I've seen a slew of folks post here recently about PSA and their misgivings of them these days - the news that they are acquiring Beckett is probably not going to be well-received by them: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6891882/2025/12/15/collectors-beckett-psa-card-grading/

Although I'm more-or-less ambivalent about some of the recent hubbub (the regrading issue seems like an error, though it is worth keeping a lookout for any more instances), as a consumer this doesn't seem like it will be good in the long-term and there needs to be a counter-balance to PSA. I can buy that Beckett will be an independent brand for at least a little while, but that doesn't mean it will be an independent company. I'll be interested to see if people start moving more to CGC and others.

Happy about Wemby’s return from injury last night and how he helped take down the Thunder, but also loved his subtle dig about them afterwards with his “ethical basketball” comment. As a Sonics fan that’s still ticked off about how everything went down, I’m here for any and all OKC trash talk.

Yesterday I posted pics of the first Superman cards, so today I thought I'd share the rookie cards of my superhero "core four".

To me these four cover many of the major themes in comics: Superman as the hopeful idealist and the moral center, Batman as the controlled storm by being the disciplined avenger, Spiderman (my fav) the everyman and relatable struggler, and Wolverine as the haunted warrior anti-hero.

As for the cards themselves, each mark a unique moment in hobby history: the 1940 Gum Inc. Superman card is the first mass-produced superhero card ever made and the origin point of comic trading cards (much like his comic); the 1966 Topps Batman set became the first major Batman release and a pop-culture phenomenon with its hand-painted artwork during peak “Batmania”; the 1966 Donruss Spider-Man card introduced Spidey to trading cards using early Ditko-era art straight from the Silver Age; and the 1980 Terrabusi Wolverine card, issued only in Spain as a fragile candy insert, is one of the rarer Marvel first appearances on cardboard.

Since the Supergirl trailer premiered today, I thought I'd use that as an excuse to show pics of the earliest Superman cards.

...was recently unearthed at an excavation site of ancient Mesopotamia.