Nonsense Newsletter No. 170: The Stanley Cup playoffs, Basketball buying season and so much more!
Howdy friends, and welcome to another installment of the Nonsense Newsletter! In this week’s edition, I talk about the NHL playoffs because, well, hockey is awesome! Meanwhile, John Dudley delves into the basketball buying season. Oh, and the Quick Hits section is mind-blowing as usual. So, as springtime settles in, let’s all settle in to another week of the Nonsense Newsletter!
By John McTaggart
The NHL playoffs are underway, and that means an obligatory story on said postseason.
Irregardless of who you are rooting for to hoist the coveted Lord Stanley’s Cup come June, the playoffs evoke a level of excitement in hockey fans that nothing else really can replicate.
There’s high drama, triumph, heartbreak and a brand of physicalness in each game that simply doesn’t exist during the regular season.
That said, there’s also high drama, triumph, heartbreak and a brand of physicalness that doesn’t exist at any other time of the year for those of us in love with hockey cards.
For example, just today I’ve gotten three emails from folks looking for Adrian Kempe Young Guns cards. Kempe is currently the top point scorer in the postseason.
By John Dudley
The Playoffs are finally here. The real NBA season has finally started. The Playoffs mean a lot of different things to a lot of different people. For me, NBA Playoff time means it’s basketball card buying season. While one might think prices peak in the Playoffs, for all but a few players, the NBA card market peaks in the month before the postseason. Players who are out or not contributing will start to be discounted.
From now until about a month before the season, I’ll look to add a few basketball cards to my very baseball-centric collection. I’ve got a few PC cards in mind, but my favorite thing to do with basketball is buying cards of young players and then following their careers.
I’ll certainly be picking up some Anthony Edwards and Cade Cunningham cards when/if they exit the Playoffs, but I like to find a less popular young player or two each year to stock up on.
I normally look for young (under 22), undervalued players who have a chance to mature into stars. None of these players are sure things. That’s why their cards are available for reasonable rates.
Quick Hits
Hobby News- 2025 Topps Heritage is out and it is causing a bit of confusion with one parallel. The Bicentennial parallels are stamped twice. Once with the serial number out of 200 and once with 1776-1976, which many are confusing for a mistaken double serial number. It’s a fun parallel, and one I’ll be hunting for my favorite players, but it is also going to cause numerous questions with the design they chose, where the dates look similar to the serial numbering.
Hobby News- Topps Tribute has some new bells and whistles this year. My favorite are the dual autos with the player on the front and the announcer who made the call for the play pictured signing on the back. It’s a fun addition. Topps has done a solid job of creatively adding new chases to somewhat stale products.
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.