Happy Hobby Sports Cards Podcast

As a member of the eBay Partner Network, I earn commissions from links on this page to qualifying purchases.When Rookie Cards Cost Too Much: 11 Smart Alternatives for the Budget Collector!Here’s the truth: not every collector’s wallet can handle a flashy 2018 Topps Chrome Shohei Ohtani rookie card or that 2018 Prizm Silver Luka Doncic RC. But that doesn’t mean your collection has to sit on the sidelines. You can absolutely add your favorite players’ first-year cards in your binder, display case, or slab box — without draining your savings. If you can’t afford that player’s true rookie card, your goal then switches to getting just a rookie card of that player. This way, you’re still in the rookie card business, at a much lower cost. What do you do when the hobby gods place a $300 price tag on your dream RC? You get creative! Here are 10 great alternatives that’ll still scratch that collector itch — plus a couple bonus ideas to keep things fun.1. Try “Alternative” Rookie CardsYou can stay close to the RC era by hunting rookie cards in other brands, like Donruss and NBA Hoops for NBA/NFL, or Topps Allen & Ginter, Topps Archives, Topps Heritage for baseball.* Examples: You can find much cheaper slabs of rookie cards for Ronald Acuña Jr., Ohtani and Juan Soto in 2018 Topps Archives. Clayton Kershaw’s 2008 Topps Heritage “1959 Rookie Stars” insert is gorgeous, and his 2008 Topps Allen & Ginter mini rookie card is a beauty, as well. They are all fun and affordable pickups that still capture that rookie-year vibe.2. Grab a Rookie-Year InsertLook for inserts from the same year as their true RCs — like those 35th Anniversary throwbacks Topps. They’re usually undervalued but share the same nostalgia.3. Rookie Debut CardsDisappointment often sets in when you pull a Rookie Debut card, but when you are looking to buy a first-year card of a modern superstar, RD is the place to be!Case in point: The 2014 Topps Mookie Betts Rookie Debut #US-301 is a fabulous landscape card as he takes the field at Fenway Park. It’s still a Mookie rookie-year card, but its way cheaper than his 2014 Topps Update RC.4. Topps All-Star Rookie CupsThese are just plain fun. After every season, Topps names their Topps All-Star Rookie Cup team (12 players, which includes one player at each fielding position, as well as one LHP, one RHP, one RP and one DH. Ohtani even had two Rookie Cup cards in 2019 (one for hitting in Series 1 #250 and one for pitching in Series 2 #600!). It’s like a rookie sequel — and collectors love them!It has the look and feel of a rookie card with the price of a second-year card.5. Budget SlabsAn SGC 9 or CGC 9.5 can look sharp in your display — and they’re often far off the price of its PSA cousin. Great bang for your buck, especially for modern stars.6. Future Stars CardsTopps loves reminding us who they think will be the next big deal, and they use their Future Stars insert set in their Topps Chrome brand. Ohtani’s 2019 Topps Chrome Future Stars card is a great example—cool design, still linked to his early career, much cheaper than a true rookie.7. Second-Year cardsWe already pitched some other second-year cards, like Future Stars inserts and some cards with the Topps All-Star Rookie Cups. But other second-year cards are worth a look, too. Don’t sleep on these. They often highlight the player’s rookie-year accomplishments (check the back of Kershaw’s 2009 Topps for proof). Many collectors consider these the next-best thing to RCs.8. Draft Picks or Pre-MLB cardsCollege or minor league cards (like Bowman Draft or early Leaf issues) are fun glimpses of players before they made it big. You can find some sneaky bargains here.9. Non-Rookie Autograph CardsHaving great rookie cards is ideal, but a nice alternative would be getting modern autograph cards from some Hall-of-Fame junk wax stars!Buying autographed cards of Hall-of-Famers like Wade Boggs, Greg Maddux, or David Ortiz autos can be found under $100. Even numbered autos of HOFers like Fred McGriff or Scott Rolen often go for under $50. Stick with Topps Certified for authenticity, though.10. Panini and Leaf Rookie CardsThey may lack logos, but they are real rookie-year issues — and sometimes you’ll find gems for a fraction of MLB-licensed prices. If you’re just collecting, not flipping, these are perfect placeholders or even keepers.11. Buy Bowman Rookie CardsBowman is a Topps product, and its mostly for prospect cards — particularly Bowman 1st cards. But they also create Bowman RC cards! Those are particularly interesting for international players, like Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki, as those rookie cards often stand in as their Bowman 1st cards! Bonus!Bonus Ideas!* Parallels and Short Prints: Non-numbered color parallels (like Topps Rainbow Foil or Heritage Chrome refractors) can look flashy without being pricey.* Oddball Stuff: Commemorative sets, team set rookie cards, food issues, or National Baseball Card Day promos are fun and unique ways to represent a player, too!My 3 Favorite “Affordable Rookie Alternatives” Right Now(Drum roll, please…)* 2019 Topps Shohei Ohtani All-Star Rookie Cup #50 - $10: It’s such a clean design, cheap, and still screams “rookie.”* 2025 Topps Fred McGriff #87BBA-FM - $35: Hall of Fame bat + affordable ink = total win.* 2008 Topps Heritage Clayton Kershaw #595 RC - $30: His HOF-induction clock has begun, and this design is off-the-charts amazing!So the next time you see that $800 Chrome RC and sigh, remember: the joy of collecting doesn’t rely on owning the card—it’s about finding your card. You can always upgrade later!What’s your favorite rookie card alternative? Maybe a draft pick card, an All-Star Rookie Cup favorite, or that one sneaky parallel that feels like a steal? Drop a comment and share your own budget-friendly collecting ideas!🏆 BEST ROOKIE CARDS FROM EVERY YEAR! 🏆We list out the very best rookie cards from each flagship release in all four major sports.The Happy Hobby Sports Cards World* 📺 YouTube: 8.3K Subscribers* 📬 Newsletter: 1.4K readers* 🎙️ Podcast: 800+ podcast downloads/episode* 🌐 DavidGonos.com - 1K daily visitsOur podcasts were ranked by MillionPodcasts.com as one of the Top 10 Basketball Card Podcasts, Top 10 Football Card Podcasts and Top 10 Hockey Card Podcasts! And we’re aiming to get ranked among the Top 10 Baseball Card Podcasts!Happy Hobby! Build a better sports card collection on a real-world budget! Get full access to Happy Hobby Sports Cards Newsletter For Collectors! at gonos.substack.com/subscribe

Each Happy Hobby Sports Card Newsletter For Collectors has a handful of great sports card subjects, helping sports card collectors working with limited budgets!🎙️Finding Your Lane as a Comeback Collector: Our Simple Roadmap To Success! - Ep. 3.08Back in the ‘80s and ‘90s, collecting cards was a completely different world. Parallels were rare, inserts were fun surprises, and nobody talked about “market value.” The conversations were all about building complete sets, trading with friends, and hunting for cards of the stars we already knew — guys like Mike Schmidt, Reggie Jackson, and Cal Ripken Jr.Today’s hobby uses a lot of new terms — one of the biggest being “flagship.” And that can throw a lot of returning collectors off. In baseball, “flagship” still has a clear meaning: Topps’ main base set, split into Series 1 and Series 2 (and often Update). That’s the heart of Topps’ paper line — classic stats on the back, solid photography, and a wide mix of veterans and rookies, just like old times.Then there’s Topps Chrome — basically the same design, just shinier. Think of it like going from a go‑kart to a dune buggy: same ride, different feel.When it comes to basketball and football, Panini took over in 2009 and 2016. Their paper sets — Donruss, Score, Hoops — carry the torch of the old Topps and Fleer era. But in the modern collecting scene, Prizm has become their flagship. It’s the glossy, parallel‑heavy line with base rookies, silvers, and rainbows of color variations — which is why those boxes come with higher price tags.Why Donruss Optic Hits the Sweet SpotFor many collectors coming back to the hobby, Donruss Optic feels familiar and comfortable. It’s like someone took the classic Donruss set from your childhood and gave it a modern chrome makeover. You still get that iconic “Rated Rookie” logo, but on premium stock that feels like Prizm — shiny, thicker, and with parallels to chase if you want a little excitement.Optic also keeps that big‑set, old‑school checklist vibe, which means it doesn’t feel as overwhelming. Prizm can sometimes feel like jumping into the deep end — tons of parallels, jargon, and pricing tiers to learn. Optic, meanwhile, feels like the bridge between that old‑school binder and the modern display case — familiar, affordable, and still relevant.Simplicity vs. SpecializationBack in the day, your choices were simple: Topps, Donruss, or Fleer — that was it. You grabbed a few packs, traded with friends, and slowly built your set.Now, you type “Prizm rookie” into eBay and boom — you’re staring at dozens of variations: Silver, Red Ice, Disco, Laser, Choice, numbered, photo variations — and that’s just one product! Multiply that across Optic, Select, and Mosaic, and it’s easy to see why newer collectors feel overwhelmed.But this specialization has a purpose.* There’s something for every budget and collecting style.* Chrome‑based lines like Prizm or Optic are the new home for “flagship rookies.”* Paper lines like Donruss or Hoops offer that nostalgic, traditional feel.* Parallels build in the chase for fans who like the hunt.It’s not a bad thing — it just means you need a plan before you dive in.A Simple Roadmap for Comeback CollectorsIf you’re jumping back in, here’s an easy framework to get started:* Pick your sport first.* Baseball: Start with Topps Series 1 and 2 (and Update if you want rookies from call‑ups and trades).* Basketball/Football: Choose your lane — go with paper (Hoops or Donruss) if you want a classic vibe, or shiny (Prizm or Optic) if you want the modern flagship experience.* Hockey: Go with Upper Deck’s Series 1, 2, or Extended — that’s your flagship world.* Lean into nostalgia.* Donruss gives you old‑school binder cards and fun inserts.* Optic lets you step up into chrome and Rated Rookies without getting lost in the chaos.* Define your rookie strategy.* Pick one main product for each player — don’t chase them all.* For example: Caleb Williams in Prizm, Victor Wembanyama in Prizm or Optic, Bobby Witt Jr. in Topps flagship.* This narrows your focus and keeps things fun instead of stressful.* Use parallels with purpose.* Maybe chase your team color or your favorite design.* Stick with base, silver/holo, or one favorite color if it feels manageable. For context, Silver Prizms are the top non-numbered cards most collectors look for.* Keep that old‑school spirit alive.* Build team binders again. Trade with friends or hobby groups.* Remember, you can always come back to your favorite players — this doesn’t have to be about flipping for profit.At the end of the day, collecting is supposed to be fun, not a race. You’ve got a lifetime to chase the cards you want — so take your time, stay curious, and enjoy the ride.Let us know what you are loving or hating about this 2026 Topps Series 1 release! Drop a comment below!Got some content ideas for me? Shoot me a note at gonoscards@gmail.com !🏆 BEST ROOKIE CARDS FROM EVERY YEAR! 🏆We’ve gone through every year in all four major sports to find the very best rookie cards from each flagship release.* Best baseball rookie cards from every year since 1941!* Best football rookie cards from every year since 1956!* Best basketball rookie cards from every year since 1948!* Best hockey rookie cards from every year since 1951!The Happy Hobby Sports Cards World* 📺 YouTube: 8.3K Subscribers* 📬 Newsletter: 1.4K readers* 🎙️ Podcast: 800+ podcast downloads/episode* 🌐 DavidGonos.com - 1K daily visitsOur podcasts were ranked by MillionPodcasts.com as one of the Top 10 Basketball Card Podcasts, Top 10 Football Card Podcasts and Top 10 Hockey Card Podcasts! And we’re aiming to get ranked among the Top 10 Baseball Card Podcasts!Happy Hobby! Build a better sports card collection on a real-world budget! Get full access to Happy Hobby Sports Cards Newsletter For Collectors! at gonos.substack.com/subscribe

Each Happy Hobby Sports Card Newsletter For Collectors has a handful of great sports card subjects, helping sports card collectors working with limited budgets!🎙️26 Rookie Cards We’re Excited To Pull in 2026! - Ep. 3.08As we flip open those brand-new 2026 calendars, sports card collectors everywhere start looking ahead to flagship release season — and the chase for the year’s best rookie cards begins! Baseball, basketball (NBA and WNBA), football, and hockey all have exciting classes on deck.Here are a few key products and their expected release windows:* 2026 Topps Series 1 Baseball: Late January* 2026 Topps Football: September (projected)* 2026 Topps Basketball: October (projected)* 2025–26 Upper Deck Series 2 Hockey: March* 2026 Donruss WNBA: October (projected)The 2026 rookie crop across all four major sports looks stacked — from NPB imports and emerging MLB standouts to college QBs and future WNBA stars ready to anchor the next generation.This year also marks Topps’ 75th anniversary, and Series 1 should bring plenty of creative inserts, special designs, and autograph surprises to celebrate. Plus, Topps plans to roll out its first licensed NFL cards in April, likely focusing on the 2025 rookie class.In this episode, we’re breaking down our Top 26 Rookie Cards to Watch in 2026, ranked by how excited we are — and yes, by their Hall-of-Fame-ed-ocity. (Totally a word.)We even got a little help from A.I., offering player comps to help visualize each rookie’s upside path for the hobby.Special thanks to Patrick Imhoff for his picks on the top hockey rookies to expect from 2025–26 Upper Deck Series 2 and Extended Series. Let us know what you are loving or hating about this 2026 Topps Series 1 release! Drop a comment below!Got some content ideas for me? Shoot me a note at gonoscards@gmail.com !🏆 BEST ROOKIE CARDS FROM EVERY YEAR! 🏆We’ve gone through every year in all four major sports to find the very best rookie cards from each flagship release.* Best baseball rookie cards from every year since 1941!* Best football rookie cards from every year since 1956!* Best basketball rookie cards from every year since 1948!* Best hockey rookie cards from every year since 1951!The Happy Hobby Sports Cards World* 📺 YouTube: 8.3K Subscribers* 📬 Newsletter: 1.4K readers* 🎙️ Podcast: 800+ podcast downloads/episode* 🌐 DavidGonos.com - 1K daily visitsOur podcasts were ranked by MillionPodcasts.com as one of the Top 10 Basketball Card Podcasts, Top 10 Football Card Podcasts and Top 10 Hockey Card Podcasts! And we’re aiming to get ranked among the Top 10 Baseball Card Podcasts!Happy Hobby! Build a better sports card collection on a real-world budget! Get full access to Happy Hobby Sports Cards Newsletter For Collectors! at gonos.substack.com/subscribe

Each Happy Hobby Sports Card Newsletter For Collectors has a handful of great sports card subjects, helping sports card collectors working with limited budgets!🎙️6 Things We Love/Hate About 2026 Topps Series 1 Baseball! - Ep. 3.07We’ve waited a couple months to get the latest Topps flagship release, but we’ve waited a full year to see a new design! Finally, we got to get our hands on 2026 Topps Series 1 Baseball last week, and we found that there are some things we love — and some things we just flat-out hate about this latest series!Let us know what you are loving or hating about this 2026 Topps Series 1 release! Drop a comment below!Got some content ideas for me? Shoot me a note at gonoscards@gmail.com !***Important Card-Collecting Articles on DavidGonos.com**** Best Baseball Rookie Cards From Every Year Since 1941* Best Basketball Rookie Cards From Every Year Since 1948* Best Football Rookie Cards From Every Year Since 1956* Best Hockey Rookie Cards From Every Year Since 1951* 23 Best Sports Cards Supplies To BuyConnect with David Gonos on:* Facebook* Twitter/X @DavidGonos* Instagram @DavidGonos* TikTok* Link TreeEmail me: mailto:gonoscards@gmail.comHave a #HappyHobby!Podcast Music: “I dunno“ by grapes - 2008 - Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) Get full access to Happy Hobby Sports Cards Newsletter For Collectors! at gonos.substack.com/subscribe

Each Happy Hobby Sports Card Newsletter For Collectors has a handful of great sports card subjects, helping sports card collectors working with limited budgets!🎙️How Many Rookie Cards of the Top 100 Baseball Players Do You Have? - Ep. 3.06MLB Network ranked the Top 100 baseball players right now, heading into the 2026 MLB season, and we immediately wanted to know how many great players’ rookie cards we were missing from our collection?Spoiler alert: It’s a lot.Over at DavidGonos.com, I wrote up an article that lists each player and their true rookie card from Topps flagship sets, including Topps Series 1, Series 2 and Topps Update!Let us know which rookie cards you are picking up now that you’ve seen this list! Drop a comment below!Got some content ideas for me? Shoot me a note at gonoscards@gmail.com !***Important Card-Collecting Articles on DavidGonos.com**** Best Baseball Rookie Cards From Every Year Since 1941* Best Basketball Rookie Cards From Every Year Since 1948* Best Football Rookie Cards From Every Year Since 1956* Best Hockey Rookie Cards From Every Year Since 1951* 23 Best Sports Cards Supplies To BuyConnect with David Gonos on:* Facebook* Twitter/X @DavidGonos* Instagram @DavidGonos* TikTok* Link TreeEmail me: mailto:gonoscards@gmail.comHave a #HappyHobby!Podcast Music: “I dunno“ by grapes - 2008 - Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) Get full access to Happy Hobby Sports Cards Newsletter For Collectors! at gonos.substack.com/subscribe

Each Happy Hobby Sports Card Newsletter For Collectors has a handful of great sports card subjects, helping sports card collectors working with limited budgets!🎙️Average Rookie Card Rankings: 2026 Topps Series 1 ARCR! - Ep. 3.05We love rankings! We love rookie cards! We especially love doing our Average Rookie Card Rankings for each Topps flagship series, so we’re starting off with the 2026 Topps Series 1 ARCR!We took our rankings (adjusted with the addition of notably absent Nolan McLean), and we combined the rankings of YouTube hobby star Scottie B Cards and the rankings of Dahl , whose rankings posted over on Mantel and Yahoo! Sports, which he based on Base Bowman Chrome Auto prices.Let us know if you if there are some 2026 Topps Series 1 rookie cards you think should be ranked higher or lower! Drop a comment below!Got some content ideas for me? Shoot me a note at gonoscards@gmail.com !***Important Card-Collecting Articles on DavidGonos.com**** Best Baseball Rookie Cards From Every Year Since 1941* Best Basketball Rookie Cards From Every Year Since 1948* Best Football Rookie Cards From Every Year Since 1956* Best Hockey Rookie Cards From Every Year Since 1951* 23 Best Sports Cards Supplies To BuyConnect with David Gonos on:* Facebook* Twitter/X @DavidGonos* Instagram @DavidGonos* TikTok* Link TreeEmail me: mailto:gonoscards@gmail.comHave a #HappyHobby!Podcast Music: “I dunno“ by grapes - 2008 - Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) Get full access to Happy Hobby Sports Cards Newsletter For Collectors! at gonos.substack.com/subscribe

Each Happy Hobby Sports Card Newsletter For Collectors has a handful of great sports card subjects, helping sports card collectors working with limited budgets!Comeback Collecting and Other Cold Weather Sports Card Collecting Topics! - Ep. 3.04With Winter Storm Fern keeping us inside all weekend in Central Texas, I had some time to think about card grading, Comeback Collectors, and many other sports card collecting topics!We’re hoping to get more card collectors to take advantage of our great Happy Hobby Sports Cards chat on this website! You can ask questions, answer questions and ponder which cards you like better than other cards!Let us know if you if you are a Comeback Collector, an old school collector, or if you are brand new to the game! Drop a comment below!Got some content ideas for me? Shoot me a note at gonoscards@gmail.com !***Important Card-Collecting Articles on DavidGonos.com**** Best Baseball Rookie Cards From Every Year Since 1941* Best Basketball Rookie Cards From Every Year Since 1948* Best Football Rookie Cards From Every Year Since 1956* Best Hockey Rookie Cards From Every Year Since 1951* 23 Best Sports Cards Supplies To BuyConnect with David Gonos on:* Facebook* Twitter/X @DavidGonos* Instagram @DavidGonos* TikTok* Link TreeEmail me: mailto:gonoscards@gmail.comHave a #HappyHobby!Podcast Music: “I dunno“ by grapes - 2008 - Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) Get full access to Happy Hobby Sports Cards Newsletter For Collectors! at gonos.substack.com/subscribe

Each Happy Hobby Sports Card Newsletter For Collectors has a handful of great sports card subjects, helping sports card collectors working with limited budgets!2025 Rookie Card Power Rankings! Top 15 Topps Rookie Cards - Ep. 3.03With 282 rookie cards produced in 2025 Topps Series 1, Series 2 and Topps Update combined, it’s no wonder baseball card collectors would get dizzy wondering which rookie cards are the best ones!We settle it for now, ranking the top 15 rookie cards from all those series combined, helping you improve your card collection without chasing everything at once.Let us know if you like a 2025 Topps rookie card more than I do, or if you think I have a rookie card up too high in our power rankings! Drop a comment below or shoot me an email at gonoscards@gmail.com.Got some content ideas for me? Shoot me a note at gonoscards@gmail.com !***Important Card-Collecting Articles on DavidGonos.com**** Best Baseball Rookie Cards From Every Year Since 1941* Best Basketball Rookie Cards From Every Year Since 1948* Best Football Rookie Cards From Every Year Since 1956* Best Hockey Rookie Cards From Every Year Since 1951* 23 Best Sports Cards Supplies To BuyConnect with David Gonos on:* Facebook* Twitter/X @DavidGonos* Instagram @DavidGonos* TikTok* Link TreeEmail me: mailto:gonoscards@gmail.comHave a #HappyHobby!Podcast Music: “I dunno“ by grapes - 2008 - Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) Get full access to Happy Hobby Sports Cards Newsletter For Collectors! at gonos.substack.com/subscribe

Each Happy Hobby Sports Card Newsletter For Collectors has a handful of great sports card subjects, helping sports card collectors working with limited budgets!If you’re a sports card collector working with a limited budget, then you are like me — and like most of us that roam around on this newsletter and podcast!We love sports cards, but we don’t spend thousands of dollars chasing MLB Debut Patches or picking up four-figure vintage cards or insane parallels for baseball prospects who might never see the majors.So we came up with seven fun goals that a sports card collector can enjoy in 2026, as opposed to the flipper/investor. We don’t look down at those guys — we just don’t relate to them as much. You can find the written version of this article in our newsletter from last week right here:Let us know if there are some things you will do differently in 2026 that you did in 2025, or are there some things you did in 2025 that were big improvements to your collection from 2024? Let us know in the comments or shoot me an email at gonoscards@gmail.com.Got some content ideas for me? Shoot me a note at gonoscards@gmail.com !***Important Card-Collecting Articles on DavidGonos.com**** Best Baseball Rookie Cards From Every Year Since 1941* Best Basketball Rookie Cards From Every Year Since 1948* Best Football Rookie Cards From Every Year Since 1956* Best Hockey Rookie Cards From Every Year Since 1951* 23 Best Sports Cards Supplies To BuyConnect with David Gonos on:* Facebook* Twitter/X @DavidGonos* Instagram @DavidGonos* TikTok* Link TreeEmail me: mailto:gonoscards@gmail.comHave a #HappyHobby!Podcast Music: “I dunno“ by grapes - 2008 - Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) Get full access to Happy Hobby Sports Cards Newsletter For Collectors! at gonos.substack.com/subscribe

Each Happy Hobby Sports Card Newsletter For Collectors has a handful of great sports card subjects, helping sports card collectors working with limited budgets!If you’re a sports card collector working with a limited budget, then you know every purchase and every dollar means something good or bad for your collection.We’ve laid out some steps to help you get a better understanding of what you purchased, trade and sold over the past 12 months.Project managers often do post-mortems after a project is completed to assess what went well, what went wrong and where they can make some adjustments for future projects.In the sports card collector’s world, it’s all about learning from last year so you can make next year better!You can find the written version of this article in our newsletter from last week right here:Let us know if there are some things you will do differently in 2026 that you did in 2025, or are there some things you did in 2025 that were big improvements to your collection from 2024? Let us know in the comments or shoot me an email at gonoscards@gmail.com.Got some content ideas for me? Shoot me a note at gonoscards@gmail.com !***Important Card-Collecting Articles on DavidGonos.com**** Best Baseball Rookie Cards From Every Year Since 1941* Best Basketball Rookie Cards From Every Year Since 1948* Best Football Rookie Cards From Every Year Since 1956* Best Hockey Rookie Cards From Every Year Since 1951* 23 Best Sports Cards Supplies To BuyConnect with David Gonos on:* Facebook* Twitter/X @DavidGonos* Instagram @DavidGonos* TikTok* Link TreeEmail me: mailto:gonoscards@gmail.comHave a #HappyHobby!Podcast Music: “I dunno“ by grapes - 2008 - Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) Get full access to Happy Hobby Sports Cards Newsletter For Collectors! at gonos.substack.com/subscribe

Each Happy Hobby Sports Card Newsletter For Collectors has a handful of great sports card subjects, helping sports card collectors working with limited budgets!Did you miss one of our most valuable pieces of sports card content!?!We’re going to review the most popular rookie cards clicked on, pages, newsletters, videos, and podcasts from the HHSC world.My goal is to create a little Happy Hobby community, where card friends help card friends. I’m trying to turn my YT viewers into newsletter subscribers, and my newsletter subscribers into podcast listeners.How the Happy Hobby Sports Cards world works:* Everything revolves around my rookie card links on DavidGonos.com.* That’s how readers/viewers/listeners can support our content.* Evergreen content also goes on DavidGonos.com, which is stuff that will live longer than a week or two, or can be linked to from multiple newsletters, etc.* An idea becomes a Happy Hobby Sports Cards newsletter on Substack.* A newsletter becomes a video on the David Gonos YouTube channel.* The audio from that video becomes a podcast posted on Apple and Spotify.Your comments often shape new content in different forms, so keep the comments and ideas coming!Top 10 Most Popular Happy Hobby Content Pieces!We share our top-10 lists of which rookie cards are clicked on most at DavidGonos.com, which podcasts were the most downloaded over this past year, which newsletters were the most read, which articles were read the most at DavidGonos.com, and which videos had the most views over at our YouTube channel!Got some content ideas for me? Shoot me a note at gonoscards@gmail.com !***Important Card-Collecting Articles on DavidGonos.com**** Best Baseball Rookie Cards From Every Year Since 1941* Best Basketball Rookie Cards From Every Year Since 1948* Best Football Rookie Cards From Every Year Since 1956* Best Hockey Rookie Cards From Every Year Since 1951* 23 Best Sports Cards Supplies To BuyConnect with David Gonos on:* Facebook* Twitter/X @DavidGonos* Instagram @DavidGonos* TikTok* Link TreeEmail me: mailto:gonoscards@gmail.comHave a #HappyHobby!Podcast Music: “I dunno“ by grapes - 2008 - Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) Get full access to Happy Hobby Sports Cards Newsletter For Collectors! at gonos.substack.com/subscribe

Each Happy Hobby Sports Card Newsletter For Collectors has a handful of great sports card subjects, helping sports card collectors working with limited budgets!The final flagship product finally got released by Topps this month, and several sports card content creators, including myself, shared their 2025 Topps Update Rookie Card Rankings. What we do each time one of these Topps flagship products comes out is to take everyone’s rankings, mash them together, then average them out to figure out Average Rookie Card Rankings!If you’ve ever played Fantasy Football, then you’re likely familiar with ADP (Average Draft Position), which averages out where players get drafted across thousands of Fantasy Football leagues. That’s what we’re attempting to do here – give you a wide angle perspective on what the best rookie cards to chase are from this product.2025 Topps Update Average Card RankingsBelow is the final ranking, but listen to the podcast to understand what we thought about these players.Note that we used the rookie card rankings from these card content creators:* DavidGonos.com* Scottie B Cards YouTube Channel* Topps Ripped* Cardlines.comLet us know if you are a content creator and you’d like to have your sports card rankings added to our Average Rookie Card Rankings (ARCR)! Drop a comment below or shoot me an email at gonoscards@gmail.com.Got some content ideas for me? Shoot me a note at gonoscards@gmail.com !Don’t forget to vote for the 2025 Rookie Card Awards and win a chance at a 2011 Topps Freddie Freeman RC PSA 9 slab! Deadline to vote is midnight, Dec. 22, 2025. Vote here: https://forms.gle/2KnyEtX8NoYob4dy6***Important Card-Collecting Articles on DavidGonos.com**** Best Baseball Rookie Cards From Every Year Since 1941* Best Basketball Rookie Cards From Every Year Since 1948* Best Football Rookie Cards From Every Year Since 1956* Best Hockey Rookie Cards From Every Year Since 1951* 23 Best Sports Cards Supplies To BuyConnect with David Gonos on:* Facebook* Twitter/X @DavidGonos* Instagram @DavidGonos* TikTok* Link TreeEmail me: mailto:gonoscards@gmail.comHave a #HappyHobby!Podcast Music: “I dunno“ by grapes - 2008 - Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) Get full access to Happy Hobby Sports Cards Newsletter For Collectors! at gonos.substack.com/subscribe

Each Happy Hobby Sports Card Newsletter For Collectors has a handful of great sports card subjects, helping sports card collectors working with limited budgets!A few weeks ago, I laid out my reasons on why I believe sports cards will explode in 2026, and many of you agreed with me!But many of you also thought I was just this side of cuckoo! Commenters laid out their disdain for Fanatics getting three of the four major sports card licenses, and they shared several reasons they thought the hobby was on the precipice of disaster! Got some content ideas for me? Shoot me a note at gonoscards@gmail.com !Don’t forget to vote for the 2025 Rookie Card Awards and win a chance at a 2011 Topps Freddie Freeman RC PSA 9 slab! Deadline to vote is midnight, Dec. 22, 2025. Vote here: https://forms.gle/2KnyEtX8NoYob4dy6***Important Card-Collecting Articles on DavidGonos.com**** Best Baseball Rookie Cards From Every Year Since 1941* Best Basketball Rookie Cards From Every Year Since 1948* Best Football Rookie Cards From Every Year Since 1956* Best Hockey Rookie Cards From Every Year Since 1951* 23 Best Sports Cards Supplies To BuyConnect with David Gonos on:* Facebook* Twitter/X @DavidGonos* Instagram @DavidGonos* TikTok* Link TreeEmail me: mailto:gonoscards@gmail.comHave a #HappyHobby!Podcast Music: “I dunno“ by grapes - 2008 - Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) Get full access to Happy Hobby Sports Cards Newsletter For Collectors! at gonos.substack.com/subscribe

Each Happy Hobby Sports Card Newsletter For Collectors has a handful of great sports card subjects, helping sports card collectors working with limited budgets!My childhood is full of great stories about the beginning of my love of the hobby, but there is one huge black spot that has sullied my conscience for decades. It’s time I share what happened, why I did it, and how it affected me up until this day!Got some content ideas for me? Shoot me a note at gonoscards@gmail.com !Don’t forget to vote for the 2025 Rookie Card Awards and win a chance at a 2011 Topps Freddie Freeman RC PSA 9 slab! Deadline to vote is midnight, Dec. 22, 2025. Vote here: https://forms.gle/2KnyEtX8NoYob4dy6***Important Card-Collecting Articles on DavidGonos.com**** Best Baseball Rookie Cards From Every Year Since 1941* Best Basketball Rookie Cards From Every Year Since 1948* Best Football Rookie Cards From Every Year Since 1956* Best Hockey Rookie Cards From Every Year Since 1951* 23 Best Sports Cards Supplies To BuyConnect with David Gonos on:* Facebook* Twitter/X @DavidGonos* Instagram @DavidGonos* TikTok* Link TreeEmail me: mailto:gonoscards@gmail.comHave a #HappyHobby!Podcast Music: “I dunno“ by grapes - 2008 - Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) Get full access to Happy Hobby Sports Cards Newsletter For Collectors! at gonos.substack.com/subscribe

Each Happy Hobby Sports Card Newsletter For Collectors has a handful of great sports card subjects, helping sports card collectors working with limited budgets!Over the years, there have been some amazing sports card innovations and ideas! Many of them could be called “gimmicks,” if only because they were only around for a short time, and then they went away.Well, we want some of those gimmicks to come back! And we want the others to go far, far away! Help us decide on which ones were awesome, which ones were alright, and which ones were awful!Got some content ideas for me? Shoot me a note at gonoscards@gmail.com !Don’t forget to vote for the 2025 Rookie Card Awards and win a chance at a 2011 Topps Freddie Freeman RC PSA 9 slab! Deadline to vote is midnight, Dec. 22, 2025. Vote here: https://forms.gle/2KnyEtX8NoYob4dy6***Important Card-Collecting Articles on DavidGonos.com**** Best Baseball Rookie Cards From Every Year Since 1941* Best Basketball Rookie Cards From Every Year Since 1948* Best Football Rookie Cards From Every Year Since 1956* Best Hockey Rookie Cards From Every Year Since 1951* 23 Best Sports Cards Supplies To BuyConnect with David Gonos on:* Facebook* Twitter/X @DavidGonos* Instagram @DavidGonos* TikTok* Link TreeEmail me: mailto:gonoscards@gmail.comHave a #HappyHobby!Podcast Music: “I dunno“ by grapes - 2008 - Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) Get full access to Happy Hobby Sports Cards Newsletter For Collectors! at gonos.substack.com/subscribe

Each Happy Hobby Sports Card Newsletter For Collectors has a handful of great sports card subjects, helping sports card collectors working with limited budgets!It’s the end of the year and that usually means we should look back before we look forward to the new year! We nominate base rookie cards in four different categories for four different main sports that people like to collect, with several releases of Panini, Topps and Upper Deck flagship products!You can vote here: https://forms.gle/2KnyEtX8NoYob4dy6By voting, you are eligible to win a 2011 Topps Freddie Freeman RC PSA 9 slab! Voting ends at midnight, Dec. 22, 2025, and the winner will be announced shortly after!The four categories for each sport (baseball, basketball, football and hockey) we listed are:* Best Rookie Card!* Best Rookie Card Comeback!* Best Sleeper Future Star Rookie Card!* Biggest Rookie Card Bust!There are many great rookie cards that came out this year, from Topps Series 1, 2 and Update, as well as Prizm Basketball, Prizm Football, and Upper Deck Hockey Series 1, 2 and Extended! We need your help to discover what the very best rookie cards were in each category!Got some content ideas for me? Shoot me a note at gonoscards@gmail.com !***Important Card-Collecting Articles on DavidGonos.com**** Best Baseball Rookie Cards From Every Year Since 1941* Best Basketball Rookie Cards From Every Year Since 1948* Best Football Rookie Cards From Every Year Since 1956* Best Hockey Rookie Cards From Every Year Since 1951* 23 Best Sports Cards Supplies To BuyConnect with David Gonos on:* Facebook* Twitter/X @DavidGonos* Instagram @DavidGonos* TikTok* Link TreeEmail me: mailto:gonoscards@gmail.comHave a #HappyHobby!Podcast Music: “I dunno“ by grapes - 2008 - Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) Get full access to Happy Hobby Sports Cards Newsletter For Collectors! at gonos.substack.com/subscribe

Each Happy Hobby Sports Card Newsletter For Collectors has a handful of great sports card subjects, helping sports card collectors working with limited budgets!There are many, many factors working against you pulling an awesome card out of a box — and we list just how difficult it really is in this episode. But we also share several tips on how you can still have fun in this hobby, along with a very special tip on a great PSA 9 card worth picking up today. The PSA 10 version is selling for 9x the PSA 9 slab, and that makes the regular ol’ mint condition card a great value!Drop your thoughts in the comments below — or shoot me a note at gonoscards@gmail.com !***Important Card-Collecting Articles on DavidGonos.com**** Best Baseball Rookie Cards From Every Year Since 1941* Best Basketball Rookie Cards From Every Year Since 1948* Best Football Rookie Cards From Every Year Since 1956* Best Hockey Rookie Cards From Every Year Since 1951* 23 Best Sports Cards Supplies To BuyConnect with David Gonos on:* Facebook* Twitter/X @DavidGonos* Instagram @DavidGonos* TikTok* Link TreeEmail me: mailto:gonoscards@gmail.comHave a #HappyHobby!Podcast Music: “I dunno“ by grapes - 2008 - Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) Get full access to Happy Hobby Sports Cards Newsletter For Collectors! at gonos.substack.com/subscribe

Each Happy Hobby Sports Card Newsletter For Collectors has a handful of great sports card subjects, helping sports card collectors working with limited budgets!If you’re not a new sports card collector, you might be an old collector — like many of us Happy Hobbyists! That means the sports cards of the ‘80s and ‘90s, with their gum, bad packaging and collating, and lack of autographs, hold a special place in your heart!Our Junk Wax Junkie Extraordinaire, Scott Hedrick, shares his 10 favorite junk wax boxes to rip — each for under $125! Many of these boxes can be had for less than $100 — or you can choose to spend that money on a outfield prospect who isn’t old enough buy a beer yet.We want to know which boxes you would buy from this list if you had $200 to burn! Drop your thoughts in the comments below — or shoot me a note at gonoscards@gmail.com !***Important Card-Collecting Articles on DavidGonos.com**** Best Baseball Rookie Cards From Every Year Since 1941* Best Basketball Rookie Cards From Every Year Since 1948* Best Football Rookie Cards From Every Year Since 1956* Best Hockey Rookie Cards From Every Year Since 1951* 23 Best Sports Cards Supplies To BuyConnect with David Gonos on:* Facebook* Twitter/X @DavidGonos* Instagram @DavidGonos* TikTok* Link TreeEmail me: mailto:gonoscards@gmail.comHave a #HappyHobby!Podcast Music: “I dunno“ by grapes - 2008 - Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) Get full access to Happy Hobby Sports Cards Newsletter For Collectors! at gonos.substack.com/subscribe

Each Happy Hobby Sports Card Newsletter For Collectors has a handful of great sports card subjects, helping sports card collectors working with limited budgets!With the 2025 NBA season upon us — and the 2025 WNBA season behind us, what better time for us to rank the best 2025 rookie cards!?!The latest drop of 2025 Topps Basketball cards has everyone incredibly excited, and people have been ready for the release of 2025 Donruss WNBA cards for months!For our website, we ranked the Top 11 NBA Rookie Cards From 2025 Topps Basketball and we ranked the Top 7 Donruss WNBA Rookie Cards, also!That’s what we talk about in this week’s podcast episode — the best rookie cards to collect in both leagues!Let’s hear what you think about Topps Basketball cards in the comments below — or shoot me a note at gonoscards@gmail.com !Sign up for the “Happy Hobby Sports Cards Newsletter” here!***Important Card-Collecting Articles on DavidGonos.com**** Best Baseball Rookie Cards From Every Year Since 1941* Best Basketball Rookie Cards From Every Year Since 1948* Best Football Rookie Cards From Every Year Since 1956* Best Hockey Rookie Cards From Every Year Since 1951* 23 Best Sports Cards Supplies To BuyConnect with David Gonos on:* Facebook* Twitter/X @DavidGonos* Instagram @DavidGonos* TikTok* Link TreeEmail me: mailto:gonoscards@gmail.comHave a #HappyHobby!Podcast Music: “I dunno“ by grapes - 2008 - Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) Get full access to Happy Hobby Sports Cards Newsletter For Collectors! at gonos.substack.com/subscribe

Each Happy Hobby Sports Card Newsletter For Collectors has a handful of great sports card subjects, helping sports card collectors working with limited budgets!Now that Fanatics and Topps finally has basketball under their control, we saw the release of 2025 Topps Basketball — which was a pretty huge success. And then this week, we saw the release of the new Topps NBA Living Set, which is the cousin to the ultra-successful Topps MLB Living Set!We talk about the things we love and hate about the new flagship release, and we discuss some rankings for the Topps NBA Living Set cards we are excited to get our hands on!Let’s hear what you think about Topps Basketball cards in the comments below — or shoot me a note at gonoscards@gmail.com !Sign up for the “Happy Hobby Sports Cards Newsletter” here!***Important Card-Collecting Articles on DavidGonos.com**** Best Baseball Rookie Cards From Every Year Since 1941* Best Basketball Rookie Cards From Every Year Since 1948* Best Football Rookie Cards From Every Year Since 1956* Best Hockey Rookie Cards From Every Year Since 1951* 23 Best Sports Cards Supplies To BuyConnect with David Gonos on:* Facebook* Twitter/X @DavidGonos* Instagram @DavidGonos* TikTok* Link TreeEmail me: mailto:gonoscards@gmail.comHave a #HappyHobby!Podcast Music: “I dunno“ by grapes - 2008 - Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) Get full access to Happy Hobby Sports Cards Newsletter For Collectors! at gonos.substack.com/subscribe