Collector Nation - Real Talk with Gio (Mike Gioseffi) - the Voice of the Hobby on Sports Card Nonsense

Episode Date: August 25, 2025

SUMMARY In this episode of "Trading Cards & Collectibles Podcast," host Ryan Alford welcomes Mike Gioseffi, "the voice of the hobby," for an in-depth discussion on the evolving world of sports cards and collectibles. They explore the hobby’s transformation due to rising prices, breaking culture, and new audiences, including the growing influence of Pokémon. The episode blends market insights, personal stories, and a live pack-opening segment, emphasizing authenticity, community, and the joy of collecting. Listeners are encouraged to engage, share their own hits, and celebrate the passion that unites collectors of all backgrounds. TAKEAWAYS Focus on the collectibles hobby, particularly sports cards, sneakers, Pokémon, and memorabilia.Host's background as a longtime collector and experience in marketing and business. Emphasis on delivering authentic and fresh perspectives in the collectibles space. Interview with a prominent figure in the sports card community discussing their journey and insights. Discussion on the evolution of the hobby, including the impact of money and new participants. Exploration of the phenomenon of "breaking" and its effects on the market and community. Analysis of the changing economics of collecting, including rising prices and market expectations. Consideration of diversity and inclusion within the hobby, particularly regarding female collectors. Examination of the role of brands, sponsorships, and competition among card manufacturers. Highlighting the importance of community, authenticity, and adaptability in the evolving collectibles landscape.

This is the Collectibles podcast on SI, part of the SportsCard Nonsense Media Network. From chasing grails to Colin Bluffs, going inside the hobby. Here is your host, Ryan Olford. Yo, what's up guys? Welcome to Collectibles on SI. You're home for the hobby on the Sports Illustrated Network. Part of the SportsCard Nonsense Media Network. I am Ryan Alford, your host, and I am pumped.

I get to do what I love. Talk about the hobby. Get to join this space. I host another show called Right About Now. It's the number one marketing and business show on Apple. Been doing it for seven years. But I grew up in the hobby. I grew up collecting cards.

And on the set, you can see the cards, the shoes. I want to give a shout out to my guys on the sports card nonsense network. Gio, Jesse, all the guys that are a part of that group that have welcomed me in. I appreciate it. I want to do justice to the hobby and just bring another gear and a fresh perspective. The dad and his four boys here ripping, selling, talking the business, sharing insights, news. Of course, the latest and greatest in the hobby and some of the best interviews on the planet. But I just want to be authentic and true to this space because I'm blessed to get to do this show to come to you twice a week, bringing you the best and brightest, hopefully,

in the hobby. That's the goal. You know, we're going to talk about all things in the hobby on this show. But admittedly, the boys and I are into kicks and cards, probably more than anything else. We have a dose of Pokemon. Yeah, a little bit. We're more sports card guys, football, basketball, but we're light on baseball. And that's probably the good, you know, switch with us and Gio and the guys. Geo and the guys are big on baseball. We're more football guys. You know, we grew up in the South, Clemson Tigers, whoo, go Tigers, and literally, you know, bleed orange. But this show is going to be about bringing all perspectives and everything happened. NIL's crazy. There's so many topics to get into. I'm so pumped.

This show is built for you. And I'm really excited about the interactivity we're going to bring to this, bringing some of the things we've been doing in podcasting to hopefully make it a more engaging show. Talk a little bit. But hey, I'm going to let the specialist talks. I'm just like you. I'm a collector at heart. And I'm here to learn as much as anything. I got my takes. Got a business savvy to me. Running four companies, podcast network, running the right about now, your business show. But I'm here to bring to you. and curate the best in the hobby to sort of bring it all behind the scenes and use the access that I have to show you what's happening and also show you real time what's happening

with me and the boys with what we're collecting. And I guess more than anything, you know, the hobbies really turned into this business, which I love, but I also want to get it back to what the name of the show is. It's collecting, collectibles. I'm just pumped. Excited to be here. There are a few segments, a few notes. One, here's what I want you to do.

If you're listening, you'd be watching. If you're watching, you need to be listening. Because we're on YouTube. We're on social. media. We're building this thing. So go follow with collectibles. Dot show is going to be the universal handle.

That's the website. www. collectibles. Show, TikTok, Instagram, and of course, YouTube. So depending on where you're catching this now, collectibles. Dot show is where you'll find all of the channels and learn more about what we're doing. And ultimately, we want to hear from you. We're going to be doing every week once we get rolling and start getting submissions in,

case hits at collectibles. Show. Send in those videos. I want to know the stories. We're going to bring them to life here on the show. We're going to do a segment each week. Once we get rolling and get some videos in, where we share that and we want your collections to make it here on the show with us. We want to feature you, mark your calendars for where we were going to be Tuesdays and Fridays here on the show.

This first episode is releasing on a Monday. And then next week we'll be releasing on Tuesday and Friday. We got some big names telling you. Talked about Josh Liu where we got Gio, the voice of the hobby. Talk to Gio about that. You're going to hear that segment. Awesome. Got behind the scenes of what's happening.

the hobby, why Geo got in, why he's doing what he's doing. And really, the whole hobby is an industry and how much opportunity is there is here and how great it is. And that's why I'm here. I'm just here to learn, to love and to ultimately bring to you something a little different. So stay tuned. Go follow us on social media. Go follow on YouTube. But if you're listening, and give us some love there and give us some feedback, give some comments. And be gentle. Hey, first time with this one. There's a lot of shows. But Here to get better and here to learn and here to bring it to you ultimately so that you can collect what you want, learn what you need to learn, and get inside the hobby every week. Did I mention the King of Cards?

He's coming on. Oh, it's my boy. He's coming on too. He's one of the first episodes. After Geo, we got Josh Looper, King of Cards. See things up our sleazy guy named Gary V, a little buddy of mine. Talk a little V friends. He'll be coming on here in the next few weeks.

Man, we're lining up the big ones, the big hitters. And then we're going to get into the hobby, some of the subtle things in collecting. Artwork, memorabilia, all that stuff. Pumped to be here. But here's what you can expect on the show. Great interviews, news and insights, the rad rips of the week. And then, of course, those case hit pulls and just PC pulls from you. Those great stories that we want to tell for that card you hit.

I want to bring these stories to life just for you. And I'm so excited to be here. Now, let's get to the interview with Mike Giocefi from sports car nonsense. I'm just calling them the voice of the hobby. We sat down at the National. just a few weeks ago. Had a blast with those guys. Mike is awesome.

He tells it like it is, man. I respect him. And we're going to have a lot of fun together. Here comes that segment right here. What's up, Mike? I'm excited to be here, man. Yeah. I am curious.

I don't want to nose-downe this thing originally. However, you are like this titan in the real world. And you're nobody in this world yet. I don't know to be that disrespect. It is a weird. What's the mentality? Give me the playbook. Are you coming here like divide and conquer like you've done the other stuff?

Or is just like, I want to know because it is. Like, I've never talked to somebody way more successful than me. In everything else, you're even taller and better looking than me. I don't know about that. We're as good looking as me. But then, like, totally starting fresh here. Honestly, you know what's interesting, Gio is like a lot of people think that, like, success and like, especially me building personal brain and doing what I've done,

that there would be a lot of ego attached to it. Sure. And that would be a fair assumption. Okay. I know how to sort of compartmentalize what's work and what I'm good at from by ego attaching to it necessarily. And so thus, I come into this industry as a humble servant. And I mean that. I know you, you better go, this guy's full of shit.

No, I agree. From what I do. I actually agree with you. I think we've been working together for a few months here. Correct. And my dad, plenty of vices and flaws, legally. and illegally. However, his first thing, he's like, big guy, that's him. He's like, big business, whatever, he was very skeptical. Then he met you and he was like, listen to him. He's like,

hey, he's all right. And that is like the nicest compliment. He's ever given anybody. That means a lot. He didn't. He was like, just a guy. And that's his big thing. If you're just a guy, that's like his biggest, because I just thought that was cool. I don't even I'm a guy's guy. And like, I have four boys and I never thought that, you know, the hobby and business could blend together necessarily. Sure. And I stayed on the sidelines, Mike, like, literally, I didn't force my boys into the hobby. You know, I think some dad, not forced them, but I didn't even show it to them.

I let it happen organically. And then, you know, they go, they started getting into it. We went to a store. They said, dad, buy this pack. I'm like, what'd you say? Yeah. Buy a pack of cards. We're cheering inside.

Chearing inside. We buy a pack. And the rest of history. So, I mean, I pointed what I've been. built by networking things like that, you know, meeting Jeremy and Brian at Ludex. We're in the Ludex lounge here at the National. How could we not mention that? You know, we're jumping right into it, but we're here at the National.

One of the biggest shows on Earth. This is the biggest one ever, yeah, not even close. Yeah, I was at Fanatics Fest, and so I've done both being new back to the hobby, which I want to talk about that because I would get us down. I'm going to close this out, though. I'm honored to be here. I really am able to sort of compartmentalize and go, I want to learn. And the way I can learn, the way I can contribute, whatever it might be to this industry and working with you guys on your team is to absorb.

Because I have a lot to offer, but I need to learn. I'm not someone that tries to step in someone's backyard and go, well, I'm just going to dominate because I dominate or something. I want to contribute because I think the only way that this will work is if it's authentic and organic. Yep. And so I'm trying my best in the Ryan-offord way to just absorb, learned, and not because it's hard for me to do those things, but I do sort of run head first into everything. Sure, yeah, so you can only be a totally different mindset. Yeah, but I do.

I'm excited because I see how much potential there is. The reason I'm on this team is because it's a bunch of guys having a good time. but also serious about business. And I think the skill sets I bring, like, no one wants to be on a team where they're the seventh man. Right. They have nothing to offer, but they're getting the water bottles. Sure.

I see my place on this team, but I also respect where this team's already gotten, and if I can do anything to elevate it, great. Love it. And so. That's our mindset, too. Like, we want this to be like the bar stool of the sports car barrel. You have fun, you're scorn and do all the stuff.

Everybody can be a star. But at the end of the day, there's also the business end of it. Exactly. I was curious, though. I was like, man, I've never dealt with like a real alpha in business. You know, because this is a small pond. And I'm like, not to be a scumbat. Well, it's truly.

And I'm kind of like, I feel like I'm one of the whales. There's a lot of us. But I'm like, I'm kind of a known, a little bit of a known person here. But I'm like, this is cool to have other people who are whales and real ponds and real oceans. But there's been walking, you know, you are rock star out there and watching a couple of other guys. And, like, you know, in my world, you know, I'm that. That's what I mean. Yeah, yeah.

It's a lot of people. Sure. But it's fun. Like, I don't sit there and go, well, you don't know who I am. I mean, if you've noticed, like, I try to tone that down. Yeah. But you're also not bashful, which I like. Yeah.

It's going to be great, actually. And I think it would be cool for people, like, your audience to say, hey, here's the journey through. From, like, because especially with us, when we started, okay, you're coming in. I had been a business for this for years. You're already at experience level. It's different. Now to see somebody like Jesse was like that. They didn't know Jesse really well.

So for you, I think it's going to be cool for people to see somebody coming back in and really start fresh. I know. And I want, but I'm glad you asked that, Gio, because, like, I want people to know that as they're getting to know this show and what we're going to do. And we're going to be so integrated. Like, I mean, I'm going to bring Gio on as often as he'll, he's going to say uncle at some point. Because, you know, we're going to try to blend it up. And, you know, with the studio in Greenville. And hopefully I'm going to try to strong arm him into a retail store in Greenville.

We talk about that. Dude, I pitched you yesterday. I'm not kidding. I'm in. And so, yeah, so I'm just pumped. And I think it's going to be great with my four boys getting to see this. Literally, guys, so we'll be all over the place with this interview a little bit. But five minutes before we came on, Gio and two of my boys, Hudson and Hogan and are ripping.

Yeah, Geo goes and grabs the box. I was like, what are y'all doing? I thought we had ripped some packs with your boys. I'm like, that's cool. You see how excited he was, by the way. And that's the difference to, there was no camera around. It was not like, hey, okay, here we go, three, two. Kid ripped a pack.

He's like, oh, Jayden Daniels held it up. He was like pumped. I was like, that genuine, I was like, this is cool. We need more of that. Like, there's business, there's everything else, but we also just need. Like, if you don't have love of the game, there is no game. It's pure joy. That was cool to see.

Yeah. Who is Mike Gia? So I'm a, yeah, breaker, content creator, podcast host, and yeah, been in the card world. Who are you really? Who is the real idea? That's it. Yeah, simplest form now, man, all about the kid. I got a two-year-old, and that's it, my wife and kid.

Our world has changed. This used to be such a bigger deal. And I called my wife last night, like, man, I should have stayed home. I should have. And I've had a great time, but it was just like, so, yeah, at the end of it, like, that's where it starts and is for me. My little guy's CEO, my wife, that's it. One of the things that I really respect about what you've built and what you've done is in being the voice or one of the major voices of the hobby is your ability to tell it like it is. And I'll say this.

I've podcasted for eight years. And I'm opinionated. But I think I struggle even sometimes, not because I'm not telling like it is, but maybe being as direct as I want to be. and what I respect about you though is you've got a very popular show and you just say what the hell you want and what you think and I respect that yeah I mean it's good and bad right like sometimes it's awesome like oh the thing went viral because you called out this person or did that and that's cool and it's bad when hey we were a sponsor and now we're not sponsoring because which has happened like we've cost us money before so I think overall the thing has done well and it's financially done well

but yeah you that's the downside like sometimes you either got to learn to shut up can play the game or you're going to lose some money. Well, that's probably sage wisdom learning, you know, how it goes. Sure. And that's definitely something to dance around. But, like, what's formed your opinions of the hobby? Just experiences in it? Or is there a level of acumen that's come from something else?

No, this is it. So I was just doing construction for years. Like, me and my wife had a tiny apartment, lived in it forever, super content, thrilled. Like, we were happy just having nothing and making no money. And we were. We were happy. So we didn't care.

Had no business experience. But I always was kind of like, man, And I would look at things like, I think I could do this better than somebody. Like I think, as an ego thing, just I think I could improve this. And then we had a chance to really get into breaking originally and then just really get into the hobby. And then it kind of took off. But the viewpoint now is just like, I've seen a lot of these guys come and go, you know, which I'm sure you have like in your business. Like, through 2021, there were a billion business and finance podcasts.

And all these losers, when they couldn't just point at any stock that was 10xing, they left. It's like, because there's some of these, you actually have to know what the heck is going. on. That's how the hobby was. It was like, this dude's got a great camera and is, and is well-spoken, more well-spoken than I am. Let's follow his advice. And he's like, this guy is a dummy. Like, this moron could get run over by a truck and just look around like what happened. Just stupid people, but they came across well, like snake oil salesman. And I hated that. Like, I just was like, when I sold the company in 2020, I was like, I'm done, I'm retired, I'm going to step back. And I started digging into content. And I was so angry. I'm a fiery Italian from Boston. I was,

I was just pissed. I was like, this stuff is terrible. You losers who have no idea are telling other people. I'm out. I can't do it. So it was all started out of spite. Everything out of spite. Terrible.

It doesn't surprise me, though, hearing that. It's true, yeah. You know, that's not the best things come from. It's all energy in motion. It's like inertia. Inertia starts from a lot of different things. Sure. It's like, what gets that ball moving?

Yeah, and as long as it's authentic. That's the other thing. I'm not going out of my way to call out people. Like this is when sometimes people have called, hey, we got to crush this guy. He did XYZ. If I don't agree with that, I just won't say anything, like, I'm not going to crush people just to get the clicks.

But if you need to be called out, I mean, that's, to me, that's part of the job also. The hobbies changed a lot. Tons. I was in late 80, you know, junk wax. Unfortunately, I didn't come up during the, any of the good periods of, like, great cars. I have all the junk wax of the late 80s of these early 90s.

91, that's a good year. Oh, perfect. Good for kindling, man. Yeah, exactly. And bicycle spokes. Yep. It's changed a lot. It'd be easy to lump it all into money.

Yeah, well, that's changed it. Yep. But what's the good and the bad and the ugly of the hobby right now? Yeah, so the good, like you said, that's almost an easy answer. Like, money has changed it. Money has, but interest is where it started first. Like people coming in with interest, those people who had interest in the hobby also had a lot of money to spend.

The COVID boom was nuts. Like, there was no other time like that where you could buy anything and just resell it and make a profit. Like, everybody did it and it worked great. But the interest level is different. You know, like the fanatics guys will tell you, now it's like a cool. I always say, well, hey, us nerds, myself included, us nerds are in the hobby. And now it's like, now there's a bunch of like cool guys out here.

All these athletes do it. It's a different world. And so the popularity is good. Popularity is also bad. You got socially awkward people where this was their escape. Like, I'm going to come here. I'm going to just nerd out on a 25 cent box and build my sets. But this is my safe place.

And good for them. And now it's like, hey, can you move away from that box? I got to film content next to you. or hey, this guy's got to be making a deal for $10,000. Yeah. So I do feel like we've squeezed out some people, unfortunately. Yeah. I don't know.

It's kind of like the tradeoff within the industry as it takes off. Like, I can't go buy a house for $20 grand. That stinks. The house I live in is worth a lot more than $20,000. Cool, that's good. It's kind of the give and take of it. I know. And I had this conversation like yesterday of talking to someone.

The money has changed. The cost of cards has changed. But I don't know how you put that genie back in the bottle because if you walk around and you want to go, man, I want to make it more affordable so kids can buy a $2 pack again. Well, guess what? Those kids walking around down there wouldn't be happy with a $1 base card. They all have the parallels out of 10 and walking around with $5,000 to $100,000 cases from 10 years old to 25 years old.

It's wild. And so I don't know how you put that. Gene doesn't go back in the bottle because everybody's kind of sipping from the same juice now. Agreed, yeah. And you said it right. I think me and you were talking to, like every table you go to is hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars.

How are they all worth it? Because everybody's buying it. Like, there is such a crazy market. But it's like, okay, let's get kids involved. I hate to say it, but to a degree, it's like anything else. Like, all kids should be able to go to Disney World. Okay, well, Disney World's now $150 for the day. Exactly.

It used to be $20. Cool. I get it. It's not anymore. Do I feel bad for people who now can't get in? Yes. There's also entry levels, though. You can still get the $2 pack.

If your kid's not content with that, I understand that. He sees his buddies with 10 grand. but like that's the reality. If you want to get to that point, you've got to start hustling at a younger age. That's the good though.

Dude, the entrepreneurial level of 12-year-olds in this hobby is obscene. When I was 12, I was trying to climb a tree and like try to be four foot 10. These 12-year-olds are like,

oh, my ROI on this card is here and my margin, and I'm like, great. Like, that's the world you've created. So Mike, you're a breaker. Yep. You got a show. Talk about the hobby.

What's breaking doing to the hobby, if anything, positively and negatively. And where's it going? Because it's pretty saturated now. And there's only so much product to go around. But I'd love this perspective just about that sub-segment of the hobby. Yeah, so good and bad, right? Good.

It is the fastest growing form of the hobby. People love it. It's the gambling mentality. They give a casino go out of business. No, because people want to chase. I like to think there's more to it than just pulling the slot machine lever because there's a community, there's some piece, the personal collection aspect to it.

But it is the easiest way to get people in. Like you see a guy on a screen, you click a button, you're in. I don't have to go to Chicago. I don't have to go to a shop. So it's good for that. The growth is good. Yeah. The bad is, there's a ton of money to be made, so you have bad actors. And some of the worst garbage tactics. Let's hype up crap and hook you.

And then as you're slowly losing money, you just don't know it yet. You're so hooked. And then those, I feel like there's a lot of attrition. Because those people come in and they're hooked, and it's all great. But then I hyped up a card to be. worth 200 bucks. They just sold it for 47. And now they're like, man, I'm done. Like, I don't want to keep doing it. So there's good and bad. I think you have to foster a community. If you're just in it for the short term, but it's, it is crazy. Like, that area just keeps growing.

As a marketer, I think I have a lot of opinions, but I've never been like the prognosticator necessarily. But in 2018, before COVID, I did a FedEx speech and said, live selling by 2025 will be on its way to. And that whole like, segment of live selling, not just cards and collectibles, a lot of other things too. But that hasn't even, I mean, as a whole, live selling is barely on the uptick of the, of the bell curve. That is the speed with which that is going to increase. I think we're just on the cusp of it, across collectibles, everything. Yeah. I also think, like, look at other markets. Yeah. Like the Asian market with live selling a billion times. I'm curious too, let me ask you, because again, you're the marketing guy.

I have no experience with that. To me, I would look at it and say, I think breaking is the easiest thing in this hobby, the easiest entry, easiest aspect to market. Yes. Like, dude, it's like come in and hang out with your friends virtually and we're going to rip stuff. I think that's part of the appeal. Yeah, exactly. I always say, like, there becomes intersections of things that matter.

And you have this intersection of technology capability. Smartphones proliferation of smartphone networks and Wi-Fi, ubiquitous nature of connectivity. Combined with these apps and the development of those, combined with demand and people ready to do it. And there's been this intersection now and the timing. And COVID sped it up probably. I think it was coming anyway.

Sped it up, the life cycle. I agree. But there's been this perfect intersection where those things have hit. One of the biggest things is, you know, if you go home and you open a pack by yourself, it's fun. But tree falls in the woods, though. Yeah, but tree falls in, we heard it.

I agree. You know? So it's the immediate water cooler effect of telling everybody what you did all weekend, but you're live in the stream with them or whatever. And it brings together so many things of FOMO, combined with community. People are ready and willing and able now to do community and do digital space. Like never before. 10 years ago, they weren't ready for that.

Right. And that's where I think COVID probably sped that along. They're like, because people were staying home. And they had it. Like, you're going to have community. It was going to be digitally. That's right. And so now it's going shopping together.

And no more I have to open a pack alone. And so now I think it's the perfect intersection of all of these things. And which is why it's booming. The supply and demand is an interesting aspect of what that does. It's like, because once you start chopping up boxes, you know, it's like, in one hand, it allows. you to get access to something like you maybe cannot afford that prism 2024 football boxes a thousand dollars you can't afford that and especially if I only want the

Patriots exactly I don't even want to spend the money to chase them like I just want the one to yeah I agree so that's the benefit yep then the negative is it's like chicken the egg are the boxes costing more because there's breaks or you know yeah for the brakes just more because the product exactly yep and where do you stand on that 50 50 so like I would say this box price have gone up yeah singles have gun up. I mean, I made my money in singles. I collected Tom Brady for since 2010. I was buying patch out. I mean, I sold his contenders champ ticket for $7,500. 15 years ago, that card is worth $700,000 now. I guess it's an extreme example, but that's the example. So I don't want this box

to be $500. Okay, well, do you also want the single best hit you can get to only be worth $1,000? Feeling in the floor. And I'm skewed, right? Like, I fully admit I'm biased. I'm a breaker, I think, I do think some stuff is way overpriced, and we speak to that, but it's like, people want to hit the million dollar card now. That's the market, like the Yautani judge, that's a half million to a million dollars. Nobody wants to hit a $10,000. Even that is insane. People aren't chasing a $10,000 car anymore. We are chasing the $100 or million. So to that extreme, it's like, so that's kind of where we live with it. It's been some news lately, sports card nonsense media network. Yeah. That's a big deal.

So, yeah, very cool. You know, I'm excited. to be a part of it, but how do you feel about the growth of all this? Yeah, I'm excited. I mean, like me and Jesse, our thing was we want to do more. Jesse's my co-host on the podcast. Yeah, we want to do more, but it's like we're tapped out. Like, I've got a new one at the house. He's got family stuff. We have a lot going on. We kind of brought this as far as we could. And then it was like, we got, we had a good team anyways. Then we get guys, like I said, big people from outside the hobby coming in with a bigger following.

Like our following is massive in the hobby. Our following is a peon in the real world. So to bring guys like yourself in, Tim, me it was like, hey, let's just build a whole network. And that was the, like, for me and Jeremy and Chris, too, our vision was like, I kind of dumb it down, like, was the barstool model. Like, one podcast is cool. Seven podcasts and five shows and 50 clips a week and content about content and then debates within the team. Like, we get to that level and I just don't think there's anybody in the hobby that does it. And there's nothing authentic. You went there. You nailed it. Oh, I hate every other content. I hate it for that reason. If you didn't say it, I was going to,

That's why I'm here. You know, meeting Jeremy, meeting Chris, meeting you. You know, I was like, these guys I'd want to hang out with. This is real. Yeah. And your show was real anyway. That's why I respected it. I'm like, it's real.

And in a way, it's, because where I was going to go next, be the brand guy, you know, nonsense. You know, it's like part, irreverence, part don't take yourself too seriously. Like, what else is? Part, we're talking about pictures of dudes on cards, like, chill out. But yeah, that is really. And even like the thing about authenticity, like does it prohibit certain brands? Because I want yes men to make stupid content. Sure.

But like the brands we've worked with for years are pretty big deals in this world. And it's like, hey, we're glad you ripped us the other day. Because then when you praise us down the road for something you actually like, it's authentic as well. So I think there's a real opportunity. It's interesting with the brand comment. I think not only we're going to do this together, bringing more brands into the hobby. Which is why we need you. And that's, there it is, dude.

Because that is the ultimate golden goose. Hobby money's cool. I'm going to talk about Rubin. Hobby sponsorship. Real money is different. Yes. And they need to be here because when you look at the data, look, I've been digging into the data.

I'm a marketing guy and a creative guy and all this, but I'm also a data junkie. And when I started looking at the data, that's when I went, okay, this is a hobby, and it's cool the boys like it. But this is real business. The affluent audience that's in this industry. and their loyalties and the tie-ins to the brands that, I know what I used to recommend to brands.

Sure. I'd go, you should be on this, that, and the other, from a media perspective. Right. When I looked at the data from the hobby, I'm like, this beats nine out of ten things I ever recommended to them. Yeah, here's your extremely heavy male demographic, 24 to 50 with expendable income. Like, who, hello. Yeah. And by the way, I say male heavy dom.

It is. Like, at this point, like, we're working with some female creators, too. I want to build that out as well. Yeah. But I also know at the core of the, it's like, hey, what's your demographic? Age? Like, who are you appealing to? And here I'm just like, this seems like a home run.

Do you think their hobbies ready for more women? Yeah, so we were talking, like, a girl named Kayla. I say girl. She's 20 years younger than me, so she's a girl to me. Authenticity there, I think, is even harder to find. Because there are some women in our hobby right now. They put out a bunch of content. As soon as the camera's off, hey, what do you collect, this or that?

Nothing. It's a paid spot, which, by the way, a lot of companies do that, hey, we have to have diversity. We need a woman here. Great, like, I guess, like, I don't care. Good for you. I just want good people who like the hobby. This young woman was me and Danny met with the other day. I liked it because she is a crazy collector.

She's been in it since before the boom. She was going to cars with, she was like 12. And I was like, this is what we need. Like, this is a cool thing. The fact you're a girl, great, whatever. You check that box. You're a collector who makes content. Awesome.

So, yes, I want more. I don't want more women in the hobby just to come in to make content and not be in the hobby. If you're going to come over, we want everybody. If you're coming here for a paycheck, I'm good. We can find other people to do that who also have passion. Yeah, I love that. It's the right answer, too.

And it's why it's another reason I'm coming in the way I'm coming in is because I want it to be that way. Like, I don't, yeah. Yeah, I mean, I get paid for brands to do whatever. Sure. But I wasn't going to do that here until I've spent a year in six figures plus learning the hobby again, understanding it again, paying my own dime, to then go, I have something to contribute, and now I know what's going on.

Yep. And then you bring your outside expertise. Yeah. That's why I think it's like a cool. Like you talked to intersections before. Dude, you're one of those intersection people. Hey, like I got the means and the funds out here. I don't have to just be in here chasing the brand money, which I think is great.

Because some people doing the content have to. I got to make X amount of money to stay in the life. I get that. Like, I don't even knock those people. No. But like that was my thing when I came in. And that's why for you, you're making your real money there. This will make money eventually.

but we get to control who we make money from. Exactly. And I think it will, in turn, make it better and bigger deals. Agreed. We don't have to chase it. It will come and we'll build it the right way. It's interesting. You talked to Michael Rubin.

Yep. I was watching that interview. It's fascinating hearing him talk about the hobby. Yeah. The owner of Fanatics, Tops, you know. Everything is happening with licensing. That's been something that's really interesting. That's new with the hobby.

I mean, I know they have this. same deal you know 30 years 25 years ago when I was in it but like the Panini thing you didn't hear about it then either no but so funny eight months ago opening one of my second boxes of the foray back into the hobby and I go there's no logos I didn't know oh yeah I didn't even know sure I was like I thought it was an airbox yeah yeah I was like we're the logg I didn't know anything about that and listening to my ankle talk about it and the license changes and buying a lot of boxes now where you don't have the, it's weird. Agreed. It's a weird segmented thing for the next year and a half.

Yeah. Because when we were younger, it was just like, hey, here's top, upper deck, flare, Don Russ, all different, all independent running, which I think is great. I also think competition is the best because, like, if I'm trying to be better than you, I'm going to work harder. Like, I like that. Should the deal have happened? I hate, I mean, Michael knows this, Mr. Rubin.

I hate exclusivity of any kind. Yeah. Like, if you've got two people competing, I'm an athlete, like, you know, Division 9 athleteish. Hot tide raises on ships. Yeah, yeah. Like, we're not going like Division 1. Like Division 9, though. Me and the old guys run ball twice a week.

I play better when I'm playing guys who are a little better than me. I'm going to try to chase him back. Oh, I'm going to be, my jump shot's going to be better. I'm going to use my left hand. But I just, I think. So the hobby's benefited from them competing. I think so. So you take that aspect away.

Now, the good thing is too. Ruben's also like, hey, I make money everywhere I go. I'm not going to bet against him. And they're in this for 20 years. So I'm also like, well, he's not going to tank it. We're not going to overproduce. I know those are fears, but to me, why would he do that? If you make money for 20 years and grow it like it's been growing.

But, yeah, at the end of the day, if you told me we have three or four companies with licensing, that's my, yeah, that's my paradise situation. What's Panini going to do? I have no idea. Yeah, and like, you know. Are they going to be able to do what Tops has been able to do and sort of eking out sales without the license because they sign all these top guys for autos and things, I mean, like. It's tough because even those deals will go away.

Like the PA, so, like, they'll have NIL deals. Like Arch Manning's an example. They'll have Arch Manning, NIL, they have it now, until he's a part of the PA, then you lose him. I also, there's no love loss with me in Panini. I don't like them for years. Like, the arrogance they came to us with just, I'm sorry. Like, when you come to me with, hey, why do we need you or anybody else? We're Panini or we're any company.

It's just like, okay, cool. Hey, when you're King of the Hill, like, you can talk like that. And I got news, so you're getting knocked off the hill. You weren't there for up. Cool. Have a good fall. Like, I'm not, I have no sympathy. I know that's terrible.

I also know, though, in three years, all we're going to hear about is, Remember the golden age, though, Panini. Anytime you can't have it, it's the greatest. Yeah. Dude, it's like, oh, Tops was terrible. We hate Tops. Then Panini takes a license. Man, Tops Chrome, 2000 was unbelievable.

We couldn't sell it. Nobody wanted it. Panini, everybody hates it. Redemptions. They don't fulfill stuff. That's now. Three years, dude, national treasures was the greatest. Can you imagine we don't have national?

That's exactly. It's always, everything else is always great. Nobody ever remembers when you're in the moment. We always won't, but we don't have. What's your thoughts on? Hobbies is broad. Collectibles is broad. like, Pokemon.

Even if you're not a Pokemon specialist. Crazy. But, like, that is a subculture in itself. I've never seen this. Star Wars and everything else. I've never seen anything like Pokemon. Insane. Yep.

Passionate collectors, intelligent collectors, way better marketers in card guys. You know the Pokemon tables out there because they have lights. They have the little spin wheel. They have Pokemon people know how to sell. Like, they are just, in general, they are a class above us.

They kill it, man. They do. There is a sophistication to them. Oh, dude. Showcase out there with the guys like, oh, you want this card? He's hitting, like, animation on the... I didn't even know how he did it.

And I was just like, this dude is literally working magic and selling a car, like, stupid. It's awesome. It is. It's interesting seeing it blended in, too. We're here at the National, Chicago, large sports memorabilia show in the country, but it's sort of just blending in.

Every show I've been in since we've been back in the game, you see it kind of thread throughout a little bit. So, like, your local show, I know you do the local show, the trade-down with you. Yeah. So the split, I've been telling Jesse, recently there's been some Nashville shows, the smaller ones, 80-20 Pokemon to sports. Long-standing sports shows, what is the mix in Greenville, like, or that area with your shows?

It's 60-40, probably sports. Oh, really? But Pokemon's growing. So two years ago, though, what was Pokemon? 5%, 10%? Yeah, I wasn't in the flow of it, but my understanding hearing and talking to people in the market, it's growing faster. Yeah, I agree. I think it's going faster.

I don't think it's one or the other. It's a different market. Correct. Like it's, you know, my kids are kind of in that in-between age. I got a 9-year-old and a 16-year-old, the low and the high. And I even can appreciate the artwork of the Pokemon. Do I want to showcase it in my sports, you know, office? No.

Yeah. But do I appreciate the art? Do I mind opening some ripping packs of the kids? No. They're fun. And you talk about entry level. Like, I've never seen a new Pokemon box. I know they spike above retail.

but the $40 box spikes to $120. Cool. Like, I don't like the fact that we get scalpers going crazy. But the fact you can buy $100, what are you buying for $120 in baseball, basketball? That's a thing. We can rip boxes and that and have a nice night. And I'm not like, I don't even, I'm a point where I'm not sweating it, but like I'm still like going, this is just dumb.

You know, it's been $1,000 on one night, like ripping three boxes of football. It's like, whether you've got it or not. I'm with you. Dude, we get over and get weird with Dynasty. I mean, if we get weird for an hour, it's not three, like, we're 48,000 deep. Like, I don't care how much, like, that's a lot of money. Like, I don't care of billionaires. Like, I don't care of billion, I love cars, but, like, that's what they are.

So it's, I do like that aspect. Yeah. I think there's a lot of room for growth in the hobby. I'm excited to bring that to life, you know, having the boys involved and, you know, doing it organically. I just, you know, really appreciate you coming on, man. Dude, I really am. I'm super excited. We're trying to get content.

guys, I did not think people in your, like your level with where you're at with your career and stuff like that had any interest. So the fact that you are in on something like this, I think is great. I do. I really think that's what we need. We need outside money. We also need outside people. You just make good content. I don't care that you don't know every subset in prism or freaking optic. You have an interest. You have kids. You want to get in. And I'm like, this dude's an expert of what he does. I think it's, I think that's what's going to separate this from the other guys trying to make content. I'm excited, man. We'll have all the links and stuff. Cool. Anything else we want to plug? We can shut it down. Sports cards nonsense everywhere and

collecting collectibles.S.S.I.com backslash collectibles. Nailed it. You got it. I got it. So, yeah. Brother, appreciate it. Hey guys, collectibles on SI, the first edition of many. We're going to have lots of content blended into this from the national. Your man, Gio is on the floor, telling it like he always does. It's hilarious. We're going to be showing more of that content. You got to see this guy in action, really on the floor. He lives it, breathes it just like he talks it. And I'm telling you, it's going to be great. I appreciate you for coming on. I appreciate you for tuning in.

The best is yet to come. You know what you came for. Those rad rips of the week. Let's get at it. Rad rips of the week. Two of our favorites, select, and mosaic. 20, 24 football. So let's go ahead and open these guys up.

All right, what we got? Let's see. Each packet. So the mosaic. You got one, two, three, four, five, six packs. And the select, you've got six packs, six and six. Those reactive blue parallels. You've got things like micro-mosaics, which we've hit some of, stained glass.

That's a fun one. Both beautiful cards, by the way, premium sets. We'll see how it goes. We'll start with mosaic. Breeze Hog, Blair, John Taylor, gold, rookie, finishing out with the notoriety, that two of you. to all the fame. So we'll go pack for pack here between each one.

Select cards are nice, though. 20-4 came out later in the season. Oh, there's our boy. I think he's a bounce-back year this year, guys. Beaver worthy with Mahomes in Hampton. Not a bad start. All right, mosaic. What we got?

We got all kinds of lighting. That's what I'm saying with these parts. I have to change that up. Yep. Jatvion Sanders, Ace of Base, Terrell Owens. Blake Corum on the rookie. Another touchdown masters. So, so, so far, we're saving the fireworks here.

Which one of these you like better? Mosaic or select. Get some little shading of light here. It's going to make feel like everything's got a refractor on it. Oh, there's Marvin Harrison Jr. We'll take him. A little rookie. Brian Thomas Jr. on the die cut.

That's cool. Speed through this. Let's see what we got here. There, a car. Tired. Last card he'll have. Rookie. There's a pinnics.

On that horizontal, the lighting in here is making every one of these cards look amazing. And we're going to think everybody watching is going to be like, whoa, what set of these? Quentin Johnson, Graham, Roma doesn't say. Who's this? Von Bell, Aiden Hutchinson, coming back from injury, Dave Davis,

moving Waddle. We're moving through it. Rad rips of the week. Kyle Pitts, Eddie George, Michael Irvin, Corey Taylor, Marvin Harrison, Jr. That's a good one. Got the refractor galore in here at the studio. It makes every card look. Tip Freeman.

Red likes Tip. All right, two of each left here. Hate it for Jordan Travis. Every time I see his cards and I seem to get a ton of them. Always hate it because it's what you had to go through. Tip Raymond again. Told you. Judy, National Pride.

Mosaic makes some good cards, though. All right, select. What we got here? Two packs left. Patrick, Herbert. All these offensive linemen on these SP inserts here. Stafford, great quarterback. Ooh, that's something.

Eric Dickerson, that is a definite insert. Out of 199, the white. Eric Dickerson, very cool looking card, by the way. Hey, hey, you ask and you sow receive here on collectibles. I said, can we get a numbered? Let's get a numbered. And out of $1.99, very cool looking card for Eric Dickerson, one of the greatest running backs of all time. Finish with Brian Thomas Jr.

I think it's going to have a monster year with my boy. All right. Last pack magic. Wilson to National Pride here. These cards feel thick. Don't remember even seeing him. Isaiah Pacheco on the Mosaic. Max Crosby on what looks like the fire.

Mosaic and it's just a chrome bang card going out with a bang so far I call select the winner it's forever Lawrence again on the front we like it Uda Baker Santee Samuel cool it's almost like once you get that one hit you know you're not getting any other sleep they really get good rookie and we like these cards but just don't be fooled by our lighting in here not everyone is A fire breathing dragon parallel. There you go. Your rad rips of the week.

2024 select and mosaic. Fun rips. Good looking cards. Ultimately, I think select one out there. More inserts. And this numbered white Eric Dickerson is cool. Very cool. Numbered out of 199.

And I think look cooler even than the numbering per se. That's your rad rips of the week. We're going to be breaking every week. Boys will be on here with me. We'll get this lighting. a little improved so every card does it look like the greatest parallel of all times. So maybe that's good. We'll show them on eBay.

We do eBay Live, guys. So check that out. Our eBay Live store is under the Rad Collective. The Rad Collective will have links to all that. We also do live breaks coming up on our good partner, eBay Live. So the Rad Collective on eBay and eBay Live. Appreciate them as we bring to life the hobby behind the scenes. We're in it, folks.

Not just talking about it, we're doing it. Every week, right here. That's your rad rip of the week. We'll see you next time. The Collectibles on that side. Hey, thanks for tuning into the show. Don't forget to follow us on your favorite podcast platform. And don't miss the full video version on YouTube.

You can find us at www.com. Or follow Ryan on Instagram at Ryan Olford. We want you to send in your biggest rips, PC hits of the week, to get featured on the collectibles on S-I. show. It's not about the price. It's about what it means to collect. Now get out there and collect yours.