Nonsense Newsletter No. 168: Prospecting Blues, Basketball Rebounds and so much more!
Welcome to another spectacular edition of the Nonsense Newsletter! I’m your host, John M, and this week, John Dudley and I are taking you an an amazing ride through the hobby we all love! (How’s that for an intro?). So, let’s dive right in and enjoy this week’s edition of the Nonsense Newsletter!
By John Dudley
’m finally wresting my gaze away from baseball to check out basketball for the first time in ages. It looks like others are doing the same as basketball seems to have finally hit the floor of its market correction (or dumpster fire of a crash, take your pick). That’s fairly big news to me, so let’s make sure it’s true before going too crazy.
Basketball got hit the hardest when the bottom fell out of the sports card market, and collectors have been slow to return. I’ve only dabbled by picking up some Amen Thompson cards this past offseason and one Wemby card I just had to have.
Things have changed. The Card Ladder Basketball Index is as high as it has been since the summer of 2023. That means that not only have prices stopped dropping, they’ve started rebounding. Over the last year, the basketball market is up almost 10% according to the index.
By John McTaggart
The hobby is a finicky thing, isn't it?
For a very long time, however, my beloved hockey was exempt from many of the annoying quirks in the hobby that plagued the other major sports.
And by quirks I mean the insane rush to one player after one or two good games. I mean this wild surge of prices on rookies who have barely even played, and worse yet, the ridiculous price of wax based solely upon the highly unlikely happening that that is the box with the 1- of- 1 everyone is seeking.
Well, that which I held so dear about the hockey hobby has flown completely out the window in the past two seasons as much-heralded rookies, namely Connor Bedard and Macklin Celebrini, both entered the league and with them came the hype train, FOMO tendencies of so many, and the utter insanity that the hobby as a whole has become with the pricing-based-on-potential mentality.
Bedard and Celebrini are both fine young players, and may in fact grow into careers that put them in the conversation for the Hall of Fame. However, Bedard, in his second NHL season is sitting at 59 points (20 goals and 39 assists) yet his Upper Deck Young Guns base rookie still fetches just over $200 a card raw. Oh, and Bedard’s plus-minus is a jaw-dropping -38 with only a handful of games left in the season.
Quick Hits
Hobby News- It’s another huge month for the grading companies with the big four coming oh so close to grading 2 million cards last month. Even with the staggering numbers, things aren’t all rosy. CGC continues to show that there just isn’t more demand than around 20,000 sports cards a month at their regular prices. They get volume when they are $10-a-card or less, and it dries up when they hit $12. If they want a real piece of the sports card market, it’s time to invest in themselves and offer lower rates to establish a real foothold. -J. Dudley
Hobby News- I was fairly harsh to Heritage High Number Hobby boxes at $200, but I have to say that the product is delightful, and if you can find retail blasters for $25, they are one of the more fun rips this year. I stand by HHN being a head-scratcher at $200 a box, but I might have underestimated the product’s fun factor.- J. Dudley
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.