Alright. We're back. Smashing Ben. Excited for this conversation. I am joined by a previous guest here on Stacking Slabs.

Although, we've got a a new handle where which I think is is more appropriate based on, what, he collects and what we're gonna be digging into. But I am joined by Jesse who now goes by goat w r collector on Instagram.

If you have not followed Jesse's page, he's got one of the best wide receiver collections that I have seen, and we're gonna be talking about wide receivers, cards, and a bunch of other stuff.

But without further ado, Jesse, welcome back, man. How are you? Good, Brett.

I I decided after maybe, like, four years or so that it was time for a change when when I would I'd I'd find a card, online or or, or through Instagram stories or Facebook or whatever, and they'd see my handle on Instagram, and they're like, dude.

Okay. I know you're gonna try to make a buck off me.

So, yeah, so, like, cut the crap. Like, just just pay my ass. And I'm like, no. No. No. Seriously, you don't understand. Like, you you don't understand. If anything, I pay strong, for for the cards I really need.

So, I thought it was it was time for it was time for a change. It's it it would happen every so often, but then I don't know what like, the last, like, six months, I'm like, okay.

I I really need to make I really need to make, do a makeover for at least my Instagram name. So, but, yeah, other otherwise, otherwise, we've been good here.

We I feel like we need to bring the listeners a little bit into the conversation we are just having because I wanna use that conversation to ask about a player who I know has been showing up on your feed.

But, if you don't already know, Jesse is a big Eagles guy. Obviously, they're Super Bowl champions.

We spent the last, you know, ten minutes or so talking about, the run and how you're feeling. Maybe, you know, we as fans always aspire to get to that moment of a championship, and you have seen two in seven years.

How are you processing just the the the latest Eagles Super Bowl? And, yeah, any any thoughts you wanna share there?

I mean, I told you before we started recording, honestly, I feel spoiled. Seeing two I I wasn't sure if I was gonna see, you know, since I since I can remember as an Eagles fan, I wasn't sure if I was gonna see one in my lifetime.

So the fact that I I saw two and lived through two, I, I mean, I wouldn't mind seeing more, but I I'm satisfied.

Like, I I I know for the next, like, fifty plus years, I'm gonna look at at this seven year period as maybe the best period in my sports fandom. I I don't know.

I just going from especially with with what made 2024 so sweet, especially, is, you know, seeing the collapse that we had after going nine and one or ten and one in 2023 to, Sirianni almost getting fired on this probably on the spot, after the the playoff loss, to the Bucks, in the 2023 playoffs to our second Super Bowl in seven years.

Yeah. It's it's hard to it's hard to compete, with, you know, with with a turnaround like that. Like, this probably even beats, like, even, like, a, like, a back to back Super Bowl stretch or something.

So, especially with a, with a different coaching staff, different quarterbacks, different play calling philosophy, I just I think, I don't know.

It's it's it's hard to get better to get better than than, than something like this. So you collect wide receivers. And I remember, oh, like, a while ago when this is several years ago when Yeah. The Eagles picked up AJ Brown.

I remember, like, messaging you about, like, are you gonna collect AJ Brown? And you were like, I really like the guy, but it was, like, during the time where prices were really high and, you know, all this stuff was in Titan's, gear.

And I don't think you had really you were processing, but maybe hadn't pulled the trigger yet.

And then this they win the Super Bowl, and I've been noticing on your page you have AJ Brown as a part of your collection of wide receivers that you collect. When was that decision made for you to include AJ Brown in your group of guys?

So I actually when I when I jumped into receivers, I started off with, the whole reason why I jumped into receivers is because I I I picked up a few, like, really cool Julio Jones cards, like, a month apart from each other.

And at that point, I'm like, okay. What, who else can I get into? Obviously, there's, like, all time greats, but I I at the time, I felt the prices were, like, crazy.

Definitely, a lot cheaper than they are now, but, I did wanna I did wanna jump into somebody that I was a big fan of even, like, coming out of college, at the time.

And I I I was a big fan of AJ Brown even out of coming out of Ole Miss. I wouldn't have minded the with the Eagles, wide receiver woes.

Any Eagles fans listening, they they understand the our years of drafting Jalen Reagor and JJ Arthaga Whiteside. We weren't the best at drafting wide receivers, so I was hoping back in 2019, that we would draft AJ Brown.

Alas, we didn't. But, we, we fortunately, we were able to to get him at at, you know, a couple years later. But, at the time, I I wanted to not exactly prospect, but, I did wanna collect a younger player.

So I I, you know, I had a bunch of nice rookie stuff, and, eventually, it just felt like, you know, I I'm I'm having so much fun collecting guys like Julio and Calvin Johnson and DeAndre Hopkins, to where, like, I don't know where this guy is necessarily gonna be, like, 10 from now.

So, I felt like I needed to kind of, put more of my, like, my collection basis towards the the other three guys that I mentioned.

So I I basically parted with all of my AJ Brown stuff. And then he becomes an eagle, and even, like, my Eagles friends, they're like, alright.

You're gonna start collecting now. Right? Right? Right? Like, and it, yeah. It even then, it took a minute just because I was having so much fun collecting the other guys.

And I still wanted you know, I kinda of course, I'm gonna root for AJ, but I wanted to see how, you know, how he would be with our fan base, how he'd contribute as a player, which I knew he had he had the talent to be a top five receiver in the league for sure.

But I just wanted to see it myself first.

And, after, the 2023 season, it it kinda seemed like he became a little bit more of a vocal leader for us. And, the the silver lining with the Eagles collapse in 2023 was, some players' prices started to fall.

So I'm like, alright. Alright. If the if the person stay this way, it kinda makes sense to to jump back in. So I just, yeah, ever since, I've just kind of been watching out for for his auctions.

Some some nice one on ones would pop up. So I I'd start getting back in, like, alright. I'll I'll keep it to, like, one of, like, really cool one on ones. Then some gold prisons would pop up.

And I'm like, alright. I'll keep it to one on ones and gold systems. And then a cheap frog gold optic popped up. I'm like, alright. Gold optics, one on ones. And then it just kinda, like, split. It started, devolving from there.

So, yeah, he's he's a ton of fun. It's a ton of fun collecting someone who's, like, heading going into the prime of their career for sure. The I don't know how the prices are gonna be in the future, but it doesn't really matter.

To me, I just if I'm if I'm collecting somebody in their prime, I don't know. It feels like you're you're living and dying with the player in in every single game.

You mentioned the Eagles' woes and drafting woes. You mentioned rigor. When you were saying that for whatever reason and I felt, like, compelled to say this.

In my mind, I thought about the Eagles when they had, like, James Thrash and Todd Pinkston as, like, the one and two, which it maybe was the worst one and two in the NFL.

I don't mean to put the dark days in this conversation, but that's where my head went. Oh my god. You have no idea how hungry we were for, like, a TO.

Like, even it wouldn't even have to be TO. It could have been, like I don't know. Like, what what other what other stars were around at the time? Like, I mean, an Andre Johnson would have been a dream, but even, like, a Santana Moss.

Like, we were so so hungry for for a star wide receiver. I yeah. I don't we could have had a Super Bowl back then with McNabb, if, if we had more years with somebody like a t o.

So before we get into the card we're gonna talk about, let's I wanna wide receiver collecting is definitely a specific and a very niche category of collecting.

Right? You're shrinking down football cards, focusing in on receivers, focusing in on receivers that you like. You were I don't know. You I mean, there I'm sure there were others.

But, like, for me and the people who I follow, you are the first individual who kind of took this path of, like, focusing in on a position outside of, you know, quarterback, and that's what you wanted to collect.

How have you seen wide receiver the market, whether it's, retired hall of famers that you collect or an active player like AJ Brown?

How have you seen kind of that the interest within that category, change over the course of the time since you've been collecting it?

I I think for the retired guys, they've always been around. Like, I I know plenty of Jerry Rice collectors, who've been kind of either, like, quietly posting on Instagram or just lurking lurking in the shadows.

There's a ton of moss guys that aren't even on Instagram that have probably some of the best moss collections in the world.

Marvin Harrison too. That's another one, but I'll I'll see collectors of. So, yeah, the with the with the retired guys, I think they've they've always been around, but, I don't know.

It I I wanna say since since the boom, back in, like like, 2020 through 2022, it's been less, it's been less, I don't I don't know what the word you wanna what I'd wanna use is, but it it taboo, I guess, to collect just, like, random random receivers.

Now I'll see, Brett, I'll see, like, all kinds of collections of, like, of of current receivers.

Receivers that, like, a lot of people don't even know are in the league. Like, there's I know there's a Jaylen Darden collector. You know? Do you know what team he plays for?

I think he's I do not, and I know a lot of football. I do not. I think he still plays for the Bucks. I think he was there, like, kick and punt returner. But, yeah, I know, there's a Jalen Darden super collector.

There's, probably a lot of people follow him. Omar Omar Cooper PC. Yes. That's a really good one. Yeah. He he picks up some nice stuff too. I've been talking to to Adrian for a bit.

Yeah. It it seems it seems a lot less, taboo now than it used to be. Like, I I remember back in, like, when I started posting receiver cards back in, like, 2020, '20 '20 '1, I'd get a, like, a good amount of DMs like, hey.

Like, these are cool cards, but just, like, you should probably know, like, they're not gonna sustain the value. I'm like, okay. Thanks. Yeah. I don't I don't know.

But I I was having it was the most fun I I had collecting just because I I I came in with such a a a different mindset when I I tried getting more into, basketball actually in 2020, but, I just saw with with, you know, the x number of dollars that you could spend on, like, one basketball card.

You can get these 10 really cool wide receiver cards. And I feel like somebody like Julio Jones opened opened the door, to that for me.

So, yeah, I I haven't I haven't looked back ever since, and I I just feel like, now when I scroll through Instagram and I just see a a specific, like, skill it doesn't have to be a receiver.

Like, just any skill position PC, I just I stop and scroll.

It doesn't like, they don't even have to be the best cards, but as if I just see that you appreciate the player that much to have, like, a really cool collection to even, like, a super collection, like, I I I definitely respect that.

Julio Jones is gonna be the subject for this conversation, and we're gonna get into the card. This is Smashing Ben.

And before we get into the bin smash, I wanna maybe understand your overall philosophy on Smashing Ben. You collect several different receivers. You a lot what I've noticed about your collection is you really like runs.

You look like the gold Prizm, gold vinyl run, you know, and those are hard to complete. Right? So if a card like that's popping up, my thoughts are you're probably going to smash Ben on it.

But it's different than an auction. Right? It's different than those seven days we have to wait, and, you know, you're thinking about your bid.

It's more in the moment. You gotta react because you're concerned maybe somebody else might come in. But maybe shares a little bit about before we get into the car, a little bit on your, bin smashing philosophy.

For how many players I because I collect, now, I think five or six different I can't even count, of how many receivers I collect, but, it gets it gets expensive.

So if in order for me to to smash bin, something has to be really, really up there on my list, and it it it has to be at least, like, fairly ish priced. Could be, like, on the higher end of normal.

But, yeah, if if it's something that I need if if it's, like, either a one of one that I've been obsessively searching for like, I have a safe search built just for this one card or if if it's a card that, will complete a run for me, like, a very significant important, like, a like, a gold vinyl Prizm run or a gold Prizm run, optic vinyl, whatever, I'm probably I'm probably gonna smash bin.

It it doesn't happen often, though. Like, for even for as many guys as I collect, like, I could probably count on one hand how many times I smash Ben a year. And like I said, I have to keep the the cost in mind too.

So, with with with the amount of receivers I collect, but, it has to be it has to be it has to check, like, multiple boxes in order for me to, like, not even think twice and just, like, get my wallet, like, run and grab my wallet and and and smash bin.

Do you with with the allocation of funds distributed across several different players, like, you know, when you have to make a decision quickly when there's a card that comes up, like, how do you how do you make a decision or, not make a decision to smash Ben based on maybe, like, current environment?

Like, you either just bought a card or you're waiting to buy a card.

Like, how do all of those factors in, like do you have a prioritization of players in where you wanna allocate funds, or is it mostly just, like, instinctual, like, I see card. I'm gonna make a decision regardless of circumstances.

Maybe share a little bit there. It's it's mostly instinctual. I'll I actual list on your phone or, like, a spreadsheet or something, and that's I wish I was that organized. I I unfortunately, I'm not.

But, I I've looked through enough checklists to kind of keep certain cards in mind. And if if the card is good enough, if it's if it's worthwhile enough for me for me to smash bin, I'll I'll do whatever I have to to make it work.

Like, I'll I'll put I will run story sales every so often just to kinda keep this thing, you know, self funding, for me, like, to have have my cards pay pay for whatever cards I wanna I wanna get in.

So, to the point where people are asking me, like, hey. Are are you okay? Like, are you you're not gonna are you thinking taking a break or something? Like, no. No.

No. No. It's fine. I I promise. I have to do this. I don't want to. But, if it was up to me, I'd keep everything. But, yeah, definitely collect you know, just collecting so many guys that there's there's only so many funds to go around.

So if a card is is special enough, I'll figure out a way how to make it work. Alright. Let's get into the bin smash.

I gotta ask first. Is is the card is it a PSA nine or a PSA 10? It's a PSA nine. Okay. PSA nine. Okay. I've got the right, I've got the right, It could be a PSA seven or Yeah. I I figured it as much. So let's get into the card.

I'll bring it up here on the screen, but maybe talk about share what the card is, why it matters, and then just get into anything you want to around the bin smash, like, where you were, what happened, all that stuff.

So, the card that we are gonna be talking about is the 2016, Panini Prizm Julio Jones, Prizm Gold PSA nine. So there's kind of a kind of a a little bit of a roundabout story with this card.

So I, my my first ever Julio Jones purchase, was my my first wide receiver purchase ever was at a 2014 Prizm gold, Julio Jones, BGS 10. And I just thought especially, it had to be 2014.

Like, I I at that point, I fell head over heels for Prizm. Just had to be 2014, and it had to be a BGS 10. So it wasn't it wasn't much longer, maybe, like, six months, not not even a year later where I thought, okay.

I'm having I'm having fun collecting Julio. I'm having fun collecting the other wide receivers I started getting into. Let me just let how about a goal of mine would be to, just go for their Prizm gold rounds?

So I went I went down that rabbit hole, and, there was at one point, I didn't realize, like, how hard twenty fifteen and twenty sixteen, gold Prizms are to find for any really for any player.

Impossible. Dude, I I've see those are some frothy auctions.

Even for, like, decent, like, skill position players or maybe, like, skill position players that people have nostalgia for, whether it be for real football or fantasy football, they can, yeah, they can get really frothy.

So Let me ask you a question, Jesse, to sorry to interrupt, but I feel like so much of the Prizm conversation is centered around 12 through 14.

But, dude, when you said that, there I look at my case and my gold Prizm runs, and I have so many holes in the fifteen and sixteen area.

And I don't know if it was because the the quarterback's draft class were so not great, and so there wasn't as much product opening.

And it was pre, like, breaking boom that maybe these cards are just, like, in boxes somewhere, but I'm glad you called that out.

It just seems like we we don't take fifteen and sixteen into the same consideration as some of the earlier years. That's a great point. I didn't even think about the quarterback classes. But you're right.

Like, if if if there's a weak quarterback class, that will significantly diminish at least, like, I I don't know, the the potentially the product or or, like, the appeal of the product, to the point where, like, sometimes it doesn't I don't know.

If you wanna, like, get a group of friends together and just, like, rip a box and, you know, get get a box, it's probably not even, like, the worst idea.

Like, kinda side note. I remember seeing, like, before 2013, Select got got, like, really big.

I remember getting a couple boxes in 2021, and I'm not, like, a big ripper or anything, but it just I think at the time, they were like and because and and Select was only was Hobby only at the time.

I think, like, sealed boxes cost, like, a hundred to a hundred and $50 a month. I mean, I now I think they're probably running around, like, 4 to $500 or something.

But, yeah, the $20. 13, same thing. Like, not not a great class. So, yeah, that's a great point to make with, specifically with with fifteen and sixteen and, specifically with with with a with a Julio run.

So alright. I'm kinda, like, chugging along. I have, like, friends helping me out along the way.

There there were, like, a ton of copies that I got, not just, like, you know, also smashing dead on eBay, but, through, Instagram stories, through people pointing, me in the right direction on Facebook marketplace or or or wherever or or different Facebook groups and and Instagram stories.

So, at one point, I was I think this is back in '20 either late twenty twenty one or early twenty twenty two.

I'm I'm working, and, the downside to my job is, I I work evening shift. So, that's when, you know, a lot of people are act after work when they have time. They're probably fairly active on eBay, when they have time.

So I saw maybe twenty minutes after it ended. I saw it it came up on my safe search. That's why I even saw it. A 2016 Prizm Gold, Julio Jones, raw. Someone I think someone had it up for either 200 OBO or $2.

50 OBO. It was gone immediately. And, like, I like, I mentioned fifteen and sixteen Prizm to you. Like, I'm I'm convinced at this point that there are people that collect those years.

Like, they just they I've and I've had some people, like, admit to me or or reach out to me and say, like, yeah. I I buy, like, fifteen and sixteen just because they're so hard to find, gold specifically.

So I I was desperate for that card, but I didn't realize how desperate for that card I would be in the coming years, just because I still had a I still had a little bit to go. Like, at the time, I still needed his twenty seventeen.

I don't even think I got his twenty twelve at at that point yet. So I I I was still, like even though I was, like, a year or two into the project, I knew I had, like, a little bit to go.

And so, eventually, I I think, maybe, like, a year a year, year and a half ago, I I pick up a 2015, Prizm Gold privately, from a a good buddy of mine, card collector one two three one two.

And he he's another Julio collector. And, that was that was a a huge card. Like I said, fifteen and sixteen are just, for whatever reason, impossible to find. Definitely overpaid for it.

I'm not ashamed to admit it. But then after that, I have all of the all of his other playing years. After 2021, Julio wasn't included in in Prizm, in in his, like, Bucks days or even when he played, like, half a season for the Eagles.

So I've been, like, desperately waiting for just a 16 Prizm gold to pop up. I would, like, I'd look at shows specifically for that card.

I would tell friends about it. I would, sometimes put up, like, stories about, like, please, like, help someone help me find this card. I will tip you, like, handsomely if you if you help me find this card.

And, it was probably, like, two months ago or so around the time that you asked me, if I'm if I'm able to to be on the show again. I had one card in mind, and I'm I'm like, alright. Yeah. This is a pretty this is an awesome card.

This is a cool bin story. And then, like, the next day, this card pops up on eBay. And, the I I wouldn't say it wasn't cheap, but I'm crazy enough that I probably would have paid, like, three times for it.

So and and it had the the best offer option on there, and I I didn't even think twice. I just, like, like, I tell my coworkers, like, alright.

I gotta I gotta go for lunch. I'll I'll I'll be back. I'll be back. So I grabbed my wallet, and, I I I I paid for it on the spot. I was so I was so excited, to just smash bin. I I don't know if it was, like, stupid of me.

It was it was probably a little risky of me to, like, even message the owner of it on Instagram after the fact and just be like, dude, you have no idea how long I've been waiting for this card to pop up.

I don't know if you'd like. That's always a little risky because then they'll hold your feet to the fire and, like, okay. Well, alright. Well, now that's you're gonna have to pay double, which I still would have done.

But but, yeah, I I've and it it's crazy because I'm, like, I'm a a card ladder subscriber, and I I've been for years. And I honestly can't even recall seeing that's seeing a public sale of this card pop up.

May maybe, it did, like, pre boom. Maybe, like, there was a copy that sold in, like, 2017 or 2018 or something, which, it was a completely different market back then.

It's peanuts compared to to a gold Prizms go for now, but, just to see another copy. Like, just to see another copy somewhere. And and I don't know I don't know if this is that same raw copy that popped up back in, like, 2022.

As far as I know, like, if if that was a different copy, I've only ever seen two copies of this card. So, I yeah, man. This was and this was the first, gold Prizm run I've I've completed for any of my, wide receivers that I collect.

So, yeah, I was I was freaking ecstatic at work, just just to see this pop up. Incredible story. Congratulations on completing the run.

Maybe before we move off of this one, I think this would be interesting to dig into is just the irrational nature that we go through in these moments, especially when it's for a piece that we've been looking for for a really long time and a piece that, like, completes the run.

You mentioned that you probably would have paid three times this. Like, I'm guessing that you might have even paid more.

But, like, think about think about, like, all the considerations you make and, like like, how just the reasonable decision making kind of goes by the wayside when we're pursuing a card like this and it finally appears.

Like, maybe share some perspective on, like, how a purchase like this is different than, you know, your typical purchase that you like and you want and it makes you feel good, but this is like a this is this this purchase has a long history in your mind.

And, usually, it's just like you and the card.

You're probably not vocalizing that to anyone else. But just maybe, like, as we kinda move on before we move on to the next, section of the show, maybe just talk a little bit about that. Yeah, man.

If it's if it's completing a run, I I try to be like, if there's if there's a best offer option on eBay, I'll try to at least, like, save a couple bucks here or there just because, like, I I wanna be in this hobby for the long haul.

So I have to be I have to practice some sort of financial responsibility even if it means, like, take like, negotiating down, like, 20% off of an ask or 10% off an ask.

But if it's something that I've been I've been after for years, Like, it's it's something that I've been I've been chasing for a long time.

Haven't even seen another copy in in years. It completes a run. I didn't realize, like, how much of a completionist I am until I started chasing gold Prizms, for specific players.

If it checks, like, all of those boxes like, Brett, I'm telling you, I would have paid a thousand dollars. I I believe it. Worth nowhere near that.

But, yeah, it's it's just funny how, like, even to even and and I'm sure there there are plenty of people out in the hobby that are far more, that practice, you know, financial responsibility in the hobby far more than I do.

And even even they'd have to think twice about, like, even even negotiating, like, and not smashing Ben.

Dude, awesome story. And I could, like, relate just with my TY Hilton run. It's like the same time frame as your Julio Jones. And it's it's it was, like, trials and tribulations, like, trying to find the final piece.

It's like, it's so rewarding when you do. Maybe before we move off of this, like, how where do you 2016, I think, from a design perspective is maybe one of the like, people I never hear anyone say like, oh, 2016 is my favorite year.

But, like, where does 2016 stack up for you in the Prizm catalog? I mean, it it's cool. It's a it's a cool design.

It's nothing it's not like 2012 to 2014 wise. But, yeah, '6 I'm not, like, a huge fan of 2020 to probably, like, 2022. And Julio was, like I said, he, his last gold Prizm in his, playing years was, in a Titans jersey in 2021.

I'm I'm not a huge fan of those years. Yeah. I don't know. It it's probably it's probably towards, like I'd say it's above them, maybe below, like I don't know. 2017 has just become so iconic just because, obviously, Mahomes.

So, that that, year specifically is also low key, it's gotten a little harder to find. Mhmm. But, yeah, I'd say it's maybe, like, fourth from the bottom, somewhere around there. That that's fair. Awesome story.

Let's move into some bin smashes that are of players that, I think you can relate with. So, the first card I'm showing here is the 20, 15 Jerry Rice flawless patch auto out of 25, game worn, the follow-up year from the debut year.

This thing sold April 15 via Binsmash for $1,950. Let's maybe talk about Jerry Rice, and I know you collect rice and just, like, the collecting community around rice.

And then just any remarks, a lot of rice collectors collect this post playing days, especially the game worn stuff like this, which it'll command, you know, a a premium.

But maybe just share some perspective on the rice, collect collecting and community, and then anything you wanna mention about this card.

Yeah. The the rice community, it's it's a very strong community. I know I I'm I'm in a group chat, Jerry Rice group chat. I know there are others that exist.

And the rice collectors, they're they're phenomenal people. They're real I mean, they're, like, OGs with, with with wide receiver collecting, just because I know like, I have friends who have been collecting him since the nineties.

For I mean, for that reason, even though the the community is great, he's quietly one of the most frustrating, receivers, for me to for anyone to collect, just because of how, how strong and, like, the hands are of the of of the of his collectors, basically, and and not wanting to to give up, a lot of his cards.

And, yeah, he's, I mean, he's certainly not not the cheapest for for very good reason. But he's exciting. I mean, he's he's a very he's a very exciting player to collect.

I out of whenever I do have, like, a Jerry Rice mail day, it's like it's like a top five mail day of the year. That's I I don't even know if I if I can pick up, like, five Jerry Rice cards over the course of the year.

But, yeah, he's he's he's very fun to collect, but just, he can be frustrating just because, the his his collectors aren't necessarily willing to to part with that much.

But interestingly enough, there, you know, there's a lot of hobby purists who, only collect a player's, playing your playing your cards.

Whereas with somebody like Jerry, even, like, somebody like a Randy Moss, there's, like, a lot of his collectors are willing to buy post playing days, like, game used cards or something or or autos.

And, obviously, this this fits this fits both molds there.

And especially with, you know, with Panini not having really much, game use materials, made in the last couple years, like, since COVID or eve maybe even a little bit before that.

Yeah. Something like this is is is a special card, to have. I've been even looking at, like, the Jerry Rice, like, Wallace Avenue myself.

But at at some point, I do have to like, there are just so many playing years cards that I still want of him that I have to keep myself disciplined, but I don't I don't blame others for for wanting to to go that route.

Alright. Moving over to a guy we've already talked about, twenty nineteen contenders, AJ Brown, auto cracked ice, rookie, out of 23, PSA 10.

This thing sold on March via BINSMASH for $950. I've always loved, in football, the cracked ice rookies. Do you when you're are you setting rules with your AJ Brown collecting?

Like, are you going after rookies and tight and stuff, or are you exclusively collecting one of one in Eagles? Maybe talk about the processing of that because I I I've been on this thread for a while with a lot of different players.

I've been thinking about it from the basketball lens, but it applies here where it's like, people aren't going to remember AJ Brown as a Titan.

He's gonna be an Eagle. He won a Super Bowl there. He's at the, you know, prime of his career. So I don't know. Like, how do you process the rookie of it all, in comparison to, the the cards of, you know, Brown in Eagles gear?

Like, how are you navigating that as a collector? Well, I mean, I I collected them once upon a time in in, tight Titan's gear, basically, before he even came over to Philly.

And I've been a fan of him since since he was a rookie. So, yeah, at at first, I try to I try to, like, really discipline myself. I'm like, alright.

Only only Eagle stuff. Only, like, Eagles Eagles or one of ones, and then it like, that's when it started started to branch out from there. Yeah. I would still be open to I I have, like, a a good amount of, AJ Brown in in Titans gear.

I was I was a big fan of him, even even, like, pre COVID. My girlfriend and I went down to to Nashville, and, I'm like, you know what? We're already in Nashville.

Like, let me just get an AJ Brown jersey. Like, I didn't that like, at the time, I I didn't care. I'm like, I obviously can't wear this in Philly, but I could wear this in the comfort of my own home rooting for him on my fantasy team.

So, yeah, I in terms of, you know, how how willing am I to to jump into, like, rookie stuff or Titan stuff, I'm I'm pretty open.

Yeah. If there's I I still try to, like, somewhat restrict myself to maybe, like, Prizm golds and and one of ones, but, that's that that that dam's gonna get busted at at some point.

So I'm probably gonna go down the crack dice, rabbit hole myself or or whatever other cool rookies there are.

Of course. Let's talk about DeAndre Hopkins. This is his twenty thirteen Topps platinum, one of one rookie sold via Binsmart for $2,250.

These I don't know if many collectors, like, really know about these cards, but this is, like, Topps paper product. But they have the one of one, which is just gorgeous in hand.

At one point, I had owned a Philip Rivers from this set, and I just love this love these cards. Maybe talk about just Hopkins collecting Hopkins and then just any thoughts you have regarding kinda this version of his rookie card.

Alright. So I I wanted to surprise you a little bit. I I I was thinking about saying something before, but, And you didn't.

There it is. I know. Dude, I I saw the I saw the price, and I saw the card, and I know what you collected. I was I was wondering. I was wondering. Maybe this is his card now. Yeah. I dude, I I love the glossy finish.

I have, like it's funny. Like, in preparing for the show, I tried to do a little bit of research myself in terms of, like, what product was this inserted into? Like you said, it was it was just, like, Topps paper product.

But, yeah, I I saw it in in other years and in in other sports too, like, in baseball, where, like, the tops platinum one of one, it won't have, like, the glossy finish around the player.

Like, maybe, like, the the border, will be, like, kind of like a grayish silver border, but that's, like, really it. That's, like, the only defining factor.

Whereas, like, I know in 2013, Topps football, the platinum one on ones have, are, like, this glossy 2014 too. I don't know about any other year, though. I I think, actually, in 2000 I don't know if you saw this.

Like, Topps reposted it, recently. Someone picked up, like, a box of 2,007 Topps football at, like, an estate sale. Yes. And Brady was he was great. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. Which is dope. That's crazy.

But, even even that card, like, it's it it kinda has, like, that same grayish silver finish, but, not nearly it like, it's basically, like, no gloss to it, unlike these cards. So, we had, like, collecting collecting Hopkins.

Hopkins has been also, like, one of the more fun players to collect. It there is there can be a a little bit of competition with him just because, there are, like, the player specific collectors, and then there are team guys.

So because Hopkins is, like, you know not saying it's good or bad, but he's just been, you know, floating around the league for a little bit.

So you'll have but but, fortunately, he's, like, beloved basically by, like, every team he's played for.

So you have Texans guys who are, like, chasing his stuff. There's, like, there's, one Texans account, I think, that has, like, a good amount of his, like, black Prizm one of ones.

And there there are cardinals collectors that go after him too, in in mostly in cardinals gear. But, yeah, I mean, he he came out in a in a special time when, both Topps and Panini had the licenses.

So, collecting his his rookie cards, you kinda you don't you kinda have, like, your pick of the litter of, like, which direction you wanna go or if you have, like, the financial means to do so, you can you can kinda go both ways.

So, with getting, like, like, you know, nice Prizm parallels, Prizm gold even, and even Select.

Like, his his rookie year was the the first year Select. That's when I when I bought, the the twenty thirteen Select boxes that I mentioned earlier, like, I was kinda hoping to pull a Hopkins.

So, yeah, it's it's it's fun collecting somebody, who who had, I guess, like, in the in the early parts of their career where multiple companies had the the license to to produce these cards.

I wasn't necessarily expecting to talk about two of your bin smashes, but I gotta know when this card showed up in your saved search saved search, what what was your was this, oh my god.

I gotta smash bin, or did you need to do research? Like, how did how did you process Well, this, I wouldn't I I guess, technically, it it was a bin smashed when the price was updated.

I this was, yeah, this is this was up for a little bit, on eBay. And then I saw it disappear for I don't even know how long. I don't know if it was months or, like, a year.

I don't know. But, the the starting price was, like, it was outrageous for a while. And I don't know if it was in the same hands, of of the previous owner or if it or if it sold privately, here or there.

But, I saw another copy, not not for Hopkins. I I saw one sell, I think, through Golden for Travis Kelsey, and it was a PSA 10.

And it sold for something crazy, like like, $12 or something. Yeah. With BP. With the silly photo on it? Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. The the photo that he he, like I think he's he's gone publicly saying, like, this is that photo. Yeah.

With with that photo, I mean, I'm not hating on it. I'm just saying, like, I'm just saying that's, you know, that's that's a pretty penny to to pay for that card. So, I was messaging the seller, and we're kinda going back and forth.

He's he saw my, my Instagram page, and he's like, alright. I know you're not looking to to flip this. And I think this is this might have even been, like, maybe maybe right around the time I, like, changed my name.

And, he's like, alright. Like, I'll, I'll drop the price by, like, so and so. And if if you feel comfortable, you know, hitting bin, then that that's fine.

So, we kept the deal on eBay, and, and he dropped it and, like, I couldn't have gotten again, I couldn't have gotten my wallet out quick quick quickly enough just to, like, make sure I don't know.

Like, there were already good amount of watchers on it when it was, like, I don't know, 750 more. So I don't want, you know, someone else to to jump in.

The scan of this photo or card is incredible. Just an amazing asset, and I would encourage anyone to it's not a product anyone ever talks about, but twenty thirteen tops, the one of ones in there are something special.

Before I let you get out of here, Jesse, wanted to get into this part where I bring up a card that's currently listed on eBay. Most of the time, it's listed for a ridiculously, high bin price.

But I wanted to I I wanted to pull this card up just because I don't necessarily see too many, like, nineties cards in your collection, and this card aesthetically is the and the card I'm sharing is the 97 Jerry Rice, Star Rubies out of 50.

Amoeba background design, it's listed for, almost 40 k, which is a lot more than the previous comp.

But I I wanted to get kinda your perspective on, you know, with the rice collecting and, with is this the car that you would be after, love to have?

Like, how do you navigate, like, if a car like this came available at a price that with it was within your range?

Like, maybe just talk through how this car your reaction to this card and just, like, if it would be something you would want in your collection. Fortunately, I I do have a copy.

Oh, you do? He is the GOAT WR collector. Here we go. I I do. This was, I kind of I made the conscious decision after probably around the 2021 national that, that was, like, around the time I started parting with AJ Brown.

Like, alright. I want these I want these I want the funds that I get from whatever I'm gonna sell from AJ to go towards, Jerry Rice and Randy Moss.

Those were two guys that I I wanted to collect for a while, but I just needed to kinda have a means, to do so.

And, around that time, I I became, really good friends with with a Jerry Rice collector on Instagram, and we even to this day, like, we talk, we talk often, very, very, very often, especially about, like, new listings and and whatever and just about life.

And, yeah, he was gracious enough to to part with, an an extra copy he had, which is insane. That's just in in that's why I just bought it.

And, yeah, I was he was you know, I'm gracious enough that he was willing to to sell it to me, and he he saw how, how how serious I was with, because he he doesn't, you know, just sell to anybody.

So I I was I was honored that he was, you know, willing to sell it to me. And it's, like, it's probably I I could I could get almost, you know, whatever cards I get. Like, that this probably will be the best card in my collection.

The the that PMG green, boat has long sailed. I would have to sell, like, everything to get that card. But this like, realistically, this is this is the best card in my collection.

I Yeah. The design in the photo, like, it's hard to, for me, just as just a observer, it's hard to put together a better football card. I love I love the Amoeba design.

And and mine, ironically, mine is also in a BGS holder. And in a something about, like, I don't know, the in BGS holders, like, with especially with this card, it's really hard to to photograph even in, like, a photo box.

So I just people probably brush over this post on, like, my Instagram page, because I just have it, like, holding like, I'd like it the post is me holding it in hand Mhmm.

And just and maybe I, like, I I think I took a video, just to get just to capture some of the Amoeba effect.

But, yeah, it probably it would be if anything, like, it probably would be a little bit nicer for this card to be crossed over to, like, a PSA folder even if even if it goes down to, like, a seven or something, just, like, for the aesthetics of of being able to appreciate the design of the card.

In terms of, in terms of pricing, yeah, the price is probably gonna be high, but, for is when we're talking about this listing in particular.

But, yeah, I would I would try to find whatever ways I could, whether it be through consolidation or, winning the lottery or something.

But, but, yeah, I would this would be, like and for a long, long, long term, this would if I didn't have a card, this would for sure be on my on my wish list.

This episode is full of surprises, Jesse. I wanna thank you for, you know, surprising us that of the I I shouldn't have doubted you. Of course, you have these cards. This is your brand. A lot of fun. Appreciate the conversation.

You can follow him at goat, the underscore w r underscore collector on Instagram. Jesse, it's been awesome talking with you. Looking forward to doing it again down the road. Thanks, Brett. Appreciate it, man.