Posts by The Sports Card Dad
The 1989 Score Football Card Set: Complete Guide
Introduction: When Football Card Collecting Got Its Cheer Chant If the card hobby were a stadium, 1989 Score Football is the roaring crowd that made it feel alive. It marks not just the set’s debut for Score, but a seismic shift in the late-80s football card scene—which had been dominated by Topps and the fledgling…
Read MoreThe 1952 Topps Baseball Set: A Collector’s Epic (With the Full 407-Card Checklist)
Introduction: When Baseball Cards Grew Up If the baseball card hobby were a rock band, the 1952 Topps set would be The Beatles. Before 1952, Topps made candy, gum, and some smaller test issues. Then, they decided to go big. Literally. The ’52 Topps cards were oversized compared to Bowman, had bright colors, facsimile autographs,…
Read MoreBrian Gray’s WEIRD Interaction at The National Card Show
Brian Gray: The Card Biz Veteran Turned Podcast Mogul If you’ve been in the sports-card world for a minute, you’ve undoubtedly run into the name Brian Gray. Early Career: Razor Entertainment to Leaf Resurrection In 2005, Brian Gray founded Razor Entertainment Group in Dallas, an early-foray into high-end collectibles, perfecting lithographic printing through series like…
Read MoreComplete Collectors Guide to 1984 Star Basketball Cards 🏀
🌌 The Hobby Context – Why Star Company Even Happened Alright, picture this: It’s the early 80s. Topps, who had been producing NBA cards for years, taps out after 1981–82. No more Bird, Magic, Dr. J, or rookies in packs. For three long seasons (’82–83, ’83–84, and ’84–85), there’s no licensed NBA trading card product…
Read MoreThe Complete 2017 Prizm Football Checklist 🔥
🏈 2017 Panini Prizm Football – The Set That Shook the Hobby If you’ve been in the hobby for a minute, you know Prizm is basically the gateway drug of modern football cards. Chrome shine, rainbow parallels, and enough refractor action to make you squint like you just stared at the sun too long. But…
Read MoreThe Complete Guide to Mickey Mantle Cards
The Complete Guide to Mickey Mantle Cards — The Hobby King If Michael Jordan is the GOAT of basketball cards, then Mickey Mantle is the cardboard Babe Ruth of baseball cards. He’s the guy your dad, your grandpa, and probably your grandpa’s drinking buddy all said was “the one you wanted to pull.” Mantle isn’t…
Read MoreVintage Sports Cards vs Vintage Non-Sports Cards
Alright, hobby fam — today we’re diving deep into a question I get all the time: “Should I put my collecting budget into vintage sports cards… or go after vintage non-sports stuff?” It’s a fair question, because both lanes have some absolute grails, both can be crazy fun to chase, and both have their pros,…
Read MoreComplete Guide to 1980s Michael Jordan Cards
The Ultimate 1980s Michael Jordan Card Guide — From True Rookies to Weird Oddballs Alright hobby fam, let’s talk about His Airness — Michael Jeffrey Jordan — the GOAT, the guy who made basketball cool worldwide, and the man who has somehow convinced generations of collectors to mortgage a kidney for cardboard with his face…
Read MoreMORE Pressure Coming to Card Shops
Smaller sports card shops could be walking into a very different playing field if high-profile athletes open their own card stores with the backing—directly or indirectly—of Fanatics/Topps. Here’s the breakdown of the challenges and how they might fight back: Challenges for Small Card Shops 1️⃣ Star Power & Marketing Reach Athlete-owned shops will instantly get…
Read MoreThe National Card Show has Changed Everything
Here’s a glimpse of the 2025 NSCC floor layout captured from the interactive Ludex map, showing the block-style booth grid and flow of the halls. It’s super useful for visual planning and gets you familiar with how the show is arranged under one roof. Color-Coded Floor Strategy for NSCC 2025 Based on the booth layout…
Read More