Nonsense Newsletter No. 145: Matt Boldy is that guy. Image is everything, a SGC 10 Chamberlain RC and a whole lot more!
In this week’s holiday edition of the Nonsense Newsletter, John Dudley takes on the topic of image and design in the hobby. Meanwhile, I talk some hockey with y’all (shocker)! Oh, and that little section of the newsletter we call, “Quick Hits,” — yeah, that’ll blow your mind. So let’s kick back and get ready to really enjoy this Labor Day weekend edition of the Nonsense Newsletter!
By John Dudley
There is constant conversation about the factors that affect the price of a sports card. Prognosticating player performance is a favorite one. Print runs and wax prices and grading are all discussed ad nauseum. The timing of the card calendar and when to sell is another popular topic. Anything that affects a card's price gets tons of discussion with one big exception, card design. Andre Agassi once had the famous “image is everything” ad campaign but it seldom is in terms of conversations around sports cards. I think Andre was right and it is time to start talking about it more.
Design conversations are normally left to a subjective “I like it” or “I think that’s ugly” with little nuance or explanation. I think it is time to start paying more attention to it though as I think it is critical in determining a card’s value. In a hobby where players have thousands of rare cards produced a year (yes I know that sounds off but it’s the hobby), the ones that the public feels looks the best will stand out and be valued higher. It’s the reason why Kabooms are sought after and fly off the shelf at high prices while other case hits like Topps Mega Stars are tough sales at $10 even.
By John McTaggart
’m going to tell you all right off the bat — I’m about to geek-out on hockey cards in this column.
So, if that doesn’t spin your wheels or blow your skirt up, then, by all means move on to a different feature of this newsletter.
But honestly, I’m hopeful that my years of chipping away at you all, proclaiming the beauty of the game and the hobby, would at least have won a few of you over.
Not to mention the fact that the game has a legitimate young superstar in Connor Bedard, whose prices rival many young superstars in other sports, and he appears to have that elusive “it” factor as well.
All of that is good for the game, and the hobby.
Which leads me to the purpose of this little internet notepad — Matt Boldy.
Quick Hits
Hobby News- eBay is making cancellations easier. Buyers can now cancel an order before it ships with the click of a button. While this seems bad at first glance, it did not increase returns substantially in test runs according to eBay. With their generous return policy, I’d argue that sellers should’ve been accepting cancellations before shipping already as the end result of not doing so is a return where the seller pays shipping both ways.
Vintage- It’s happened again! This time instead of a garage sale or someone’s attic, it was an old grocery store. And what was found this time? A 1961-62 Fleer basketball Wilt Chamberlain RC. And, go ahead and tackle a guess here — they sent it in to SGC for grading and… (drumroll, please)... it came back a SGC 10! Bingo! It’s the first SGC 10 SGC has given an SGC 10! It’s the only one. A PSA 9 sold for $198,000 earlier this year, just to give you some context, and aPSA 10 hasn’t sold in 16 years. Read more about it here.
Hobby News- Topps Chrome basketball is back in a big way. Chrome Wemby cards are the hottest thing in the market. Many collectors have expressed confusion over the Topps Chrome cards selling so well despite being unlicensed. Collectors who have been around for a while understand the importance of the Topps Chrome brand to basketball, but newer collectors are getting their first taste of it. Simply put, the popularity of Topps Chrome is enough to squash any dislike for unlicensed cards. To me, it’s a reminder that Prizm never fully supplanted Topps Chrome in collector’s hearts.
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.