Is It Time to Sell All Our Cards?
The speaker discusses whether baseball card collectors should sell their cards ahead of an anticipated 2025 MLB labor stoppage. He shares his personal strategy of liquidating speculative holdings while keeping sentimental cards, and explores how a potential work stoppage could significantly impact card prices across the market.
Summary
The speaker opens with a reference to the 'Margin Call' movie and the financial principle of 'sell it all today' as a metaphor for the current baseball card market situation. He expresses concern about an impending MLB labor stoppage expected to occur before April 1st of next year, drawing parallels to the devastating 1994 strike he experienced as a young Cleveland Indians fan. That strike occurred mid-season just as the Indians were becoming competitive in their new Jacobs Field, eliminating what could have been a memorable playoff run and a World Series.
The speaker details his personal inventory management over the past year, where he systematically reviewed his entire collection and began liquidating baseball cards he deemed non-essential. He sold prospect cards (Lazaro Montos), dual autos (Julio Rodriguez/Bobby Witt), and has been strategically reducing his holdings. He retained only cards with strong sentimental value like his Jose Ramirez collection and Manny Ramirez cards, which he describes as 'poker chips' he can part with if needed.
The discussion shifts to Shohei Ohtani's card market, where the speaker notes recent price declines of 10-26% in the last 30 days despite Ohtani's strong year. He attributes this to multiple factors: Ohtani's slight underperformance relative to astronomical expectations, his current injury status preventing pitching, and—most importantly—speculators taking profits amid labor stoppage fears.
The speaker explains his decision-making framework by contrasting cards with genuine scarcity (ghost cards like his Jose Ramirez Dynasty patch that may never resurface) versus readily-available poker chip cards that can be repurchased later. He argues that for non-sentimental holdings, it may make financial sense to sell before potential price collapses, knowing repurchases are possible if the market stabilizes or recovers.
He acknowledges uncertainty about the strike's severity (ranging from one week to an entire lost season) and notes that prospect cards for players not yet called up might retain value since they'd be the primary card-market focus during a work stoppage. The speaker concludes by expressing his belief that downward pressure will intensify as the World Series approaches and labor negotiations become front-page news, prompting widespread evaluation among collectors about whether to hold through potential turmoil.
About this episode
With a potential MLB players’ strike/lockout looming, the question isn’t just what happens to baseball — it’s what happens to the baseball card market. In this video, I take a look at how a work stoppage could impact modern baseball cards, especially major names like Shohei Ohtani, Juan Soto, Paul Skenes and other players whose cards have seen huge demand. Do collectors start selling ahead of the uncertainty? Could prices fall if games are missed? Or would a strike ultimately have less impact on the hobby than people expect? We’ll also look at whether this is a reason to take profits now, hold through the uncertainty, or potentially use a market pullback as a buying opportunity. Would an MLB strike make you sell any of your baseball cards? https://www.thepennysleever.com/ NEO2026 Code for 10% off 1st time customers. Go Check the Current CIA Auction here https://collectorinvestorauctions.com/ Discord: https://discord.gg/HHv7dkcB98 eBay partner link: https://ebay.us/zmiusO #ad MySlabs partner link: https://myslabs.pxf.io/nLNBJx #ad Fanatics partner link: https://fanatics.93n6tx.net/mgALb7 #ad Amazon partner link: https://amzn.to/3uh7ovE #ad PWCC partner link: https://pwccmarketplace.pxf.io/6eVAy3 #ad Link to the market movers tool set: Coupon Code NEO for $1 for your first month, partner link: https://marketmoversapp.com/neo/ #ad If you enjoy the content and want to support the channel consider becoming a member: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkry0N3iMPzDLUBr24i4fcQ/join Follow me on Twitter & IG: Twitter: @NEOCards_Comics IG: neo_cards_comics https://www.instagram.com/?hl=en Discord: https://discord.gg/HHv7dkcB98 "As an Underdog Fantasy Associate I earn from qualifying deposits via my affilate link" “As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.” “As an eBay Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.” “As an Fanatics Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.” “As an Topps Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.” “As an Walmart Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.”
Key Insights
- The speaker experienced the 1994 MLB strike mid-season when the Cleveland Indians were on pace for their first playoff run in decades at newly-opened Jacobs Field, creating a lasting impact on his perception of labor disputes and baseball continuity
- Shohei Ohtani's card prices declined 10-26% over 30 days despite a strong statistical year, driven partially by speculators realizing 9000% gains and by growing market awareness of the potential 2025 labor stoppage
- The speaker distinguishes between 'ghost cards' with genuine scarcity that may never resurface if sold versus 'poker chip' cards that are readily available for repurchase, fundamentally changing the risk calculus for holding each type
- The speaker predicts downward price pressure will accelerate after the World Series as casual fans check in for playoffs and labor negotiations shift focus, causing widespread collector re-evaluation of holdings
- Players like Mike Trout previously seen as 'the safest thing in the world' eventually declined in card value when expectations were already priced in, suggesting high-expectation players like Ohtani face similar downside risks
Topics
Transcript
[0:00] Ah YouTube people today I just want to have a little chat about uh as Manini likes to say baseball cards and the current state of things and what what actually triggered this for me and I' I've been kind of floating this conversation uh piece through my mind is listen we we we fall down these little YouTube algorithm rabbit holes every once in a while on our pages. And my weakness are clips from movies. And there are certain ones that the algo [0:38] will throw at me that I'm just going to I've I've only seen the movie a few times, but I have seen the clip 50,000. And a very good example of that which…
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