Sports Cards Plus Store Blog

12/6/19

NATIONAL HOBBY SHOP DAY/MONTH AT SPORTS CARDS PLUS - OVER $3000 IN PRIZES

At Sports Cards Plus you always get more. National Hobby Shop Day is Saturday, December 7th, but at Sports Cards Plus we need more than just one day to celebrate all that is so good in this hobby. So we will be giving away over $3000 in prizes during NATIONAL HOBBY SHOP MONTH in our "DECEMBER TO REMEMBER" promotion.

National Hobby Shop Month kicks off on Saturday with snacks and refreshments for our customers (one per person per day), great deals and drawing tickets (one with each $100 purchase) to our Weekly Monday Drawing.

For each $100 you spend at Sports Cards Plus you will receive a drawing ticket for our WEEKLY DRAWING. We will have a first, second and third place winner each week. First drawing is Monday, December 9th at close of business:

First Place Winner chooses one of the following:
1. A 2019-20 PRIZM Hobby Basketball box
2. A 2019 IMMACULATE NFL box
3. A 2019 National Treasures Baseball box

Second Place Winner chooses one of the following:
1. A 2018-19 Court Kings Hobby box
2. A 2019 Certified NFL Hobby box
3. A 2019 Elite Extra Edition Hobby Baseball box

Third Place Winner chooses one of the following
1. A 2018-19 Court Kings Blaster box
2. A 2017 NFL Contenders Blaster box
3. A 2019 Topps Archives Signature Retired Edition Hobby box

These same drawing tickets will again be used in our February 28th $500.00 Drawing.

Wait, there's more. EVERY MONDAY we will draw 10 MORE WINNERS: Each WINS one of the following:

1. EBAY $20 Gift Certificate

2. 10 Promotional Packs from Panini, Topps, Leaf and Upper Deck.

3. San Antonio Spurs 2019 First Round Draft Pick Keldon Johnson AUTOGRAPHED Original Print #d/50.

4 to 10. Your choice of a Gift from our Gift Table.

12/1/19

2019 FOOTBALL IS THE BEST BET FOR YOUR MONEY

In football card collecting, it is all about the quarterback. The other skill position players have good value but nothing like the quarterbacks.

The 2017 Rookie Class led by Patrick Mahomes and Deshaun Watson has taken single card values and unopen box prices to places never seen before. 2018 Football unopen boxes jumped in costs when Baker Mayfield gained superstar status at the end of the 2018 season.

This year, Lamar Jackson just might surpass Patrick Mahomes as the most exciting player to watch. As the result, 2018 unopen box prices have taken another jump to about 50% to 70% of like 2017 products.

2019 Football products are doing well but nowhere near preforming like the two previous years. Collectors are expecting more from this year's quarterbacks than they have delivered this far. Are collectors wrong?

Are collectors expecting too much from this year's rookie quarterbacks? Is their memory so short when comparing this year's quarterbacks to rookie superstars of the two previous years? Are 2019 boxes prices about to take off like we saw 2017 & 2018 boxes do some 6 months to 12 months after release? You know what smart investors do? Buy before prices go sky high.

In the analysis below, I have compared the top quarterbacks first starting seasons (2018 for Patrick Mahomes since he only started one game in 2017). Next I compared "Hobby Box Prices" for each year. I have used green to show where I think bargains are to be had.

The top three 2019 rookie quarterbacks look like a pretty safe bet for card value increases over the next 12 months. And, their impact on 2019 football products will soon show price increases. So who will you be? The guy who waits for prices to go up and then buys, or the guy who buys before prices go up.

--------------------- PASSING -----------------------    ------- RUSHING-------
COMP    PCT    YDs    YDs/ATT    TDs    INT    ATT    YDs    AVG TDs
Watson 126 61.8 1699 8.3    19    8 36 269 7.5    2
Mahomes 383 66.0 5097 8.8 50    12    60 272 4.5 2

Jackson 99 58.2 1201 7.1 6 3    147 695 4.7    5
Mayfield 310 63.8 3725 7.7 27 14    39 131 3.4    0

Murray 273 63.9 2866 6.7    14 6 71    446    6.3 4
Minshew    204 63.1 2432 7.3    14 5 44    243    5.5 0
Jones 228 61.6 2374 6.4    18    11    39    241    6.2 2

------------------- HOBBY PRODUCT PRICE COMPARISON-----------------
   2017 2018 %prev yr 2019 %prev yr
Gold Standard...……… $500    $400 80%    $145 26%
Certified...……………… $350 $220 63%    $105 48%
Unparalleled...………… $275 $200 73%    $ 80 40%
Origins...……………….. $275 $200 73%    $100 50%
Absolute...……………… $350 $250 71%    $150 60%
Spectra...………………... $950 $600 63% $320 53%
XR...……………………… $500 $250 50%    $100 40%
Phoenix...……………….. $425 $215 51%    $110 51%
PRIZM Hobby................ $1250 $500 40%    $187 37%
Immaculate..................... $850 $800 94%    $400 50%
Playbook......................... N/A $300 $150 50%
ILLUSIONS...................... N/A $325 $145 45%
Donruss.......................... OUT    $150 $ 70 47%
Contenders NFL........... $1050 $500 48%
Donruss Optic................ $475 $400 84%
Plates & Patches............ $300 $200 67%

Select............................... $795 $400 50%
Encased........................... $600 $350 58%
Contenders Optic............ $320 $200 63%
National Treasures........ $5000 $1675 34%
Flawless NFL.................. none    $2100
Flawless College    $2700 none

SPORTS CARDS PLUS "DECEMBER to REMEMBER" $2000 GIVEAWAY

Everyone knows at Sports Cards Plus you can pick your box from The BEST CASES in The Hobby at The LOWEST PRICE in The Galaxy. And, at Sports Cards Plus, you always get more. In the month of December we will be holding Weekly Drawings where you pick your prize. In all, we will be giving away OVER $2000.00 in great HOT PRODUCTS in the month of December.

For each $100 you spend at Sports Cards Plus you will receive a drawing ticket for our WEEKLY DRAWING. We will have a first, second and third place winner each week. First drawing is Monday, December 9th at close of business:

First Place Winner chooses one of the following:
1. A 2019-20 PRIZM Hobby Basketball box
2. A 2019 IMMACULATE NFL box
3. A 2019 National Treasures Baseball box

Second Place Winner chooses one of the following:
1. A 2018-19 Court Kings Hobby box
2. A 2019 Certified NFL Hobby box
3. A 2019 Elite Extra Edition Hobby Baseball box

Third Place Winner chooses one of the following
1. A 2018-19 Court Kings Blaster box
2. A 2017 NFL Contenders Blaster box
3. A 2019 Topps Archives Signature Retired Edition Hobby box

These same drawing tickets will again be used in our February 28th $500.00 Drawing.

Stand-by for more prizes and give-aways in the month of December.

11/28/19

2019 PANINI ROOKIES & STARS 32-SPOT ($49.95 + tax/SPOT) RANDOM TEAM 12-BOX CASE GROUP BREAK MONDAY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krwzcKnYK6o
2019 Panini ROOKIES & STARS Football 32-Spot ($49.95 plus tax) RANDOM TEAM 12-Box Case GROUP BREAK this Monday, December 2nd at 6:00 at Sports Cards Plus.

Pay for your spot on Friday for just $44.95, or Saturday for $46.95. Call 210-524-2337 or come in to pay for your spot.

Case Break will deliver on average:
-- 28 Autographs
-- 28 Memorabilia
-- 70 #d Parallels
-- 308 Inserts
-- 168 Rookies
-- 28 #d Opti-Chrome Inserts

2019 Panini Rookies & Stars Football Base Set Basics

The base set totals 200 cards. The checklist splits evenly between veterans and rookies. First-year players land approximately two per pack.

Parallels for both at the hobby level include Orange (/99), True Blue (/49), Red & Blue (/35), Gold (/10), Black and Blue (/5), Printing Plates (1/1) and Platinum (1/1).

Autographs, Memorabilia Cards and Other Inserts

2019 Panini Rookies & Stars Football Dress for Success

Autographs and memorabilia cards are both two per hobby box.

Among them is the rookie-centric Dress for Success (/99). The signature relics are exclusive to hobby and have 99 copies or less. Parallels include Prime (/25 or less) and Laundry Tag (1/1).

Statistical Standouts Signatures (/99 or less) also combine autographs and memorabilia. Instead of rookies, these feature current and past players.

Rookie Longevity Signatures adapt the base design to include autographs. Hobby parallels are available in Orange (/99 or less), Blue (/75 or less), Purple (/25 or less), Gold (/10 or less), Green (/5 or less), Printing Plates (1/1) and Platinum (1/1).

New in 2019 Rookies & Stars Football are Big Time memorabilia cards. These get their name for their somewhat oversized swatches. Prime and Premium versions are also available. High Octane Memorabilia is also new to Rookies & Stars.

Of the 24 other inserts in each hobby box, two use opti-chrome stock similar to Prizm and Optic. Themes include Airborne, Crusade, Great American Heroes and Stellar Rookies. All get the rainbow treatment with Red (/75), Pink (/50), Purple (/35), Orange (/25), Gold (/10), Green (/5), Printing Plate (1/1) and Black (1/1) parallels. Select cards in these sets also have autographs that are numbered to 25 or less.

2019-20 PANINI ABSOLUTE MEMNORABILIA BASKETBALL ($139.95 per box) ARRIVES ON BLACK FRIDAY AT SPORTS CARDS PLUS

2019-20 Panini Absolute Memorabilia Basketball ($139.95/box w/limit of 1 box per person/day at this price) gets its name from product's generous supply of memorable memorabilia and unique types of such. Sure, there are jersey swatches and patch pieces, but the product also brings in an abundance of other things like basketballs and caps.

Hobby boxes have two packs. In each 5-card pack is an autograph, a memorabilia card and encased veteran or rookie card.

2019-20 Panini Absolute Memorabilia Basketball Overview

Nowhere on the 2019-20 Absolute Memorabilia checklist is the variety of relics more apparent than in the Tools of the Trade Signatures. Each of these has either three, four or six relic pieces, all with different combinations of memorabilia. This means collectors can expect more than a trio of just plain jersey pieces. Additional parallels bring with them smaller print runs and more premium pieces. A total of 33 rookies are included in this portion of the set.

Hats and basketballs get the oversized treatment in a pair of inserts under the Jumbo name.

Additional memorabilia can be found in Veteran Tools of the Trade, which have five parallels.

On-card autographs aren’t everywhere in the product, but they do exist. Rookie Autographs, Rookie Autographs Variations and Limitless Signatures, which go beyond first-year players, are all hard-signed. All three of these also have five tiers of additional parallels.

Going beyond traditional hits, a new batch of Glass inserts are part of 2019-20 Absolute Memorabilia Basketball. Like in the past, these are tough pulls.

The base set is a mix of rookies and veterans. Parallels exist at multiple levels with print runs ranging from 199 down to 1/1.

11/24/19

LUKA DONCIC versus LEBRON JAMES, WHO IS THE SECOND GREATEST PLAYER OF ALL-TIME?

When Lebron James entered the NBA Draft in 2003, he was picked by most to be the "Heir Apparent," the next Michael Jordan. Labron's rookie season did not disappoint anyone looking to find basketball's "Greatest of All-Time."

Now in his 17th season, Lebron James, like Michael Jordan continues to be the "Best Man on The Court" game after game. His 4 NBA Titles, with two different teams and 4 NBA MVP Awards are a measure of his greatness. This year, with Anthony Davis by his side, Lebron has lead the Los Angeles Lakers back to greatness.

As Lebron approaches the age of 35 next month, he still has a few more years of domination left in him. But can he over-take Michael Jordan as "The Greatest of All-Time?" Probably not, but second best ain't bad in the minds of NBA fans throughout the world.

Then came Luka Doncic, picked 3rd in the 2018 NBA Draft at the age of 19. Highly awarded in European play, but how would this young man do against NBA talent? Just fine, thank you. Luka was picked NBA Rookie of The Year with stats that look better than even Lebron James' rookie season.

Luka, in his first sixteen games of his second NBA season is performing even better than Lebron James did in his second season. Can Luka keep his performance level this high for sixty-six more games, and will he continue to improve? It will be fun to follow Luka the rest of the season.

Below is a comparison of Luka and Lebron in their first two NBA seasons. Luka's 2nd Year Stats are from the first 16 games of the 2019-20 season.

Rookie MPG PPG RB ASST STL TOV FG% 3P%
Lebron 39.5    20.9 5.5 5.9    1.6 3.5 .417    .290
Luka    32.2    21.2 7.8 6.0    1.1 3.4 .427    .327

2nd Year
Lebron 42.4    27.2    7.4 7.2 2.2 3.3 .472 .351
Luka    33.9    30.6 10.1 9.8 1.3 4.5 .495 .347

So, who is better, Luka or Lebron? We will be asking that question for the next 17 years or more.

11/20/19

Cryptozoic CZX Super Heroes & Super-Villains (1 Autograph, 1 Original Art Card, 1 Film Cel Card for $269.95/box) Arrives Friday at Sports Cards Plus

Cryptozoic’s CZX super premium trading card release features thick, glossy cards with gold Deco Foil and memorable images from movies starring DC’s characters, spanning from 2005’s Batman Begins to the recent Aquaman and Shazam! The unprecedented list of Autograph Card signers is led by stars Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman, Ben Affleck as Batman, Henry Cavill as Superman, Ezra Miller as The Flash, and Jason Momoa as Aquaman, who each signed multiple versions of their cards. Moreover, CZX Super Heroes & Super-Villains includes a 54-card Base Set, two Chase Sets, and randomly inserted one-of-a-kind, hand-drawn Artist Sketch Cards.