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Impact of Fernando Tatis Jr. Suspension and Past

8/25/2022

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Recently, Fernando Tatis Jr was suspended by Major League Baseball for 80 games due to steroids. To the average fan, this is a huge loss for baseball. However, to collectors, this might be the single most extreme event in the modern era. Ken Goldin, founder of Goldin Auctions, came out publicly and stated that this suspension could cost collectors more than $100 million. The price of a bowman chrome Tatis bowman chrome auto graded a BGS 9.5 consistently sold for over $2,500 before this suspension. Since then, numerous copies have sold for under $1,000. To me, this suspension is definitely a cautionary tale when deciding to purchase a Tatis card. Tatis has clearly shown immaturity issues as he broke his contract he signed with the Padres by riding a motorcycle. Not only did he ride a motorcycle, but he also broke his wrist and never reported it to the team until a month before the season. Pairing this with his suspension, it definitely leaves a bad taste in the mouth for fans and collectors. A lot of collecting these young players is for them to not only win an MVP and make the All Star Game, but also to make the Hall of Fame. David Ortiz is one notable name that made it into the Hall of Fame despite being suspended for steroids. However, he is only one. Many other players that are considerably better such as Barry Bonds are not in the Hall of Fame and will likely never make it due to steroid allegations. With all this, it seems likely that Tatis won’t be getting into the Hall of Fame. While Tatis has been an exciting player, I question not only his durability but also his future production. Should he continue to put up great numbers, haters and fans will always have doubts. As a prospector, I tend to value hitting the most. Tatis has never really shown to be a great hitter in my opinion. His batting average in the minor leagues .280, which is not a great considering prospects that aren’t as highly touted hit better. In the majors, Tatis average has slumped quite a bit since his rookie season, and coming off wrist and shoulder surgery, I question his ability to hit in the upcoming seasons despite his young age. For now, I think buying Tatis cards now at his prices isn’t a bad move however. The card market is very susceptible to changes. Since many collectors have a lot invested in Tatis, the perception of him in the collector’s eyes may go back up. If that never happens, Tatis is a big enough name where his cards should always sell quite frequently. Only time will tell what the future holds for Tatis and his sports cards. 

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2022 National Sports Collectors Convention Recap

8/3/2022

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Six years after my first National card convention, I returned back to Atlantic City. It was interesting to see the numerous changes since I first went to Atlantic City in 2016. Obviously the card hobby has grown significantly, so there were numerous people walking around the show. It was practically a maze trying to navigate through everyone. Compared to Chicago last year, I felt like more people actually came to Atlantic city, which was surprising since everyone seems to rave about the Chicago location the best. More than ever, I noticed numerous collectors documenting their experience at the show with camera crews following them around everywhere. I think it was great to see all this as it exposes the hobby even more to new people. 

My goal at the show this year was to stay away from opening boxes. It has become a yearly tradition to open cases in the hotel room at night with my friends. However, with cases at an all time high, it just was not worth spending five figures and having a slim chance of making your money back. 

The hottest player at the show for baseball definitely was Julio Rodriguez. I had been lucky to invest in Rodriguez early on about 2.5 years ago. I was able to sell one of his cards that I had purchased for $4,000 for over $200,000. Many people speak about how the card hobby is falling off, but I think sales like this show how the high end market is still strong. If you have rare cards that are in demand, there has been no fall off in price. Rather, it’s more of the cards that are not from desirable products that seem to be falling off the most. 

I felt like coming into the show the baseball prospect market was down. However, I was wrong. While sitting at my friends’ booth displaying some of my prospects, I actually garnered significant interest, especially when I was not expecting it. 
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I will be posting a podcast in the upcoming week furthering my experience and interactions with other collectors at the show!
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New Age of Sportscard Trading

1/24/2022

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Buying and selling sports cards has been keeping the hobby alive ever since the beginning. Before the creation of popular websites such as eBay, the only way to sell sports cards used to be at card shows, friends, or mutual friends. However, there seems to be a surplus of new sites where collectors are buying sports cards that leads to the question of how much is too much? Just a few years ago, eBay, Facebook groups, and couple forums seemed to be the only places that collectors would seek out when looking to purchase cards. However, there are numerous more websites where collectors can list and buy cards. With so many new marketplaces, it leads to more difficulty searching for cards because one site may have a card listed that another website does not have. Since many of these platforms are new, collectors may be unaware and end up missing out on a card that they have been looking for. Furthermore, new platforms confuse collectors as it also becomes difficult to decide which marketplace is the best platform to sell on. On a positive note, the creation of new selling platforms speaks to how much the sports collecting hobby has grown. If anyone said that a website besides eBay would grow to become a popular website to sell cards on, most collectors would have dismissed that idea. In addition, these new websites offer greater incentives for people looking to sell cards such as having lower seller fees so that collectors are able to not only get better deals when buying, but sellers also receive more after fees. With the large growing interest in the Metaverse, it would be interesting to see if companies or collectors begin developing spaces in that platform to sell cards. Since people can interact with each other in the Metaverse, it can also lead to virtual card shows. The future of the hobby looks bright with all the attention, and with new technology, it opens the pathway to new ways to sell cards that can grow interest in the hobby even more.

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School News Article

9/9/2021

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Recently for my school newspaper I published an article talking about my school's vaccination mandate and how athletes felt about it. This has been a very controversial topics even in professional sports as many athletes wish to not get vaccinated due to possible side effects that could prevent them from playing. 

​https://hwchronicle.com/101919/sports/vaccination-mandates-sparks-controversy/
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2021 NSCC Recap

8/12/2021

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​After a one year hiatus of the National Sports Collectors Convention (NSCC) due to the pandemic, the National Card convention opened up with a bang this summer in Chicago. I was fortunate enough to attend three days of the show. I have gone every year since 2016, and it was such a shock to see how far the hobby has come since then. Before, it was mainly men that would show up to the shows, but this year, I noticed younger children as well as families showing up to attend the convention. I believe this to be partially due to the increasing popularity of sports cards. Most recently, a Patrick Mahomes football card sold for $4.3 million, a record high for any football card. This card was on display at the convention, and people were lining up to get a glance. Although there was not an exact head count, it was reported that over 100,000 tickets to attend the convention were sold. Normally only around 50,000-60,000 people attend the show on average. This is a huge increase, and it definitely was noticeable while walking around from each table. Walking around the show, I could feel the energy from everybody as people bargained for deals or worked out trades on the side. Words can't really explain how hectic the show was. I had a great time talking with old card friends and helping out PC Sportscards at their booth. To reinforce how healthy the hobby is, after the show closed, in the small lobby at the Loews hotel, easily a thousand people would go and set up their cards for sale. It practically became a smaller card convention outside the national card convention. As a seller of one of the highest priced cards recently, it was interesting as some dealers would ask me why I even bothered to show up. They assumed that because I sold a card for nearly two million dollars that I am too high end for the show, but for me, I enjoy talking to new collectors and conversing with card buddies that I have known ever since I started to delve deep into cards. Overall, to say I was amazed by the convention would be an understatement, and I hope to see just as many people if not more next year at the convention in Atlantic City.
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NCAA Athletes Finally Being Paid

7/22/2021

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Recently, the NCAA is finally allowing college athletes to collect money off their name and likeness. This is one of the most significant rule changes since the beginning of the NCAA 115 years ago. Although the ruling has just been passed, this change has been in the talks for many years. Prior to the ruling, athletes have been banned from being paid to promote goods, and doing so would result in a termination of their scholarship and them getting banned from ever playing collegiate level sports. Although the NCAA had indicated that they had no intention of changing the ruling to allow athletes to get paid, pressure from powerful states such as California in 2019 changed the NCAA’s plans. Compared to making nothing before, some college superstars could be making millions now overnight. In my opinion, I think this is great that the NCAA is finally changing their rules as it brings in more exciting players into college sports. Recently, due to the inability to make money in college, many popular basketball stars such as Lamelo Ball opted to play overseas rather than attend college. Additionally, the NBA sought an opportunity to bring more popularity to their development league and offered promising high school players to join their league rather than go to college which proved to be enticing enough to make many top recruits accept the NBA’s offer. Most recently, with Bryce Young receiving endorsement offers of seven figures, it will be interesting to see how these young athletes are able to progress with all the newly added distractions that endorsements and money can bring. Recently, we have seen more and more athletes beginning to buy their own sports cards. It will be interesting to see if college players decide to join this trend due to the inflow of money that they used to never be able to receive before.

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Tainted NBA Playoffs?

7/16/2021

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With fans finally back in person to support their favorite teams in the most important part of the season, the playoffs, it has been a disappointment to see so many star players injured, causing them to miss vital games. Superstar Lebron James believes that all these injuries are due to the shortened offseason that athletes received to rest and recover, and it seems that other players agree with his statement. More than eight All-Stars have missed games in the playoffs, an unprecedented number. Albeit not All-Stars, key players also suffered season ending injuries shortly before the playoffs, making them unable to help their teams. During the playoffs, these All-Stars and key players are expected to play an even bigger role, due to sheer pressure put on them to score many points, allowing their respective team to advance in the playoffs. However, with these star players out, it not only diminishes the team’s play, but also leaves many doubts for what could have been. Fans are left to question the competitiveness of this year's playoffs, with many star players out. One might wonder, if Kyrie Irving never sprained his ankle, maybe the Brooklyn Nets would not have been eliminated from the playoffs. Now it seems as if the key to winning the championship may be to just have the team with the least amount of injured players. Although many claim that these playoffs are now tainted due to all the injuries, it is worth noting that injuries are a part of all sports. Injuries are unfortunate for fans and players, but ultimately, it is just a part of the game and can not be controlled. Although it is disappointing that all teams are not playing at full health this playoff season, the winners of the NBA championship should still be considered legitimate. For card prices, these injuries have been detrimental. Furthermore, we may not see a huge increase in card prices for the winner of the championship due to fans believing the championship win is not legitimate. We saw this last year when the Los Angeles Lakers won in the "bubble." Even though they won, we saw many people commenting about how the ring should have an asterisk next to it due to weird situation the NBA Finals took place in. Despite this, the question “What if?” will forever haunt the 2021 NBA playoffs.
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Wharton Moneyball Training Camp

7/15/2021

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     This past week, I was fortunate enough to be able to learn about data analytics in sports through the Moneyball Training Camp taught by Professor Adi Wyner. Throughout the one week, it was packed with many great insights in the sports industry as well as information on how sports teams use data in order to come to conclusions about their own team or other teams. At the base of all data analytics is the use of the computer program R. R is commonly used for data analytics, and I was able to learn how to use R to create graphs as well as showcase how a certain player might perform in the future based on past results. Daily, I would receive a live lecture from professor Wyner as well as Erig Eager, the VP of Research and Development at Pro Football Focus. I learned many different topics ranging from standard deviation all the way to probability. Using the knowledge learned from them as well as R, I was put to the task of creating a project to answer a sports question. With my group, we decided to see whether Shohei Ohtani or Jacob deGrom should be the most valuable player. Ultimately, based on regression data, team success, and hitting/pitching stats, we came to the conclusion that although both players are amazing, deGrom should have a slight edge over Ohtani as the most bauble player. It was great to work in a group on this project because we all had varying ideas about who should be the most valuable, but when we finally got all the important data that we were looking for, we were able to come to an easy consensus. In my opinion, the most exciting part of the week was the guest speakers. The guest speakers came from extremely reputable sports organizations such as the Washington Nationals, Washington Wizards, and the Los Angeles Lakers. Listening to the Assistant GM of the Washington Nationals, Samuel Modry-Cohen, was extremely enjoyable because as an avid fan of baseball, I was able to hear about the insights that teams use that most people would never hear about. For example, there is a company that runs data analytics for baseball teams, but they only take one team per division in order to prevent taking direct competitors. Although the information I learned this week pretty much only relates to sports, I really enjoyed taking the class as it opened up my eyes to the hidden part of sports that many people do not bother to think about. Sports is not just about pure skill from the players, but the data and research team in the shadow of the players also plays a key impact in the results that these players have in their career. The knowledge I learned while taking this camp can also be used to when buying sports cards. Using data from previous years, in R, we are able to create graphs that can predict future stats of players. Obviously it is not 100% accurate and never will be, but it is a great way to get a feeling as to whether a certain player is worth investing in or not.​
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Sticky Substances: Detrimental to Baseball

7/9/2021

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As an avid fan of baseball, I have noticed that this year especially, pitchers have looked as commanding as ever. Baseball has not even reached the halfway point in the season, yet the record for no-hitters in a full season is 7, and already there have been six no-hitters! Wondering why there were so many dominating pitchers on the scene these days, it may be in large part due to the discovery of new substances. These grip enhancing substances are applied by pitchers onto the baseball increasing the spin rate, making the baseballs even more difficult to hit. In a sport where a 33% hit rate is considered elite, now that pitchers have access to substances that give more of an advantage than before, I have to ask: is this fair? After decades, the unwritten rule of doctoring baseballs is finally gaining mainstream attention from not only Major League Baseball (MLB) officials, but the world. Although the use of substances to enhance grip for pitchers is not new to major league baseball, this is the first time that it is being addressed on such a high level. With the average spin rate on baseballs dropping to a season low after MLB announced punishments for pitchers caught doctoring baseballs, it seems evident that pitchers were enhancing their performances through the use of foreign substances. As for the card market, this is a bad look for any cards of pitchers. Even though many people do not collect pitchers in general, the fact that is is coming out that nearly all pitchers have been cheating the whole time causes some questions. How good are the pitchers we are investing in? Was it all just a fluke? Those are some questions that investors and buyers might take into question with all the recent drama about pitchers using sticky substances to enhance their performances. With MLB reporting to announce a major rule change in the upcoming days, it is a positive sign to put the game on a path to become a more fair and balanced sport.

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Yearly Tradition: Visiting Paula's Sports Cards

4/3/2021

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     Over Spring Break, I was able to continue my tradition of visiting Paula’s Sports Cards every time I visit Honolulu. Unlike other card shops I have visited, Paula always takes the time to interact with all her customers and genuinely enjoys the hobby. She never fails to strike up conversations with her customers. The last time I visited around a year and a half ago, I was sad to hear that Paula would be retiring and likely selling her shop. However, due to COVID-19, she decided to maintain the shop and open part-time Wednesday-Sunday. Fortunately, I was able to visit her shop on Wednesday before I flew back home on Thursday. 

       As I entered her store for my fifth time, a flutter of memories came. Paula’s inventory never ceases to amaze me as she had cases of 2001 SP Authentic Golf, which contains Tiger Woods’ rookie autograph card. Seeing a sealed box is an amazing feat, but to have sealed cases is a spectacular sight in the card collecting world. I remember the first time I visited, I purchased a box of 2014 Bowman Draft Super Jumbo; on her shelves, I noticed one lone box left of the same product. For old times sake, I was tempted to purchase it, but her shop had so many amazing diverse products that it was extremely difficult to make up my mind. After chatting with Paula about the hobby craze and influx of new buyers for about an hour, I settled on purchasing two boxes of 2020 Bowman jumbo, one box of 2020-21 Prizm Basketball, and some packs of Pokémon cards. In 2020 Bowman, although Bobby Witt Jr. is the popular name right now due to his performance in Spring Training, I was definitely chasing Jasson Dominguez! His 1/1 Superfractor auto has not been pulled yet, so I was hoping to be the lucky person to finally unearth it. 
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       For me, opening Prizm used to be done quickly with little care about the design or photos used. This year with one box costing over five times as much as last year, it felt like a completely new experience. I no longer opened the packs in seconds and threw aside any cards that were not of interest. Rather, I took my time to really value the cards. Prizm used to not be considered a high-end product like National Treasures, but with the new resale price, it felt similar to opening a box of National Treasures. Although I did not pull any Lamelo Ball cards or rather any high-value cards, I had a blast opening the box and opening Prizm is always something I look forward to opening. Hopefully next year I’ll finally hit a Silver Prizm or maybe a Gold Prizm of the top rookie!


      The first box of 2020 Bowman was lackluster and did not contain autos of any of the top players. In the second box, I was down to my last pack; I knew I had one auto remaining. At this point, I was hoping for anything numbered, color auto. As I slowly rolled the last auto, I noticed it was a base auto to my demise. Since it was not a superfractor that I was looking for, I jumped straight to the auto. I let out an audible gasp as I saw the name Jasson Dominguez and the blue ink from his signature! I viewed this as a sign because for the past couple of years, whenever I have opened boxes from Paula, I have always pulled an auto of the top player. A couple of years ago it was Ronald Acuña Jr., and this year it was Jasson Dominguez.

      Visiting Paula and her shop has been a tradition that I always look forward to. I am 16 now, and I first visited her shop when I was 11, just beginning sports card collecting. At that time her shop amazed me due to all of her sealed boxes and cases, which put my local card shop to shame. Hopefully, I am able to visit again soon and add more positive memories.

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    Andrew P.

    Sports Card Collector

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