Kayla Collects on How The Hobby Can Become Even More Inclusive | The Hype from NSCC 2026

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Appreciate you coming on. How you doing today? Thank you for having me. I'm doing great. I've been running around today, having so much fun. I mean, there's no show like the National. Yu-Gi-Oh I gotta imagine you're one of the probably the busiest people at this show. You were telling me your entire schedule and it's like, I went here, I went to this booth, I went to that booth, and I'm, you know, I've got a little bit of a delay of the land here and I'm like, Yu-Gi-Oh it's that way, this way, this way, up here now. So appreciate you taking the time. It's probably a crazy time here. Yu-Gi-Oh Honored to be here. Yu-Gi-Oh actually. Okay, this is. I'm sorry, I'm being selfish to start this first question. I'm a San Francisco Giants fan and I know. Are you still pcing Willie Adamus? Are we still adding to the collection? I know you're from Tampa, but is that someone you're still trying to add some stuff to? Yu-Gi-Oh I mean, I one-of-one ever not be collecting Willy. We love Willy. So it's honestly a goal of the show is to find a color match orange Refractor of him in the Giants uniform now. Oh, my God. Because I'm like, I don't really have any ties to the Giants. Like, there's nothing really exciting there for me personally. But I've got to add at least one cool Willy Giants card to my PC. I don't have any yet. I want to also maybe possibly get a jersey numbered card because it's the first time he's worn number two. And the whole reason he wears number two is because of Derek Jeter. And what's hilarious is I got to meet Derek Jeter before Willie did. So I kind of just want a card like that for my collection. So I'm hoping to find either a jersey number or a color match. That would be awesome. Willie's. I love his personality, the vibe. He's so cool. He's just a great guy. Exactly. So, Yu-Gi-Oh Well, I'm glad to hear that, that you're still collecting and I mentioned. Yu-Gi-Oh So I want to talk about sort of your hobby roots, how it all came to be from Tampa, that area, which I know that's kind of like a lot of folks and they're kind of a hotbed, I feel like for collecting and everything. So if you want just tell us like what was that thing that like that hooked you in when you were. When you were younger into this hobby? Yu-Gi-Oh So I had no prior exposure to sports cards before, so I used to get autographs on baseballs. The players would toss me at T Bay Rays games because that's the team I grew up going to the Trop Tropicana Field. And once I got or once I saw people in autographs on baseballs, I saw people getting autographs on cards and I didn't know cards existed before then. And so once I saw people being autographs on cards, I wanted cards to get autographs on. And so I went to target and bought two packs of 2013 top series one baseball, pulled a Manny Machado rookie card. He was my favorite non raised player at the time just because, I mean he's a different player now than he was during his rookie years, but he was just, he hustled, he had this grit to him. I mean it's funny that an Orioles player was one of my favorite because the division rivalry, but I think it's because they played each other so often back then that I was seeing them all the time. So he just became one of my favorite players. And that rookie card I still have to this day for my first pack ever. And so I don't know what exactly made it so exciting, but I knew what the rookie emblem was without ever having exposure to cards. So I guess I just knew it was special and so I've hung onto it even as a kid. You're like this one clearly is different. Right. So there must be something special to that. I love that that it's for me, I'm like feel like the same way like the Cards I have the most, you know, the most, like, personal connection with aren't always the biggest cards. They're things like, you know, either passed down or, like, from a first pack or something like that. So once you did start to get into collecting, did, like, do you have other family members who were like, oh, now that you're into this, let me show you what I've got. And it may be anything, like, passed down to your collection. Yu-Gi-Oh so I got into it when I was like, 9, 10 years old. And then I had. So none of my family members were into it at the time, but I got. I was able to get my dad back into it because he collected when he was younger, like, 80s, 90s, that era. Like the junk wax era. And when he went to college, like, he funded a lot of his college by selling rookie cards and stuff he had. And then he didn't think anything of it. He still had some cards. But once I got back into it, it became something we could do together. And he realized how much the hobby had changed since he was last in it. He went more the vintage route. He didn't do a lot of modern sports, but it was something like something we really enjoyed doing together. That's awesome. And I do want to also talk. I kind of touched on it, like, in Tampa, I feel like the collecting scene, there's been a lot of names that have come out in this world here as I'm looking out at what is an incredibly busy Saturday here on the second Fleer at the National. Yu-Gi-Oh Did you start to, like, get into more of, like, going to local shows and stuff like that in the Tampa area? And now seeing, you know, like I said, like, these big. Some names who have come out of that area, just like, what's the collecting scene like? So I didn't start going to shows until I moved to Virginia. Yu-Gi-Oh I was 13, I believe, when I went to my first show, which was the Chantilly show, which was running up until last year, exclusive. It will come back at some point. But I started going to shows then, and that was insane. Like, the Chantilly show is a huge show. Like, it's 300 plus table. I actually. I think it was like 500 tables. And for that to be my first show. I thought every show was that big. I didn't really. That was my local show. And then kind of going to shows in, like, the Baltimore area. I mean, a lot of the. So there's dealers here that have known me since I was 13 years old, which is insane. And they've seen the growth. They've seen me from the very infant stages of me collecting and my media personality. I mean I'm the same person on camera, off camera, but that kind of sphere of things for me. And Yu-Gi-Oh I've gone to a couple shows in Florida. I don't live there anymore, I live in Nashville. But Yu-Gi-Oh it's just been fun to kind of see it grow and seeing all the card shops that exist there now. Because when I got into the cards like in Florida there was maybe one shop and it wasn't the cleanest shop, they weren't the most friendly. Now there's so many incredible shops in that area. I would name them off but I don't want to leave anyone out. So I'll withstand from doing that. Well, if you're in Nashville, obviously we can, you know, we can name one guy. Yu-Gi-Oh we can name that. Thank you. To sports cars. Nothing else in the booth. Talk about the national here. How many, how many nationals is this for you? This is my sixth. Sixth one. My gosh. So how is this. I mean, I've been saying it to everybody. Again, we're here on the second Fleer In years past, you know, there's always been action, but this is like to see how everything has just exploded where there is not a single space in this building that isn't filled to the brim with collectors and people and amazing stuff to see. So comparing national number one to what we're looking at right now, I mean, what are your thoughts of like just to see this growth? I mean it's almost night and day difference to be honest. The first time I went to the national was in 2021. I haven't missed one since. But the whole reason I got to go to my first national was because Jimmy from Kentucky basketball cards and Tyler Santiago Santiago sports hosted a giveaway where it was an all expense paid trip. You got a thousand dollars to spend at the show. You got to bring someone with you, like all expenses paid. And it was a video submission contest. And at that time I wasn't someone doing videos. Like I hadn't really shared my face often and I was like, you know what, I should just do it. Even if I don't get selected, I'm like, I just want to share my story a little bit. And I ended up winning that contest and got to take my dad and it was just an incredible experience. But that show for me was solely card focused. Like I was buying and transacting and selling and that was all I was doing the entire day. Like I Didn't even want to eat stock for eat lunch. Like it was just go, go, go, go, go. And even then with all the cameras and all the media and stuff that exists in the hobby now, none of that really was existing in 2021. I mean card collector two was around, Santiago Sports was around. But those were like kind of the infant stages of people doing dealer POVs or even just sharing content in general. There wasn't collector content, there wasn't these forward facing figures that we see in the hobby now. And there weren't all these crazy activations. There was corporate, but corporate just was corporate. It was Topps and not even Fanatics yet. It was Topps Panini Upper Deck and it was just the silver packs and all that stuff. And now it's games and giveaways and shiny like lights and all these things. And it's so different than it was in 2021. It is wild because it's like I remember the vibe in 21 was like here, you know, obviously the first one where there was a year off in 2020 and everybody who's were in this industry for a long time, it's like this is going to be the biggest one yet. And I remember our team coming home and be like it's never going to get bigger than this. This. That was wild. It's crazy. And then to see now where it's just again every time I keep thinking is it going to oh, how can it get any big? And yet every single year it keeps happening and we'll see. We're gonna go to not next year, but I believe the year after going to Detroit. So it's gonna be new places and bigger spaces and all that. So I mean just wild to see what it's become. So are you looking for what I know you mentioned you're looking for a Williams the Orange. Is there anything else you're out there looking for right now on the show? I have a couple specific wants that I came to the show with. I don't know if I'll find them because they're very specific, but I collect a lot of Olympic cards. I really want to find a Hunter, Woodall, Tarwood, all Dual Auto, which I think there's only 25. I think it's an out of 25 from 2024 tops from Olympics. Love both of them. I followed both of them since they were in college and they're both, they both one-of-one gold medals in 2024 and I've seen a couple of those pop up on ebay. But I'D rather buy the card in person to have the story and the memory of buying it rather than buying it online. And then the other card is, I believe it's 2024. It might be 2025. Topps. Topps did a collaboration with the Phillies and Kevin Hart, where there's Kevin Hart variations numbered. I think it's at a 52 or 53 because he's 52 or 5 3. Hilarious stuff. And there's a Matt Strom variation where Kevin Hart is hanging on to Matt Strom's hair. And through the sports card space, I've gotten to know Matt Strom, and so I really want to add a card of like, that card to my collection. I don't know if I'll find it on the show Fleer but wider than that, I'm also looking for any Austin Haze I don't have because that's my biggest PC by far. So it's kind of hard to also find awesome hazes I don't have. But hopefully I knock one of those off my Beckett list. Nice. Nice. Yu-Gi-Oh that's right. I know you've got a big. I love to hear people's PCs of, like, people that you wouldn't normally think, you know, your Brady's and LeBron, but I love that that you've got the Austin Tank PC. I'm sure had some interaction with Austin in the past and aware of the PC. So that's. I. I just think that's so cool to like, you know, hone in on someone that you wouldn't typically do. And, you know, guys, you know, he's an all star, so, you know, that's, that's a, that's, that's. I love that that you're keeping that up. A couple more things for you. Like, I really talked about just getting to have this experience to be a correspondent here for the show. Yu-Gi-Oh I mean, how has that been? This whole being asked to be part of that. What's that experience been like in both the lead up to the show and now being here and getting to do something like that? It's amazing. Yu-Gi-Oh it's been a wild experience. Especially like coming to my First national in 2021 only because it was all expense paid and then now literally being a part of the show's voice, them selecting me and three other people, all incredible guys, to be what they want their show to be about and for my brand to be collaborating with the national in a way that is showcasing not only my voice, but also just what the national stands for and also Being a female in the space. Like, I'm sure there's a lot of people that follow the national that don't follow me. I mean they have a lot more followers than I do. But exposing people that might have not seen any females in the national's content before, hopefully kind of allowing that exposure to happen. But I mean, the national's given me so many. I mean I've met so many people at the national that I see a couple times a year that have become lifetime friends now that I've talked to all the time. And also just experiences this week that I wouldn't get to have. Like I've interviewed so many incredible people over the years of being a national media ambassador and now this year a correspondent, which is a little bit of a different role. But I literally came to from interviewing Megyn Keller before this interview. Like that blows my mind, blows me away. I got to get a picture with Drew Brees. I got to go bargain bin hunting with Curtis Granderson. Like those are not things. Even last year if you would have told me those things existed and I would have been able to do those, I would have told you you're crazy. And so I had a lot of pinch me moments this week of being a correspondent and just the things I get to do because I definitely don't take it for granted because I know that being a national correspondent is a huge honor and a huge privilege and not there's only four of us. So I'm sure there's many people that wish they could be in our position and have that opportunity and it didn't. I mean, I've gone to six straight nationals now and it took me five to get to the correspondent role. And so I would just encourage anybody if there's. If you want to be a national correspondent, just keep going, keep chugging along, keep doing your thing and if you do do it the right way, the right people will recognize that. Yu-Gi-Oh Yu-Gi-Oh All those names you mentioned. And so I'm. The fact that you come and taking the time to be with us. I appreciate it. Absolutely. Yu-Gi-Oh I'm not, I'm not Curtis Grant or something. We just had him at, at our, at our party here, our co sponsored party with, with sports cars. Nonsense. What a guy. Great guy. One of my all time favorite guys growing up. And then to like get to talk to him and it's like, oh, you are exactly the guy I hoped he would be. I know, it was cool. How was that experience getting to work with him? It was awesome. He's an incredible Guy. And I got to meet him last year because he's working with the Youth Collectors initiative with Samuel Evans, sports card collector. Definitely give both of them a follow. But I got to meet him last year and I was very honest to Curtis. I said, look, I'm a Tampa Bay Rays fan, so I have a strong dislike for the Yankees, but he was one of the guys I wish I wanted on my team so bad because he just hustled, he played the game the right way, and he was just a thorn in our side for so long. I remember like early 2010s is when I got into sports and baseball. And so I was like, Curtis, you have. I have a lot of memories of you and it's aggravating almost because I wanted you on my team. But he's just a Zebra Zebra nice guy. And we went bargain bin hunting and we found some cards of him in a bargain bin and he ended up signing one of the them for me. I had him describe love bargain hunting and then he wrote $1 because the card was $1. But I mean, I'm someone as a collector, I don't do a lot of like high end deals. I'm not buying cards in the, in the thousands of dollars, usually not even hundreds of dollars unless it's like a PC card. But getting to do bargain bin hunting and making that content of literally the art of bargain bin collecting is something I've experienced experience and then getting to share that with a professional athlete. He was asking a lot of questions. He had certain things he was looking for and just seeing like that kind of content rather than we took Courageous Granderson on the Fleer and we spent X amount of money. It was a real like storytelling moment. Why don't we rip some stuff on the way out? Do you want to do that? We got Goodwin. I've got it right here. There it is. That's 20. 26. Okay. Goodwin Champs. There it is right there. 26 Goodwin Champs. I mean, look, there's a shot. We can get a Michael Jordan auto. There's some Olympians in here too. Right on the front cover. Michael Phelps. So there's a shot. We'll get him. We'll split some packs here, get a couple in there. I mean, if we had a Michael Jordan auto, I think the whole show might hear us. Yu-Gi-Oh 100%. I'll be, you know, and doing it in Chicago too. It's like, Yu-Gi-Oh honestly, doubly exciting. Oh, this is interesting. I never noticed this. It says 14 years. 14 plus years. Yu-Gi-Oh Is it like only appropriate for 14 and over. Is that what it is? I don't know. I've always thought of this as one of the ultimate fun family rips, to be quite honest. So it's a little surprising to hear the 14 and over. There we go. I've got, like, hilarious hometown Bumblebee. Stetson Wright, Arizona. All right. I've never heard of Bumblebee, Arizona. Refractor action right there. I got an out of 99. Oh, Stetson Wright, bull riding. Nice. It's pretty cool. That's pretty fun. I didn't know they made bull riding cars. That's awesome. I mean, they make cards for everything for Goodwin. I mean, everything is up for grabs. I'll ask while we're ripping here, because you. Yu-Gi-Oh you mentioned that, especially when you first entered the space. Yu-Gi-Oh The representation of women in the space was a lot less. To put it lightly, pretty much non existent. Yu-Gi-Oh exactly. So now to see the crowds here as. Oh, my gosh, this is the Nikola Tesla packs. Yu-Gi-Oh But to now see the way the crowd looks, the hobby community looks, I'm sure, too, you're getting people coming up to you and saying thank you for. You know, you basically showed me that, hey, this is a space for everybody. Like, how gratifying is that to see that and to see what this community has grown and the diversity and, you know, how it just looks so much different than it did when you first started out. I think there's definitely still work to be done. It definitely does look different, and it's really cool. I got to just be on a panel just a couple hours ago of I think there were six. Six women. We're all just sharing our different stories. And I got to hand select who was on the panel with me. And it was just really cool because we all different age ranges, me being the youngest, but all the way up to. I think the oldest is like close to 60. But we all just come from such different backgrounds. We had a woman that was walking around that stumbled upon the panel and sat down and got to share her story with us. And then a young collector in the front row, 12 years old, loves collecting Babe Ruth cards. And it's just so cool to see the variety and be able to be that voice and representation. But honestly, people coming up to me and saying, like, I love what you do. Thank you for doing what you do, all of that stuff. I mean, it's wild to me that there's people that. I mean, I love my content and I love how I edit it and all that stuff. And I Do it because I enjoy it. But it's wild to me to think that other people enjoy it too. And, I mean, you've told me you followed me since, like, 2021. Yu-Gi-Oh I've been definitely. And so an OG over here of my content. But, like, thinking that people have seen me over the years and have decided to watch me and spend their time watching my content is mind blowing to me. All right, let's see what we got in these last few Young guns. Taz Skyler, an actor. Oh, and the little outburst on it, too. It's pretty cool. That's really cool. Shiny. I wish I. Sorry to Taz. I don't. I don't think I'm Harper Murray. Oh, she's good. I like her a lot. Lot. Nebraska. I love this design. She's a stud. That's awesome. All right, I think I've got two more here. Let's see. I got two more. We got. I know. I think you're in the lead right now with the outburst. Oh, there we go. Oh, I have an auto. Oh. Oh, you do. Oh, man, I was about to be so excited for my lenticular. Bill Nye the science guy. It's a cool car. Honestly. That's sick. That is a really cool car. I love that Bill Nye. We gotta sweat it a little bit. We got a Cameron Brink. I have no idea who that is. Let's see. Let's see if I see the name. Kevin Von Erich wrestling. Oh. Oh, that's. Oh, gosh. Wasn't there the movie that just came out with Zac Efron? I want to say that's the family again. Chat comments. Let me know if I'm wrong. I got. Okay, I'm getting the thumbs up. Yes, that's correct. Okay. Yu-Gi-Oh Zac Efron movie that came out a couple years ago. Very good. Haven't seen it. Highly recommend. Okay. It's a tough watch. Well, now I'll have to patch auto wonderful. Now I'll have to watch great, great performances. So that's awesome. There you go. Got ink. And not always guaranteed in a Goodwin box. So this has actually been a pretty good. You know, just a few packs in. Here we go. Final pack. Well, hey, Kayla, this was a. This was fun. Thanks so much for coming on. I really appreciate you taking the time. If you want to let everybody know where they can find you, go ahead, plug away. It's socials, all that good stuff. Main place you can find me is Instagram. Kayla collects. That's where I post majority of my content. I've started to dabble into TikTok a little bit. I got to get it more consistent on there. And I also write, so I write for slapstocks on their daily newsletter, so that comes out every morning. Definitely check that out. And I also write for collectibles on si. I gotta get back into it. Taking a little break, but I'm gonna hop back in after the nap and excited to share stories there and. Yu-Gi-Oh and then you can find me in a lot of other people's content, too. I have people come up to me at shows saying, like, I saw you on Ryan's or I've seen you on Santiago, or you've probably seen my face at least once somewhere, somehow. But, Yu-Gi-Oh Thank you for having me. Awesome. Yu-Gi-Oh the algorithm finds a way to pop up, but Yu-Gi-Oh Caleb, this was fun. Thanks so much for coming. Thank you. Appreciate it.