⚾3 Bowman 1sts, 2 Fanatical Years & 1 Supersonic Card🏀

We look ahead a little, we look ahead a lot, and then we dial the clock back 16 years!

Each “Happy Hobby Sports Card Newsletter” pack has a handful of great sports cards and a tasteless stick of gum every week!

All sports card images come courtesy of BuySportsCards.com.

🏈⚾🏀TWO FANATICAL YEARS AWAY? 

As sports card collectors, we like to look to the future. We collect cards of the past, sure, but we rip new packs to find cards of players whose futures look bright.

We also look into the future now to hopefully see a bright 2026 for both Fanatics and sports card collectors. While there doesn’t seem to be a locked in moment when Fanatics will have full licensing for three of the four main sports, we seem to be aiming at 2026 when it all comes together.

In 2026, Fanatics will produce baseball, basketball and football cards. That means Jackson Chourio will be in his third season in the majors, C.J. Stroud will be in his fourth season in the NFL, and Victor Wembanyama will be entering his fourth year in the NBA, ready for his second contract with the Spurs!

That all seems forever away!

What’s the point, you ask? The point is – there’s a lot of games to be played before Fanatics officially takes over, unifying the sports card belt (sans hockey), and improving card collectors’ lives greatly!

Before we look ahead two years, let’s look back two years to see how much can change?

In 2022, sports card collecting was still near its peak, but beginning to look shaky, as manufacturers began to over-produce cards, packs and boxes. Seeing bare shelves at retail outlets was still a possibility, and flippers were still making money selling raw-to-graded cards. Also, in 2022:

• Mac Jones was the cream of a 5-QB first-round crop from 2021! (Four of those first-round QBs, including Big Mac, are backups on different teams now.)

• Wander Franco’s rookie cards were lighting the world on fire. (Now, the world prepares to light his cards on fire.)

• James Wiseman, LaMelo Ball and Patrick Williams were top-four NBA picks from 2021! (No. 1 pick Anthony Edwards has kindly picked up their slack, at least!)

The point is – a lot will change between now and 2026, and while no one is investing in players based on the completion of Fanatics’ empire, we should remain cautious about investing too much into any one player/team/sport.

3 Things I’m Looking Forward To Seeing in 2026

Shedding Panini can’t happen quick enough, as far as I’m concerned, as a new box of NBA Donruss Optic costs about $500! Here are some things I’m excited about:

1. Mixing Players and Sports in Products: I already pulled a Victor Wembenyama card out of 2023 Topps Allen & Ginter (thanks, Scott H.!), so imagine what Topps will do when all three sports are back under its umbrella!

2. Topps Inserts in NBA and NFL: I’m ready to pull a Wemby Beam Team! I need a 1986 Throwback card of Justin Jefferson in my life!

3. A Sports Card Calendar That Doesn’t Compete Against Itself: Presumably, Fanatics wouldn’t release a big baseball product with a big basketball or football product, cannibalizing its customer’s expendable income.

Let us know in the comments what you are looking forward to!

3 CARDS WE’RE PICKING UP RIGHT NOW

Patrick Imhoff lists off three 1st Bowman cards of three prospects he’s hoping to snatch up before their prices escalate!