🧩 1. The Hobby Is Expanding Beyond “Sports” 📺 Pop Culture and Non-Sport Crossovers What used to be a “sports-only” niche is now spilling into movies, TV, anime, and gaming. Topps Disney 100, Dune, Star Wars Chrome, and Garbage Pail Kids have proven there’s massive collector overlap. Fanatics’ licensing strategy clearly shows they want collectors,…

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🎲 How Sports Betting and Gambling Are Changing the Sports Card Hobby If you’ve been around the sports card hobby for a while, you’ve probably noticed something strange happening. The lines between collecting, investing, and straight-up gambling have started to blur. Ten years ago, card collecting was mostly about nostalgia — chasing your favorite players,…

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What We Know About 2025 Topps Diamond Icons Baseball Release / Basic Info Release Date: October 22, 2025 Checklist Insider Every box is designed to include 9 autographs + 1 relic + 1 base card Checklist Insider+2Beckett+2 In past Diamond Icons releases, there was no “base set” per se (most cards were hits). But for…

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How Many Cards Does PSA Grade? Mind-blowing volume alert: Since 1991, PSA has graded over 65 million items—that’s across cards, memorabilia, photos, and more Professional Sports Authenticator (PSA). In 2023, they graded about 13.5 million cards, leading the industry SI. 2024 was even bigger—they nailed 15.34 million cards graded (9.1M sports and 6.23M TCG &…

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          Full Base Checklist – 100 Cards (Card by Card) Here’s your artistic treasure map, numbering each player and the original Topps card inspiration: Stan Musial (1961 Topps #290) Ed Mathews (1962 Topps #30) Phil Niekro (1975 Topps #130) George Bell (1986 Topps #338) Tom Seaver (1976 Topps #600) Robin Yount…

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Base Set Breakdown (100 Cards Total) Three Tiers, from legends to rookies—all decked out in foil parallels. Tier 1 (Cards 1–20: Past Legends) Rarest tier (~1:30 packs; huge hits), featuring icons like: Ty Cobb Sandy Koufax Harmon Killebrew Pedro Martínez Randy Johnson Dizzy Dean Cal Ripken Jr. Alex Rodriguez Christy Mathewson Eddie Murray David Ortiz…

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Introduction: The Hobby Before 1989 Let’s set the scene. In 1989, baseball card collecting was already booming. Kids were ripping wax packs of Topps, Fleer, and Donruss, building sets with gum-stained fingers, and trading “commons” on the playground like a second currency. The hobby was fun, affordable, and… a little stale. Topps, Fleer, and Donruss…

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