I have a lot of opinions, as you know, if you read this newsletter each week. 

Most of my opinions are sound and rock solid, but every once in a while I let loose with an unpopular one. It’s rare, but it happens. 

Here now, in a safe space, are more of my highly unpopular hobby opinions.

Mini cards rule: People hate them, but here are some mini cards that are awesome and prove my point:

• the Campioni di Futuro is the most fun LeBron James rookie card

• the Venorlandus mini Muhammed Ali card is the coolest Ali card ever

• and don’t get me started on the Winged Animals cigarette card set 

• or the Menko Japanese Mickey Mouse cards from the 1930s, which is the coolest of all Disney sets

• the 1963 Topps mini monster cards are ridiculous

• the 1974 Swedish Hitmakers set has Rick Springfield holding a baby tiger

• and look at how adorable young Lionel Messi is in this 2004 promo mini card! 

Bowman 1st Cards are a Waste: Sorry, but I don’t get it. I mean I get it but I don’t “get it.” Rookie cards always cut the legs out from under the Bowman 1st cards. You know what’s usually “first?” Sports Illustrated for Kids cards. Why not just put “Rookie” on their...first card? It’s like some weird 7-course meal. 

Overpaying for PSA cards is dumb: “Yeah but, like, it’s a PSA card, man.” Sure, man. No one has legitimately explained to me why PSA cards are “better” than something like TAG or SGC or Arena Club or whatever else is out there.  

Hockey is the best investment sport cards at the moment: Spicy!! Why do I say that? Well, hockey viewership is booming thanks to their “youth movement,” led by Macklin Celebrini. We might be seeing the best crop of young players to hit the league since – I don’t know, I’m not really a huge hockey guy – but the ratings seem to agree with me! According to ESPN they saw nearly a 40% increase in year-over-year viewership. And considering the boxes haven’t priced out the “common collector” like Topps has done for NFL, MLB and NBA, it still holds opportunity to hit some big, long-term collectibles. 

Let’s get into stamps: This isn’t really a hot take, but I’m just out here thinking about how nostalgia drives much of any hobby and how no one mails anything anymore and when you do you probably just print out label – there seems to be a supply/demand case to be made to start getting into collecting stamps. Should we? 

I made myself laugh thinking about me advocating for stamps while writing an email newsletter. So, yeah, it’s not lost on me. 

Panini focusing on women’s sports has been an interesting development. And it seems to be working out for them. They’ve been crushing it with the WNBA cards - even the Instant Draft Day cards look cool this year. They just launched their NWSL “First Look” set and it looks pretty cool. We might actually continue to get a better product out of them if they actually pick a lane and stay within it. 

In related news, it will be interesting to see if the early Parkside NWSL sets end up being as desirable as some of the early Rittenhouse WNBA sets have become. Of course the 2018 Rittenhouse WNBA set included the A’Ja Wilson rookie - but there’s a bit of “keep those boxes sealed” energy with those Series 1 Parkside sets. 

The life and ultimate death of the Superfractor in one, simple post. 

Cooper Flagg is showing up in football boxes now? As Hurry Up Cards put it, “it’s like when you get an onion ring in your order of fries.” Nicely done. 

Disney Neon hit the market this past Thursday and the Mega and Hobby boxes almost immediately sold out. I actually love the design of this set – however, (hey, another opinion!!) I think we’ve tapped out on Disney cards. 

Like, if you Google “Moana Disney Topps cards” and look at the images: it’s just a bunch of different cards of Moana standing in generally the same-ish position but with different designed backgrounds.

I think we’re probably done at this point, right?