I was telling today's guest that the last time we have done one of these was April of twenty twenty one, '4 years ago, and the climate definitely was a lot different in that era.

But I'm excited to bring back on Anthony summertime one of one.

We're gonna talk about his collection, maybe where he was at that time and where he's at now and what he's collecting, and definitely wanna spend some time at the end talking about courtside card show that is coming up in Miami that Anthony is running.

But without further ado, Anthony, welcome back, man. How are you? Hey. Very good. Very good. Thanks for having me. I'm, very excited for this talk today.

Let's I know most people probably know you as a one of one guy. You know, you're posting bangers on Instagram, and oftentimes, it's like, where is this guy getting this? But it it's taken a while for you to get to this point.

Maybe let's rewind the tape back to 2021 and all the time in between. Like, maybe talk about your mindset and what you were collecting and going after then and how that has transitioned into your massive collection of one of one grails.

Yes. So at the beginning, I would say I was much, much less of a collector coming into this.

I was very much driven by, like, the flipping because, it was COVID starts at the time. I was a professional sports better. That's what I was doing for a living for the past ten years before that.

And that was very lucrative, but then COVID came in. I'm like, I have to do something to make money. And I'm like, well, this hobby that I have on the side of sports cards has been super lucrative.

Everyone's gonna be at home buying and selling. So I just sent I just went all in. I'm like, I gotta occupy my time somewhere, and I need to keep making money because I still gotta pay rent.

So I, I started doing that. And I still wasn't fully sold on the hobby long term in terms of these being, like, true, like, assets and investments.

So and it like, the stuff even then that I liked was even silver prism PSA tens were expensive. So I'm like, I don't think I'm gonna be able to, like, collect in the way that I would like to and spend all this money.

I just don't feel comfortable with it, basically, with the way that the market was. So at the time, just buying a lot to grade. I was collecting a little bit Zion Williamson.

I really, really liked him out of college. I thought, you know, he was gonna be a mega mega superstar. And I kinda fell out of love with all the injuries and him just being, like, just always out of shape.

And I'm like, I know this guy can get in shape. Like, anybody who really wants to get in shape, they can't. He's just lazy. And then I'm like, I can't I'm I'm off this guy now.

But I was collecting him, and I started selling. And then it wasn't until basically, once I started base hiking up the interest rates and everything started crashing, then I'm like, okay. I see everything crashing.

I go, if cards can survive this, if certain cards, certain subcategories within cards, the niches, the really collectible stuff can come back from this, I now will fully, fully believe in this, and I'll be way more comfortable to spend a lot of money to really build a collection per se.

Because I do buy this stuff because I like it, but at the the levels that I'm spending, I still need to be a little careful.

Like, if I need to sell, it's still worth something, and I'm just spending 50,000 because I like something, and it's gonna be worth $500 1 day.

So I there is a little bit of that dynamic where, you know, buy what you like, but there is a little bit of a you know, I wanted to to have value in the future.

And that's when during, I base I started buying gold kabooms, actually. It was what I first landed on.

I'm like, these were down. They at one point, they were selling for a hundred thousand dollars to say if Tom Brady, Stephen Curry, and Kobe, some of these guys were selling for insane money, and they dropped, like, 80%.

And I've just got through just my years living, I've noticed that if something I think is very scarce and desirable, if it drops 80%, you're usually okay to buy in there.

Whether it be Bitcoin or art, and I thought in my head, I think these cards, they're super rare. I don't think it's gonna go down much more than 80%.

It's time for a hundred grand. It's like $5. I I didn't see that. A Tom Brady twenty eighteen Boca Boom Piazza ten five grand. Just didn't see it. So I started taking shots, with some of those.

And luckily, I was right, and they very, very quickly in a span of, like, a year tripled or quadrupled. And, at that level, I'm like, okay. These things are, like, really, really you know, cards I paid $20 were now worth $80,000.

So I woulda held them. Had they got up slowly, like, 20, you know, 25, then actually worth 30, then maybe I hold, but these things quadrupled, like, almost overnight. So I did decide to move some of those.

And then at the time, I was really starting to try to figure out what I liked and the one on ones. I always saw people collecting them from afar, and I said to myself, man, like, that's, like, really cool.

I was always, like, attracted to it, but also there is, like, this basically barrier of entry in terms of knowledge. And I'm like, I don't know anything about those, and I don't even know how to wrap my head around those.

But, eventually, I started buying some. I started to kinda figure it out a little bit. As you buy some more, come to you, you hear more about sales.

And, yeah, I I basically kinda fell into it there and then just continuing to to amass the, the one on ones, specifically, like, the black prisms and the nebula prisms as well as Superfactors and some logo mends.

See, you've gone through this evolution and and matured like a lot of us have, and you've ended up in the zone where you're after some of the hobbies best cards from an ultramodern perspective, and I've seen you move now more towards some of the nineties stuff.

Mhmm. You know, anyone looking at your page and you've talked about it, like, you you you are moving into more of a, I am trying to collect these. I am trying to hold these long term.

Any baby who maybe sees what you're doing and what you're posting on Instagram, maybe help us understand, like, the method to the madness because I can tell, like, in our conversations and anywhere you go, you're, like, you're a very analytical guy.

Like, you're making sure you're paying attention to economic trends also, like, your own making sure you're you're keeping track of your own finances.

Like, how how do you think if you're betting on the hobby long term, how do you think about all that you're amassing and you're able to go after and the opportunity to hold it long term versus somebody comes and wants a card from you, and they want it in their collection, selling those off and and how that all works?

Yeah. So, basically, I've gotten to the point now that I believe these sports cards I have are better long term investments.

Like, I used to think stocks is better, crypto is better, and now I've kinda changed specifically because I've started to collect one of ones where I know when you own crypto, you're in any of these things, you need several people to want that in order to maintain the values.

Whereas with these one of ones, I just need one person at any given moment to wanna pay me more than what I paid, and I'm very, very confident in that one person always showing up in the future.

And, also, if you wanna collect, let's say, one of one watches, Rolex, let's say, it's millions of dollars. If you wanna collect the best art of one of ones, it's millions of dollars.

Even the total, like, brand new emerging artists, if you want a really good one of one, it's actually gonna be, like, a hundred, $200,000. So real estate well, there really isn't one one of them real estate.

But if you try to get the it's what I like about sports cards is that you can buy one of ones, and it it's not, like, that expensive. You don't have to spend a million dollars.

You don't have to spend $500,000. So it's the one asset that I see where there's these extremely awesome one on ones that, like, objectively people love and, like, they they chase after them, but they aren't, like, too expensive.

So I like that about it. I like that I can chase these extremely scarce one on ones that nobody else has, and it's just, you know again, you don't have to spend.

You can if you let's say you have a hundred thousand dollars, you can get a crazy one of one collection, with that you know, not to say that that's a little bit of money.

But if you're really looking at in terms of investment, financial assets, where you're gonna allocate money, I actually now really, really like it, and I believe in it, in the future.

A lot of that is because, you know, you go through the years of buying these and selling them, and you start to see, like, you get offered this.

You get offered this. You hear through the grapevine, now it's sold for that. And then you really start to oh, and this is something else. I was gonna bring this up.

PMG Green. There was a guy at a show. What's this guy's name? How is it sitting in my name? My my tongue here. Give me a second. I don't wanna think of mister b. K. Mister b had these PMG Greens, and he had a stuff on Marbury.

This was actually two, three years ago. The market was that great. And I asked him about the Marbury PMG Green. Like, please sell me that card. Like, I really you have so many this guy has an incredible collection.

You guys should go check it out. And he's like, no. He's like, why would I sell it? I'm like, I'll pay you a lot. He goes, whatever you're willing to pay me, someone in the future % is gonna pay me more.

And that's when, like, it rang a bell. I'm like, this guy's been doing this way longer than me. His collection is something that I can only aspire to be. And he said it so confidently.

I'm like, he's right. So then I'm like, okay. What can I buy from our era? You know, the PMG Greens are the top players. They're, like, impossible to get. If you do, you have to pay an arm and leg to get it.

And I thought, like, maybe the black prisms and that's, like, the similar, kind of forever up scarce asset that I can focus in on and get a big collection of. And a lot of it was actually due from that conversation I I had with them.

As well as a conversation one time that Chris and Josh, Carbo Chronicles, Chris h o j were having about what card you have to have in your collection of a player if, like, you wanna be, like, one of the top collectors.

And instantly, it was Black Prism Super Factor. I'm like, okay.

Like, I gotta get one of those of my the players I like, but then that also morphed fifth two. I can't find these of the players that I really, really like, so I'll buy other players because I still like those players too.

So that's kind of been a a little bit of the evolution of, like, getting into it and, like, why I got into certain ones that I got into.

Dude, the the Marbury, Green PMG story is one that I think is interesting because you see all these OG collectors at shows or online that you interact with, and they've got these these nineties collections that are out of control.

Yeah. And when you ask the questions, it's just like, well, I've been collecting this stuff for twenty to thirty years, and I was, you know, one of the first to be buying at this volume.

How you know, it sounds like you, you know, you're taking some of those stories from those collectors.

The OG collectors have been doing it for a while and trying to translate that into kinda this new era. What what has that been like for you? You're you're betting on this era, this ultramodern era, black finite super fractures.

Based on your theory, based on you analyzing spending the money, like, are there any have you found any holes to placing kind of these sorts of bets on this, or is it these cards look amazing right now.

Collectors are hyped up and want these cards in their collections right now.

So based on my analysis and, you know, talking with a bunch of people, this is a a bet I'm willing to place much like those collectors in the nineties placed bets on PMGs, Masterpieces, those sorts of things.

Maybe is talk about, like, how you're comparing and contrasting what you've seen to what what's happening with your buying now.

In terms of, like, if there's holes, I I I I mean, I guess there's some people do argue that there's a lot of one on ones in this era, but then I always come back.

There's really not. There is if you look at every other set that has a million different one on ones, and you factor those as being in the same realm as these.

But in my opinion, it's not. Every everybody wants a black prism and then the nebula, the green kaboom. Like, those are the three best one of ones of the era, and then you have, like, the the logo man autos as well.

But there really isn't you know, if you look at a player and you want a true black prism or true Nebula or logo man auto of that player, they like, the player with the most might have, like, 20 or 25. It's not, like, that many cards.

It's almost the same amount as PMG greens, for some players. Right? Especially guys who just started in, like, 2018, '20 '19, a little bit younger guys. There's even less of them, obviously, because they're losing the license.

So I guess the one thing would be that there's a lot of one on ones, but I I already see that the market's already kinda, like, discounting a lot of the other sets.

It doesn't care about it as much. And maybe there might be some value with certain ones from in that, but in terms of, like, the the the ones that the people really, really like right now, I don't see that slowing down.

I think everyone's still, really, really gonna gonna want those.

I guess a little bit there was in the nineties, there was maybe just less there was, like, just less product in general maybe in terms of the numbered stuff, whereas now there's a little bit more.

But, again, I I feel like if you hone in specifically on this sub niche, you're kind of like, you are how do I say it? Basically, you're protected from the rest of the market and and everything else is kinda how I feel about it.

How how much do you pay attention to, like, the what's happening with the industry side of the hobby and, like, obviously, with fanatics and tops and the investment that they're making and, you know, putting athletes everywhere.

You know, the stuff that you're buying probably isn't, tops one of one stuff right now, but that the moves that are being made right now within the industry are going to trickle down and have influence over this era in those cards?

Like, are you how do you how are you looking at what's happening, like, today and down the road on the kinda mainstream industry side of the the hobby?

I kinda think it's, like, positive whichever way they go in the sense that let's say, Topps does an amazing job, and they bring in tons of new collectors.

That's great for the hobby. There's gonna be more demand. Those collectors will eventually learn about the stuff from before and chase after it.

Same way that I wasn't collecting in the nineties, but I really want those nineties '1 on ones. Sometimes even more than the guys from the nineties. So I think that if they do a great job, that's gonna happen.

But if the event they do a bad job, that actually might even be better for the stuff from before, where that everyone's gonna want that stuff, even more because the new stuff coming out isn't as, isn't as good.

They might not be willing to spend as much on the new stuff.

So they're gonna want the stuff even more or just have more money. So I kinda think that this stuff is is is it won't really make a difference whether tops does an amazing job amazing job or a terrible job.

I don't I don't think it makes a a huge difference. Like, I would still be buying all this stuff. I just genuinely want it.

So I know other people will probably genuinely want it as well. Regardless of what tops does, people are still gonna want a twenty twelve black prism of their favorite player or a player from their favorite team.

And I'm, you know, very confident on that, going forward. So you have focused in on specific one of ones and, you know, whether it's prism black, finites, nebulas, kabooms.

For it but if you look at your page, you've got a diversity of not only sports, but but players. You've it's a lot. There's a lot of different I scroll through it. I'm like, oh, these guys are the top guys.

These are guys that I'm gonna fondly remember. For you, when you're searching for those cards, is it more about kind of the thrill of the chase of finding something that you weren't expecting, the uniqueness of it, or something else?

Well, like, let's say, like, with you, you have all these Andrew Luck black prisms. Right? If you only collected those Andrew Luck one on ones, like, that's it. There's nothing else for you to buy.

Right? So for me, yes. I love Dwayne Wade. I love Tyreek Hill. I love these Miami guys. But if I only bought their black prisms or nebula prisms, I might go six months to a year and not buy a single card.

So that's and I think as this is actually something I thought about the other day. As a kid, I was a kid that I used to go to the basketball games a lot of times to watch the best player on the other team.

Like, I would have the if, like, six I can see the heat all the time. So when the sixers come into town, I'm wearing a Philadelphia seven sixers at the Jersey at the game just because I was such a big fan of him as a player.

So I get excited for the once or twice they come to Miami to play. And I think that's leaked over now into my collecting where anybody who I just think is awesome and, you know, I have fond memories of watching play.

I if I see their black prism, I wanna buy it. So that's kinda, like, why I buy all these, diversity of players.

And I actually think, like, let's say, like, Steelers. I kinda see how rabid their fan base is about, like, just the team and collecting as well that I think there is an element.

Like, I want it now because I know that, like, these guys are, like, chasing after it like crazy, and they're searching up and down for all of this.

So, like, it kind of adds, like, another layer of scarcity on top of just being a one of one, getting, like, an early Ben Roethlisberger, or I have a James Harrison.

Yeah. Like, I love getting those those, like, top players from the top, like, most desired teams as well because I think that's, like, another kinda just layer of scarcity on top.

So the this has happened between us because you posted one time.

You posted the 2017 TY Hilton black finite. And I I once I saw it, I knew I needed it. And I messaged you. I was like, hey, man. Like, if you're ever willing to sell this, let me know.

And several a long time passed by, and you you messaged me back. And we worked out a deal. I thought it was fair. I wanted the card really bad, for my collection, and we got a deal done.

I would imagine if you're posting, like, a a one of ones from a team like the Steelers who have a strong collector base, individuals are hitting you up saying, like, hey.

Like, can I are you selling this and that? Like, how do you navigate that? Because you're posting cards that Right.

Team collectors, player collectors are are cards that they would love in their collection. Like, maybe talk a little bit about how you navigate the interest from your page and people who want those cards.

So, that T Y Hilton is a good is a great example. I know you collect Colts. I know you collect black prisms. When you come to me and you want it, I am one of those people.

I don't like to gatekeep too much. I I I will sell, but it has to be to the right person. Like, I don't wanna just sell it to basically first of all, I don't really wanna sell it.

But second of all, if I do, there are moments where, like, certain collectors, they buy stuff, and they never ever sell anything. And I'm like, that's not good.

I personally don't think that's good. I do think if the right guy people know this guy's the right guy for that card. Like, it kinda fits his collection much better than it does mine, and he's willing to pay a fair price for it.

I personally like to try to deal with that person. I don't always. Sometimes I go, I don't care. I I like I like this just as much of that more than you, and I won't move it.

But I do try to work with certain people who it just kinda makes sense. It makes sense for me to to move it to them price wise, but also I just think it it fits your collection because I I'd I'd like to try to help collections build.

And there's actually a good story I have about that where, there was a guy recently.

He wanted a Ray Allen Super Factor that I have, and I have two. I last national, I went to the national specifically to buy Super Factors, and I wasn't sure if I was gonna find anybody, the early ones, basketball.

The very first table I walked into had both Real and Superfactors. So there's one that, I ended up did I ended up selling, and then there was, this one.

This is from 02/2006. It's got a PSA five. So these were there, and I ended up buying them. And a guy ended up coming to me and saying, you know, I really, really want that one. At first, I was like, no.

Just because I know how hard it is to find those early basketball super factors, those guys who have those, that's the last card in their collection they will ever sell because they all basically only have one of their favorite player.

So they're not moving it. They're gonna move anything else. With everything else, maybe they can, find another one of. They might not know of someone who has one. So the last thing they're gonna move is that.

So when I saw these, being that I've been looking for Chase Williams and Marbury, and I had never been able to find even one, barely even a picture of one, like, I'm buying these Ray Allens no matter what.

So I ended up doing a deal with a guy. I paid strong. The right buyer, the right collector for the card ended up coming to me, and I ended up, moving the card to him. The it was the Boston Celtics two thousand eight Superfractor.

Now this is where it gets interesting. At the time, I actually messaged a friend. I'm like, maybe now a Marbury Superfractor will end up at my desk somehow. Like, I'll get good karma from moving this car that I really didn't want to.

And, so you, had asked me a question before that you bring up about a card that I ended up buying as a result of just happen chance. Never would have thought it was gonna happen.

Mhmm. So this guy reaches out to me, and he had these super factors of Sean Williams, Cedric Simmons. These are total random guys. Okay? I Diagu. Yes. Patrick O'Brien, and the biggest super factor in the lot was Troy Murphy.

Uh-huh. Okay? So this guy comes with these. I buy them all. A lot I I actually didn't really care to buy them, but when a guy I know has a lot of it, I just buy them so I know when he comes gets these again, he'll bring them to me.

So I buy all of these. I end up randomly asking him, do you happen to have a Stefon Marbury Super Fractors? There's only three in the world. He goes, yep. I do. I was like, I I can't believe this.

Like, just took the this guy just had these random super factors of a bunch of warriors players, and he happened to have this super factor of stuff on Marbury, which this is the only picture, the only one I ever surfaced to my knowledge.

And, he gave me a very, very fair price because these were actually not the cheapest you would think, but they were not.

But I got a what I think was a very, very fair price for that. So, yeah, like, you always gotta ask questions. You know? A lot of times, if you see someone who has a card, like a black prism or never it could even be total random.

He might have more of those. And these there's collectors out. I think a lot of people think that everything's on Instagram or it's been listed on blowout at some point, but there's a lot of stuff that people have.

Like, these private collectors who have a ton of stuff, and they're not online whatsoever, basically.

Because this guy who had these actually wasn't even a, it was a middleman who was doing the deal for me to get them from this guy who has never posted them.

So, yeah, like, you just never know, where these things are or how you're gonna get them, And there's a lot of these situations where these things will just come up out of nowhere.

Like, thank god that I asked them, do you have that? And he said yes. The power of the follow-up question, that's that's, that's a good reminder for the audience. I'd I'd love to learn more.

You you mentioned paying strong, and I think this is part of the hobby, which maybe is plays into kind of the the method to your madness where you're you're accumulating these cards that you think are super cool, and you're planning to hold them for as long as you possibly can.

But there might be scenarios where collectors come up like you did with this, holder of super factors and said, you know, I'm I'm willing to pay strong.

Like, how how do you go about when you're in, like, a deal making mode with someone where you're trying to acquire, like, in your mind evaluating the price of one of ones, especially one of ones that have, like, never sold publicly?

Like, how do you break it all down? I know as as collectors, we all wanna find some sort of value in the cards that we're buying, but I'd it's one of ones are always such a there's so much gray area.

Like, how do you make sense of it? So at first, I was very at first, I kinda would look couple years ago, I would look at gold prism, and it was a multiplier.

That's out the window now because the gold prisms, they might actually be cheap right now. But the gold prisms, like a T Y Hilton gold prism might sell, might not sell for that much.

But But it's not to say the black is not worth what the black is worth. So I was at one at one point where the multiple on the gold to black was, like, pretty small. Obviously, now there's sales that say otherwise.

But now that I've bought so many, a lot of it is just like gut feel. Like, you just look, you go, that's just too low. And that's just from owning them, buying them, selling them, getting offers on them.

But, you know, you still look at, like, comparable players as well. You know, if you think you're paying too much, but a very comparable player sold for that. That doesn't automatically mean that it's worth that, though.

My guy might have overpaid by double. You don't know. But it's sort of a way that you can kinda look. Yeah. That's that's really the only way with the the black one zero one, I think, is really comparable players in basketball.

Or even sometimes you have to look at football. Look at, like, you have to look at a Calvin Johnson super factor maybe recently to value what a, you know, a comparable desirable player in in basketball might be worth.

And the comps are, like, changing so quickly, and the values could change very quickly. Like, your your TY Hilton, we did I I think you had a fair price. If you look at there was a a Jordy Nelson that just sold for, like, over $3,000.

So people that thought they were paying, like, super strong, paying, like, a thousand or something for, you know, a good player, but not a, like, an all time great.

All of a sudden, like, I gotta steal based on that. So a lot of it is is that just looking at the, recent sales of comparable players, I think, is the easiest way for, like, a a novice to try to get a a decent idea.

For people that bought a lot of them, it's just you kinda just go by by gut feel.

I I think accolades, championships, MVPs will always matter in sports cards, but I think when you move down into one of ones, and you are you're a collector, it's and a player makes you feel a certain way, like, you're willing to do whatever you can to acquire it.

And I I I I look at some of the cards you picked up and players you collect, and it's like Jason Williams, for instance.

It's like, you know, he never won championships, but, like, he's burned into the brain of so many collectors and people who've been around cards or watched basketball in that era.

You mentioned Jordy Nelson. You mentioned t y t y Hilton. Like, he can go into any restaurant in Indianapolis and get a, you know, a free steak dinner. Like, people just love them.

So maybe, like, talk about that, just navigating, like, the profile of a player and when you're buying these types of cards and knowing that, yeah, they might not have championships or they might not in have MVPs, but long term, like, these are the types of players within their own collector bases or just and the broader hobby are the ones people are gonna want long term?

So a big part of that is this guy that has changed my mind on everything Marbury, that his values are just, like, in outer space, and he didn't win anything.

You know? He kinda got run out of Minnesota, but Nick's situation didn't end, like, that great. Like, obviously, he always put up his numbers and he was flashy.

But him, Jason Williams, those guys that you mentioned that, like, did have a little cult following and fan base has kinda changed how I think about it where guys who you know, like, let's say, Jamal Crawford.

I feel like Jamal Crawford, could be one of those flashy guys from this era who ends up having very very strong values, in the future.

So a lot of it is not about the accolades. It's about the the niche kinda cult like following that a certain player may have.

Also, like, the certain playing styles of a guy has a really unique, you know, fun to watch playing style, his cards long term, that could almost be as valuable as a MVP, let's say.

And then it kinda goes the same way where a guy who, you know, doesn't have the best playing style. His values should theoretically be worth x, and they're they're not gonna get there.

Like, Tim Duncan's values there's cards of Marvin that sell for more than Tim Duncan. And, like, you're talking that doesn't make sense, but in a way, it does because it just Duncan just just doesn't have that big of a collector base.

And, like, just Spurs fans in general, like, for some reason that, that, fan base isn't, like, as big into collecting.

So that's where it kinda goes into you really gotta study the niches of, like if you're trying to, like, say you're saying buy value and have some room, you kind of have to understand that with certain teams like the Knicks, the Eagles.

Like, these people pay super strong for even the the not biggest name players. So just understanding, you know, you really gotta, like, lock in on that.

And the only way sometimes is to buy a card of buy a big one on one of a Eagles player or buy a big one on one of this team. Like, I would have thought Spurs, that's a really they were a dynasty.

Like, you would think, like, they would be super crazy collected, but not as much as you may, as you may think as compared to other teams that were, less of a dynasty.

So, yeah, a lot of it is just getting in the mix and buying and selling them and, like, seeing, you know, certain teams and players, like Eagles.

Like, if I post a card, I already know there's three or four people. They're going to be all over me. It could be anybody. They're gonna be all over me for and a lot of times, I've sold it.

And then, like, the next day, someone wants it even more. And I'm like, I should have maybe waited a little bit because that's happened to me where they will come so strong early.

I'm like, this is too much. I really don't even care about this player that much, and I'll sell it. And, yeah, there's it's kind of just understanding the, like, the the niches within the the team and, like, the rapid fan bases.

I do think that drives value almost more than accolades. I think an example that as we're talking, I'm thinking about and thinking about your page and posting, I'd love free to maybe talk about the the nebulas at a 2024 prism.

When those, came out, you know, there was a chase, and people were buying them because people saw the qualities.

Not only aesthetically are they gorgeous, they're one of ones, but first appearance in prison football. Right. And you dude, it was like I was like, how is this dude doing this?

But you were I know you were at shows. You were just doing whatever you can to get as many as possible from my observation. Talk a little bit about that. So there was a guy who basically how much do I wanna say?

He basically he buys a lot, and a lot of breakers will contact this person with certain things that come up. You know, people hit these cards. They they're not necessarily, you know, collectors.

You know, a lot of these guys do breaks. They do team breaks, and they want players on their team. So or they just collect teams. So if they hit a player, like, let's say I'm gonna bring out this Colts one.

Like, Jonathan Taylor, he might not be a Jonathan Taylor fan, and they sell it. So this guy ended up the the product had just come out, and the guy had amassed a lot of them, but he sells strictly as a dealer.

So I actually caught him at Dallas right as that product came out, and he had a ton. And I bought a lot. I I bought a lot from him.

And, also, just from, over the years of people seeing that I buy that, that that helps a lot too. You know? When people know that you that you buy something, you know, a lot of times, it it does end up at your doorstep as a as a result.

And that's one of those reasons, like, I just mentioned earlier. When someone brings you something, I really always try to buy it because I want to always be like, I don't want them to come to me and be like, no.

He doesn't buy. He he just says he buys, but he really, he's, like, trying to get them cheap or whatever or he's too picky.

So I really try to to to do deal. Even if I end up having to to move it shortly after, I'm okay doing that so that it keeps funneling and, and coming coming coming my way.

Dude, this is, I'm I'm hearing you talk in the way you're talking about acquiring your one of ones.

It sounds very similar to how a lot of, hobby shop owners over the years have done business in terms of distribution and picking up and buying a bunch of product that might not move quickly or might not move to the price that they're getting it, but they're buying it so they continue to get more and get the good stuff when it finally comes in.

And so much of what you're doing, it sounds like, is about building the right relationships and establishing it. It's not just, like, from the phone. Right? You're out and you're at the shows. You're making those connections.

Yep. I think that's something maybe in your page that you don't get enough, maybe, credit for is just, like, how proactive you are. I think a lot of people might see cards on your page and be like, he he's not a Steelers fan.

Like, why does he have all these cards? Maybe talk about, like, the importance of building those relationships and getting out in market, how how that has been to, you know, the collection you've amassed.

So, Sean, these Steelers ones so these Steelers ones, you know, I did end up getting the Ralphies Regga and then the, the James Harrison.

But, yeah, this was a war to get. This was six months. This was every week the Steelers won. Go Steelers. Like, great game.

Talk to the guy. Like, this guy had a a good amount of Steeler stuff, and I just you know, I showed him all my blacks. You know, the people like to people don't like to sell to you knowing that you're gonna sell for the most part.

That's just a a fact. Because they so I made him let it be known, like, I'm a big collector. I explained, like, you know, this is my era. As a kid, I grew up watching the Steelers, watching Troy Polamalu, Ben Harrison.

Like, this is what I collect, the the black one zero ones. Like, I really, really would appreciate. And, like, it was always no. But maybe one day, no. No. No. No.

And then he finally said yes, and then it turned into no. And then I'm like, oh. And then I'm kinda like, man. You know? We've been really going back forth. I kinda made him feel a little bit bad about, like, saying yes and saying no.

And then he's like, yeah. You know, it's just I've had him for a while. He still has a lot, and, I ended up getting it. But, yeah, it was a it was a chase to to get those, and it wasn't it wasn't, it wasn't easy.

There was a lot there is a lot of, like, work that goes into buying these. And, you know, like, also is what's cool about them is just, like, you've mentioned the the chase and the the journey that you have to go to get some of these.

Like, I'll like, a lot of these have, like, a story behind them on, on how I ended up getting them.

Like, almost a majority of them pretty much have, like, an interesting story, an interesting story behind them, which I think is also really cool.

Well, what I wanna hear right now is I wanna hear some stories. So maybe grab some of some of your favorite cards in your collection and talk about how you acquired them.

Okay. So let's see which one do I have a story on. This one's kinda inch. This is not as good a story, but just a nice one. This is the super factor tops finest of, Randy Moss.

So finding these, like, true super factors of Randy Moss is, like, really, really tough. 2011? This is 2010. So this one was sitting on eBay, like, for a while, and the guy had kinda made it available.

And it's like one of those cards where sometimes it will sit there so long with a little bit of a high price that people get uninterested in it.

And then I kinda sense, like, okay. This guy's had this for sale for a minute. He has to be ready to sell. You know? Because this is also a guy who sells.

So sure enough, I contacted him and he messaged me, and, we were able to, get, what I thought was a really, really fair deal, considering, what that what that one is. So these did I get all of these from one guy?

I got. So these three were I had a Dirk Nowitzki twenty fourteen black prism, which was a very big card, and still is. And that to me is a card that will always, rise in in value. But this guy had someone I I specifically collect.

He had this card of Tyreek Hill, the 2018. I'd never seen a photo of it before. And then he had the 2017 Tyreek Hill. And he had this as well of from the Dolphins, Reggie Bush twenty twelve BGS 10 to boot, black.

And he had a few other things. Yeah. This guy had, like we did a big deal. It was like, I also I actually got these as well from him to continue his story.

These Black Prism Football. So at the time, specifically, I kinda got these all at a really, really good this was all from one deal. All of these were from one deal.

And I got all of these at a time where football was really lagging basketball, Black Prism. They they still are to an extent, but they were really lagging it at the time, and he didn't care for these whatsoever.

He's like, I'm off football. I'm only doing basketball. So I was able to work a big trade. And, again, a part of this was I love the Dirk.

I paid very strong for the Dirk, but I think I ended up doing, very good value wise and also, like, getting all these Tyreek Hills and that that Reggie Bush and those these, you know, 2017 is, like, one of my favorite years of the black finite.

And, you know, being the Mahomes year, I think these will be, like, a very, very, you know, special year the same way that 02/2003 tops chrome is a, is a big deal.

So, yeah, I was able to get all of those just in, just in one trade. This is, this is one that I just automatically binned. I'm a huge Sean Taylor fan, rest in peace. I went to University of Miami. This is on eBay for point one seconds.

Saw it, binned it instantly, his first black prism. I've never seen a super factor of his from his, from his playing days come available. I don't think, like, I don't even think I guess maybe someone has one, but it's never surfaced.

So when I saw this being its first one, I instantly, binned that one. What else do I have here? Trying to see with the stories. This one was, like this is kind of the the Calvin Johnson black prism 2014.

I love this photo. So that's something that I haven't spoke about. But, like, photo is a very, very big deal to me. If you have a black prism with a whack photo, to me, it just kinda kills the card.

So, like, the photo has to be nice of the player or else I I really probably won't want it. So this was a card that the guy had as his, profile picture. So a lot of people think profile picture, don't even bother asking the guy.

He's not gonna sell it, but this was, not the case. I did pay, pretty strong for it at the time, but, yeah, we were able to, to work a deal, and he he, you know, he got into that at a very good price.

So he still did very good on it, but I was able to get the, the profile picture. Then Can you can you talk about you've talked about an example of I'd imagine they were a Calvin collector and a fan by putting it in the profile picture.

Like, the challenges of getting one of ones from those types of collectors versus the other, individual who just had a bunch of black finite football stuff 2017, and they just wanted to get out of it.

Like, talk about just the dynamics when you're trying to, get those in your collection between the two sides.

To be honest with the the the the collectors who have them, like, this Calvin Johnson guy, I didn't push too hard. I wanted it. I let him know I wanted it.

Every once in a while, I would check-in. But I didn't, like, push super, super high on him, and I think that's the way people should go about it. If you become the annoying guy, then you're the last guy who's gonna get it.

So you have to kinda, like, manage, manage that. With, with some of the other people who have them, you're say if the guys don't really want them, then it's kind of pretty easy to to get it done.

You know? And to have what I really want and I know they don't really want it, then I will be very, very strong going after it. But, yeah, I don't think I have too much else regarding that.

You know, I just try to I just try to be respectful. I always try to come in with this a very if if someone's a collector collector, I try to come in with a very strong offer.

And I try to explain to them because a lot of times, they might even have it and not really understand the value of it totally because they got it a while before.

I'll try to explain to them how I came up with the number that it came up with so that, you know, they don't take, any offense to, to my offer.

But it's good to let them know that you that you want it because when they do go to sell it, they always always revert back to the guy who's asking them about it.

And I'm giving up I'm giving up a lot here. You know? But, yeah, that that is that is, how you pull off. This is another one that sat on eBay.

This is the 2013 Black Prism Jeremy Lin. So I guess this is a story on, like, where, again, where a guy had a crazy high price. He had this with a whole rainbow of, like, different things and other cards too.

So this is the first year of blacks for basketball. And, I like Jeremy Lin a lot, and he has a huge fan base in China, and also in, in Taiwan too. Actually, Taiwan might be bigger for him than, than even, China.

And, yeah, that guy had a a really, really high price. I messaged him. We went back and forth a little bit. I I did offer significantly less than he was asking because the price is just outrageous.

He kind of understood that, you know, he was high, and that's why it was sitting on eBay for so so long. And we were able to, to get a deal done. And, I think, you know, this 2013 black set, the this is to me, these are gold.

I have very, very few of these because the people who have them, again, it's like one of the one of the very, very even if they have multiple blacks, that for sure would be the last one that they're going to, to move to me.

I got I got a few of these.

This I bought. This is Jason Williams' only logo Minato. So this is a card that had it sold at a regular time in cards, would have never ever gotten it. But this sold at the bottom, bottom, bottom, like, bear market of everything.

Stocks, cards, boom. Everything was getting wrecked. This popped up. I'm like, I don't care. I'm buying this no matter what. I think I'm actually gonna get it.

I actually thought I wasn't gonna get it just because even though everything was basically in a really bad place, I still thought, like, people are gonna chase after it. It's it's the only Logos Minato of his. He has no duels.

He has I mean, he has this one duo, no single, Logos, and it's from exquisite to boot. With you know, it's funny. I'm talking about Jason Williams. Got it. Yeah. Hall of Famer. He's actually had a better career than Jason Williams.

But, yeah, that was one that I I I won publicly at auction, and I just got lucky with the timing that people were just not as, you know, crazy to spend 5 figures on any on any card, at that time.

Just incredible cards. I definitely wanna spend some time as we round this out talking about Courtside Card Show.

But before we maybe close the loop on the one of one stuff, maybe share the mindset you were in, you know, four years ago or up into the point where you started collecting one of ones just as from a collector perspective?

Like, how has that focus into the one of one market from where you were? How how much has that changed for the game for you just in terms of, opportunities, your overall enjoyment of the hobby?

Maybe just share some perspective there. I definitely enjoy it a lot more because I just opened a whole lane of buying to, like, legitimately hold long term that didn't exist before.

Before, I would buy certain things, but it was like I said, it was very, very few things that I was, like, really collecting.

And I'm also now, like basically, I'm very confident that if I buy what I like, that it will kinda rise in value as well.

So it's like a great like, it's the best because you can just buy what you like, and then it's actually gonna be a a a a great investment.

So, yeah, like, that's been, you know, way more enjoyable than just buying something to flip for the for the most part.

It's finding these really great cards that I think are gonna appreciate and value over time, and I get to enjoy them, as I hold them.

And, truly, I would I don't even though I am looking at them as great investments over time, my goal in life is to make enough elsewhere with everything else that I have going on to basically be able to keep these.

If they do, you know, five x in price, of course, that's gonna be like, okay. I may have to consider moving certain things. But if I do well enough outside, then I then I won't.

You know? So a lot of it is just continuing to, to basically do as well as I can, you know, with all the other things I have going on so that I can so that I can keep all of this because I I do really enjoy owning them.

And I no matter what, I do think that a lot of these things are, you know, forever of assets, basically, is where I've gotten to the point where's with certain things.

And I feel like that PMG Green, that conversation I had, he kinda, like, really opened and lit that that bulb.

Like, like, certain cards here are actually gonna go up forever, same way that, you know, certain stocks went you know, have gone up forever. Real estate has obviously gone up forever.

The if you own, like, these really scarce good, assets, they will just increase in price forever as people make more and more money, which people always do because things around us get more expensive, so people make more money as a result.

It will funnel into these things that people want. So, yeah, I I think people always want these.

Well, outside of building your own ridiculous one on one collection, you've got your hands on a card show that's coming up, courtside card show, May sixteenth and seventeenth in Miami at the Hyatt Regency.

Let's talk about it. I think I you've done a good job promoting it online. I've seen a lot of dealers sharing the fact that they're going to be there. I know you've done this before.

Maybe talk about what you learned from the last experience and kinda how you're modifying it for collectors going into experience and kinda how you're modifying it for collectors going into this time around.

So before, I was basic you know, when you're doing a bigger show with a good amount of tables, I just wanted to sell it out.

You know? I just wanted to get all of the tables sold. And now, kind of, like, as I know more and more people, I've made so many so much, I've built so many relationships.

I've really expanded my network over the last four years. I've gotten to the point now that I could really seek out the dealers that I wanted to come to my show. Whereas before, it's just like, hey.

You I'm doing a car show. Whoever comes to to the door, you know, I'm gonna sell them a table. Whereas now, I have these relationships that I've built and, you know, I seek out the guys who I know are the top leaders in the country.

I try to look at it like, if you're looking like a all star game where you get all the best players from all the cities, I'm getting all the best dealers from all the best cities.

I'm getting dealers who don't even set up at shows to come set up.

You know, they might sell occasion, like, will come set up at my show. Getting collectors who don't set up, trying to get them to come to the show, just, at least have their stuff out.

They do sell a little bit. Getting guys from overseas. So, yeah, I'm I'm trying much harder to get certain collectors in the room because I'm trying to build the card show that I would wanna go to.

And I think there's other shows that have done a a a good job, but I still feel like it it could be even better. And, yeah, that's, kind of been my mindset is get the dealers that I want.

A lot of the guys who, let's say, sell, like, the more base, the more, let's say, like downtowns, kabooms, you know, those guys are gonna end up in the room as dealers no matter what.

Like, you're gonna be able to find those guys because they exist. They're plentiful. There's so many people that buy and sell that stuff. I'm not hating on that, by the way.

There's demand for it, clearly. So you're always gonna have those type of dealers. Like, dealers who that specialize in exquisite, dealers that specialize in extremely rare nineties, those are not a dime a dozen.

I've gone to shows before where there's not one exquisite card in the whole room, that there's not one PMG in the whole room.

I want my show to be the opposite of that, where you're going, how the heck is there so much exquisite in here?

How is there so many PMGs? Are these things, like, not rare? Like, what's going on here? So that's kind of, like, where my brain went that I wanna have just, like, the best best inventory of cards.

And, like, the other stuff that people are gonna want will will be in there by by default and try to get, like, those, specific, you know, guys in the room.

So it sounds like you wanna walk into the room and it look like a museum of just incredible cards in a way.

And it's I love the fact that you're thinking about differentiation, maybe, like, tactically, and I know Billy at a card show isn't, it's not a glamorous thing. It's there's a lot of work that goes into it.

But, like, how do you I know you're you're talking about the cards, the dealers, the relationship, but, like, maybe tactically talk through how you are making this show different than anything else out there right now.

I guess tactically, you know, we do think, okay. We wanna have exquisite. We wanna have the nineties.

But we also wanna have Pokemon as well because at the end of the day, there's a lot of attendees who come to a card show, so you need to have Pokemon. So we actually made like, one of our flyers has a Pokemon characters on it.

We put a Pokemon song in the background, and then we do an Instagram ad on that. We put that on TikTok. We put that on Instagram so that we can lure, the Pokemon collectors.

Obviously, I don't post any Pokemon. So that stuff is is a little bit more difficult for us to get through the doors, but that's something that that that we did. We basically vintage guys are really tough to find.

Like, really good vintage, those guys don't I mean, they're older. They travel even less. So we have to, like, call those guys, you know, figure it out with them. A lot of times, they have, like, huge collections.

They're a little bit more old school. They wanna have a a safe behind their table. So we have to, you know, sort out the safe for them because, you know, they they want you to take care of that for them.

So, like, a lot of it is, like, just asking people who are the top vintage guys, like, with with the Pokemon, and just specifically, like, it's hand to hand combat.

It's find these guys, go to card shows, see them at the card show. This guy is the guy we wanna have. You know?

So me and my partner, Nick Guilliano, we've gone to a lot of the shows, and we've, you know, given the flyers, you know, spoke to the people, followed up to try to get them, to come to our show as well as, like, all the corporate vendors.

You know? That's an important thing.

That also lures better vendors to come to the show when they see Golden's Air, Heritage, Alt. Through the relationships I've built over the years, you know, we've been able to get commitments from them to, to come to the show.

So yeah. And a lot of it is social media. For us, that's, like, our biggest, mode of of Instagram of, of marketing. So a lot on Instagram, when you spend a ton on on ads, you know, pops up on people's page.

I'm sure more than they even like, like. But, you know, that's that's what we want. We want people to get sick of seeing it because then, you know, we've known that we've exhausted every resource to get it, to get it in front of them.

When when dealers and collectors leave Courtside Card Show this year, when the dust settles, like, what is the feedback that you wanna hear from them that validates all the work you did and and validates the experience that you're trying to create?

So from the dealers, you want it to to be just successful in terms of the selling as well as buying because it's great when dealers like, at my last show, Coleman cards was able to buy a topscomb gold of, of weight.

They've come down in value, but at the time, that was, like I mean, it still is a big card.

It was a super massive card back then. So I want the dealers to sell really well, and I also want them, you know, to, like, oh, look at what I was able to buy from a guy who came up to my table.

And just, you know, a safe environment when, you know, don't nothing no one gets anything stolen and, just an overall good vibe.

We do have a DJ on our show. It's a little different than other shows. We try to create a a good vibe. So for the dealers, you know, that they have a good vibe, that they, you know, just have a good time, that they sell.

Maybe they're able to buy some really cool stuff. For the attendees, you know, you want them to be able to add to their collection.

And then also for, like, a lot of the guys who come sometimes are repackers that they're able to buy for the repack, which I I know they will. Because these the dealers that we have coming are gonna have a lot of nice stuff.

So for the attendees that they're able to well, number one, add cards to their collection. Also, for some attendees that, like, dream of owning these cards, the opportunity just to see them.

You know? Like, I, I never bring out my collection really, but for the show, I'm gonna bring it out, and then there's gonna be guys who have way better collections than me, but they're gonna bring their stuff.

Some of it will be for sale. So for the attendees, just, you know, have a good time, be able to buy some cards, be able to also maybe sell to these dealers who are gonna be there who, you know, pay pay fair, pay strong.

And then, you know, just opportunity to get to, to see some of this stuff.

And then we have a special special event outside of the show that, you know, we think is gonna be something that's talked about for a long time that hasn't really been done in sports cards.

I don't wanna give too much away. I don't want it to be a surprise.

But, yeah, we're trying to do you know, given that 98% of the revenue in a card show is adults buying from adults, we thought that it'd be smart to do an event outside the show for adults, and really cater to them because they are the the they're the driver of the show without, you know, without the adults coming in and selling and spending, the show wouldn't exist.

So really trying to cater to, to them, especially since also since it's a little bit more of a of a collector show.

I'd say a little bit more high end. You know, a lot of the dealers I get are traveling in. Guys who travel in, typically, they don't sell a little more low end stuff.

They really do kinda specialize in higher end stuff. I wanna have a really nice high end event, that, you know, after the show, you guys we're getting a lot of content from it.

It's gonna be good. And, yeah, people will get to see this, special event that we think has been sorely lacking in the in the hobby.

So we've got about, I don't know, three weeks or so until the courtside card show. I'd imagine, like, this is the crunch time.

A lot of work, and a lot of moving pieces happening. Maybe let everyone know what's happen like, what is on your agenda? Like, what are you focused on? And maybe talk about just roadblocks, opportunities, that sort of thing.

In terms of roadblocks, it's not much. A lot of what needed to be done for the show has actually already been done. You know, we don't wait till last minute to do these things.

It's a big show. There's thousands of people gonna come. There's hundreds of vendors coming. So, you know, you have a lot of this stuff taken care of way in advance. A lot of the heavy lifting was probably done in the last two months.

You know, you just have to now see that everything kinda comes together, but, you know, all the staff, all the the venue, this event that we're talking about, it's already basically planned and ready to go, and there's not too much left for, left for us to do, going going forward in terms of, like, opportunities.

You know you know, it's funny because I say grow the show, but I don't actually necessarily think that makes a show better.

But, of course, as a showrunner, you'll you make more as the show gets bigger. But I actually think this show is gonna be the perfect size show where it's big, but it's not too big.

Because I do think there is an element where shows get too too big, and I don't know. I feel like if you have a show like the one that we're having with, like, 250, three hundred tables in a 30,000 square foot venue, I don't know.

I think so. It's gonna just feel very special. Like, every single table is gonna have something good, and I feel like that hasn't you just don't see that at at, other shows.

So but, yeah, obviously, growing the show, that is a that is a part of it. And, you know, we'll try to grow it in the same and keep it keep it the same, though.

You know? Not grow it and, like, change up all of a sudden. There's, like, all types of different stuff at the show. But but, yeah, that's that's where we're at right now.

Courtside card show is on May 16, May seventeenth. Anthony, maybe let everyone know people listening to this conversation, learning about Courtside card show for the first time might be available.

Those dates might not have even heard about it even though you've been pushing the Instagram ads.

Maybe they're not on Instagram. Where do you recommend, people kinda get more information? What's the best place? So at Quartet Card Show is the name of the Instagram, then there's website QuartetCardShow.

Com that has a lot of information, and then there's me. Summertime 01:01, you can contact me direct, and I'm happy to answer, anyone's questions that they have.

You know, feel free to contact me contact me direct, and I can, I can answer anything any questions that they have? I'm excited to, see all the posts, all the bangers.

I'm sure there's gonna be some insane cards in that room. Anthony, it's been a blast, learning about your one of one collection, your mindset mentality, and just kinda how you've transitioned your focus into that.

I think we see all these cards you're posting on, Instagram regularly, and it's good to kinda get some background from you on just how you're making that happen.

And, obviously, Courtshead Card Show, if you're in Florida, South Beach, any of that area, or you wanna travel, get away from a bit that get away from a bit, there's worse places you can go.

So definitely go check it out. Hopefully, we'll do this next conversation, and it won't be, four years in between the next, but always appreciate our interactions, man. Thanks for coming on. Yep. Thanks for having me.