Nonsense Newsletter No. 49: The NHL Returns, Some Magical Thoughts, the grading companies drop prices, and a T206 brings in nearly $4 million at Goldin.
Sponsored by SGC Cards gosgc.com
We’ve got the good stuff this week for y’all! John Dudley drops some Magic The Gathering knowledge on you! Meanwhile, I gaze into my crystal hockey puck and pull out some names and teams to pay attention to this NHL season. And, we talk grading prices, a $3.72 million card and more! Yep, it really is that good this week. So, sit back, enjoy and take in another edition of the Nonsense Newsletter!
Contributor: John McTaggart
Be warned, there is a very good chance things could get all geeky up in here!
Ok, now we’ve got that disclosure out of the way so let’s get down to the business of the NHL season, which officially dropped the puck this week.
Although I’m not going to sit here and tell you which player to invest in, I will give my opinion on which players, as well as teams, may turn in the type of season that can get the recognition required to gain some traction in the hobby.
And as we all know all too well, traction, in today’s market, translates to increase in value.
So, since I only have about 300 words to wrap this up, let’s get going.
Before I gaze into my crystal ball and take a gander at which team will hoist the Stanley Cup come late spring of 2023, let’s take a moment to look at some of the game’s individual awards.
Contributor: John Dudley
Magic: The Gathering (MTG) is bigger than ever. I’ve written about going through my old cards and fellow SCN Newsletter Writer John McTaggart has also waxed poetic about the game. Recently, I learned about MTG events at a well-run local store (big shout out to Top Tier Games in Hattiesburg, MS).
For the first time in twenty years or so, I decided to go play MTG in a Draft event for the release of the new Unfinity set. That’s not a typo. Unfinity is a bit of an oddball set with a creative set of rules that are based on fun and whimsy. A few MTG vets suggested that this would be a great way to dip a toe back into the Planeswalker waters and, to their credit, it definitely was.
A New MTG
MTG has evolved from when I played and collected, and the newer formats are welcome changes that fix many/most of the problems with the game that caused me to stop playing. The event I attended was a draft where each player gets three packs of cards. Each player then opens a pack chooses one card and passes it to the person next to them. This choosing and passing continue until everyone ends up with 42 cards. The store was kind enough to provide basic Land cards although most people there had their own.
Quick Hits
Grading News- The price reductions keep on coming. BGS has a new CEO and has stopped their puzzling radio silence and now has a “Collector’s Special” with prices as low as $16 a card for bulk (orders of at least 50 cards). All four major companies have now seen decent price drops or sales in the past month. I don’t expect this to be the last time writing about grading price drops either.
Vintage- Normally, when I get a card back from SGC and it’s a 1.5, I’m bummed. Unless, of course, that card is a T206 Honus Wagner. In that case, I can sell that card for $3.72 million! That’s exactly what it went for after all the bids were inat Goldin last Sunday evening. Read more about this eye-popping sale here.
Pop Culture News- The Lord of the Rings and Tolkien are big again. Cryptozoic is releasing a set that celebrates the Peter Jackson version with an auto, film cell, and sketch per box. The great news is that the auto set is loaded with the stars having healthy print runs. Most of the time these sets short print the stars, but Cryptozoic went the opposite way here with the signer with the most number of autos coming from Ian McKellan as Gandalf. That’s a very cool move, especially with nice on-card autos it looks like. More info here.
Hobby News- Topps announced a team-up with Project 2020 artist Keith Shore, Garbage Pail Kids, and MLB. Shore created a 15-player set in the style of GPK cards. Packs retail for $20 and include an auto parallel (Shore only), a numbered parallel, or a variation. As the small checklist includes Witt, J.Rod, Wander, and Cruz, one has a 1-in-4 shot of a variation or parallel of a decent rookie. It should be noted no rookie logos are used on these.
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.