2025’s here, so I’m going to share my New Year’s Resolution: Pull more 1-of-1 cards. Especially of all-time greats. Especially from 2009 Topps Chrome. Okay, fine, I want to pull the rookie Steph Curry Superfractor and retire.

The Biggest Story of 2024 (and 2025…and 2026)

If you’re tired of hearing about the licensing issues…well, it’s not going away anytime soon. In my opinion, it was the biggest story of the past year in the hobby…

And it will be the biggest story this coming year as Fanatics takes over licensing for the NBA….

And the biggest story the following year as they take over NFL licensing.

Let’s talk about a few things that we could see as this transition from Panini to Fanatics happens:

1. Autos for everyone again - The biggest bummer of this transition has been no licensed autos for big players like Wemby, CJ Stroud, Jayden Daniels, Caleb Williams, Bo Nix, and more. As Fanatics fully takes over, this will no longer be an issue.

2. Panini uses all their sticker autos - With an uncertain future, might we see Panini empty out the tens (hundreds) of thousands of auto stickers they have sitting on their shelves? Wouldn’t surprise me if we start to see tons of autos flood the market, likely for low-quality players (or even non-players) that were left out of previous releases to keep the overall quality of autos high. They might not care anymore.

3. Panini nostalgia - The first year a new product is released (think 2009 Prizm) usually carries a bit extra sway in the hobby. I’m curious to see if the last year does the same thing. Maybe not right away, but in 5 years, people might pay a bit extra for licensed Panini stuff (especially Prizm). Also, there was talk for a long while that Fanatics might purchase Panini, and we would see a continuance of Prizm and other Panini favorites…but each passing day (and an ongoing lawsuit) makes this seem less likely.

4. Bumped up release dates - It appears that the NBA licensing will change hands in October. It’s possible that Panini will rush to get out their biggest releases, like Prizm, Select, and others, to try to capitalize one final time. Same for the NFL, which appears to be changing hands in January 2026.

5. The return of beloved brands with licenses - Topps Chrome, anyone? I’m also excited for other popular newer products (like Topps Chrome Cosmic) in basketball and football—fully licensed, of course.

6. Licensed autos of great players - LeBron, for example, recently signed an exclusive deal with Topps and Fanatics after two decades with Upper Deck. Next season, we’ll likely start getting licensed autos of his for the first time in a long time.

Anything else you think is going to happen? I’d love to hear your thoughts on this!

Buy / Sell Opportunities

✔ Shai Gilgeous-Alexander 🏀 - He’s my pick for MVP. His team is (likely) going to cruise to the best record with 60+ wins likely in the competitive Western Conference. Jokic’s team isn’t good enough, Doncic is missing time, Tatum just isn’t quite there (not sure why, but he just isn’t), and Giannis likely won’t win enough games because of the poor start. Plus, his pricing on PSA 10 Prizm has stayed relatively steady for the past year. We’ll see a jump when he’s the odds-on MVP favorite in March.

✔ Nikola Jokic 🏀 - I know, I just said he wouldn’t win MVP, but he still might end up with one of the greatest statistical seasons of all time (he’s leading the league in three-point percentage!). Plus, last year, he saw a significant increase in his Prizm PSA 10 rookie starting in late March and going through May, which could repeat. Yes, he’s had a bump the past few weeks, but if there’s a small-ish dip, I’d buy.

✔ Bo Nix 🏈 - I think there’s a good opportunity for a short-term flip here. His Optic Holo is around $150, while Jayden Daniels (rightfully so) is around $250, meaning that Nix has some room to grow. I think the Broncos win against the Chief’s 2nd stringers, and they book their ticket to the playoffs. People will get excited for a rookie QB who turned around a bad team and made the playoffs with pretty good numbers. Just be sure to sell before they get pasted by the Bills.

❌ Karl-Anthony Towns 🏀 - He’s obviously fit in tremendously with the Knicks. His pricing on a PSA 10 Prizm rookie has jumped from under $40 to about $60. However, his pricing is at a 12-month high, and I also don’t think he’s all of a sudden going to be a playoff killer. The same player who makes boneheaded mistakes and disappears in big games will show up at some point. I don’t think his pricing continues to rise for much longer.

❌ Anthony Richardson 🏈 - Yes, his pricing is pretty low right now, but I suspect it’s going to keep dropping in the playoffs and through the offseason. He’s nowhere near a starting QB right now. Tons of injuries, and he has a hilariously low completion percentage of 47.7. Even Spencer Rattler completes 56%. He may not start again in the league, and if he does, I expect more subpar play that further plummets his value. Get some $$ while you can.

New Releases

+ 2024 Bowman’s Best University Football (January 6 | $260) - This licensed set had some bangers last year (Arch Manning). This year, you can find Cam Ward and Ashton Jeanty, but no Travis Hunter or Shedeur Sanders. Each hobby box gets you 4 autos, but also expect these to drop in value once pro uni cards come out.

+ 2024 Topps Archives Baseball (January 8 | $155) - While it’s not a set that I particularly care for, 2 on-card, licensed autos per box make this a fun rip. You can also expect 2 numbered cards, and lots of SPs, inserts, & parallels.

*Release dates can (and often do) change as products get delayed 🙄. It’s possible some notable sets are being released this week that I covered in previous editions.

Quick Hits

The 3 best things I saw this week

+ Topps Disney Genesis $3k Resell - On the 1st, Disney released these boxes that include characters from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, and Star Wars. They sold for $100 on Topps.com…and now there are confirmed sales on eBay for $3k 😲

+ $600k Ionescue Black Prizm 1/1 - This card was recently listed on eBay (in a CGC slab, lol)…do you think they’ll get the price? She did just win the championship and was the early model for Caitlin Clark.

+ Super Skenes Card Sold - “The Paul Skenes Autographed Superfractor from 2024 Topps Chrome Update sold for $111,532 Saturday night at Goldin Auctions.” He’s already the NL Cy Young favorite next year at +425—he’s the real deal.

Question of the Week