Let’s talk this week about disrespect. Not about disrespecting each other, but the things in the industry that tend to get too much heat from us collectors. 

What do I mean? We’ll, let’s start with:

• Authentic Autos: Ok, let’s run through a scenario on this one: I have two cards for sale;

  • The first is a Shai Gilgeous-Alexander autographed Prizm rookie card. In 2018 he signed a bunch of stickers that Panini eventually took and then put one of those stickers on a rookie card and put it in a pack. SGA never once handled the card. 

  • The second is a base SGA Prizm rookie that a fan handed to him after a game and he signed and handed back to the fan; the card was then authenticated by PSA, so we know it’s legit.  

  • Yeah, you’ll pay 3x for the sticker auto because it’s “the real version” instead of paying for an actual card that he hand-signed. I get it, I would too, but are we not giving Authentic Autos the love they deserve?

• Centering: Just ask my buddy Dave Gonos, who brought this one to light in a recent conversation he had with Michael Salfino. Instinctually we tend to poo-poo centering because “hey, it’s not my fault the card isn’t centered!” Everyone spends too much time looking at the corners and not enough time focusing on centering. 

• Second-Year Cards: Everyone is rookie chasing these days. I know the product hasn’t been out too long, but a Victor Wembanyama second-year base Prizm has a pop of just five PSA 10s. As opposed to his rookie Prizm which has a pop of like a million or something. Talk about “rare.”

• Tennis Cards: Ok, hear me out - we are currently witnessing the greatest generation of young tennis players and it may well be that Carlos Alcaraz will go down in history as the greatest to ever do it. Pin this email and come back to it in like 16 years. If he’s not I’ll buy you a beer. 

• Yo! MTV Raps 1991 Cards: There will never be another set like this. Never. And you can get a wax box of 36 packs for under $40. It basically has the “rookie” card of every rapper from the early 90’s and prior. 

• Kingfisher 1936 Typhoo Tea British Birds and their Eggs Cards: These are cards from 1936… of birds… and their eggs! And you can get the complete set for under $10. The Nightengale’s (probably) rookie card is in this set! Someone held onto them for almost 90 years and is like “hell yeah, time to make $8 off these bad boys!” 

• 1929 Carreras Famous Women - Florence Nightingale Cigarette Card: Speaking of… you can get a Florence Nightingale rookie card for under $15. Nightingale is the GOAT nurse. Bro, don’t come at me with “Mary Seacole was doing the same thing but as an independent nurse, bro!!” That’s a garbage take. Give me Nightingale in her prime. 

No disrespect to Mrs. Seacole, of course. 

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I know it’s been over 24 hours at this point but with the Red Sox trading Rafael Devers this might be the last opportunity to get a decent return on his cards. Whenever a superstar gets traded his/her new fanbase tends to pounce on any rare or rookie cards of that player. That heat cools off a few days after, but you might be able to still hit the tailend of the “run on” Devers cards. 

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This week in “can’t stop, won’t stop”: ladies and gentlemen, Gamestop is back. They did over $211 million in increased collectibles sales in Q1. 

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This is cool. This collector collects all baseball cards that have Fenway’s Green Monster shown on the card. Love it. The closest thing I have is a collection of every card that shows the Menendez Brothers sitting courtside at a Knicks game. Killer set! 

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I’m super excited about this news. We have WNBA Downtowns coming. Obviously, Caitlin Clark is the big get, but right behind her has to be the Paige Beuckers rookie Downtown. That actually might fetch a resale value close to Clark’s. 

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The Wyatt Langford 1/1 Rookie Debut Patch Auto sold this weekend for $183,000 at Goldin. Which makes it the third all-time highest sale for a Debut Patch 1/1 card. I’m not one to tell people how to spend their money, but – you know what, actually, I can get behind this. 

The Rookie Debut Patch Auto cards are super cool looking and Langford at 23 years old is already showing some pop in his bat. Nice buy by the buyer, who hopefully was Langford himself. 

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Fanatics Fest is back, baby. Get pumped. And according to Michael Rubin this year’s is going to be “10-times better” than last year’s. 

I know it’s easy to be cynical about these celebrity, star-studded events but to be honest stuff like Fanatics Fest and The National are a big part of what make the hobby thrive. It brings the sports and entertainment worlds together, it fosters and facilitates community and more importantly it focuses on creating experiences that engage and entice young collectors. 

If you’re interested in hanging with the Mantel team in NYC this week, let us know here, and make sure to stop by Bleecker Trading after the show every night to trade, catch up and eat pizza.