The 2025 Hall-of-Fame Issue! Collecting HOFers!
We like rookie cards -- but we LOVE getting rookie cards of future Hall-of-Famers in the NBA, NFL, NHL and MLB!
Each Happy Hobby Sports Card Newsletter For Collectors has a handful of great sports card subjects, helping sports card collectors working with limited budgets!
This Week’s Newsletter Highlights!
⚾🏈🏀🏒 THE 2025 HALL-OF-FAME ISSUE: COLLECTING HOFers!
🏈 SPORTS CARD TRIVIA!
⚾ EXCITEMENT RISING FOR ROKI SASAKI!
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⚾🏈🏀🏒 THE 2025 HALL-OF-FAME ISSUE: COLLECTING HOFers!
As sports card collectors, we’re all basically interested in three things: rookie cards, cards of our favorite players/teams, and cards of current/future Hall-of-Fame players. If the world aligns just right, you find a card that touches on all three of those things, like a 2014 Prizm Mike Evans card for me (RC ✅, favorite player/team ✅, future HOFer ✅). While most Hall-of-Famer’s rookie cards might be out of reach for us, we can use other sources to find some possible future HOFers in all four major sports!
⚾ Rookie Cards of Future Baseball Hall-of-Famers
If you’re not subscribed to Sports Info Solutions free newsletter, you should check it out. Amazing stuff, without question, specifically John DeWan’s Stat of the Week, which dates back a couple decades. Mark Simon recently wrote a piece on Active Players and The Baseball Hall of Fame that I want to refer to. He cited Bill James’ great work with the stat HOF-V (Hall-of-Fame Value), pointing out that the farther past 500 HOF-V a player scores, the more likely his chances of being inducted. He listed the Active HOF-V leaders:
Mike Trout – 708
Freddie Freeman – 603
Justin Verlander – 594
Paul Goldschmidt – 567
Clayton Kershaw – 557
Mookie Betts – 547
Max Scherzer – 534
Andrew McCutchen – 530
Jose Altuve – 504
Manny Machado – 500
Bryce Harper – 483
Nolan Arenado – 459
Jose Ramirez – 453
For card collecting sake, I’d like to discuss these three rookie cards:
2005 Topps Andrew McCutchen UH329 - View prices on eBay!: Simon points out that the main part of HOF-V is Win Shares, which assesses the impact of a player’s abilities (offense/defense) on their team’s overall performance. Cutch’s Win Shares are better than recent HOF inductees Todd Helton, Larry Walker, Scott Rolen and Ichiro Suzuki, Simon points out. But his defensive numbers bring him down. He’s a cheap rookie card (and a fun player!) to pick up, with a PSA 10 for $100.
2013 Topps Manny Machado 270 - View prices on eBay!: A little less fun than McCutchen, Machado’s rookie card sells for $30 in a PSA 10, making it my “Best Buy” by a long shot. Simon says he could come close to a 600 HOF-V when he’s done.
2014 Topps Jose Ramirez 424 - View prices on eBay!: Another player who doesn’t get enough pub, Ramirez mashes, his teams win, and as Simon points out, he’s on Nolan Arenado’s heels as far as great third basemen. He has five top-five MVP finishes, and he was one home run short of a 40-40 season last year! His PSA 10 rookie cards sell for around $120, but you can get a nice raw card for less than $20.
🏈 Rookie Cards of Future Pro Football Hall-of-Famers
Bryan DeArdo of CBSSports.com wrote a nice piece detailing one most-likely HOF candidate from every NFL team, and here are three I thought were card-friendly:
2016 Prizm Tyreek Hill 296 - View prices on eBay!: Hill’s larger than life, which helps, and he was named All-Pro five times so far, which helps even more. Recent PSA 10 sales range from $100 to $175.
2016 Prizm Derrick Henry 298 - View prices on eBay!: On that same checklist, we like Henry’s chances to land in Canton, even though, DeArdo chose Justin Tucker for his Ravens’ rep. A PSA 9 version of his RC goes for about $70, and considering he’s the first NFL running back to rush for over 1,900 yards in two different seasons, I like his chances.
2005 Topps Aaron Rodgers 431 - View prices on eBay!: Is there a better time to jump on this guy’s rookie card than now? The Jets tossed him aside – the JETS! He’s a lock for Canton, and his PSA 10s sell for $130.
🏀 Rookie Cards of Future Basketball Hall-of-Famers
ESPN’s Kevin Pelton posted an article about who in the NBA is eligible for induction in the coming years, and here are three I believe are bargain boys:
2003 Topps Carmelo Anthony 223 - View prices on eBay!: “Let’s Go Orange!” Maybe I’m biased, but ‘Melo (six All-NBA teams) is the only retired member of the NBA’s 75th Anniversary team who hasn’t been inducted yet. His Topps rookie card is overshadowed by draftmates LeBron James and Dwyane Wade, but Anthony’s RC can be bought raw for under $10 and a PSA 10 costs around $100.
1988 Fleer Horace Grant 16 - View prices on eBay!: The third cog in Chicago’s first three-peat, DeArdo points out that he was a better defensive-minded role player than Michael Cooper, who was recently inducted. Grant’s 118 career wins shares rank third among eligible players not already inducted. I just bought a nice raw copy of his RC for $4, but his PSA 10 is pricey (over $150).
2011 Upper Deck SP Kawhi Leonard 27 - View prices on eBay!: That’s right – he’s in his college jersey. But let’s remember the NBA was in a lockout after he got drafted, so this is what we got in his first year. In 2012-13, Prizm began as Panini’s flagship product, which brought his first NBA jersey rookie card. Grab his 2011 version in a PSA 10 for $30!
🏒Rookie Cards of Future Hockey Hall-of-Famers
Eugene Helfrick wrote a nice Future NHL HOFer piece on TheHockeyWriters.com worth checking out.
2006 Upper Deck Anze Kopitar 216 - View prices on eBay!: The first ever Slovenian to play in the NHL! He led the Kings to two Stanley Cups, and he finished as one of the best two-way forwards of the 21st century. His raw RC will cost you around $70. (Young Guns ain’t cheap!)
2009 Upper Deck Victor Hedman 202 - View prices on eBay!: While RCs of most defensemen don’t deserve collecting, Hedman is a power-play prince, with multiple awards, multiple Stanley Cups and even a World Championship gold medal to boot. A PSA 9 of his RC can be had for $70.
1990 Score Jaromir Jagr 70T - View prices on eBay!: Patrick Imhoff has tipped us off a while back on the HOF future of Jagr, who is still playing professionally at 53 years old in a Czech hockey league. Since he has to be retired for three years before he’s considered for the Hall of Fame, his induction has been delayed! But this guy has the second-most points in NHL history behind only Wayne Gretzky. He was the youngest player to join the NHL at 18 in 1990, and he was the oldest player in the NHL at 45. Grab his raw RC for $5 or get a PSA 10 for $30!
⚾ EXCITEMENT RISING FOR ROKI SASAKI!
We asked our friend, D.A., from "The Rising Fastball" newsletter, to share with us his insights on Roki Sasaki, the Japanese phenom who signed with the Dodgers this offseason. We should see Sasaki’s rookie card come out in 2025 Topps Series 2. "The Rising Fastball" follows Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball league, which has produced great MLB players like Hideo Nomo, Ichiro Suzuki, Hideki Matsui and Shohei Ohtani.
Roki Sasaki, the Los Angeles Dodgers’ newest phenom, showed why he was number 1 on every team’s international draft list this offseason . The 23-year-old Japanese right-hander, dubbed the "Monster of the Reiwa Era" for his NPB dominance, boasted a 2.35 ERA and 129 strikeouts in 111 innings last season with the Chiba Lotte Marines. His arsenal—headlined by a 102 mph fastball and a devastating splitter nicknamed "The Ghost Fork"—has drawn comparisons to Shohei Ohtani and Yu Darvish.
MLB vs. NPB adjustments: While NPB hitters struggle with Sasaki’s velocity and movement, MLB batters will challenge his command. Expect early growing pains as he adapts to MLB’s larger baseball, deeper mounds, and patient lineups. However, his elite spin rates and swing-and-miss splitter project him as a frontline starter in 2025.
Rookie card watch: A strong debut (sub-3.50 ERA, 150+ Ks) could skyrocket his 2022 BBM NPB rookie cards (currently $500–$1,500 raw). Topps Chrome MLB rookie releases later this year will be the ones to hold long-term. Investors, keep your eyes on the Ghost Fork.
I’m D.A., a San Diego baseball fan captivated by Japan’s NPB—crunching stats, decoding cheers, and tracing legends from Petco Park’s palm trees to the neon-lit nights of Tokyo Dome. Japanese baseball isn’t just a sport—it’s a passion that blends stats, traditions, and unforgettable moments.
Subscribe to "The Rising Fastball" for deep dives, cultural insights, and the untold stories that make NPB a cornerstone of baseball’s global future.
⚾ BASEBALL CARD TRIVIA!
Send me the answer to this question – you could win this free card from me — 1976 Topps All-Time All-Stars Mickey Cochrane!
Which year of Topps Series 1 is believed to have the highest production run for each base card?
Email your answer to gonoscards@gmail.com and you can win this 1976 Topps All-Time All-Stars Mickey Cochrane card! Rather than take the first person who answers it right, I’m going to do a random drawing of all the people who answer this question before midnight, Friday, Feb. 28. The winner will be announced in the March 6 newsletter.
Last week’s question: This baseball player’s MLB debut came in 2007, which meant his 2006 rookie card wasn’t supposed to exist! Who is he and what was his card number? Answer this question before midnight, Friday, Feb. 21, and you could win the 1991 Upper Deck Heroes of Baseball Hank Aaron 1954 Rookie of the Year No. 19 card. The winner will be announced in the Feb. 27 newsletter.
From Feb. 6 newsletter: This first baseman was second in NL Rookie of the Year voting in the ‘50s. Later in his career, he was arrested for indecent exposure, and he was suspended for that misconduct – so Topps pulled his card No. 145 from their set. Who was the player and what was the year for that set? The answer: Ed Bouchee. Winner: Adam Smith! Congrats again, Adam! (He’s racking up free cards!) This time, his prize: 2021 Topps Update 1968 Topps Reggie Jackson Cards That Never Were CNW-1.
Coming Next Week!
⚾🏈🏀 9 FREE CARD COLLECTING TOOLS YOU SHOULD BOOKMARK RIGHT NOW!
🏈⚾🏀 SPORTS CARD TRIVIA!
🏈🏀⚾ HAPPY HOBBYIST COLLECTOR SPOTLIGHT!
⚾🏈🏀 CARDS THAT MAKE US HAPPY!
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Podcast Music: "I dunno" by grapes - 2008 - Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution (3.0)
Great read through and through! Happy to contribute and I appreciate the shout out!
Good read as always. I've been making it through my list of collecting at least one rookie card/good card of every potential Baseball Hall of Famer on my own list. Picked up a Topps Chrome Ramirez card recently. He's always overlooked. He helped me win a few fantasy baseball seasons as well.