What's going on, everybody? Welcome back to Stacking Slabs. This is your hobby content alternative. I'm your host, Brett McGrath.

Collect sports cards, have a podcast about collecting sports cards, and this is the flagship. Each and every week, I'm fired up to explore a topic that is top of mind for me, and I hope can help you as a collector.

I think a lot about the way we interact. I think a lot about the way we engage, the different formats, the different, ways that individuals in this hobby have conversations.

I think a lot of the times, we don't necessarily consider the value in these interactions, but what I wanna do in this episode is take a couple steps back and talk about the value in communication and the value in conversations in this space, I believe conversations are currency.

Without conversations, we don't necessarily have the same level of knowledge.

We certainly aren't as inspired as much. And I think, honestly, we're not doing ourselves or we're doing ourselves a disservice when we don't prioritize those conversations.

I was having a slew of conversations this past Tuesday, and I was thinking about my day. Like, when my day ended, I looked at my calendar, and some of these conversations were scheduled and planned, and some of them were impromptu.

I had a conversation with Adam at AMT memorabilia. That episode is live on the stacking slabs feed, passionate profession, business owner, growing his company.

I had a conversation that you heard last Friday, collector conversation with my good friend Joey at the Etrader, talking about mindset mentality and how he approaches the hobby.

I had two different conversations with contacts who work at big businesses in this industry, talking about, you know, state of things, talking about our relationships, just a a lot of different topics.

And I think in these conversations, there's always a lot to be learned about collecting philosophy.

There's a lot to be learned about current state of the hobby and the climate. And in each of those conversations, we spend know, ten minutes or so always talking about our pickups, talking about our carts.

It's like it's so fun. It's like even for me as someone who is, walking this line of I'm a collector. I love collecting and sharing my experience here, but, also, I'm a creator who's built a business around doing this.

And I'm, you know, several months into kind of this new world of stacking slabs in my own personal and professional career being stacking slabs, but I I've never lost the the the passion that I have as a collector even though this is kind of all I do.

It's it's it's probably amplified.

It's probably intensified, and I think I am attributing that to the fact that I am having more conversations now than ever before because of all that goes into my day to day, whether it's creating content, whether it's, having conversations with people I haven't met about partnerships, relationships.

And so conversations are increasing for me and my excitement and passion for my own personal collecting and the industry in general is, intensifying.

And I don't think that would be possible if it wasn't for the foundation of stacking slabs and the foundation of kind of the brand that I'm building here, and that's centered around conversations.

So this episode, like, I think the more I I wanna get some some things together. I wanna I wanna convey some personal feelings and thoughts and experiences.

But I think the more conversations we have, the more we learn and whether it's through content like this. Thank you all of you loyal listeners of Stacking Slabs.

Appreciate you. Group chats, one to one conversations, these discussions are what shape the decisions that we make in the hobby. In this episode, I wanna highlight some of the best lessons I've learned from recent conversations.

And as you listen, think about a collector who has given you a perspective that might have changed the way that you collect. If you're enjoying what I'm doing, make sure you do a few things. Do at least one of these things.

Make sure you're following stacking slabs. My goal, especially this year, is to begin to expand the brand to grow. And if you're listening to this show on Apple, Spotify, or wherever and you're not following, just hit the follow button.

Would appreciate that. If you're really enjoying this and you're already following it, make sure you tell a damn friend. Right?

Tell a damn friend you're enjoying stacking slabs. And then if you want to take it to the next level, right, and you're really enjoying what you're hearing on the main feed and you want more, make sure you check out the Patreon group.

Link is in the show notes. There is a lot of fun content, a lot of fun discussion going on there. But let's get into the power of conversations in collecting.

Why do I think collectors need to talk to other collectors? Well, I think the hobby is too big not to, and I think it's go moving so fast that going solo doesn't make a ton of sense.

I think this as a sports car hobby moves really fast, you've got new releases, trends, pricing fluctuations, collector's preferences shift constantly.

Going at it alone means missing out on insights that could help you operate more smarter and maybe more efficiently. I think about the information. And information we're on information overload.

Right? Like, we're on information overload in all facets of life. There's no limit to posts, content, channels. The amount of data that the hobby we have on the hobby today can be overwhelming.

Right? We've got auction results, what's happening on marketplaces, social media discussions. I mean, I'm very, very blessed and thankful for my good friends and partner at Card Ladder to help me sift through that and navigate that.

But I think, like, there's only so much me as a creator and collector can do analyzing data and information.

And in order for me to take that information to the next level, it always comes through a conversation. And without conversation, I'm left sort of with this mindset there's too much noise going on.

I understand that there's a lot coming out of this feed. I produce a lot. There's a lot on my mind. There's a lot of different types of shows I'm actively running. There's a lot of different shows I have aspirations for running.

And part of what I have been thinking about is after a month, man, look at all this content. Like, what did we learn? And so that's why I put together we're on the third issue, of collector nuggets.

Collector nuggets is a consolidation of a month's worth of conversations that I'm having on Stacking Slabs, and I'm playing it back in a kind of a report pseudo report type format.

So I give you the nuggets of things that I learned from the previous month, and I hope that helps jog your memory or inspires you to listen to an episode that you might have missed.

That is on the stacking slab substack. That is on the same substack that the weekly rip, the Sunday newsletter goes out.

And I haven't talked about these publicly for a while. But if you like long form content, there's a link to stacking slab substack in the, show notes, the weekly rip.

That newsletter, you'll get you'll get it every Sunday, and then once a month, you'll get collector nuggets. Just put out collector nuggets. You can go to the just Google search Stackings Labs sub stack and navigate yourself and follow.

But that that is a way because there's so much information out there that I in in so much so many conversations that I'm having here that I'm trying to shrink the sea a little bit.

I think that talking to other collectors, it gives kind of the you this mentality of having strength in numbers.

There are collectors who have spent years studying specific sets, players or errors, and their insights can help shortcut your learning curve.

One thing that I love and admire and appreciate about this space is that collectors with deep knowledge and expertise love to share what they've learned.

And I think our opportunity as collectors is to take advantage of that and to take advantage of that, and it's not that hard.

Most people are scared to do it. There are so many people posting information on platforms like Instagram regularly.

Like, if you wanna learn more, have like, reach out and have a a a conversation. Most collectors that I've interacted with over the course of my period, when you're proactive and you reach out and you have a question, they respond.

I try to respond avoid the FOMO and the market hype stuff. Conversations help ground us. Conversation with experienced collectors help us filter out the these short short term hype cycles from long term opportunities.

I think instead of blindly following what's trending, we can get a perspective from people who've seen these cycles play out before.

When I got back into the hobby, I remember just, like, being very skeptical about the old guard and what they were saying.

Right? I was seeing excitement, prices going up, this and that. But, man, like, reflecting back on it now, I wish I would have saved myself some time and just listened earlier as opposed to being wide eyes and bushy tailed.

But it's the that learning, I think, is really powerful. But I wasn't able to move from where I was to where I am today without the benefit of having conversations.

Now I understand my situation's a little unique. Right? I have this platform where I am going and seeking these conversations, but this doesn't need to be public. Right? You can be doing this privately.

I think about just, like, conversations and just moving into new categories and how beneficial it has been for me. I'm constantly asking questions for new categories or cards or players that I'm curious about.

And I think when I see a category that I'm interested in or cards that I'm interested in and I see maybe prices are lower than other categories, I think like my mindset and observation is like well I believe in this stuff like I'm willing to pay the highest.

But I think before you just go out and do that, it's really good to validate your assumptions with other collectors in that space.

And this isn't hard. Like, this isn't hard. Literally, everyone has evidence of what they're knowledgeable about and passionate about on their Instagram page.

It's about you being proactive in finding those people and asking those questions to cut out a bunch of layer a a bunch of time wasted or money spent.

And to me, that's like a a an unlock, and it's like we're we're in a community here. We're all there's like whether we collect, football, basketball, soccer, golf, wrestling, TCG, it it doesn't matter. Like, there's common ground.

The common ground is that we are passionate about collecting cards, and we need to use that to our advantage, and the best way to use that to our advantage is to be proactive and reach out and to have conversations.

And I think collector's insight can help us make smarter purchases, rare finds, and maybe better negotiate.

So when I think about this, something to just consider is I think if you're not talking to other collectors, you're limiting yourself.

Every conversation has a potential to unlock a new level of understanding in your collecting journey. I think conversations build confidence in decision making.

The more you know, the more confident you feel in buying, selling, or holding cards. Conversations help us fill in those knowledge gaps that we would otherwise lead to bad purchasing, overpaying, or missed opportunities.

Think it's understanding card values and market dynamics. When we talk to other collectors, you learn what's truly rare versus what is hype.

We have the data. We have the pop reports and platforms like Card Ladder, but getting context from people who are in the weeds in those categories is soup so powerful.

A card might seem rare at first glance, but seasoned collectors might tell you that card pops up at auction once a month, so be patient.

There is certainly power in collector specific knowledge. Every segment of the hobby has experts. The best experts don't call themselves experts. They're just so knowledgeable, so passionate, and so intelligent.

Like, that's the game is to find those people. The people who are trying to be the expert and trying to flash, like, I know everything or I've got this YouTube channel, like, that Be be a little skeptical first.

And I'm not saying be skeptical of every creator. Hell, I'm a creator. But I'm just saying, like, this is tried and true.

I have been doing this for a while now. I've met a lot of people one on one, have had conversations directly with a lot of peep collectors, business owners, people who work in the industry, one of one.

The experts are the people who aren't telling you they are experts. I promise you that.

I promise you that. They have deep tribal knowledge, and they're incredible inter they're incredible collectors to interact with. You just need to go be proactive and and and ask questions and build that relationship.

Learning from someone with deep expertise will save you time, money, and regret. I promise you that. If you're gonna take one thing away from this episode, take that.

Gives you confidence when you're buying and selling when you have conversations. When you understand a card's true demand history, market behavior, you feel more confident in pulling the trigger on a big purchase.

I don't I still can't get over the fact sometimes when I look at my collection and I think about the amount of money I've spent on specific cards.

You rewind the tape a few years ago. There's no I'm, like, I'm I'm I'm saying there's no no way this would ever be possible.

But I I think that through conversations, through those interactions, it's given me the confidence to be able to make those decisions on buying or bigger cards.

I think it's really dangerous to rely on, your own opinion or just small slivers of data. I think comps and sales data tell part of the story, but the why behind those prices comes from these conversations. And that's the gold, man.

You can go and see comps all day. You can go and see cards selling all day. But digging in, man, digging in and getting the context will open your eyes to so much. There is so much information being shared through this platform.

I do my part. Right? I I'm I'm having a conversation right now and sharing my experience and what I think about a topic. But the main, really, the main, goal of stacking slabs is to have the stage.

And on the stage, I'm bringing up the experts, and I'm teeing up topics that they then can go share their knowledge and expertise, and hopefully, you'll benefit from something.

That's what this has always been about. This has always been about facilitation of ideas.

If you're listening to this for the first time and you haven't yet, and I know I already said it once, but hit follow. I'm not stopping doing that. That's that's what I'm doing. I'm doing it, and it's continuing to happen.

I'm doing it at a rate that, I believe is unprecedented in this space. I'm fortunate that I get to do that because this is all I'm doing. I don't have another, a job or some other something else to do.

This is it. And so, I'm passionate about being a leader there. And so, again, like, if you're listening to this stuff for the first time, hit follow because this isn't stopping.

You know, but my takeaway here is confidence in collecting doesn't come from just watching sales happening on eBay. Right? It comes from real conversations with people. We've been there. We've done that. Tribal knowledge is powerful.

And so then we think about, like, where are these conversations happening? Wait. Like, what is my experience? Where do I find these conversations happening? I'm gonna plug something. It's gonna be it's gonna surprise you a little bit.

But I think the best collectors constantly engage with the hobby through multiple conversation channels. It's about finding the right mix, the balance that's gonna fit within your workflow, your everyday life.

But I'm gonna plug this. I'm gonna plug podcasts. Is that ironic? I think podcasts this is how I think about podcasts. I built my career on podcasts, And I think great podcasts are great for deep insights and storytelling.

They're long form content for hearing why collectors make the decisions that they do. You get uncut real perspective versus the short snappy social media takes.

My my my hope for you is that listeners you as a listener gain exposure to different types of collectors that you might not normally interact with, and because of that, you gain value.

We we it's probably impossible, although I know my man, Iowa Dave, once did this. It's it's probably impossible to go out every week and listen to every hobby podcast.

You know, some of them you're gonna really enjoy, others are just not your flavor. And that's not like a indictment on the creators, but just there's many different flavors of the hobby, many different slices.

Like people are interested in different things. But I think finding your three to five podcasts and hopefully stacking slabs is one of them, I think can be really, really great, really great for your learning.

There's also DMs, one of the best ways to build the the easiest, most efficient way to build a relationship with collectors.

Now there's a whole another episode on tact and how to handle direct messages, responding to and, reaching out, words to use, communication strategy and style, knowing that one approach is gonna be better than the other.

And I will say that I'm a psychopath when it comes to this stuff because so much of my professional existence has relied on words and words to people, and I'm obsessed with response and how to generate response.

I'll just say this. I would probably just in DMs I get on a regular basis, taking out the people I already know. So they're they're they're out of this, but just like blind cold DMs.

I'll probably give the people probably the hobby, like, a b b minus. You know? There's some head scratchers that come my way, but I just think that DMing, don't be scared of it. Do it. And asking the right questions is really important.

But, like, being really, really mindful about the situation, the person you're in, you're you're going to try to receive information of and your approach is really important. Here's just one really easy thing you can do.

And, again, like, don't treat this shit as a transaction. We're trying to have a conversation to start something new, to build a relationship. And don't just go try to go from point a to point z with one message.

It's not gonna work. It's about thinking really long and hard about how you can use words to engage someone first and start a conversation. And a really easy one to to to to use to try to get someone to talk with you, and it's not hard.

You gotta just study. You gotta observe. If you see someone pick up a new card and you like that card, use that when you're reaching out to the person.

Talk about how much you like the card and talk about the qualities of the card, and start the conversation there. I think that would be super helpful. I could, like, go on for day.

I could maybe at some point, we'll do a whole DM conversation, on in protocol and advantages, but, I think if if being thoughtful in the DMs is really good. Also group chats, faster pace, constant conversation and flow.

Maybe the best ones typically have some sort of, like, leader involved, I think, but great for learning in real time. Being in a group chat focused on a specific set team, product player era can give you a ton of knowledge. Card shows.

Right? The most raw and filtered takes in the hobby happen at card shows. Spotting trends, seeing what's moving, networking. You'll learn more about the state of the market in one hour at a card show than scrolling through Instagram.

You know, I I think if you want to level up as a collector, pick at least one or two of these channels and be intentional about having conversations.

The more you talk, the more you're gonna learn, and the knowledge will help separate you from the pack.

So I wanted to close out this episode by just reiterating or maybe not reiterating, but just sharing some of what I learned and five different things that I learned from five different collectors over the last, like, few weeks of people who've been in the podcast.

So Joey, the e trader, stored value mindset and organized collection. My the lesson I learned from Joey in that episode is thinking about stored value of cards before purchasing and organizing cards into two boxes is really powerful.

Movable versus long term holds. This method can help create clarity in the way you make decisions.

If you don't have a clear system for managing your collection, consider something like Joey's approach. So you're always knowing which cards you're willing to move and which ones are untouchable. Two boxes. This collection, untouchable.

This collection, cards I'm willing to move if something pops up. It's really basic, but it's so powerful. Mike Leahy, passion profession, so much about f one, but there was more if you go dig into the below the surface.

I think it's okay to collect I learned it's okay to collect outside the mainstream if you have data to support your beliefs.

The challenge of going against the grains and finding niche categories can really pay off, but it takes you doing your homework, trusting your instincts, and don't be and not being afraid of being early on something you truly believe in.

My episode with Chris, Miguel about Luca. You know, Chris became a Luca collector because of cards first, not the player. And I think the importance of aesthetics, rarity, and set appeal over, can be very, very important.

And that can be very important to opening up your eyes to zeroing in on a player and then going and collecting a player and then being a fan of a player and being a fan of a team.

And I don't think we or the industry looks at it that way. They think about we're fans first and then we're collectors. But in Chris's example, like, he became a collector because of cards.

And I think that is so interesting and powerful, and he's not the only one. Aaron at Saseoto talking about Yu Gi Oh! And TCG, something I have no idea about, but I really value the conversation.

You know, the lesson for me was if you're willing to outwork everyone in the room, opportunities will come. I I believe that, like, more than anything. We, as people, want instant gratification and instant success overnight.

It's not how life works. Life works when you work your ass off, and you treat people well, and you contribute, and you're consistent. And it was a good reminder, Aaron, sharing that.

You know, I've said this a lot of times, but I would hope, like, if someone were talking about me in this show, one thing that they would say that they really, really like or a top thing is just my consistency.

Because I understand, like, where I want this to be and where I want it to go is it's a long freaking game.

And it's fortunate for me because I'm super passionate and patient about where I want this to be. And the best way for me to be there with this show and with my own collecting is to just show up and be consistent.

Being intentional, being consistent, and don't expect great things right out of the gates or things to just fall in your lap is an important lesson. Finally, Anne Marie, women on top.

Think when you're entering a new category, recognizing scarcity helps build confidence and understanding supply and demand and how we should think about more niche categories as opposed to the big ones is really important.

And I think if you I learned if you understand scarcity, you'll collect with confidence and very little hesitation.

There's a lot to this, and I think every collector I talk to adds something to my perspective, and I hope this episode does some of that for you.

I'd love to hear from you. What's one lesson you've learned from another collector that's maybe changed your approach? There's so much going on in this hobby, man.

Conversations are currency. We gotta have them. Hopefully, you learn something from this episode or you're thinking about your approach to individuals or your own collection in a different way.

I'm full of energy on this. I'm full of topics. I'm full of shows. I'm full of ideas. I appreciate you coming here and making stacking slabs your hobby content alternative.

We're gonna continue to show up. We're gonna continue to show out. We're gonna continue to be here for you, the collector, every damn week. Appreciate it. Take care. We'll talk to you soon.