“The monthly card update is never late, nor is it early. It arrives precisely when it means to.”

When it comes to overall card market health, I have fielded a lot of questions on if I think there is a bubble in this marketplace. Unfortunately, I don’t have a very “clicks-friendly” answer. Is there a bubble? Yes and no. In the new products from roughly 2015 and on, there are just too many cards. Even your numbered cards have different variations.

Let’s say you pull a 2025 Topps Chrome true red parallel, numbered /5, Royce Lewis. Fun pull, but there’s also an /5 sapphire, /5 logofractor, /5 ray wave, /5 red wave, and more! As you can see, you think you have this extremely rare card, but it has a long list of cousins. For these modern cards to do really well over time, you need the card to grade a 10 and it needs to be a very popular player. Otherwise, I think this modern market is certainly a bubble waiting to burst.

The card market isn’t all doom and gloom. Like I mentioned above, it’s knowing the right cards and the right players to target. There has been a junk wax era in the past, and we are on the verge of that again (if not already there with the print runs on some of these rookie cards).

The early 2000s is the market I am targeting and feels like it’s not as widely collected. Print runs are lower and there are some elite names and “local legends” that I love. The two big ones are Albert Pujols and Ichiro. Both are universally loved and will be remembered by baseball historians until the end of time.

The other target for me is local fanbase heroes that were great players but maybe came up short of immortal careers. This could include players like Kris Bryant, Bernie Williams, Torii Hunter, and many others who will likely be short of The Hall. Without hesitation, these people will have a large collection of people who say, “That is my favorite player of all time”. Remember, target rookie cards, on card autographs (not sticker autos), low serial numbered cards before 2020, and cards that have a chance to grade gem mint.

Overall, baseball cards are becoming more of an institution in the average household and cards are more visible and more widely accepted than ever before. Before the pandemic card boom, this was far more of a hide in your basement and don’t tell anyone type of activity. Now when you hop on Instagram, there are card accounts all over. You can even be at a party and there’s a good chance if you bring up “cards”, you’ll see someone’s eyes light up.

Cards aren’t going anywhere, but being able to know what is trash and what is treasure is a huge deal for someone’s enjoyment of the hobby. I always point folks to 130point.com to check on comparable sales and to get an idea of what others have decided certain cards are worth. 

5 Twins players and their cards I am looking to add before the turn of the new year:

Kaelen Culpepper (Bowman Chrome 1st’s autographs)

Royce Lewis (‘22 Topps Chrome Rookie autographs *NON STICKER*, Bowman Chrome 1st’s)

Byron Buxton (1/1’s and ‘15 Topps Chrome Rookie autographs)

Joe Mauer (‘02 Bowman Chrome autograph, numbered cards and SPs from playing years)

Torii Hunter (numbered cards from 2015 and earlier and autographs)