2026 is the New 2016: How Sports Cards Have Changed Forever

Sports Cards Nonsense

Hobbies, Leisure

4.5 • 1K Ratings

🗓️ 22 January 2026

⏱️ 85 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Mike and Jesse are back with Papa Gio to take on the viral 2016 vs 2026 challenge by looking back at the state of the sports card hobby exactly ten years ago. They break down the shocking price differences for iconic cards like the Michael Jordan rookie and Tom Brady Bowman Chrome to see just how much the market has exploded since COVID and the pre-investor era. The guys also react to some wild statistics about box prices from a decade ago and debate whether the "pure collector" days of 2016 were truly better than the modern hobby. The crew also breaks some MASSIVE NEWS regarding the upcoming 2026 Topps Series 1 release. They reveal that the product will be the exclusive home for the legendary 1952 design on rookie cards, including Jonah Tong (Mets), Jacob Misiorowski (Brewers), Payton Tolle (Red Sox), Carson Williams (Rays), CJ Kayfus (Guardians) and more. They'll all also have on-card autos. After this, the 1952 design will be gone for good. Later in the show, they discuss the sold-out Disney packs on Arena Club and do a live rip of a $100 slab pack to see if Mike can pull a monster card. Finally, they wrap up with the latest release calendar, a Denver news station contacting the show for Jarrett Stidham analysis, and a mailbag segment featuring selling tool questions and Malik Willis. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Before we jump into today's episode, quick shout out to our sponsor eBay Live.
0:04.3	If you think eBay is just a marketplace, you're missing a whole side of it. eBay Live is where real-time excitement means rare, exclusive, hard-to-find cards and collectibles. You can watch live auctions, catch exclusive drops, and buy directly from trusted. And quite frankly, the best sellers like myself, while it's all happening it feels like a show not just shopping with
0:20.8	great hosts the aforementioned me creators and streamers plus everything's backed by ebay's protections
0:26.0	and authenticity guarantees to check it out download the ebay app tap the ebay live button right under
0:31.5	the search bar make sure you follow obviously sports cards nonsense let's get back to your show
0:35.7	the michael jordan PSA 9 rookie the
0:38.5	price today is 26,770 dollars what do you think that card sold for during the year of
0:44.4	2016 what were you saying Papa Gio nothing that's good for the pod that's good for the pod
0:51.7	Papa Gio's here I have nothing to say you know why because loves eBay Live. The only reason he's still alive. His words. What about eBay Live? He calls it eBay Live. Live. He lives for eBay Live. eBay Live. You know, I'd like to see. Right behind Moby's. My dad and Adam Ireland at Mbe is just enjoying a drink together.
1:11.5	Lakeside, Adam. Come to the Hendersonville. Enjoy the lakeside bar scene. It's a nice for you. Yeah, be great. We are always, though, for real. Sponsor eBay Live. They are our sponsor. They are fantastic. Even when they're terrible, they're fantastic. I was told by... They're never terrible. I got a message from someone who heard the eBay Live read during the hobby nonsense
1:30.7	podcast this week.
1:32.0	Oh, the programmatic?
1:33.5	Yeah, the program.
1:34.5	The one that you did the pre-recording for.
1:36.4	And they said, I was told this would be a mic free zone.
1:41.3	And unsubscribe.
1:42.8	They did send a laughy emoji with it, but it was an interesting thing. I didn't, I have not heard it yet. My wife said that is one of the few times she's heard my voice and not hated it. Oh, really? Pretty much exactly how she said it. That's a real compliment coming from her because she usually says how much she's like, oh, God, not that voice. Oh, yeah, she tells me and don't speak to me.
2:01.3	Those are her words.
2:02.5	Yeah, which is nice.
2:03.3	She's a good person.
2:04.1	True love.
2:04.7	Hey, coming up on 18 years, baby. Guess what? She's going to be stuck with you for a few days. She can't go. She's going to keep up. This could be our last, I was actually thinking,
	...

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