The 3 Worst Sports Card Buys I Ever Made

In honor of my book release, I wanted to poke fun at myself for some of the old mistakes that I made.

In order from “Oh no!” to “What have I done?!” here are the worst flips I ever made:

#3. 2020-21 Lamelo Ball Draft Picks Rookie

I was brand-spankin’-new to flipping, and I missed two key things:

• College uni cards go down the toilet when pro cards come out

• The “new card bump”

I spent $25 on this card right after it was released, ungraded. You might be able to get $0.50 for it now (I threw it in as a freebie for another sale).

That year, I also bought a few raw Tyrese Haliburton Hoops rookies for about $20. I’ve come a long way since then!

Lesson: Wait until the cards you’re looking at have been out for several months before investing in them. You need prices to stabilize, plus enough of a price history to gauge trends.

#2. 1997-98 Tim Duncan Topps Finest PSA 9

Here’s Card Ladder’s pricing chart with an arrow pointing to my purchase:

Yep, I literally spent more for that card than anyone else in the world.

Right now, it’s down to around $15, but I can’t bring myself to sell it. It’s this reminder of when I was dumb and how far I’ve come…or something.

Lesson: Do your own research, and don’t spend more on a card than ever before, by anyone.

#1 Topps Chrome 2021 Baseball Hobby Case

A few years back, we refinanced our house and freed up some money. I convinced my wife to let me spend $2,100 on this as a buy-and-hold.

I didn’t know much about baseball (or investing) at the time, but I heard from someone that this was a great buy.

If you know your years, well, this was a terrible rookie class. The individual boxes dropped from over $200 to $140 almost overnight.

I eventually just ripped the boxes. I’d be surprised if I got more than $200-$300 in value after I did a bunch of work to grade and sell off individual cards. Let’s just say that it took a minute for the wife to trust me with investing in sports cards again after that!

Lesson: Make sure you’re going in on a killer rookie class, plus, go in on sports that you know better than I knew baseball then.

If you’d rather be like 2025 me than 2021 me when it comes to flipping, check out my new book, Cards to Cash. (Last mention today, I promise)

Buy/Sell Targets

This doesn’t constitute investment advice, more just a window into my overall strategy and how I see the market, and for entertainment purposes. All pricing and screenshots are taken from Card Ladder—the only pricing & inventory tool I use.

✔ Jac Caglianone ⚾ - He’s so new, of course he could still be a bust…but he’s got pedigree and potential. Couple that with a nightmare start to his career (-1.3 WAR is hard to do) and there’s a decent buying opportunity. You could wait for the offseason after they’ve likely missed the postseason, but he could go on a heater at any moment.

✔ Lamelo Ball 🏀 - Do I think he leads the “all sizzle, no steak” All-Stars? Yes, yes I do. However, he’s always had a nice following, and he’s a super-fun player to watch! Last year, his raw Prizm silvers jumped to $60 after a nice start to the season. Right now, you can pick one up for around $20-$25. I like the gamble. I’d offload it as soon as there’s a spike because he’ll probably get injured and his team won’t win a ton of games.

✔ Donovan Mitchell 🏀 - After the Cavs’ shocking upset loss last postseason, his pricing tailed off. I still think he’s a killer and absolutely capable of leading the Cavs to the Finals next year. If you’re patient, you can probably grab a Prizm PSA 10 for around $20—half of what it was in March.

✔ Jaylen Brown 🏀 - I see a long and short play here. His pricing has cratered since around April, which makes sense considering the way his team lost, Tatum got injured, and they gutted their team. You can look at this two ways: buy him now before he puts up massive numbers this season, or wait until the dog days of the season when his team is an afterthought. I kinda like the first play and offload him when he’s averaging 30 a few weeks into the season.

✔ Jalen Hurts 🏈 - His Prizm PSA 10s are still valued at about half of Burrow. Sure, he’s not quite as good, but he’s on a loaded team that will win a ton of games, even against a tough schedule. People forget he finished 2nd in MVP just two years ago, when his PSA 10 Prizms were worth 2.5x what they are now.

Quick Hits

News From Around the Hobby

+ State of the Hobby - The Athletic interviewed top execs from companies like Goldin, PSA, eBay, Fanatics, Upper Deck and more about what’s working and what needs to change. They seem most excited about the youth coming in, and least excited about authentication issues (understandable, given the recent massive forgery scandal).

+ Unpopped Bubble - Cllct with a great article about how the bubble popped…but now the hobby’s back and the current growth is real. “We are seeing incredibly positive sentiment throughout, in the places where it matters: average collectors who power the hobby, brands injecting more money into the hobby as they recognize the potential of the space.” Agreed.

+ Air Mamba - I’m keeping a close eye on the Jordan/Kobe 1/1 auto logoman because I think it’ll become the new most expensive basketball card sale ever (already over $4 million). It’s also the card most likely to convince me to go on a crime spree.

+ Crime Hits Close to Home - I love sharing sports card crimes…but this one happened just down the road from me! Also, I can’t imagine working at a sports card store and getting hit by a car that day. Tough shift. (She suffered only minor injuries, fortunately.)

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The content in this newsletter is for entertainment purposes only and is not intended to be actual financial or investment advice.