Sports Cards and Politics Don't Mix For Me

Happy Monday! My newsletter provider now lets me add a voice reading my article, as you can see as an option at the top. No, it’s not my voice, but I think it sounds like a human. Also, commenting is supposed to be improved too.

It’s election season, which means we’re seeing political ads everywhere. (Friendly reminder that YouTubers have zero influence over the ads YouTube shows you.) No matter which candidate you support or if you support neither, it doesn’t matter to me. I want to talk about sports cards.

I’m starting to see more sports card accounts talk about politics, and I want to make it clear that I maintain no-politics zones here in my newsletter, on YouTube, and on Twitter. You might say that I, as Junk Wax Hero, am apolitical. I won’t respond to political comments, and you won’t see a reaction from me to any, either. A lack of response also does not indicate disagreement. It just means that I am not endorsing anything political under my JWH logo.

If you mix sports cards and politics, that doesn’t bother me unless the politics becomes too much. What is too much? I can’t say. I have never unfollowed anyone for posting things about politics. And it doesn’t matter if I agree with your politics; I just don’t care to see a lot of it when I am intentionally looking for sports cards content.

It’s not that I don’t care about politics; sports cards and politics just don’t mix for me, and I keep them separate. Sports cards (and hobbies, usually) are an escape, a way for us to connect with people we may not usually connect with in our “real” life.

I realize how lucky I am to be able to escape from politics and real life into this amazing hobby. Not everyone has that luxury.

So tell me:

In Partnership With The Pennysleever

I've talked a bunch on videos about my card supplies company of choice: The Pennysleever. I use their products and think they’re the best in the industry, and the prices are lower than I was able to find with the big companies.

Like me, you can use my code JWHNEWS for 10% off your first purchase! So what are you waiting for?

A Correction From My David Robinson Video

In my ACE 100 #99 David Robinson Hoops rookie video, I made the claim that Robinson was the first player since Pete Maravich and Calvin Murphy to have a card during his rookie season. It was something claimed in every article about the card that I read, so I assumed it was true. Shame on me.

Dan, of Dan’s Vintage Baseball PC, kindly asked me to check my facts in a comment:

Sure enough, Walton had a rookie card in 1974, which was his rookie season:

So where did I go wrong? It would be easy to point my finger at my sources, but I should have checked it. It’s also possible that I am misunderstanding some nuance in the claim, but I went back and read each source and I’m not sure that I am.

For what it’s worth, Moncrief and King, the other two Dan asserted had rookie cards in their rookie year, had rookie cards the following year. Fact-checking the fact-checker.

In Case You Missed It

I announced it in this space on Friday, and again on my Saturday mail day video, but in case you missed it, I am now writing a short weekly article for Collectibles On SI.

My first article was about the decline of Beckett Grading Services. My second article, assuming it gets approved will be about PSA closing an authentication loophole. I’m so frequently critical of PSA, so it’s refreshing when they do something good.

Will all of my articles be about grading? No, definitely not. But if I’m being honest, videos and newsletters about grading issues do better than almost anything else. And it’s a topic I have a great interest in.

Upcoming Videos

Two different PSA reveals! (One group of HOF autographs, and one group of vintage cards.)

A look into at least one counterfeit T206 Ty Cobb.

Attic Find Friday.

Also:

Channel Highlights From the Past Week

My Sunday Clearing the Bases video, which I rarely mention in this space, has about 6,700 views. That’s pretty good! But it’s a reminder for me that while putting Geoff Wilson in the thumbnail or video title will bring a ton of views, it also brings a toxic subset of the hobby that will defend him no matter what. I try not to include his photo or name for that reason. I don’t want clicks for the sake of clicks; I want people to want to watch my video, not to just jump into the comments without watching the video.

And this new-ish card shop in Maine that has an amazing card wall:

My Pickup Of The Week

Nothing huge, but some fun HOF autographs:

Brief Horror Movie Review of the Week

Don’t be mad, but I didn’t watch any horror movies this week. It was a busy week! I did watch the new Netflix movie “Rebel Ridge” with my wife, and we absolutely loved it.

4 out of 5 stars

I’m also watching the new HBO Max documentary about David Chase, as well as the new season of Only Murders In the Building. And my guilty pleasure, Big Brother. (I know, I know.)

Next weekend I’m hoping to see The Substance in theaters.

Links:

I don’t collect coins, but this is kind of an attic find so I share it.

Dave Bautista collects vintage lunch boxes. I’m not into vintage lunch boxes, but I love seeing unique vintage collections like that.

I’ve highlighted vintage_guy71’s trades here a couple of times, but he also did a video this week where he showed off the amazing cards he received.

From my Sunday video, here is the Simon466 video about Ken Goldin joining the Card Ladder livestream about them removing the $244,000 Star Michael Jordan sale.

And Dan the Card Man’s video about the Star Jordan shenanigans.

And the Cllct story I referenced about the Jordan Star card going from a BGS Authentic to a PSA 7.