Nonsense Newsletter No. 139: Two lonely rookies, Commons out the wazoo, $2 Million in vintage cards stolen in Dallas and more.
Howdy all! In this week’s edition of the Nonsense Newsletter, John Dudley talks about the hobby loneliness of Ben Rice and David Fry. Meanwhile, I complain about a basement full of 40-year-old nobody’s. It yet another incredible edition of the Nonsense Newsletter! So, let’s not waste any more time here, I’ve got an early tee time today! Enjoy, people!
By John Dudley
Ben Rice mania is in full swing. The Yankees rookie hit three home runs in a game and collectors absolutely love that. David Fry is another rookie making a name for himself with his first All-Star selection. Great. Time to go hunting rookie cards. Normally, this would be the time I’d caution about hype and timing and I’ll do that later, but there’s something different about these two: they don’t have pack-issued rookies yet. In an era of overproduction, collectors are faced with scarcity for the first time in a while. How will they react? By losing their dang minds, that’s how.
By John McTaggart
At this very moment there are close to one million sports cards in my basement.
I kid you not.
There are roughly 300, 3200-count boxes filled to the brim with cards.
Most of these are from the 1980s and 1990s, the famed junk wax era, and have been sitting in said basement (albeit a few different homes over the last 40 years) since I opened the packs/boxes and cases way back when I acquired them.
The vast majority are not collated other than by set and year. The vast majority are commons, and every major sport is represented.
Each time I head into the basement I shake my head wondering what on Earth I can do with all of these cards.
I tried selling them on Sportlots.com, which is a very cool site designed for exactly this kinda thing, but truthfully, the amount of work required to organize and list everything is bonkers.
Quick Hits
Hobby News- The big news this week is one of the biggest, if not the biggest, card heists in history and it’s been making the national news. Over 2 million, 2 million!, dollars of cards were stolen in the closing hours of the Dallas Card Show, one of the largest in the country. Video clearly shows the thief and two potential accomplices who distracted the dealer so hopefully, justice will be swift. More info about it here. If you have information, there is a sizable reward.
Hobby News- Topps is going all out at the All-Star game with a murderer’s row of free signers and exclusive cards. That includes cards of MLB Network’s on-air talent. The cards use the cartoonish art style of the recent Bowman Anime cards and look to be a fun addition. If you can’t make the game, don’t worry as signed copies will appear in Topps Update. Read more about it, peep the auto signers, and check out the cards here.
Vintage- Complete sets of 1951 Bowman and 1952 Topps baseball cards are on the auction block, according to Sports Collectors Daily, with proceeds designated for charity.The 18th best 1951 Bowman set on the PSA Set Registry includes EX/MT 6 copies of the Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays rookie cards while the 1952 Topps set includes a PSA 8 (o/c) copy of the iconic Mantle card. Charitybuzz is managing the auction. Bidding runs through July 24.
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.