Nonsense Newsletter No. 137: The beauty of the NHL, time to buy in the NBA,
In this week’s edition of the Nonsense Newsletter, John Dudley gets all serious about the buying season in the League. Meanwhile, I, once again, sing the praises of the world’s greatest team sport — hockey. Oh, and, of course, the Quick Hits section is top shelf yet again. So, let’s make a deal here — I’ll present to you the greatest newsletter in the history of the hobby, and you kick back and enjoy the crap out of it each week — win-win!
By John Dudley
The NBA Finals are in the books, the NBA market is still way down, and the upcoming drafty class might be the worst in years. That means it’s time to go shopping for basketball cards. The time between the end of the Finals and the Christmas games is my buying season for basketball cards. This year, I’m even more excited about NBA buying season as the cards are cheaper than they have been in a while. I’m also overthinking things and expecting NBA singles to do well next year as collectors ignore wax with a subpar draft class incoming.
Every year around this time I look for players I think are undervalued and could be poised to break out next year. Last year, my biggest target was Anthony Edwards. The year before, I targeted Gilgeous-Alexander. Unfortunately, while I’ve been good at picking the right guy to buy, I’ve been very impatient and sold all my SGA cards way too early and almost did the same with Edwards. I also was big on Zion and Trae Young so, my record isn’t spotless. Regardless, this is one of my favorite hobby thought exercises to do each year so without further ado, here’s who I’m considering stocking up on this offseason.
By John McTaggart
I’ve been watching hockey for a very long time.
I’ve been begging others to watch hockey for just about as long now.
And the reason why I’ve been pleading with so many for so long… was summed up in this year’s Stanley Cup Finals.
There are few sports that combine skill, chance, tension and excitement as well as hockey does.
The pace is frantic at times, graceful at others.
In many cases, particularly in the playoffs, the tension is insane — regardless of which team you call your own.
The athleticism, toughness and endurance of these athletes is unrivaled.
The best players can standout, but so can unlikely heroes.
It’s simple really — it’s a great game.
My hope is that since Edmonton’s Connor McDavid (whom I wrote about last week) was showcased in this year’s finals, the game got a little more attention than normal.
Quick Hits
Vintage- Since I’m all warm-and-fuzzy about hockey in this edition, why not talk about one of the true classics in the hobby — Howie Morenz. One of the greats of the game, his rookie card, and the V-145-1 set is was a part of turned 100-years old this year. Read more about it here.
Hobby News- 2023 Panini Contenders football is slated to release soon (July 10), just ahead of the start of NFL training camp. The highly anticipated set features Rookie Ticket autos, a slew of veteran autos and five-auto hobby boxes.
Hobby News- For those of you into this kinda thing, Ebay recently released its list of best-selling NBA players which was led, shockingly, by Victor Wembanyama and LeBron James. For a closer look at the list 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.
"Regardless, this is one of my favorite hobby thought exercises to do each year so without further ado, here’s who I’m considering stocking up on this offseason."
I'm a first time newsletter reader, is there a link I'm not seeing for the list of NBA cards?