Welcome back to The Hobby Wire: the newsletter for collectors, investors, and everyone trying to make sense of this wild hobby.

At the start of each month, we take a step back and look at where the sports card world actually stands. What’s moving the market, what’s on deck, and where collectors should keep their eyes peeled.

June felt like the calm before the storm. July is gearing up to be epic.

Let’s rip in.

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Previously on The Hobby Wire…

Our theme this month was looking at the hobby as a whole.

We put out a variety of articles ranging from what to have on hand when you’re ripping wax to what cards might hold value in this era where everything, including parallels, is overprinted.

For our paid subscribers, we dug into the data to find out whether buying singles beats buying and holding sealed wax for long-term value.

Around the Hobby

June was relatively quiet in terms of new hobby drama.

PSA officially paused all value tiers on June 2nd as they work through their 10 million card backlog. Making the announcement days in advance meant collectors had a chance to submit one last time in the value tier. And boy did they take advantage. That 10 million card backlog shot up as high as 14 million once all the last-minute submissions landed.

PSA is slowly but surely chipping away at it, though. You can track their progress on their website.

Pre-orders for the highly anticipated 2026 Topps Chrome Baseball opened up on June 22nd and, to much of the hobby's surprise, it was actually pretty easy to secure a box. You'd think that would be a positive storyline given how hard it's been to snag anything on pre-order the past few months, but hobby twitter is never satisfied. Instead, this turned into a conversation about how high print runs are going to be.

Baseball

Now that every other major sport is wrapped up for the season (World Cup excluded), it’s baseball’s time to shine.

June has been nothing short of exciting for baseball fans. We saw two players hit for the cycle, a 105.5 mph pitch, and the Chicago White Sox, one of the worst teams last season, clawing their way to the top of their division.

Two players stole the show this month, and both play in the NL Central.

We’ll start with Pete Crow-Armstrong. He made a slight adjustment to his stance and all of a sudden, he’s back in MVP form. In June, PCA hit .381 with 11 homers and an insane OPS of 1.249. Surprisingly, Market Movers shows overall PCA card sales up a meager 8.9% over the last 30 days. But what’s changed drastically is the trading volume, up a whopping 160%. In the stock market, rising trading volume with minimal price movement can signal a new support line forming. Maybe we’re seeing that play out with PCA.

The other guy who had himself a June? Jacob Misiorowski. May’s stats were a little better, but every week this month it seemed like we saw The Miz break his own record for fastest pitch recorded by a starting pitcher. Topping out at 105.5 mph. Yes, 105.5!

This month, Misiorowski’s 1st Bowman Auto in a PSA 10 has jumped 149%.

MVP Odds

NL
Shohei Ohtani — -1600
Pete Crow-Armstrong — +3000
AL
Yordan Alvarez — -145
Nick Kurtz — +275

CY Young Odds

NL
Jacob Misiorowski — -225
Christopher Sanchez — +350
AL
Cam Schlittler — +130
Dylan Cease — +300

Rookie of the Year Odds

NL
JJ Wetherholt — -155
Sal Stewart — +425
AL
Kevin McGonigle — -190
Munetaka Murakami — +550

Basketball

Congrats to the New York Knicks on their first championship in over 50 years!

The Knicks got the best of the Spurs from the jump in this series, only needing five games to close it out. Jalen Brunson got the nod for Finals MVP. It's been a heck of a season for his cards. Up over 200% since the start of the season. But what's more interesting to us is how it played out over June.

Jalen Brunson Silver Prizm Card Prices since June 1st

Closing out June, Brunson’s PSA 10 Silver Prizm rookie is actually down 18.8%. Why could this be? Do collectors buy more into the hype than actual accomplishment? To us, it just looks like a ton of people sold at the high. And like anything, if more people are interested in selling than buying, the price is going to fall.

If betting odds are a good indicator of how people are feeling, then the below odds might have something to do with the price drop too.

2026/27 NBA Championship Odds

San Antonio Spurs/OKC Thunder — +270
Boston Celtics — +700
New York Knicks — +800

Football

We’re in the doldrums for football news that actually affects the hobby.

This time of year, you’ll hear snippets of who’s standing out in training camp, who’s holding out for more money, stuff that rarely has any impact after the season starts in September.

One story we find absolutely fascinating, however, is how Brandon Aiyuk is spiraling on social media. After Aiyuk missed the entire 2025 season, things went from quiet to completely unhinged over the last few weeks, primarily playing out through social media rants and legal filings.

Per NFL.com, Aiyuk took to Instagram with a series of videos aimed directly at the 49ers front office and his current teammates, calling 49ers management “stupid” and “dumb” for paying him nearly $50 million over an eight-month span before voiding his future guarantees.

In separate posts, he called the organization “little-ass boys,” warning them to “stop running from the bill” and telling them “the belt is coming.” Amid the chaos, Aiyuk also fired his agent, seemingly taking his PR and negotiation strategy entirely into his own hands.

Aiyuk has made it clear where he wants to play football next. He posted videos wearing a Washington Commanders hat, enthusiastically shouting “Go Commanders!”

Almost Antonio Brown level stuff.

Since the last time Aiyuk caught a football, his silver prizm rookie is down 62%. Probably not going up anytime soon either.

2026 MVP Odds

Josh Allen — +550
Lamar Jackson — +650
Patrick Mahomes / Justin Herbert / Joe Burrow — +1000

Upcoming Wax Releases

July's release calendar includes something that could be the biggest release of the year:

2026 Topps Finest Baseball — 07.08.26
2025-26 Topps Motif Basketball — 07.09.26
2026 Topps Dynamic Duals Baseball — 07.15.26
2026 Topps Chrome Baseball — 07.22.26
2025 Topps Resurgence Football — 07.31.26

Release dates sourced from Steel City Collectibles and are subject to change.

Collector’s Corner
(Recommended Reads)

A few articles from around the hobby caught our eye this month.

The Hobby Trinity

The Back Office: When to Accept the Offer

**As always, this is not financial advice. These are the actual moves I’m making with my own money, for my own goals. You should do your own research, understand your own risk tolerance, and make your own decisions. I’m not responsible for your choices—only for sharing mine honestly…

4 months ago · 2 likes · The Hobby Trinity

Sports Card Prospectus

A Patch From Ohtani’s Pants Outsold Babe Ruth. Something Is Broken.

Walk a card show this year and you will find a graded, century-old Hall of Famer sitting in a case for a few hundred dollars. Across the room, a dealer wants seven figures for a sliver of fabric that was stitched to the back of a jersey for one inning. Both transactions happen in the same hobby, on the same weekend, without anyone in the room questionin…

4 months ago · 4 likes · The Hobby Chaser

The Collectors Edge

Everything I Got Wrong Before the Hobby Started Making Sense

I didn’t grow up in this hobby. I came to it as an adult who figured the best way to learn was to just jump in. I didn’t sit down and study release cycles or parallel hierarchies or any of it. I bought cards, I watched the room, and I told myself the rest would sort itself out as I went. It did sort itself out eventually. It just cost me to get there…

4 months ago · 4 likes · 2 comments · Mr. Collect

Thanks for Reading!

That’s a wrap on this month’s State of the Hobby. Jump into the comments and tell us what you’re watching, how you’re reading the market, and what you want us to dig into next.

Your feedback shapes how we cover this thing. See you next month.

— The Hobby Wire Team

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Disclaimer: The content in The Hobby Wire is for informational and entertainment purposes only. Commentary, analysis, and opinions on sports cards, rookies, and the hobby are not financial, investment, or professional advice. Collectors should always do their own research before buying, selling, or trading cards. Market values are volatile and can change rapidly—past performance is not a guarantee of future results.

Unless specified, all pricing references are based on the Prizm/Refractor parallels of an athlete’s Chrome rookie card, with prices from market movers, alt.xyz & 130pt.com.

Any odds mentioned were derived from DraftKings Sportsbook, unless otherwise specified.

The Hobby Wire

The State of the Hobby - July 2026