Nonsense Newsletter No. 143: The Magic returns, NFL preseason buys, artwork of vintage cards and so much more!

Howdy all! In this week’s edition of the Nonsense Newsletter John Dudley talks about the top NFL players collectors are on the hunt for before the season kicks off. I discuss a renewed love affair with Magic the Gathering cards, and, of course, the Quick Hits section is on point. So, let’s do this, people!

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By John McTaggart

Every so often I get on a Magic The Gathering kick — I’m in the thick of one now. 

Now only does my mind wander to the days of yore, decades ago, when a distributor of ours approached us about a trading card game that was going to “change the industry,” (he was right, by the way) but also to the many hours I spent at shows playing MTG with dealers and patrons over the years. 

I absolutely loved the game itself, still do, in fact. 

I play online on a regular basis, not to mention the live games I’ll try and be a part of at a local TCG shop near me. 

Now, my nephew is getting into the game, too. 

It’s been an absolute blast sharing the collecting side of the game with him over the past six months or so, along with putting the game to use as and actual TGC product.

We scour EBay and try to spend some time looking at every local card show we can get to for MTG stuff.

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By John Dudley

Football is almost here. FOOTBALL!!! The Olympics helped distract us from the tedium of the wait, but collectors have been idling away the time buying and selling football cards in preparation for the new season. I might not have football on Sundays but a new Terry McLaurin auto can help me forget that fact. It’s not just a distraction though. This is the time of the year that collectors stock up on players they expect to do well in the upcoming year. Collectors have their very own pre-season.

So, who are the big names this year? Glad you asked. The Card Ladder Player Indices are a great way to see who people are expecting to have big seasons. The indices tracks the price of variety of cards for each player. Judging by the names on the list of players whose cards have increased in value ofver the last month, only collectors looking for home runs have been buying so far. The more prudent long-term holds aren’t found here. No Mahomes or Allen. The names here are short-term lottery tickets with one exception. I’m a bit surprised not to see some of the bigger names in the hobby on this list. So, let’s see who the hobby world is big on going into the season.

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Quick Hits

Hobby News- Topps has added new life to the stellar, but overlooked, Topps Now program this year. The addition of foil SPs has been a hit. The real draw recently has been the insertion of Autos for certain cards. Recently, this included an amazing Curry/Durant/LeBron triple auto. Sales skyrocket when Topps does this so expect a lot more of it. The great news is that Topps Now are some of the nicer on-card autos on the market.

Vintage- For those of you old enough to remember, there as a time when the back of a baseball card held more than just statistics — it was a comic strip. Here’s a cool article in Sports Collectors Daily on the artwork of card.

Hobby News- Topps did a great job with their Olympics products this year. Now it’s time to see if any of the Olympians have staying power in the hobby. Katie Ledecky has seen large drops but her Topps Chrome autos are going for over $400 still. Perhaps next time Topps can incorporate other nations too so we can get cards of stars like Raygun, the futuristic shooters, and the French Michael Phelps.

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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.

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