Nonsense Newsletter No. 130: Community, MLB slow starters, the hobby in 1974, Bowman releases and more!
In this week’s edition of the Nonsense Newsletter, John Dudley takes a look at some MLB players who are a little slow out of the gate. I wax poetic about the community, and the Quick Hits section, yet again, will blow your mind. So, you know the drill by now, folks — sit back, grab a cup o’ Joe and let’s enjoy this weeks edition of the Nonsense Newsletter.
By John Dudley
For many players, baseball is a game of ebbs and flows. Collectors know this, yet every year like clockwork, baseball collectors overreact to a player’s performance early in the season. A hot streak at the start of the year sparks a lot more movement than one in July. The same is true of cold streaks.
Unfortunately, not everyone can be Shohei Ohtani. Some supertsars have struggled early. I just said not to overreact, but the problem with early season performances is sometimes they do matter. The task lies in figuring out which bad performances are normal baseball patterns and which suggest a downturn in skills. Let’s check out the nine I’m most interested in.
By John McTaggart
Collecting cards can be a very complex thing.
In fact, all of us who love the hobby are inundated with facts, stats, tidbits of information and opinions on a daily basis.
Heck, on an hourly basis we can log on to YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Twitter, Discord or any other social media platform not aforementioned and find out something new about the hobby and the industry spouted off by a wide range of people claiming to have it all figured out.
Someone is always there telling us what to buy, who to buy, what to sell, when to sell, how to sell and what to expect when we do any of these things.
There are tons of folks with graphs, charts, projections, stories and vlogs about their whirlwind adventures at a card show or trade night.
It’s all very nice, and mostly very self-serving.
After many years in this hobby I can honestly say the entire thing can be summed up in one word — community.
The hobby is, at its core, about the community.
Quick Hits
Hobby News- It’s Bowman week but there was another release making some waves, Heritage Mini. This Mini is a smaller clone of the 1975-inspired Heritage and gives collectors three cards numbered to 50 or less, two SPs, and a couple of variations per box. Boxes came out at a generous $50 and quickly spiked to over $100. Single sales have been weak with the exception of the SPs which have been a huge hit. Set builders are hoovering them up and common SPs are fetching up to $15.
Vintage- If you’re of the older generation of hobby lovers, or if you’re curious about us older folks and the hobby, check out this article here. It’s a quick and cool glance into the hobby on 1974. Yes, in 1974 there was in fact baseball cards (and cars).
Hobby News- Topps released a Wembanyama Auto celebrating his ROY win. With only 189 copies, the card was destined to sell fast. Yet, many were shocked at the speed given the staggering $2999.99 price tag. This sends a strong signal to Fanatics about pricing for their upcoming basketball products and I fear for collectors’ wallets.
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.