A Higher Education On Sports Cards: An MBA Breaks Down the Hobby

The interwebs are full of useful information on sports cards if you know where to look. The venerable podcast “Sports Cards Live” represents one shelf worth of knowledge, in a vast library of nuggets available at your fingertips. However, their latest episode with Simon Chan just might be considered required listening.

Prior to 2018, the information one could readily gather on the sports card hobby wasn’t nearly what it is today. Yes, there were a few podcasts and websites one could use to get an education on sports cards, but the production quality often rivaled one of my daughters self-produced Tic-Tok hauls, and the actual level of information was at times suspect. Do to the lack of outlets, most of us were relegated to toxic message boards or chat rooms, where commenters were regularly skewered for being inquisitive or asking questions that were deemed banal or misguided. In said forums, snark runs rampant and keeping the newbs quiet while the veteran sages control the atmosphere is commonplace. Not the best environment to grow the hobby.

The New Hobby Landscape

Fast forward to the post Covid lockdown years and you see a different hobby landscape. Yes, the message boards are still there to keep you grounded. Also, much to the dismay of the pre-Covid collector, the price of poker has gone up significantly do to the popularity the card market has attracted while we were all cooped up in our homes.

The hobby now has conspiracies and actual criminal acts that would make Wall Street blush. However, with the bad comes good. A simple google search can bring loads of information developed and researched using a much higher level of sophistication. The higher level of monetary investment has justified a greater need for analytics and education.

Yes, all of this can be overwhelming for someone new to the hobby, which is why finding information that keeps it simple and fun are important. Let the waves lap up on your feet a bit and enjoy the breeze, no need to swim out the bouey your first time visiting the ocean. When you are ready to fork over some considerable money, the tomes of knowledge are there for you to reference.

A Podcast Episode Worth Your Time

This past week, I found something different. When I stumble across good information, I like to pass it along. After all, a more informed hobby base is good for all, and if you don’t do podcasts, I get it. They are not for everyone, but this one episode would be a great time to make an exception.

The podcast Sports Cards Live has been around for a bit now, and the guests are typically hobby A-listers. I don’t know Jeremy, the host, from a hole in the wall, other than what I have heard on his podcast over the last few months when I tune in. He is Canadian, collects hockey cards, and his main draw to the hobby is the connection it creates to his childhood. All in all, seems like a normal dude, other than the fact that he collects hockey cards! Just kidding, sort of! Jeremy, and anyone wanting to push the hobby as a fun outlet, lives by the mantra, “Collect what you like!”, and so he does.

The episode I am referring too is #213, entitled, “An MBA’s Thoughts on Sports Card Hobby Issues | Simon Chan” . Admittedly, at first I was thinking we would get a deluge of data points and statistics backing or refuting some wild hobby claims or mysteries, but what we got was a fairly level headed, intelligent conversation about sports cards, and where we may be headed as a hobby. In case you haven’t guessed, Simon has his MBA and it’s valuable to hear people with a high level of education, especially one that seems to center on analytics and data, sharing thoughts on the hobby.

The golden nuggets are in the second part of the conversation (if you are listening on a podcast service, it’s part 2) where they discuss “investing” in sports cards and some of Simon’s general rules around the concept. It’s an excellent guide for someone looking to get into the investment side of the hobby.

Simon’s Tips For Investing In Sports Cards

I recently had a friend ask the question, “Hey man, I want to put ten grand into sports cards, put them away for 15 years and come back and see what they are worth. Who should I buy?” Of course the question ended with, “How about this one?” and a picture of an eBay listing of a 2023 Bowman Chrome Elly De La Cruz Autograph with a grade of PSA 9. Oh, and the autograph wasn’t even the 1st bowman of Elly.

Now, of course I gave him some of my own direction in regards to what cards hold value, scarcity, grading, etc. However, I admittedly did not know what names to give him. It’s one thing when you are investing for yourself, but with someone else’s money? What is a good equation for making an investment in a sports card at the player level? What names are good investments?

I think Simon has an equation that can at least get one pointed in the right direction. These are the Cliff’s notes version, but I highly recommend you watch or listen to the episode as Simon and Jeremy expand on the concepts and add valuable color to each one.

Simon’s four criteria for investing in a player:
1) Are they or do they have the potential to be a generational GOAT?
2) Do they have the potential for individual achievement?
3) How many championships have they won or do they have potential to win?
4) Does the player inspire emotion? Are they inspirational?

After Simon breaks these down, they touch on the investment paradox. A question that comes from this conversation would be something along the lines of, “If there are 10,000 PSA 10’s of a card, how is it an investment card when it is so readily available?” They expand into cards as commodities that are traded and so forth. Again, if you need an explanation they do a far better job explaining it then myself. Go give it a listen!

Investing or Collecting?

The last point that resonated with me, and it only takes about a minute of the conversation, but it defines what an investment looks like in sports cards, is the concept that if you are spending a significant amount of money on a card or cards, then you are investing. You can call it collecting and say that you are a collector, but for 99% of the world, if you are spending a few hundred dollars or thousands on a card, that is a monetary investment. As Jeremy says, and I am paraphrasing, “…unless of course you have no concept of the value of a dollar.” I could not agree with this more!

Thanks for reading along in today’s post. I appreciate all of the readers who stop by and show interest in this little spot of sports card information on the interwebs. Thanks for your time, and I hope we are providing something in return. To check out more of Simon’s work go to his youtube channel here! He has some very sensible takes, mostly backed by data and extensive analytics, on various topics in the hobby.

Until next time, “Collect What You Like!”