My friend and Vintage Card Voyage co-host Ken hosted his first pop-up card store/trade night this past Friday, something he and I have talked about for more than a year. I got to participate, including generating trivia questions for hourly giveaways (if I somehow haven’t already mentioned it here, I love sports trivia), and the event was a blast. Ken’s hoping to have them regularly, so if you’re in the San Francisco Bay Area and interested in attending, email me at [email protected] so I can add you to the list.

Ken and I are also hoping to get back into the Whatnot groove soon, so follow our channel here and you’ll be made aware of the next time we have a show.

In this issue you'll find:

Auction highlights
News in the hobby
Robert Brazile’s rookie card and player profile
How does PSA pop count relate to pricing for 1960s baseball HOF rookies?
ICYMI
Recent Vintage Card Voyage videos

Let’s get into it.

Auction Highlights

In order of closing date:

Elite Collectibles (ending on June 30)

Sirius Sports Cards Auction (ending on July 2)

Fanatics Weekly Auction (ending on July 5)

Other active auctions:

Hunt Auctions (ends on July 8)

Heritage Summer Sports Card Catalog Auction (ends on July 10)

Goldin 2026 June Elite Auction (ends on July 11)

Clean Sweep Players Auction (ends on July 15)

News Briefs

🤔 Hobby Debate: Are Vintage Baseball or Football Cards a Better Investment?

💰 PSA 8 Mantle Nets $1.8 Million in Vintage Card Auction

⚾ Woman Finds Rare Baseball Card Collection Worth More Than $100K According to Grand Rapids Shop

⚾ The 4 Underrated Food-Issued Baseball Card Sets Every Vintage Collector Should Know

⚾ Mickey Mantle Leads the Way in Sterling Sports Auctions June 2026 Auction Results

🏀 Top Three Most Iconic and Valuable Basketball Cards of the 70s and 80s

⚾ The 5 Hottest Pre-War Vintage Baseball Cards in 2026

Vintage HOF Rookie Card: Robert Brazile

In the 1975 NFL Draft, Brazile was picked sixth overall, two spots after fellow Jackson State alum and fellow future Hall of Famer, Walter Payton.

Robert Brazile - LB

HOF Induction in 2018

Standout Stats:

7-time Pro Bowler, all consecutively
6-time All-Pro (two first-term, four second-team)
1975 Defensive Rookie of the Year
Member of the HOF All-1970s Team
Career AV (Approximate Value) - 93

1976 Topps #424

Grade	PSA Pop Count	SGC Pop Count	BVG Pop Count
10	5	0	0
9	108	5	1
8	245	11	1
7	105	8	3

The average price came out to $25.40.

Hobby Thoughts: Pop Count vs. Pricing for 1960s Baseball HOF Rookie Cards

I’m continuing the research I did a few weeks ago for the 1970s baseball HOF rookie cards, with the same caveats I noted previously (not all players are created equal, not all sets are created equal, the subjectiveness of eye appeal, etc.).

I again looked at collector grade (for this decade, that being a PSA 6) and PSA 7, to see if there were cards where it might make more sense to buy a PSA 7 (if you’re looking for more bang for your buck), because, say, while the pop count is a lot smaller, the price difference between the two grades might not be that big, relatively speaking.

Using the current Card Ladder values for both the PSA 6 and PSA 7 rookie cards for the 25 HOF rookie cards in the 1960s, I determined both the price differential (the PSA 7 price divided by the PSA 6 price) and the pop count differential (the PSA 6 pop count divided by the PSA 7 pop count, on the assumption pop counts get smaller as grades increase). Then, I determined the disparity (the price difference divided by the pop count difference), to see where potential value might exist (since, presumably, the lower the disparity number, the higher the potential value).

Compared to the 1970s, these were much more closely grouped together, with 22 of the 25 within the range of 1-2 (only six of the 18 in the 1970s group came in under a disparity of 2), and nothing above a 2.5 disparity. A few other takeaways:

I did not expect the Nolan Ryan to land where it did, based on how expensive it is. While its price increased 87% from a 6 to a 7, the pop count only went down 33%. This ranking is very much about pop count, as the Ryan has the highest population of all these HOF rookie cards, for both the 6s (2,616) and the 7s (1,760).
While the Tom Seaver price only went up 28% from a 6 to a 7, its pop count differential was basically flat (735 6s and 740 7s), with a much lower pop count due to it being a short-printed high number card.
Only nine of the rookie cards graded a 6 had pop counts over 1,000, and only six of those nine had cards graded a 7 with pop counts over 1,000 (Ryan, Yaz, Johnny Bench, Reggie Jackson, Steve Carlton and Billy Williams).
There were eight players whose card had higher pop counts for a higher grade, with the closest being Richie Allen, who had 318 cards graded a 6 and 320 graded a 7.

While Willie McCovey’s RC had the biggest percentage difference in pop counts, with the difference between 6s and 7s being a 43% drop, the biggest price difference came with the Tony Perez rookie card, which went up from $127 to $310, or a 144% jump. Notice where those two cards ranked in the disparity charts. It helps that McCovey’s rookie card price only went up 77% as its grade increased, while Perez’s pop count difference was minuscule (a 13-card difference).

Any thoughts on the results?

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