Last week was a preparation week at the shop in anticipation of Saturday’s Topps Hobby Rip Night. We opted in as one of more than 400 shops to participate around the country.
We had the special Rip Night baseball packs and t-shirts to give away and some special pricing on several different Topps products.
Ironically, the owner did a three box break of 2023 Topps Rip Baseball, so we were ripping ripped cards on Rip night and saying “R.I.P.” to the big cards that held the minis within.
It was definitely an odd break as the standard sized cards that were pulled were players of a certain team, and some were solid rookies and low numbered varieties. Before the break began, the decision was made to rip all of the big cards and find (and take our chances) with the minis within, so it made for some interesting ripping.
Overall, the event went off without a hitch. I asked the owner why he didn’t get a professional athlete in the store like many of the large shops did. He was unsure. Maybe he will get a big time player here next year. Fingers crossed.
As we send more and more Victor Wembanyama rookie cards out to PSA for grading, we’ve scored more PSA 10s than I can count. Well, maybe not quite that many, I mean, I can count pretty high but it is a a pretty substantial number. One of our young customers was in earlier in the week and we got to talking about the Wemby Hoops RC and he decided to scan it and see the PSA pop report. Although I shouldn’t have been surprised in the least, I was a bit surprised to see that over 3,600 Victor Hoops rookies have already been graded PSA 10 Gem Mint. You can own one for $65-$70.
Another 1,849 of the second Wembanyama card in the base set, the Hoops Tribute card, have also been graded PSA 10. So we’re at over 5,400 PSA 10 base rookie and subset cards of the rookie sensation. It’s pretty clear that if there’s enough product out there, this will be one of the most graded cards ever when all is said and done.
I will tell you this. I’ve had a recent change of heart. My personal collection consists of only true base rookie cards. While that focus and passion worked in decades past, it quite simply just does not work in the modern era. I’ve decided to purchase the best rookie year card I can find of modern players and move on to the next guy I’m tracking down. I’ll be keeping all of my vintage base rookie cards but with the new guys, I just have to go a little more higher end and a little more exciting. I held on as long as I could!
I’ve also changed my opinion on flagship products like Topps, Hoops and the like. We as a collective community get excited because they are the first to market in their respective sports each year. I always held out some hope that there would be some actual value still in the cards. Clearly, though, these products are meant for the masses and when I say masses, I mean masses. We need to all just have fun with these low end, entry level products. If you are among those who are looking to retain any value from what you buy, you might as well look somewhere else and I guess that’s OK. Cards are supposed to be fun, but there are still people out there who aren’t well versed on what’s heavily produced and what isn’t and believe their base rookie cards are the golden ticket.
This week, the latest round of Riddell NFL mini helmets arrived in the shop. This season’s installment is called Slate. They have a very matte grey finish with either a silver or gold facemask and emblem set up. They are pretty sleek looking and they’ve sold pretty steadily so far. I’m sure they will probably be a fixture for the shop until they’re completely sold out of the warehouses.
That about wraps up my week in the sports card world. I’ll be sure to check in again soon.
Related Stories:
Shop Talk: Beyond the Cardboard, Wishing for Wembanyama, “Dog Water”
Shop Talk: Work/Life Balance, No Wemby for Us, Young Dealer’s Act of Kindness
Shop Talk: Pallets of Panini, Wild Wembanyama, More Older Football Boxes
Shop Talk: Wembanyama Wonderland, Phillies Phinished, Tragic News for Young Customer
Sports Card Release Calendar 11-22-23 to 12-5-23
Notes: OH Shop Burglary Spree; New WVA Store; eBay Invests in COMC; Big Wemby Sale
Shop Talk: Hottest Card Products Year to Date
Shop Talk: Taking Ownership, Communication is Key, Piles of Product
