One of the best things about the precipitous drop in temperature as we inch closer to winter is
the ability to spend time inside going through those dusty boxes full of card singles and finding a
few “gems” amidst what has largely become clutter.
The recent cold front in Chicago led to yours truly discovering a plethora of 2019 Adolis García
Topps rookies in a few boxes. Given his performance before getting injured along the Texas
Rangers’ World Series journey, it was a pleasant surprise to find something to offload entering
the holiday season that will have a relative value compared to the storage space that it cost me
back in 2020. Honestly, some of these cards were purchased while I was still in undergrad. That
hit me for whatever reason.
Anyways, into the rest of Hobby Chatz 8:
Rangers win World Series, I lament lack of Corey Seager rookies in my
possession
Was I the only one during lockdown in 2020 that saw an abundance of Corey Seager Rookie
Cards, many of them graded 10 or 9 by PSA, available for a great price?
It seemed like the market before the 2020 World Series had given up on the belief that the
younger Seager would live up to the hype that he built after hitting .337 as a 21-year-old rookie
in 2015. Since then, Seager has rewarded those collectors by winning two World Series MVPs
(2020 & 2023) and solidifying his significant place in the histories of both the Los Angeles
Dodgers and Texas Rangers’ franchises.
Selfishly, all I can think about is the money-making venture that I missed out on. I wonder how
many Dogecoin I would need to get a Seager PSA 10 Rookie these days?
Where is 2023 Topps MLS?
This column is being written during the first round of the 2023 MLS Cup Playoffs and Topps has
yet to release their flagship MLS product for the 2023 season.
The few websites that have the product currently available for presale say that it will be released
on November 29, 2023. I’d previously seen release dates targeted for September, which were
then pushed back until October and now we have the aforementioned date in November that is
during the MLS Cup semifinals.
I lamented about this issue enough in my October column but it remains unfortunate that this
growing league completely missed out on a season for collectors.
Now if there are all these delays and there isn’t an abundance of Lionel Messi cards in this
product, we will have an entirely separate issue to deal with. But let’s save that potential gripe
for the holiday season.
Random Memorabilia Item of the Month: Vince Wilfork Houston Texans
jersey
I’m always scouring Fanatics and online shops of that ilk to see if there is a good deal on
anything of intrigue. I’m a sucker for a jersey of a notable player on the team they weren’t known
for being on. Some examples: Patrick Ewing on the Orlando Magic, Randy Moss on the
Tennessee Titans, Manny Ramirez on the White Sox & Allen Iverson on the Detroit Pistons.
I finally saw an item that was in my size: a proper authentic Vince Wilfork jersey from his time
with the Houston Texans. The combination of sale price and my credit card offering 15% cash
back from that website compelled me to make a purchase that will always make me smile
because it hearkens back to this video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGl13qLtoDM) of Wilfork and JJ Watt talking about breakfast.
Pull of the Year?
Since the online seller that sold me the Wilfork jersey also sold cards, I had to take a flier on a
2023 Panini Prizm WNBA Blaster Box. The result was my pull of the year, at least from a retail
product.
Lo and behold my impulse purchase resulted in a Sheryl Swoopes Houston Comets Green
Pulsar Prizm Autograph /25. Not bad for 14.99, right?
Now, I have a bit of a conundrum on my hand. There is no denying Sheryl Swoopes’ place in
basketball and cultural history. She’s a four-time WNBA champion and a three-time WNBA MVP
while her Nike ‘Air Swoopes’ sneakers are iconic.
However, there was the whole thing where she got fired from Loyola-Chicago for allegedly being
awful to her players, resulting in over 10 players transferring away after her final season in
charge.
That large issue combined with her autograph popping up on recent Panini WNBA products in
sticker form leads me to believe we will have an abundance of Swoopes autographs hitting the
market in the next ten years.
I think the above factors are going to lead to me selling the card sooner rather than later.
Looking back on MLB Predictions
I went back and looked at my MLB predictions from my April column. Yikes.
NBA Predictions
Have no fear, here are some predictions for the upcoming NBA season:
Inaugural In-Season Tournament Final: Boston Celtics over the Los Angeles Clippers.
NBA Finals: Milwaukee Bucks defeat the Denver Nuggets in six games.
NBA MVP: Devin Booker. He’s going to have a monster season and if Phoenix can find itself as
a top-two seed in the West, Booker has a solid shot at MVP if he’s healthy all season.
Adieu
See y’all next month. Will any sellers actually have good deals on black friday? I doubt it.
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