Upper Deck is in a strange place today. Not gone. Not irrelevant. But also not sitting in the middle of modern basketball cards anymore. A quick look at the Upper Deck Store in May 2026 says enough. Goodwin Champions, Skybox Metal Universe Champions, World of Sports, multi-sport boxes, hockey, nostalgia, niche products. That is the … Read more
If you are not actively inside sports card Facebook groups, it is honestly difficult to understand how large this market really is. From the outside, it still looks like a niche hobby. A few collectors posting cards. Pickup photos. PSA arguments. Some Messi autos, Wemby parallels, Jordan inserts. But once you spend enough time inside … Read more
A damaged Topps relic card made the rounds in collector groups recently, and honestly, I understand why people reacted so strongly. This was not just a tiny corner issue. It looked more like one of those cards where you immediately ask yourself how it came out of a pack like that. The top edge looked … Read more
At the end of 2025, I ignored my own advice. I bought five Jamal Musiala Topps Midnight autograph cards. All of them were numbered, some to 75, some to 99, and a few even lower. Some had patches, all were signed, and at the time I thought €350 for the lot was a pretty good … Read more
The Miami Heat are an interesting memorabilia team. Not every Heat item is automatically valuable, but Miami has championships, a strong visual identity, and a few players who matter in the wider collectibles market. And then there is LeBron James. That changes the discussion. His Miami years were short compared to his full career, but … Read more
Exclusive autograph deals with names like LeBron James and Shohei Ohtani have changed the feeling around modern sports card products. Not everything, of course. You can still collect cheap cards. You can still build sets, collect teams, buy vintage, search dollar boxes, chase weird inserts, whatever. The hobby is still big enough for all of … Read more
I recently saw a Diego Maradona mural on the wall of a bar. That is not unusual. Maradona is still everywhere in football culture, especially when Napoli, Argentina, or the number 10 are part of the setting. What caught my attention was the painted signature next to the mural. This was obviously not a real … Read more
I saw the question again in a collector group the other night, and like always, the answers came fast. Wembanyama. Ohtani. Brady. Jordan. LeBron. Kobe. Mahomes. Curry. Giannis. Paul Skenes. Roman Anthony. Bobby Witt Jr. Cam Ward. Cooper Flagg. Harper. Tony Romo. Somebody even mentioned Wander Franco, which probably tells you enough about how chaotic … Read more
Today I want to look at a question that matters a lot in modern sports memorabilia: Are Fanatics COAs legit? I am using a real example from my own collection: a signed Victor Wembanyama basketball from Fanatics. Wembanyama is already one of the most important young names in basketball, and after becoming one of the … Read more
The big question I want to talk about today is simple: How should you actually store your trading cards? There are different opinions in the hobby. Some collectors swear by magnetic holders. Others say the best method is penny sleeve plus toploader. Those are the hard plastic holders most collectors know from buying, selling, and … Read more
