The Full Story: 1986 Fleer vs. 1984 Star #101 Michael Jordan Cards Grab your PSA holders and settle in—this is the collector’s deep dive you’ve been waiting for, straight from someone who’s traded stories over card tables, jittered over mistakes, and chased these beauties with caffeine-fueled determination. 1986-87 Fleer #57…

Read More

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 &…

Read More

      Base Set: 200 Card Checklist Below is the full base card checklist, numbered 1 through 200: Iron Man Thena Eros Ronin Vulture Agatha Harkness Mystique Solarus (1st Appearance) Bloodline Layla El-Faouly Super-Skrull Namor Prowler Echo Omega Red Swarm Taskmaster Kraven the Hunter Havok Nighthawk Molecule Man Sunfire Nova Photon Kronos Mole Man…

Read More

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…

Read More

Here’s your full 200-card base set checklist upfront—because no one likes hunting for card numbers in a sea of commentary. Base Set Cards: 1–200 (Collector’s Checklist) Smitty Werbenjägermanjensen DoodleBob The Flying Dutchman Patchy the Pirate Potty the Parrot Mermaidman Barnacleboy Man Ray Moth Pearl Krabs King Neptune Larry the Lobster Squilliam Fancyson “You don’t need…

Read More

Oh man, you’ve hit on one of my favorite topics: why suddenly guys who normally buy yachts, vineyards, and Teslas that drive themselves into lakes are now dropping six and seven figures on sports cards. Let’s break this down hobby-content-creator style—with a few laughs—into the big factors fueling this wave of high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs) joining…

Read More

Prelude: Why This Set Changed The Game Remember football cards before 2017? They were fine—Topps, Donruss, Score—but they lacked something. Then Prizm Football exploded onto the hobby scene like a viral TikTok dunk. Glossy surfaces, refractors that caught your eye mid-rip, rainbow parallels, and rookies like Patrick Mahomes II (#269)—a future legend whose rookie card…

Read More

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…

Read More

Intro: When Card Collecting Went Luxe If trading cards were luxury cars, 2003 Exquisite would be a blacked-out Rolls-Royce Phantom—sumptuous, rare, and leaving the rest of the hobby in its dust. Debuting in the 2003–04 season, Upper Deck went all-in on premium. These cards came in wooden boxes, just five cards each, with serial numbering,…

Read More