Rookie Card — Cardboard Police

September 13, 2026

1960 Topps #148 Carl Yastrzemski — One PSA 10 in 11,640, and More Graded Copies Than the Set's Mantle

Eleven thousand, six hundred and forty copies of Carl Yastrzemski's rookie card have come back from PSA with a straight numeric grade. Exactly one of them is a PSA 10. It is the only Gem Mint example in sixty-six years, and PSA uses a photograph of i...

Card of the Day Baseball Vintage Hall of Fame Rookie Card

CASE #0318 Misdemeanor

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September 08, 2026

1962 Topps #17 Mike Ditka RC — Zero PSA 10s in 1,273, and Only Four Nines in Sixty-Four Years

PSA has put 1,448 copies of Mike Ditka's rookie card in holders. Not one of them is a Gem Mint 10, and the entire top of the population is four Mint 9s. The 1961 Rookie of the Year got card #17 in the 1962 Topps set — a black-bordered design that ha...

Card of the Day Football Topps Vintage Hall of Fame Rookie Card

CASE #0312 Misdemeanor

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September 05, 2026

1977 Topps #50 Mike Haynes RC — Nine PSA 10s in 823, and Forty-Eight of the Nines Are Qualified

PSA has put 918 copies of this card in holders since 1977. Nine of them are Gem Mint 10s — and the scan PSA publishes on its own CardFacts page is one of the nine, cert 18955654. The 1977 Topps set gave card #50 to a rookie cornerback who had just i...

Card of the Day Football Vintage Hall of Fame Rookie Card

CASE #0309 Misdemeanor

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September 03, 2026

1966 Philadelphia #31 Dick Butkus RC — One PSA 10 in 1,723, and More Qualified 8s Than Clean 9s

PSA has put 2,048 Dick Butkus rookie cards in holders. Exactly one of them is a PSA 10. Nine more are straight PSA 9s — and forty-four copies earned a PSA 8 with a qualifier attached, which means the defect-flagged 8s outnumber the clean 9s by nearly...

Card of the Day Football Vintage Hall of Fame Rookie Card

CASE #0302 Misdemeanor

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September 01, 2026

2006 Topps #334 Devin Hester RC — 366 PSA 10s in 661, and the Card Calls Him a Cornerback

The last four football cards to run in this slot produced twelve PSA 10s between them. This one produced 366. PSA has assigned a straight grade to 661 copies of the 2006 Topps Devin Hester rookie, and more than half of them came back a 10. The car...

Card of the Day Football Topps Hall of Fame Rookie Card

CASE #0299 Misdemeanor

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August 29, 2026

1974 Topps #219 Ray Guy RC — Three PSA 10s, and the Card Next Door Is Franco Harris

The Pro Football Hall of Fame did not enshrine a punter until 2014, and that punter's rookie card sits one number below Franco Harris in the same 1974 Topps set. PSA has assigned a straight grade to 741 copies of Ray Guy's #219. Three of them came ba...

Card of the Day Football Vintage Hall of Fame Rookie Card

CASE #0293 Misdemeanor

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August 28, 2026

All Kings Owned 2026 Topps Flagship Football’s Opening Week — a Mendoza SSP at $6,500

Six days after 2026 Topps Flagship Football reached shelves, the top of the product had not settled down. It had gone up. Sports Illustrated published a first-24-hours sales rundown on August 22 and a rookie sales follow-up on August 27. Read side by...

Hobby Article Football Market Analysis Topps NFL Rookie Card

CASE #0291 Informational

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August 27, 2026

Topps Retires the NFL PREM1ERE Patch for Debut Patches — the Format Behind a $1.11 Million Skenes Card

Topps announced on August 26 that it is retiring the "PREM1ERE" Patch from its NFL program and replacing it with the Debut Patch — the format that produced a $1.11 million Paul Skenes card and the most-chased basketball rookie card of the year. Every...

Hobby Article Football Topps Hobby Trends Rookie Card

CASE #0288 Informational

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August 27, 2026

1971 Topps #245 Joe Greene RC — Zero PSA 10s in 3,296, and Fourteen Nines Behind a Black Border

The card above is a PSA NM-MT 8, certification number 14003129. On most vintage football cards that is a very good copy sitting two rungs below the ceiling. On this one it is sitting two rungs below nothing at all. PSA has certified 3,296 copies of ...

Card of the Day Football Vintage Hall of Fame Rookie Card

CASE #0287 Misdemeanor

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August 26, 2026

1935 National Chicle #34 Bronko Nagurski — 187 Graded, One Mint 9, and Not a Single 10

PSA has graded the 1935 National Chicle Bronko Nagurski 187 times and has never once written a ten on the label. Not a single Gem Mint copy exists. There is exactly one Mint 9. There are six NM-MT 8s. The other 180 grade below that. The card picture...

Card of the Day Football PSA Vintage Rookie Card Pre-War

CASE #0284 Misdemeanor

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the cardboard chronicle

Tagged: Rookie Card

1960 Topps #148 Carl Yastrzemski — One PSA 10 in 11,640, and More Graded Copies Than the Set's Mantle

1962 Topps #17 Mike Ditka RC — Zero PSA 10s in 1,273, and Only Four Nines in Sixty-Four Years

1977 Topps #50 Mike Haynes RC — Nine PSA 10s in 823, and Forty-Eight of the Nines Are Qualified

1966 Philadelphia #31 Dick Butkus RC — One PSA 10 in 1,723, and More Qualified 8s Than Clean 9s

2006 Topps #334 Devin Hester RC — 366 PSA 10s in 661, and the Card Calls Him a Cornerback

1974 Topps #219 Ray Guy RC — Three PSA 10s, and the Card Next Door Is Franco Harris

All Kings Owned 2026 Topps Flagship Football’s Opening Week — a Mendoza SSP at $6,500

Topps Retires the NFL PREM1ERE Patch for Debut Patches — the Format Behind a $1.11 Million Skenes Card

1971 Topps #245 Joe Greene RC — Zero PSA 10s in 3,296, and Fourteen Nines Behind a Black Border

1935 National Chicle #34 Bronko Nagurski — 187 Graded, One Mint 9, and Not a Single 10