Collector Nation - What Makes Something Collectible? Inside the Stories, Scarcity & Culture That Create Value

Episode Date: January 30, 2026

What makes something collectible? Is it scarcity? Nostalgia? Cultural relevance? Or the story behind it? In Episode 45 of Collector Nation, Ryan Alford brings together powerful moments from past conversations to explore one central idea: collectibles aren’t just objects — they’re memory, culture, and meaning. Ryan walks us through how everyday moments evolve into prized artifacts, whether it’s championship confetti becoming physical history, jerseys carrying emotional identity, hip-hop memorabilia reshaping what collecting looks like, or photo matching proving provenance and story. Featured guests include: DJ Skee — on how overlooked items like championship confetti become historical artifacts Dan Jamison (Icons.com) — explaining why jerseys represent identity, legacy, and emotional connection Alex Bruh (Wax Poetics) — expanding collectibles beyond sports into hip-hop and cultural memorabilia John Robinson (Resolution Photo Matching) — showing how story and verification dramatically increase value Tareq Nazlawy (CEO of Trace / Fidgetal Collectibles) — offering a look into the future of digital-meets-physical collecting Ryan ties it all together with one truth: not everything valuable starts valuable — and not everything rare becomes meaningful. Collectibles are about moments, memory, and culture. Whether you’re holding Josh Allen cards in your hand or just beginning to understand the hobby, this episode breaks down why people chase, preserve, and care about the things they collect Key Takeaways • Scarcity alone doesn’t create value • Story changes worth • Cultural relevance matters • Collectibles represent moments, not just objects • Authentication elevates emotional and financial impact • Digital collecting is shaping the future 📣 Connect With Ryan + Guests 🎙 Collector Nation Podcast: https://thecollectornation.com 🌐 Ryan Alford: Instagram: https://instagram.com/ryanalford 🎧 DJ Skee: Instagram: DjSkee 👕 Dan Jamison — Icons.com: https://icons.com 📚 Alex Bruh — Wax Poetics: https://waxpoetics.com 📸 John Robinson — Resolution Photo Matching: https://resolutionphotomatching.com 🧠 Tareq Nazlawy — Trace / Fidgetal Collectibles: https://www.trace.fan/ Subscribe, leave a review, and share this episode with another collector.

It tells a story. When you're able to make a resmash to something, a jersey that was worn on July 12th, 1985 when this guy hit the game-winning shot. And it really created a story. That's what I'm trying to bring. It's like the same nostalgia that some of these items bring to me in memories. We want to preserve for others. And that's what we're here for. We concentrate on every signature trying to create the most unique way of presenting it, not just banging out a commodity that just gets sold. If you're listening to hip-hop, you're actually listening. to samples from like funk, soul, disco, time capsule into the past. Kind of perfect for collecting.

Memory's a big deal. Being able to sort of capture that energy, which is currently going with seeing. It's a special capability. Just don't mess that better. Welcome to the Collector Nation podcast here on the Collector Nation Network. Whether you're chasing grails or calling bluffs, you take you inside a hobby. Here's your host, Ryan Alford. What's up, Collector Nation?

We appreciate you for listening and being with us today wherever. Whenever that day is, we know you got options. Thanks for choosing us. Collecting us, because we love to collect. What is it about collecting? That's what this whole show's been about. Collect your nation. As Americans, as human beings worldwide, we all like to collect something.

But what makes something collectible? holding two of my favorite players in my hand as I'm talking. Josh Allen, Trevor Lawrence, beautiful cards. Is it scarcity? Is it nostalgia? Is it cultural relevance? Or is it the story behind them? But here's the thing.

Not everything valuable started valuable. And not everything rare becomes meaningful. So in this episode, we've pulled together conversations from across Collegesion that explore that exact concept. How everyday moments, cultural office. Artifacts and even digital experiences turn into things people care about, they chase and ultimately preserve. We'll hear from DJ Ski, who breaks down how something is overlooked as confetti from the game of a championship becomes a physical piece of history. Dan Jamison with icons.com walks us through why jerseys aren't just apparel, their identity, legacy, and emotional connection.

Alex Brew from Wax Poetics, Texas, outside traditional sports and into hip-hop memorabilia. John Robinson's CEO of Resolution Photo Matching explains why knowing the story behind an item can completely change its worth. And finally, Terrick, CEO of Trace, gives us a look into the future with fissital collectibles. What ties all these conversations together is one truth. Collectibles aren't just objects, their moments,

their memory, their culture. So whether you're a lifelong collector or just starting to pay attention, this episode is about understanding the deeper layers behind why we collect and what makes something truly worth holding on to. Let's get at it. You know, we can't all go and be at these events

and these things, like either unattainable, monetarily, logistics, whatever it might be, but physically, but like putting them in the bottle, like stopping time in a way in making these collectibles and then knowing the authenticity is there and the trust is there. That's what collecting is about, though.

It's kind of like, look, attention is fleeting. Moments are fleeting. We're pulled in so many different ways, but having these things that bring back nostalgia, bring back reminders, and being a moment that is sort of captured in time is really cool.

You know that. I mean, like, look, I'll show you what's behind me. I have a 91 Twins World Series trophy paired with a picture. of me and my mom at the, you know, during the 91 World Series, my mother passed away. But like, so for me, like, yes, as a Minnesota sports fan, the last men's championship we won, there's the obvious on field.

That's the smallest part for me. That tugs on my memories as a kid, my memories with my mother, my memories of my father, right? Like, everything else. And that's what this trophy when I see represents that moment in time. Yes, like, to me, it's priceless, right? Like, there's value in it. It's a gold trophy, but it's being there.

And that's what I, I, try to be. That's what I hope this represents. Like it's confetti. It's a novelty product. Let's keep it real. Like it's confetti. We put a lot of effort into collecting it, which is why, you know, it's still like a $60 product because we literally are on the field at the Super Bowl collecting it. We literally seal it up protective tape with trackers on it. It can't be opened up unless one of our representatives of the factory. We want to make sure that even at the factory, they're not trying to get cute and add in more confetti or take any of those things like we want people to know what they're getting is real right and from the source because

it represents so much more again to a lot of people like yes on paper philadelphia eagles won the super bowl on february 9th in new orleans there's going to be some kid that is this is going to be sitting on his desk 20 years from now because he represents what he remembers watching it with his family and that's far more important than the outcome of the game this is just what encapsulates that and that's what i'm trying to bring is like the same nostalgia that some of these items bring to to to me and memories. We want to preserve for others, and it just hasn't been,

it just hasn't been available and it hasn't been an trusted source. Like, that's what we're here for. And that's where I say we really story tale through these, and it's more than just the value of items. How many jerseys of Nessies has icons sold over time? I mean, roughly.

Roughly, I'd say, let's try and work it out. probably about 50,000 in total over two decades. Yeah. But I had an interesting chat. A lot, but also not a lot. You know what I mean? So there's scarcity there because, I mean, there's how many billion people on the planet?

And, you know, you've done it for 20 years and it only 50,000 out there? I mean, that's a scared. It's a rare thing to hold. It really brought it home when, unfortunately, Pele died. And I'm speaking to people who have Pele contracts and I'm like, can I get some and so on? And we're like, yeah, okay, maybe we swapped some for Leo. And I'm like, I think the ratio is probably about eight to one in terms of value.

Now, like, how can it be? Pele is the greatest player that ever lived, won three World Cups and so on. And I'm like, because you made him signed two million shirts, that's the difference. he worked him for so long for so much that actually there's no there is scarcity but there's not that much scarcity in the world of it he signed so many things for decades and decades and decades and i'm like well leo's leo signs a contracted small amount every year and supply and demand means the price goes up but i prefer it that way i'd rather kind of keep it controlled than mass And also, you can't make more money by just by doing more of it.

It's like we see Leo three or four times a year. Can't see him 16 times a year. And it's handed fall off. It just doesn't work like that. So we concentrate on every signature trying to create the most unique or special or interesting way of presenting it, not just banging out a commodity that just gets sold every time. That's an interesting point for, you know, our listeners and the strategies that go into that because that's what creates value and make something collectible. You know, it's kind of like this fine line of memorabilia with collectibility because, you know, something could be a memorabilia piece, but not necessarily be scarce.

But, yeah, I think it's an interesting point. So I know we always try to learn from the best and it's sort of upper deck have got Michael Jordan and upper deck doubled the price. And they, and I'm saying, that's a bit hard. I said, well, we sold the same amount. I'm like, okay. That's like it's a, there's, I did economics at university. So I always, I always shot this out. Have you ever heard of anything called a Veblen good, V-E-B-L-L-A-N?

I have, I don't remember why, but I've been to memory books from something. Yeah, it's basically, it's a, it's got an inverse demand curve. Yeah. The more expensive it gets, the more demand goes up, the more you wanted. If you've got a cut price Ferrari next to a super Ferrari, you're going to distrust the cut price Ferrari. You're going to want to buy the thing that is super expensive. and it works with super high-end goods.

So like Gucci handbags for 500 pounds, you'd be suspicious of. Gucci handbags for 5,000, you're like, okay, that feels right. And you've got to create that value with sort of scarcity, marketing, and the skill of what we do. Let's just set the table for the audience, Alex.

I mean, what you're up to, wax poetics, past, present, future. Sure. I'll give you the medium-length story, I suppose. So, yes, I'm Alex. I'm CEO and co-founder of Wax Poetics. Right now, we are a music collectibles marketplace where we run auctions of incredible music memorabilia

that comes direct from verified artists, producers, DJs and collectors. But what we really do is we kind of layer in this storytelling element around everything. So we right now, we sit at the intersection of the traditional media model with this marketplace model kind of laid into it and we're kind of aiming for that sweet spot right in the middle which is something that I think we think has been kind of underserved and missing in a lot of the collectible space and particularly in the in the music collecting space. Yeah, in your point you know you raised quite rightly while we are a year and a half

into this new part of this project, WaxPretics has actually been around for almost 25 It's our 25th birthday next year. Yeah, so we started in 2001, not by me, by the original founding team. And the reason why it started was born in New York, everyone listening to hip-hop at the time, no one really kind of reporting on it credibly. And the guys were saying, hey, this is a real art form, you know, and it deserves to be kind of reported on, you know, with the kind of respect that it deserved. So really, it's talking about hip-hop, and you've got this, like,

incredible line from, if you're listening to hip-hop, you're actually listening to samples from like funk, soul, disco, jazz and it's already this like time capsule into the past, right? Kind of perfect for collecting. And it became super influential across artists, DJs, producers, collectors and branched out from hip-hop to all genres. And yeah, fast forward to about four five years ago, just before COVID hit, myself and Dave, my co-founder, we took it over. We were both fans of the magazine, both big record collectors. And we're like, look, there is, there's something really important here. You know, it's a beautiful brand. It's got a great community around it of collectors that we think, you know, have kind of been maybe like underserved in the space

historically. And yeah, we took it over. We didn't know exactly what we're going to do with it at the time, if I'm being completely honest, but there's something, there's something really important to do here in the music space. And yeah, and then how we kind of got to this point, kind of two things quite serendipitously happening at the same time. You know, we were looking at, we have a journal that people collect, we have an audience of collectors who are now in their, you know, in a phase of their life where they are actually investing more in their collecting. and, you know, we're actually like, hey, we're actually not in the publishing space, we're in the collecting space. And then at that same time, Sotheby's were doing their HIPAA portion.

And they wished out to us and they were like, hey, would you like to be part of it and have the full run of Wax Pretics in there? We're like, amazing, like a huge, huge honour for us to be part of that. But it kind of made us step back and we're like, you know, no shed on Sutherbees, love Sotheby's, but like, why are Sotheby's doing hip proportions? What does Sotheby's know about hip-hop and what does Sotheby's know about music? And that's where we come from. We know this stuff. And, you know, we've been part of that culture for about 202 years or 23 years. And it's like, let's go and do this.

You know, there's something really important to be done here. Connecting that, you said at the start very correctly, culture, commerce, collecting, and kind of joining all those dots. So, yeah, so we've been running at that for the past year and a half. we've done items artists with everyone from Mariah Carey, which is how we originally got in contact. Rolling Stones, Beastie Boys, Booty Collins, Louis Vega, Arthur Baker. And yeah, it's been a really, really exciting part of the journey.

As a society, we collect things. And, you know, it's just something that's in the foundation of our culture. And we put, obviously, the celebrity, And anyone's name is like, and it's famous for whatever reason, good, bad, or indifferent, or entertainment or sports or whatever it might be, we put value in that. And this kind of validation and service gives it that much more credibility in the collectibles, in a collectors, you know, mine and in someone buying it. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, that's where the hobby is at its best.

like at its core of just like finding cool stuff and then coming up with an idea for like, okay, I want to collect, you know, this team from this year because that was, you know, the year that I was, you know, a kid and I, you know, was on that ride with them. And, you know, any different thing you can think of to put a collection together, I think, you know, that's what the hobby's all about. And, you know, unfortunately, there's times where, you know, there's things that go on in the hobby that aren't what you want to see in terms of people, you know, putting the money first and putting the ethics second, which drives us nuts. But like you say, at its core, it's that.

That's what's great about the hobby, you know, finding those fun, unique collections and just going down a rabbit hole. But yeah, absolutely. You know, we want to do everything we can to add to that. So that's what I love about. I think your search is becoming more and more timely. It's like just because of reality of AI and all these are the things of what's real, what's not.

And when you have something physical that, you know, has this sentimental and real value, these services, I feel like become more and more valuable. Yeah, well, it just tells a story. You know, when you're able to make a res match to something, it can go from a bat that was used in 2010. or a jersey that was worn in 1985 to a jersey that was worn on July 12th, 1989 when this guy hit a home run or this guy hit the game-winning shot. And it really creates that much more of a story to tell you know,

you learn the story of the piece. So, yeah, it adds another level to the collectible. Yeah. And that's what I love to, you know, start to sort of wind down where we started a bit, like with the imagery or video or like something that kind of goes along with it to tell that story for how you display it and you know bringing to life not only the piece but the entire game or framing it in a lot of it. I mean it can help you kind of build out that whole story of what happened during game worn right. Yeah. Yeah exactly. You know it tells the story and then you know

on the investment side it adds a huge amount of value you know we're oftentimes seeing pieces go for you know, four times what they sold for without a res match when we're able to make that res match. But the reason it adds so much value financially is because it does tell that story and makes the piece that much cooler. So, yeah, it's a lot of fun. Friction removal. So how do I make it easy?

I think, I mean, 9 out of 10 fans for whatever sport, tennis, cricket, basketball, football, I think hearing our conversation and hearing the theory, not. just theory, but the practice of what you're doing, it's like, sign me up. That sounds cool. But how easy can you make it and how, you know, can you do a retina eye scan and I'm in? You know, what? I mean, I don't know. We're not quite there yet. But you know what I'm saying? I think that's what it is. It's like, how do you, I flip on the game, how do I not fumble around with a login and my password that I can't find and an app that doesn't want to load and I'm trying to do this? But I don't know, I just want to watch the game.

I'm like, it's, how do you remove friction or key? Like, that's, that's the key, probably to something like this. Yeah. Well, I mean, certainly it is. And, you know, there is a, there is a, there is a, the biggest friction is confusion, by the way, right? So like, even if, even if it's like, you know, you know, biometric login and, you know, it's super easy from a sort of an app perspective, which people are used to do, like, used to have in like three, three, four apps open during a sporting event and whatever. it's still a new behavior, right, to be like, like a player,

collect a match, like, so that the most important thing is to, is to think about like, you know, just through this journey, the basics of user experience design and what messages matter more at what moments.

Some of them, you're more like, um, uh, like digital savvy audience will probably also be asking like, is this NFTs? Do I need to connect a wallet? Do I need to do all of that?

And I'm like, no, you don't, right? Like this is, yes they're provably scarce assets and we are you know your your fan identity is something that we do have on a blockchain because it's got to be verifiable for any time down the line that you want to share that identity with somebody and remain in control of your data yeah but we don't have this is not a crypto thing it's not like a you know the friction in those experiences is really high this is not a financialized behavior this is the idea isn't like turn up at this event collect these things and then flip them, right? This is about primarily proof that I give a fuck about this thing, right?

So like, if I give a fuck, I just keep doing it because we want to know who those people are that actually do give a fuck. That's the whole point. The 800 punches that happen in a boxing match, sure, make those tradable, right? Like, as an engaged fan, I get sort of some privileged access to things that may have more cultural meaning or more value. And like, of course, I want the marketplace for those things. but that marketplace is there for those people who are like bona fide fans right that and and the reason

we do that is because that's the signal that we are trying to celebrate and create it's that that obsession that the sports team wants to know about right like who are these these who are the people that actually really we owe our cultural capital to and how do I not just by giving a little also get a lot more back from that fan but that's also who sponsors want to know as well like Who am I really in front of, right? Who's by association with this sports team or this sports league, you know, which fans and what can I learn about them and can I even acquire them into my own ecosystem as a brand, you know, who are they?

And that's where the identity signal of like I genuinely give a shit about this thing is, is the basic premise of it. Terek, it's really interesting. And I think I love this topic and the innovation and the the fidgetle digital digital. Is that a made-up word? I don't know. I just make that up. Someone's probably said that before.

You know, nature of this. It's really cool, man. And I think you've got all the opportunity in the world. You just got to connect all the dots, baby, you know. 100% of it. I mean, I like it. we we we definitely are and um you know there's there's a special source in here about like you know as you say just like memory is a big deal you know being able to sort of capture that energy which

is currently going missing um it's a special capability and you can use that in a variety of ways but you've got to stay true to the obsession that's that's how we that's how we roll with it you know just don't mess that bit up right authentic to the sport authentic to the fan experience and everything works out from there 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.