Hello, and welcome to the Football Card Podcast. This is the fastest growing podcast in the world that's based on football cards and, most importantly, football cards.

I'm your host, John, aka Pac Nicholson. And with me as always is Brett, mister stacking slabs himself. Brett, how are you doing? When this goes live, the Indianapolis Colts will have played a preseason football game.

And I keep every time I, like, go to the bathroom or grab an apple or get some water, my wife's at home. I'm just like, hey. I can't believe I get to watch Colts football this week.

So coming off the national into football, although preseason, Life is good right now. I'm I'm feeling like I'm finally getting back to normal. God, I love football. I cannot wait to watch it.

And I also love football cards. There I felt a a fall breeze the other day. It feels like we broke out of that that 90 degree stretch when we got coming back from the national, and football's a month away. It feels good.

Like, true regular season football is a month away, but we got we had football last week. There's a little preseason action, baby. We're in it. We we are. I didn't see a lick of that because I was consumed by national responsibility.

But I'll I'll just say this, like and I think a lot of listeners out there, this will resonate. To me, there's, like, something that hits a little different when and it really starts with, like, high school football on Friday nights.

Like, Friday night lights when that starts going on. And I like, I have a lot of coaching in my family.

My father-in-law was my, high school football coach, which is a whole story for another day. But, you know, it's a part of the fabric of, like, my fall is just, like, Friday night lights.

And then I'm a big Notre Dame fan, so then you get Saturday, Notre Dame football. And then Sunday, obviously, NFL and Colts. And just, like, to know that that stretch and that and it doesn't stop. It just keeps going.

Like, the the weeks and the games, and it just keeps going. And to know that that's, like, literally right around the corner. I I don't need to do anything, man. I don't need any vacations. I don't need any, anything fancy.

I don't need to, like, go on do any excursions or anything. I'm completely fine with just being at home, watching all the football because that's enough entertainment for me. I cannot wait. The the the coverage is getting better.

The content is getting better. Like like, it feels like stuff is it matters a little more. Like, it's not just the the off season fluff that we were first talking about during episode one where there was nothing to talk about.

Now their pads are on. Contact is live. Are you are you, concerned about this, ESPN acquisition of the NFL network? It's weird. I think I think for them to say, like, for, the NFL to say it won't influence either way is not true.

Like, the NFL owning 10% of ESPN means something. Like, ESPN's not putting out a CTE doc if the NFL if Roger has a has a say in it. So I don't know. It definitely, I think, will affect things a little bit.

But, I mean, to the broader audience, I don't think, you know, anyone will really notice that much of a change. But what do you think? You know, I know there's a lot of listeners out there that are big red zone fans, as am I.

I I'm a red zone guy. I although, like, being a season ticket holder, it's interesting because it's, like, typically, I'll go to the Colts game at 01:00, and I'll come back.

And I won a red zone, but, you know, it's kinda I'm back to being dad. And, like, last year, I was, like, thinking about, like, my red zone activity.

And I was, like, you know what? There's, like, very few weeks where I could just, like, sit down and do red zone the entire way through based on, like, other obligations and when the Colts played.

Because I like, and if you do this out there, I I don't know how you do it.

But when the Colts are playing away specifically, like, I'm not even thinking about red zone. I'm not even, like, switching back during commercials. I could care less.

Like but I do really appreciate when there's when I don't have the Colts on. I do appreciate just, like, the going back and forth in the coverage. And so I think that gets tainted a little bit if there are commercial breaks.

Like, the spirit and the, excitement around red zone is the fact that you just can sit there and watch it all day. So that would be my biggest piece of concern is that if it's interrupted. You can interrupt red zone.

It's like, what it's all about. Yeah. I I'm not a big red zone guy. Like, to your point, if the bears are on, that game is on the TV, and that game stays on the TV. We're not switching around. And then beyond that I don't know.

I guess it's changed a little bit over the last couple years with, like, YouTube TV. You can do, like, the four games at once or, you know, it can kinda be monitoring multiple things. But I like watching one game.

You feel the flow of it. You, you know, you hear all the little nuggets that the announcers have prepped all week with their miscellaneous facts and stats. Like, that's part of the part of this whole thing that I like.

So I've never been, like, a die hard, like, red zone start to finish. Yeah. I'm with you. But, regardless, like, I'll I'll watch anything right now. Just if if they if they have there's a helmet on, like, just sign me up.

Put put it in front of me. Yeah. And I'm not gonna not watch any sort of football that you're putting out there. That's right. Let's get into the show. And also wanted to mention, we're officially over the hill.

This is episode seven of our our twelve episode season. We we this was meant to be where your Sherpas guiding you through this off season to the start of football season, so our job is almost done with the Football Card podcast.

For for it to end at the start of the NFL season is maybe counterintuitive, but that's that's what's happening.

Yeah. It's what's happening. You know, we're the Football Card Podcast is currently, thinking of ways where we can continue this. Obviously, we wanna be doing this during the season.

So that's just a little maybe nudged any potential, sponsors or brands on the other, other end that want, to get promoted and back the number one fastest growing podcast about football, football cards in the universe.

So you just you know, DMs are always open. We wanna talk to you. Yeah. Imagine being the official title sponsor of the Football Card Podcast. How good that sounds. And the growth has never been faster. It is the fastest growing.

Like, it's blinding speed, the rate of growth. So When you think of number seven football, who what is the first jersey that comes to your mind? Oh, well, I've been I mean, I like Bijan Robinson, so that's just a modern one.

But the fact that he's wearing Michael Vick's seven is something that's been overlapping in my mind of the Falcon seven is just a iconic number because of Vic.

Bijan has has a way to go, but, yeah, Vic seven, I can't think of a single bear that's Warren seven. And what any come to your mind? It's Vicar Elway, one of the two.

Elway? Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Bam, that's that's a good segment. It's just naming your how many different players can we guess? Maybe we can get Spinitron to, sponsor it. Yeah. Seven on this team, 10 on this team, seven divided by 10.

Best parallels. Yeah. We can start going down a rabbit hole. Let's talk the national. I know there'll be a lot of content around this, but I think I'm curious to pick your brain about your perspective of it all.

I've got some thoughts to share. So to start, I just wanna, you know, see what your experience was this year, like, as a buyer, seller, trader, networker, content creator. There's many roles people can claim within this hobby.

So what was your experience like this year? What did you do the most of? And what what was your kinda takeaway? I did the most conversations. I'll say that. It was the year of the chat.

I couldn't tell you. I I wouldn't even begin to list in the amount of people that listen to this show and that I interact with that I got a chance to meet in person and talk about football cards with, and that was so exciting.

There was so much energy around it and seeing some cool cards in person, and I know we'll talk about some of those.

But, I mean, I've said this across a couple different shows, and I don't wanna be hyperbolic. But it was the best national I've ever been to for a lot of reasons.

I was wearing several different hats. I didn't get to spend as much time as the collector, which I think is good, in terms of, like, keeping stacking slabs running in a float.

But, you know, I just had so many different conversations. I put it out. I'll just hit them three real quick I put out on the flagship episode that I dropped this week. But I thought, number one, hobby businesses were are maturing.

I remember my first national. It was like, you know, the manufacturers and the grading companies, and then you just had, like, a bunch of companies that felt like, maybe, like, a pop up banner and a table.

And you're like, what do you do? Like, messaging was bad, and it was just, like, one person.

But this year, they're just having the businesses, like, sprawling out and having, like, a big I don't wanna say I don't like trade shows, so I don't wanna say trade show. It wasn't trade show vibe, but it was more like experience vibe.

And it was put put on by all of the, companies. And I just thought, like, that was cool. That's important. It's especially if we're thinking about this from a a industry perspective and, an industry maturing.

You need stable businesses and businesses that are maturing and innovating and using things like technology to create better experiences.

You need that. And it's really hard for all of us to, like, think about this. But I think, like, I'll just say this. Like, support hobby business, whatever businesses you you like or whatever people you like, support those businesses.

We need these businesses to be, pushing forward. That ultimately will mean stability for the price of the cards in your case. So I just say that. Like, I had so many chats with so many people fully vested in this hobby.

Like, it's so easy to poke fun at businesses that make mistakes. But, like, you gotta like, these people are fully vested in making this hobby better with awesome products and services.

So that was one. Two was the national's a closing event. Individuals are setting up deals in advance and meeting at the national to close on those deals.

I'm an example of that with the 2012, Gold Prism Reggie Wayne. I couldn't even begin to tell you how many other collectors were picking up absolute grails.

And this was not like, oh, I walked into the convention center and I found a booth, and I found a grail that was, like, 15 k that I've always wanted, and I paid that.

Like, it wasn't that. It was, like, being proactive ahead of the show and having those conversations. Sometimes the conversations were, like, months took months. And then at the show is when the deals went down.

So, like, that's just a recommendation for everyone. This year, I think, if you wanna make sure or next year, if you wanna leave the show with cards that you love, get the deals done in advance.

And then finally, it was just like the I the people are like the engine, and I know it's everyone talks about that. But the face to face conversations and relationships really matter.

And it's all a long game. Like, let's say, if I talk to 50 people, and out of those 50 people, 25 of them have cards that I eventually want. You know, the move isn't, okay. You've got a card.

I wanna buy it now. But it's, like, building that trust and having those conversations and building those connection points around, like, oh, we both collect football cards. Oh, these are the sets we like. Oh, your collection kicks ass.

And you know where those cards are, and just continue to nurture those relationships post show. And then the chance of you landing those cards, when that collector gets in a jam go up because they're they know you.

Like, meeting someone in person in real life changes the game. And so I tried to treat this national experience by just, like, maturing relationship or nurturing relationships and doing whatever I could could to to build trust.

But, like, I wish honestly, like, it sounds crazy, but I wish I could do it again this weekend. Like, I'm really fired up. And as I was on my way home driving on Sunday, I was just like, alright.

What can I do to make more of these types of moments happen? And I know, like, the national is an exceptional situation. But, like, it's got my wheels spinning on, like, what's possible down the road.

Yep. I agree with all those points. This was, yeah, the year of the yap. I feel like I talked to people. I I talked to people the entire time. Like, I walked in, right away, ran into some guys, ended up at the card ladder booth.

Shout out the card ladder booth. Josh, Chris, Christina, it was awesome. I ate so many granola bars that I think I one day, like, experienced Lot of fiber. Ate granola bars.

But, yeah, I mean, it was so cool to meet so many people. And I just was kinda boiling it down to this, like, talking to talking to people about cards in person is the best, and it's rare to do that any other time during the year.

Like, I can try and talk about cars to my wife, and she'll pretend to care. My my daughter's not old enough yet to care.

She will one day, but, it's just and, like, I have some friends who are, like, interested and maybe they'll humor me, but, you know, like, truly talking to another collector, especially someone who collects the same type of thing as you, is a rare moment and it's super fun.

So, definitely cherishing that. And I I love how the card letter booth was set up. It feels like, you know, the ultimate hangout is just the large kitchen island at someone's house.

You know? That's where everyone congregates around the island, and maybe there's the little open living room concept. That's what the card letter booth felt like.

You know, there was, like, the bar, table, island area, and then also the couches. So it was just basically like transporting a living room to a card show, which is kind of a great great concept and my favorite, thing that you could do.

So shout out them for making that happen. There was, like you know, I met so many different people there. Thank you to everyone who said anything nice about the Football Card podcast. It, again, was a reminder how fast we are growing.

And but there was this moment. I was, like, talking to Chris and there were a few other guys, and we had laid out a bunch of different football and basketball gold prisms from, like, 2012 to 2014, like, prism and select.

And we're kind of, like they're in chronological order, and we're, like, looking at the evolution of the design and, like, how many dots were in 2012 and the dot ratio in 2013 and the the gold.

And, like, that moment in itself was, like, worth the price of admission.

I was like, these are my people. Like, when when else do you get to talk to six people about the dot ratio on prism and select from twenty twelve to 2013. So those types of conversations made it worth it.

But I will also say for those listening who have maybe never been to a national or you're new to collecting or whatever stage you're in, I encourage you to go to the national at some point.

Try it out. I think back to four years ago, I went to Atlantic City, and I did not know anyone.

And I just wandered around by myself looking at showcases, finding cards, which is something I didn't get to do this year that I I wish I would had at least one day to just explore a little more and search for cards, because I have found good pickups just stumbling upon cases.

It is and I like making deals. I you know, the national gets you charged up to wanna make a deal, whether it's sell something and then you got some cash and then you see something new.

So that energy is also so much fun. So just saying to anyone out there if, I I don't want you to think like, oh, it's this whole big social event. I don't know anyone. The national is not for me. That's not it at all.

And if you don't know anyone, you're still everyone's still welcome. Like, you could just walk up to the card ladder booth not knowing a soul and find people who wanna talk about cards. So and everywhere across the show floor.

I it it felt like vibes are high, within this hobby. So I definitely, yeah, feel the same. I just wanna step in and comment on the talking to your people about cards and being in that unique scenario.

I tried to explain to my wife the significance of my Reggie Wayne pickup, and I, like, got all the I was, like, heading outside to, like, take a picture of all of them, and she was just like, what do you got?

And I was, like, well, let me show you.

And even in that moment when, like, I have everything in hand and I'm explaining the connection points and the debut year, everything, it's like it was more of a, like, I have no idea what you're talking about, but I'm glad you're happy looking.

It's maybe we can do a bit at some point about trying to talk cards with our significant others.

I think that might make for an interesting conversation. Oh, yeah. I've yeah. I have a few of those of just will you humor me for five minutes so I can I can try to see if I can get you as excited about this as me?

I know you won't I know you won't even get close, but, yeah, and then a couple other notes I wrote down. Repacks are here to stay. Yes. Big time. PSA was buying cards, at generous comps for their new repacks.

I feel like in general, that that word, like, and that concept's like, I don't love it, but then I get it. And when you really think about it, it's similar to ripping wax. Right? You're gambling, hoping to hit a big card.

So it is what it is, but, that just I feel like there's more and more of a presence of repacks at that national than I'd ever seen before. Another thing I was thinking about is collections versus inventory.

Like, I think a lot of the cards that we're searching for at this point are in collections, and collections aren't really on display at the national. It's a lot of inventory.

So and and, you know, people who buy and sell frequently, like, it's a great place because you're all sorts of inventory there for you to pick up a card and then maybe take it two booths down and sell it to someone else.

And there's tons of that going on, which which is totally fine.

I just like, I think that's to your point of making deals ahead of time, it's because, like, the cards that we're after that you're after are reside in collections, and they're not gonna just be out there on display, at the national.

But that does make me one day, I wanna get a national table just to, like, put out all my bears gold prisms or all my 2,002 finest set and just just for looking.

Not for not for sale, but just to because I would love to be able to walk around and see more collections on display of there was a '90 nine PMG set that I I think someone had sitting out.

It does happen. They are out there. But, yeah, just feel like it's a lot of inventory.

This is why I struggle with shows is because it's all inventory, and I don't want inventory. I want collections. And, again, like, this, it is an excellent and astute point you you brought you bring up here.

And this is why I'll say this, and you all know this, but I'll remind you this. In order to get the best cards, you need to offer more money than the market has seen for those cards because those cards aren't available.

They're in collections. This happened for my Reggie Wayne. This is, when I think of inventory, I think about the cards that I see on the Instagram stories over and over and over again, and then they end up on a marketplace.

It's like, those that that's those aren't cards anyone's, like, clamoring for. If someone wants to get them at a discount and make them a part of their inventory, then that's what happens.

But I just think that's such a great point of differentiation, and it's just like, if you want the cards, you have to do the work.

And then after you do the work, you have to pay up. And I'm this is all this is scales all the way up. I think about a lot of conversations I heard about, like, Gail Brady's people landed, and these cards weren't available.

But they were conversations that started, like, six months ago that led to trade cash deals that closed at the National. So I think that's an excellent point, and I just wanted to put an exclamation point next to it.

Yep. And but, I mean, I think back two years ago, I stumbled upon my twenty thirteen select gold LeBron just sitting out in a case at MC's booth, and that's still, like, the prize possession of my collection.

And, like, there is there are, you know, diamonds in the rough, and there are cards that you can find.

But it's just like you knew walking into that show, you're not gonna find a twenty twelve gold Reggie Wayne prism in a case, like, that's not laying out somewhere. So, but whatever way you wanna do it, it's just a fun time.

And piggybacking off that, I guess, what's your current assessment of the hobby as a whole? What what's your pulse on the hobby? Yeah. It's extremely diverse, extremely, exciting, extremely strong.

Like, you look at the performance of cards this year in card ladder, and you start to try to like, I did a mini episode today on Kobe for the Patreon group and a o six exquisite limited logos that sold for 41 k.

And then I just started digging into Kobe and his market and how, like, how much it's up over the last year.

And some of his cards and I know this is a football card podcast, but using just Kobe as an example. And I'm just, like, trying to connect, like, what I saw at the show, the energy with, like, a popular player like Kobe.

And there's, like, a lot of correlations there. And I just am I skeptical that something might happen that causes prices to go down?

Sure. I think you have to be. But that skepticism goes down big time when you are at an event like the national having high level conversations, meeting with companies, and just feeling the excitement and energy.

I believe, since I've been back in the cards, this current state of the industry, the hobby, the market, however you wanna call it, is the strongest, the most diverse it's ever been.

Does that mean it's going to be that way forever? No. I think it takes content like this. It takes continued facilitation of ideas and takes investment from companies to continue to build this momentum.

But I'm very, very bullish. And I'm I'm glad I'm very fortunate and feel very glad to be building a company in this space in 2025. And that's part of the reason why I'm so excited about the direction of the hobby leaving the national.

Yeah. And to your point about just businesses maturing, it feels like I've only been back in this for five years, so I have a limited scope and, you know, expertise on how I can talk about this.

But it feels like five years ago, there were so many businesses popping up, like, offering solutions to maybe problems that aren't really there or offering products that aren't necessarily needed.

And, you know, there's all this these things that are coming and going, and then there was a large dip in '21, '22, you know, '23.

And it feels like a lot of those disappeared. And even other companies have just, like that have maintained, have grown in them in themselves.

Like, I think about, like, another content brand like Sports Card Investor. Like, whatever your opinion is, like, I feel like he, Jeff, and the brand has matured in the sense of, like, it's not just cards going up, buy these now.

It's like, no. That brand is a brand that feels like it's taken some l's and, like, went through this roller coaster over the last five years and is, like, settled into, like, what they are within this hobby.

And, like, that's not for me, but they provide, you know, cool content for kids and all of that, which is necessary.

So it's I everyone did a lot of wayfinding over the last few years, and it it just felt different this year where there was, like, just more and it's probably a lot due to the market being up right now or feeling healthy, that that general sentiment is there.

But, because, like, yeah, two years ago, I was like, it felt it felt dodgier at the national a couple years ago.

The the, the repacks are a response to people getting crushed in breaks. And people look at breaks as something that is relatively new.

It is. But as the hobby evolves and the hobby turns, people are gonna find opportunities on the opportunities. And so I think with repacks, am I ever gonna buy under a repack? No. Absolutely not.

Not for me. It's not how I collect, but I see based on the demand for breaking and buying into breaks why people, wanna buy into repacks. And but even though repacks aren't for me, repacks are helping grow and elevate the hobby.

I think it just comes down to, like, the way that owners of the repacks are offering their products to customers. With repacks, obviously, transparency is key.

And so, yeah, I just think, like I don't know. Big takeaway for me is, like, just continue to, I'm trying to continue to not have a narrow point of view when it comes to the hobby in general and trying to be more open to new ideas.

And even if it's not for me, there's a just because it's not for me, it doesn't mean it's not for a lot of other people.

So that's kinda been my I'm trying to I'm trying to mature and and be more open and, make those sorts of observations.

And the national there's no better place to, like, do that than the national. Right. And, yeah, I'm trying to think that way too where when I think of repacks, it's like, why would you ever do that?

That's no way to, like, build a collection. And it's like the people who are buying repacks aren't trying to build a collection.

They're trying to gain inventory, and they're trying to get cards that they can sell to the like, maybe they're eventually building a collection or working on that on the side, but, like, there's just, like, a whole different There's the industry side of the hobby that, like, it does benefit collectors when that part of the hobby is healthy.

So it's time. Can't hate on it. You know? It's like, it it is what it is. But, as a whole, it's it's nice to see that it feels like, the ship is moving in the right direction. And you know what?

If the industry side is not for you, like, you don't have to get in it at all. Like, you can still just buy your cards and do whatever you want. So it it it was a good time, good vibes, and most importantly, good cards.

So I'm curious. Are there any specific cards that you saw IRL that you've got to hold, that you got to touch, that, stood stand out as highlights from your national?

So many. And, I'll just, like, they'll be just I'll just call out one specifically, but then I'll also just say, starting tomorrow, cards in hand sponsored by eBay is going to be released for the next seven weeks.

And in each of those seven episodes, I talk with the collector about a card specifically in their collection.

There's football cards in that mix. So, like, getting that, John, obviously, John helped support that and tag teaming on that was a lot of fun.

So excited to share that with you. But outside of that, I I would as I was thinking about this, I, like, didn't put this in the notes, but I went up Saturday to, like, stop by the captain, Kevin's table, and say, what's up?

And, just it was I mean, just didn't always fun even though it was hot and sweaty up there. Joaquin, just you were talking about doing some damage.

I mean, goodness gracious. I just think about, like, he has these, like he had all of his grails in these, like, massive, like, plastic like containers. They were just like they were like it felt like I don't even know.

It felt like you're picking up like some like Relic. I think about like he like was just tossing them back like a gold PSA 10 Mahomes is and just like 1718 PSA 10, Brady stained glass golds.

And but then he just like pulled out this 2014 Tom Brady flawless Ruby's out of Ruby out of 15, Game worn.

Dude, the the pat it was a ten ten. The patch was four color. I mean, I'm getting I'm, like, getting chills. Look. Think about it. It was like the finest Tom Brady flawless card I've ever seen.

It was perfect. And you see all these cards at auction and you see them go up, but to see something like that in hand, it was it was like, man, I've had all I've done all this content around this set.

I've talked with so many collectors around this set, and just to have, like, one of the finest copies in that product in my hand was absolutely incredible.

And that would have never have happened if I didn't have a relationship with, Joaquin, and he just, like he casually, hey. You wanna see this? I was like, holy shit. Yeah. I wanna see this.

So that only happens at the National. So that was one I wanted to call out. Yeah. There are some crazy cards upstairs. Upstairs, though, the planning, they could've they could've spread things out a little more in my opinion.

I I was thinking about it more, and I feel like the upstairs dealer setup is like it's one of those, like, aerial shots of Las Vegas where it's, like, this super packed tiny city, and it's just surrounded by desert.

I felt like that dealer section was just surrounded by open empty showroom space. Dude. But the aisles were three feet wide. It's like you could have bumped each aisle out a foot more.

You had the space. I'll I was, like, over at Grant Slaton, Waldorf story, looking at his just ridiculous nineties grails. And I was just, like, staring over, and you have, like, everyone jammed in like sardines.

And then on the other side, it's just, like, concrete for days. And it's like, I can't imagine being set up there just, like, staring at all the open space when you're, like, people are, like, bumping into each other.

I was just like that's where I started when I first got there. I went up there and just, like, before I started working, just went through that.

And I was just like that my first impression was like, man, I hope that national is not gonna be this hot because I was, like, sweating through my clothes the first five minutes I got there.

One, business idea that came to mind or feature that someone's gonna do it one day. But, basically, if you're a dealer having, like, a screen that's basically, like, the fast food menu that shows, like, what's in your case.

So if I'm, like, standing back, I could just look at the screen above your head, and it's like a camera looking down on your case where I can see all the cards.

Because sometimes it's like you just can't see all the cards. It's impossible. There's too many people in the way. Get the get the drive through menu screen up above your booth and and, you know, show the people the cards.

There's plenty of businesses that, you know, some places that, in some states that sell a product that was once illegal and now is legal in many of those, states.

You know, you walk into one of those establishments, and that's that's how it is.

You just got your menu. People love menus. Yeah. Look at the menu and you point, and you you have someone help you out. I think that's that's the next level of the national is when we're we're moving to that sort of experience.

Yeah. And also part of it's just I just wanna see their cards. It's like, I know this person has a sick case, but, like, there's someone in the middle of the deal, and their cards are on the case.

And, you know, it's like, I'm just never gonna see the cards in there. So it's it's more of me just wanting to see the cards.

But cool cards, I did see. Yeah. First up, shout out, Port City Sports Cards. I got to meet him, and he was a listener of the show, said nice things, once again reminding us how fast we're growing.

The growth is so fast. And, he had this Sean Taylor 2004 Bowman Chrome, the blue refractor one of one. This card is awesome. It's Sean Taylor's rookie card.

It's the first time Bowman Chrome did the the one of ones. It was just awesome. I mean, like, seeing a card like this in hand was definitely a highlight. I was excited to see that. What else did I see? Oh, Jason, Chicago Bears cards.

He had he brought some Bears goodies for me to all go over, including Brian Urlacher 2011 Topps Chrome Super Fractor, which is just an unreal card. The Superfractor is Superfracting at its peak in 02/2011.

Like, that year, just something about it. Like, look at that. Dude, this is the when I think of Brian Urlacher, this is this is what this is what I this I'm not a Bears guy, obviously.

I do appreciate Urlacher, but this is I don't know if I've seen a better looking Urlacher card. Yeah. And you can see the barbed wire tat, the the pose, and, like, in he has this. It's a PSA 10 now.

I think he's got it graded. It's unreal. It's just a unreal card. Another one that I saw, Josh, Cardboard Chronicles, he has casually the Ja'Marr Chase 2021 prism black finite rookie. Just a crazy card that Ja'Marr Chase is so sick.

Like, that is a player that would be very fun to collect. Just an electric wide receiver, great stats already. And on the rookie card, he's in that black Bengals jersey with the black finite, beautiful card.

And one other one I wanted to shout out was, Justin, seven forty Smith cards, had the 98 Metal Universe Orlando Pace Gem Master one zero one. I got to see that in hand. Stunning card of the pancake man.

Just I mean, that's awesome. I got a chance to talk with Justin, and he pulled open his box. And he was certainly very excite he I think he said, I got one I think you'd like to see, and he pulled this one out.

And as I got it in my hand and I was, like, looking at it, I instantly thought of his green PMG because I knew he has a green PACE PMG.

And then I was like, dude, you've gotta have, like, the coolest one, two Orlando PACE collection out there.

And that's what's so fun. Like, I I know he's, you know, Ohio guy, Ohio State. And it's just it's so fun at the national to to see collectors pick up these sorts of grails.

And I'll I'll never outside of, you know, me running into Justin again and him some for some reason having the show, Hey. This card, I'll never get a chance to, like, see a card like this in person.

And what that did for me, though, was, like, I began to recall, like, how dominant Orlando Pace is and how in a way, like, he is almost an unsung hero because we never talk about Orlando Pace when we're talking about those prolific offenses.

But then I'm like, would those offenses ever been prolific if it wasn't for Orlando Pace?

And so then you start to get into that. You start to get into, like, generational tackles, and I'm, like, debating who was better at Ogden or Pace.

And, like, I'm having a conversation with myself about the blind side, you know, from this certain era, which it would have never have started if I didn't see just a grail like this.

And that's what football cards can do for you, which I think is fun. Orlando Pace, Bears legend. They got them they got them the same off season as Cutler. I thought I thought things were turning around. We We got our quarterback.

We got our protector. Let's go. It doesn't always work out the way you you think it should when you pick up these guys. It does not. And just, yeah, all the cards for cards in hand, that's gonna be a great series.

Saw so many cool cards there, and I don't know. There were I feel like there were so many more. It was so cool. I love looking at cards. I love talking about cards. So, just being able to do that in person was such a treat.

Like you said, I'd I'd do it again this weekend. Where's where's the next show? Yeah. Let's go. Collecting updates. Let's see. I only made one pickup at the National, and that was a prearranged deal, Jason, Chicago Bears cards.

I got the 2016 Prism Gold Alshon Jeffery. He had one that he was willing to sell, so I picked that up. But, yeah, that that was my only only national grab. Did you get anything besides the Wayne?

Yeah. So not not at the national, but I had, like, I was on I was on vacation the week before the National, and I had a bunch of mail come that were, like, cards that I bought weeks and months ago.

And we'll do an unveil here because I've got this card in hand. But I've got the Anthony Richardson, Nebula at a 2024 Prism to pair with my, Michael Pittman Junior.

So I'm especially right around kickoff of football season, I'm excited to add that to my collection. And, you know, the card was on eBay, and it was listed for a lot of money.

And I sent a very low offer thinking that they wouldn't do anything, and they gave me a counter. And then I countered back maybe $250 higher, and I was walking with my daughter and realized that I had won the card.

So, for me, it's like a time and place thing where I have this huge prism collection of cults, and I just had the one, a nebula.

And I need two of anything for it to, like, stay. And I love these nebulas. They rule. And so when the Richardson became available, I was just like, there might be an opportunity here.

I'm not thinking that I would win it, but I want it. So if the Richardson experience doesn't work out, that's quite okay because my collection is almost a historical overview of Colts football from 2012 to today.

But I will say if, you know, Richardson balls out and is able to be consistent, you know, consistency is his enemy right now.

If he's able to be consistent and string together more of those moments, he's had his best camp yet. It's just camp, but he's had his best camp yet. Then this might be a a pretty, awesome and timely buy in my collection.

So I was pumped to get that one. I'm not paying the prices for the AR Gold Prism at this point. I just can't do it. And so was able to acquire this one at a price that felt pretty good for me.

Yeah. I mean, he's part of your Colts history no matter what. And if he has a great season, that's gonna be a such a fun card to have. Exactly. Yeah. There was the the the risk the reward was way were more worth the risk for me.

And, like, sometimes it comes down to, like, if you just really love a card, especially, like, a one of one, and it, like, does something for your collection, like, creates a pairing.

The player like, the the importance of the player, I find, goes down quite a bit. Mhmm. Obviously, I want him to do well, and I'm cheering for him. But, yeah, it is a time where we don't buy unproven prospects.

But if you look at Richardson's part prices from last year at this time to this year at this time, if you still have a thought that this guy could be something and he has just was way too young and still maturing, like, it's pretty pretty fun time to buy his card.

So, buyer beware with that disclaimer, but that's at least how I I felt as I bought this card.

Yeah. And you're a 100% right. When it when it starts to be a link within, like, a grouping or a pairing even, it becomes more valuable to you. Like, I the 2014 prism gold Jay Cutler arrived yesterday that I bought, and I have that.

I have the Matt Forte, and I also have the Kyle Fuller rookie twenty fourteen gold prism. But, like, and that's just, like, in my binder, but now that I have those other two, it's like, oh, this is part of a trio now. Yep.

It, like, just climbed the ladder a little bit, in the rankings. So, that's a great card. And one other one, this actually just showed up before we started recording, but a 2018 Roquan Smith prism gold vinyl out of five, this popped up.

This person listed a bunch of different cool Roquan rookies. I've been this one, and then I was talking to Jason, Chicago Bears cards at the National, and he had bought the camo auto version of the card out of '25.

And then he messaged me yesterday and was like, did your order get refunded? Mine got refunded. And I was like, no. That's weird. Like, mine says it's supposed to show up tomorrow.

I open up the mail today, and that camo was, like, stuck together with my card. And and the randomness of you actually knowing who the buyer is. Yeah. And but the worst part of the like, this person, the seller, I don't know.

Maybe it was just a a mistake day. But the Roquan was on top of a penny sleeve in the top loader. It wasn't in the penny sleeve. It was like they put the card on top of the penny sleeve and put that in the top loader.

So just not ideal circumstances for a a card like that. But, yeah. So a couple a couple errors in that order, but, I'm glad that that card showed up with me, and I can send send it to Jason, and he can have it.

But, yeah, that that's that was my pickup today. Great story. NFL check-in. I feel like we kinda touched on this a little one month away.

I mean, Thursday at the national, I laid in my hotel bed, and I turned on the TV, and NFL football was on the guide. And that was a great moment that that's that that's happening.

So, you got anything else, though, that you wanted to add to this topic? I'm going to camp on Sunday. I'm going to Westfield, Indiana and getting out there. I usually go once a year.

My buddy who I've season tickets with were, were getting in the car and heading up north to Westfield and, seeing some guys, play some football and hopefully not see any injuries. But I I'm I like to get out there at least once a year.

So that's kind of the big update for me. That's awesome. I've never been to a training camp, but maybe one day. It'll be weird though, with, you know, Irsay not being around, rest in peace.

I just every year going to camp, one of the highlights was, you know, he suited up in the blistering heat or was suited up, always cruising around his golf cart and, you know, trying to hide away to rip heaters.

And I'd always, like, see if I could, like, find them, like, you know, just getting done with the heater or whatever.

But, yeah, it's and one year, I was fortunate that a connection got us on the field for, camp. And, dude, I'll never like, part of the reason why I'm a big, like, Shaquille Darius Leonard fan is, he was three time all pro.

Incredible player. Two two are short of a career. But one year, I was, like, stand I, like, was standing on the sideline, and I look over and Leonard is literally standing right next to me and just eye to eye contact.

And he could not have been any more friendly. And I'm, like, having this, like, surreal moment talking to one of my favorite players. And the next moment I look over it, like, Ursay's getting off his golf cart.

I'm, like, about to have a panic attack. I was, like, in Colts euphoria for a minute. So, I haven't thought about that, but for whatever reason, going back to camp triggered that memory.

Yeah. And it'll be, it'll be sad that, Ursay is not there because, he was, for all everything that was always said about him, man, he he was a fan first and foremost, and that's what I always loved about him being the owner of my team.

Yeah. Truly a legend. A Twitter legend too. He was early on Twitter. Yes. He was. Giveaways, baby. I remember being in college trying to win Ursae giveaways.

Oh, yeah. We were all there, man. Yep. Let's jump into the market watch. Some cool cards have sold lately. One that jumped out to me, we talked about this player earlier, Brian Urlocker, 2,000 Bowman, the paper set.

This is the gold number to 99, and a PSA eight sold for $300. I love 2,000 Bowman. I'm very nostalgic for this set. I remember I opened an entire box when I was a kid. No Bradys. Some who else was it, Chris Regan.

You hooked me up with a Rob Morris the first time I needed. That is right. I have a safe search for it. Like, I'm always just buying, you know, if it's the right price for gold out of 99, like, it's just a fun set, to collect.

I have a a handful of these. I don't have an Urlacher, one day. You don't you don't happen to have a Brady, do you?

No Brady's. That but, I mean, Brady's refractor out of chrome is not numbered, but Brady's gold out of the paper set is numbered at a 99. So that's kinda cool that the the paper version has Brady's numbered card from this set.

But, yeah, I think of this era, you know, there's this checklist is awesome. There's like, Jerry Rice is still on the niners in this set, and Tio's there and no Barry Sanders.

But there's still some players kinda from that late nineties era, and then also some cool up and coming guys. So this is a fun set to check out.

If you have any teams or players you're collecting from this era, check out, you know, those goals at 99. The scans never do it justice. This card in hand, though, does it has a little a glimmer to it that is nice.

Dude, whenever I see this Urlacher image, I don't I always think, like, it it always reminds me that it it feels like he's, like, catching a pass in and he's like I know he's probably at, like, the rookie premier shoot, shoot, but it always reminds me of, like, Wrigley Field in the background.

That's, like, every time I see that, I think of that. That kinda looks yeah. Ivy ish. It could be an Ivy brick wall back there.

He used to play free safety in college, so maybe that was but, yeah, him catching a pass is weird. He he should be bearing down on the Those college highlights of him playing safeties are absolutely ridiculous.

Yeah. He was a beast. I've never collected Urlacher at all. I actually went to a Bears preseason game in 2002 and saw him walk into his car and asked for an autograph, and he said no.

Sounds about right. It's not. It's not. I think I still maybe am holding against it to this day. But, yeah, it like, this card, the Superfractor, though, those are both cards that I'd love to love to own.

Great player. What else? You you dropped some other ones in here. Yeah. Sorry about this. We got a Packers card, but I found this interesting.

So you've got the going from Bears to Packers, only appropriate. But you got the Jordan Love twenty twenty prism gold, BGS eight five, which, you know, Packers, you got the color match, which is, you damn Packers collectors.

You got that going for you. But I found this interesting. First of all, like, 2020 prism, I think. I prefer '24 when I think about the last quarter. I think 24 is lights out, but 20 is pretty sick.

Mhmm. Mostly from an aesthetic perspective. Very, very shiny. Obviously, twenty twenty Prizm is loaded with rookies. But I found this interesting where this card this copy or the eight five, I guess, I can look here on the pop report.

Yeah. There's three eight fives, Okay? On BGS. Everything BGS is an eight five, which is interesting. But this sold, in July 23 for 5,200. And then it's selling July 31 for, 10 k.

So that's crazy. Like, you know, and Jordan Love, like, you know, from that time frame, I don't know. Like, maybe people would have him in their, like, top 10 or just emerging. I think people like his athleticism, big arm.

You know, He's not the perfect quarterback right now, but I just like that was the staggering note for me. And for me, it was like, is this more of a Jordan Love thing, or is this more of a, like, rookie prism gold thing?

What do you what do you think about that just in looking at those from, like, 23 to 25 and, like, this card, you know, doubling in price in that time?

Yeah. Well, it makes sense that that 5 k sale was before he was the starter. I guess that's true. Yeah. Timing wise for sure.

And then, 2023, he had a great first season that he started, 32 touchdowns, 11 picks. I would assume there were probably some other sales, maybe different grades in that time frame once he had become a starter that were even higher.

Like, I don't know if he then, like, settled down a little bit. But just regardless, 10 for a gold prism of a I'd say he's top tier, like, top top third of the league.

Yes. For sure. Top third. Top 12, or top 10. Top 12 sounds good to me. Something like that. I mean, when I'm looking at Caleb Williams selling for 20 plus k and Jaden Daniels is 55,000. Was that was that sale?

Like Yeah. If I were playing in this world with this type of money to spend on these cards, like, 10 k for Jordan Love who's, like, looked pretty good for two like, two full seasons, and he's, you know like, I don't know.

It's kinda how fast people are onto the next shiny new object where it's not like he had a horrendous season last year or anything.

Like and he's still I don't know. I I'd if I were had that type of money, like, yeah, this would this seems like a decent buy compared to what other quarterback rookie gold prisms are going for.

No doubt. Moving over to we got a 2007 finest Marshawn Lynch blue xfractor auto PSA 10. This thing sold via best offer for $700. In 02/2007, just is an interesting year in football cards.

I feel like, you you never hear anybody being like, 2,007 is my finest set. But it's an interesting set nonetheless, and it is the year that, Marshawn Lynch, beast mode himself, is a rookie.

And, John, we're seven episodes in, and we've not talked about Marshawn Lynch yet. So I just figured I this is more like a cool card.

Here's the sale. Let's spend a moment talking about Marshawn Lynch. My question to you is, do you remember where you were for the Beast Quake? Do you remember that? Yep. I was at my mom's house.

This was college, but it was extra significant because they beat the Saints. Mhmm. That was after the year after they won the Super Bowl, I think. I think they knocked Right. And then the Bears played the Seahawks the next week.

So the instead of having to play the Saints, the Bears got to play the Seahawks. The Bears beat the Seahawks and went to the NFC championship. So this was a playoff run that I'm familiar with. That run was unreal.

It's still fun to watch that. If that pops up in my feed, I'm watching the whole run. He shoving Tracy Porter, just all time, man. That was that was all time. I I remember I was watching the Pacers. I actually looked it up.

The Pacers were playing the Hawks. I remember watching the Pacers game and, like, just find like, flipping, like, during commercial and literally, like, when it came on the t like, this was I was like, oh, this is a game.

And then seeing that run live in person, it was like, you no matter how many times you watch it, you it still seems completely unreal.

And it, like, leads me, like, we talk about, like, stats are important, but, like, moments matter most.

But just seems like for is, like you can go across the board and be like, what do you think of Marshawn Lynch football card collectors?

And everyone's gonna be like, when Marshawn Lynch ruled, whether they think about that run, think about having him in fantasy, all of, like, you know, eating Skittles on the sidelines.

Like, culturally, Marshawn Lynch to me is one of those guys from this era.

Especially, you think about him on the Manning cast. Like, him on the Manning cast, like, maybe a few drinks too deep to be on TV being Marshawn Lynch is just amazing.

Like, going back, like, going back to the hood where he grew up in for, like, Christmas and Thanksgiving. Like, I don't know, man.

I know this card's kinda weird because, like, you know, he's the Bills, and it's it's just one of those instances where you don't really think ever think of Marshawn Lynch as a bill. You all of his iconic moments are with the Seahawks.

But, yeah, I just think he's a player that likely will age well with time. Yeah. I mean, great personality. Just everyone loved him. And was just so solid for again, I love when there's, like, consistency across multiple seasons.

And 2011 with the Seahawks, 1,200 yards, 12 touchdowns. This is just rushing. So 1,200 yards, 12 touchdowns. 2012, 1,500 yards, Almost 1,600. Fifteen ninety, 11 touchdowns. 2013, twelve fifty seven, 12 touchdowns.

In 2014, 1,300 yards, 13 touchdowns. Just like four years in a row, at least 1,200 yards, at least 11 touchdowns. He had a first team all pro in there in that, 1,590 yard season. But, sustained dominance, man.

You just you knew what Marshawn was gonna give you for a for a good stretch. And, yeah, the Bills of it all is a little funky. Like, I guess he his most yards in Buffalo was his rookie year. He had 1,100 yards.

Even that, that's like a good rookie year for running back in 13 games. Yeah. Marshawn is awesome. I he'll get in the hall of fame, I think. I hope so. I can you imagine Marshawn Lynch and Josh Allen playing playing together?

That would be that's a duo. Oh, boy. Alright. Shout out to all you beast mode, collectors. I'd love to see some of those cards. I see I got a chance. You know, I've seen some cool cool collections with Marchionne Len.

She's got a great some great Prism stuff that's, an unlock maybe a little bit of an untapped territory. But I I wanted to end with this one, which go going back to 2014, Flawless talking about the Brady.

How about Mike Evans, hall of famer, 100%. I would make him a first ballot hall of famer, just a mark of consistency, with his, you know, a thousand yards every season.

I mean, he's the epitome of lunch pail guy in this era where receivers are very vocal and more diva like. One of the best receivers of this era just so happens to have rookie cards in one of the best sets of the Panini era.

And this is his, just out of 25. This is his base base, card, which you wanna talk about. They don't make base cards like this anymore. So you have a perfect, big, bold Mike Evans autograph in the upper right corner.

You've got just the, silver, like, metallic vibe from flawless in the holofoil around it. Then you have a one, two, three, four, four color patch on this thing, which is white, orange, black, and Buccaneers red.

This thing sold for $1,230, which just just doesn't looking at this card, man, if you like patches, if you're a hall of fame collector, if you're an Evans collector, like, to me, like, this just seems like such a steal.

Event Warren, obviously, because he had he's, you know, probably from the rookie photo shoot. But just man, Mike Evans kicks ass. Like, he is a great, great hall of fame player.

I know a lot of I think of Curtis nineties kid card collector who's just a a massive Mike Evans guy. It's his favorite player. I think of him. I think there's a lot of other Evans collectors in the hobby.

I just think he is the definition of what you want a football player to be like. He's done it the right way. He stayed in the same city. He's won a Super Bowl, just a a superb player with an excellent card.

It it it felt right to feature it here. Yeah. This is incredible. When I see cards like this and there's a lot of cards at the National I saw that also fall under this category.

But, like, I know I'm gonna be collecting cards for a long time because there's so many, like, projects that I've I will I want to get to, but I just like, I won't right now.

But, like, I I wanna get patch autos. Like, one day, having, like, a sick patch auto of, like, a few different players is something that's on my mind.

You know? Like, the vintage of it all has been on my mind. Like, there's so many different lanes that and doors that I want to open that, like, this card makes me wanna go buy a flawless patch auto right now.

I know. And for $1,200, like, that's a lot of money. But for a rookie of a great receiver, like, if you're a Bucks fan, eleven straight seasons over a thousand yards, like, that's a 105 career touchdowns, 12,000 career yards.

Like Dude, he got he got hurt he got hurt last year and still did it in his last chance to do it, like, on the last play. I mean, that's this guy is this guy is every this guy is one of the best, man.

Yeah. Some some close calls, though. Like, last year, he had a thousand and four yards. Yeah. In two in 2020, he had a thousand and six yards. And And in 2017, he had a thousand and one.

So he's like, he's barely holding it on. But there is something so pleasing about going to a football pro football reference page of someone like Mike Evans where it's just a nice row of a thousand every single year for 11 straight.

Like, that's it's very pleasing, to the OCD of it all. Yeah. And I think that's what gets him into the hall of fame because that is not normal.

No. Activity. You know, and when we talk about the best receivers of this era, no one ever brings up Mike Evans, and I think that's kind of the charm of Mike Evans.

You know? Yeah. I mean, he's one of those guys that, like, his highest high was never best in the league. Like, the he I mean, he just so happens to have come in the league in 2014.

So I don't know. Calvin was still in the league, and then Antonio Brown and Julio and all those guys. You know? He was always like that right below, but that doesn't take away from the consistency he put up.

And any scoring a 100 touchdowns, I love when players have gotten over a 100. Like, that's another just scoring a 100 touchdowns. That's hard. That's not easy. No. And you think about it. It's like this man, he had Jameis.

He had Brady. He had Baker. You know? And there's probably some other ones in between there, but I that's a that's a that's a quite the trio of QBs. That is the full spectrum of every quarterback, like, personality type you can have.

Like, I love Jameis so much. Oh, yeah. He is such a goofy dude. I love Baker, dude. I love Baker Bayview. Yeah. I'm sure he play he played with probably, Fitzpatrick. I feel like he had, like Oh, yeah.

A run-in Tampa, and he's probably played with some some scrubs too. But not that Fitzpatrick's a scrub, but, and also just as I'm lauding a 105 touchdowns is just a reminder that, Jerry Rice scored a 197 touchdowns.

That's, I I appreciate that reminder. The the the 10 it's this this happens with football card stuff. It's like, inevitably, it all points when you're talking receivers, it all points back to Jerry Rice.

And it's like, I can't get the 10 all pros, first team all pros out of my head, and now it's a 197. And it's like, yeah. You wanna make the argument that Jerry Rice is the greatest football player of all time.

There's an argument there. Well and I'm sorry. That's only receiving touchdowns. He had 10 rushing touchdowns and one return touchdown. So Jerry total career touchdowns is two zero eight.

I thought Dude, I wanna see the I wanna see a mix tape of the rushing touchdowns and that return touchdown. I wanna see it. 10 rushing. That's that's not a fluke. Alright. We gotta get out of here.

Last week, we wanted to see your IRL pickups, national pickups, or anything you've gotten at a show in a deal. There were some awesome cards. I forgot to write any down. So forgive me, and let's make up for it this week.

Let's see those flash in the pan players. Like, who had one amazing season? Or it could've maybe two seasons, but just someone that, you know, had this peak that is the reason that you're collecting their cards.

So or have a card of them. Doesn't have to be someone you have a massive collection of. But any any player that maybe had one amazing season that, you remember fondly.

Like, I wanna see those cards, hear those stories. So share them. Tag the football card pod on Instagram. Follow us, please, and we'll see you next week. See you, everyone.