Fanatics has a lot of the most sought after autographs of the year on lock in Victor Wembanyma and CJ Stroud. One unintended consequence of this is that it has pushed up the values of leaf and wildcard autographs to levels we aren’t used to seeing.

Lemmie Get That Podagraph broke a story about Radiers draft pick QB Adian O’Connel tossing his cards from Immaculate in the trash. There is a lot of nuance to what might of happened there so check out their episode for the full story. We talk about it and how it relates to fanatics and do players care about the cards? With AJ Dillon putting knock knock jokes on his immaculate cards

Some of the biggest news in the hobby has been PSA’s rejection of the large signature of Anthony Richardson as seen here.

It’s drastically different from the image in his previous sheets of stickers as seen in this image.

We talk about what this could potentially mean for these cards and talk about an example here as shown by youtube user Michael Hamm and reposted by SCV Sports Cards where Richardson does sign in that format. There are significant differences in the signatures even still but we can’t know the circumstances behind the larger format and less organized signature.

2/23/2024 UPDATE

Cards for sale! Chris brings out a nice Trea Turner autograph while retelling the story of his remarkable second half and a sweet Bo Bichette topps now autograph. Leighton has a 1933 Goudey Gaby Hartnett PSA 6 that is in rare form and a card that made us ask what the heck is a Zeenut anyway?

New releases are turbo charged this week with Prizm Basketball in the mix. Victor Wembanyama cards will be highly sought after and push demand but it will be drastically different from the Zion and Ja mania that we saw in 2019. This is the best Five Star Baseball release we have seen in years and Impeccable FB might be a high end value buy.

Leighton always manages to bring in cards with a story. Towards the end he shows a card of Ray Chapman, the first man ever to lose his life in a baseball incident.

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The post VB Lunch Crew Episode 14: Found in The Dumpster first appeared on The Lunch Crew.

Yes Leighton is blurry. We were making the best of it.

Fanatics launches a new bounty program called “The Ten” and while it’s very impressively named in such a way that makes it sound important really it’s a very simple proposition. You hit one of these 10 cards and they give you a $10,000 Fanatics live gift card as a cherry on top. Some of the pics are a little surprising as they aren’t what I’d consider key cards like the Corbin Carroll HIM Superfractor that might not even be a 10k card there are big hitters in there like the 2009 Steph Curry Super that has never been seen.

What to look for when buying vintage packs to determine if they are untampered? While we don’t really give much of an answer here we are teasing other possible live workshops with how to tell. Basically it’s all about the roller marks on the back and the way the cards are nestled into the pack.

Cards for sale! Chris rolls out some modern and Leighton brings out a nice hall of fame T206 Zach Wheat along with a PSA 4 Cad Coles Piedmont Back. According to Chris, prospect to look out for Keiner Delgado of the New York Yankees.

New Releases are 2023 Donruss Basketball with the NO AUTOGRAPH Wembanyama, 2023 Impeccable Football with the gold bar cards, the runway model that is 2023 Flawless BB and the ever popular photography set 2023 Topps Stadium Club Baseball.

Closing us out Leighton brings more to the table in his collect what you love segment as he shows off a beautiful rookie year Michael Jordan Signature.

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The post VB Lunch Crew Episode 13: The Fanatical Ten first appeared on The Lunch Crew.

Yes the Brady in 2023 Bowman Draft Picks is photshopped. So is nearly everything else 1st Bowman. Why do people seem to care so much?

Software tools for the seller and or collector have come a long way recently. Here are a few we reccomend.

• Mascot, a tool for easy (and we do mean EASY) listing on marketplaces such as ebay and myslabs. List With Mascot.

As always we bring some cards for sale. Leighton brings out a stunner in this Eddie Collins American Caramel SGC 2. For me the candy issues hit harder than their more famous tobacco counterparts. From the Topps Era he brings out this affordable Yankee in this 1952 Jack Jensen SGC 5. Chris brings out two prospects hes looking for big things in 2023 in Junior Caminero and Gunnar Henderson.

Our new release chat involves the normally affordable 2023 Absolute Football. This years price tag is even above 2020’s stellar Burrow and Herbert class despite really only having one game changer minus autographs in the form of CJ Stroud. The Kabooms will be absolutely stunning but north of $700 a box for this seems kind of off. In contrast 2023 Bowman’s Best is one of the better values we have seen with a revamped look and finally a card that can get Brando Mayea’s name right.

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The post VB Lunch Crew Episode 12: Yes It’s Photoshopped. So what? first appeared on The Lunch Crew.

Leighton and Chris are finally in person for an episode.

We talk about hobby burnout and what you can do to combat it. We share what works for us, and it might work for you.

Some vintage wax boxes have come down in price, the graded singles really haven’t decreased to the same scale. That makes the wax packs better buys now.

Grade worthy 1980’s cards might be undervalued. If you have them, preserve them.

2023 Bowman University Points to a future of Topps products that will have Lebron autographs. There is nothing stopping them from doing Lebron autographs in 2023 Topps Chrome with retro design.

50 Years later we are still finding new variations in old topps products. 1973 Topps has two different Al Kalines, one where he has a bandaid on his head.

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The post The VB Lunch Crew Episode 11: In Person first appeared on The Lunch Crew.

Baseball season is right around the corner. What are some strategies you can use to load up on impact 2024 players?

Not all is as it seems with Tom Brady 2023 Bowman Draft cards. There was a foul feat a foot with shill bidding on the parallels. When the shill bidding stopped the cards fell back down to reason.

As always we bring some cards for sale. Chris brings two Baltimore Orioles Prospects and Leighton with a pre war and nice 1950’s Yankee.

New releases in 2023 National Treasures Baseball, 2023 Prizm Football, 2023 Brooklyn Collection Baseball and a surprise (for me at least) with 2023 UD Goodwin Champions. I did not expect them to have Jordan autos this year.

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The post VB Lunch Crew Episode 10: Come on Pitchers and Catchers, Report Already! first appeared on The Lunch Crew.

Tom Brady cards are out in full force in 2023 Bowman Draft Picks and Prospects. They have made a tremendous impact on the secondary market as the singles are performing as well as anything in the space right now. Should Fanatics keep this going with other players? Michael Jordan anyone?

We talk about street dates and why they are important. A couple of breakers broke street date on 2023 bowman draft and it’s not a good thing for the state of the industry / hobby.

Speaking of street dates we have seen a lot of delays in production of new products at Panini. Optic and Prizm will not be on retail shelves for the holidays. It actually makes a bigger impact to shelves at Target and Walmart than most think. We examine the Fanatics angle and why it would benefit them for Panini to finish strong and on schedule.

The cards for sale are going fast! We HAD a nice Julio Rodriguez that sold live in the show as well as a couple of vintage beauties from Leighton that sold shortly after. At the time of writing this summary only the PSA 10 Elly De La Cruz is left in our store front.

We are giving away a nice graded T206! Comment on this article or the social channels to get added to the random list by tonight with the people from the chat. If you’re watching this a day or longer after air then watch us live next time. We do these kind of give aways.

Leighton has a trade proposition for you. Listen to the episode and email him directly [email protected] to propose a trade.

Leighton closes us out with some really nice vintage photographs from the turn of the century including a nice shot of Honus Wagner.

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The post The Lunch Crew Episode 9: The Brady Effect first appeared on The Lunch Crew.

Evaluating NFL Quarterbacks is a really tough job. What do you look for when deciding what quarterbacks in the hobby matter? Why do only quarterbacks matter? What quarterbacks has Chris been right or wrong about?

We recently opened an entire box of 1980 Topps Basketball. It was a wonderful process and we are looking forward to seeing what PSA has to say about it from a grading perspective. We have a DOOZY of a pack break coming up that will be just as exciting. Stay tuned for details.

Cards for sale! Chris has a thing for memorabilia cards that contain a piece of the jersey that the player signed along with the autograph on the card. This Ivan Rodriguez and Carlton Fisk are good examples. Leighton brings some beautiful vintage to the table with a stunning SGC 4 Lefty O’Doul and a 1933 Tattoo Orbit R305 George Haas.

New Releases for the week are 2023 Topps Inception Baseball and 2022 Panini One and One Basketball

We close with some thoughts on hobby content and some notes about the Philly show and really card shows in general.

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The post The Lunch Crew Episode 8: Quarterbacks first appeared on The Lunch Crew.

Leighton and Chris talk about what to do with your cards in a declining market, specifically expensive ones. Is it better to hold a 6 figure cards or many 4 figure cards?

Recently Michael Rubin of Fanatics went on Bill Simmons “The Ringer” Podcast to talk about the changing landscape of collectibles where a couple of interesting details about redemptions came out detailing the percentages they have reduced and how they reduced them. They also discussed the concept of loaded boxes and almost as a foot note talked about a third party audit that Topps is conducting. Rich Mueller of Sports Collectors Daily has more details.

Chris brings out a sapphire Jackson Chourio PSA 10 on the news of his impending contract and a very nice Marcelo Mayer PSA 10 refractor first bowman.

Leighton brings out a couple of strong budget friendly raw card offerings in a 35 Goudey 4 in 1 with Lloyd, Paul Waner and Waite Hoyt. I’d link you to that card but it sold in the show. He’s also offering card #1 in the 1933 Goudey Set Benny Bergough.

The only new release around the corner is 2023 Donruss Football and it’s going to be yet another test of sealed product without the only rookie quarterback playing well right now in CJ Stroud.

We close with thoughts on repacks as it’s been brought up in the hobby by Instagram collector and business man C Blez.

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The post The Lunch Crew Episode 7: Declining Market Strategy first appeared on The Lunch Crew.

Fanatics gives us an interesting chase card in the rookie debut logo patches that we hope will rival the basketball logoman cards long term. Details about the program are in this episode.

Leighton puts an absolutely beautiful 1933 Goudey Dizzy Dean on the block today along with a couple of modern cards from Chris.

The new release pipeline is focused on big box retail during the holidays. However there are still a couple of interesting products out there.

We close with a discussion on tactics for letting go. Sometimes you have to pull the trigger and make the sale. Here are some tips to make it easier to stomach.

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The post The Lunch Crew Episode 6: How to Let Go first appeared on The Lunch Crew.

Lebron James to get autographs in 2023 Bowman University Basketball and other future releases. Tom Brady will have autographs in 2023 Bowman Draft. Fanatics seems intent on delivering high profile athletes in the products despite the costs.

The off season is prospect season. Gilmore recounts two Boston Red Sox players that are worth your attention.

Check out the cards for sale this week. Leighton rolls out a BEAUTIFUL Rickey Henderson and Gilmore puts a couple of rookie cards on the table.

New releases this week 2022 National Treasures Basketball and no Wemby because it’s last years rookie class. That means we got a full year on the calendar until we get to see how Panini will handle not having his autographs. 2023 Bowman sterling is worth a second look as it’s packed with beautiful new designs. Fanatics seems intent on raising eye appeal as well.

As always the Lunch Crew ends on a positive note with a message on hobby gratitude.

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The post The Lunch Crew Episode 5: Brady and Lebron first appeared on The Lunch Crew.