What's going on, everybody? Welcome back to Stacking Slabs. This is your hobby content alternative, and I am your host, Brett. I collect sports cards.

I have a podcast about collecting sports cards. There is a topic that I want to visit in this conversation, and it's about conversations and why I think conversations are currency and why talking cards leads to landing cards.

You know, so much of this hobby is about the transaction, and we have our routines.

We go through our natural workflows daily. How many of you out there listening to this show right now have already checked eBay, save searches one time? How about two times? How about three? How about more?

We are addicted to trying to land and find cards, and we have a built in process to do that that is very routine oriented. It's very natural. It is how we buy a majority of our cards. And something happened to me last week.

I bought two cards based on conversations. These cards were not listed. They were not made available. They were not up for auction. They just came from conversations, and they were pretty, relevant.

I'm fired up about landing both of these cards. And so what I wanna talk about in this conversation is why I think we should be having more conversations as collectors with one another.

There are so many breadcrumbs that can, we can gather from conversations, intel information, direction, introductions. You know, I the the list goes on. So that's what we're gonna be talking about.

If you like what I'm doing here, make sure you show your support. Hit the follow button. Tell a damn friend. Run on over the Patreon group. Wanna do a quick announcement upfront before we get into this.

You know, part of what I am doing here with Stacking Slabs is trying to build a media platform in the sports card space that offers content to all types of collectors. You can see it, you know, if you just follow the feed.

We're producing, and we're publishing new episodes on this channel each and every day. And that has been part of my vision ever since I went all in on stacking slabs as my professional career, as my job.

It's still kinda weird to say that, but this is the best job I've ever had, working for myself, producing content, having conversations about cards.

It rules. And, my I I don't I never stay stagnant in life. I never settle. Personal, professional, I'm always going.

I'm very ambitious. And so what I am trying to do with this show is or with this platform is expand it, create new shows, tell stories, do all the things in this space that I think, I want as a collector and a consumer of content.

And there is a I have a whole pipeline of, awesome things that I've been working on in the background that are going to be shared soon, this week specifically or the week, prior as I'm recording this has been one of the most, pivotal weeks I've had, in a long time at Stacking Slabs just in terms of things happening and things that I'm so excited to share.

And a lot of those things we can't share now, but you'll be the first to know about them. But I am excited to share an update. There is going to be a new series that is coming out. This will air on Friday.

So the on Fridays, this will, replace the collector conversation that has been happening on Friday. I'm not saying the collector conversations are over, but for this period of time, we're integrating this new show in this space.

I have learned in terms of collector conversations. We're getting a lot of those on Smashing Ben on a weekly basis, and Smashing Ben is becoming a favorite.

I'm getting a lot of great feedback on that. Smashing Ben staying on Fridays. We're introducing the new a new show, and it is the Football Card podcast that is going to be, launching.

We're going to start much like with the WNBA Card Podcast. We're gonna start with a 12 episode batch, and then we're gonna evaluate and see what happens. I think a lot of my audience here on Stacking Slabs are football card collectors.

So I'm hoping that that show resonates. Can't do it alone. This show is going to be hosted by my good friend, John. You know John at Pack Nicholson. We've been talking, and honestly, it wasn't like a long drawn out thing.

I had this thought process of these shows. The football card podcast was certainly one of them. John and I have been talking. John helps with a lot of stacking slabs, video stuff that goes out.

And he we had the conversation. It was like, yeah. Let's do this. So it's probably the least prepared I've been in starting a new show, but that doesn't matter because I'm so passionate about football cards.

And John is going to be a great host. I'm excited to sit alongside with him in that those series, but, you know, we're gonna start this week.

So this Friday, you're gonna get the first episode. And in this first batch, it's gonna take us all the way through up into, week one, and then we'll see how we're doing.

So you're gonna get more of that here. If you're if you're tuning in to stacking slabs each and every day, you're going to get more focused content on specific categories.

We're here to tell stories. We're here to get excited. So make sure you check that out on Friday, episode one with my man, John, at pack Nicholson.

Alright. So let's get into today's episode about why I think conversations are currency. I made two deals last week that wouldn't have happened without conversation, and that what that's what today's episode is all about.

How talking cards leads to landing cards. If you've ever felt stuck trying to find the next card, this might be the shift you need.

So let's talk cards, everybody. Who doesn't like to do that? So let's let's talk about the first instance. So the first instance is a card that I spotted on eBay. And this card was the a card that just went it.

When I saw it, fireworks went off in my brain. Instantly, I started researching, doing some digging. I looked at the price. It had a best offer, and I said, yeah. This is a little more than I wanna spend.

Let me make an offer. Let's start this off and see where it goes. So I made an offer on the card. I probably should tell you the card first. The card is the 2024 Prism Pascal Siakam black, one of one.

I've talked a lot about, Pacers cards recently. Siakam has been such a pivotal piece of one of the best sports years I've ever had as a fan. And it was a card when it popped up. I I just knew I needed it. It was that feeling.

It was that drop in the stomach. It was like, I need this card. And and why I needed this card was it is Siakam's first prism appearance in Pacers attire, which is very, very important to me. He's wearing the banana suit or the golds.

And it is his first appearance in prism, which is my favorite product, and it is undeniably the best parallel of that product and the black one of one lineage legacy for as many black finite that I've owned for on the cold side, I never owned a black prism on the basketball side.

And so all of these things were going off and, just my appreciation for Siakam is just through the roof.

I I did not have a great Siakam. I didn't have any Siakam Pacers cards. And and that has since changed. I not only have this card, but I have multiple cards now.

And that's what tends to happen when we, you know, start making some of these moves. But I saw this card instantly, stars aligned, everything. I made the offer, gone on got on about my business, and then I got a DM, later.

And the DM was from the owner of the card. And I was like, oh, this is cool. They're reaching out. And we started to have a conversation. And it was a a collector that I wasn't super familiar with, but I knew.

And I knew what this individual was working on. He was working on a project, and it was a project that I could help with because I had a card that he needed for the project.

And I'm I'm gonna be a little blurry on details on the this seller and this these cards because as far as I know, I have not seen the new owner of a card that I gave up announced that he has this card, and I don't wanna, blow his cover.

So I'm just gonna be kind of ambiguous a little bit when I'm talking about the cards that I had to give up. But we started talking about price of the Siakam.

And I asked the question because I thought, you know, well, maybe there's a trade play here because I knew this collector as a, a collector was working on a really big project that I had cards.

And I said, hey. Are you still working on that project? And he mentioned, yeah.

I'm down to three cards. And I said, well, what are they? And he shared those those cards with me. Now out of those three cards, one card I had. And that card, I had absolutely zero plans to give up, but things change.

Plans change, pal. And so we I I basically told him. I was like, yeah. I have no interest in in getting rid of my copy, but then we started talking. When you start talking, you start having conversations, and you start exploring values.

And, you know, I asked the question. He's like he asked me how much I would sell it for. I said, it's not for sale. Give me an offer if you're interested, and got an offer.

And then I got the offer, and then we started I started thinking about, okay. Well well, this is what he wants for the. Here's his offer here. Let's kinda go back and forth. And it wasn't, like, straightforward at all.

It was very, we were both being very stubborn, and we both weren't, being very flexible, when we were we we we came down a little bit, and we started to negotiate, then we both got pretty firm.

And it took some time to breathe a little bit, thinking about everything, connecting the dots, everything else.

And at the end of it, finally said, you know what? Like, let I think this is good for both of us. Let's make this happen. And so what happened was I gave up a card.

I didn't think I was gonna give up, but haven't regretted it since. I gave up a card. I got the Siacom black, and I got cash. And it was a fair amount of cash. It wasn't insignificant cash. It was cash.

So it was very odd because I went from thinking I was going to have to give up a bunch of cash to get this siakam, but instead, I gave up a card that I really appreciated for the Siakam, and then I got cash on the other side.

Wild, wild, wild. Anyways, the Siakam came.

By the time this goes live, I will have posted it, but I I'm so excited to have that card. I'm so excited to get it graded. Add it to my Pacers PC that will forever remind me of this season. The other card, again, Pacers related.

And I, you know, we get we get I talk about the seasons of collecting a lot, and we get into these seasons where it's like the cards that are popping up are, the cards, they they all track in the same direction.

And obviously, with the Pacers being front and center, cool Pacers cards are are popping up. So the other card was sent to me by another collector, and I would have never have seen this card because it was in a Facebook group.

I'm hardly ever, if at all, on Facebook. I'm never in groups. But I wanna shout out my man, Rambo Sports Cards, because Rambo Sports Cards slid in the DMs.

He said, dude, look at this. And when he shared the photo and then the price of the card, I was like, I need to get in touch with this individual.

And so the card is the it's a theme here. Twenty twenty four prism, TJ McConnell, Nebula. So we got McConnell in Pacers gear in prism. We've got his first Nebula, all these things in the gold jerseys, all these things happening.

And I saw this card, and I saw the price. I was like, this is like a bin smashing price for me. I and it's not cheap, but it's like, if this card showed up on eBay for this price, I am certainly smashing bin.

So if you're a non Facebook user, I'm sure you've gone through a similar exercise when someone has done this where you try to figure out how do you get in touch with the person.

So I go to Facebook, looking up the name. I'm going back to Rambo sports cards and saying, is this the person?

He's like, yeah. Then I DM the individual, and I I I said, hey. I need this card. Let me know. And we got to talking, and he said, hey. I've got an offer, and this is what the offer was. And the offer was below his asking price.

And I just followed up and said, hey. I'll pay you your asking price. Can we get this done? And he said, absolutely. Let's get it done. And so we got to talking. He lives in Indy. My schedule was crazy.

We're gonna do a meetup, but I just I had so much going on that it was like, here here's the funds. Just send it to me. But then we got to talking about the Pacers, and it was just fun. And he was just like, I'm so happy.

Like, so happy this card is going to a Pacers collector. You know? I'm at a point where I need the cash for life stuff and all good. But all of that to say, I landed two cards in unconventional ways that I will never forget.

And what came out of that is there the way there was a point in the first deal with the Siakam where I told the seller or the trade partner, said, this is such a unique deal here where you you've got two individuals with two cards and, you know, both rare cards, and we both want them, like, let's like, this this type of deal is never gonna present itself again.

And he agreed. He's like, yeah. I know. Let's just fine tune it. But it's the fine tuning. It's the stuff that gets lost in translation, when we're anonymous trying to buy cards from each other. That I think is super powerful.

And that's why, like, I wanted to, like, share those stories, let you know how excited I am, and let you all know that I'm not sure that we're able to get into a point where we land the cards that we remember forever without at least initiating side.

It breaks barriers, and it is something that I think as I look back and look at my collection, look at everything that I own, I think it is, there's something there where it's the best cards in my collection are all from these types of situations.

And I think, you know, moving from transaction to transformation, the hobby tends to reward visibility.

Right? The loudest loudest listening listings, the flashiest posts and reels. But the real value to me is found in the quiet. It's it's in the DMs. It's the connections. It's the group chats. It's the ongoing collector dialogue.

I think one of the most fascinating things that we can explore and dig into is just overall communication in the hobby. I'm a communication nerd, and so I observe communication trends, channels, and how we go about our business.

And I believe that if you spend time each week initiating and, like, dedicating time to initiate conversations with collectors that you're friends with, collectors who have cards you want and you just naturally have chats, good things will happen.

Information is really, really powerful. Ongoing dialogue collector to collector is very powerful.

And when you look at these threads of conversations that you have with individuals, you can't look at it like, I'm gonna reach out to this person because I'm trying to get something from them right now.

It's a long game, man. You gotta plant the seeds.

You gotta nurture. There's common ground. Have conversations. Build rapport. I think what's different about conversations is they aren't always zero sum. There's some room for nuance. I'm not selling, but I know someone who might be.

Trust is building when you have conversations. Cards move because someone wants what you have. Over time, this transforms your role from a buyer to a participant. I think there's a key shift here.

When you stop treating every interaction like a transaction, great deals just happen. So start having conversations. What it's it's just prompts, man. It's like, what are you collecting these days? It's a great opener.

It's a great way to initiate. It's a great way to find common ground. Don't wait for shows or listings. You gotta create the moment. If you listen to the episode with Joe, low pop poppy, he talked a lot about research.

There's way to research cards, but what's important too is researching people. Spend time to research the people that you're initiating conversation with. There is so much people wanna talk about their cards.

I've been doing this show for six years. You know how many times reaching out to someone, I said, hey. This card rules. Let's do an episode on it. Everyone says yes. Everyone wants to talk about their cards.

It's important to ask thoughtful questions. I'm very curious. It's part of the reason why I've been able to do this show for so long, and I'm I'm curious. I I know nothing. I know absolutely nothing.

I just wanna learn from other collectors. And I think if you take your curiosity and point that to collectors, it initiates some really good chat. You gotta stay in touch even when you're not buying, and you can't be inauthentic.

You gotta be authentic. Gotta be genuine. Just we're people, man. We're in the same community. There's common ground. There's a way to have conversations and build rapport. There's also a way to be a connector.

I saw this card and thought of you. You still looking for that gold prism? Check this listing out. I think your name gets tied to a category and that builds visibility without being allowed. It's about reading the room.

Not every conversation will turn into a deal, but each one builds equity. Look at the conversations as steps, not dead ends. Deal number one might never come, but deal number five, that's the one that changes everything.

Can't tell you how many times in doing this show I've said don't be transactional. Avoid jumping in with how much. Lead with shared curiosity, not with demands. Offer value before asking anything.

Collecting is a really long game. One of the cards I always think about is my 2024 Jonathan Taylor black finite one of one PSA nine. Chris c dice cards, sharing that listing for me as I'm wiping breakfast from my daughter's face.

I had just checked eBay. I had just checked that save search, and that was a bin smash. And that's a card that I love. My favorite player, just one of my favorite prism years, the best parallel.

And that doesn't happen without connection. That's not luck. It's relationship equity. I've had so many conversations with Chris about our shared passion for our team, how we collect.

You can't time lightning, but you can carry the lightning rod. That is what separates casual buyers from collectors. It's about playing the long game.

Build trust, stay consistent, be known for something, and then when that card pops up, people want you to have it. I guess the big takeaway here is to encourage you, the listener, to start one new conversation every week.

It doesn't just have to be about buying, but just talk cards. Ask simple questions. What was the last card you landed because someone thought of you first? Invite them to a DM or share stories.

It's important. The more we chat, the better things happen. Don't treat it as a transaction. Appreciate everyone for checking out the flagship episode and all of the other shows happening on stacking slabs.

Working hard to bring collector focused content to you, the collector, each and every damn day. Appreciate your support. We'll talk to you soon.