Collector Nation - Tom Fallos (The Card Carver) brings LUXURY NOSTALGIA to his craft by SCARCITY | Hosted by Ryan Alford

Episode Date: September 5, 2025

SUMMARY In this episode of the "Trading Cards and Collectibles Podcast," host Ryan Alford interviews artist Tom Fallos, known as "The Card Carver." Tom shares his journey from facing skepticism to gaining recognition for his unique trading card art, which involves cutting, reassembling, and digital design. They discuss Tom’s creative process, upcoming collaborations, and the booming collectibles market. Tom also reveals plans to release exclusive memorabilia pieces and framed art. The episode blends industry news, personal stories, and creative inspiration, highlighting how Tom’s innovative approach is reshaping the trading card hobby. TAKEAWAYS Tom Fallos' journey and creative process in trading card art. The unique artistic methods of cutting and reassembling trading cards. The blending of sports, pop culture, and nostalgia in Tom's artwork. The importance of persistence and community engagement in the art world. The significance of maintaining scarcity in limited edition art pieces. The intersection of sports, music, fashion, and art in contemporary culture. The challenges of being a solo artist managing all aspects of a business. The impact of high-profile sales on the trading card market. Current trends and statistics in the trading card industry, including Pokémon's dominance. The personal connection and emotional resonance of art with collectors.

When I started making these cards, I started just cutting them up. In the beginning, it was kind of hard to even sell them for like $25. There was a lot of people, if not the majority, that would just laugh. The artists typically that have talent and stick with it have the last laugh a lot of times. Welcome to the Trading Cards and Collectibles podcast on the Radcast Network. From Chasing Grails to Colin Bluffs and going inside the hobby. Are you ready to collect? Let's get at it. Here is your host, Ryan Alford.

All about the guests here on the show. We're bringing you the best, the brightest, the coolest in the collectibles, the hobby, the game that is collecting. And, you know, I met this guy at the National officially and immediately attracted because I'm an art guy. I'm a creative guy. I'm in the adage industry business a long time and saw what. he was doing and it called my attention. It's going to catch yours if it hasn't already. He is Tom Phallos. He is the card carver. What's up, Tom? Hey, man. Thanks for having me on. Yeah, man, I'm pumped. I'm excited to have you on the show. It was great meeting you at the National. Really love what you're doing.

I love the category you're creating. You know, there's people doing a lot of different things, but there's a uniqueness to your style and the way that you're capturing moments and time and players and the energy with which the artwork that you're doing. So really respect what you're doing and excited for people to learn more about it and all that card carving you're doing. Well, I appreciate it, man. I mean, I'm definitely not the only card artist that is out here, you know, kind of paving the way that there's a whole community of people.

I'm just one of many. I've been fortunate to been at it for a while now. And it's been really awesome to see it grow the way that it has. Yeah, man, it's a crazy industry booming in all kinds of different ways. And I think the unique artwork that you're doing in that style, I think there's definitely, I don't know, there's drops happening. Like, there's this, I don't know, this really fun intersection with the technology of, I don't know, live component, social media. And then your artwork and everything with it. I don't know.

It's a great, it's a fun time to be getting back into the hobby and seeing all the creativity that's happening. I love, you know, I'm looking at like this LeBron James card that we've got on the board and Kobe. It's like, I don't know, the way that you can document and sort of bring to life these moments in time is awesome. I appreciate it. It's really cool to take pieces like the one that you're talking about, the LeBron there that's up on the screen where that's something that Topps issued with, Chuck Stiles, who's now a friend of mine and an artist that I looked up to and still do for a long time, to take that card where there's so many of them that tops printed and then breathe an entirely different life into it is always a lot. It's a lot of fun to see that idea come to life and to have

Chuck sign it and I sign it and then to have other companies then authenticate them after is just, it's pretty nuts. You know, when I started making these cards, I started just cutting them up in that style. And in the beginning, it was kind of hard to even sell them for like 25 bucks. People in Facebook groups would laugh when I'd post them. And I was just making them for fun, you know, to start. It wasn't really something that I started making them thinking I was going to monetize it or anything. But I started making them.

And I recognized that they could be collectible and people would want them. And like I said, in the beginning, there was a lot of people. if not the majority that would just laugh. So to see it grow to where it is now is, like I said, it's just incredible. Well, the artists typically that have talent and stick with it have the last laugh a lot of times. Yeah. For sure. Consistency is super key.

I have seen a lot of guys come and a lot of guys go. And not a lot of guys go out and hit the road the way that I do, which helps a lot, you know, meeting people face-to-face. like we were able to and to connect is totally different than just being on Instagram or Twitter or whatever it may be where I see a lot of guys just kind of stay. But I also recognize that the way that I move isn't for everybody either. You know, not everybody wants to put their face out there and travel. It's just not for everyone. So I recognize that and I use it to the best of my ability, you know, take full advantage of it.

just keep doing what I enjoy doing and being myself, which I know has also been really key to my success. So, you know, like it's foot on the gas. Yeah, man. And the consistency is it, though. It's like, I don't know. I don't care how talented you are, what you do. Certainly there can be like these moments. Like you catch, I don't know, magic in a bottle or something.

But it's all about stacking the winds and like people getting and seeing what you're doing consistently. And okay, you do one card and you did 10 of them or something. You have like a big launch. But then if you don't follow that up and keep like consistent product in the market, new artwork, new different things. And that's where it's a hard. Like, you know, a lot of people can't stick with that. But you're obviously getting traction and sticking with it and finding these moments to stand out. And that's the key in a lot of things to have success across industries.

Yeah, for sure. I feel like if you're not taking risks, you're not going to really get very. far. I sometimes will create art and put it out knowing that it's something that's not going to resonate with the majority of people. It might be something that I just really wanted to see myself that, you know, really resonated with me, and I just wanted to create it and get it out of my head. And I make it, and I drop it, and only a couple people are interested. And that's just one of those things where, as an artist, if you're the type of person that's a creative, you have to just keep creating. So you can't just pick and choose. You just have to make it and see what happens.

What's the creative process like for you? You know, talk me through like where the inspiration comes, the process for creating a piece, releasing it, you know, kind of top to bottom. Well, there's a few different ways that I create pieces. There's the cut pieces, which is where my name came from, the card carver, where I take existing cards from tops and other manufacturers. I cut them up and then I make them into a new piece of art basically. I'm usually creating a shadow box. I'm taking the edges of cards, cutting them out, just the border, and then I'm stacking them so that I can then build the card so that has a 3D aspect to it. And then I also design stuff digitally and I print them. And when I do those, it's usually a drop of 10, which is something

that I think is going to continue to be key to my success is not. not creating too many pieces. There's guys that are printing 20, 30, maybe even 40 sometimes. Honestly, we don't even know how many some of these guys are printing. So I try to keep it to 10. There's one sample, one artist proof, and sometimes there's the gold frame canvas, I call them, where I print just a one of one on canvas, and then I apply a 22-carat gold-bladed metal frame to the canvas. And I always auction those off. So, yeah, I'm either cutting them up or I'm designing something digitally. Everything that I do really comes from the heart and is influenced by all the things that I've consumed in my lifetime.

I don't really like to just do sports. I like to mash things up. You know, why be confined to just making Kangrophy Jr. baseball card when I can mash Kangrophy Jr. up with everything else that I love so much. Yeah, that's an interesting point. I mean, you do have this intersection of culture, sports, a lot of thing. I mean, you think about what happens.

I'm staring at like shoes on my table that were like influenced from rock stars to rappers and everything else. You got freaking rappers making shoes. You've got basketball players making art. Like, I don't know. It's all sort of tied in this nostalgia culture, pop culture. Like, it's an interesting blend that's happening now. That's a lot of fun. Yeah, well, I recognize right away when I first started making these cars.

because I stumbled across through my collecting, stumbled across this whole community of guys that were doing the same thing. They were cutting the cards up. Some of them might have been doing a little bit of painting on them and stuff with markers and stuff, but primarily everybody was cutting them up. And everybody was doing just sports, adding some type of, you know, super refractor material in the background or something shiny, vinyl material they were getting at Michaels or Hobby Lobby or whatever.

And it was fun, but like I said, I recognize I'm like, why am I just doing sports when I can take everything else and mash it up? And nobody else was doing that. So, you know, the thing that really kind of, where I started to make my name was with the Jordan rookie reprints. I did like three or four. They were all different, but they were all the shadow box style. And it would be Jordan and incorporating G.I. Joe in the background and Super Mario. and Spider-Man and the Goonies and all these different things, and nobody has seen anything like it.

And luckily nobody else really messes around with that style. You have to have a deep inventory and a lot of patience to be able to mash all those images up and not have them look like garbage, have it all make sense, colors matching, the theme all like going together. It's not just cutting up a bunch of, grabbing a handful of cards, cutting them up,

and it's all going to work. I'll spend hours sometimes. moving the pieces around, cutting things out, and then I decide I'm not going to use it, and I have to cut up more stuff. And, you know, it's painstaking sometimes, but it's a lot of fun. Yeah, that's kind of down that point. It's like this balance of scarcity plus time. And, you know, everything's hand done, right? I mean, I know you print some things, but like it's kind of all comes together by hand. Is that, would that ever not be the case? It does. Yeah. I mean, no, because, Because, I mean, when it comes down to it, like for me specifically, I don't have a team.

Some of these guys, I know for, you know, have family members, their wife might be helping them. Some of them have employees now. I do everything from the design to the manufacturing to the fulfillment. I'm customer service. I'm social media, you know, literally doing everything. So my hands are on every piece from beginning to end. and I'm printing off the fronts, I'm printing off the backs, I'm assembling the pieces, the labels are all hand cut and printed by me right down to, you know, they all come in a slab

like this that I get from Zion, their make pro case. That's awesome. And then this fits into these acrylics, you know, the thick slab. Love that. This one's the piggy banks, Michael Jordan Crown collaboration. Yeah, as I said, Piggy Banks has been hitting my radar. Like, did you do that with them? Yeah, I've known piggy banks for, you know, since he started, basically.

I was making cards a little bit before he was. I was cutting him up. And I think I'd printed a couple, like, tobacco-sized cards. I had plans to print cards, but piggy banks came in, and he had great packaging from the start. Obviously, he had a really good plan. He was printing the cards and he was slabbing them, you know, with the label of top and everything, like PSA style before anybody else was really messing around with that. And he was doing so good with that, I decided to just kind of leave it alone for a while,

and I just focused on being the best that I could be at cutting cards. And eventually I was like, you know what? Like I have all these ideas. I started printing the cards also, and that actually started to really take off even more than the cut cards. So that's really been my main focus over the past year. I'm still cutting cards up, but printing and doing the drops with the 10, variations and the canvas gold frames has been really where things have been at for me. You see something you like in our pack rips on the show?

Check out the rad collective eBay store and eBay Live shows at eBaylivesore.com or at breakingrad.com. All the cars we rip on the show will be available on both platforms. The printing is that, I mean, is that like getting into like graphic design? I'm assuming. Yeah. Yeah. And so do you? Yes, I'm designing the pieces.

I'm also doing stuff where behind me, it's kind of hard to see. But in this frame back here is a Louis Vuitton piece that I did where I took a shopping bag from Louis Vuitton. And I took like a hundred plus year old piece of art that I found at an antique store here in Maine where I live. And I took the art out of the frame. I tore the art apart and I mixed it. So it's like a multimedia piece.

with an image of Jordan and this 100-year-old artwork and then this frame. And then I took a picture of that and, you know, I created a slab companion for it. I love that. With the blue strap from the Louis Vuitton bag, which is also part of the frame. I love that, man. So it's a special 101, 22-carat-gold frame, Louis Vuitton, I call it bagwork with the image of Mike. Yep. And then you have the 101.

one wall piece to go with it. That's the type of stuff that I've really been focused on lately. Nobody else is really doing that type of stuff and trying to innovate and do things that are different from other people. And also, I mean, I don't just want to do cards. Not to say that it, like, bores me just doing cards, but I want to do so much more. So that's just kind of where my head is at. Luxury, nostalgia.

Luxury and nostalgia, yeah. I mean, that's the key word in just making things. Because, I mean, when people see things that are different, it catches their eyes. But if you can also make them feel something more than just like, oh, wow, this is different, make them feel something. And that's where, you know, artwork that, like, grabs people and tugs at those heartstrings and really makes them feel something. That's what is special and what works so well. That's what people want. There's a guy I know who said, people think with their head and they buy with their heart.

You're looking at that guy. I love it. It's super true. I love that. That's a great quote. It's true. You know, if you can make,

if you make them think, it'll make them stop. But if you make them feel, they pull out the wallet. And I don't mean that it's just about business, but because it has value. It's more that, like,

more, I don't mean that as much commercially, like, as I mean, when people spend their money, it has value to them. It has meaning. And it's deeper than a thought.

And I think that's where nostalgia and it tying into like something that, okay, wow, it's arresting. It grabs my attention. But then it triggers something that makes me want to have it. And I think that's what you're tapping into. I think people just want to feel something at the end of the day. Yeah. You know what I mean? And if you can do that for them, you know, with your artwork, there's a lot of people that really value that as they should because it's something special.

not everybody, you know, finds or figures out how to tap into that magic. And I've been really lucky the last few years to do that. It's really just a culmination of everything that I have done throughout my life, whether it was a success or a failure and there's been a lot of failures. It's all, like, equal to this right now. And that's where, you know, being a leader in this space can be sometimes difficult because people will want to, you know, follow the same path and stuff. But you just have to remind yourself that,

if you're going to be a leader, people are going to follow. 100%. Well, it inspires you, though. Like, I mean, there's probably, is it going to different shows? Is it consuming content? Like, where do the ideas percolate from? I've just always been a creative. And I guess I never realized it when I was younger, but I've recognized it more and more

later in life that not everybody is a creative. And just how much value there is in that. You know, I was the kid that when he was in, like, when I was in third grade, I was getting in trouble because instead of paying attention to math class, I was trying to draw G.I. Joe comic books in my desk and stuff, having the teacher come and take the paper away and throw it away. And, you know, I was drawing my own starter jackets and my own Nike shoes in middle school. So I've just always been creating.

It's just always been in me. I don't really know that there's any, like I don't even think about inspiration. Like, I just, it just is what it is. Like, I'm always, my mind is always doing it. But there's definitely probably, I guess, these moments that come and, like, you know, Kobe's birthday coming up or just happening or the milestone with LeBron. I'm sure you're kind of being creative. You're naturally into sports and pop culture and different things.

You probably keep your, I don't know, eye on the what's happening or it grabs your attention. Like, that could be a moment to document in your way, right? For sure. I honestly don't focus on that the right now stuff as much as probably I should. And to be honest, you know, the Kobe day just passed. And it seemed like every single artist that is out there right now making cards and slabbed art, they all put out a piece for it. And it's just like if 20 artists are all putting a Kobe card out the same day, is that really going to be good for everybody? I'm not sure.

Yeah. Maybe, maybe not. I didn't put one out. I was busy doing other stuff. Well, it's good and bad. I mean, sometimes there's, you make a good point if everybody's doing it, is it still as valuable. But if you're busy, that's a good thing too.

Right. I don't know. But I hear you. Well, there's borrowed interest. I call it borrowed it. I mean, sometimes people hear that word and they don't like it or they think it's bad. I personally love it. Like, because look, everything we do in life and,

marketing and sales or whatever else. It's hard. I mean, it's just, it's hard to get attention. It's hard to make sales. And there's moments in times that you can sort of tag on to that does some lifting for you to a degree. But there's a fine line between creativity, originality in that statement as well. Yeah. I mean, I'm inspired by what I grew up with, you know, like 80s and 90s culture. Yeah. I'm really inspired by music and just creatives. I was always, he's gone off the deep end, you know, but I was always inspired by people like Kanye who did so much across so many different boards creatively. You know, Virgil with all the stuff that he did with clothing.

To this day, Ferrell is one of those people, like musically. Michael Jackson. I mean, you know. Farrell's the head of, is the creative designer, the head of Louis Vuitton now. Yeah, crazy. Which is crazy. It is crazy. The guy that's, you know, he's done sneakers.

He had his own skateboard brand, uh, multi-platinum, friggin music producer. Well, I mean, you know, but this is all sort of what I call taste making, right? Yes. Yeah. Tastmakers. They, they know whether it's a sound or a shoe or a shirt or pocketbook or brand or a card. They have a vision creatively that sets people's taste.

and a lot of people don't know it until they see it. Guys like you see it before we believe it, you know? Yeah, I don't know where he got it from, but my dad always used to say you have to see the invisible to do the impossible, you know. So being that step ahead and seeing it is huge. And being willing to do it, you know, like everybody thinks they, oh, man, I had that idea way before it. Well, great.

Did you do it? Did you put it pen to paper? You know? Because if you didn't, that and a dollar will buy you a pack of gum. Right. So, yeah, man, execution is everything, as they say, in all things. Tom, like, what's got you excited right now? Man, I got culture collision coming up in a couple weeks.

I think it's September 12th to 14th, whatever that weekend there is. It's always a really good show. I've been really fortunate to become really part of the show. I designed the trading cards at the show. It's also the artwork that I designed for the trading cards. They also use for all the badges, the vendor badges, the VIP badges, the sponsors. I've also done some collaborations with PRISM God, who is the owner of the show, him and his wife, Joyce. You must have seen the bags that we released at Culture Collision that I designed the neat cash for cards.

We're also doing. Yeah, thank you. They're a lot of fun. We're also doing some hoodies that are going to be coming out, crew necks and sweatshirts at the next culture collision with that same graphics on it. And then I'm out in Vegas for a new show that I'm really excited about by rock solid productions or promotions. Family run, really nice couple that throw the show. And I think it's going to be really good.

The last one I was at that they put together was great. They've got Sam Williams from the Dallas Cowboys. boys and trying to remember who the other autograph guests that are coming but either way it's going be a blast i'm looking forward to that stuff i'm working on some things and maybe philly and new york city i've got some collaborations coming that you know kind of secret and in the works and oh come on we can break it here on the show i know i know some of them the details some of the details haven't really been hired out and i don't want to get ahead of myself on some of them but i'm always trying to do do bigger bigger better things you know

All right, guys, let's get to the news of the week. First off, today's a Friday when this comes out. The boys and I will be at the Haywood Mall trading card show this weekend on Saturday. So if you listen to this on release, hey, like you should, anywhere in the upstate of South Carolina, Southeast, stop in. We've got a four-table setup. We'll be promoting the podcast and everything rad collective. We'll have a ton of great cards. some great wax. You can come meet me or the boys. And of course, we'd love to talk to you.

If you're in the upstate listening to the show, which you should be, we appreciate you. So that's where us and the boys will be. And of course, lots, there's a big show in Dallas you might know about one of the largest shows happening this weekend as we speak. Huge show, the King of Cards is going to be there. He mentioned that. If you hadn't checked out that episode, that's your news of the week. check out the episode with Kyle. It was awesome. Really enjoyed him. Just a really authentic dude, man. And that's why we're in this space as guys like him. Like the future is bright with guys like him, my boys, and everything that we're doing with the rad collective. So shout out to him, hit the back button on the episode, listen to everything the King of Cards had to talk about.

and he's up to really fascinating some of the deals he's put together watching him on YouTube. And of course, his love of Johnny Mansell, of course we went there talking about getting the card and really the difference in cards collecting and card business. So check out that interview. Really enjoyed that. Also, some of the, I mean, the biggest headlines really this week have to do with just the booming industry. We talked about this. You're going to hear me talk about it.

our content on Instagram, my personal channel at Ryan Alford, talking about just the industry. So I looked at the sales month over month and card ladder does a great job. They put out this data of all verified online sales, $416 million is how much business was done in August. I had to like double check that. I did a double take. And of course, yeah, okay, 12 million was on the Kobe card. But are you kidding?

Back that out. You're still at over $400 million. You're talking like 30 to 40% up year over year in the industry of just, and this is just verified online card sales. So think how many deals are happening in those trade nights. I was at the national, we know how many deals are happening. Tens of thousands of hundreds of thousands of deals going down. I would beg to say there's five.

$500,000 million in deals happening across the board. Unofficial data. But $416 million and just verified online. The leaders being eBay, go figure, eBay did $301 million less money than cards. Holy cow. They talk about a booming business. eBay doesn't want card collecting to go away. Man, that is a huge chunk.

Fanatics at $37 million in Heritage at 33. But man, those are the biggest leaders. And then does spread across the rest of them. The busiest day was August 17th. 256,000 sales were done that day. And over the whole month, this is what's crazy, 5.87 million transactions. Huh?

Are you kidding me? Unbelievable. How much money is exchanging hands in this business? That's why we're here. we want to bring this data to you and just to talk about all the opportunity that is in the space. And then from a grading standpoint, you had 2.28 million cards graded. Pretty much flat month over month, but it was up 27% year every year. So we talk about grading and it really fueling and driving parts of the industry or lots of the industry.

That's what we mean, 27% year over year. PSA did 1.66 million. which was up 19% year every year. CGC, 438,000, up 10%. And SGC, oh, come on, man, 118,000. Down 23%. I mean, have you ever seen an example of a company buying another company just to let them flounder and fail,

potentially, just to put them out of business? You know, I guess you could do it. If you're going to do it, just buy them and fold them. I guess you can get slow burn here, the slow death of SG. had a little bit of competition. So I'm looking forward to talking to Mike Baker. He's talking about his perspective.

Mike Baker's doing card grading. He was one of the lead graders at, I mean, pretty much the league. He was the first employee at PSA. And then was like head of grading for 10 years. So Mike's doing his own grading and authentication. He's going to be on the show here in the coming weeks. So look forward to talking to him about some of these numbers. But grading you have to drive a bit.

Here's what's interesting. You know, that's why, you know, trading cards and collecting. space in sports. Hey, we're sports, guys. The boys and I love sports. But Pokemon was 58% of PSA's volume. Almost 60% of the grading volume was coming through Pokemon. The top PSA set was 2024 Dondrous Optic Football.

Hey, go figure. Probably a lot of downtowns and everything else in there. The hottest set of year, it makes sense. And of course, the top TCG. set is destined rivals. We've been quite a few packs of that Destin Rivals. Tell you, I don't know all the rules with the Pokemon stuff, but you're going to see us doing rips of that.

It's fun, beautiful artwork. So I appreciate the artwork. I do know enough to be dangerous, illustration rare. I can throw the vernacular around. Got a hollow, reverse hollow. I know the vernacular, but the boys talk a little bit more about that in coming sessions and releases. But, again, the amount of,

of Pokemon. That's a huge opportunity. We have a lot of Pokemon cards laying around. Really nice ones. I've never graded anything Pokemon, but you got 60% of freaking PSA's volume from this month at Pokemon. It's obviously an opportunity and the hit rate is supposed to be out there. I like to see what tens, nine, eight, what's a grading scale for newer stuff and how it's falling? Because I look at some of these, sometimes I open these packs and, man, the balancing is so off. The centering of the cards, like drives me crazy. But crazy, the numbers that are being done in grading and overall sales. For a price trend perspective, you've got football is up 10%, baseball, up 9% and basketball

up 7%. Everybody's up, baby. The numbers are up. But I'll tell you, football right before season makes sense. So totally makes sense to be up. That's pretty natural. You got college football launched last weekend. We won't talk about Clemson.

Man, what a disappointment. Yeah, look, close game. Love my boys. Just wanted to get the W. So, but nonetheless, football seasons here, NFL starting this weekend. And of course, we've got both playing. So, I mean, my Saturday is the Sunday is kind of made now. Saturday, be watching some of the games from the card show.

Clemson plays Troy, I think. So we're watching that. And then Sunday, NFL. Of course, first Sunday night game was actually last night when we were recording this ahead of Friday. So the first NFL games already happened when we recorded this. I mean, you guys saw this, the headline sale, the Jordan Kobe, dual logo man, $12.9 million. What do I think about that? I mean, obviously, everybody and their brother has been talking about this.

It's out there. What's my perspective? I mean, being back in the hobby for a year, collecting growing up. Look, I think it's good for the hobby, you know, bringing more business in, bringing more investors in. Mr. Wonderful, whether you like, them, love them or hate him, he's a good businessman and he understands investing. And he's put a lot of money into one piece of cardboard because he sees what I see. This industry is ripe for investment and it's a safe asset class.

And so I think it's good the shining the light from a broader perspective. You know, you don't want it to bring in more bad players. That's be the one probably the cautionary tale. But I do like the fact that you're seeing people that are smart. and other aspects of business and money and finance and other segments come into the industry. And I think that's good for the industry overall and will help raise prices, probably in the short term. You're seeing some of that. But we'll see what happens long term.

Biggest thing I would say is check out if you're into Pokemon, go get this graded. Like clearly there's a trend there. Get that Pokemon graded. I'm going to pull some of mine out. I'm going to have to do a session here. I'm going to bring out, you have a magnifying glass and light. Boys and I are going to have to do some sessions, what we're looking at in evaluating the grading.

So there's going on Pokemon in particular, trying to see and compare what's getting graded correctly. And it's a little different. You know, you look at all these football and sports cards. You kind of get used to knowing what to look for. You're looking at corners, sintering, the surface.

And it's a similar thing with Pokemon, but I find it a little harder to tell the exact sintering on those. You can definitely see when like one stripe or something is thicker or thinner or the other is the way you can't flip all. But then it gets a little off for me because sometimes, the shifting can be off. And is that you've got to have the right tools to do that correctly. But I do think there seems to be a ton of opportunity with a number of cards being sent in

for up in the value of your collection by getting them graded those Pokemon sitting around. So we got a few ourselves. Last but not least, check out breakingrad.com. It's where our website is, all the cards and breaks that we do. And of course, on Instagram, breakingrad.com is that's our handle there. my handle's at Ryan Alford, all of our deals, and then go check out our eBay Live store for, of course, cars that we're selling, wax, and then that live shopping that we're about to start.

We're going to have the release date coming up. I promise we've got a huge release of 2024 football the best of. Talking the best of, the best hobby boxes, best breakers boxes. We've stored it back, folks. It's going to be awesome. We'll do pre-sales for that. So all the best. boxes of 2024 open all at once.

It's going to be fun. It's going to be a blast. It's going to be on eBay Live. Appreciate them and appreciate you. That is the news wrap-up for today. You're on trading cards and collectibles. You see something you like in our pack grips on the show? Check out the Rad Collective eBay Store and eBay Live shows at eBayLiveStore.com or at breaking rad.com.

All the cards we rip on the show will be available on both platforms. Yeah, anything you're carving as we speak that you can talk about? I for a while now have been keeping tucked away. I've got about 80 each of Kobe Bryant game used jersey pieces and Michael Jordan game used jersey pieces. And man, I probably had them for like almost a year now. And it's probably time that I do something with that over the next few months. So I'm going to start releasing some of that stuff.

for sure. That would be cool. I know. Yeah, some people are going to be excited about those. Dual Jordan and Kobe, game used, jersey pieces. Yeah. It was a big sale with one of those guys this week. 12.

Yeah, no, that's funny. I didn't even think about the timing of that. Yeah. I just been sitting on those. So they're slabbed by Beckett, and each one of them has that says, like, authentic gain used memorabilia pieces, and there's little squares. They were left over from upper deck or someone doing, you know, cards. Oh, that's nice find. Nice hold. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I grabbed those and like I said,

I just kind of been waiting. I just have so many ideas and things I want to do. This piece behind me, the Louis Vuitton in the frame, I've got two more frames right in front of me. I've been going to antique shops and flea markets all over Maine. Hunting for frames specifically. I know what I'm looking for and it just has to catch my eye again. I'm looking for things that move me that make me feel something and it has to go with the art because I know what I like to create for art and I know the style that I'm looking for and so I've been I've been hunting like all summer for frames and I have maybe like half a dozen of them now altogether this piece the Louis Vuitton piece in the frame I'm trying to do a bunch more of those I found a handful of frames I've been hunting all summer antique stores

at flea markets here in Maine like it has to be just the right one I've seen hundreds of them and I've wound up with just a handful that I'm going to put art in. I'm really excited to do more of those with the frames and the companions, maybe even do like my own show, bleak or trading or somewhere like that this fall or winter with them. That would be awesome. And hey, I want a special Ryan offered special edition something, you know? I think we're going to have to. We'll make it happen.

We'll make it happen. Could we get a collab going? Absolutely. Let's do it. Let's do it. Oh, man. I need you. I need the car.

Versa' artistic vision around this. Yeah. You know, like, let's get some attention. I think we ought to do something and drop some cards at a show together. That would be pretty fun, too. That's what I'm talking about. Yeah, man, let's set up together. I mean, you need to get you to G Vegas.

I'm into it. And they got a show here. We can meet in Charlotte or Atlanta or Charleston or, you know, wherever. Yeah, I'm into it. I love it, man. Hey, man, I love what you're doing. I can't wait until you start sending me stuff. and I can display it on my table here.

You know, like, can you do like, if you do a one of ten, can you do an 11th piece that like I will never tell, I will never sell, I will not flood the market, but can like sit here on the table, you know? Yeah, we can get you. I won't tell anybody. I got some. I got something for it.

Absolutely. I love it, man. Hey, tell everybody where they can learn about the drops, learn about where you're going to be and keep up with everything you're doing. The best place to find me is on Instagram. It's just the card carver. The card carver across all social media. Also, the cardcarver.com.

But the best place to see what's really happening and understand what's going on, I would say is Instagram. Feel free to reach out if you have any questions. Always happy to answer new collectors' questions. A lot of people have a lot of them. So, yeah, love to hear from it. Hey, we're keeping it real here. I'm meeting a lot of people in the space.

and what I love about what you're doing and is like I met you. We immediately hit it off. We're talking like old friends. And there's so many people in this space where I'm kind of like, I'm not sure about. I'm like, I don't feel welcome or something. But it's guys like you that are both highly creative, highly talented, doing something really unique. And then you're just real, man.

So I really appreciate you. Likewise. Same vibes. I always appreciate when I meet new people. people in the hobby, you know, just like you said, you either vibe with people or you don't. Some people have good energy, some people not so much. So when you do encounter that, it's nice to keep it around you. So I appreciate you.

Thank you for having me on. And I'm definitely looking forward to seeing you on the road. Yeah, brother, can't wait. Hey, guys, you're going to find us, collectibles. That's the website. You'll find the full audio, video, social clips and everything in every way to meet, see, greet, buy stuff from the card carver. We'll see you next time. Thanks for tuning in to 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.comlectables. Show or follow Ryan on Instagram at Ryan Olford. Now get out there and collect yours.