Sports Card Strategy Show

I got an email today that I sold an NBA TopShot Moment! But did I list it for enough money? Maybe I got ripped off?  Maybe I listed it for two little. Oh no!  And it was one I really liked, a Damian Lillard game-winning fade-away triple at the buzzer!  Nah, calm down, this was a serial number 23,000+ out of a base set series 2 35,000+ common moment.  Plus, I opened it from a $9 pack of three moments, which means I only "spent" $3 on the moment.  It sold for $24, which means I made $19, and the way I look at it is NBA TopShot "paid me" twice the amount of the pack to have quite a bit of fun.  I feel great about it, because the lowest listing is still $24, and there are thousands of the same moment with even better serial numbers listed for $40 or less, so if I really miss owning this moment I can go back and get it for a low price.  But I really would rather keep my $19 in my Dapper wallet - even though it could take six weeks to transfer it into ETH or USD (according to the email I got from NBA TopShot).  This, to me, is where collectors can get real enjoyment out of NBA TopShot, not from listing their moments for $250,000 or even four-figures, like some of the jokesters I show in the video above.  I get it, we all want to "cash-in" on NFTs, but the real way to do it on NBA TopShot is to be strategic about it. Buy packs, or buy moments that you like (for low prices), and list them in the marketplace to see what happens. That's what I did.  https://nooffseason.com/what-is-nba-t...​ And I'm really happy collecting.  I hope you are too.  I'd love to know your thoughts in the comments.

It's time to break some sold out Panini Wax!   Well, technically that's true. On this episode of Happy Collecting, my kids and I break out the cards I've acquired here in Spain over the last four months (not including the cards I've purchased and had shipped to my Tennessee address).  We cover the Panini NBA Stickers and Cards Collection, as well as uncover the "Are My MegaCracks Series 2?" mystery.  Highlights:  NBA Stickers and Cards come with 5 stickers and 1 card per pack. The card sticks to the inside of the packs, but always comes out in good condition and I rather like the cards themselves. There are the rookies you'd think there would be in the collection - LaMelo Ball, Anthony Edwards, James Wisman, Obi Toppin and more.  Check out who we got!  Panini MegaCracks Series 1 features the Ansu Fati second year card, which is pretty valuable on it's own, and other stars like Joao Felix and Messi.  But Panini MegaCracks Series 2 features the Pedri rookie.   The problem is, Panini Espana labeled both the Series 1 and Series 2 MegaCracks boxes the EXACT SAME.  If somebody tries to sell you sealed MGK series 2, the reality is they don't really know if it's series 1 or series 2.  My take is: it doesn't matter. If you want to try to get a Pedri rookie, buy them.   Seriously. It's the same concept as not knowing whose cards are in the packs.  When breaking wax, you never know what you're going to get, so stop working about the packaging and just buy the cards!  Of course, we think ours is Series 2. In the video I explain why.  Happy Collecting!

Know a dad that's hard to buy for? Is your dad  hard to buy for? Maybe he loves sports. If he just found his old sports card collection, or even just appreciates sports cards as art, this list is for you!  Let's not waste any time. Here are the top five sports card related Father's Day Gift Ideas of 2021

NBA TopShot is the brainchild of the NBA and Dapper Labs. In short, TopShot is a marketplace for digital NFT collectibles in the form of NBA game highlights called "moments."  The best way to think about these "moments," is as digital trading cards. Just go to NBATopShot.com and you'll see what I mean.  There are sets and subsets (referred to as parallels - when we were little we called them "special cards"). There's Series 1 and Series 2, and debuts (useful for players who have been injured and haven't debuted in the league yet.  You can buy digital "packs," but only during "drops" which are freaking hard for busy working dads and husbands to make happen, but I finally got one!  There's also a marketplace where you can easily list your moments for sale.  In this video, I review my most recent pack, and analyze what I like and don't like about the moments I pulled.  I also show how easy it is to list your moments for sale in the marketplace.

Of course I'm super high on Trevor Lawrence rookie cards, Zach Wilson rookie cards, Trey Lance rookie cards and Justin Fields rookie cards, and I've pre-ordered several of them from Panini, Leaf / Pro Set and I even scored the recent Trevor Lawrence Exclusive Topps Set from Topps.com, but I'm here to tell you about the top sleeper sports cards from the 2021 NFL Draft. To understand the concept of what a "sleeper" is, you have to understand fantasy sports. NoOffseason.com was a fantasy football website from 2006-2011, where I wrote 3-5 times a day about how to win your dynasty fantasy football leagues. In many respects, collecting NFL cards is very similar to trying to plan out a dynasty fantasy football roster. Because I wrote more than 5,000 dynasty fantasy football articles in my 20s, you can imagine as I approach 40, there's some irony here, but also a ton of passion. I digress. A "sleeper," for those of you who don't know, is a bit of a long shot. A guy you predict will rise in performance and/or value - and the OR is very important here - over the next three to six months. You see, in Sports Cards, much like dynasty fantasy football, a player's perceived future opportunity for performance is equally as important as his actually on the field play. So, even if a player doesn't perform well (or hasn't played in a game yet), their perceived opportunity for future performance results in their VALUE. The following players are the less obvious choices to have a solid VALUE increase in their sports cards as a result of the 2021 NFL Draft.

If you're heading into your 40s and interested in Sports Cards, this is for you. If you collect or flip Sports Cards but were born after 1985, this article is NOT for you. You won't relate to this content.  You didn't grow up the way we did and quite frankly, are unlikely to have any of the perspective I'm about to drop here.  Shocked? I meant that. My content really is only for dudes that are approaching 40 or already in their forties, and are trying to get back into collecting sports cards.  I know exactly who my audience is, because I'm a member. I, like you, have collected cards since the late 1980s with a HUGE break between ages 12 and 38 (with the exception of short stints with my kids).  Now that we've lost the punk 19 year-old college "bruhs," we can be real.  We just found our card collections, and we're definitely in a bit of shock how things have changed.  And we're starving to once again find joy and fulfillment in collecting sports cards.  As I've elaborated at length in my recent book released on Amazon available here...  http://nooffseason.com/book

Dude, I don't care if you're already judging me for the title of this. Yes, I buy sports cards on Etsy. 🙂  I'm all about any place where you can find undervalued or even reasonably priced sports cards, especially those that are already slabbed by PSA.  Which is why I've been super cautious recently with listings I've seen from Etsy sellers specifically listing well known modern vintage cards like the 1986 Fleer Michael Jordan  Rookie and the 1996 Topps Kobe Bryant Rookie in PSA 10 for less than $1,000 USD.  At first, these listings made my heart beat almost as fast as the first time I kissed my wife.  Then, I remembered that when things seem too good to be true, they typically are. But before I walked away, I did some research.  First, I Google'd "Etsy Sports Card Scams," but couldn't find anything. Then, I researched Etsy's buyer protection policy, but couldn't find much that made me feel good about risking my hard earned money on a potential scam.

I grew up in Detroit, and eventually moved to Nashville, but ended up in Spain in 2018 with my family. Valencia, Spain - to be exact. When my son started in public Spanish school, within the first week, there were reps from Panini outside of the schools passing out packets of 1 EURO cards for free. The set they were passing out was Panini Adrenalyn. Soccer Cards, called "cromos de futbol" in Spain, are definitely popular in Europe, but aren't exactly flying off shelves like they do in the United States. Basically, they're readily available. From Panini's premier set in Spain called Megacracks (MGK) to Sticker Collections like Este Colleciones (both of which I'll cover in future blogs) to Adrenalyn, the popularity is strong, but the availability is also solid. There aren't card shops; you definitely have to hunt them down at your local random souvenir shop or cigarette store, but it's possible to find packs in retail stores, and also online. It turns out Panini's grassroots school kid freebees were genius marketing moves three years ago, because now in 2021, Adrenalyn's popularity is solid. Adrenalyn La Liga has a base set, nicely and clearly organized by team. There are different levels of special cards, from Rookies, called Nueva Fichajes and Actualizaciones, to Limited Editions (Edicion Limitadas), Idolos, Entrenadors (Coaches) to the premium cards like SuperCracks (SuperStars) and the sought after Balon de Oro (Gold Ball). In short, Panini Adrenalyn La Liga reminds me of NBA Hoops 1990 and Fleer 1990 Basketball cards, where there was a set for each team, numbered by player, and there were also clear sets of special cards with a checklist. The difference with all Panini Adrenalyn sets - not just La Liga, but also Premier League, etc. - is that they double as a Trading Card Game, explained online here (right click and translate to English). 🙂 Euro Soccer cards by Panini do a great job of introducing both the ability of collecting the whole set (featuring actual binders to keep your sets in) AND playing the online game (by publishing a magazine that explains the game called Jugon - and yes, it comes with cards).

So you want to sell your sports cards? Or at least understand what they're worth? The best way to sell a sports card is to first create an accurate sales comp, then of course make your listing look good. In this post, we'll be primarily focused on the former. Although technically I've been collecting Sports Cards since I was 8 years old, I really only collected heavily from 1989-1994, then paused big time until early 2021. After getting back into what many call "The Hobby," I realized that "The Hobby" is actually dead, and what we're living in now is a world of Competitive Sports Card Collecting, which, quite frankly suits the forty year old version of me better than trying to put together sets like the 8 year old version of me did more than 30 years go. Why? Because collecting competitively combines predictions related to player success, grading company values, market demand vs. supply along with vintage vs. current, set type and more. All of the variables are super fun, which leads me to the topic of how to establish sales comps for each of the sports cards you're looking to buy, hold or sell. Establishing sales comps are important for two main reasons: 1. If you want to sell your cards, offering them for fair market value is essential 2. It's important to know what your cards are actually worth Collectors and investors know what cards are going for and follow popular cards closely, so it's nearly impossible to move frequently sold cards for much more than their recent sales comps on eBay, which we'll get to in a second. But the harder part is establishing a sales comp for a less frequently sold card. While it's fun to think you can just make up your own prices for those (which technically you can), there is math to figuring out what the sales comp would project to be, and it's pretty firm. If you want to sell cards that don't have sales comps, this article will help walk you through that math. But first, let's cover the basic way to find sales comps on eBay.

Competitive Sports Card Collecting is like Fantasy Sports mixed with the Stock Market, mixed with Sports Betting...with Entrepreneur-flavored sprinkles on top.  It's all about skill, pride and bragging rights. It's filled with failures disguised as learning experiences; and losses that ultimately help your long-term winning percentage.  And the best part is, it doesn't at all need to be about high stakes or big money. In fact, it should be a stress-free experience that doesn't put your family in a bad financial position, ever.  Whether you just found your old sports card collection and are feeling some juices flowing, or you're a seasoned card flipper or big money long-term investor, I'm going to introduce a new concept that I believe appeals to every sports card fanatic - Competitive Sports Card Collecting.  “Competitively” collecting cards makes life more fun. Just like Fantasy Sports, I want to make sports related predictions that come true, so I can feel good about myself, accomplish “something,” and yes, brag to some of my closest family members and friends about it. NoOffseason.com used to be a fantasy football website where I’d make predictions about which players would breakout, and which would suck. Every Monday during the NFL season from 2006-2012 I’d write a column called “WE WERE RIGHT ABOUT...WE WERE WRONG ABOUT.” I’d simply jock myself for my correct predictions, and laugh at myself for my incorrect ones. I’m not sure if the readers liked it, but I loved it.  This is the main reason why I’ve decided to continue to collect sports cards into my 40s. It’s fantasy sports on steroids, to use my earlier example. And, oh by the way, you also have the cards.