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Welcome back to Stacking Slabs. This is your hobby content alternative. I'm your host, Brett McGrath. I collect sports cards, and I've got a podcast about collecting sports cards. Today's topic is a topic that has been on my mind.

It is something that I even did an episode for the Patreon group around this topic because it was burning my brain, and then I got a response to a question on Instagram that maps back to this topic, and I knew instantly that this topic strikes a chord amongst collectors and not only strikes a chord.

Many collectors have an actual piece within their collection to help identify and represent this topic. So I figured, you know what?

Let's do this. Let's do it bigger. Let's continue this train. Extra motivation for you if you're enjoying what you hear on the main feed, go check out the Patreon group. Having a lot of fun putting out new and exclusive content.

Link is in the show notes. Would love to have you. But the topic today, we're gonna talk about the most tenured cards in our collection. And I'm gonna have some of you out there help drive this episode.

There is no better feeling for me as a creator and the host of this show to do an episode that I know has some energy and passion behind that, and I'm afforded to know that before I get into this episode based on just some of your responses.

So I'm excited about that.

I'm I'm I'm really pumped up about what's happening right now with Stacking Slabs. There are a lot of really fun and exciting conversations about the brand and this platform that are happening outside of these episodes.

Can't wait to just continue to create, try new things, build, promote things that I believe in, but most importantly, create really good content for you, the collector.

Really good content for me is always something that helps answer questions, And I hope through the the myriad of shows that we're releasing here on Stacking Slabs, your hobby content alternative, I hope that that happens to you regularly and I do appreciate you being here.

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Hit the subscribe button. Leave the review. Do everything you can. Share the post. Shout the shout this platform out. I appreciate it. All of you. So we are go, go, go, go. Move, move, move, move. Fast, fast, fast. Shows everywhere.

Buy, sell, trade. Buy, sell, trade. Buy, sell, trade. Just constantly moving our cards around. Building our collection. Selling our collection to pick up that one card that we have to sell our collection in order to get.

There's many different ways to cut it, many different ways to shake it, and I have been on record on this platform talking about how I am an advocate for evolution and change in my own personal collecting.

Tastes change, flavors change, interests change, products change, the market changes.

All of those things change and I just can't stay stagnant. I can't. I can't. I gotta continue to play the game and playing the game to me is focusing in and building a collection that truly resonates with me, the collector.

Not for anybody else. I don't care what you think about my stuff. It's for me. I'll share it and, of course, it's an added benefit to meet other collectors who like what I like. That's fun.

It's fun to engage. It's fun to find the community, to have conversations. All that stuff is additive. But, at the end of the day, building out a collection is for me and should be for you. We're spending a ton of money, man.

It's impossible to even justify at times. Try having a conversation with someone about what you're spending on sports cards. It's crazy, man. People don't get it. That's why we're so close and so tight to our sports card homies.

Our sports card homies are real friends, man. It's how it goes. That's why when we get together, I know Burbank's going, had went on, this past weekend, regional shows, Dallas shows, your local show, the national.

That's why, like, those in person experiences when we get to hang out with our sports card homies is is so fun.

It's we get to connect with someone who shares in the same damn passion as us and is so excited and is willing to spend the money that we're all spending on sports cards.

With all of that, part of the process is movement. In and out, in and out. Consolidate, buy, sell, trade, all that.

Our collections look a lot different will look a lot different this time next year than it does now. I don't know if that holds true for you, but for me, each and every year, I'm mesmerized by the transformation.

And the transformation is what excites me, the newness, the building, the change. But within all of the activity, within all of the moves, within all of the deal making, there is always cards that stand tall.

Instead of looking up at the lights, they're standing tall in the case because they're survivors. Judgment day has happened. Another judgment day has gone and passed, and that card in your collection remains.

Why that card? What is it about it? Why does it have such a strong connection to you as a collector? Is it the story? Is it the memory? Is it the aesthetic? Is it the card itself?

I don't know, but I'm curious in exploring those reasons why. And that's why I pulled the damn audience, asked the question, what's your longest tenured card in your collection? And we're gonna get to some of those responses.

I'm fired up to do that. But we're always chasing the next big pickup, tracking the auctions, making deals, moving cards in and out of our collection. But what are those cards that never leave?

When I asked the audience what's the longest tenured card in your collection and why does it remain, I wasn't sure what I was gonna get. I wasn't unsure are people going to get this, understand this, but there was a lot of messages.

And I'm gonna try to pull together some of those messages. I think the contrast between the constant movement in the hobby versus the select few cards that truly stick is fascinating.

I think when we talk about what makes something collectible, one of the first things I think we should talk about is its availability.

And to me, those are the truly special cards, the cards that are deep and bare are buried deep inside of collections and when that collector with that card is going through the buy, sell, trade, the moving, all the things, they don't even think twice about putting that one card up for auction.

And understanding the elements from the market, but most importantly, under understanding the elements from the collector is fascinating.

We don't always know which cards will be lifers for us when we first acquire them, but over time, some cards just refuse to leave our collection.

And that's what we're talking about today, everybody. So what makes a card untouchable? What are the reasons? What are the elements? There's a lot. I'm gonna break them down here into the key reasons cards stay.

I'm gonna hit those and then go broader on each of those topics. We've got emotional connection, a first big card, special moment in collecting, something full of nostalgia. We've got loyalty to a specific player. You a goat collector.

You collecting your hometown hero, favorite player, personal heroes, aesthetic appeal, iconic designs, specific parallels, cards that just look too good to let go of, scarcity and rarity, the I'll never find this again factor, a card that defines your collection, the centerpiece of what you collect, and a card that represents your identity as a collector.

There's more. Those are the ones that come top of mind for me.

So when you think about your own collection, you think about your untouchable or untouchables, does in do any of those key reasons map to the reason why that card remains in your collection?

Alright. Let's dig into emotional connection. The stories behind your cards. Some cards aren't just what they look like on the surface.

They're not just the cardboard. They are cards that have or hold memories. They represent moments in time that tie us back to our collecting or personal experiences like no other card can. This can be things like your first big card.

Maybe what is the first card you spent over a thousand dollars on? Thinking about the reasons why. Everyone remembers that jump, that first big grail, the card that felt like a huge step forward in collecting.

I often talk about my 2,002, while I don't think it's the first, it's the most memorable and the one that's untouchable in my collection is my 2,002 Finest X Factor, Peyton Manning.

I remember I got out of a bunch of wrestling memorabilia and figures that was in a room pre kids. It blows my mind, but I had a dedicated room in my old house that was a wrestling room upstairs.

It was just literally all my stuff. All the memorabilia, cases, everything else. And when we found out after a long time of struggling that we were pregnant with our first, like, my wife couldn't wait to say, okay, pal.

The clock is ticking. This room is going to be a baby a nursery baby's room, so we gotta get rid of this stuff or put it in storage.

And for me, it was a time where I was so, I was getting back into cards at a level that I never could have guessed that I would be now, but I was willing to take all of that stuff or most of that stuff and realize that I could sell this stuff in order to put it into sports cards.

And one of the first purchases I made when I offloaded a bunch of that stuff was that Manning.

And I think about that card now and how desirable it is and, but most importantly, how much I truly love it. And that is a card that maybe never say never, but would be a really hard one to pry away from me.

Personal milestones. A card that tied to a big life event. You know, your first job you celebrated and got a card. Graduated, got a card. Married, got a card. A card. And this happens to me, like, with two kids.

I can remember cards that I bought around the time that my children were born, and I can remember being in the hospital when you got all that time and looking at cards that I wanted to buy and buying some of those cards.

And and to me, like, that connection with that moment is special.

We did last week and did a whole episode on nostalgia. So cards tied to childhood, the era that we grew up in, or specific moments in sports history. This is just on the emotional connection front. Now we move over to player loyalty.

So some cards stay because they represent a player we never stop caring about. You collect goats and you don't you believe in the cards you're buying, whether they're Jordan, LeBron, Brady, Gretzky, Manning.

I'm gonna say it. Some players define this greatness. And if you believe in a player long term, you might be less likely to sell their key cards.

You've got your personal favorite versus the market favorites. So, goat card for you, for me, it's Andrew Luck, is my guide, but it might not be for the rest of the market.

But I can't possibly sell what the market commands on that card because my love for the player in the card is that much more. There's the aesthetic appeal.

So when a card looks too good to just let go, and some cards stick because they're beautiful. And to me, it's when you have an emotional connection and the aesthetics pair with that, that's when it's like game over.

And that's, like, with my Manning o two Bias x Fracture, that's what I think about. I think about iconic designs that just resonate with you, sets that just hit differently, whether it's from the nineties or whether it's modern gold.

Think about the color match and eye appeal. Like, sometimes, you're just not gonna get rid of a card because everything in that card just pops. It's layered together so perfectly.

Or a parallel that just sticks with you. So I gotta be honest with you. Probably the my handicap in terms of moving cards right now is a Zion case that I have that is 100% completely and solely dedicated to my Colt's Prism collection.

The case is all Colt's Prism golds, gold vinyl, and black finite. That's the entire XL case.

It's it's a monster, but it's it's I can't get rid of this stuff because I'm not done collecting it. It's a never ending chase, and that is it's not just one card, but it's the entire case I just can't get rid of.

Whenever there's judgment day, I don't even open up the case because it's like, if I just got rid of this one, it would screw everything up.

That's something I'm battling with right now, and I'm trying to figure out how I go about it. But for now, I'm loving it, man.

You've got scarcity and rarity, the I'll never find it again factor. So low numbered card just rattled off some. Out of 10, out of five, out of one. Obscure parallels. Stuff you just don't think you'll ever see again.

Cards that have historical significance because they represent major moments in the hobby. Those cards that we just know, if I sell it, I'll regret it. We've all had that happen, and it's part of the process.

It's part of learning. We get out of cards that, in that moment, whether we needed to pick up another card, we needed to pay for a a car, something. But then we look back on it now wishing we never did that.

It's part of it. Scarcity and rarity is important and it's a reason why we keep our cards. Defining a collection, the cards that represent who you are as a collector. Some cards stay because they help define our collection.

They're centerpiece cards. They're cards that we can't possibly think without think about our collection without them. It could be a theme of our collection, like I just talked about my Colt's Prism stuff.

It could be a personal niche that you love. Cards that mean more than the market values, again, I think is really, really important. I think it's really important to think about this and think about your own collection.

Think about the cards that are your most tenured, and thinking about those reasons why. I got some really good responses from the community, and I'm gonna sit here, and I'm gonna try and apologies.

This is the hardest part about doing content. I do a lot of screenshots. I'll screenshot a bunch of stuff that people send to me, and then pictures happen and all this stuff happens.

But I wanna read some of the responses I got. Then I asked, what's the longest tenured card in your collection and why does it remain?

We'll just hit some of these. AJM cards 94 Adam. Trace Jackson Davis. Prism draft picks gold PSA ten. Bought raw. Graded a 10. Favorite player from one of my favorite teams.

Really low cost card that I can't see moving any time soon. Got my man, Jackson. Twenty thirteen, fourteen, Prism Black finite, Derek Grant. Grew up playing street hockey as a little kid with him.

That card ties to those memories and my joy of collecting together to a point where I have never once considered moving it. It's that personal connection. Dobbs card guy, Brady Bowman rookie, and a BGS nine.

My dad actually bought me it for me getting good grade for getting good grades in elementary school. At the time, it was a $50 card, but was number one on my want list and felt super unattainable.

So that was a sweet moment with my dad in a card that I will definitely never move. L j k cards. I have never and will never sell a gift. Those are easily my most cherished cards to continue because I ran out he sent another message.

These are cherished because people I've met through the space took the time, whether at a show or at home, scrolling pages to find a card or item they thought suited me perfectly.

I'll always appreciate those cards and people. Each one has a special story. I can't I that's the incredible part about collecting.

Like, when people send you cards yeah. And I'll I'll be honest. It's it's really hard to to say goodbye to those cards, especially when it came from someone who was thinking about you enough to buy and send you something.

Nice looking cardboard. First single purchase, First IG post. Not going anywhere. The Admiral Hoops RC. So how about a card with significance to the hobby? Keith Barr's cards.

Optic Wimby Alter Ego that I ended up grading and getting a PSA 10. Gonna run out of room trying to explain. JB The Hobby, Tim Linscomb, out of 25, Bowman Chrome rookie because he was my favorite player to watch as a kid.

Crimson collects 89 upper deck BGS nine Griffey, first ever graded card purchased on eBay in 2011. Drake at Drake's PC 1972. Tops Willie Mays. It was a sixth birthday gift from my aunt and it got me started collecting.

How about that? Didn't know Willie Mays started the Drake's PC journey. That's awesome. Wrestling card wizard, my man. 91 Undertaker rookie. I pulled it as a kid and still have it in my childhood binder.

Simply cards twenty fourteen. O one Topps Ichiro rookie because I didn't collect from o three to 2023. BB Baseball cards, a Jerry Rice Topps rookie that my dad began my collection with my very first Christmas.

Chargers sports or Chargers PC sports cards. I have a binder of cards from when I was 10 years old. Takes me down memory lane. Big Rob cards. 90 8 Maguire upper deck SP authentic.

First card I ever bought with my own money. I love it. Caleb M. Twenty thirty four. Nineteen seventy one. Topps Stu Johnson PSA eight. It's not a big card. I bought it for $20 in 2018. Aaron Irish sports card '21.

Ninety '7 UD star rookie Chris Carpenter. I grew up in New Hampshire, and he was a New Hampshire legend. Tough to find stuff. 71 Bart Starr because it's the first single my dad ever bought for me, my first card show ever.

Indie cards '23, a Victor Oladipo, NT auto, my dad got it for me. Out of step trading, every card from my early nineties childhood collection, nostalgia, simpler time.

Love all the responses. Love all the thoughts. And apologies if I missed some of your stuff. I'm a little unorganized. But I think tenure changes over time. The more years a card stays in our collection, the harder it is to let it go.

How is your perspective on keepers or cards that never leave your collection changed in your collecting journey? Does tenure mean different things depending on different collecting goals?

These are the questions that I'm trying to dig into and explore and I think this is fun. Just wanna say, like, leaving my primary takeaways, how I leave this episode is just the hobby moves fast. We all move fast.

We're ambitious. But it's fun to slow down and evaluate and spend time with your collection, understand what has stayed in your collection and why. Maybe it's just taking a step back and evaluating what's your most tenured card.

I think this is a fun topic. This is one that I'll likely explore even further. But what is the most tenured card in your collection? Again, this is an open forum. If you got one, post it and tag me while you're at it at stacking slab.

Really appreciate all the support. Really appreciate you believing in the brand we're building here for you, the collector. We'll be back. We always are. Talk to you soon.