Collector Nation - Custom Over Commodity: Eric Wagenmaker on Reclaiming Memorabilia

Episode Date: February 10, 2026

In this episode of Collector Nation, Ryan Alford welcomes Eric Wagenmaker, founder of Reclaim Customs, for a deep dive into custom memorabilia, creativity, and what really gives collectibles their meaning. Eric shares how a simple project for his kids sparked a business that now works with professional athletes, podcasters, and sports teams. He explains the difference between perceived rarity created by big card companies and true one-of-one craftsmanship — where every piece is built by hand around a real artifact. They explore Eric’s creative process, from foiling and textures to embedding relics, and how each design starts with the story behind the item. Ryan and Eric also talk about scaling a fully custom operation, navigating exclusivity in professional sports, and how social media helped propel Reclaim Customs into the spotlight. The episode closes on one of Eric’s most meaningful insights: the most powerful collectibles aren’t always about players or value — they’re about family, memory, and legacy. Key Takeaways Custom craftsmanship creates deeper emotional value Manufactured rarity isn’t the same as uniqueness Creativity lives in details Story transforms memorabilia into legacy Building handmade businesses requires patience Collectibles connect people across generations 📣 Connect with Ryan & Eric 🎙 Collector Nation Podcast: https://thecollectornation.com https://www.youtube.com/@TheCollectorNation 🌐 Ryan Alford: Instagram: https://instagram.com/ryanalford Download the Ludex App on IOS and Android! 🎨 Eric Wagenmaker — Reclaim Customs: Website: https://reclaimcustoms.com Instagram: https://instagram.com/reclaimcustoms Subscribe, leave a review, and share this episode with another collector. Sponsors Are you interested in effortlessly growing your bitcoin portfolio?  ↳Gemini Crypto – Gemini.com/card

I made a couple of relic cards from my boys that posted them online. Immediately started getting orders and inquiries. So I'm like, well, I guess this is a thing now. There came a point really quickly where I'm like, I can't do this other stuff. Like, I have to commit to this. The collectibles guru shared one of our movie cards. All of a sudden, my followership just blew up. And then I had MLB player, he got a hold of me to do some personal things for him.

Welcome to the Collector Nation podcast here on the Collector Nation Network. Whether you're chasing grails or calling bluffs, you take you inside the hobby. Here's your host, Ryan Alford. Oh, and welcome to Collector Nation here on the Collector Nation Network. We appreciate you for tuning in, watching, listening, wherever you are, whenever you are. We appreciate it. We know you got options, but we appreciate you for making us number four in all of sports this past weekend on Apple podcast. that's not lost on us and we appreciate you.

And you know, I think part of the reason that happens is because we've got a great guess. And we got one today. He is the CEO of Reclaim Customs. Eric Wagon Maker. How are we doing? Good, man. I'm pumped. I love this stuff.

I'm a creative guy. And getting back to the hobby with the kids has been a blast. But my favorite part has been this custom side of things that's just all, you know, between merch and I don't know. And seeing a graphic designer bring some of the things on your videos and stuff to life, man. Mad respect. Thank you so much. Yeah, it's been a fun journey, that's for sure. Well, it did funny.

It's funny now for me, too, because now I'm sort of in the hobby and from a business standpoint. If you had told me as a 12-year-old kid collecting that this would be anywhere in my career, I'd have been, hey, sign me up, baby. Right? In your wildest dreams, did you see that coming? Not at all. No, not at all. Especially when I'm working behind the counter at an HVAC company.

It's coming. Yeah. Hey, they success found you. You found it, I think. Where's home, Mary? We're in Spring Lake, Michigan. So right next to Lake Michigan, Spring Lake is right out my window about a four mile.

And then Lake Michigan is just beyond that, like, another mile. So we're right on the fresh coast. brother. What's the temp of Lake Michigan today? Good. I wouldn't even want to know. I was honest with you. Man,

it was that last week, last week it dipped into the negatives here as far as the temperature. I don't know about the water tent, but man, oh man, I couldn't imagine. I didn't much as in my business in there right now. I have a houseboat on a beautiful lake here in South Carolina,

and I often think about, because you could, you don't want to swim in. now you could eventually stay in it long enough like 15 20 minutes to probably get in trouble but it takes i imagine there about 15 seconds oh my god we have one guy who does a polar bear plunge right down here in the beach just down the road every year and everybody's posting like this idiot getting into the water but whatever so what's going on man In 2021, you know, you get into this reclaimed customs thing.

Talk to me about what you guys are doing in our audience and, you know, where the passion lies. Yeah, I mean, yeah, that's kind of when it started. Just kind of fell into it. Like I said, I made a couple of relic cards from my boys. They're soccer players and they were, you know, younger at the time. And like, Dad, make us cards. I'm like, all right, I'll try. So I borrowed some crafting equipment.

It meant and, you know, I'm a designer. So I very crudely put a couple pieces together from my boys. I posted them online. Immediately started getting orders and inquiries. So I'm like, well, I guess this is a thing now. So it just kind of took off from there. So, you know, my passion for sports, grew up watching sports with my dad and then collecting. I grew up collecting with my dad, you know, going to the shows and the local card shops.

And so it was definitely a family thing. You know, I remember the first time he pulled down his, his shoe box out of the attic and going through his Mickey Mantles and Hank Aaron's and, you know, I had the Beckett Price Guide, you know, in the, you know, 1892, 1993 or whatever. And he's like, oh, man, that's what that thing's worth, you know, or whatever. So then he got into it and he had way more money than I did. So, like, I had a great time watching him to spend his money and, you know, kind of build his mantle collection and all that back in the day.

But, but yeah, so just that has kind of driven the passion and I'm a big history guy too. So we do like a lot of, you know, historical stuff too. with artifacts and autographs and embedding them. I mean, we do custom trading cards, but, like, you know, I consider reclaim customs, a custom memorabilia company. So, you know, we will take your memorabilia, and we will reclaim its image, and we will reclaim it and make it something even better than it was on its own.

What was the time, like, the first project or whatever getting started where you're like, this isn't just a hobby. This is a business. And, you know, the first thing that, I don't know, I'm sure you got excited on a lot of things, whether they were business or not. But like the first, like, oh, shit moment. Yeah. That's a good question. I think it was probably, you know, not too long after where, you know, I was like it was just a hustle, you know, for a while, a side hustle.

And I was doing other various artistic things at the time. I really wanted to be self-employed. So I was doing some, like, fake brickwork, like, around, like, fireplaces. And I was doing some furniture restoration. And I had a booth at this, like, antique shop with all my furniture that I restored and trying to pedal that. And while I'm doing the card stuff, too, and there came a point really quickly where I'm like, I can't do this other stuff.

Like, I have to, I have to commit to this. So I don't know if there was, like, one line in the sand or it was like, man, this was the project or this was the contract that put me. over the edge, but like it was a gradual thing. I wouldn't even say gradual because it happened quickly. But it was like a roller coaster man. All of a sudden, man, I was going click, click, click, click. And I was wooosh.

I was in, man. So I had to drop that other stuff. I had other furniture clients and, you know, other stuff, you know, going on that I just had to be like, look, I got to commit to this and put my full attention on it. What was the turning point where like you felt like the name was out there and you guys like, starting to maybe getting contracts beyond like because i know and i want to talk about you know what you can as far as like the contracts you have and some of the teams and things that you're working on the ones you can speak about that aren't super secret uh if there are such things uh

but like when did it turn from one z-to-z independent stuff and you know like maybe one of the favorite pieces you know of that period that it gets probably to be hard with someone that's doing as cool as shit as you're doing that That's a really, what's your favorite baby? Yeah. You ask me that all the time. What's your favorite piece that you've ever made? I'm like, the last one.

So running together, right? Don't they? I mean, not in a bad way, but I'm sure they do, right? They do a little bit, yeah. But like, it's always like, man, it's fresh excitement, a new excitement for each piece because, man, we never know, you ever watch pawn stars? Like, you never know, you never know what's going to come through that door.

We never know what order is going to come in, man, like whether it's a Babe Ruth piece or, or whatever, man. So I always say my favorite one is the one we just finished because all of our attention, all our excitement is on that and our attention and focus. And sometimes I go back through like our Instagrams are really good, just portfolio of everything we've done to easily scroll through. Sometimes I'll dip back into that.

Like, oh my gosh, that one is sweet too. But as far as the one that kind of like I feel like put us or put before I hired anybody, put me over the edge, I was doing some movie parody cards and just for fun. and the collectibles guru on Twitter shared one of our one of our movie cards I think it was a Talladega Knights card that we did silly silly thing but he's like

could you imagine if this was real and then like all of a sudden my followership just blew up and then um you know I had Evan Longoria MLB player he got a hold of me to do some personal things for him and he started sharing some of my stuff uh Golden Ken Golden shared a few of my things

um so it's just been like a few a few breaks that I've gotten from people, it's all been social media driven, to be honest, and word of mouth. So now, like, you know, on forums and stuff like that, hey, who are the custom card makers I need to go to and to see people, you know, point to reclaim customs as, man, it's just, it never, it never gets lost on me how,

how special that is. That means a lot to me. And that's, you know, it's all about the customer. It's all about making them happy. And to see that just continue to elevate us as, man, I feel blessed, man. I don't feel necessarily lucky, but I just, I just feel so blessed and honored to be here. I love that, man.

And, no, it's not a lot of luck, dude. It's about talent meets, like, opportunity, but you've got to take advantage of it. I'm a firm believer in that. I mean, we all get, hey, the coin flips your way every now and then, but it flips the other way, too. So you make your own luck with talent, grit, and drive, and a lot of that talent. by the way. You got to see some of the shit if you have it. We'll have links to all that in the notes. But Eric, what's the creative process for you? I know guys and girls or whoever comes to you client-wise, I got a vision. They might tell you exactly what they want. But generally speaking, when you guys are, you know,

obviously you create some of your own things, like when you get access to things. What's that creative process? us. Man, I don't, it's hard to explain how my brain works. It's kind of messed up sometimes. Most creative people, it is good. Interesting. It's almost like, I mean, we've seen that Robin Williams movie,

What Dreams May Come. It's like that's my brain sometimes. It's just like things constantly moving and shifting and shaping. And like, I get that, you know, it all depends on the artifact and it all works around that. And I can just kind of visualize how we're framing this out. How are we building in the foiling details? What are the foiling details going to look like?

What colors can we use? And then it's all like I work, my brain and my mind work in like textures and layers and like depth of like I want like even though we're printing like flat cards. You know, it's a flat image. And sometimes we have three dimensional things popping out of them. Like this Baker Mayfield piece we just did. It's got like a ring popping out of it. I don't if you saw that. Yeah, I did.

Yeah, it's crazy. Yeah, that's three-dimensional, like almost like art popping out of the card. But like, okay, we're printing flat images. How do we create that depth? So my mind is constantly thinking in depth, colors, images, textures, layers. So I don't know. It just kind of builds itself out in my mind. And it all starts around the artifact, the piece.

What's the, you know, you think about like these specialty cards that are in sets that are mass produce. And then you've got guys like you that are, you know, there's totally custom. And, you know, there's obviously paper dynamics that might be similar or things like that. But what makes, it's always fascinating to me that, you know, they throw a different color on it and they call it, you know,

10 of 10 and it's got value. And then they got, you know, what you're doing, which is everyone's pretty much one of one. Right? It's an interesting thing to think about. especially as it relates when you're about the physical card with memorabilia on it or whatever. I mean, they've now cheap their way out. I'm not even sure, you know, if, you know, the dog trainer wore the jersey now.

It's like not worn by a specific person in a specific place or a specific time. It's like, okay, what the hell? What is this? What are we doing? But I don't know. What's the difference there like for you or how do you compare those things? I know it's totally different. It's custom art versus mass produced, but I mean.

Yeah, and I recently wrote an article on this, too, like perceived rarity. Yeah. You know, companies, like you were just talking about, card companies, build out these different variations in rainbows. And, like, he got, you know, the one of 100 and one out of 499 and then out of 20. So there's thousands of these pieces, even though they've given you perceived rarity. Man, I'd call that. It's always like engineered rarity, manufactured.

Marity, manufactured rarity. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, and that's fun. Like, and that's, you know, yeah, guys are chasing the rainbows. And like, that's great, man. Like, if that's what you want to do, go do it.

But, you know, it's hard to compare to that to what we are doing. Because every piece is one of a kind. Even if we get, you know, three Babe Ruth autographs in a row, like, there's going to be different details, not only in our design and how we put it together, but, like, they're different the autos are going to be different sizes it's going to require a different cut it's going to require a new you know that just that um that process in my brain that i was just explaining it's going to create new pathways and like all right there's a new challenge here so like every piece that we do is truly one of a kind unique and what's the workshop like like i'm gonna like

i'm gonna ask to come visit sometime and bring the video through with i want to do that on a follow-up at some point because I have a passion for this. I make custom cards for my kids and have, it is not, we're talking, if you're in the big leagues, I'm in like, single A wouldn't be even

the right word. It's like, I'm in a little league, but it's fun and I am creative and do have ability, but I don't have the time or probably the patience to do this level of skill that you do. But I would love to see it from that aspect, but also think it would be fascinating

just to see, like, what's the workflow, you know? Yeah. I mean, a lot of the, like, the secrets and how we do things, I hope pretty close to the best. Okay. All right. We got some secret sauces. Yeah, no, yeah, exactly. Like, you know, you're not going to use Coke for the recipe.

I mean, you could, but they're going to give to you. But, like, no, we were, this summer we were on an episode of the card life. Okay. And they kind of, yeah, it's pinned to the top of our Instagram profile. If anybody wants to check that out. but it gives you kind of like a behind the curtains look of our processes and how we do that from design to print to assembly. And I show as much as I possibly can.

Yeah. Giving up too much the secret sauce. Where does the secret sauce come in? Is it in the materials themselves? Some of it, yes. Yeah. The magic behind what Reclaim does is we've figured out how to get machinery and equipment to work with each other that was never meant to work with each other.

So we had to engineer certain processes and fabricate a few things. And really, I mean, it's been almost a six-year process of continual refinement and like figuring out. And Aaron, before he worked here with me as a designer, he worked in print world. He was at a sign shop designing. So he had a little more knowledge than I did with, like, printing and textiles and how to do some things. So we've kind of put our brains together and we've been able to come up with figuring out processes and how we want to accomplish finishes and foiling and the, you know, all that stuff. That's interesting. Yeah, the recipe.

Sometimes you've got to just try, like, obviously, if you're just wanting to print a piece of paper, you know, they got their standard rules. But sometimes it's kind of like cooking in the kitchen. You've got to, like, you've got to try some things and know that it. might taste like crap, but you could always, you know, start over. Yeah, and I probably get, I'm not kidding you, and I'm not exaggerating this. I probably get six, seven messages a day, maybe sometimes more, hey, what are you using? How are you doing that? What's your card stock? How are you foiling that? Like, what are you printing with? Like, and I have a very, very kind and respectful canned message that I send them. But I don't get that information out.

All right. Yeah, don't give it all out. Maybe give me like one. little insider just for me so i can make my blow my kids minds or something but i'm not you know like like something that's uh probably could be found in like 27 google searches but uh you know not like a secret process but like what's um talk to me about current projects like things that are really cool that people go wow you know like i heard some things right before the episode that sounded pretty legit yeah um Let's see. I can talk to you about the Washington Mystics.

We are just finishing production for a relic trading card project for their season ticket holders. So that's going to be pretty cool once that is released. Hopefully in the next three or four weeks, those will be done. We are in talks with a couple other professional sports teams that I can't mention because it's not 100% sure yet. which I'm really excited about and some collegiate stuff. Is this kind of where they, they're holding back maybe gear, jersey stuff from big, big accomplishments or games or things like that? Yeah. Yeah, and with pro teams too, like, it's interesting because, you know, we can't do trading cards with pro teams because of fanatics.

God bless them. but so we have to get we have to think creatively even with what we're producing so you know we have to get into like more jumbo pieces or like you know we're embedding uh fabrics you know jersey fabric relics into like larger like ticket design like it's a design of like a printed ticket but so like it's not trading cards but it's still memorabilia pieces so we got to get creative with the pro teams um that have the exclusivity with you know that have the exclusivity with you know that you know, the big, the big guns over there. So, um, but yeah. You can't do cards at all. No, it can't be a trading card. Like it can't be a traditional trading card. Two and a half by three and a half.

Like, yeah. Yeah. I mean, then you run into all sorts of weird things. Even for like one to one offs or like, no, like one off for a customer. It doesn't matter. It's hard. You know, it's considered artwork. So, um, like when we're doing something with, we're partnering with a pro

club. Got it. Um, and it gets weird. If they, if they have, you know, exclusives with fanatics and stuff like that. Yeah, we're in talks with a professional soccer team out in Europe to do a big line of of cards for their team in their merch and their shops. The Sean Ryan podcast, we did a big run for him last year.

We're in the middle of another one now for him. I'm probably forgetting a bunch of stuff. And this is just the bigger stuff. What did you do for his, like for his podcast? Yeah, so we just, we made him a bunch of cards. his military get up and stuff that he could sign and either sell on his website. I don't know if he did some giveaways. I don't remember what the end result of that was.

We need some Collector Nation stuff. Yeah. Yeah. That's what I'm saying. And Collector Station, my store. All right. I'm saying, all right. This is coming together.

And look, I'm holding cards because I'm recording Collectors Nation, our weekly topical news episode that airs on Fridays. and I was going to talk about this because I happened to purchase a few cards this week. I don't know if you can see these from where I'm at. I see some Jordans, man. Yeah, Jordan Rookies, Jordan Sticker, and then an 84 star Jordan here. And I'm going, would I let Eric cut these up and do something? I wouldn't. I'm crazy, though.

I'm crazy like that. I might send you a Jordan Rookie and let you just, go to town with it. Turn it into something, like cut him out. And it would be, I'd be like, if we'd document the whole thing. Man. I mean, we could. Man, that'd be, uh, whew.

I don't let you do that and the sticker. Let you do both of it. Like 86, Jordan. Like, there would be nothing else probably on earth that was made out of those two iconic pieces from his rookie. I don't know. I might to think about that. I mean,

uh, being hard about that, please. I know, I don't have regrets, baby. Once I go in, I'd just be excited about what you do.

I don't even know what. Like, cut this thing up, cut the FLIR logo. I mean, because I think about like, how much more rare it would make it. Like,

you could obviously reprint and do stuff, but that's not cool. No, this was real, original, pretty damn good quality, but might I add you, rookie cards,

probably 20 grand. in one relic. Hey. Wow. Dude, I'm going to think about that. That would be something. We had to document that.

If we turned that into content or something and made a, you know, like a whole thing, I think it might be worth it. Because then it's just like becomes true. But that's all that, like, you know, that odd bowl stuff, those, those requests like that. That's what, like, so now you already got, like, you know, you already got me thinking, you know. Yeah, exactly. I wonder if Jordan would sign something like that. I mean, he's tough to get. Yeah, good luck getting through over decks.

I know. I know. It's like we could pull his signature off of something else, right? Oh, yeah. If you had like a sticker or like if we got a cut or something like that. Yeah, exactly. Hmm. Hmm.

Let me think about that. If no one buys it this week, maybe. Okay. We'll see. I've got the whole box of 86 Fleer. dude walks in we're going to talk about this on the show this week dude walks in 86 fleer full box full set all stickers all jordan's but the day before we even opened our store and i was like is this happening like that that doesn't walk in the door very often you know 86 flea i got that set in the safe man all psa 8 yeah how long you had it um i i i just got the jordan the 56

was 56 or what's what's his number 53 52 is it 53 I can tell you right here number 57 57 good grief that's how much I should know uh anyway uh yeah so that was the last one I got um but that's a that's a big buy there at eight well I mean like I think when I got it I think I paid eight grand for it that's a good deal it's probably worth twice and how now you can't find for 10 so yeah yeah so it's just over a year ago I think I completed that set. So that's in the safe. That's part of the retirement package there. Yeah, that's a good set.

I believe me, that's crossed my mind. It's not an eight, though. The whole set's not an eight. Is every card graded? Yep, everyone is graded. See, that's ridiculous. Yeah, that's good. Yeah. This was just they're all raw.

But I mean, there's probably, none of it's track. They're not a single card with a crease. I mean, it's it's uh i'd say five to nine you know and more probably more sixes and sevens than nine's yeah i mean it's just an iconic set it's it's not i mean there's that's a thing like there's so many of them out there but it's not even about like supply because like it's so iconic there's always a demand for it always always and the way that the trajectory of the the hobby in the market right now like that's that values

not going down any time soon. What's your thoughts about, I want to get back into some projects, but what are your thoughts about the hobby in general these days? I mean, it's a woman, man. I wrote an article about this too. But, you know, with cultural icons, celebrities, and pro athletes getting in on the hobby, has magnified it to a point where it's only getting more popular. You know, they've, they put their spotlight on it with their brand and with their, their reach.

And now, you know, that that ripple effect, in my opinion, is astronomical. So I think, I mean, as long as that kind of thing, and I think that interest amongst, you know, celebrities and athletes and cultural icons, you know, I think that's only going to continue to increase because they've got reaches with each other too. And you see that trickle-down effect with them. And that's just like, so it's not going anywhere, man. And I think the hobby's in a really healthy place as far as that's concerned. My big concern is the fact that there's so much money behind the hobby now that, you know,

you have, you know, collectors buying up, you know, Beckett, PSA, and SGC and, you know, conglomerates, you know, coming in and doing things. I don't know how, I mean, it's going to make it harder for it to feel like a hobby, I think, to where, like, there's going to be so much money in it. and things are going to, it's going to drive up prices. And I don't know, that makes me a little nervous. But overall, the state of the hobby, like, man, I think it's, I think it's in a good place. Couldn't agree more. Talking with Eric Wagon Maker. He is the CEO of Reclaimed Customs.

Eric, how does your company scale when everything's customs? It's just more, more crafters. It's like, I was thinking about that because I mean, I have a business show. I'm a business guy first. I'm in a hobby as my whole life, but let's just be honest, that pays the bills.

Being a business guy. So it's like, I was going, how does Eric scale? And how does this scale when it's so custom and so unique? Yeah.

And I think through that every day, Ryan. So, you know, with bigger runs, like if we're getting an order for like a thousand, we have to lean on manufacturing. So they're still going to get the same great design.

And, you know, the manufacturers that we use are also used by some of the big card companies. So we have access to them to still create great pieces with all the textures and finishes that we want with that. Now, with the one-off stuff, like orders are always coming in fast and furious. So I do have, I brought on another designer part-time to help sift through that. All production of the one-off stuff and the shorter runs are still here in-house at Reclaim, at the Cardistry Cave, as we call it around here. Yes, I got to come to the cave. I'm coming, you know. And I need air as to be here and do, you know, like a weekend or something, like a crafters weekend or something here at the collector's.

It's just a man cave. Eric, I'm just telling you, it's man cave. My wife just says I built my own man cave and I'm like, oh, you're right. Yeah. Dude, I have mannequins with, like, gay news jerseys and stuff all over the cave. And my wife swears the fun to life at night in, like, I guess it could be worse. You know, I guess you could, like, collect something super creepy. But anyway, yeah, scaling, like, I mean, yeah, the one-off stuff, like, it's just a matter of

because like I like you know we have our we we have what makes us unique and that's how we design it and how we craft it and how we assemble it and like every detail is poured over so like scaling that is tricky because I don't ever want to lose that because those are our roots that's how we started that's what makes us who we are yeah I think you know the next step is probably you know if we continue to get bigger orders is our own manufacturing and our own facility that can do that. But I don't know. I'm not there yet, and that's fine.

Like, we operate this all out of my house right now. So I love that. You know, the overhead is very low. This is just materials and labor. Smart business model, actually. Yeah, yeah. So, no, I think through that every day. You know, I do because, like, I said, orders are constantly coming in.

I'm like, well, do we do an application process for custom orders so we can pick and choose what we're doing, which is going to make what reclaim, like if you have a reclaim piece, it's going to make it that much more bespoke and rare, or do we just continue to take every order that comes in? I don't know what the right answer is, but it is something I'm constantly thinking through. Let's walk through, all right, the custom process. So I'm someone listening. I go watch five seconds of video and I'm ready to order. What do I need to, you know, like me, I'm like, Josh, I was my favorite player. And you're like, oh, I have some golden, you know, foil stuff or whatever, the shield.

And do people come to you? They need to obviously probably have an idea of like a player or like, how does that process work for getting something custom done? Yeah. So, I mean, a lot of it honestly starts with, they either fill out our contact form or they get a hold of me on social media and they start asking questions. And usually the first place I direct them to is that frequently. questions page because I'm constantly updating that like the more questions I get yeah it's a good question I mean but let me I don't want to answer that so all our

pricing is there all of you know all those questions that people ask but then like yeah there's a there's an order form right on our website they fill that out it's pretty detailed it's pretty thorough and you know they explain exactly what they want and again if they start I got this I got this autograph, but it's like bigger than a trading card. It's, you know, four inches wide. Well, then we have jumbo options, you know, so then they can check that. And then, you know, so our website is pretty, it's pretty thorough and complete as far as

what they can figure out there, but if there's still questions. And that's a thing, like almost with every customer, we still have to have a conversation or a couple of emails back and forth to dial in because, like I said, like, I don't want to miss any detail. And at the end of the day, like, this is good, like my goal, like every customer that gets our final product in their hand, like, they're going to be blown away. Like, you are going to be blown away with what you have from us. And that's my goal. So, yeah, it's, that's, that's kind of the process. And then, yeah, sometimes they have, you know, very specific ideas about the design that they want. They want a little more creative control, which is totally fine.

They can have as much or as little as they want. Most of the time, they just pass it over to us because they've seen our work, which is great. We thrive on that. And then, you know, they're always going to approve the design, the mockup before it gets sent to print. And then it's printed, photographed in our studio, and shipped on its way. I love it. That's in a nutshell. Yeah.

But everybody exists and every project. So do we. And I don't, you know, it's hard. I don't care. We don't even have, we can keep this in or keep it out, Eric. But like, you budget. So if someone that's listening that wants a custom card, do you mind giving a budget range or you don't want to go there? Yeah, no, that's totally fine.

This is all on our website, too. Yeah, let me tee that up then. Yeah. I love it, Eric. So talk to me, okay, somebody's, they're listening. I would think the most common, don't let me put words your mouth, is probably, I want a custom card. You know, that's probably your most custom or common order. What does someone need to budget for a reclaim custom card?

Yeah, sure. Minimum order is $250. So that would be the minimum order. So, you know, is that going to get you something pretty good? 250? Yeah, it is. Yeah, so 250. So, like, we always say, like, okay, a relic card. Like, so if you're embedding an autograph or a relic and you want that into a card,

that price point starts at 150, but you're going to need to order two or you're going to need to add on some foiling or some embellishments of some sort. So you add hollowfoil to that cut. card, you're at 250 and you're at your minimum. But then you want to add the texture hollow foil, kind of like what the flawless and national treasures do, you know, then you're at another price point, an extra 150. So you're at 150 and 150 is 300. So jumbos are a little bit higher price point.

The foiling bumps up a little bit too. So depending on what you want, you can get something great for as little as 250. But I mean, man, there's some jumbo pieces on our, on our Instagram. You'll see that, you know, it was, you know, upwards of two or two. or three grand for a piece. So it just depends on how many bells and whistles and how much time you wants to spend on it. We will do anything you need.

I promise you that. We will get it down. Do you all do booklet cards? We do booklets. Yep. You can do booklets. They fold just like it's packed pulled. Yeah.

Yeah. Like I said, the best place to look at our portfolio is our Instagram. It's all cataloged so nicely there. Yeah. I'm asking questions. I know the answer to audience, just so you know, because I've already been down the rabbit hole. But I want him to answer it for you guys.

that IG accounts got a lot. I kind of, you know, I pride myself. I don't get on TikTok anymore. I appreciate it as a marketer, but I don't get on anymore because I'm just like going down the vortex of losing, you know, where to that hour go, you know? But I lost several hours on Reclaim Customs. I'll just say that.

That's why he's here. And that's what I love about what I do. I get to find talented people and shine a light on them. And if nothing else, just learn and embrace it all with my, kids. Eric, I, so we don't have a favorite piece because they're all your kids, but is there

anything else that might would get people's attention or things or custom things that you've done that might be a good story? For sure. And that's what it's all about. We want to tell stories with these pieces that we do. I think that, okay, yeah, I don't have a favorite. But the things that are, man, what is most touching to me, I'm getting chills just thinking about it.

Most meaningful to me is when we do family type stuff or heirloom type stuff or dedication, tribute, we're in the middle of a couple of projects for people's fathers, where they're sending us clothing or like stuff that he wore that he, you know, he had passed away. And we're doing tribute pieces for fathers. And being able to work with those customers, I haven't lost my desk. I still have my dad. Thank God.

but I know there's a day where I won't have them, you know. But being able to put, to be able to be a part of legacy of a family and something that I know is going to be on their shelf and pass down from generation to generation that's so meaningful to them, man, dude, that's the stuff that does it for me is those types of stories and those types of legacy pieces that we can do for people. I think that's a good point of things that you might not immediately have thought of. Like you think of games and players and all that. But there's so much.

And it goes to like the almost the heart of why I do this show. And it's there's something about collecting and these treasures, you know, for whatever reason. It might be a favorite game or a favorite memory with a family member that is at the heart of us as human beings. I don't, you know, we all collect something. And it's when someone ties together the magic of that with the talent that you have, it's really special. Yeah. Thank you. Yeah, like I said, it doesn't get lost on me.

And there's a weight. There's a responsibility in that, that like I said, I hold dearly and I don't take for granted. I don't. I don't take one second of this for granted. Man, but like I said, man, we're in the,

we're in the business of doing memorabilia pieces and trading cards and all that stuff. But man, we're in the people business too, you know? So I love people. I love the collaborative aspect of it and being able to rub shoulders with people and talk to people, hear their stories and why these pieces are memorable,

whether it's a family heirloom piece or a Babe Ruth autograph that their grandfather left them, or, you know, a game that they went to and they got this ticket and they got this whatever and, you know, a piece of confetti or whatever, you know, it's, it all ties together to story and in humanity. And we're all on the same page and we're on the same team. Yeah, man, 100%. Is, you said something maybe think of it. It's kind of come and gone, but I don't know. It's just, oh, I know what it was.

Where does your mind fall, Eric, on digital versus physical? So, you know, the younger generation, I didn't think it would ever happen. And I'm, I think, more ahead of the game than most being in the industries that I've been in with technology and stuff like that. Do you even entertain the idea of this, I don't know, digital aspect of what you're doing, of, you know, capturing that in some way? Yeah, are you talking about like NFTs and stuff like that? Yeah, NFTs, I'm kind of a, I'm not the most biggest proponent of NFT, you know, like I don't love that. But it's more the, if it's not an NFT, it's like digital cards, stuff like that. Yeah, yeah, like, and I know there's, I guess I mean more than just taking a picture of it.

But maybe like how that could be encapsulated digitally or, you know, I don't know. And I, you know, something to think about. I haven't really given that much thought. Like, you know, collectibility-wise and just my personal opinion is, in order for me to be passionate about it, I kind of have to understand it. Yeah. I don't understand that. Maybe I'm worried. Do you have kids?

I do. I got two boys. How old are they? 15 and 12. Okay. They play Roblox. That rings a bell. Maybe I've heard it.

Yeah. And it's definitely not as much as people make it out to be, but it is fascinating that they put skins on players and they do things. And like they had signed value that I don't remember assigning to digital things, right? Yeah. It's fascinating. Not that there's a, I don't think you need to confuse your worlds with that. I'm just more, I get to start brainstorming like business stuff.

like going, you know, if there's a documenting, you know, what you do in some way, creates some kind of like, I don't know, video aspect of it. Like, is it like camera angles of how it was created that then becomes a bonus? Hey, I'm creating a revenue string for you, Eric. That's what I'm doing. Yeah, yeah. We did some videos. Like, it's been a little over a year since we did them.

But we had a series on YouTube called Inside the Cardistry Cave. And we did, you know, episodes. I think we did like, man, I bet a dozen episodes at least. But then we just like, because it was just Aaron and I, and we just ran out of time. I'm like, okay, we can keep doing these videos and spending all these hours editing them or we can keep making cars. You know what I mean? You know, it's a separate team, Eric. You got to, yeah, if it's worthwhile, you know.

Yeah. No, but no, there's some. If you get on our YouTube channel, there are some. I got to go find those. I hadn't seen that one. I haven't been down some of the rabbit holes, but not that one. Yeah, it goes on our YouTube. Inside the Cardistry Cave, there's a few episodes there you get a kick out of.

One episode, we went to a farm, and we were like racing chickens and stuff like that. It all ties into cards, I promise. Yeah. This is, you know, my crazy, my crazy plan. What's your favorite card? Not that necessarily you've made, but, you know, do you have a favorite? Like in my collection or what you're? Yeah, sure, collection.

Or what you're hunting? Oh, man. Come on. Grayle or something. Yeah, probably in my collection. Jeez. I mean, the ones that are closest to my heart are the very first ones that I made of my boys. When Reclaim Customs got started, no assigned value to those.

But, dude, man, it's so hard. My collection is so vast. Okay, I'll tell you, it's not even a card. Is that all right? It's memorable. Yeah. Yeah. Okay.

So I'm a big. A Cinderella man fan. James Braddock and Mr. Bear. Remember that movie's a serial man? Oh, yeah. Okay, all right. So I have a letter written by James Braddock one week before the Max Bear fight,

and somebody was asking for his autograph, and it's a letter to this woman, it says, thank you so much for your interest in my handwriting. I'm getting in swell shape for the Max Bear fight coming up in a week. I hope this will fit the bill, and he signs it, James Jay Braddock. So, like, there's nothing else out. there looks like that that he writes a letter he mentions the fight and it's a week before the

fight and so i have a ticket to that fight i have um some customs that i've done of their autographs um some exhibit cards but yeah the vintage boxing that uh is around that time period the depression and it points to that fight because that's my favorite film so that's probably that's probably the coolest piece in my collection that's definitely the rare and unique I've heard of a lot of things, but that's up there when I think about the combination of variables there. Yeah. Yeah. Hey, man, I can talk to you all day.

I really appreciate the time and you're breaking away from your incredible talent and, you know, building cards that are probably way cooler than this show. But I just want you to know. I personally appreciate what you're doing in the hobby and hope to highlight that any way we can. man i appreciate being on here and yeah for the opportunity to talk to it's great to meet you yeah come on out some time to west michigan and wait to like to warm spring or summer it's it's it's pretty sweet out here in grand haven so all right i'm going to think about this jordan too that in mine too yeah you let me know that could be something interesting i need i'm brian i'm on next with the CEO of luddicks he may have to talk me off the ledge but we'll see i don't

know it sounds like it could be fun. All right. Yeah. Hey guys, you don't find us. Thecollectornation.com. You'll find the full length episode today with Eric, CEO of Reclaim Customs, highlight clips, links to their stuff.

Go get a custom card, man. Nothing like it. You can't pull. Look, this ain't in no pack. This is custom handmade, right by Eric and his team. And it's time you do something different. And that's what they're doing.

We appreciate them. We appreciate you. We'll see you next time. on Collector Nation. Thanks for tuning in to the show. Be sure to follow us on your go-to podcast platform and catch the full video episode over on YouTube. Visit us at collectornation.com

and follow Ryan on Instagram at Ryan Alford. Now get out there and collect yours.