Alright. We are back with another episode of Smashing Ben.

This is a timely and topical episode. I'm excited to get into the conversation around, playoff basketball because it maps up with today's card. And I am joined by collector Joe who goes by Joey d's cards on Instagram.

I was just telling him ahead of, the recording that I watched the closeout game of the Cavs in the heat last night, and it was maybe one of the worst basketball games I've ever seen.

But if you're a Cavs fan, certainly, maybe one of the better games, absolute bloodbath or in beatdown. But without further ado, Joe, welcome, man.

How are you? I'm good, Brett. Thanks for having me. I've, like since since you got into contact with me, like, a few weeks ago, I, like, truly couldn't be more excited to be here. So, I'm ready to go.

I'm excited about it. I think you have a good card to talk about. But let's maybe talk about your Cavs. I know, this is maybe a fun opportunity for you just because you the Cavs have had one hell of a season, you know, one seed.

They are so deep. There's so much talent. What hit in it? I know the Cavs have had a good team for a while, but have had some missteps and misfortunes in the playoffs.

This year, they kinda came out and just dominated. What's this season been like for you as a Cavs fan watching this team take care of business? It's, it it's been, you know, a couple things come to mind.

It's been very surreal. And and just in general, it's been super exciting. Right? Because, like, all last year, you know, we we you know, going into this season, we dealt with the, oh, is Donovan Mitchell gonna leave?

Is he gonna stay? This and that. And so, like, getting that out of the way to start the off season, like, kind of started that little run of good vibes for the Cavs.

And I and I think, like, you know, and, of course, getting Kenny Atkinson as the coach and and things of that nature.

Right? They didn't make too many roster moves. And so from that standpoint, like, there wasn't a lot to talk about in the off season.

But, you know, I think you know, I can't speak for everybody, but I know for myself, I felt that, like, you know, with with the the continuity that the team had going into the season, you know, it's the same exact group.

All those guys were kind of, like, on the upward trajectory. Right? Like, Garland was 24, Mobley was 23, that type of stuff. And so you figure, okay. We got a new coach. We got the Donovan Mitchell thing that was looming out of the way.

And now you've got some young guys who hopefully spent the off season getting healthier and and getting stronger and better, and and maybe they'll start their upward trajectory and it all just kinda works out and and maybe they'll get, you know, my my before the season, I was like, okay.

I I think they can get the two seed. Right? Because Boston is just awesome, right?

And, it ended up working out a lot better than than even I had thought. And I and I would say I was probably on the more optimistic side of of things compared to a lot of Cavs fans because very surreal.

So How much, you know, you mentioned and I was playing this back in my mind ahead of this chat that I was thinking about it, and I was like, you know what?

Like, there isn't a lot that's different about this team. There's a ton of talent.

You know? Maybe they're getting a little older, a little more experienced, but there was, you know, Kenny coming in as the coach. How big of a role do you think, like, a coaching change like that has played in their success?

I I'm I'm not sure, like, coaches get enough credit in the NBA, but I know he is one of those pragmatic type of coaches, very, offensive minded.

He's got his system. How big of a role do you think he's played in the team's success this year? So I genuinely think, like, in the pecking order of things, he is probably not not probably.

He's definitely number one. Right? Like, I I think just the whole system that they run, his he he's, like, empowered guys to to let it fly. Right? He's telling Mobley to shoot three, four threes a game.

He's he's trying to to push these guys to be better and put them in situations that, you know, should allow them all to score, which JB Bickerstaff, you know, not gonna try and crap on him, but he he really wasn't the guy for that.

He he was a more of a culture setter, defense first kinda guy, and and Kenny's just kinda let, you know, all these guys get theirs while, you know, winning and and still playing good defense.

And so I think that's gonna be the number one thing, and then it's Evan Mobley's just skyrocket skyrocketing, career and, you know, he's gonna be all NBA this year.

He just won defensive player of the year. He, like, singularly as a player is the biggest reason outside of Atkinson, I think. So So that's a little tease on, the card to come.

But but before we get that, I gotta ask you because you are a Cleveland Cavaliers fan living in enemy territory in the Boston area. What what is that like, especially around playoff time?

Yeah. It's it's so I grew up in Massachusetts. Right? So born and raised here. My family's from Massachusetts. And and, you know, I'm 32. And so LeBron has been in the league basically my whole, like, whole life.

And and so when he first got started, you know, in 02/2003, I was really young. I was 10 years old. Right? And so those are my formative years. And the Celtics weren't all that great at that point.

And so I kinda gravitated towards LeBron and the Cavs. And, you know, even when he he left that first time, you know, I kinda just stuck with them and and, you know, I'm very grateful that I did.

And it and it's a lot of fun. Right? Because, like, all my friends, you know, that I've grown up with are all Celtics fans. Right? All of them.

And so it the the banter back and forth, especially when both teams are good is, like, it's so much fun, you know, going to you know, I I've been fortunate enough that they've had a lot of big games against each other in the playoffs over the last ten, twelve years.

And so going to those games and and going to the regular season games, it's it's it's it really is like a ton of fun.

It's I couldn't ask for more. So So, I wanna maybe before we focus in on the card, talk about you and your collection, maybe share with listeners who haven't followed you, or unfamiliar.

Maybe set up, like, I know you're a Cavs collector. You like logo men cards. You like gold prism. But maybe talk a little bit about just your approach to what you buy and what you collect.

Yeah. And so I think, you know, I've I've been in the hobby, like, like, basically since I was probably seven years old, six years old when I used to buy Pokemon cards.

And so it's been a lot of and I started taking it more seriously, especially, like, the last five, six years.

And so I think there's been a lot of trial and error. Right? Like, the things that I like now, which which we'll get to in a second, are always the things that I liked.

And so there's been a lot of buying things, getting them in hand, realizing I don't like them, and doing that over and over again until I've gotten to where I am now.

Right? And so the you know, the way I look at it now is, first of all, do I like the player? You know, is this something that if cards went to $0, I would be happy to hold on to?

And if the answer is yes, usually due to my earbud just came out. Usually due to whether it's rarity, it being game use, an on card autograph, whatever the case may be, then I probably will will go after it.

And, there's been, like, you know, you alluded to it. There's, like, a subset of cards that I've really, especially gravitated towards over the last three to four years, I would say.

So the I was this is, like, perfect timing because I booked out all of these in advance. Your team just, you know, swept. Moving on to round two, I'm going to game, five tonight, Pacers, Bucks.

Hoping that, you know, the series that I'm, you know, invested in ends, but you know how that goes. But inevitably, there there could be a chance that Pacers and Cavs play each other, which is certainly awesome.

So the timetable of this is is really good. But, also, the card, the defensive player of the year, Evan Mobley, just a monumental rise.

I mean, he's always been good, but it is hard to be the best defensive player in the league. And, you know, critics will say, well, Wendy was out.

Well, it doesn't matter. Right? He dominated this year on the defensive end of the floor. So before we get into the card, talk about Mobley and what he's meant maybe for you as a fan and for the Cavs this year.

Oh my goodness. Right. And so it it's hard to really overstate how important he is to to the Cavs. If he if he ever gets hurt, god forbid, they don't stand a chance against any of, like, the legitimately good teams.

It and, you know, going back to something that I I remember, you know, when the Cavs got super lucky and got the third pick in that 2021 draft, One of the things that stuck out to me on a podcast, it was Bill Simmons and Ryan Russillo talking about the podcast.

And I vividly remember one line saying that, you know, Ryan Russillo was like, Moby's just so good.

He never f's up. He he on every single play, he makes the right play. And that's something that has, like, very much remained the case, you know, five years later, four years later.

He just always seems to make the right play. He's in the right place. And not only that, he's just like a a freak of nature athletically.

Right? There's, like, very few guys that can move their feet on the perimeter and guard a guard, and then the next possession go guard the biggest player on the team and do that very successfully.

And so I think he really is, like, the linchpin to what they do.

Like, Donovan Mitchell is their best player right now, but I would be willing to bet, you know, anything I had that in maybe next as soon as next year, Evan Mobley will be their best player.

He just continues to get better. And then adding the three point shot this year was just, like, icing on the cake.

Right? So, he's unbelievable. So the card here is the 2021, '20 '20 '2 Evan Mobley gold prism out of 10, and the the gold prism rookie has become such a staple in this hobby.

It's sad that, you know, the license is changing hands in a way for us prism fans where the our opportunity to grab our favorite players, Gold Prism, likely won't look the same coming up.

But maybe talk about before we talk about the the bid and smash, talk about, you know, Gold Prism and how you view Gold Prism in the overall hobby hierarchy and just what you like to collect.

Yeah. And so I would say for the Gold Prism, right, like, the fact that it it, like, visually looks good is is super important. Right? The fact that it's very limited, it's there's 10 copies of each one, is super important.

And I think, you know, to me, not every gold prism necessarily, is going to be worth a bajillion dollars in the future. I think there's certain ones, whether it's, like, the 20 twelves.

Right? Those like, no matter what player, those are all super valuable. You know, hall of fame guys, they're gold prisms. And then I think, like, to the the point of this one, right, like, a good player's gold prism rookie.

I think those are, like, the the main buckets. And then, of course, like, if you collect someone, it's it's, like, awesome. Like, I I collect Darius Garland. I have his gold prism run from rookie through, you know, this year.

And I you know, I don't necessarily think the the the years outside of the rookie year are gonna be, you know, crazy valuable in the future because there's just so many.

You know, you add up 10 by ten years, and they have a hundred of them by the end of it. And, but I just think they just look so good, and I think they're really key for the rookies, especially.

So you posted this card a hundred weeks ago. I'm looking at the time stamp, and I I'm just looking at your post, and these are my favorite posts because you've got, like, paragraph.

I'm I just in the screenshot, you can't read everything you you wrote. Whenever I see, like, that sort of length on a post, it instantly it you know, we were all there.

Like, it takes a long time to put a post like that together. So I'm I'm always like, this mean this is, like, a super passionate post, so I love reading those.

But maybe take us through this bin smash because I know there was a lot going on with you trying to acquire this card. So maybe share the story of landing this one.

Yeah. And so, I guess, you know, before I get into the actual BIN smash story, there's, like, a little bit of a a preface that I that makes it, like, a little bit more crazy, I guess. And so, you know, this was 2023.

So this was, like, probably a week or so after we had lost to the Knicks in the first round of the playoffs. Right? So that was and Mobley was awful in that series, offensively. And and so he was probably at his lowest point value wise.

And so there's this big Boston show called the Shriner Show, which, you know, all the people in the area, whether it's, you know, Boston, New Hampshire, Maine, whatever, they all they all come here.

And it's a pretty big show, like, 300 tables or so. And, you know, friend of the program, MC Sports Cards was was set up there.

And, he had just made a trade earlier in that day with with a guy at the show. I I don't remember what what Mike traded, but one of the cards he got in return was an Evan Mobley gold prism rookie.

And and he showed me because he knew I was a Cavs fan and, you know, quoted me a price on it and was like you know, which was significantly more money than I've ever paid on a card, but it was it was that's what it was worth at the time.

Right? Which I think it was, like, 7 or $8,000 in value, maybe even more, because one had just sold around then for for, like, 9 k, which, again, way more than I had ever spent on a card. But I knew I was like, hey.

Like, I may never have a chance to get one of these again or or maybe I will, and it it'll be a long time before then. And so, you know, he told me to take the night, think about it, and just, like, message him in the morning.

And and, you know, if we wanna do the deal, I'll go back to him in the morning, and and we'll do it. And so I thought about it, and I just couldn't make it make sense for me again.

It was, like, a fair value. I just couldn't afford it. And so fast forward about a week. And, you know, but I know you do. A lot of people do who listen to your program. I'm sure you've got same searches on eBay.

Right? And and one of mine was for Evan Mobley gold out of 10 or something to that effect. Right? And so, you know, I had finished working for the day and and I check eBay, and I see that the little blue dot is there.

And so I click it not expecting much, maybe, you know, whatever it was. I wasn't expecting a gold prism. Right? Lo and behold, there's a gold prism Evan Mobley that you've got on the screen there, and it was listed at $12.

75 or best offer. And I was like, there's actually no way that that this is the case. This is, like, one sixth of of what one just sold for.

And so thinking it was a scam, but then remembering, okay. If I were to buy this, eBay will give me the money back. So there's really no downside if I get you know, the card is doesn't exist.

I'll just be heartbroken. And so I immediately hit buy it now. Right? Because it's just it was just too good to be true. And so fast forward about, you know, whatever.

I I hit bin. Fast forward an hour later, I get a message from the seller. He's like, hey, man. Like, I just want you to know I'm getting offers of, like, significantly higher than I had it listed for.

I don't think I know what I had, this, that, and the other thing. And so I'm thinking to myself, oh, dang. Like like, this guy's gonna back out, which, like, I would never do, but, like, from a human standpoint, like, I can get it.

That's a lot of money that you're missing out on. But, thankfully, he was like, you know what? Like, I'm a man of my word. You know, I'll go through with the sale.

Just do something nice for somebody and in return and and hopefully, you know, the good karma circle will keep going. And so, fortunately, it did show up in the mail, like, a week or however many days later.

And and I still have the card to this day, and and I got it graded, like, later that year. I got a b g s nine, and and I could not be more thankful to have it.

It was just, like, a crazy, crazy set of events. That's an amazing story. I hit on maybe the fact that you you set it up by saying, you know, Mobley just had this terrible series against the Knicks.

The card got presented to you at fair market price. Were was I know the it was more than you had ever spent or the when in the in the Shriner show, that that card, was more than you'd ever spent.

Was there anything in your head about I know this is a lot of money, but maybe I shouldn't do this because, you know, Mobley didn't play great, or did you think about that at all when you kinda said no to the first opportunity?

You you know, I genuinely didn't because, you know, it was it was easy to write off because he was so young.

He was probably 20, 20 one years old. He was super physically underdeveloped at that point. Right? He wasn't as strong as he is today or he will be in the future.

And so I kinda I was very you know, I had conviction that he would become a really great player. And so that didn't really factor into the equation. It was it truly was just more like, I don't think I can afford this at the at the time.

So, I'm glad things worked out the way they did. We dream of scenarios. This is all the stars aligning where you not only got the card for a great price, and the price caused you to smash Ben.

It was you wanted the card, but it's like, man, this is such a deal. I don't even need to make an offer. I'm gonna I'm gonna get it. So you got the card, and Mobley's trajectory has just gone, you know, through the roof, right?

Defensive player of the year, Cavs are in first place. He's, it's not just some random player. He's a huge contributor to the success of your favorite team.

When when the stars align like that with a card that you own and you didn't sell at any point, but it's just you've held it for that long, maybe share, like, what that means to you as a collector and how much more you enjoy the card because you've been on that ride with them.

So, you know, all of that is true.

Right? Like, I I very much enjoy the card because it's one of his best rookie cards, and he's one of my favorite players and and, like, a genuinely good and and super important player to my favorite team.

I think one of the things that that really goes into the psychology of this and and why I'm so grateful that I I got it for what I did is I'm not tempted to sell it for because I'm into it for so little, and that that might be kind of backwards from from what you might think.

Right? Like, if if you got into it for so cheap and it's worth x amount more, well, then take the like, it's it's hard to turn down the profit.

But to me, the way I look at it is I'm into a card that I would want right now no matter what the value of it is, and I'm into it for dirt cheap compared to what it's you know, not dirt cheap, but compared to what it's worth.

And so it's just such an easy decision for me because I'm not into it for a lot. So, there's there's not this pressure to to sell it. So I don't know. It's, again, just very grateful.

So How how much are there any moments before we move off the card and move on to the next segment, are there moments, you know, throughout this great Cavs season and into these playoffs where, you know, you're riding kind of this emotional high and you just go over and you, you know, pull the car out and, like, what kind of, if you do do that, what kind of, you know, what does that bring to you just as a collector?

Yeah. So I I would say I look at my cards, like, my main PC, at least a couple times a week.

Just like even if it's, like, two minutes just flipping through them, I'm like I don't know. It's it's just it really is a a really cool feeling. And, yeah, I'll I'll never get sick of of looking at my my PC cards.

That's that's for sure. And and it's definitely more special that he's still so the fact that he's still with the team is, like it makes it so much better because I was into it from the start.

He's still there, and now I'm seeing, you know, the kind of the fruits of his labor in terms of his trajectory going up as a player. So that's the best. It's always awesome when, collectors of specific teams and players get deals.

Really cool card. Great story. Let's move on to some bit I personalized some of these bin smashes from the last week, and I just wanna talk about them, get your reaction.

The first one is a player on your team, but in a different jersey, his the team who drafted in his jersey, and it's the twenty seventeen flawless, Donovan Mitchell, star swatch, signatures, ruby, rookie out of 15, PSA 10.

This sold April 19 for $4,000.

I I wanna know as a collector how you handle the situation because I have this as a Pacers fan where you're the best player on your team started their career with someone else, and so the rookie cards are in a different uniform.

What is this does this card do anything for you because Mitchell is in a jazz jersey, or are you do you just go after, Mitchell and Cavs stuff?

Maybe talk about that dynamic. Yeah. So it's a really good and really interesting question. Right? I I think for me personally, I only own the currently one Mitchell jazz card, and it's, a logo man of his, a game use logo man.

And and the way that I think of that one before I answer your question, the way I think of that specific card is, like, I have it as a placeholder until I can find a Cavs logo, man, Mitchell, and then I'll sell the Jazz one.

And so I think for me and and because I I start was when Mitchell got traded to Cleveland, I bought, you know, quite a few of his cards.

Like, I bought a gold optic weighted rookie. I bought, Prism Mojo and and whatever, all all sorts of different cards.

And the one thing I noticed, because I had never been in this situation before, is that they just, like, didn't resonate with me all that much. And while they're awesome cards and and, like, this Mitchell flawless is awesome.

Right? It's game lore. It's a PSA 10. It's an on card autograph. It's from the best product. It it's just, like, not something that, like, for me personally, that I would end up keeping for forever.

And I've noticed that, like, the ones that I do have that I love are his CAS ones. Right? Like, I have a Prism Nebula in in a CAS uniform.

I have, you know, I've had a couple Prism Golds in a CAS uniform and and stuff like that. And those are the ones that I really like, and and I imagine going forward, I'll probably buy more of those than I would the jazz ones personally.

You don't need to talk about the method to your madness at all, and you don't you can share as much as you want.

But one thing I've noticed about your collecting in your page, like, if I were a cast fan, I think I would be collecting like you are collecting and how you acquire cards, whether they're nebulas, logomans, gold prism rookies.

Do you have any special, tactics that you use in order to get these cards? Because it seems like, you know, you you're you're buying quality, and you're buying cards that are highly desirable.

Like, are you are you doing anything special to come across them, that you you could maybe, like, share with the audience and just any advice?

Yeah. So I guess quickly, again, like, it go goes back to being grateful. I've I've, like, been able to almost market myself as a cat. Like, not not almost.

I've been marketing myself as a Cavs guy from basically day one. Right? And so I've been fortunate enough through, like, connections and things, you know, things like that, whether it's via Instagram or Facebook or whatever.

If a big Cavs card comes up, whether it's on eBay, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, whatever, usually, someone will send me the link to it.

And I that's like I could not be more grateful because I wouldn't have half the cards I do without that.

And so I think fostering connections with people, even if they're not people that you do deals with, just like being friends with people, really can pay huge dividends. And so that's certainly part of it.

And then I also you know, when I have time during the week, I scan Golden, PWCC and all and then, also, of course, eBay. And so if something pops up there, you know, I evaluate whether I wanna make a move for it later in the week.

And then the last thing is because, like, we're talking about the collecting side of what I do, which is the main reason I do cards.

But I also do I flip cards to to fund my PC. Right? And so I buy a ton on Facebook. And so, you know, sometimes I'll get lucky and find a PC card over Facebook.

But there's really just like a whole it it's a it's a lot of time and energy. I will say that. But I certainly couldn't do it without the help of of so many people who have, you know, pointed me in the direction of a card that they saw.

So You you say you market yourself as a Cavs fan, but a a lot I think people hear that, and they maybe think that they have to go do something special.

But I hear that, And maybe it's because my background's in marketing. I see your page, and it's just to be, you're just, like, sharing your passion.

And so, like, you're consistently sharing your passion around your collection and the cards you go after And, naturally, doing that over a long period of time and doing it consistently, you become a magnet for these cards when they come up because when people think of Cavs, they think of you.

Exactly. Yeah. Let's talk about maybe before we move off this card Mitchell, and I'm fascinated by Mitchell because every time Jazz, Cavs, the Pacers have played Mitchell, or I've watched Mitchell on League pass.

I'm always just I'm I'm just always mesmerized at his ability to score the I mean, he is such a great scorer.

He can do it from anywhere on the floor, so versatile. But when we take a couple steps back and we talk about, the hobby and collecting and the highest priced cards, you know, We're talking Luca.

We're talking Tatum. You know? Of course, Steph and LeBron. But in that batch of, like, younger players or the the next generation, it seems like Mitchell maybe gets lost in the shuffle a little bit.

Although his production is there. What what do you think it is about Mitchell that he's not maybe the top of the conversation in the hobby regularly?

Yeah. And so I think the the thing with with Mitchell, like, to your point, I actually wrote down some notes going into this.

It's for this card specifically, like, to give you an idea of of the discrepancy that you're talking about for for those who are listening who may not know Mitchell's market compared to Tatum, compared to Luca.

So this exact same card, but in a PSA authentic with a 10 autograph of Jayson Tatum.

Right? So the star swatch at a 15 rookie, because they're the same rookie class, just did, if I can find it in my notes, it did $14,400 compared to this card, which is a PSA ten that did $4.

Wow. So yeah. Right. And so the apples to apples comparison is Tatum's probably four to five x Mitchell, which to me, Tatum is awesome.

I'm not about to as much as I don't like him or the Celtics, I'm not about to disparage him because he's a great player, and now he's a champion.

But there's not a five x difference in in their play. Right? Donovan Mitchell's probably, like, the ninth, tenth best player in the NBA. Tatum's probably five or six. Right? And so there's not, like, this huge gap.

While there's certainly a gap, it's not all that big. And so I think that the fact that he hasn't won, the fact that he's played in Utah and Cleveland as opposed to Boston or LA, is certainly a big factor.

And then I think the other thing is that he's a guard. And and while a guy like Steph Curry or Anthony Edwards sells for a lot of money, which, again, I I have my own opinions on Anthony Edwards.

But, you know, Mitchell being a guard, I think he sells for a little less than, like, some of those wing players, like a Tatum, like a Luka, who, I mean, I guess is a guard, but, or LeBron or KD, etcetera.

Right? So, I think it's a little bit of that.

And and if if, you know, by the grace of God, if the Cavs win one this year or in the near future, I think you'll see that Mitchell's market does tick up quite a bit, although it probably won't be as high as some of those guys that you mentioned before.

But that's fine with me.

Right? I'll I'll I'll prefer them to be cheaper, and then I can keep buying them. So so maybe before we move off this one talking about the fan basis, I think about Cleveland Cavaliers cards, and I think about you.

I think about Boston Celtics cards, and I there's I can't think of one person because there are so many.

How big of a role do you think and, obviously, Tatum has the championship, and it's just easy to compare Tatum and and and Mitchell.

But how big of a role do you think those, like, team collector bases play in a specific star player like Mitchell or Tatum's market?

Yeah. I I think it's a great point. Right? And and one of the things that you said, which I live in Boston.

Right? Like I said, I I was born and raised in Massachusetts. I could not name Celtics collectors, and I've always said this. Celtics have, like, them, the Lakers, the two biggest teams, biggest fan bases, biggest franchises.

It's not even a question. But as far as collecting, I can't and I know there are people who collect them. I can't point to any one specific person and say, oh, they're the Jayson Tatum guy.

Oh, they're the Jaylen Brown guy. I can for their role players, which is very interesting. Like, I know local people who collected, like Jay Crowder, Peyton Pritchard, or, like, random, like, guys like that.

But I I think the market has to influence the the values of the cards, which which is, you know, unfortunate, but it's it is the way that it is.

But I I don't know if that answered the question. No. Yeah. Yeah. No. I just wanted to get some perspective, especially since you're in the Boston market.

Here's a fun one, and I chose this one because of the logo, man, of it all. And I know, like, this is maybe an earlier version, but this is the o nine, hitting home a little bit for me. Tyler Hansborough, absolute one of one.

Logoman BGS 95, this sold for $750 on eBay, been smashed on April 8. I saw this and I know like, you know, it's I'm not telling people go invest in Tyler Hansborough, but I saw the logo, man. I was like, you know what?

Like, everyone knows who he is, and there are so many logo men collectors that, like, this just seemed like a relatively, decent deal. Maybe talk about, like, when you saw this, like, what's your reaction to this?

And I wanna learn about the logo in market because it's a space I don't play in at all, but I know is very high end and very competitive. Yeah. So so that's my guy, Psych OT.

You know? Obviously, he was a great college player at UNC. He won a championship. I think he won at least one NCAA player of the year award, maybe two. But, you know, the probably the one of the best players in UNC history.

And so I'm not at all shocked that this card, despite, you know, being non game worn. Right? Because, obviously, for for any rookie, unless you're talking about current flawless, you're not gonna get a game used logo, man.

So I'm not surprised that it did $750, which is it's a lot of money, but he's got such a big, like, fan base because of his college days, and and so he's kinda culty like that.

And and you'll find that, like, some players, who don't have a lot of cards, which Tyler doesn't, they have, like, cult followings.

And so you'll you'll see their value on a card like this boosted, because you can't get a better card than that.

And so, you know, that's that was my first thought here. And then I guess was was there a part to the question that was, like, a little bit more Yeah. Just I was curious about your the the competition in logom and market.

It's maybe more on the more ultramodern stuff, stuff that you're buying of current Cavs where it's like, you're you're probably not the only one going after Cavs cards because there's logom and collectors.

And so you get this intersection of big money coming in and trying to grab cards that you're going after because you're a fan of the team, and I'm just curious on that dynamic.

Yeah. And so I'll I'll say as it relates specifically to my Cavs guys, then I can talk about some other stuff.

There's not a lot of comps out there for their logo, man. Like, I don't know if there's a maybe maybe his rookie flawless, but I don't think there are any comps on an Evan low Evan Mobley logo, man, and I have two of them.

And with Garland, I don't think there are any comps on any logo men for him, and and I have four of them.

And so, like, I've been very lucky to basically, because those guys aren't, like, a top tier super superstar is I can kinda quote someone on a price that seems reasonable based on where those players rank in the NBA and and players that are maybe a little bit better or a little bit worse than them.

And I'm more than happy to to pay, you know, relative to the other players around them.

And and so I've been fortunate in that way. And then I think something you'll find with a lot of logo men is is, like I said, there aren't a lot of comps just because there's not hundreds of them out there.

There's, you know, some players who've been playing since, like, the early two thousands, you might have, like, 20 or 30, but they don't sell very often because they're they're, like, the cards that people wanna collect in a lot of cases.

And so they're hard to find. And and the one thing I will say, you know, obviously, I PC the Cavs ones, but I buy other ones that I do sell.

And for those ones, I I you never have trouble moving a logo, man, as long as you're, like, relatively reasonable. Like like like, if I were to buy that Tyler Hansgrohe for $5,000, I'm not gonna be able to sell it.

But but but this person who bought it at $750, if if they do one day wanna sell it, it's probably a reasonable price because there's you you can't go get another one. And that's the case with a lot of these cards.

And it's the same thing with, like, prism blacks and prism nebulas. Like, go find another one. You can't. It's it's really tough. We move over logo men to talk about something we have some common ground on.

And I had to call this out, and I can't tell you how excited I am because Riley Leonard goes from my favorite college team to my favorite pro team, and it was, like, one of the most exciting updates that I had all weekend during the draft, which this is the an insert, the twenty twenty four Bowman Chrome U, Riley Leonard, path to glory, super fracture, one of one, Sold for $350.

We can talk about the card, but, maybe I just I I have never got a chance to talk about Riley Leonard on an episode of Stacking Slabs, and I was like, this is a pretty good opportunity to do it.

So we can talk we can probably do this forever. We'll probably alienate the audience, but, I'm super jacked up that fact that he's on the the Colt squad now.

But maybe talk about Leonard, and it was just one year, but, man, what a year. Yeah. I, I mean, to your point, I could genuinely talk about that that Riley Leonard and but then also that specific Notre Dame team forever.

You know, I was super excited when he decided to to basically come to Notre Dame, you know, a year and a half ago, from Duke.

And, you know, after week one at a and m, of course, I'm, like, super, super jacked up. Right? Like, he he didn't throw for a million yards or rush for a million yards, but he he made plays at the end of the game.

Right? That throw to Bo Collins. He he rushed for a few, first downs and and things like that. And it was a great great first performance.

But then after week two, you know, Northern Illinois happened, which ended up being the best thing that happened to that team. But, I I'm not gonna lie. I was, like, borderline, let's start Steve Angeli after that game.

I was I was so angry, but, you know, Riley quickly flipped the script, you know, to he he was the first player since Lamar Jackson to have a hundred rushing and a hundred passing yards in the first half of a game against, Purdue.

And and so from there on, he kinda just kept the ball rolling.

It was pretty awesome, like, the whole year after that, and they would not have made the national championship game without him. He's just he quickly Brady Quinn is my favorite Notre Dame player of all time.

Riley Leonard quickly put himself in that discussion for for me only after one season, which, you you know, I I wish we had him back this year, but, CJ Carr time, baby.

That's right. I was, I was at that Purdue game in West Lafayette, and it was two things. It was the hottest football game I've ever been to, and it was also the biggest bloodbath I've ever seen in my life.

But that was it was a tough one to go to, all the heels of the Northern Illinois, but it was, it was interesting after going to that, just the trajectory they were on.

Before we move on to the last card, I'd do I know there's some limitations with Leonard, but, you know, he's got these, this this leadership and this coachability to him that, like, optimistically, as I've seen him do what he did in the college game, and now that he's on my team, I'm just like, just let this guy cook.

Let him be the guy. And so I'm optimistic. I know, you know, it's hard for, you know, outside, you know, Brock Purdy.

It's hard to see these late round guys translate into starters. But what do you think about the future for Leonard? Like, do you what what do you think is possible with a player like him in the NFL?

So so maybe I'm looking through my rose colored goggles a little bit here, but I genuinely think that that Indianapolis spot was was an awesome spot for him.

Obviously, like, he's planted roots in Indiana over the last year, which is great. And so that won't be a huge change, but I think opportunity wise and, again, Brett, I'm not coming in here to bash the Colts.

I promise. I'm a Patriots fan. We're terrible right now. So, You got a quarterback, though. We do. We have a quarterback.

But but but I guess, right, the point is I I'm not I'm not sure. I believe in Anthony Richardson, and so I think that there is more than a reasonable chance that Riley Leonard gets a shot at some point if he continues to work hard.

And I think with him, if he does end up failing, it won't be because he didn't work hard enough or wasn't a good enough teammate or a good enough leader.

It'll be because, you know, we'll look three, four years from now, and it just turns out the skill level wasn't high enough, which I'm not sure I believe.

But if if if he doesn't work out, I think that'll be why. But I look at him, I see a big strong kid, a tough kid, a hard worker, incredible athlete.

I mean, the guy is just for someone who's six foot four and whatever he is, two hundred twenty five pounds, two hundred thirty pounds, he's like, he moves like a gazelle. Like, he's very quick, very strong.

And he has a strong-arm, but, you know, our receivers weren't all that good last year. And so he didn't really get a chance until the the second half of the national championship game to really let it fly.

And, you know, I think working with NFL coaches, having NFL receivers that are actually good on the Colts, having a awesome tight end now, right, with your first round pick, it sets him up to to at least have a shot.

And I think that's more than most sixth round picks can say.

It's all obviously be super focused and see, you know, when he gets to play it. I really hope he gets a shot, because I think if you let that guy get a shot, you you no one else might start for that team after that.

So you're you're it's like you're inside of my head. Everything that I've been thinking about, you just said. And so, we appreciate you Riley Leonard.

I'm excited to see him on my new team. You said it CJ car era. Let's go. I'm I'm really optimistic. Last card here. We can't talk about we can't have like a Cleveland Cavalier sports card podcast and not talk about LeBron.

So this card I had to call out the O708, Fleer Ultra SE LeBron, platinum medallion out of 25 BGS nine five is a pop one sold for $3,100, April 23 on eBay via Binsmash.

LeBron, this, let's try to maybe be as concise as possible, but you can't talk about the Cavs without talking about LeBron James.

So I would love to know when you see LeBron cards, when LeBron comes up in a conversation, you see highlights, where where does LeBron sit for you as a Cleveland Cavaliers fan in 2025? I mean, that's my guy.

Right? Like, no. He could do no wrong. As long as he stays great off the field, he could do no wrong in my eyes. Just very thankful that he played for my favorite team for so long and and that they won a championship.

You know, I I can't say enough good things about him as a player. I mean, it's he's just incredible. I mean, you look at him now at 40 years old, and he's still having insane impact on the game.

Right? At which I don't know if we'll ever see another 40 year old as as good as he is right now. You know, for me, he's he's my goat, which, you know, I know other people disagree, and that's fine.

But, you know, I I can't imagine I'll ever see a better player than him. So it means everything. Yeah. Had to get in some LeBron chatter.

And then so in the final spot here, I'm gonna pick a card. I picked a card from eBay. I'm sure you've already seen this based on the profile of what you collect, but I'm gonna pull up the card, and I just wanna get your reaction.

I'll say this in advance. I don't follow the logo in market. Obviously, this one's marked up pretty high, but we've got this Evelyn Evelyn Mobley immaculate rookie logo man, Otto.

This thing is listed at $2. 50 k on eBay right now, which is which is not, atypical. We see this all the time, especially when players win awards. But have you seen this card? I'm and what is your reaction to it? I mean, the yeah.

I I have seen it. I I think it's I don't know if it's the same owner, but that was that's been on eBay, I think, for for quite a while. I mean, the card itself is is awesome right before we talk about the price, which is just asinine.

But, the card is incredible. You know, outside of his flawless Logoman and Logoman autograph, that that might and and his Prism Black, that that might be his best card. Is that immaculate there? I mean, just incredible, on card.

Unfortunately, not game used, but still a great card. I mean, as a card, like, that's as good as it gets. I mean, if if I, you know, if I could ever come to a deal with that guy, I would certainly buy it.

But it's just 250 k. It's not no. That's not it. So what how do what is it we go through this all the time as collectors where there's a card sitting on eBay.

We say rotting sometimes or it's like a museum piece where someone's just putting it up with such a high price. Are are you able to compartmentalize it and just be like, okay.

This card is likely going to stay like this, and I just need to move on. Maybe talk about how you process cards that are listed really high that are perfect fits for the collection that you're building.

It's it's always tough to see. Right? And, because because, like, to your point, I would love to to be able to have that. You you kinda just look at it and, you monitor it and you see if they ever drop a price.

You know, one thing that I always do and and you don't always have success with it is, you know, if I see something I like and, you know, if I make an offer on it and and, you know, a number that I think is fair and it gets auto declined, I'll send them a message and and kinda say, hey.

Like, you know, I know I know you're not supposed to do this, but, you know, I'll say, you know, feel free to reach out on IG, and then I'll yeah.

I have to do I space space space space space g, and then I'll give them my name. You know, if if you ever wanna try and work out a deal, you know, always feel free feel free to reach out.

You know, I always extend the olive branch, but most of the time, it it doesn't work out. It's just it's unfortunate. That is that is quite the card. So this has been a ton of fun.

Appreciate you sharing the story of your Mobily card. Before I let you completely get out of here, I need to know your prediction. What what's going to happen this season with the Cleveland Cavaliers? What's going on?

Yeah. And and so I think we really, legitimately have a chance to win the championship this year. You know, I think Indiana will be a really good test in round two, you know, assuming they win, which which they show, but no Lillard.

Like I like I was telling you before the podcast, I think Indiana can beat us on any given day. And so that'll be a real series.

It won't be like the Miami Series. Like, Indiana can can win games. And so I think if they come out of that one, I I think they have a real chance against Boston who I think is going to absolutely just murder the Knicks.

I think the Knicks are terrible. And so I think whoever wins the Eastern Conference will win the championship this year. I I think OKC is a great team, and in the future, they've got plenty of pieces to go out and add.

I I don't think this will be the best OKC team that we see. I just think either Boston or or Cleveland is is likely to win the championship if they come out of the East.

So, I think we have a real shot. Tell you that. Go follow him on Instagram at joey d's cards. Joe, this was a ton of fun. Appreciate it, man. I appreciate you, Brett. Thank you.