Welcome back, loyal listeners, to the stacking slabs podcast two, season four, episode four of the WNBA card podcast. My name is Caitlin. I go by at cold lunch cards on the Instagram machine and on a couple other places on the Internet. And today, I am so excited to introduce our next guest on this series that we've been doing of the oral narration of WNBA cards along the growth of the league. And today, I'm excited to introduce you guys to Elodie who goes by at e gints five on Instagram.

She's a international collector hailing from France who has an incredible Sue Bird personal collection. So we're gonna get all into, the next turning point of the WNBA. So if you've been following along, episode one was kind of the intro episode where we talk about high level overview of what we're trying to do here. Episode two, we had Cindy from at Giant Legends come on and talk all about vintage, women's basketball cards dating from the nineteen twenties, even earlier than that. And then last week, we had on the one, the only, Anne Marie from at women on tops to talk about the birth of the league from 1997 to 2002, which brings us to today.

We're gonna be talking all about Suber, Diana Terasi, and the international impact on the game. Elodie, how are you doing today? Are you excited for today's podcast? Thanks for having me. Doing good.

Honestly, tough job going after Anne Marie. I mean, I was like Yeah. She's a tough follow-up. She's definitely one of those keys. She's a wealth of knowledge.

Yeah. For sure. Dig into w n b a cards and stuff. So Awesome. I mean, why don't you give us Why don't you introduce yourself to the listeners if they don't follow you on Instagram or they don't know you?

Why don't you let everybody know what you're about, what you're doing here? Yeah. So well, my name is Elodie. I'm French. So bear with my English.

It's been a long time. I'm at a real conversation. Yeah. So I'm just basically a random Sue Bird collector, which happens to have a lot of cards, but I just collect, like, all w and b cards, but, yeah, mostly storm and and Sue Bird. Yeah.

Beautiful. Well, we're gonna get into the suebird of it all. That's what I'm most excited to talk to you about. But before we get to that, just to set some context here, I think that we're gonna start by talking about our normal kind of run of show that we do here on this on this episode, which is that we wanna talk about the context of where we're at, where Sue Bird and where these players kind of lie in the timeline that we've been talking about. So I wanna talk to you about kind of Sue Bird's entrance to the league.

As we all know, her iconic rookie cards from the early two thousands, but I wanna talk to you about what was happening during that time in the WNBA. Did you were you watching the WNBA at this time? I wasn't. I wasn't. I started watching around 2018, so much later.

Much later. Yeah. So when you were watching, that means that Sue Bird had been playing for, what, sixteen sixteen years? Yeah. Do you ever go back and watch Sue Bird highlights from the early two What did what was kind of the the vibe of the league that you got at that time?

Yeah. I think it was like a transition phase. They had, like, you know, a team that were already, you know, settled, the Sparks and Detroit. You're on the Griffiths with the the Monarchs and stuff. And then came, like, new new players, especially from Yukon, you know, like, real dynasty.

So it kind of changed the the league a little bit. And, yeah, the style of play was really different from now. Much more like post player, defensive player, big big in the post, so really different from now. I mean, guards were, you know, mostly facilitating the game, not really scoring. So That's kind of a good cue for the Sue Bird of it all.

When Sue Bird entered the league in 2002, she came from the powerhouse that won Yukon basketball. Right? And so when we look at Sue Bird's, card catalog, not only do we have the storm, but we also have Yukon cards. I was just wondering if you had any thoughts. You know, obviously, you're not in America, but you have the recognition of the Yukon name.

Did Yeah. I suppose over there, is Yukon's dominance just as known? When you think about Sue Bird, do you imagine her in a in a Yukon uniform, or do you imagine her in a storm uniform? No. In a storm uniform.

Of course. Even though Yukons I just realized that. But yeah. I mean, in France, we don't have, you know, like, NCAA and stuff. We don't have, like, sports so much.

It's not really as developed as in The US, so we don't have we have, like, no idea if you're not, like, interested into sports. Mhmm. We have no idea. Interesting. Interesting.

Okay. So your thoughts, I suppose, I wanna pick your brain a little bit on collecting WNBA cards. I suppose. You could put yourself in the shoes of somebody that was collecting cards in that era that Sue Bird entered the scene. Do you think that people saw Sue Bird's entrance as kind of this pivotal moment in the WNBA of superstars entering?

And do you think that people kind of started to shift their thoughts around what WNBA collecting could mean? Right. Actually, I'm not so sure about it. I don't know. But I think they were more like, you know, just like people collecting community.

Yeah. Collecting they they were like team I mean, collecting teams and sets, not really players. So but I'm but from what I've heard, it's it was more like, you know, yeah, people collecting teams and Yeah. Unlike payers. Do you have any thoughts about it?

I have thoughts. So I think that in in the early two thousands, people were definitely more drawn to the franchise of it all just with the lack of media attention and the lack of investment. It felt it made more sense to always hone into a city instead of a player. And I think Sue Bird and players like Sue Bird and Diana Trossi that entered during this time changed that. And I kinda wanna dig into the cards and the manufacturers that make up Sue Bird's catalog because that's your your specialty.

Right? Like, that's your expertise. When you when you close your eyes and you think about those mani those sets and manufacturers of early Sue Bird cards, Are there any design cues that speak to you as a collector? You could be, like, photography or style that feel kind of emblematic of that era. I mean, I think Ann Marie touched it, but our first game, Jersey material card, I mean, it's undefeated.

Why is that? Why does that speak to you? I mean, it's just like, you know, history, like basketball history. It's it's like you own a little piece of the game. I mean, I I was wishing that they'd made a, like, last game jersey patch or something.

But yeah. I mean, it would have been, like, you know, crazy. It's probably, like, the first and last one. We need to get you in the Design Room at Panini for that to pitch. Yeah.

I mean yeah. This I don't know. Fair enough. That's really, really important, Carl, I think. Yeah.

Absolutely. Were there any other kind of, like, cues or parallels or production decisions that you think those cards followed that kinda stand out from how Mhmm. They're playing. Really like the the redemption card. I mean, the rookie redemption is kinda crazy, I think.

Yeah. Why don't you I mean, it makes it even more scarce. You know? Mhmm. And the fact that you can, like, still find the redemption card, it means they didn't redeem all of them.

So you don't know how many of them are in the market. Yeah. I think that that was something yeah. Sorry. Go ahead.

No. So, yeah, I think it's interesting. That's definitely a different angle that you know, in the last episode, Anne Marie talked a lot about the idea of redemption cards and how that was a different distribution method that, you know, didn't really happen in in WNBA before. And so when we talk about that for people that are unfamiliar, you could pull a redemption card and it would say, send it back in, and then you'll get a later team. Yeah.

Crazy. Which also is, like, when you when you add the layer of international collecting to that, it becomes even more confusing and complicated because how much longer would it take to get that shipped? That's just like another thing that popped into my head. But okay. When you think about this is what I kinda wanna get into is when you think about Ricky cards of Steward or Diana Terasi who came just a little bit later, How do you think that at the time people were looking at those rookie cards?

Do you think they saw them as a way to make money, or do you think they just No. No. It was just, like, you know, community based and people, like, you know, enjoying the sports, enjoying collecting cards, I guess. But, yeah, you are, like, new breakers at the time, no investors and stuff. I mean, it's been crazy lately, I think.

Yeah. I wanted to I wanted to elaborate, I guess, on why you think like, what what what pulled you in then, I suppose, to that kind of collecting? If it wasn't the monetary promise of, oh, I think Sue Bird's gonna be a generational talent. Right? Yeah.

What was what was it that kinda made you wanna pick up a card instead of, say, a jersey or another piece of money? What about the cards? Cards? I don't know. It's weird because actually in France, we we don't collect so much.

I mean, we don't have, like, you know, a local card shop and anything. So when I, you know, like, show my collection to people in France, it's I basically don't know what it's then. So I don't know. I I really like collecting anything regarding sports. You know?

I have, like, jersey, shoes, and all kind of stuff. But, yeah, cards, it's I don't know. I mean, it's easy to collect in a way. Like, you can store them, and you can, like, you know, check on your collection, go by. So yeah.

Yeah. I wanna I wanna hear more about the kind of I'm kind of jumping around here, but I wanna hear more about you mentioned there's no local card shops in France. None. No. So Now we have, like, Pokemon card shop, but no sports card shop.

Okay. So if people are listening in France, there's a market opportunity here because that's a gap. People like that over there who are collecting and collecting very intense intensely and intentionally. Okay. So that's interesting.

So if you're if we're thinking about how an international collector approaches Mhmm. Buying, selling, trading cards, can you can you tell the audience what that's like? Like, I'm so curious what that So mostly, I started buying on eBay, cards on eBay. Also, on check out my cards website. So that was easy because they are, like, a lot of inventory so you can because also the issue is, like, shipping the cards and custom fees and all of this kind of it's crazy expensive.

So you have to be, you know, strategic when you're buying. So I do have a mailbox in The US. So I have my card shipped to The US, and then I make this huge shipment to friends, which is always stressful when you have, like, great cards in it because it's like it's like, you know, precious. Yeah. Absolutely.

Want it to get lost in the mail. You know? So when you think about collecting, you know, a lot of what you've hit on, we've we've been recording for twelve minutes now. And Mhmm. And the number of times I've heard the word community mentioned.

It's it's it's a lot, you know, why people collect. When you have a lack of the infrastructure, when you're collecting physically, so that means you have to wait ex like, lots of time to get your hands physically on the cards. You don't have a card shop that you can walk into and talk to folks about it. Mhmm. How do you how do you cultivate that community aspect?

Is that something that you try to prioritize through cards? Is there some way that you do that? Yeah. So I made some friends on, like, you know, Facebook groups and stuff. So, like, Anne Marie, you know, we talked a lot, and she had me I helped her with some European cards, and it was really, I mean, I'm really grateful from people like her and some others on the group.

So, yeah, kind of chatting about cards and stuff. I do have friends in France who collect also, so it was it was funny. Once we bought a an Obby box, a Panini one from I think it was, like, 2021. So it costed, a huge amount of money, you know, and we were, like, sharing the cards. It was funny because we were, like, you know, getting excited over base cards, which now are, like, overproduced.

You know? But you couldn't you couldn't get them and buy them in French, you know, without going on some websites and stuff. So and they actually so, obviously, you know, I I pulled the storm cards, you know. I mean, I bought the spots storm spots, you know. And I eat it, a Stewicolor Blast, which is crazy when you think about it.

Super hard to pull. Yeah. Alright. So it so there it's not like there's a an absence. There are people over in France, like, you Yeah.

Go ahead. Share love. Yeah. Really? Okay.

Good. That makes me feel better. I was like, hey. Yeah. Sure.

I mean, it's people are, like, collecting NBA cards and stuff, but, yeah, we don't have, like, local card shop. It's a so you you can, like, buy them on websites or, like, if you go to the NBA store, but they only have, like, NBA, no WNBA. So Got it. Okay. Okay.

So I kinda wanna dig into one of the big segments that I wanted to kind of, hear your thoughts on are this is this idea of Sue Bird and Diana Terasi, if you can speak to her at all, as collecting anchors for an entire generation of fans. Right? When I when I think about Sue Bird and Diana Terrazzi, the words icon, superstar, those types of things, kinda when you entered the WNBA hobby in, say, 2018 around that time Mhmm. Do you think that Bird and Diana Terrazzi were viewed as icons, or do you think they were still kind of you thought they were kind of still under the radar? I think they were icons already in 2018.

And I wanna give the media coverage wasn't the same as as right now. You know? So people who are, like, going to games knew it. You know? It was just, like, the main mainstream people.

I mean, it wasn't covered, so you wanna know. Yeah. That makes sense. Nothing about it. So I wanna hear from you just because, you know, when I when I say Sue Bird, super collector, I think that's an understatement.

You've got some really impressive cards. But what do you think makes Sue Bird or a player like Sue Bird iconic? Why do they fall into that? It's not just what's happening on the court. Right?

But what do you what do think about her in this category? So I think for me, it's, like, longevity. I mean, the way she, like, stay with the storm, it's like like a her always she's facilitating the game. It's like she's always, like, a bit under the waiter, not the biggest horror on the team. You know?

So that speaks to me a lot. And, yeah, I mean, we're basically almost the same age, so it's kind of maybe, you know, like, you're talking about generation stuff. Like, so that's it speaks And, to also, I mean, it's like I really like the the idea of the d t and super duo, you know, over it's like a twenty a two decade friendship in Waverly. I mean, it would have been if, like, social media would have been this huge at the time, I mean, it would have blown up. I mean, it's crazy.

Even in Yukon, you know, there were, like, so many material too. Absolutely. That that would have been like the NIL honeypot. Think. It's crazy.

Okay. So That can be different. Yeah. For sure. So I wanna hear, Elodie, if you could tell us how you kind of got into Sue Bird.

Like, I just don't imagine that Sue Bird is being marketed like crazy in France. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe she like, what is it that drew you into her as a player? You mean okay. So it was, like, during the 2018 semifinal.

You know, they started the like, WNBA players started tweeting about it. And I was like, okay. I need to check this out. And then I got, like, I don't know. I got hooked.

I mean, the semifinal was, I mean, one of the best series of all time. So, yeah, I got off with this. And then, yeah, I started really collecting during the pandemic, like a lot of people, I guess. I don't know. So Was it during the pandemic, were you reaching back to something you used to collect and now you're kind of boomeranging back, or was it a completely new concept too?

I collected, like, NBA cards when I was a kid. So, yeah, I always like collecting stuff. Yeah. But, yeah, I was like, you know, I kinda started checking WNBA card. So I I got hooked.

I love it. Could you could you kinda tell me you know, you mentioned the twenty eighteen semifinals, but are there any other kind of specific moments? Did you ever see Suburd in person? Were there any stories? Like, I I wanna hear it all.

Okay. So I met her in Serbia, actually, when they were doing the Olympic qualification tour for for Tokyo. So it was already you know, COVID has started in China. So they had, like, two two groups actually over here. And it's crazy because there was no one there.

I mean, literally. I mean, it it was crazy. I just like it was the first time I met, like, USA basketball players. And they were, like I mean, BG were there, Sylvia Farz. I chatted with Sylvia Farz.

Sue, of course, Joe Lloyd, Skyler. I mean, it was a Jesse Gray. It was totally unreal. Could totally different from, you know, the WA. Like, if you go to to Seattle games and stuff where it's it's always crowded.

Mean, there was no one there after the game. Only this I mean, only for the Serbian versus USA, it was packed. And then there were, like, games, like it was, like, Nigeria against Mozambique. So it was so, yeah, it was crazy. Okay.

So I have it over there. Yeah. And, yeah, with chitchat and stuff. And she gave me her shoes after so I I know. I know.

So that kind of, you know, I guess that's when I was hooked. You know? Yeah. So when you got to when you got to chat with who I'm assuming is your favorite player ever, can you can you share what you guys talked about? Like, did it cultivate your fandom even further, or was it, like, one of those moments where you're, like, never meet your heroes?

No. She we chatted about sneakers, actually. Really? Okay. Yeah.

Because I was waiting before they came into the arena, and I entered a storm jersey. Actually, it's the first game I wore I was, like, front row with my yellow jersey with surrounded by Serbian fans who were, like, just looking at me weirdly. So it's kind of, you know, in she knew, like, what I was where I was. And then the next day the next day, sorry, I was waiting for that to come to the arena, and I had the jersey for her to sign. And it was, like, really cold.

It was in February, and we are, like, nowhere to sign. So I kind of, you know, ended up my my leg so she couldn't sign on it, and she saw my sneakers. And we started talking about shoes, and I guess that's why she gave me a shoe at the the end of the tournament. Oh, that is that is, like, iconic. I I think if somebody if a play one of my favorite players did that, they'd move to the top of my list for sure.

So I completely understand. Okay. Yeah. Okay. I wanna give you the space.

If there's any other cool stories that you had about meeting Sue Bird, please do tell. Otherwise, we can get into a little bit more of the cards. So I went to her last game in New York in 2022. Yeah. I I flew three times to The US in 2022 because I kinda sensed it was gonna be a last season.

So I went in May and for the GT Super game in in Seattle. So I started like, it was a week over there. So they had, like, three own game closed because I had I had, like when I traveled to The US for games, I always, like, choose some periods where there are, like, a few own games in a short period of time, you know, to kind of solve the most games possible. And then it was actually a friend oops. Sorry.

I I met in in Serbia, and she was like, what are you doing in June? And I was like, why? And she said, okay. Subaru is coming is going to New York to she's gonna play there. Do you wanna come?

I was so, yeah, I kinda tricked my wife into a New York trip. I will. And, yeah, she was playing also in Connecticut first. So I took a train to to Connecticut to see them at the. It was, like, two days before the New York game.

And then she announced it was her her last season, so I was kinda and then I came back to Seattle for a last long game. Oh. I was depressed. Oh, I was Yeah. I bet.

I bet. That's that's pretty iconic, though. I cannot I cannot fathom that there would be somebody that's more dedicated to seeing their favorite player player than that amount of, mileage that you put on in that. Yeah. I don't know.

I'm still broke. I know. Okay. So please please do tell me. Like, I I have players that I see them in person, or I I kinda take it for granted.

You know? I live in the same city as my favorite team. And, you know, as long as I can, you know, put together the $50 to get to the nosebleeds, like, it's not really a problem for me to go see them. When you got to see Sue Bird and you kinda had this realization that she was not gonna be playing anymore, like, did that make you wanna collect her more, or did you feel like Yeah. I'm curious.

In a way, yeah. For sure. Okay. I think in a way, for sure. Yeah.

Did it feel kinda like It's been really hard of when she retired for me to get back to watching games because, actually, I I've watched that. You know? When you're watching games, it's like it's 4AM in Europe for Pacific time. You know? So I followed the season.

So I'm always, like, jet lagged and stuff. So when she popped also, I had a newborn at that time. So it was, like, it was so funny. Sometimes I was feeding the baby and watching the video games. Was funny.

But yeah. So when she stopped, I was like, okay. Should I put my four AM alarm to watch a game or not? And I kind of, you know, stopped watching, and then it's hard getting back to games when they're, like, all during the nights to catch them. So I'm still watching, but not as much.

Yeah. You know? But week ups and stuff, but Yeah. It's like I was kind of, you know yeah. A little bit depressed, I am, I should say.

Also, and Stu would have to was tough to watch sometimes. Yeah. I I hear that completely. Okay. I kinda wanna I kinda wanna pivot a little bit to the cards.

Now we I feel like the audience now understands just how much of a Sue Bird fan you are. I don't think I completely grasp it. Like, the concept of going to Serbia and going to New York and Connecticut and Seattle to just see, like, your favorite player is pretty dedicated. And I think a lot of people respect that. And so because of that, I wanna dig into what you think Sue Bird's kind of most important cards are.

I wanna hear your opinions as both a collector, but also as somebody, you know, looking at cards. Do you do you think there's any cards that aged really well from that period, from her early years? I I want your takes. Yeah. So, I mean, the favorite card is probably one of I mean, most iconic one.

I that's a card I've never seen, actually. It's the season crown from twenty o it's like a five, but I've never seen one. Never? I would know. I've never I wish I wish it.

Yeah. Also, there's, like, God Medallion from twenty o two from a Wookiee year. It's, like, kind of '25. There was one sale. I sold, like, for 5 k, I think, which I don't know.

I don't know. I was broke from all the travel store. There was no way I could buy it from them. But I was like, should I buy another? Fair enough.

But yeah. Do you think there's any like, all the on carotene. Okay. Yeah. I think we we never, like mean, we are lacking some some stuff right now with Panini.

I mean, the sticker or the others. Yeah. I mean, we never realized back then that we are, like, crazy cards, actually. So when you when you look back, I mean, I just wanna kinda carry that line through this this idea just so that folks, like, capture is the fact that there was really high quality on card autos of Sue Bird and other superstars that came out with Rittenhouse, which, you know, arrived in 2005, 2006 time. But now, they're mostly sticker autos, like you just said.

Mhmm. Do you think that those those cards from back in the day that are on card or maybe there's a little bit shorter print, do you think they're still underappreciated, or do you think people are starting to catch up? I think they're starting to catch up. Starting? Yes.

Starting. Well, you know, there's been the release, the impeccable release with OnCardOutto. So now I guess people are like, no. Oh, they're nice. You know?

And maybe just thinking that they should buy, like, all the cards and stuff. In your PC, do you make any rules for yourself on those types of cards? Do you allow yourself to have on card or not the sticker autos, or do you only buy the on card autos? No. I do have the stickers at all.

All of Of course. No. No. That there are too many one on ones now. Yeah.

So I started I have some leaf cards, you know, that are unlicensed. At first, I was, like, buying them, and then I just, like, kind of, you know, let them go a little bit. But then I they are, like, this crazy this crazy card for it was, like, fourth of July, I think. They did, like, a kind of series. And there was one with a hot dog at the background.

I mean, there was no way I couldn't buy a odd dog super car. You know? I was like, what is this? That's hilarious. That's, like, the most American car.

Yeah. There you go. That's like a pyro power net, the odd dog, and the one that was just, like, the American flag, I think. I just bought the odd dog one. Just trying to have it.

That's that's really funny. Okay. So we've touched on your collection spanning, you know, Sue Bird, Ricky cards, Jersey cards, autos, parallels, one of ones. Your collecting philosophy seems broad, but it just to be clear, is is Sue Bird the only player that you collect or is there No. No.

I do have, like, some the base sets from most years. I I collect all storms player, LJ a lot. We like LJ. Actually, one one of my favorite card is from think it's twenty o four. It's like a jewel material card from the twenty o four championship.

It's LJ and super jerseys. Of I course. Of course. Back back when they used to do that. Those Lauren Jackson cards, I, like, can see them in my head.

Like, I can picture them. I just wish we would bring those back. Like, those she had some of the best looking cards ever. I'll stand by that. Okay.

So that was a perfect sell. You just, like, segued me perfectly into my next question, which is that, you know, we're talking about Sue Bird. We're talking about Diana Terrazzi. Another name that just came up is Lauren Jackson. But this era that we're talking about today, which is, like, the Sue Bird era, are there any other names that stick out to you as a collector from those years?

Yeah. Maya. Maya Moore, of course. Okay. Let me think.

I mean, much like earlier, I'll swing cash. I guess it's from, you know, Yukon legacy. I mean, yeah, Simon Augustus is underrated. I feel like let me think. Let me think.

Oh, Sylvia Powers. I'm loving this list. It's like Yukon, Linx. Like, that's, like Yeah. Perfect list for me.

Okay. Cool. I mean, links are the is a dynasty as much as, you know, storm or sparks or you know? Like, please, I will let you speak for hours about how great the links are if you'd like to. Lindsay Wayland.

100%. Okay. Okay. The next thing that we kinda wanted to talk about for the listeners, and we've we've hit on it throughout, and it's obvious by how we've been talking about, is the international reach and collecting perspective. And before we hit record, we were talking about kind of the difficulties of collecting internationally.

You touched on it a little bit. But do you think during this era or, you know, you said you weren't really you weren't really into it until 2018, but maybe you could just speak to it from 2018 onward. I wanna hear how visible the WNBA is over in Europe, specifically in France. What's it like? I mean, you talk about having to wake up at four in the morning to watch games, but there's gotta be a there's gotta be fans.

There's gotta be a community of some kind. Can you tell can you tell me about that? So I guess it was mostly, yeah, Euroleague games. You know? That's how you could, like, watch American players.

I mean, they are, like, crazy stacked team. And it was, like, you know, you could, like, watch them, like, in person in, like, small French town, which is crazy if you think about it. I guess it's gonna change with the and all the this league now, which is better, I guess, for the player, of course. But it was for for European a way to to enjoy, like, American players. Yeah.

Did you make did you make your way over to a lot of EuroLeague games? Have you attended a bunch of them? No. I haven't at the time. No.

You gotta get to them. I would be going I would be going to inject a little bit of my personal collecting. One of my favorite players is France's very own, Marine Johannes. And so Mhmm. If I had the opportunity, if I was over there, I'd be at every single one of her games.

Oh, yeah. True. I I Actually, I I have an iconic picture of, Gabby William, Marine Johannes, and me on the liberty at the liberty game. No way. Yeah.

I sent it to you. That's awesome. Like, you're you're just like I bet by now they're they're recognizing you at these places. They're like, oh, it's it's the French woman who comes to Yeah. I get the William Wells.

It was funny. She she actually went and stopped her car and asked me in French because she knew I was French. Like, I and she, like, texted Sue to tell her that I was waiting for her. So That's awesome. That's like a different level of, connection that you can't even get from cards, just that kind of person.

I love that. Okay. Okay. I wanna talk a little bit about access of cards. You touched on it with the fact that you have to, you know, buy things online.

You have to wait. You have to have an address in The US. Do you feel like that that takes away from your collecting experience? Or do you have any you know, I'll I'll say this. I'll rephrase.

I'll say this. I've had people who reach out that listen to the podcast, and they're collecting in Germany. They're collecting in France. They're collecting in Belgium. Do you have any advice for those people that are doing that?

No. Not really, but they can reach me out if you if they need some cards. Okay. Yeah. I've realized, like, on some groups that there were some European people.

So I was like, okay. Just, you know, get in touch with me, and I'm I'm always trying to help people and stuff. Yeah. Yeah. Fair enough.

I think that that's a good idea for anybody. Whether or not you're in The US or you're across the pond, finding your people is really important in the home. Yeah. Mhmm. You know?

So I I completely agree with that. Okay. Here's a here's another question I'll hit you with, which is global fans might look at or global collectors might look at cards differently. When you look at the typical American collector compared to yourself or the typical European collector, do you see any differences, or do you think we're we're all bound together by the love of of cards? Oh, I think we're mostly bound together.

I don't see much of a difference. Really? Yeah. I think so. I'm just trying to think deeper.

No. I I Yeah. Think so. I mean, there are also all kind of collectors, actually. It's like, I'm mostly, you know, player driven and team driven.

But, yeah, I think there are there's something for everybody in the RB. Even though they're like, you know I don't know. Since, you know, Caitlin came in, it's just, I think, became like a some sometimes, you know, like, you have, like, crazy crazy expensive cards and that people, you know, can buy. So I'm like I don't know. I guess it's good for for the business and stuff.

Sometimes I'm like, yeah. I don't know. I don't if you have, like, a solid value of this. Or I hear you on that. I hear you on that.

Okay. I kinda wanna I kinda wanna move into we talked about Subur's kind of most important cards, the cards that the players and cards that define the era. We talked about your, personal collecting philosophy. We talked about the global reach of the game, and I kinda wanna talk about significance. And we've been, like, kind of beating around the bush on this idea of DT and Sue Bird being these icon.

But I wanna hear your thoughts as somebody who's fully bought into how amazing Sue Berg is and all the players that we mentioned. How do you think that, you know, we're gonna look back in five to ten years or even a longer time horizon and think about this period? What are your thoughts? Yeah. I mean, I think they really, like, you know, set the foundation for today's game.

I mean, when you listen to the way they had to travel, like the, you know, the facilities and stuff. It was crazy. I mean, when I saw in Serbia where they were staying, you know I mean, the arena, it was well, also it's like, you know, like a sovietic kind of stuff. But, yeah, I was like, man, they are like, you know, Olympic and world champion, and they have, like you know, it was like this high school gym. You know?

Like, I'm like, what are they doing? So, yeah, I think the players new players, like, should be grateful for what all these all the players went through and fought fought for, you know, during CBAs and stuff. Because there's always been a first, and then you can build on the first negotiation and always start to to get more. Absolutely. Absolutely.

I think that's a really good way of looking at it is kind of the that Suber, Diana Trossi, and players that we've been talking about are kind of the the shoulders that we stand on today. And I I think when we think about modern card collecting, it's it's a good parallel, you know, to to to to draw is that, you know, modern collectors need to look back on this space, and remember where where it came from and the players that built. So I think that makes complete sense. I I completely agree. Okay.

Did you have any other I I wanna leave it open, but do you have any other ideas or thoughts on, you know, their influence on today's collecting? Do you think that, people are still still collecting Sue Bird and DT cards despite the fact that they've been out for a few a few years? Do you think that their legacy is gonna gonna sustain for that long? Yeah. I think they will.

I mean, mostly for, you know, big cards, like rookie cards and stuff. Yeah. I mean, it's like two decades of WNBA story. It's it cannot be raised, you know, Even if you had didn't have, like, the media coverage or social media and stuff, it's it's there. I mean, real people who went to the game knows.

So Yeah. You were there. You know? I'm I'm so jealous. I got to see Sue Bird her last game in Minnesota.

Oh, nice. Yeah. The DT I actually watched watched her against Minnesota in the the Really? In the last season. Yeah.

Yeah. It was the Yeah. Of course. But Yeah. It was the Sylvia Fowles jersey retirement.

Yeah. Okay. Look at that. Same wavelength. Okay.

So the way that we've been finishing these episodes, Elodie, is that we asked each guest to come up with a canon. You know, we've been building a canon of of different cards, and we ask each guest to pick out four cards that they think represent the era or the players that we've been talking about. Mhmm. Because I wanna hear your thoughts on four cards that you think maybe represent this. So I'd go with the Flea Ultra super card rookie card.

I'll take her Flea Authentics first one game jersey Yeah. Match for sure. And I'll take, of course, Flea DT rookie and the the platinum version out of 25. Okay. Card up for d t, in my opinion, I think.

I think that that's one of we've talked about that card on the podcast before, the the the platinum d t. And I think it's it's, like, one of the most significant cards. Yeah. For sure. Ever.

Sure. Okay. Out of those four cards, do you own all of them, or do you own some of them? Both super cards. Okay.

Okay. So you're working on the d t maybe. Yeah. I I know. I know.

I am. And I wanna ask you, you know, we just talked about the Canon, which you've kinda looked at objectively. But are there any cards that you're looking for of Sue Bird today that if somebody here has them that's listening, that you're looking for? Yeah. For sure.

I'm still looking for well, I don't have the money to buy it. So it's but yeah. If one day I can land on a gold medallion rookie, I'll take it. You have to. You have to.

I'm missing actually the I was trying to to collect the courtside rainbow from from Select from 2024. I'm only missing the blackfinite. I know where it is. I know who has it, I won't have because it's a it's a silver collector, so I will never Fair enough. At least it's at least you know it's in a good home.

Yeah. That's always what what I'm thinking when I'm, you know, like, missing on a big card and and, also, it's it's getting too expensive, honestly. It's getting tough. 100%. I mean, it was funny because when I started buying cards, you know, I had, like, no idea of, you know, base card, parallels, what is worse, what is and so, you know, it's like you you buy cards for, like, 50¢, and then I was like, 2 k's, and you don't know why.

And so it's crazy. You've come a long way. Yeah. You know, like, it's it's interesting. Even I I almost forgot about this story.

We can't we can't not tell the story, but I think I sold you at one point a one of one super super fast card. So you've come a long way. Yeah. Yeah. It's a it's the power of power line.

Yes. The power. Yeah. So you've come a long way from your 50¢ buying to, you one of one super super fractures. Okay.

Let's close out. Let's round out our conversation today. I wanna hear kind of your your final piece of, your thoughts on what you think Sue Bird, Diana Terrazzi, this era changed, not just for the WNBA, but for collectors in the card context. Collectors. I don't know.

I guess it's, like, some of the biggest rookie card in the WNBA, I guess. I think you should own, like, a GT or a board auto card. Well, as much as, you know, Mayemo or Lizard Leslie or it's just, like, you know, big names who who founded the game and the league. So yeah. I completely agree.

Sometimes I think about Sue Bird, Diana Terasi, Maya Moore, Lisa Leslie, all those names. It reminds me when I look back at, like, the formations of other leagues when, like, the MLB was starting. And you look back at those cards, and there's, like, a set group of players that they're like, if you're a serious collector, you gotta have on one. Yeah. Exactly.

I mean It's it's You need Sue Bird in the conversation. So, okay. And then my where we'll leave the conversation today is do you have any advice for just Sue Bird collectors, DT collect this era of collectors on how to kinda cultivate their love for the game. No. I I don't know.

I think you should, like, buy cards you love. You know? Whether it's it's a big player or not, I think you should, you know, always follow your instincts and yeah. That's that's beautiful. I'm I'm gonna take that with me.

I I think we all can take that and take that advice and continue it. Well, Elodie, thank you so much for for making time on the other side of the globe to join the WNBA card podcast. We're so grateful to have folks all across the world, which is crazy to say, talking about WNBA cards. It was really cool to hear about your stories of meeting Suburban in Serbia of all places, of your journeys of coming to The US, of how global collectors look at the WNBA and act collecting. So thank you so much.

It was really a pleasure to have you on today. Thanks for having me. Hope it wasn't too I wasn't too hard to understand. Not at all. Not at all.

You did great. And, next week for the listeners, we'll be introducing the concept of Rittenhouse as the next era of cards. So stay tuned for our next episode. We have a lineup of amazing guests like Elodie lined up for the rest of the season. So thank you all for being here.