Nonsense Newsletter No. 132: Anthony Edwards, Inserts out the Wahzoo, Josh Gibson 1-of-1 and more!
In this week’s mind-blowing edition of the Nonsense Newsletter, I complain about the incredible number of inserts found in modern-day products. Meanwhile, John Dudley takes a long look at Anthony Edward’s wild ride. Plus, the Quick Hits section is once again, top-notch! So, kick up your feet and enjoy, people!
By John Dudley
Basketball is a fickle mistress. Look no further than the cardboard journey of Anthony Edwards to see the truth of this. He played well all year and his cards refused to rise. A couple of unexpected Playoff series wins later and his cards more than tripled. Three games later and they are back to earth and one can’t help but wonder where they’ll settle once the dust finally clears. It’s been a wild ride and it highlights one of the most underlooked factors in card price, the narrative.
My Story
Anthony Edwards was one of my big targets going into this year and was highlighted way back in issue 64 of the newsletter as one of the NBA’s biggest bargains. I also had Zion Williamson and Trae Young on that list, so I can’t really take a victory lap. One unintended consequence of writing these columns is that I often talk myself into buying cards while writing them. I went out and snagged ten nice Edwards cards when I wrote this column. To give myself full credit, Edwards was the only guy I bought after writing that column.
By John McTaggart
As most of you know, I’ve fallen madly in love with breaking — after spending years not being a big fan.
That said, because of this, I’ve had the absolute honor and privilege to be a part of many breaks, on both sides of the camera, and aside from having an absolute blast in every one, I have made a keen observation.
There are too many inserts in 99-percent of the new products on the market, despite the sports, manufacturer or echelon of cards.
There really is.
Of course, Some are cooler, more scarce, and more treasure than others, but the bottom line is, most of them are none of the aforementioned.
They’re mainly shiny, cut funny or colored in a different hue — that’s it.
Now, I understand the company’s desire to add more hits to packs.
Heck, there has to be a justification to charge what some of these boxes cost you and I. And it is exciting to get a hit in every pack.
Problem is, it waters down the product, in my opinion, to the point where there just isn’t much value in each pack.
In hockey for example, there are some products with three or more hits in every pack, most worth little more than a few quarters or a couple bucks, depending on the player and insert.
Quick Hits
Hobby News- Fanatics is launching Fanatics Emanate which has one signed 8 x 10 per pack. The drop should still be live for a few hours and can be found here. The checklist is amazing, but so is the price tag of $200. The 8 x 10 market is fairly soft and while the checklist is super strong, one can find certified auto 8 x 10s of all but Ohtani for at or under $200. The attraction here is in upping the quality of products in this market along with adding collectability borrowed from the card world in terms of parallel and numbering. Overall, it looks fun with low risk with an incredibly strong checklist, but also low reward given the 8 x 10 market.
Vintage- If you’re a fan of incredibly rare, incredibly valuable cards of incredibly talented icons of the game… then you have to take a gander at this Josh Gibson. It’s, well, you guessed it… incredible. Click here.
Hobby News- Bowman Sapphire dropped with a hefty price tag of $429 a box. Topps has made the product more attractive by adding a guaranteed auto per box and also guaranteeing three numbered parallels instead of two. While Sapphire wax prices have seen a sharp rise, they are unlikely to drop as Sapphire is popular in the breaking world and breaks fill up at $20-$30 a team. That demand sets a very high floor for Sapphire box prices that I don’t expect to change any time soon.
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.