Nonsense Newsletter No. 155: The GOAT, the whole story and irresponsible decisions
Welcome back to the world’s greatest hobby newsletter! In this week’s edition, John Dudley wonders if the GOAT broke football cards. Cole Benz takes a serious look at the impact boxes and breaks have and whether they lead to irresponsible decisions. And I, well, I talk about the whole thing. I know, so much information that you’re feeling an overload in your brain. It’s okay, just settle in and enjoy this week’s edition of the Nonsense Newsletter.
By John McTaggart
I’ve been watching a lot YouTube lately, which indicates that I both enjoy watching these “influencers” wheel-and-deal their way around huge card shows, and that winter is here and I have put my golf clubs away for the season.
Either way, we can all learn a lot from watching these guys (and gals), maneuver their way around a show floor — and then hardly ever use that knowledge.
I am here to tell you, after nearly four decades of attending card shows, negotiating back-and-forth with dealers and sellers alike — I can count on one hand the number of times big deals have gone the way most of these folks seem to have big deals go — and they have it happen multiple times in every show. It’s incredible!
I’m jealous!
I’m stumped!
I’m leery and skeptical of the validity of some of these multi-thousand dollar deals going so smoothly and so quickly. But, hey… let’s give them the benefit of the doubt.
If I jog my memory, most of the deals I’ve been a part of for the amount of money we’re talking about here in these videos, weren’t quite as seamless, to say the least.
By John Dudley
It’s a quarterbacks league they say. Only buy star quarterbacks they say. Well, the stars have been producing decently on the field, but only the quarterbacks on the fringe of hobby relevance have seen substantial gains in card prices this year. Sam Darnold, Jared Goff, and Baker Mayfield have seen gains, but stars like Josh Allen, Joe Burrows, Jalen Hurts, and Justin Herbert have seen their cards trending downward over the last three months. Even Mahomes and Lamar Jackson have only had modest gains.
So, the question this week is where are all the gains for the star quarterbacks? Where are the crazy spikes after big wins? Let’s figure out what’s going on. Hopefully, by the end of this I’ll have a better handle on my football card buying plans.
By Cole Benz
As we collectors aimlessly scroll social media it’s autograph this, superfractor that, and most of the time the caption reads something like this… “Bought one hanger pack, pulled this bad boy!” …or some variation of that sentence, you get the picture.
Social media is a wonderful (most of the time) avenue for collectors to talk, to share stories, to trade, to buy and sell, and to have a community. The trouble is that social media can make it seem like the big hits come in every box. And there’s nothing like having the desire to buy a box, or into a break, after watching someone else pull a hot card no matter where you’re seeing these great pulls. Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, whatever your preferred destination is.
This can go to a whole psychology on the effects of social media on the human mind. But sticking strictly in the collecting world, it can give the illusion that there is a banger of a card in every box and cause a person to spend recklessly. Trust me, that person has been me on numerous occasions.
Quick Hits
Hobby News — It’s a big week for Topps’ releases with Holiday, Bowman’s Best, Black and White, Bowman Sapphire, and Gilded among others. With Bowman Draft out the first week of December as well and several other recent releases, the end of the year is once again proving to be an expensive time for baseball collectors. I keep hoping Fanatics will be able to get the products spread out better, but they seem to still have their printing schedule out of whack from the pandemic. Here’s hoping 2025 is the year Fanatics creates a predictable card release schedule. My guess is we are still a few years out.
Vintage — Are you a fan of the obscure vintage baseball sets? Well, if you are then you absolutely have to check this article out. Click here. You will not be disappointed.
Mid-Month Mover — Only one player that Card Ladder tracks has seen gains of over 10% and decent sales volume. It’s none other than Jared Goff our first ever Mid-Month Mover winner. Goff had very little competition, but our first loser had a strong? field to conquer. The dubious honor of worst Mid-Month Mover goes to Trevor Lawrence who has seen his cards dip almost 40% in the last month. It’s worth noting many HOF stalwarts were in competition suggesting big problems for the football market.
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.