Alright. We're back. Passion to Profession brought to you by my good friends at eBay.

As I mentioned upfront, we are revisiting some chats that we had earlier on this year with some guests, and I'm excited to bring back Mike who owns and runs MC Sports Cards.

It feels like forever, and I since we last spoken, a lot has happened in the hobby.

So we're gonna get into all that. But without further ado, Mike, welcome back, man. How are you? Thanks, man. Pleasure pleasure to be back. I appreciate the, the invite, but, yeah, I'm doing great. Ready to ready to roll.

I maybe we'll just do, like, a quick we were just chatting before we hit record. You've been not just on the road. You've been across the globe. Maybe shed some perspective on your last couple weeks and what you've been up to.

Yeah. So I went to the Macau card show, technically, the ASCC, the Asia Sports Card Convention. Really cool experience. Saw a lot of insane basketball cards.

Met a lot of people. Just a really cool cool experience to check this show out. And then after that, I was in Australia for about a week meeting a a good friend and doing a a pretty big deal for, Jordan and a Kobe o three limited logo.

So it's been a been a busy couple weeks. I guess when you're, flying across the, other side of the world, you gotta be doing some big deals.

So, that checks out. At the at the show, I mean, I I'm sure you've seen you saw a banger after banger, but was there one in particular card that, like, stands out to you that, like, stopped you in your tracks?

I mean, there was a ton of Curry, like, flaw it was weird. There was, like, a ton of Curry flawless patch autos, and I saw a guy who had, like, three Logoman autos at Curry.

So that was probably what's what stands out the most. I mean, just a ton of exquisite, flawless, NT, like, crazy patches and, everything you can imagine in that arena.

That's amazing. What so we spoke last time and and kinda I wanna catch up and kinda get your perspective, on this year, and what this year has meant for MC Sports Cards. Obviously, it's been a pretty, aggressive year on the sales side.

I mean, just it Yeah. Feels like every month you look in the card ladder from an industry growth perspective. There's more online sales than ever before, and I think it's undeniable.

You know, we're in a bull market. I I've been, like, exploring this question with a lot of people, but I'm curious on your take. Because I know you were around building your business during, COVID.

How do you think, like, the 2021 bull market time frame, differs from what we're experiencing right now in 2025? So I think 2020, 2021, things were more like every single card was going crazy.

There was a lot of, like, I don't understand why this is selling for that much when you have, like, the Luca Prism silver PSA tens were doing 10,000 plus, and LeBron Chrome's 40,000.

So that I feel like that was a lot more, like, just delusion, if that's the right word. You know, this this run, like, I can't really think of many situations where it's like, how is that selling for this much?

It shouldn't even be selling for 10%. I think it's more of, like, I think it's more just, like, people buying better stuff or more desirable stuff versus just throwing money at anything and everything, like, in in 2020, 2021.

So I think maybe you see a lot of those buyers who got burned on the downturn come back into this bull run, and they've learned kinda what they should and shouldn't do.

So maybe that's part of the reason why you're not seeing some of this craziness and head scratching sales on cards with pops of thousands and thousands.

But with that being said, if you look at from even a few months ago, like, a lot of things are up 20 to a 100 or if not more percent.

So things are definitely up, and the market's definitely amazing, but there's just no straight line up that says, you know, this card was a thousand a week ago, and now it's 5,000.

This is there's nothing like that going on, at least, that I've noticed.

When you think about maybe and I I I know you're, you know, running your consignment business, but, you know, I'm imagining there's also kind of buy, sell, trade opportunities.

Do you do you if you look back and think about how you were buying or how you were thinking about buying during the pandemic, is do you feel like you you have, have changed anything with just how you think about buying, in this market, in this era?

I guess what I'm trying to learn is, like, have have you evolved as a buyer as the markets have changed?

Maybe talk a little bit about that. Yeah. So in the, you know, five year ago bull market, I I was still buying a lot of the stuff that I didn't understand why it was worth so much just because it was so liquid.

And it really was just a game of hot potato, and, like, I would buy, you know, the the card and sell it the next day because I just didn't even wanna deal with it going down, and then it would go up another 20%.

And then, you know, ultimately, I was glad I sold everything when I did.

But this go around, I've been a lot smarter with what I'm buying, and I think part of the reason is I don't have as much time anymore to keep up with every single item because the the consignment business has, really evolved a lot since the last bull market.

So a lot of my time is now dedicated to that. So, you know, I gotta pick and choose.

But I I think overall, like, I I've just always stuck with by the best or the best names or the top quality cards, and you don't have to keep up with them as much or worry, about as many fluctuations.

I I feel like you're the type of individual that's really well connected, and anybody like, people that I'm having conversations with reference you and their conversations.

I feel like you've done a really nice job with your business of just, like, building a network of, people who, maybe you know and trust and you've worked with done deals in the past.

How, I guess, how much do you rely on kinda your peers or maybe individuals who've been doing it even longer than you, during these moments of exuberance in the market where it seems like any decision you make is the right decision because kind of the the market is taking off?

Like, how do you lean on your network?

Yeah. I mean, we we bounce a lot of ideas off each other, whether it's just employees who are also card people or friends in the industry. You know, I send out photos all the time to buddies of what do you think this is worth.

I get photos all the time of what do you think this is worth, and, you know, it's it's it's helpful. It's nice to have that circle to, to help out with that stuff.

But, you know, with tools like card ladder and all of the accessible ways to find comps, just seems like in most cases, a lot of the stuff you can do yourself or make that decision a lot quicker by researching it easier than a few years ago.

So with a tool like card ladder, obviously, there's, like, so much data that presents itself and, you know, we have access to, you know, what we if we are given an opportunity for a card, what might be the range of buying it?

Maybe when you're thinking about the the highest quality stuff or the stuff that excites you now if you see an opportunity come your way, like, what are those attributes?

Like, you know, obviously, player product set. Like, do you think a lot about, like, the, like, the time in between the last time it's sold, if it's ever sold?

Like, what are those factors for you that get you excited when an a card comes across your desk? Yeah. I think just like rarity of seeing, like, hey. The last one sold five years ago or ten years ago. Having that guess of, like, okay.

If it sold ten years ago for 3,000, is it now worth 4,000? Is it now worth 10,000? So that that's definitely fun. Just kind of having things up in the air and especially when you can do better on them and benefit on on the upside.

Doesn't always work that way. But, I think really just seeing a card that's from a a top brand such as, like, Xquisite or Flawless is kinda what gets me, gets me excited now in in terms of buying or acquiring cards.

There there's a lot of, top sellers on eBay out there.

We've had conversations with maybe almost all of them this year. When I think about those conversations and think about the way those businesses are run, a lot of them are run on volume.

When I look at your business and, you know, I don't necessarily know the ins and outs of how it works, but what I do know is that we on a weekly basis, you have high quality cards that, obviously, like, you've built this network and this client base who trust you to send their high quality cards.

And so, I'm always looking through your auctions, and there's just cards you don't see every day, cards you do see every day that are maybe a tear up.

Yeah. Maybe talk about just, like, that differentiation for MC Sports Cards in comparison to maybe some other, sellers.

Why you focus so much on just maybe, like, quality cards and maybe less, but higher quality and just, like, how that how you've kind of built that as a part of kinda your business.

Yeah. It just kinda ties into how I was prior to consignment.

I was known for doing a lot of high end deals and, known pretty well in the high end community. So I think I just kinda took that skill set and knowledge and applied it to the consignment side and just always stuck with that.

You know, the volume model is it's a great model, and it's it's a definitely more profitable model because the, the payout rates on lower end is obviously not as good as higher end.

But, you know, there there is just a lot to it that requires a lot more staff, you know, a lot more tools and resources. And if you can if you can make it happen and run a successful volume business, that's great.

But, you know, the the high end side, it's a lot easier to get by with a smaller team and, you know, we could do a lot of flex we have a lot of flexibility with clients too because there is a lot less volume and, you know, it's it's not as, like, pressing to meet deadlines of of large volume.

Have have new with inside your business have, you know, as any business owner will probably say, there's always challenges. But have there been new challenges this year that have presented itself just based on how things are going?

Like, has anything shifted or changed for you? Are you not necessarily staying up at night because of certain things, but, like, are you thinking about how I can, you know, continue to grow and scale this business?

Like, what's what's top of mind for you in terms of, like, what you're you're working on on a day to day basis?

Yeah. Well, you know, volume, I know I've mentioned volume. With with the recent bull market, you know, by default, we are getting a lot more volume than usual.

And, we're we're keeping up, but it's kinda getting to the point that, like, okay. Maybe we should plan ahead to make sure that we can continue to keep up and especially if the volume keeps growing.

You know, another thing is we are launching, like, a entire fixed price consignment model through you know, it'll all be through eBay, but through our client portal on our website. You'll be able to manage lists like the price.

You could change the price. You could accept counter decline offers, all that. So that that's kind of been, like working on that is has been one of the the tougher things I've been handling lately because there's just a lot to it.

This is such this I'm I'm glad you brought this up because I'm curious on your end in terms of I'm sure that came from probably client demand. Right?

Individuals wanting make wanting that as a feature option at MC Sports Cards. Yeah. Like, I am I am a if if I'm going to get rid of cards in my collection, the chant there's a there's a higher chance of me sending them to auction.

I'm more entertained by that. I know when it's going to end, and usually, I'm trying to use the funds to go buy something else.

So, like, that's more my wheelhouse. But, like, how do you think, like, the the current collector in this space views, the selling of their cards, like, in the balance between, like, are there more people who like to run auctions?

Are there more people who like fixed prices? Is it a mix of both? Like, what do you hear on your end? You know, it's it's honestly a toss-up because you you do get some people, like, you mentioned how you are aware, like, okay.

I wanna sell these. Just auction them done. See you. And then we get some people who are like, let's try to do fixed price. And if it doesn't sell in two weeks or a month, then let's auction it.

And I think taking that approach from from a client perspective is more of like, okay. My card, clearly, I couldn't get the offer I wanted in those two or four weeks.

I feel like a lot of eyes saw the item, and now I'll just run it. And whatever it sells for, it sells for because I know I had a chance on the fixed price side, if that makes sense.

So I get some people are very attached to their cards. I think think everyone knows that. And and rightfully so, I mean, it's a it's a hobby, and people love their cards.

And some people think, unfortunately, their cards are a lot more are worth a lot more than they really are. So I think giving them, like, a chance to try it on a fixed price sale first and seeing that, hey.

You couldn't get the offer. The interest wasn't there as much, might help get things to auction that may not have gone to auction off the rip.

One one of the things that's, like one of the unexplainable things that I see regularly in the hobby, and I'm sure you see this, and I I I it I'd love to know if you can help make it make sense to me.

But the you'll see someone list the card, whether it's on Instagram, whether it's on eBay for a specific price it doesn't sell, and then you see it go for auction.

And then, like, the card is, like, unique. You remember it. And then I'll see, like, track in card ladder what it ended for. And then it will have ended for higher than what the fixed price was when it was just sitting there.

Sometimes it happens. Yeah. Yeah. We like, what is your what is the method? Is it just like a the psychological competition people finally realize this is their only shot?

Like, what do you what do you chalk it up to? Yeah. I mean, we we notice it a lot. You know, we have, like, almost all of our employees are are card people, and a lot of their stuff gets listed fixed price and everything.

So, you know, we all have the same mindset of, like, if it sits on fixed price for a little bit, let's just run it.

And sometimes things are selling for a lot more, and I think it ties in with the bull market because a lot of people who are buying, especially, like, repackers, they're buying based off of looking at, like, auctions ending soonest, and they're not really buying by scrolling through buy it now.

So you have a downtown card up that's worth 5,000 up for 5,500 OBO.

You may not get any interest, and then you end up running it. And it you know, it can do 5,200 because a couple repackers see it's ending tonight, and they just both throw a bid on it.

Yeah. It's, it's wild to see. I I've there there seems to be, especially on eBay, more bigger cards selling on a nightly basis than I can remember and, higher ticket, items.

And one of the other things I've been exploring is trying to figure out, okay, obviously, we're in a bull market.

Like, what are the primary factors that got us here? And then you can turn to, like, we got a new manufacturer coming who loves to spend money on marketing to bring in new people.

We've got funding services, so that helps support the growth of the hobby. There's repacks. You know, it's there's it's just nonstop things.

Are there any is there anything on your end that you think is the primary reason or a couple things that are the primary reasons for, you know, the excitement and interest to be where it's at right now in the hobby?

I yeah. I think you covered it with, like, the new manufacturer new licenses for manufacturers, and then repacks and athlete a lot of athletes getting involved.

You know, you just you just see, like, every day, it seems like there's something on Instagram of an athlete getting involved or buying their cards or a new preview of a product with, like, a sick patch car.

So I think it's just the the consistent inflow of, positive things or or cool exciting things is just really getting, getting all the collectors going.

Is there is there anything, and I don't know if this hits your world or not, but it it feels like and we don't need to cover it because it feels like every conversation, it comes up.

But just like the rising growth of Pokemon and TCG, like, that's a thing undeniably, and the it's been, you know, going nuts. But is there been anything on your end on in the sports side that has surprised you this year?

Like, what people are buying, what people are interested in, any, like, cards that are trending that are unexpected, like, any of those sorts of story lines this year that stand out to you?

I mean, I think, like, the case hit stuff, how well it's selling is surprising.

I mean, that's that stuff sells insane, but I I think it's also tied back to the repacker's interest in it, which is driving it up. So, yeah, there's not really anything that, like, I don't understand why it's happening as much.

There's certainly things I disagree with or think shouldn't be selling for this or that. But I I do try to see, like, the logic around everything and then under to to better understand why it's happening.

Let let's let's, let's get into, like, maybe that. And this isn't, like, worth saying it because, it doesn't make any sense.

But just I wanna get into your mind regarding, like, stuff you're seeing that, like, when things don't add up or something you're seeing now that looks more like it would be a result of the pandemic boom 2021 as opposed to 2025.

Yeah. Like I mentioned a couple times, the case hits. That's a good example. It's just like you know? Are are they selling higher than they should?

Like, that's just my opinion is is yes, but they are rare. They are case hits. Like, there's they're not pop a million like a Luca, but, also in the same token, they are selling for a ton of money.

So, like, they I'm sure there's people who think they're undervalued, and they may be right. I might be right. So there's, you know, there's not really anyone right or wrong here.

But I I think the reasoning behind that is because the the repackers love them. They're easy. They're liquid, easy to value. And if somebody hits one in a repack, they're very content with that because they know, like, hey.

A Kaboom is a great card or a downtown is a great card. So I think it's it's a good, like just a good card all around for for that type of situation.

Do you see obviously, the Panini has focused on the case hit of it all downtown's kabooms. In the last, like, four or five years, it's definitely been more of a focus because there's been more interest in you.

All you have to do is look at a PSA pop report and Yeah. I think there was, like I think I just looked at this in, like, 2024 absolute football.

There's been, like, 10,000 plus kaboom's graded with just from PSA, which is nuts. But do you, like, we're moving over to Topps and Topps having the football and basketball license.

And I I'm imagine, like, I'm not in those meetings or, but I'd imagine they're focusing in on probably the success of, like, what's our kaboom going to be?

Like, how do we capture some of this excitement and have it fuel kind of this repack, channel.

I'm sure that's conversation has come up. Do do you see, like, when obviously, basketball, it's already at tops and with tops and football soon to be.

Do you do you feel like based on that transfer of license that there do you think there's going to be any, thing that happens with with case hits and and and repacks based on that that change in license?

Just knowing that kabooms and downtowns aren't in TOPS products, and they're not gonna be made at the same light or in the same level as we we see them today.

Yeah. I mean, I think that, like, tops will figure something out just knowing tops, and they're they're very innovative, and they always create cool stuff.

But if you look at, like, the nineties, how, like, all the key Jordan inserts are like Fleer, Skybox.

And there's not a lot of, like, key tops inserts up from the nineties that have held, like, crazy value besides some of the refractor stuff and things like that.

So, you know, maybe maybe Topps just doesn't put as much focus as we think they will on it and and create a new innovative thing that is popular or or maybe they do create new case hit type things.

And, you know, I think the biggest problem is that, like, the market might not adjust to them as much.

Like, I I do see, like, posts on Instagram of people comparing some of the the Topps case hits to Panini, and, you know, the comments usually aren't very positive.

So I I think they already kinda have, like, a disadvantage just by how good Panini was doing it. You know, I think a lot of people are gonna expect the world out of tops when it comes to that.

We're gonna get into some cards that sold through MC Sports cards here in a second. But before we do that, I'm just I'm curious. It's just a business owner and a business builder right now in the hobby.

What what is like what what gets you really excited about kind of the work you're doing and what you're seeing and what's happening across the industry? You know, just the the growth of the industry is is great to see.

I think that benefits everybody involved no matter what role you play or where you are in the hobby. You know, five years ago in the the last bull market, I just thought, like, this is the top.

There's no way, like, it's gonna get better. And then, obviously, it did appear to be the top, and then it came back around. And now, like, my mindset is more this is not the top now.

This is, like, on the way up. I don't even wanna say on the way to the top because the top implies that that's the best it's gonna ever be. And I I think we're just getting started, if that makes sense.

And it's kinda cliche because when people used to say that five years ago, I would always kinda roll my eyes because I've been in the hobby so long, and I've seen so much innovation in the last twenty years.

So it's not just the beginning, but I do think there's a lot more to go, like, more growth to happen. There's, you you saying that triggered something in my brain, and I wanna get your take on this.

But we we've seen since '21, we've seen a lot of people that were very present and very active in that time period are no longer involved or are lurking or somewhere.

What like, that leads me to believe that those individuals who are very vocal and in the mix, something happened and something changed for them to not have the same excitement as, you know, collectors do or business builders like you today.

What what do you think, like, maybe some of some mistake like, general mistakes that either collectors, investors, business owners, whatever, made in that time frame that caused them not to be present during this period that we're in right now, which feels a lot more stable and a lot more, exciting.

Yeah. I I think there were a lot of bag holders. So people who got stuck with some things that to this day have never recovered anywhere near where they were, like the Lucas silver 10 or LeBron chrome PSA 10.

So there I think that definitely scared some people away. And some of a lot of those people seem to have come back. I mean, I I was seeing names on Instagram posting that I haven't seen in years.

So some some of those guys definitely came back, but I think the combination of that, you know, getting caught holding the bag and just seeing, like, the sharp downfall after all that may have just scared some some people away.

I mean, you you look at crypto, same type of thing happened.

Anything and everything was selling crazy, and then all of a sudden, it all dropped. And to this day, it seems like only, like, Bitcoin is the only one that's really overcame its its all time high from back then.

So I think some people just see the volatility and don't wanna mess with it again or they're still salty. They lost a lot of money and just don't wanna get involved again or something.

Yeah. It's it's nice to see that my feeling is that people, you know, there's high dollar cards selling every day, but it it feels like the energies are around the more rare and scarce stuff now, which I think is good for everybody.

Yeah. Alright. I wanna I wanna hit some of these cards.

I I I just did a report, in card ladder and some of the cards that sold through MC Sports cards. And I I just, like, scrolled through, and I just, like, stopped. And I was like, this is a cool card I'd wanna talk about.

Here's a cool card. And there's been some awesome cards that have, sold through MC Sports cards. So I'm gonna bring up some of them. But the first one I have here is the, 2,005 finest Kobe white super fracture, one of one.

I think o o five and o six finest just in general in basketball and football are always some of my favorite sets. But, like, I don't know, man. You see this card and it's just, like, it just you it feels important.

So, and this thing sold for 21,288 on January 20. I remember when this card was go up at auction too, and I totally lost track of it until I ran the report and saw it.

So, this card, man, totally cool, totally unique. Like, what what was going on kind of, in your head when when this one came through?

First firstly, I'm curious and afraid to see the card letter value today because I think it's I I think that card is worth a lot more than what we got for it.

Yeah. We got almost 37 k. Elbow. So yeah. And I think it honestly might even be a decent bit more than that.

But, yeah, that that one was sent through, a good friend who we actually funded some cards for him. We do do a lot of private funding. We just don't have, like, a formal thing out there.

But, yeah. So that that was part of that deal. And, you know, I vividly remember the entire thing and and seeing that, and, I believe he was happy at the time with the sale price too, which is good.

That's that's the the the problem with some of these is that the market has performed so well that you look back in January, and it's like, yeah.

This probably should be double now. Yeah. Exactly. Alright. We've got this, you know, we spent some time talking about cases. And I'd this is what we got the '24, from Revolution, Kaboom Gold, Jokic.

This sold in September 22 for 23 k. Obviously, Jokic is one of the best, if not the best player in the league. His markets, has grown tremendously when people finally recognize how great of a all time great this guy currently is.

Maybe talk a little bit since we spent so much on case hits, differentiating, like, the the gold kaboom over of it all versus, like, you know, standard kaboom's, and why maybe there's, you know, there it might not be a grenade exploding in your face if you're you're buying a a gold kaboom over just a standard kaboom.

Yeah. You know, I did mention a lot about k six kaboom.

I do think that, like, the numbered ones, like the gold, which clearly show rarity and print run, are are not a bad investment because there's only 10 of them, and there's a whole lot of the other ones.

So, yeah, I I think that's a great card, and, you know, he he is one of the top players in the NBA.

And you got, like, Brady Gold Kabooms are doing, like, a 100,000 now and and stuff like that. So, like, it did it sell well? Did it undersell? I I know the client was very happy with that, and I do think it sold pretty well.

But, yeah. And I think just like the gold kabooms in general are are worth, you know, worth speculating on. Alright. We're moving over. We gotta talk about Jordan. Every time I see one of these, it just lights me up.

And I think part of it is you've got the mosaic slash finite pattern on it, and you've got it on a Jordan card. It's a 97 finest embossed Michael Jordan refractor, PSA 10, which is a population 15.

And we know how the low pop PSA tens Jordan's, perform. This is at a $2. 36 or $2. 63. Excuse me. It's sold in June for $18,500. Jordan's in his black jersey with the, iconic red, bulls in numbers.

I mean, Jordan, man, it's like feels like every Jordan card that goes, goes crazy. But, yeah, maybe just shed some light on this card and just what you're seeing in the Jordan market.

Yeah. So that one was sold on fixed price, through fixed price consignment. So the the client who sold that was able to click accept on their own through the website immediately, which is a cool feature.

But, yeah, Jordan PSA tens, like, that's when you look at five years ago. Every high high grade, low pop Jordan insert is astronomically more than what it was the last time the market peaked.

So, you know, this card five years ago probably was worth 8 to 10,000, give or take, and, you know, we got almost double that.

But, yeah, just any any low pop Jordan, I think, is is definitely worth holding because it's not like they're gonna just keep giving out tens, and it's not like there's a lot out there that are even worthy of a 10.

Do you see are there any head scratching moments with Jordan where he's got so many cards, but there's maybe a a card that is maybe a higher pop, but a PSA 10 going for more than you think that it should be?

Like, what's your mindset just overall on, like there's so many different ways to cut the Jordan market, so many different profiles of cards, but just do you feel like it's in a good place right now, or there's still areas maybe to be cautious about?

Yeah. I think you should always be cautious with everything in in cards, especially if you're not super educated on on what you're buying.

But I think, like, unless it's just a random PSA 10 Jordan that's popped 500 or more, like, I really don't think you can go wrong buying any of this stuff on as long as it's, like, in line with recent sales or or you're buying it at a spot you think is a is a fair price.

I mean, even you look at the FLIR ten, it's, like, pop $3.

30 or so, and it's a 300 k card or or something give or take, and it's like, does that sound crazy? Yes. But are there more than 300 Jordan collectors out there who want the best copy, the best condition of Jordan's rookie, absolutely.

You know? Like, if you think of it that way, there's probably in the thousands of Jordan collectors who are high end Jordan collectors, and only a third of them can get the best of the best card.

I love it. Let's move over to Griffey. Whenever I see these ninety six Select certified Griffey Meerigold, this is a PSA six set selling for 17 k.

This is like I always say these cards, these Miragolds from ninety six Select are, like, my favorite cards that I've never owned.

You've just got the glow and just iconic teal Mariners uniform. Griffey's staring off into space looking at his ball sail over the fence.

Griffey still, I feel like, is popular than ever. What do you have to say about just, like, this card and just the Griffey collectors out there? Again, short print to 30, and we both know there's a lot more than 30 Griffey collectors.

So, you know, you have that and, just like the nineties the nineties feel, there's not a lot of baseball nineties that's, super popular, like, besides Mirror Gold's credentials, PMGs. So I think it's kind of up in in that arena.

Alright. Patrick Mahomes. You know, it started a little slow this season, and now he's, you know, betting favorite for MVP. We've got his 23 gold prism or excuse me, gold vinyl out of five PSA 10 selling for 13 k.

In April, when I think about the the Mount Rushmore of prism athletes, guys who have their rookies in the Panini era, Mahomes is always the first player that comes to my mind.

It just seems like the Prism Golds, the the Gold Vinyl, obviously, there's each year, there's only 15 of them, combined. But, yeah, this every time I see a sale, this stuff, it it seems like it's it's getting stronger and stronger.

So what what are you seeing with Mahomes and then in particular, Mahomes Prism stuff? Yeah. Mahomes definitely had the slow start. We had a lot of people who wanna sell some Mahomes, which we did for him who probably regret it now.

I think he has to win a Super Bowl in the next year or two, maybe even two Super Bowls in the next three or four years to to maintain the, the amount of hobby love or at least have a shot to pass Brady.

But either way, I mean, he's clearly the best QB in the league, and it it's not even close for number two.

So, his his market makes sense. I mean, I personally would rather buy a really nice rookie Mahomes for the price we got for that, but, you know, it's limited to five.

And, again, there's only there's more than five big time Mahomes collectors who would want that. Do you do you see anything on your end, like, as Mahomes cards do one thing, Brady's cards do another?

Do those does, like, I I guess what I'm saying is, like, do Brady's what's happening on Brady's market? Does it have any influence, or do you notice any influence in what that directly or indirectly does to to Mahomes cards in market?

Not not really a ton that I've noticed. I think they maybe when they were both playing, there was more correlation.

But I think at this point, it's just more of, like, Brady stuff is becoming more and more untouchable. They're not making any more, and a lot of it's getting stashed away.

And then Mahomes' market is more still performance based. You know, like, two weeks ago as market or three weeks ago was was down a decent bit because of the slow start, and now it's blazing hot again.

Like, Brady's not gonna Brady's market isn't gonna go down because Balm's at a slow start. If anything, it will go up because then more people say, like, hey.

Like, he's never gonna get caught by Mahomes in in the Super Bowl race. Yeah. It's it's crazy that it's like, haven't haven't we already seen enough out of Mahomes? It's like Yeah.

Still decisions people, are making based on performance, in 2025 is wild. We gotta talk about Ohtani. This one caught my attention. We've got the tops dynasty Ohtani. Man, his game use patch on card auto out of 10, Dodgers card.

This card sold for 10,600 in August. I'd have to imagine this one if this one went, you know, right now, it probably, performed pretty strong and probably maybe go number quite a bit.

But, dude, there's like Ohtani mania. It's it's everywhere you go, and this guy continues to defy everything, and that's what these great athletes do. So, yeah. Like, especially now, like, right relevant topical world series.

Like, what's happening on your end with Ohtani stuff? I mean, I I've always thought he was overpriced, and I can't even say anything anymore because, you know, I thought he was overpriced when his stuff was 10% of what it is now.

And now you see what he's doing, and he might be underpriced for all I know. I mean, I I won't be chasing some of the high end, but he he's just insane. Like, no.

I don't know if anyone will ever there will never be another Ohtani. Yeah. It'll be interesting to see how the World Series shakes out. I I saw this one, this 2012 Chris Bosh, gold prism PSA eight, selling for almost 9 k in February.

But, man, like, one of the story lines to me this year has been the, just chase for this first year Prism stuff, whether it's in basketball and football.

And, you know, obviously, Chris Bosh is a you know, had a lot of success, had his career cut short.

And I I think it's not necessarily about, like, Chris Bosh himself, but it's more about, like, the set in the first year prism of it all.

But just wanted to get your perspective on just, like, how you think about first year sets and especially, a first year set like Prism.

Yeah. I I totally understand why they're doing what they're doing, and I completely see the desirability.

You look at, like, $19. 52 tops. That's the first standard issue standard size trading card set. And that's why, like, a card like the mantle is worth a lot more than maybe it would be if it was in a later year of of standard tops.

So at the end of the day, people want the best of the best or the first of what became the best and, you know, like first edition Pokemon, you look at the Charizard, you look at things like that.

So, I I think it's it's great to see that there's that much love for them.

I I feel dumb because I could have probably bought that Bosch Gold ten years ago for, like, $30. But, it's it's crazy. I think people compare them now to, like, the green PMGs.

That that's something I've heard multiple people say. Yeah. It's just the popularity of the the product and then just the supply of the premium parallels. It's it it it makes sense.

But, I mean, it's also when these things came out, people weren't you know, they were sitting blaster boxes were sitting. People weren't running out. But it's wild. Like, what can happen over the course of time?

Wanna talk maybe briefly. Obviously, there's been a lot of narrative on just World Cup soccer cards, but I don't know. I saw this on, like, a Pele autograph and flawless. Like, this thing sold for 6,700 September twenty second.

I know you're someone who kinda chase goats all time greats, but how cool is a card like this, you know, on card autograph of, Pele and a, ultra modern Panini product, high end product like flawless.

Yep. It's it's interesting because I believe they only made one or two years of flawless soccer.

Mhmm. So that by itself makes it even more limited. I I think the the card's great. You know, the foil looks really nice on it. It's just very aesthetically pleasing.

I I personally have never really bought soccer goats, Wish I bought a lot of Messi back then, but, but there are a lot of soccer collectors and, like, that card's just feels undervalued when you compare what the basketball or football equivalent would do in in flawless.

No doubt. Alright. We got a couple more here. Wanna hit a finite. We got the 22 Jamar Chase, black finite sold in April for $5,600.

Jamar Chase still putting up numbers without his quarterback. He's a really good player. But finites, man, finites have been just it's like, I wouldn't say people were sleeping on him.

There's always been interest, but it it feels like now when a finite of a either first year or a player like, Chase pops up, people are after them, and they're going for, high dollar.

What this demand like, what do you attribute this, like, increase in demand to prison blacks in basketball or black fine knights, especially in 2025?

The thing is it's the only copy. I mean, it's a one zero one, and some of these superstars have a huge following, and that is one of their best cards from one of the best products. So, again, makes a lot of sense.

You know, I can't sit here and tell you, I think, finite sell too high because, again, it's just whatever someone's willing to pay for it and, you know, you feel dumb again looking ten years back because the star black finite is a few $100 or something.

I it it pains me to look at some of that sales data. I try not to, actually. Last card we have here, this one's cool, and I just memorabilia.

We got a Frank Thomas '20 four Topps tribute game use bat knob one of one selling for almost 5,200 in August. Like, what do you think of stuff like this? Like, these bat knobs, it they seem like they are gaining some traction.

I've seen a lot of collectors, you know, building piles that are dedicated to, like, bat knobs, and it's just something that I I feel like I didn't see a couple years ago, and now they're becoming more prevalent.

Yeah. I I think baseball, like, sick game used sells lower than it should, but they also played a lot of games.

There's a lot of memorabilia. Every year, seems like every year, a couple more bat knobs, logo man, all that gets, gets put out there.

But, again, like, you look at if there was there's not really a basketball equivalent or a football equivalent as much because it's like a bat.

But, you know, Shay Gilgeous Alexander one zero one, like, sick logo patch from a high end product would do 20,000 or something.

Like so, you know, it it is baseball a good buy? Who knows? I mean, Frank Thomas is one of the greats, but I think it's just up in the air of, like, how many more similar cards will be made in the next five or ten years.

I love it. It was fun to dig into 10 of those sales from MC Sports cards this year. Before I let you get out of here, maybe share a little bit bit of your mindset heading into 2026.

Like, what do you and then this can from, like, your own collecting, buying perspective, business, owning, operating. Like, what's on your mind, and what are you gonna be focused on heading into '26?

Yeah. I think just, you know, keeping the the steady growth and making sure that we can continue the the great customer service and, you know, quick turnaround times for our customers.

And I I just think, like, the market's not gonna slow down anytime soon. So these are real real things to take into consideration of how to stay on top of, like, you know, volume and everything.

So we're just gonna keep doing our best to, make sure everyone stays happy, and we could keep doing things the way we currently do them.

Always fun catching up with you, Mike. Looking forward to doing this again down the road. Yeah. Thanks for having me.