Top 101 Junk Wax Baseball Cards To Collect! - Ep. 3.27

Top 101 Junk Wax Baseball Cards To Collect! - Ep. 3.27

Junk wax extraordinaire and Happy Hobby Chrome Member Scott H wrote this article and chose the 101 best baseball cards from the ‘80s and ‘90s that budget-minded sports card collectors can happily chase! When our esteemed friend, Mr. Gonos, mentioned he was looking at putting together some Top 101 lists, amongst them Top 101 Junk Wax baseball cards, I felt compelled to offer my service in compiling the list. You see, I consider myself somewhat of a connoisseur. In fact, the main reason I got back into the cherished hobby of my youth in 2009 was specifically to pull all of the awesome junk wax rookie cards out of packs. Especially baseball, and especially those that were out of reach for me at the time (mowing a couple lawns per week did not allow a kid near enough bread to get all the candy and soda one wanted, and the red-hot Don Mattingly rookie card du jour). To this end, I’ve been ripping assorted junk wax basically the majority of my weekends ever since. Many will not totally agree with my list, but I tried to do my best to arrange this list in order of importance from my recollections as a child of the “Beckett Era.” Some Notes Before the List! You might notice a couple of infamous cards missing from the list (1990 Topps Frank Thomas "No Name on Front" and Finest refractors come to mind), but I tried to provide a complete list of cards that were still within reach for the Happy Hobbyist, with a little budgeting, anyway. I outright did not include O-Pee-Chee, Topps Tiffany, or Fleer Glossy or Score Glossy cards on the list. Some choices are just as much about the importance of the set in the context of the junk wax era, as it is for the actual player. Baseball cards from the years that I personally consider to be from the “Junk Wax Era: 1981-1995.” Gonos linked a couple handfuls of cards to eBay — these are affiliate links that will help support this newsletter. (Thank you!) Also, there are TWO players who are tied with the lead with EIGHT cards on this top 101 list — can you think of who they are? 101 Greatest Junk Wax Baseball Cards To Collect! As a member of the eBay Partner Network, I earn commissions from qualifying purchases. 1. 1989 Upper Deck #1 Ken Griffey Jr RC - View on eBay! [https://ebay.us/7DDFbM]2. 1984 Donruss #248 Don Mattingly RC - View on eBay! [https://ebay.us/p31rDu]3. 1986 Donruss #39 Jose Canseco RC - View on eBay! [https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=1986+donruss+jose+canseco&_sacat=0&_from=R40&_trksid=p4439441.m570.l1313&mkcid=1&mkrid=711-53200-19255-0&siteid=0&campid=5339168269&customid=BB1986DonrussJoseCanseco&toolid=10001&mkevt=1]4. 1985 Topps #401 Mark McGwire OLY RC - View on eBay! [https://ebay.us/WyIDFs] ⚾ 1985 Topps Mark McGwire #401 Team USA ⚾ CTMUH No. 8 [https://gonos.substack.com/p/1985-topps-mark-mcgwire-401-team] Jan 14 [https://gonos.substack.com/p/1985-topps-mark-mcgwire-401-team] Read full story [https://gonos.substack.com/p/1985-topps-mark-mcgwire-401-team] 5. 1982 Topps Traded #98T Cal Ripken Jr - View on eBay! [https://ebay.us/zOV4YL]6. 1986 Topps Traded #11T Barry Bonds XRC - View on eBay! [https://ebay.us/JVfyI9]7. 1989 Topps Traded #41T Ken Griffey Jr RC - View on eBay! [https://ebay.us/gNM05u]8. 1993 Upper Deck SP #279 Derek Jeter RC - View on eBay! [https://ebay.us/NkwhnH]9. 1983 Topps #482 Tony Gwynn RC - View on eBay! [https://ebay.us/EcWCrT]10. 1989 Fleer #616 Bill Ripken F Face Error11. 1984 Fleer Update #U27 Roger Clemens XRC12. 1986 Topps Traded #50T Bo Jackson XRC - View on eBay! [https://ebay.us/adyZ07]13. 1984 Fleer Update #U93 Kirby Puckett XRC14. 1982 Topps #21 Cal Ripken RC - View on eBay! [https://ebay.us/Rffb6L]15. 1984 Topps #8 Don Mattingly RC - View on eBay! [https://ebay.us/phWH3t]16. 1983 Topps Traded #108T Darryl Strawberry XRC17. 1983 Topps #83 Ryne Sandberg RC - View on eBay! [https://ebay.us/d2o9wJ]18. 1983 Topps #498 Wade Boggs RC - View on eBay! [https://ebay.us/pt7cgh]19. 1986 Topps Traded #20T Jose Canseco RC20. 1987 Fleer #604 Barry Bonds RC21. 1990 Leaf #57 Frank Thomas RC 22. 1993 Topps Stadium Club Murphy #117 Derek Jeter RC - View on eBay! [https://ebay.us/FcNeJ8]23. 1989 Donruss #33 Ken Griffey Jr RC24. 1984 Fleer #131 Don Mattingly RC25. 1982 Fleer #176 Cal Ripken Jr RC26. 1987 Donruss Opening Day #163 Barry Bonds RC error27. 1985 Topps #181 Roger Clemens RC - View on eBay! [https://ebay.us/geEES2]28.1985 Topps #536 Kirby Puckett RC29. 1986 Fleer #649 Jose Canseco RC30. 1987 Donruss #46 Mark McGwire31. 1987 Fleer #369 Bo Jackson RC32. 1984 Donruss #68 Darryl Strawberry RC33. 1990 Leaf #220 Sammy Sosa RC34. 1989 Fleer #548 Ken Griffey Jr RC35. 1993 Topps #98 Derek Jeter RC - View on eBay! [https://ebay.us/Uqyiay]36. 1983 Fleer #360 Tony Gwynn RC37. 1981 Topps #302 Fernando Valenzuela RC38. 1984 Fleer Update #U43 Dwight Gooden RC39. 1983 Fleer #507 Ryne Sandberg RC40. 1983 Fleer #179 Wade Boggs RC41. 1986 Fleer Update #U14 Barry Bonds XRC42. 1986 Donruss The Rookies #11 Barry Bonds XRC43. 1989 Score Traded #100T Ken Griffey Jr RC - View on eBay!44. 1982 Donruss #405 Cal Ripken Jr RC45. 1983 Donruss #598 Tony Gwynn RC46. 1985 Fleer #155 Roger Clemens RC47. 1985 Fleer #286 Kirby Puckett RC48. 1987 Topps #320 Barry Bonds RC49. 1986 Donruss Rookies #38 Bo Jackson XRC50. 1983 Donruss #277 Ryne Sandberg RC51. 1983 Donruss #586 Wade Boggs RC52. 1990 Topps #414 Frank Thomas RC - View on eBay! [https://ebay.us/9yIiwq]53. 1990 Score #697 Bo Jackson Baseball/Football 54. 1987 Topps #366 Mark McGwire55. 1987 Topps #170 Bo Jackson RC 🏈1987 Topps Bo Jackson "Future Stars" #170⚾CTMUH No. 2 [https://gonos.substack.com/p/1987-topps-bo-jackson-future-stars] David Gonos [https://substack.com/profile/30347346-david-gonos] · December 3, 2025 Read full story [https://gonos.substack.com/p/1987-topps-bo-jackson-future-stars] 56. 1991 Upper Deck #SP1 Michael Jordan - View on eBay! [https://ebay.us/PQ7MUq] 🏀1991 Upper Deck Michael Jordan SP1🏀CTMUH No. 4 [https://gonos.substack.com/p/1991-upper-deck-michael-jordan-sp1ctmuh] December 17, 2025 [https://gonos.substack.com/p/1991-upper-deck-michael-jordan-sp1ctmuh] Read full story [https://gonos.substack.com/p/1991-upper-deck-michael-jordan-sp1ctmuh] 57. 1992 Bowman #461 Mike Piazza RC58. 1985 Donruss #273 Roger Clemens RC59. 1985 Donruss #438 Kirby Puckett RC60. 1994 Upper Deck SP #15 Alex Rodriguez RC - View on eBay! [https://ebay.us/TBTbHF]61. 1987 Donruss #361 Barry Bonds RC62. 1987 Donruss #35 Bo Jackson RC63. 1993 Bowman #511 Derek Jeter RC64. 1992 Bowman #302 Mariano Rivera RC65. 1989 Upper Deck #25 Randy Johnson RC66. 1992 Fleer Rookie Sensations #1 Frank Thomas67. 1991 Donruss Elite #1 Barry Bonds68. 1987 Donruss #36 Greg Maddux RC69. 1989 Bowman #220 Ken Griffey Jr RC70. 1989 Fleer #381 Randy Johnson RC71. 1989 Upper Deck #357 Dale Murphy rev neg error - View on eBay!72. 1993 Upper Deck #449 Derek Jeter RC73. 1986 Topps Traded #24T Will Clark XRC74.1993 Pinnacle #457 Derek Jeter RC75. 1992 Fleer Update #U92 Mike Piazza RC76. 1987 Fleer #204 Barry Larkin RC77. 1989 Topps #647 Randy Johnson RC78.1985 Topps #627 Eric Davis RC79. 1988 Topps Traded #1T Jim Abbott USA RC80. 1985 Topps #493 Orel Hershiser RC81 1993 Select #360 Derek Jeter RC82. 1989 Donruss #42 Randy Johnson RC83. 1987 Fleer Update #U68 Greg Maddux RC84. 1991 Fleer Ultra Update #U58 Ivan Rodriguez RC85. 1993 Topps Finest #107 Nolan Ryan86. 1993 Score #489 Derek Jeter RC87. 1989 Score #645 Randy Johnson RC88. 1987 Topps Traded #70T Greg Maddux RC - View on eBay! [https://ebay.us/VQXmFq]89. 1981 Topps #261 Ricky Henderson90. 1994 Upper Deck #19 Michael Jordan RC91. 1987 Fleer Update #U76 Mark McGwire92. 1991 Topps #333 Chipper Jones RC93. 1981 Donruss #538 Tim Raines RC94. 1988 Fleer Update #U74 John Smoltz XRC95 1988 Score Traded #103T Craig Biggio XRC96. 1992 Bowman #532 Manny Ramirez RC97. 1991 Topps Stadium Club #388 Jeff Bagwell RC98. 1981 Fleer #346 Harold Baines RC99. 1991 Bowman #68 Jim Thome RC100. 1988 Topps #779 Tom Glavine RC101. 1988 Score #645 Gregg Jefferies RC How many of these 101 great junk wax baseball cards do you have in your collection? Drop it in the comments! The two players with eight cards on this list? Barry Bonds and Derek Jeter! (That should make Sooz over at “Card Chat” happy!) Leave a comment [%%half_magic_comments_url%%] If you enjoyed this post about great baseball cards, check out these posts you might have missed: 11 Best MLB Rookie Cards To Own Since 2020! - Ep. 3.22 [https://gonos.substack.com/p/11-best-mlb-rookie-cards-to-own-since] Randy Litzinger [https://substack.com/profile/18288365-randy-litzinger] and David Gonos [https://substack.com/profile/30347346-david-gonos] · Jun 2 Listen now [https://gonos.substack.com/p/11-best-mlb-rookie-cards-to-own-since] 11 Best NHL Rookie Cards To Own Since 2020! - Ep. 3.19 [https://gonos.substack.com/p/11-best-nhl-rookie-cards-to-own-since] Randy Litzinger [https://substack.com/profile/18288365-randy-litzinger] and David Gonos [https://substack.com/profile/30347346-david-gonos] · May 12 Listen now [https://gonos.substack.com/p/11-best-nhl-rookie-cards-to-own-since] 11 Best WNBA Rookie Cards To Own Since 2020! - Ep. 3.18 [https://gonos.substack.com/p/11-best-wnba-rookie-cards-to-own] David Gonos [https://substack.com/profile/30347346-david-gonos] and Alan Camuto [https://substack.com/profile/118670404-alan-camuto] · May 5 Listen now [https://gonos.substack.com/p/11-best-wnba-rookie-cards-to-own] 🏆 BEST ROOKIE CARDS FROM EVERY YEAR! 🏆 We list the best rookie cards from each flagship release in all four major sports since the 1950s. Best MLB Rookie Cards From Every Year! [https://davidgonos.com/who-are-the-best-rookies-from-each-topps-baseball-set/] Best NFL Rookie Cards From Every Year! [https://davidgonos.com/best-football-rookie-cards-from-every-nfl-year/] Best NBA Rookie Cards From Every Year! [https://davidgonos.com/who-are-the-best-basketball-rookie-cards-from-each-nba-season/] Best WNBA Rookie Cards From Every Year! [https://davidgonos.com/best-wnba-rookie-cards-ever/] Best NHL Rookie Cards From Every Year! [https://davidgonos.com/best-hockey-rookie-cards/] The Happy Hobby Sports Cards World 📺 YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/c/davidgonos]: 9.2K Subscribers 📬 Newsletter [https://gonos.substack.com/]: 1.6K readers 🎙️ Podcast [https://gonos.substack.com/podcast]: 500+ podcast downloads/episode 🌐 DavidGonos.com [https://davidgonos.com/] - 1K daily visits Our podcasts were ranked by MillionPodcasts.com as one of the Top 10 Basketball Card Podcasts [https://www.millionpodcasts.com/basketball-card-podcasts/], Top 10 Football Card Podcasts [https://www.millionpodcasts.com/football-card-podcasts/] and Top 10 Hockey Card Podcasts [https://www.millionpodcasts.com/hockey-card-podcasts/]! And we’re aiming to get ranked among the Top 10 Baseball Card Podcasts! Happy Hobby! Build a better sports card collection on a real-world budget! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit gonos.substack.com [https://gonos.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

From Rookie to Farewell: Every Mickey Mantle Base Card Has a Story! - Ep. 3.26

The Complete Mickey Mantle Base Card Story: Looking at All 21 Base Cards Over 19 Seasons! Mickey Mantle had 21 base cards across an 18-year career. Twenty-one little rectangles of cardboard that tell the story of the greatest switch-hitter who ever lived — from a wide-eyed rookie in 1951 to a legend saying goodbye in 1969. Today we’re going card by card through all of them. Bowman, Topps, oil paintings, TV-set borders, wood grain, ocean-dumped rarities — it’s all here. And every single one has a story worth knowing. 1951 Bowman — The True Rookie This is the last card depicting a fully healthy Mickey Mantle. He tore his ACL in Game 2 of the 1951 World Series and played the remaining 17 years of his career without a fully intact ACL — and still became one of the greatest players who ever lived. 1952 Topps — The Mona Lisa Legend has it that Topps couldn’t sell the high-number series, so they loaded boxes onto a barge and dumped them into the ocean — taking cards of Mantle, Willie Mays, Jackie Robinson, Roy Campanella, and the Eddie Mathews rookie card down with them. The scarcity that created is a big reason this card is worth more than Mantle’s actual rookie. 1952 Bowman — The Consolation Prize Imagine cracking a pack, pulling a 1952 Mickey Mantle — and realizing it’s not the Topps. That’s the collector’s equivalent of pulling a Griffey Jr. rookie and finding out it’s the Topps Traded instead of the Upper Deck. Times a million. 1953 Topps — The $25 Masterpiece Many collectors consider this Mantle’s best-looking card. Every image in this set was an individual oil painting commissioned from New Jersey artist Gerry Dvorak — who charged Topps just $25 per painting. 1953 Bowman — Color Comes First Contrary to popular belief, the first color photographs on baseball cards didn’t appear in 1957 Topps. They were right here, in 1953 Bowman — four full years earlier. PSA considers it among the most beautiful sets of the modern era. 1954 Bowman — The Contract Year Mantle was locked into a Bowman-only contract, meaning if you wanted a Mantle card in 1953 or 1954, Bowman was your only option. Topps fans had to wait. 1955 Bowman — The TV Set Bowman framed this card to look like a television set — and if you look closely at the bottom of the frame, it says “Color TV.” Interesting, given that color TVs had only just reached consumer markets in 1954 and wouldn’t go mainstream for another decade. 1956 Topps — Topps Takes Over Topps purchased Bowman in January 1956, ending the card wars for good. This is Mantle’s first Topps card in three years — and the first Topps card where he’s actually smiling. 1957 Topps — The Card That Set the Standard This set standardized the 2½” × 3½” card size. The same dimensions every trading card still uses today, more than 65 years later. 1958 Topps — The Only Time It Happened This is the only year that Mantle, Ted Williams, and Stan Musial all appeared in the same Topps set together. It never happened before, and it never happened again. 1959 Topps — The Red Border Sometimes the fact is simple: that red border just works. Compared to the yellow background on the 1958 card, this one pops in a way that makes it one of the most visually satisfying Mantle cards of the decade. 1960 Topps — Circus Tent Mantle’s last landscape-format card features a beautiful main photo — and then an inset that cuts off the top of his bat and hides his feet behind the Yankees logo, all against a coral background. It’s a lot. 1961 Topps — Six Cards Deep The 1961 Topps set contains more Mickey Mantle cards than any other — six in total, including base, league leader, All-Star, and two separate home run highlight cards. Topps knew what they had. 1962 Topps — The Wood Grain The iconic wood-grain border became so beloved that Topps brought it back exactly 25 years later in 1987 — creating another iconic set for a whole new generation of collectors. We’re still waiting on 2012. 1963 Topps — Already a Legend The back of this card notes that Mantle already ranked seventh all-time in home runs. He was 31 years old. He had six seasons left to play. Worth thinking about the next time you watch Shohei Ohtani, who is that same age right now in 2026. 1964 Topps — The Accessible One The bold team names across the top divide collectors, but there’s an upside: this set isn’t particularly condition-sensitive, making it one of the more budget-friendly ways to land a Mantle card in solid shape. 1965 Topps — First Homer in the Dome Mantle played in the exhibition game that inaugurated the Astrodome — the world’s first domed stadium — and hit the very first home run ever struck inside that building, on April 9, 1965. 1966 Topps — Just the One This was the first time since 1956 that Mantle appeared on just a single card in an entire Topps set. No All-Star card, no league leaders, no combo. Just this one. 1967 Topps — Wrong Position, Right Story The card lists him as “Outfield” — but Mantle played first base the entire 1967 season because his body was too worn down for the outfield. The DH rule was still six years away. One has to wonder how many more seasons it might have bought him. 1968 Topps — Limited Stats The vertical card back returned for the second straight year, limiting how much of Mantle’s career stats collectors could see. Topps fixed it the following year — just in time for the farewell. 1969 Topps — The Last One Mantle announced his retirement on March 1, 1969 — and it’s noted right on the back of this card. His final stat line: 536 career home runs, third all-time behind only Babe Ruth and Willie Mays. This card also shares a set with Reggie Jackson’s rookie card — the passing of one Yankee legend, the arrival of another. Which Mickey Mantle base card is your favorite? Reply and let me know — or drop it in the comments! If you enjoyed this post about great baseball rookie cards, check out these posts you might have missed: 🏆 BEST ROOKIE CARDS FROM EVERY YEAR! 🏆 We list the best rookie cards from each flagship release in all four major sports since the 1950s. The Happy Hobby Sports Cards World * 📺 YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/c/davidgonos]: 9.1K Subscribers * 📬 Newsletter [https://gonos.substack.com/]: 1.6K readers * 🎙️ Podcast [https://gonos.substack.com/podcast]: 500+ podcast downloads/episode * 🌐 DavidGonos.com [https://davidgonos.com/] - 1K daily visits Our podcasts were ranked by MillionPodcasts.com as one of the Top 10 Basketball Card Podcasts [https://www.millionpodcasts.com/basketball-card-podcasts/], Top 10 Football Card Podcasts [https://www.millionpodcasts.com/football-card-podcasts/] and Top 10 Hockey Card Podcasts [https://www.millionpodcasts.com/hockey-card-podcasts/]! And we’re aiming to get ranked among the Top 10 Baseball Card Podcasts! Happy Hobby! Build a better sports card collection on a real-world budget! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit gonos.substack.com [https://gonos.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

Sports Card Collection Pillars: How to Define, Refine, and Avoid Common Mistakes - Ep. 3.25

How to define your collecting focus, avoid random buys, and build a collection with real identity. What Are the Pillars of Your Sports Card Collection? Every sports card collection needs a backbone. Without one, it’s easy to drift into impulse buys, chase hype, and end up with a stack of cards that doesn’t really tell a story. That’s why understanding the pillars of your collection matters so much: they give your hobby purpose, focus, and staying power. The good news is that pillars are not complicated. They’re simply the main themes, standards, and goals that define what belongs in your collection and what doesn’t. What are “Collection Pillars? Your pillars are the core lanes of your collection. They might be built around players, teams, eras, sets, grades, card types, or a combination of those things. For example, a collector might focus on: * Favorite players from childhood. * Hall of Famers from the 1980s. * Rookie cards only. * Graded cards in strong condition. * A specific team or franchise. A pillar becomes more powerful when it includes a standard, not just a subject. “Michael Jordan cards” is a theme. “Michael Jordan cards from key sets in PSA 8 or better” is a pillar. Why Pillars Matter Pillars make your collection easier to manage because they act as a filter. When a card comes up for sale, you can quickly ask whether it fits your lane or whether it’s just an attractive distraction. They also help with budgeting. Instead of spreading your money across random cards, you can concentrate on the cards that matter most to your goals. And just as important, pillars make your sports card collection more satisfying. A focused collection feels intentional, while a scattered one can feel like a pile of unrelated purchases. If you ever want to explain your collection to another collector, or even to yourself a year from now, having clear pillars makes that much easier. How to Choose Your Pillars The best place to start is with your why. Ask yourself what you actually enjoy most in the hobby: * Nostalgia. * A favorite team. * A favorite era. * Rookie cards. * Vintage cards. * Graded cards. * Rare inserts or parallels. * Autographs. * A specific set build. Then narrow that into a few lanes you can realistically sustain. Most collectors do better with three to five pillars than with a dozen loosely connected ideas. A simple formula helps: I collect subject in format/standard from era or set because reason. * Example: I collect graded rookie cards of my favorite players from the 1980s and 1990s because that era brings back the best memories. That kind of statement gives your collection direction. How to Improve Your Pillars Once you have them, the next step is refining them. You improve collection pillars by making them: * More specific. * More realistic. * More aligned with your budget. * More consistent with your taste. * Easier to buy for over time. If your focus is too broad, narrow it down. If your standards are too loose, define them more clearly. If your budget keeps getting stretched, adjust the lane so it fits your actual collecting life instead of your fantasy collecting life. A good pillar should feel both exciting and sustainable. If it only works when the market is hot or your wallet is full, it probably needs refinement. Common Mistakes to Avoid The biggest mistake is making your collection too broad. Collectors often start with a vague idea, then keep expanding until the original focus disappears. That’s how “collecting my favorite team” turns into buying anything that looks cool. Other common mistakes include: * Copying someone else’s collection instead of building your own. * Chasing hype instead of staying true to your goals. * Setting too many rules and making the hobby feel like homework. * Changing direction so often that the collection never develops an identity. Refining your collection should make it stronger, not more confusing. A Simple Decision Test Before you buy a card, ask: * Does it fit one of my pillars? * Does it meet my standards? * Would I still want it if the price did not move? If the answer is yes to all three, it probably deserves a place in your collection. If not, it may just be a distraction. That little check can save you a lot of money and a lot of regret. Build Your Story The best collections are not just piles of cards. They’re stories. Your pillars are what give that story shape. They tell you what to chase, what to pass on, and how to keep the hobby fun without losing focus. So if your collection feels scattered, don’t just buy more cards. Step back and define the backbone first. Once the pillars are clear, everything else gets easier. The strongest card collections are not the biggest ones — they’re the ones with the clearest identity. I want to know — what are the pillars of your sports card collection! Let us know in the comments below! If you enjoyed this post about great baseball rookie cards, check out these posts you might have missed: 🏆 BEST ROOKIE CARDS FROM EVERY YEAR! 🏆 We list the best rookie cards from each flagship release in all four major sports since the 1950s. The Happy Hobby Sports Cards World * 📺 YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/c/davidgonos]: 9.1K Subscribers * 📬 Newsletter [https://gonos.substack.com/]: 1.6K readers * 🎙️ Podcast [https://gonos.substack.com/podcast]: 500+ podcast downloads/episode * 🌐 DavidGonos.com [https://davidgonos.com/] - 1K daily visits Our podcasts were ranked by MillionPodcasts.com as one of the Top 10 Basketball Card Podcasts [https://www.millionpodcasts.com/basketball-card-podcasts/], Top 10 Football Card Podcasts [https://www.millionpodcasts.com/football-card-podcasts/] and Top 10 Hockey Card Podcasts [https://www.millionpodcasts.com/hockey-card-podcasts/]! And we’re aiming to get ranked among the Top 10 Baseball Card Podcasts! Happy Hobby! Build a better sports card collection on a real-world budget! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit gonos.substack.com [https://gonos.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

What Two Weeks of Getting Hacked Taught Me About This Hobby (and Myself!) - Ep. 3.24

After two weeks of going dark because a hacker hijacked our YouTube channel and Gmail account, we finally regained control and our brains are clearer because of it! Well, I’m back. Build a better sports card collection on a real-world budget — that’s what this whole Happy Hobby world is about, and for two weeks, I genuinely didn’t know if I’d get to keep doing it. If you missed it: my YouTube channel [https://www.youtube.com/@davidgonos] got hacked. Not just the channel — my Gmail too. When those two things go down at once, your entire digital life goes down with them. For a few days, somebody else was me. It took almost two weeks to untangle it. Here’s the story, what it cost me, and what’s changing going forward for the channel, the podcast, and this newsletter. How It Happened! It was 3:30am on a Friday — June 12th, a date that’s now burned into my brain. I have trouble sleeping sometimes, so I got up, sat down at my computer, and started going through email. There was a message from someone wanting me to join their advertiser network — connect your YouTube, they match you with sponsors, that kind of thing. This wasn’t unusual. As the channel grew past 9,000 subscribers, I’d been getting more outreach like this. I’d used legit tools before — VidIQ, Opus Clip — that ask for the same kind of YouTube access. So I Googled the company, found a real-looking website, started signing up, and connected my YouTube. Within 60 seconds, I was locked out of everything. Gmail, YouTube, gone. It was instant, and I knew immediately I’d made a mistake. Whoever did this didn’t just lock me out — they changed my recovery email, my recovery phone number, everything. Fast, practiced, methodical. This wasn’t his first time. This wasn’t just a stolen email — it was stolen identity. A police report had to be filed, in case further issues develop with our credit, bank accounts or tax information. It was a nightmare! What I Lost Almost everything tied to that Google account, which I’d had since 2011: * 15 years of Gmail and contacts * Google Keep — where I kept 100+ video and article ideas, years of sports card history research, website plans, podcast season plans * Google Sheets — every spreadsheet I had (and I love my spreadsheets!) * Every account I’d ever signed into with “Continue with Google” * The backup codes I’d saved for account recovery — which, ironically, I’d also stored in Google Keep That last one still makes me laugh. Write your passwords down somewhere safe that isn’t tied to the account that just got stolen. Use different passwords for different things. I know how obvious that sounds. I learned it the expensive way anyway. My YouTube channel got fully shut down a couple of days later for “violations,” which actually turned out to be a small blessing — the hacker could no longer use my channel, and he’d already posted a live stream of an Elon Musk SpaceX video with a sketchy QR code in the corner. If you ever see something like that: don’t scan it. Apparently that’s exactly how this kind of thing spreads further. Give Me Back My Channel! After days of thinking I was done with sports card content creation (I wasn’t going to start over!), I got some hope via X/Twitter! I tweeted @TeamYouTube [https://x.com/teamyoutube], explained what happened, and they walked me through a recovery form — though even finding my own YouTube ID (different from my handle) took digging through old emails I could barely access. Our buddy Patrick Imhoff [https://substack.com/profile/206781767-patrick-imhoff] — the VP of the Happy Hobby world, and someone I’d given limited posting access to once while I was traveling — posted a video for me explaining the situation to you all, then deleted his own access afterward so the hacker couldn’t use him as a backdoor. That was a genuinely selfless move and I owe him for it. Slowly, things came back. Gmail first, which was the biggest relief because it unlocked Keep and Sheets and everything else. Then, a few days later, YouTube flipped back on — at 11pm on a Friday night, of all times, which meant two videos I’d spent a long time on got auto-posted back-to-back and basically wasted (see The Dandy Dozen Vintage Baseball video below!). You can’t plan for everything. The Community Made This Bearable While all this was happening, I told the Substack readers in the chat [https://substack.com/chat/1332612] what was going on as soon as I could. The response was honestly overwhelming — people reaching out, people sad to see the channel possibly gone for good, people just being kind. It felt like writing a eulogy for something that wasn’t dead yet, and that’s a weird feeling. But it also reminded me why this whole thing is worth doing. This is a genuinely good community. People are kind to each other here. That’s not nothing. This is a genuinely good community. People are kind to each other here. That’s not nothing. What This Forced Me to Notice For the first time since the late ‘90s, I wasn’t creating something every single week. No video, no podcast, no newsletter to get out the door. That’s been my rhythm since I wrote fantasy sports newsletters for my league, fantasy articles for CBS Sports, Sports Illustrated, The Athletic, and now 5-plus years of creating Happy Hobby card-collecting content. With that pressure gone for two weeks, I unwound. I read more physical books. I spent more quality time with my wife Shelby. I connected more with my mom, who recently moved in with us. It was a rough way to get there, but it was a real reminder that all this content creation — which I love — takes a lot out of the week. What’s Changing Going Forward I’m not starting over, and I’m not stopping. But it’s going to look a little different: * Fewer, less-produced videos. Less of the heavily edited, cards-flying-in style videos, more of me just talking with you — sharing what I’ve learned, rankings, research. The podcast, video, and newsletter are converging into one combined post, which I was already moving toward. * A rebrand. The YouTube channel is moving from “David Gonos” branding to Happy Hobby Sports Cards as the primary identity going forward. I’d wanted to do this for a while but worried about disrupting the algorithm. Well — starting from near zero now, there’s no better time. * More tools for paid subscribers. I’m leaning into the apps and tools I’ve been building for budget collectors — things that stay valuable long after they’re published, unlike a video that has a short shelf life before people stop searching for it. Paid subscribers will start seeing more of these. * Buddy breaks continue. We just posted one on the 2026 Topps Series 2 Hobby Box [https://youtu.be/_EUeU6-W8uE?si=uPTB7fS8YLhUfmtV], and that’s not going anywhere. * Selling off some of the collection. Partly a security decision — I’ve shown enough of what I own on camera, and I don’t want to be more of a target than I already am. (For what it’s worth: I sold my 1992 Stadium Club Michael Jordan Beam Team for the most I’ve ever sold a card for, which softened the blow considerably.) Keep an eye out — more is coming up for sale. One Ask From You! I’d like to bring in some other voices for the newsletter. If you’ve ever wanted to write something for the Happy Hobby Sports Cards Substack, let me know — email me at gonoscards@gmail.com [gonoscards@gmail.com]. Pitch me an idea. Show me you can put some sentences together! Do you already have a Substack about sports cards? Pitch me an idea for an article where we all benefit — you, me and the Happy Hobby readers! Finally, Thank You! Thank you for sticking around, for the kindness while this was falling apart, and for wanting this thing to come back. It’s not really about me — it’s about the community we’ve built here. I’m just glad I get to keep being part of it. I’m back. Thank you, Happy Hobby. Have you ever been hacked or had something you love hijacked or stolen for a period of time? How did you handle it? If you enjoyed this post about great baseball rookie cards, check out these posts you might have missed: 🏆 BEST ROOKIE CARDS FROM EVERY YEAR! 🏆 We list the best rookie cards from each flagship release in all four major sports since the 1950s. The Happy Hobby Sports Cards World * 📺 YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/c/davidgonos]: 9.1K Subscribers * 📬 Newsletter [https://gonos.substack.com/]: 1.6K readers * 🎙️ Podcast [https://gonos.substack.com/podcast]: 500+ podcast downloads/episode * 🌐 DavidGonos.com [https://davidgonos.com/] - 1K daily visits Our podcasts were ranked by MillionPodcasts.com as one of the Top 10 Basketball Card Podcasts [https://www.millionpodcasts.com/basketball-card-podcasts/], Top 10 Football Card Podcasts [https://www.millionpodcasts.com/football-card-podcasts/] and Top 10 Hockey Card Podcasts [https://www.millionpodcasts.com/hockey-card-podcasts/]! And we’re aiming to get ranked among the Top 10 Baseball Card Podcasts! Happy Hobby! Build a better sports card collection on a real-world budget! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit gonos.substack.com [https://gonos.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

12 Best 2026 Topps Series 2 Baseball Rookie Cards To Target! - Ep. 3.23

While most Series 2 flagship releases seem to pale against their Series 1 and Update counterparts, this year’s 2026 crop appears to be solid! If you want to find all the great rookie cards over the past 70-plus years, check out our article here, listing the Best MLB Rookie Cards From Every Year! [https://davidgonos.com/who-are-the-best-rookies-from-each-topps-baseball-set/] 12 Best 2026 Topps Series 2 Baseball Rookie Cards To Target! As a member of the eBay Partner Network, I earn commissions from qualifying purchases through the links on this article. Thank you! It’s certainly a nice crop of 2026 Topps Series 2 rookie cards coming in, which I have detailed over at my website DavidGonos.com [https://davidgonos.com/best-2026-topps-series-2-rookie-cards/]. But reading about it isn’t as fun as talking about it, so I turned it into this week’s podcast episode! We want to hear from you — which 2026 Topps Series 2 rookie cards are you chasing? If you enjoyed this post about great baseball rookie cards, check out these posts you might have missed: 🏆 BEST ROOKIE CARDS FROM EVERY YEAR! 🏆 We list the best rookie cards from each flagship release in all four major sports since the 1950s. The Happy Hobby Sports Cards World * 📺 YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/c/davidgonos]: 9K Subscribers * 📬 Newsletter [https://gonos.substack.com/]: 1.6K readers * 🎙️ Podcast [https://gonos.substack.com/podcast]: 500+ podcast downloads/episode * 🌐 DavidGonos.com [https://davidgonos.com/] - 1K daily visits Our podcasts were ranked by MillionPodcasts.com as one of the Top 10 Basketball Card Podcasts [https://www.millionpodcasts.com/basketball-card-podcasts/], Top 10 Football Card Podcasts [https://www.millionpodcasts.com/football-card-podcasts/] and Top 10 Hockey Card Podcasts [https://www.millionpodcasts.com/hockey-card-podcasts/]! And we’re aiming to get ranked among the Top 10 Baseball Card Podcasts! Happy Hobby! Build a better sports card collection on a real-world budget! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit gonos.substack.com [https://gonos.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]