps Big League sold out in its presale on Topps’ website. Is this the hottest product around? No.No. No. It’s just Topps using their new favorite FOMO-inducing technique, very limited presales. It is effective and I expect to see more of it. If they are using it on Big League, I’d expect it for almost everything. Just be aware of it and try not to get too caught up in presale hype.
More Nonsense…
In case you missed it, John Dudley found a drop in grading card premiums that could have a major impact in the hobby. Check it out 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.