After a brief pause, we’re back at it… working tirelessly to provide you with the best and brightest hobby takes, news and that little bit extra each week that sets us aport from the 7,540,000 other hobby content generators out there (we know we’re not #1 statistically yet, but we’re trying to be #1 in your hearts… and that means something). Please know, your time, attention and interaction is so appreciated. Thank you. Now, to this week’s edition. John Dudley used the break to recharge and has come back with an amazing look ahead at 2026. Meanwhile, I talk about something personal this week, with the hopes it might land in the right place with each own you. And, of course, the Slow Burn section is not too shabby! So, now that the holiday season is behind us, let’s look ahead to a great new year in the hobby for all of us…. and let’s begin with this week’s installment of Trading Card Dumpster Fire!

by John Dudley

Happy New Year! Hopefully, the holidays treated you and yours wonderfully. Now, 2026 is here (although we’ll be seeing 2025 products until at least June, most likely), so it is time to get ready for the hobby year to come.

Many collectors will do that with resolutions. I don’t have a specific hobby resolution this year, but the most common hobby-centric ones that I saw on social media were buying less, breaking less, buying more singles, finishing sets, focusing on a specific collection, and selling more. I guess that most of these hobby resolutions will last as long as most regular resolutions, but my hunch is that those who stick to their resolutions will be happy about it.

While I don’t have a hobby resolution this year, I am very big on planning my approach to the hobby each year. I teach in Mississippi. I love my job, but high-paying it ain’t. That means I need to do some planning to get the most out of limited hobby funds, so each year I make some goals and plans for my collection.

In years past, that meant figuring out what wax I was going to chase, and what wax I’d avoid. Over the last four years, I’ve pretty much switched to singles only. The only 2026 wax I’ll definitely rip are single hobby boxes of 2026 Stadium Club for each sport, along with a lone hobby box of Topps Series 1 MLB for tradition.

My main PC collection started out as PSA graded rookies of BBWAA-elected MLB HOF players elected from 1989 onwards, but it morphed into the top 100 (really 105) MLB players as decided by me that played while I’ve been paying attention to baseball (1988-present). A smaller collection I’ve also got going collects autos from the top 50 from that same list.

So, with relatively little wax in my future, this year my main focus is working towards finishing up a few collections. I like to be active in the hobby every week, so my plans for the year are to focus on doing one of the following each week.

One Big Card Off the Top 100 List

My main PC collection started as PSA graded rookies of BBWAA-elected MLB HOF players elected from 1989 onwards, but it morphed into the top 100 (really 105) MLB players (as decided by the world’s foremost expert, known as me) that played while I’ve been paying attention to baseball (1988-present). A smaller collection I’ve also got going collects autos from the top 50 from that same list.

There are a few higher-dollar cards, well, teacher-budget higher-dollar cards, that I need to knock off my want list. I fully expect to check Winfield, Yount, Clemens, and Piazza rookies off my list. There are a few other long-term want list cards that I might look at, but I’m focusing on the Dudley 100 collection this year.

One Small Card Off the Top 100 List

I’ve got more small cards on my want list than higher dollar cards, so quite a few weeks will see me choose cards from this category. Except for a decent grade Nolan Ryan rookie, I should be able to finish my Dudley’s Top 100ish collection by the end of the year. The Ryan will be a 2027 thing, perhaps.

Trip to the Local Card Store

An amazing thing happened in 2025: my hometown of Hattiesburg, MS got an amazing new local card store, The Coop Cards & Collectibles. I’m excited to check a bunch of cards off my want list, but if that’s all I do in 2026, the hobby will feel a bit like grocery shopping. Many of my favorite cards are cards I just stumbled across and just had to have. Going to my wonderfully curated LCS so far has yielded some gems, and I plan on browsing for more a couple of times a month. Yes, I’m even planning my unplanned purchases.

Active Player Speculation

I like speculating on players. Part of the fun of the hobby for me is predicting which young stars will break out and stocking up on their cards. It rarely works out, but it’s fun. My stockpile of Ian Anderson rookies is the reason I can’t bash people for buying into overpriced breaks. Sometimes hobbies can just be fun rather than make economic sense.

Football/Basketball/Non-sport

I’m already contemplating making 2027 the year I start a smaller football list similar to my baseball one, but I’m jumping the gun and making sure to snag some fun football, basketball, and non-sports cards in 2027.

Wrap Up

Those are my plans for 2026. If a card doesn’t fit into one of the categories I mentioned here, odds are I won’t buy it in 2026. To be fair, the category of “any random card I like at my LCS” is a fairly broad and inclusive one, so I’m not sure if I’ve whittled down the list of potential purchases down enough.

by John McTaggart

It’s a weird thing, really… to wake up one morning and realize someone who has been within arm’s reach, within a phone call, within a short drive or a text message… is all of the sudden not there.

Someone who fed you, clothed you, encouraged you, reassured you, cared for you, loved you without condition, and even argued with you your entire life… is just gone.

Forever.

My mom passed away in early December, not unexpectedly, I suppose you could say, but still, not when I expected. She battled many things over the past couple of years, and fought valiantly against each one, despite the knowing it would be a war she could never win.

The Lewy-Body dementia was the toughest foe, honestly, although, in the end, it was failing lungs that would be the final blow. The hallucinations, the paranoia, the countless falls that led to two major surgeries and too many trips to the ER to count were all part of this terrible disease. Then there was the hopelessness of limited, if any, real effective treatments against this form of dementia. The dozens and dozens of conversations with specialists and caregivers who wanted to help, but simply didn’t have many tools to work with. It was so dark at so many times.

If any of you out there are caregivers for someone you love… my heart goes out to you. It’s a tiring, thankless and often hopeless job, but we do it nonetheless because it’s the right thing, the best thing, the most loving thing we can do given the circumstances. That said, the last couple of years with mom was tough to watch, but even tougher, I’m sure, for her to endure.

So, when I got a phone call from the nursing home late that night, I was surprised, sad and relieved… all at the same time.

Truthfully, I prayed for her to just pass away peacefully in her sleep, before the Lewy-Body horror show could really take hold… and God was so gracious that He did just that for me… and for mom.

“I know you love baseball,” she said.

It’s strange, the things you think of when something like this happens. For me, there were tons of memories, stories, and thoughts, of course, but one that really stood out may seem a bit ridiculous to some, but in a way it’s not that at all.

It was my first pack of baseball cards, of all things, way back in 1979. My mom bought me a pack at Abbot’s Drug Store. “I know you love baseball,” she said. “I think you’ll love these.”

I remember, as a seven-year old opening that 1979 Topps pack and finding that Orioles’ card right on top (I was a huge Baltimore fan even back then), Mark Belanger. I still have a copy of that card sitting on a shelf in my office. It’s a constant reminder of where it all started for me, and it’s become a reminder now of who started it all for me — my mom.

Courage

She would buy thousands of packs for me after that day, and she would encourage me when I wanted to do my first card show at 14 years old. She was part of the little family circle that opened box after box at the kitchen table with my brother and I twice a week for years. We would be picking out singles, building team and complete sets, and just making memories that I have grown to truly treasure.

She taught me the value of honesty and integrity, and showing up everyday for every card show. She taught me the value of treating people well, and with respect. She showed me how every interaction, every transaction, big or small, was equally as important.

So many times she was there helping us load up the station wagon with homemade showcases and boxes of cards and then drove my brother and I to wherever the next show was that weekend. And when I could drive, she went without a car for that weekend so I could use hers to get back and forth.

I look back now and wish I would’ve told her more often how much that meant to me and how much I appreciated it, how much I appreciated all the things she did for me. It’s funny how all these things get lost in the shuffle of life as it’s happening. There’s always something new to worry about, think about, panic about, isn’t there? And in most cases, none of these things are actually worthy of the level of energy and time we give to it. All the while, those “thank you’s,” those hugs of appreciation, those words of gratitude, they get pushed to the back of the line for another time.

One day, however, there won’t be another time, another moment, another chance. One day there may be a phone call in the middle of the night with news that changes your life. One day you’ll wake up and realize someone who has always been there… is not going to be there anymore — ever again.

So I want to seize this moment, right now, and say — thank you, mom, for everything… for all of it. Thank you for the belief I could when I was convinced I couldn’t. Thank you for all the times you were there to make the wrongs right. That you for the lessons learned, the life lived, the journey shared… and that you always doing the best you could. Thank you for being you. It was not always perfect, and it was not always easy, but there was always love… and that will always be enough.

And oh, thank you, mom, for that first pack of Topps… for giving me that moment of opening that first pack. You were right…. I really do love these cards.

Hobby Thoughts- Judging by publicly released MLB HOF ballots, this will be Carlos Beltran’s year. The question for collectors is what card should be considered his main or best rookie? He’s got a rookie in 1995 Topps Update, but Topps swapped Beltran and Juan LeBron’s photos, so collectors can choose between a card labelled as LeBron that shows Beltran or get the right moniker with a LeBron photo. LeBron also has a dual card in 1995 Bowman’s Best with Juan Gonzalez that also incorrectly features Beltran that has never been popular, but is the only other 1995 card with a photo of Beltran. A final option is choosing a 1997 Beltran offering, as that’s the first time that you’ll find Beltran correctly identified on an MLB-licensed card. With the 1997 Bowman Chrome and Bowman’s Best cards having greening issues, I’m partial to his regular Bowman issue from that year.

I’ve honestly not gotten to many shows over the past month or so, but I do want to show off a cool card I got from a friend. Check out this vintage beauty..

Editor’s Note: Thank you all so much for the continued support and especially for following up over to our new platform, Trading Card Dumpster Fire. I am extremely proud to say that John Dudley and I have great plans to expand what we do here beginning in 2026. My hope is to make this more interactive, more fun, more informative, more entertaining and more of a true hub for the hobby. We will share more about this in the near future, but for now, please feel free to check us out in Instagram and YouTube! We’re building both as we speak and these two places will be instrumental moving forward…. oh, and we’re putting together a Discord too!