Each Happy Hobby Sports Card Newsletter For Collectors has a handful of great sports card subjects, helping sports card collectors working with limited budgets!

2025 Rookie Card Power Rankings! Top 15 Topps Rookie Cards - Ep. 3.03

With 282 rookie cards produced in 2025 Topps Series 1, Series 2 and Topps Update combined, it’s no wonder baseball card collectors would get dizzy wondering which rookie cards are the best ones!

We settle it for now, ranking the top 15 rookie cards from all those series combined, helping you improve your card collection without chasing everything at once.

Let us know if you like a 2025 Topps rookie card more than I do, or if you think I have a rookie card up too high in our power rankings! Drop a comment below or shoot me an email at gonoscards@gmail.com.

Got some content ideas for me? Shoot me a note at gonoscards@gmail.com !

***Important Card-Collecting Articles on DavidGonos.com***

* Best Baseball Rookie Cards From Every Year Since 1941

* Best Basketball Rookie Cards From Every Year Since 1948

* Best Football Rookie Cards From Every Year Since 1956

* Best Hockey Rookie Cards From Every Year Since 1951

* 23 Best Sports Cards Supplies To Buy

Connect with David Gonos on:

* Facebook

* Twitter/X @DavidGonos

* Instagram @DavidGonos

* TikTok

* Link Tree

Email me: mailto:gonoscards@gmail.com

Have a #HappyHobby!

Podcast Music: “I dunno“ by grapes - 2008 - Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution (3.0)

Each Happy Hobby Sports Card Newsletter For Collectors has a handful of great sports card subjects, helping sports card collectors working with limited budgets!

If you’re a sports card collector working with a limited budget, then you are like me — and like most of us that roam around on this newsletter and podcast!

We love sports cards, but we don’t spend thousands of dollars chasing MLB Debut Patches or picking up four-figure vintage cards or insane parallels for baseball prospects who might never see the majors.

So we came up with seven fun goals that a sports card collector can enjoy in 2026, as opposed to the flipper/investor. We don’t look down at those guys — we just don’t relate to them as much.

You can find the written version of this article in our newsletter from last week right here:

Let us know if there are some things you will do differently in 2026 that you did in 2025, or are there some things you did in 2025 that were big improvements to your collection from 2024? Let us know in the comments or shoot me an email at gonoscards@gmail.com.

Got some content ideas for me? Shoot me a note at gonoscards@gmail.com !

***Important Card-Collecting Articles on DavidGonos.com***

* Best Baseball Rookie Cards From Every Year Since 1941

* Best Basketball Rookie Cards From Every Year Since 1948

* Best Football Rookie Cards From Every Year Since 1956

* Best Hockey Rookie Cards From Every Year Since 1951

* 23 Best Sports Cards Supplies To Buy

Connect with David Gonos on:

* Facebook

* Twitter/X @DavidGonos

* Instagram @DavidGonos

* TikTok

* Link Tree

Email me: mailto:gonoscards@gmail.com

Have a #HappyHobby!

Podcast Music: “I dunno“ by grapes - 2008 - Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution (3.0)

Each Happy Hobby Sports Card Newsletter For Collectors has a handful of great sports card subjects, helping sports card collectors working with limited budgets!

If you’re a sports card collector working with a limited budget, then you know every purchase and every dollar means something good or bad for your collection.

We’ve laid out some steps to help you get a better understanding of what you purchased, trade and sold over the past 12 months.

Project managers often do post-mortems after a project is completed to assess what went well, what went wrong and where they can make some adjustments for future projects.

In the sports card collector’s world, it’s all about learning from last year so you can make next year better!

You can find the written version of this article in our newsletter from last week right here:

Let us know if there are some things you will do differently in 2026 that you did in 2025, or are there some things you did in 2025 that were big improvements to your collection from 2024? Let us know in the comments or shoot me an email at gonoscards@gmail.com.

Got some content ideas for me? Shoot me a note at gonoscards@gmail.com !

***Important Card-Collecting Articles on DavidGonos.com***

* Best Baseball Rookie Cards From Every Year Since 1941

* Best Basketball Rookie Cards From Every Year Since 1948

* Best Football Rookie Cards From Every Year Since 1956

* Best Hockey Rookie Cards From Every Year Since 1951

* 23 Best Sports Cards Supplies To Buy

Connect with David Gonos on:

* Facebook

* Twitter/X @DavidGonos

* Instagram @DavidGonos

* TikTok

* Link Tree

Email me: mailto:gonoscards@gmail.com

Have a #HappyHobby!

Podcast Music: “I dunno“ by grapes - 2008 - Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution (3.0)

Each Happy Hobby Sports Card Newsletter For Collectors has a handful of great sports card subjects, helping sports card collectors working with limited budgets!

A few weeks ago, I laid out my reasons on why I believe sports cards will explode in 2026, and many of you agreed with me!

But many of you also thought I was just this side of cuckoo! Commenters laid out their disdain for Fanatics getting three of the four major sports card licenses, and they shared several reasons they thought the hobby was on the precipice of disaster!

Got some content ideas for me? Shoot me a note at gonoscards@gmail.com !

Don’t forget to vote for the 2025 Rookie Card Awards and win a chance at a 2011 Topps Freddie Freeman RC PSA 9 slab! Deadline to vote is midnight, Dec. 22, 2025. Vote here: https://forms.gle/2KnyEtX8NoYob4dy6

***Important Card-Collecting Articles on DavidGonos.com***

* Best Baseball Rookie Cards From Every Year Since 1941

* Best Basketball Rookie Cards From Every Year Since 1948

* Best Football Rookie Cards From Every Year Since 1956

* Best Hockey Rookie Cards From Every Year Since 1951

* 23 Best Sports Cards Supplies To Buy

Connect with David Gonos on:

* Facebook

* Twitter/X @DavidGonos

* Instagram @DavidGonos

* TikTok

* Link Tree

Email me: mailto:gonoscards@gmail.com

Have a #HappyHobby!

Podcast Music: “I dunno“ by grapes - 2008 - Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution (3.0)

Each Happy Hobby Sports Card Newsletter For Collectors has a handful of great sports card subjects, helping sports card collectors working with limited budgets!

My childhood is full of great stories about the beginning of my love of the hobby, but there is one huge black spot that has sullied my conscience for decades. It’s time I share what happened, why I did it, and how it affected me up until this day!

Got some content ideas for me? Shoot me a note at gonoscards@gmail.com !

Don’t forget to vote for the 2025 Rookie Card Awards and win a chance at a 2011 Topps Freddie Freeman RC PSA 9 slab! Deadline to vote is midnight, Dec. 22, 2025. Vote here: https://forms.gle/2KnyEtX8NoYob4dy6

***Important Card-Collecting Articles on DavidGonos.com***

* Best Baseball Rookie Cards From Every Year Since 1941

* Best Basketball Rookie Cards From Every Year Since 1948

* Best Football Rookie Cards From Every Year Since 1956

* Best Hockey Rookie Cards From Every Year Since 1951

* 23 Best Sports Cards Supplies To Buy

Connect with David Gonos on:

* Facebook

* Twitter/X @DavidGonos

* Instagram @DavidGonos

* TikTok

* Link Tree

Email me: mailto:gonoscards@gmail.com

Have a #HappyHobby!

Podcast Music: “I dunno“ by grapes - 2008 - Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution (3.0)

Each Happy Hobby Sports Card Newsletter For Collectors has a handful of great sports card subjects, helping sports card collectors working with limited budgets!

Over the years, there have been some amazing sports card innovations and ideas! Many of them could be called “gimmicks,” if only because they were only around for a short time, and then they went away.

Well, we want some of those gimmicks to come back! And we want the others to go far, far away!

Help us decide on which ones were awesome, which ones were alright, and which ones were awful!

Got some content ideas for me? Shoot me a note at gonoscards@gmail.com !

Don’t forget to vote for the 2025 Rookie Card Awards and win a chance at a 2011 Topps Freddie Freeman RC PSA 9 slab! Deadline to vote is midnight, Dec. 22, 2025. Vote here: https://forms.gle/2KnyEtX8NoYob4dy6

***Important Card-Collecting Articles on DavidGonos.com***

* Best Baseball Rookie Cards From Every Year Since 1941

* Best Basketball Rookie Cards From Every Year Since 1948

* Best Football Rookie Cards From Every Year Since 1956

* Best Hockey Rookie Cards From Every Year Since 1951

* 23 Best Sports Cards Supplies To Buy

Connect with David Gonos on:

* Facebook

* Twitter/X @DavidGonos

* Instagram @DavidGonos

* TikTok

* Link Tree

Email me: mailto:gonoscards@gmail.com

Have a #HappyHobby!

Podcast Music: “I dunno“ by grapes - 2008 - Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution (3.0)