Addressing the elephant in the backyard
Will new Topps policy be enough to deter CT scanning in the hobby?
Since the news came out of what Grant Telford of Backyard Breaks said on a livestream this past week, a lot has been said from others in the hobby what should be done about it.
If you’re not in the loop, you can see that even Barstool Sports have weighed in on the controversy. The thumbnail below gives you an idea what it’s all about.
Now we’ve hadn’t had the chance to address it on the pod yet as we record a week in advance. But by this time, we don’t have much to add that hasn’t already been said.
The comments by Telford were disgusting, vial, disturbing, weird, not welcome in the hobby, etc.
Telford himself has apologized in an Instagram post. Whether you believe the sincerity of his apology is up to you.
But I like how @kentuckybasketballcards on IG put things into perspective with his own life experiences.
Plus if you click the IG thumbnail above, you’ll see what he wrote in his caption to this post and I agree with his last sentence: “Too much to post but I did not feel I could do it all justice so I’ll stop here and also say that I believe in consequences and grace equally.”
Consequences and grace. You have to expect consequences for saying things that Telford said such as the overwhelming backlash on himself and Backyard Breaks.
The live-streaming platform Whatnot should have already suspended their account if its following its own zero tolerance policy on what is and isn’t acceptable.
But I do believe in grace as well, hoping that Telford genuinely learns something from this ordeal. Most likely though, it’ll take time and action to convince the hobby that his apology can be taken with sincerity.
Alright, to other shocking news that has shaken the basketball world, and by extension the hobby, Luka Doncic is now a Laker and Anthony Davis is now on the Mavs!
How do you think this will impact both of these All-NBA players?
Will this Luka Doncic gold parallel (now his new color match card with the Lakers) listed on eBay (affiliate link) ever get close to this listed price? (Probably not).
Something to discuss more on our next podcast that we record.
Speaking of podcast, in our last published episode we take a deeper dive into another controversy – this time about the use of CT scanning in the hobby.
Take a listen and tell us what you think can be done to curtail this problem and whether Topps new policy is enough to deter card shop owners and sellers from using CT scanners to see the hits before they even rip the packs open.
We go over some key points in The Athletic that discusses the new policy to ban stores from allocation if caught using CT scanners as well as some other interesting notes revealed in the article.
Check out this week’s quick hits below!
This Jackson Holliday 1/1 “Fun Face” card is pretty awesome and it’s been pulled! It features a game-used bat knob inscribed by Jackson himself.
It’s true. The 1/1 Shohei Ohtani 50-50 game-worn logoman autograph card has been pulled. Topps announced the card was redeemed and it’s now headed to
Heritage Auction.
We also discussed this on our most recent podcast episode: Pokemon card prices are out of control!
Just an early heads up for our newsletter subscribers. The next episode on Tuesday we’ll take a deeper dive into Pokemon cards and discussed in a way sports card collectors can understand (as well as WWE cards!)
Just a reminder to check out our Daily Auctions listings below featured this week (or you can bookmark our Daily Auctions page which is updated, well, daily!)
WEEKLY AUCTIONS ENDING SOON
(We may earn a small commission from eBay/Fanatics Collect if you buy through our affiliate links below.)
We highlight sports card auctions on our Daily Auctions page updated each day with bids closing the same day we post pictures of the card on our fivecardguys Instagram page.
Here are a few we like best this coming week!
1952 Topps #311 Mickey Mantle Yankees RC Rookie HOF PSA 1 (eBay)
1951 Bowman #253 Mickey Mantle New York Yankees RC Rookie HOF PSA 4.5 (eBay)
1994 Upper Deck: #GM1 Ken Griffey Jr. Mickey Mantle Auto PSA 9 MINT (eBay)
2017 PANINI SELECT COPPER PRIZM #247 PATRICK MAHOMES II ROOKIE RC /75 PSA 10 (eBay)
2024 Panini Prizm #329 Drake Maye 10/10 JSY # RC Rookie Gold Shimmer PSA 9 (eBay)
2007 UD Black 50th Anniversary Michael Jordan PATCH AUTO (#03/50) #50AU-JO BGS 8 (eBay)
2020 Jalen Hurts National Treasures Rookie Patch Auto /99 BGS 9 AUTO 10 4 Color (eBay)
MORE HOBBY HEADLINES
Here’s what’s making the news in the hobby:
The story of the 11-year-old fan who pulled one-of-a-kind Skenes card (MLB.com)
Former USPS worker stole over $100K of sports memorabilia, including Michael Jordan cards (USA Today)
Top 10 MLB Rookies of the 2000s and their cards: Part 2 (Sports Illustrated)
2023-24 Topps Chrome Basketball plus Victor Wembanyama Rookie Cards (fivecardguys)
Looking for last minute auctions? Check out our Daily Auctions paged updated, you guessed it, daily!