Booked to Last: New Money Is Changing Wrestling Cards with Chad Weldon of Sports Card Junction

Foreign. Welcome back to Book to Last, the official wrestling card podcast here on the Stacking Slabs Network. Hosted by my good friends Adam and Ryan and brought to you by RBI crew 7. The biggest, the baddest, the best place to buy your wrestling singles and wax. Make sure you do that@rbi cruise7.com fun one for you all today. Lots shaken on the wrestling card side, huh? Big sales, anticipated auctions. Everyone's picking up big cards. Been fun to observe. Adam and Ryan get into a little game of buy, sell, hold, highlight some big cards that have sold around the block and bring on a special guest, our good friend, Chad. Sports Card Junction. Got a chance to meet Chad at the national this year. Great dude, great business owner. Fun one in store. If you want to show your support for the broader Stacking Slabs network, hit the follow button. Tell a damn friend. Run on over to the Patreon Group if you it is Beckett to last. Episode 33 coming your way. Welcome to Book to Last, a wrestling card podcast for the card collecting community that goes from the top rope to top loaders. We are your host, Ryan Banister of RBI Crew 7 and Adam Gelman of Main Event Wrestling Cards here on the Stacking Slab podcast network. Don't forget to like and subscribe here on Stacking Slabs, especially if this is your first time you're joining up. You can find the patreon@patreon.com stacking slabs and you can follow Adam and I on social media at RBI Crew 7 and at WWE. Respectfully, let's ring that bell and get this slobber knocker on the way. It's episode 33. Yes, it is. Welcome to another episode. We are here. Summer is almost over, which means kids are going back to school. But better yet, Adam, how you doing? I am very much waiting for my kids to go back to school. I think. I think when you get to. Yu-Gi-Oh I think when you get to this point in the summer, it's always like, I love having the kids home for two hours a day, but we need them to be at school. Baseball is wrapping up too, so about to get into sort of that winter stuff. And college recruiting for my oldest is Zebra fun. I hope I never have to go through this again. Yu-Gi-Oh How about you? How's. How was your week? It's good, man. It was a good week. Productive. Had a nice weekend off. Got to go celebrate a friend's 40th then now we're back in it. We got sports starting back up. Parker's got his first games coming up. Our life's about to be consumed by sports. Even though school's back in, sports are back in. But, Yu-Gi-Oh everything's good, man. I'm. I'm excited to be here today and talk. Talk some wrestling. You are kind of the opposite of me. You're. You're like. Most of your sports are in the. Like, he does baseball, like, Parker does baseball and stuff. They do football. Yu-Gi-Oh So we're just starting off soccer and some of it, so. We got that too. We got that as well, man. We were just talking the other day, but every day we have something going. Oh, by the way, my favorite time of year, fantasy football drafts are coming. I have my first draft tonight, so after I do this, I got to get my homework going. Is this the one you guys always talk about? This is the only. I'm in four leagues because I've got problems. This is my only pure redraft league. I do have my neighborhood, which is fun because we get together at neighbor's house and we. I have a couple man sodas and just draft and it's a good time. So I'll be doing that this evening for my first draft of the year. I totally forgot about it until yesterday. I was like, oh, crap, I have a draft tomorrow I need to be at. So. So here we go. And. And the Vikings top pickup is already out for the year. That's always fun. Jamal going. That was. That was nice gown. He gone. So let's talk about the opening pyro here. Just a lot of stuff happening on TV as they ramp up for money in the bank and whatever is going on in this fall and winter. But I would pretty not shock. Believe it or not, I thought JC Jane coming into smackdown was going to one-of-one that belt. I think they need to move Tiffany up to main event status again. So I know people are not fans of JC Jane for whatever reason, but she is a great worker and has been an NXT lifer to this point. And so I think they are strapping a rocket to Fatal Influence, which I still believe is man diet. Mandy Rose's group, whatever. What was that called? I can't even remember what at this point. I was so long ago. Gigi Dolan, Jay Z James. Mandy Rose. Was it. Was it. Was it four people? What do they call it? Drawing a blank right now, but yes, now I gotta. Now I gotta look. Yu-Gi-Oh Yu-Gi-Oh that. That Mandy Rose's group in NXT was legit and like, I like. I really like that whole sort of setup, but this is kind of like the next iteration of that and has been going on for a while. Maybe not with these particular members, but, you know, there's the toxic attraction. There we go. I knew I was like, it was something along those lines, but it's been so long. And obviously Mandy was dominating down there and then for other reasons. Locked doe other reasons. But other. Other financial reasons. With those letters. With those letters. Other financial reasons. So I think, like JC Jane I think is the perfect type of person for this mid card belt. Putting the tag team belts, which literally do not matter anymore and they never really have since Bailey and Sasha lost them. Like, that's. It's really sort of just been a mid card elevation type of thing, going from lower card to middle card. But this US Title I think Tiffany wanted because they had nobody else, Smackdown was an abysmal mess and now it's sort of coming into focus. JC Jane can have matches with all sorts of different people. Sol, Ruka, Tatum, Paxley, like all these people. We'll talk about that here in a minute. But because of this is. Do you think that this had any real impact to Tiffany Stratton? Because I, I really have. I've heard like people freaking out about this and I'm. I don't know if I agree with that. No, she's, she's. And I want to say like this, but she's above this type of title, this kind of mid card. It was nice to get it on her resume, I guess you could say. But she is built for main events and I'm not saying Jason, Jane's not. I like what they're doing with these NXT call ups that they brought up. They're really strapping on to them. They're really taking advantage of their opportunities. They're not squandering their moments. Love what they're doing with fatal influence here. Why not? I mean, again, Yu-Gi-Oh it's a good mid card level. These girls are just got called up. And again, if. If you don't like or love JC Jane, she can work. Like you said, she's a worker. She is a really good heel, but she could work in the ring. These three together, I like it. But Tiffany, I think now sky's the limit. Time to go on a bigger, better things. Kind of like your girl Becky who's back kind of in that main event moment for the main title. I like what's going on there. So, Yu-Gi-Oh I think it's just one of those things where Tiffany. All right, let's just add a belt to her resume for long term. But this is a Short lived moment down here at this level. Let's keep her where she belongs, which is up here. Yu-Gi-Oh And I think like there was injuries to a couple of people that are like well, fatal influence injured. All these people like, come on. Like I think wrestling's a contact sport. Like we know injuries are going to happen. I doubt it was on purpose. It has very little to do with their skill set. I think it's all these women can work. I'm not really worried about the injuries and like people complaining about that just don't know anything about wrestling. The most important thing here is there are two purposes for a mid card belt. One is for somebody who is above the mid car belt to elevate those that they wrestle against. And the other is to bring somebody up into a bigger, more prominent role which they used to do all the time in the 80s 90s and now I think with an expanded women's roster. We did hear unfortunately that Smackdown is going to be going back to three hours likely after the first of the year or whatever it is, which could not be worse news for Smackdown. Three hour wrestling shows never work. It's always boring, it's always just a complete death sentence. So I think I'm hoping that they bring up enough talent to really sort of keep that show moving. But Yu-Gi-Oh I think like Tiffany Stratton is going to have a long career, a productive career. She already had a year long title reign beat Charlotte Fleer WrestleMania. Like she's made like there's no reason to believe that her value is hurt by this. And I think people are concerned because they've kind of been fluctuating with how they're booking her. I'm not worried about it. She's very young, she's very talented, she's great looking, all that, all that fun jazz stuff. But the Gooners will love her and the wrestling people will see she's got skill in the ring like that. That's a great mix for wwe. But in terms of cards, I think Lainey Reed signed more cards for Topps Chrome than any wrestler in the history of Topps Chrome. Her autographs are like two or three per case. But she's a cheap autograph right now. Fallon Henley, cheap autograph right now. But I think all three of these women likely are going to move on to other things before their careers are done. JC Jane, I think she's perfect in the mid car. Like not everybody needs to be a title holder in the upper main event. Like I think she's. This is a great role for her and I think her cards will do well as a result of this. But, Yu-Gi-Oh I mean, like, Smackdown was good again. I mean, Randy and Cody are. Are building up. I. I'm wondering if they go this next sort of Sunday night's main event, which we'll get to here in a second or, you know, what's going to happen with them. But Obafemi and. And Bron. Bron Breaker got into it on Smackdown for some reason. It was weird. And then we had like, the Solo and Jey USO thing, which I am such a huge fan of Solosico in this role, but we saw sort of the results of what happened on. On Raw and it just continues to be the summer of Solo and I. I love it. So, Yu-Gi-Oh I'm glad that he did what he did on. On Raw. I'm glad that he's not rejoining the bloodline, really. So are they pivoting to make Roman go back to the old Roman where he's like, I don't know. I don't know. It's kind of weird. It's kind of like been like a switch, a flip switch, you know, and it's like, Yu-Gi-Oh which Roman are we getting? I thought we were getting a different one, but then they're forcing Solo in. I love that Jacob Fatu just sat there and watched that. I think that's building up towards the animosity that he has showing. Like, hey, I'm here because I was forced to does not mean I need to defend any of these people. This is basically opportunity. And Solo just said, nope. And I love the. What they're building up with him at La Knight. Solo's great. Solo Dolo. I'm here for it. I'm so here for it. But when you said Jacob Vasu didn't do anything reminded me of the Family Guy episode where they're all fighting in the front yard and he's like, I can't close the door because the small guy over there hasn't done anything yet. And I want to see what he does. And then he closes the door and you hear like, all the commotions, like, I knew it. That's exactly. Like, Jacob is not a small guy. But, like, I was waiting for him to get involved and, like, it was. It was great. And that whole segment was great. I like Roman sort of being this heel that people love is really an interesting dynamic because I don't think you can have the bloodline be the bloodline without them having heel tendencies. So, I mean, because they all do run ins for each other. I Like the ULA fala sort of giving him the mafia, sort of. These are my captains. Like, too bad that Jay USO is a complete clown and, and Jimmy USO is worthless. And I think they are career lackeys. And now they have ULA follow us to prove it. But it's, it's really funny. Also. Rey Mysterio and Chad Gable had a match on Raw. I don't know if you've had a chance to patch auto yet, but you should because it was an Absolute banger. And I said on Twitter that, that Rey Mysterio is an extraterrestrial from Planet Luchick, that there is no reason he should be performing at the level that he is at his age. It sounds like he may have come up a little gimpy on one of the spots, but man, that match was great. And Gable can work like nobody's business. Just really unfortunate they saddled him with that stupid theme music and the clapping. Just the claps. That's what they're going with, man. What's it going with? It's really unfortunate because Gable as, like, I feel as the Intercontinental Champion and if they really had some good stories to tell beyond just whatever this apology tour is like, he is such a good wrestler and he is such a good worker that he could really put on sort of matches. And I, I, if this was a different time in a different era, like him going up against some of like the Bret Harts and whatever of the I like, they would have put on like the best matches of all time. Even having him go up against the great wrestlers of this era. I still want to see Gable and Seth Rollins have a patch auto some point. I want to have like all those guys that have just really good working ability because the matches really aren't why I watch wwe. I love the pageantry and the angles and the, and the entrances and everything like that. But when Gable and people like Gable put on these bangers, it's like, it's musty team. I love watching good wrestling, man. I actually have seen clips of the match. I need to go back and patch auto do some other stuff with the family last night. So sometimes I'm a, a day or two behind on catching them in RAW when we go into this. But when you said that, I went and watched a few clips and I was like, Yu-Gi-Oh this is like ple type match where it's been built up and we're getting just an awesome match by obviously an all time great Rey Mysterio and somebody, Chad Gable, that has put his time in effort, energy and is finally kind of getting his flowers. I still think there's more to build upon on that. I think there is a brighter future, even though I say that he's been around for quite some time. A brighter future for Chad Gable for his moment to eventually come. I mean, he's like the size of a Daniel Bryant. Really is smaller. Kurt Angle has the same tendencies. There's no reason the way that he can work and hold himself in the mic that he does not get some type of big main event moment at some point. And I hope the next year. I really do think that they need to do this and not squander this opportunity because I think the Arty Kawan is squandered a little bit. I know you're you hating on the theme song, but there's so much to build up here with him and these matches he's putting on that we're sitting there talking about, oh, Remus, Chad Gable match as a banger match. Just love it. I'm here for it. Keep going. Yu-Gi-Oh And then the other thing that I think we I want to mention besides the. The women's division stuff is the Obafemi and Brock. I keep saying we're on to Braun. Too many vros, too many bros. Bron and Obafemi is. I know there are a lot of reasons why this match is like the whole thing about the future and. And deeming something somebody the future is like you don't do that. Like Drew McIntyre is a perfect example of why you don't call something the future. You just let it happen. And I don't like that segment in which Paul Heyman sort of like made that a thing. But it's hard to not love a Paul Heyman segment overall. And this match is going to be everything I think the Brock Lesnar matches could not be, which is hard hitting. Longer in length, more sort of angle storytelling. I fully believe that this is going to be the main event of whenever I want it to be called Sunday Night Heat. The fact that it's not called Sunday Night Heat pisses me the but it's Sunday night's main event. They're going to be the main event. I would guess if they don't do something with Cody because he's from Georgia and whatever. So it could be Cody and Randy with the main event. We're not sure. But I believe this is where Bronson Reed comes back, another bro comes back. I think that's why OBA probably loses this match. And I think Bronson Reed likely swings it in his favor. But then the next match, Obafemi just comes back and obliterates him. So I think like the whole angle storytelling that they're going to do here is going to be really good. I'm really excited for this. Yu-Gi-Oh it's going to be a numbers game in that type of match. But Yu-Gi-Oh I, I mean Brock Lesnar basically in his retirement, I guess the second time, yes, said without saying it that this guy is the now, he is the future, I'm the past. That's one thing. And that's, that's where it should be left at. Just like it should have been left at Wrestleman when Br. Brock Lesnar retired in front of my eyes, which was amazing moment for them to come back. So I do think this match has got to be an Absolute banger. You're right. This is going to be a longevity type match. You can have more than a 8 minute type match here and you're going to see. I would think the way we're seeing the training of Bronson Reed on social media that this is going to be his return to help Bron Breaker defeat him. But my thinking is, is that Blue Ice still going to align himself with, with Obafemi at some point. Doesn't have to be his advocate. I think it's more of those, the respect this. I respect him because he ended Brock Lesnar's career, not you, Bron Breaker. So I don't want that to happen. And I'll tell you why. Obafemi does not need Paul Heyman. Like, no, he. I'm not saying that, I'm not saying. No, I know that. But I'm saying. Yu-Gi-Oh no, I, I get it. I get, I get where you're going with it. You're completely correct. I could see WWE putting Paul Heyman with Obafemi. I don't like that because Obafemi is great on the mic and like. And the impression he did of Bron Breaker on the mic was absolutely perfect. By the way, his stout is all of Adrian. Yu-Gi-Oh it's so funny. Maybe me shouldn't have made fun of my boy Seth there. Bron. How did that one turn out last night? So, Yu-Gi-Oh I think this match is going to be great. Oba's cards are on fire. We've talked about this ad nauseam and whatever happens with this match has no bearing on the value of his cards. The only thing people have to watch for is what is going on with the Royal Rumble. I've said this since the beginning. If he's in the Rumble. He's going to one-of-one There could be some shenanigans. Let's hope it doesn't happen. He needs to be in the Rumble. He needs to one-of-one he needs to go face Roman and he needs to beat him. But outside of that segment, I think they started off the show for the first time in a very long time with the women. They brought out Stephanie Vacaire, they brought out Liv Morgan and the rest of the judgment girlies. And I think Stephanie Vacair is a little bit over her head in sort of some of these promo segments. And it sucks because she's amazing in the ring and I think if she can just bring that up just a little bit, it doesn't even have to be a lot just to get that. That slider of like, you know, when you're adjusting your creator wrestler and you're like, maybe if I give them a little bit more here, that's really going to be the main the difference for her. I don't think she's going to be the next champion. Like, I think they took the belt off her. They gave her the run because the run wasn't really planned but like, because Naomi's pregnancy and everything like that. But I think the whole thing is likely setting up Liv and Becky and I would love to see that match because if we remember back before WrestleMania 40, whatever it was, Becky left as the result of her contract. But the last match in that whole thing was with Liv Morgan. She hasn't had that receipt yet. So this story is. And this sort of battle between them has gone on for a very long time. I think Stephanie and Becky likely have a number one Contenders match coming up at Sunday Night Heat and, you know, whatever that is, or they do a three way and it allows Liv to get the one-of-one before I think she eventually has to give it up. When Liv gets the belt, nothing ever works out. Like, I don't think she's had an impactful title reign ever. I don't think she's a good champion. I don't like Liv Morgan overall, but they have the understanding with the crowd, like, she could be a top heel. She could really do some good damage in the ring. She's annoying on the mic, but that's what you want in a heel. So I just think it's not her that's driving down the success of these reigns, it's everything else. And that's just unfortunate for her. I think you just got to get the belt off of her and let somebody else sort of run with it whether that's Becky or somebody else, I don't know. But somebody's got to get a run with this belt. That's not Liv Morgan. Because right now I think it's just kind of like that ship has sailed. Unfortunately, because they waited so long, I was actually shocked that they didn't have Yu-Gi-Oh Sky Beater. I thought that was the whole plan. I think a lot of. And so I guess there's got to be more to this. For her not to one-of-one that match just shows that there is some longer term storytelling here with Liv. I don't know if she drops it at this particular match that comes up, but I got to see it happening sometime before the end of the year. It all depends. Like, I just. When I think they're about to blow up Judgment Day, then they just start throwing gold on all. And I'm like, Yu-Gi-Oh I'm like, I think it's run its course 18 times, yet they keep Judgment Day going. And it just. I can't. It doesn't make any sense. But okay. There's got to be more to this story than, than, than we realize. I don't know. But again, we'll see. I don't know. I've never thought Raquel Rodriguez was. I mean, she's got the look. She's big. She's big daddy cool. Like, or what a big mommy cool or whatever they're calling her. But Yu-Gi-Oh but like she is the female Diesel. And Diesel, you know, was not great until he went and became Kevin Nash. Like, I mean, like, that was the whole thing is like he was just kind of Shawn Michaels heater. And I think she's Liv Morgan's heater. But it's like, I don't see the personality there with her. Like, I don't see the charisma that, you know, Kevin Nash had and he's a hall of famer, so there's very little to say. But, you know, I think like when you look at the way that they've Beckett Judgment Day, like, I'm over it. Like, I. Let's move on. I'm putting an intercontinental champion on her. Fine, let her work with a few people, but get her a title just to give her some, some notoriety. But I don't see her as a future world champ. I don't see her as anything, which is unfortunate because she looks and wrestles very, very well. She just. I just don't think she has very much. Okay, let's get on to some hard market high spots here before we have our special guest Joining us, Chad Weldon from Sportscard Junction is going to be joining on wrestling card Takeover sponsor and we wanted to get him a chance to come on and talk a little bit, but we're going to do some quick things. It's been a bit of a slow couple of weeks, so there's not much to talk about other than the Cena. And now The Rhea Ripley WrestleMania patch autograph was listed officially in the Summer 100. Very much next to John Cena. Best of luck to Darius, friend of the podcast here. We knew this was coming because he had consigned it at the national. It was a big deal. That card was the star of wrestling card Takeover. A lot of people loved seeing it and being able to take pictures with it, just like John Cena. These are two of the biggest cards of the year, if not all time. And I think Darius probably is aiming to capitalize on a lot of the attention that is coming to the Cena card. This is a very, very nice consolation Prizm If you don't want. If this is a card that you want and you also want the Cena, Cena goes out of your price range. Maybe you focus on Ripley. I love this Ripley card, I think is one of the best looking WrestleMania patch auto that they have. It's a great photo, well signed. It's great. It's perfect. So congrats to Darius. Any thoughts here? Just kind of on this being listed next to Cena? Yu-Gi-Oh Okay, first off, I'm going to give a shout out to Darius and I'm going to say right now we need to get Darius on at some point. Good, good, good. Look at the initiative. I like that. I like the auction runs for a month, so we've got some kind of wanted to give it some time to get cooking a little bit. So Jerry has called me, I believe it was yesterday, and he was like, hey, man, I think Goldin lie to me. He's like, they haven't. I can't get a response back from them. They're telling me it's going to run with the Cena. I told him, I said, look, I said, if they told you that, I'm sure it's going to happen. I bet the holdup was. Was delay a psa, which it was supposed to pop about a week earlier. They probably didn't have it back in hand yet. So that's kind of what I told him. Luckily, later on that day he got confirmation that, hey, they're going to have it on. It got on. Was it last night? I think they popped it on Tuesday right now. So it's Monday. But I'm excited to watch both of these get the popcorn ready. Let's watch some record breaking wrestling cards. Let's watch all the attention on wrestling cards. I think these two together are perfect to line up. I think this is one and two. I think this is the scene is one and she's number two in the set as far as collectibility and value. So it's really awesome to see them both run at Goldin big, big auction premiere. So I'm pulling for Darius. I pulled to see this market do some great things and really put more eyes and ears onto wrestling cards because this is really going to plant a big flag for what I believe is the future of these type of patches to come this. So I was I wrote an article for Main event wrestling Cards this week about these two running side by side. It is very rare that a wrestling card at all joins a premier auction. We have two in the biggest auction of the summer and I was originally kind of concerned like are you going to sort of split the difference here because people aren't going to be able to invest in both cards if they or whatever. I'm starting to see like the attention that Cena is gathering. You want to have multiple opportunities for those people coming in to see Cena to also see that, hey, Rhea Ripley is just as big in circumstances. Right. This will be the top women's wrestling card ever sold. This will be among the top wrestling cards ever sold. Having them side by side and showing that wrestling can bring a lot of money and a lot of eyes. A good thing like, and Darius definitely wants to capitalize on the marketing that's going to happen for Cena. So I don't necessarily think this is a bad idea. I don't know if the audiences are going to be the same for Cena and Rhea. I would say Rhea is more likely going to be the wrestling sort of counterparts here. Trying to bid that card up versus Cena may have some outside influence. I don't know how much outside influence is really going to have on Ria. There's not as much crossover appeal there. But having this as a as, like I said, as a very, very nice consolation Prizm is not a bad idea. Popcorn ready. Like, like you said, it's going to be. All right, you ready to play a game here while we wait for Chad to join us? Let's play a game. I like it. All right, we've done buy so hold here on the podcast before. We've got a bunch of new people that have come up and come back to Smackdown and Raw. I want to play a buy, sell, hold game on some of these names. One person I forgot to include here is Chad Gable, so we should put him on here if we have time at the end. But let's start with Fatal Influence. We'll cover them. Let's do the tag team and JC Jane individually. But let's start with JC Jane. Are you buy, sell or hold on JC Jane Kind of intermediate here. I'm leaning towards more of the selling and the only reason is is that she does have quite a bit of autographs for years. I think this is a great opportunity to be selling her cards with her moments. So if she does for some reason do bigger, better things, I don't think it's going to be anytime in the near future. I think you're going to have to play the long term hold game of her. So I think it's just better take your sell right now. Take advantage of her final getting a title on the main roster. So I'm a seller on her more than anything. I'm leaning towards sell as well. She signed for everything her cards. This is going to be probably one of the top moments of her career. I would definitely say I'm a sell on her. You know, it may be a little bit towards hold only because she's still kind of like developing her charisma on the main roster. But what about Fatal Influence? What's your take on Fatal Influence, Fitz? Fallon, Henley. I'm definitely buying her. I mean, she is. I've seen her person. She is absolutely gorgeous. A E I like what she could do in the ring. I like her more than I like Laney Reed. Even though Lanyard is the younger up and comer, which again, those their prices are fairly affordable. Lainey Reen is Zebra cheap. So I think you could really buy her right now at her young age. But I feel like they're going to spark something. I think the other two, I feel like JC is the leader now, but the other two I think are going to go on to bigger and better careers is my thoughts on this. So I think I'm a buyer on both of them at their market at what they could do with them. I think Fallon has that look really, and she can definitely wrestle in the ring. So I think those go hand in hand, especially for a female wrestler. Yu-Gi-Oh there's always a stronger member of a tag team and I think Fallon Henley is more of the Shawn Michaels than Laney Reed is. I'm not saying Lany Reed is Marty Jannetti, but she's. She's definitely not as put together in terms of her skill set as, as Fallon Henley is. I'm probably a hold on both. I don't think I'm buying either one of them. The women's roster is just so frigging stacked and it's just like you have to really break through to make it to make some headway here. All right, let's do one more or a couple more here. What about Baron Corbin? Just returned to WWE after a stint away. Immediately dethrones Trick Williams as the US Titles, although he still carries the first title around for some reason. Are you buy, sell. Hold on Baron Corbin? I've always liked Baron Corbin. I liked him when he was lone wolf, but I am, I'm a seller on him. He's back in this moment. He is older as well. I don't see him getting. I think he's going to be elevating all the people to the next level. I think that's what he was brought back and for, to be that really good heel who could put people over. So if you have anything him, I think just sell him. Because he's been gone for a couple years, his cards were pretty much almost worthless Now I'm sure they've got a little uptick. So I think, hey, take advantage of this because I just don't think he's ever going to get that moment to be that top guy. I think he can be in the right circumstances. Like they almost had lightning in a bottle with, with down and Out Corbin. They almost did almost. They squandered it. And it was really unfortunate because the crowd was really getting behind it. And so I, I think there are circumstances where he would be a hold, but I think because he's finally achieved something in the vast sort of barren wasteland of his career post the original sort of a call up that he had when he had the long hair and everything. I'm still probably a sell. He has a lot of cards out there that just aren't worth very much. Got a probably 10, 15% bump here. I'd take advantage of it. All right, let's make this a little interesting. What about Tatum Paxley recent debut with on Smackdown with Charlotte Fleer and Alexa Bliss? What's your call here? So if, if I had to make a decision, I'd be a buyer on her. If you watch her in nxt, she is phenomenal in the ring. The fact that they're pairing her with two greats and Alexa Bliss and Charlotte Fleer shows you what they want to do. They're strapping something to her for bigger, better things for the future. Tatum can definitely go in the ring. She has that different look, and I think that goes hand in hand. I think she's a buy. I think her cards are still affordable. There's a lot of growth there. And again, when you pair her with these two, that's saying a lot, in my opinion. Yu-Gi-Oh that whole situation of putting her with Bliss and Fleer is a very big deal. The women's division on smackdown, I think, is a little bit weaker than the Raw one currently because Rhea Ripley is injured. And with Rhea Ripley off tv, likely for a few months, this really gives Tatum Paxley a chance to sort of make her mark, which is desperately needed for people who are on this brand. I mean, you see what happens. What has happened with Sol Ruka, I think she has sort of fallen victim to. She can work, but she doesn't have sort of that personality that is intrinsically charismatic. So, Yu-Gi-Oh I think personally I'm a hold on Tatum Paxley, but if I had any sort of indication that this was, like, I would be by all the way. Like, I just don't think she's all that interesting personally. But she has a great working ability. She's great in the ring. There was one of the main WWE influencers who does a lot of Instagram content and stuff, said that she's a better worker than Sol Ruka is, which is high praise. And so I think, like, if you like her look and you like what she's about, like, you better be buying. You better be buying heavy, because she one-of-one going to be this cheap for very long. She's kind of, like I think I said last week, a mini Ria. I mean, she kind of has that little Ria look. She has the tattoos going on, but again, Yu-Gi-Oh she can hold. I think what are with Sol Ruka, Maybe they realized they Tribute the ball by not pairing her with some good vets to really, you know, kind of build her up a little bit because, again, her mic work isn't the best, but she can go in the ring. Yu-Gi-Oh Tatum, I think, could do all that. So I wonder if they said, okay, we learned from soul. We rushed this too quick. We didn't pair with some good vets. Not saying that you would would have gone here, but who knows? But I think this was the right play. When they're calling these NXT wrestlers up, they're not ruining them. They're finding ways to put them in moments, put them in spotlights like in the past, they'd call somebody up, they'd get a match, and then they go, bye, bye, or they just fall to the wayside. I like what they're doing with this. They're saying, look, we know you were the main people down there. You built it up to get, get to where you are. Just because you're now a freshman, you can look at that way, doesn't mean you're just going to be on the varsity and you're going to be sitting there on the bench. We're going to make sure we put you in those right opportunities. And I think they're doing a great job with that. Yu-Gi-Oh I think if they put her in the right matches, she's going to excel, she's going to do great. I just don't. Personally, she doesn't resonate with me the way Ria Ripley does. And I think that's the problem. She's always going to be Junior Ripley. It took a long time, though, and that's exactly what I was about to say is like, Rhea took forever, like, multiple years to figure out what works for her and had to go through multiple changes in her gimmick. I don't think this is the final form for Tatum Paxley. And they, they kind of play with the crazy ex girlfriend thing in NXT a little bit, and I think they've done that on the main roster with a number of people. But it's like, I don't know, like, she just doesn't resonate the same way with me. And I think she's smaller in terms of, like, her size and capabilities. But then Ria ever will be, you know, it's just doesn't align the same way for me. And it's. And that's always wrestling. Wrestling is very subjective. Immediately you choose, do I like this person or don't I like this person? And like, when you like somebody, you love them, and when you hate somebody, you hate them. And it's always been that way for me. I'm just. Tatum Paxley is just not for me. All right, let's try Kevin Owens here because he just returned after 17 months away. Huge pop. I was there. It was incredible. And I think he is probably one of the most complete workers in terms of, like, mic skills, ring skills, everything. Charisma, you name it. But he signed for literally every set for the last 25 years, it feels like. And I'm curious, he's definitely older. He's at the tail end of his career, not the Start of it. So what's your play on Kevin Owens here? Given his inscriptions and all the fun stuff he does for the Always been a big fan of Kevin Owens. He's never been that I'm in shape guy and he's just like hey, I'm a normal human being and I love that about him. Again, one of the best on the mic carries himself and now in the ring he does some amazing work for his eyes. However, like you said, he is signed. Sign, sign, sign. Oh Yu-Gi-Oh by the way, when he was out the past few years, sign, sign, sign, sign. But he does some awesome inscriptions which add the value. So I think he is no brainer. He is a sell right now. I don't know. I would love to see them put the belt on him and take it from CM because I'm such a CM Punk fan. Even though CM Punk arguably one of the greatest on the mic. But when you say your best in the world I draw the line. Like you said, when you say something the future. I've always drawn the line in that because the ones who are best in the world don't say they're best in the world. Just saying. However Kevin Oates. They all do. What are you talking about? Everybody says in the best world just look at every damn week and every chance they can and and bit say they were best of the world when they weren't even close to even remotely the best of the world. Has CM Punk got better in age? Like a fine one-of-one yes. But Kevin Owens take unborrowed time. I think we're coming to the tail end of his career. He's going to continue to have cards however, sell him. His cards are always going to have value. They should be worth more than what they are because you could buy some of his autographs like on card for like 10 bucks which I find disrespectful. But when you sign so much, Yu-Gi-Oh Drew McIntyre another guy should be worth more but they're such great signers that they get punished because they sign so much. So I think no question I I think he's a sell. I think you continue to sell him and I don't think there's any real growth. Even if he were to one-of-one the title, I don't think there's going to be an uptick spike if there would it be better than Sami Zayn's which was short lived for nine days. Yu-Gi-Oh I think he has a title reign in his future. I think they're going to give it to him one more time before he retires he made. He came all the way back from that neck injury that I think he deserves. And like, entitlement for titles is bad. Like, I don't like that. I don't like saying op. This guy's been here forever. He deserves a title run. That's not what I'm saying. I'm saying Kevin one-of-one deserves a title run because he's awesome and he's earned, like, the crowd's favor in that respect. I'm a hold on everything that's unique. His descriptions, his stuff like that. Like, I'm a hold there, but I am likely a sell on anything that's common. While you got the return bumping, we'll do two more Solo doo. Solo SOA Are you buy sell? Hold on Solo. He's so cheap compared to what his market used to be when he was coming up the ranks of nxt. I think there's so much potential with his growth in cards. He is a buy right now. You could buy his autographs for really cheap. He's more of like a buy hold. But I. I think this is just the beginning of the things that they're going to do with Solo. They finally figured out what to do with them, how to get it. He is an amazing baby face. I love exactly what they're doing with it. I think he is a great buy or a great hold versus anything selling right now. Yu-Gi-Oh I am straight by on Solo Segoi. He's awesome. I've already Beckett up a few of his cards just. And like I said, we'll cover one of the big sales here. I'm going to add Chad in. Maybe he can Yu-Gi-Oh in as well. If you're ready, Chad, give me a thumbs up. Roy Jenkins. Let's do this. Yes, welcome Chad Weldon here from Sports car junction wrestling card takeover sponsor. You can hop in here for the last part of our opening segment, then we'll get into some talk here. But, you know, Solo Sikoa has been one of those guys that, you know, come 2022 Prizm I think were his first cards and like, they have gone nothing but downhill and he's finally found his groove and I love what they're doing with him. I am straight by on souls Dakota. Chad, what is your feeling? Just. I'll give you a chance to Yu-Gi-Oh in here as well. Have you liked what they've been doing with Solo here? Yu-Gi-Oh I mean, I clearly, he is like the Finest guy on the roster and has so much charisma and it seems like he's been buried for his entire main roster run. I think he's the kind of guy that they got to give the ball and let him roll with it. I agree. And they kept him as like the silent enforcer too, which is so bad considering what we're seeing. Complete opposite of what we're seeing now. Like, if we would have got this guy forward a day ago, I mean, who knows where he'd be right now. The bigger problem with him too that I see is like, Yu-Gi-Oh he was like that silent enforcer, which is kind of hilarious because he's not that big. Like, it's not like he's 6, 8, 400. Like he's. He's bigger. He's bigger than me, but he's not like a massive guy. But the thing is with like the current like kayfabe type stuff is everyone sees him in between when the product is live. They'll see him in between commercial breaks, goofing around. So like he is the funny guy. They just need to let him be it. Yu-Gi-Oh I like that. She. Shots fired. Shots fired. That was so good. Yu-Gi-Oh And so let's get in one more here. And then I didn't have a slide build for but I. Because I forgot Chad Gable with his recent run. First US Title or first intercontinental title one-of-one of his career? First individual title of his career. Bad theme music. Just the clap. But are you buy, sell, hold Chad on. On Chad Gable. I mean, I think he's incredibly undervalued, but like you guys were just talking on K.O. drew McIntyre, even like a Damian Priest, like they don't really get a whole lot of hobby love. I mean, I. What are Chad Gabletop's current autographs? Like 10 bucks? Like I don't know that that's going to climb. I mean, he's obviously towards the, the back half of his career. I mean he's in crazy physical shape and stuff. But like, are they even going to remotely push him? Like he's been pushed for the last year in Yu-Gi-Oh Probably not. I don't know that he has room to really do what he needs to do to gain. I mean he's so popular. If you just follow social media, people love Chad Gable and the market doesn't really reflect that. So I mean he's probably. I mean, it's not like it costs you a lot to hold his stuff, but I don't know that he's going to like double or triple in value. I don't think he's ever going to one-of-one a main, a main championship besides the Intercontinental. I think it took a lot for him to build up to even get the Intercontinental, which sort of says a lot about where he's been in the. The scope of wwe. But I'm probably a sell on Chad Gable Grande Americano stuff is still sort of selling because it's. It's rare than his normal stuff and he's been around for a long time. Ryan, what about you? I think he's more of like a hold the, hold the rare stuff kind of deal the real like kind of one on ones harder stuff and then sell the other stuff because he's been around quite some time. Back again signing a lot, but I mean, he's popular right now. Is there a chance that. That maybe they could throw him in money and bake and have him one-of-one it? I don't know. They've done that to Chad's boy La Knight for years. And every time I think La Knight's going to one-of-one it, they just have somebody else randomly one-of-one it. So you would think if they continue to build this hype and get to money in the bank, that'd be an opportunity. I don't see doing it. But Yu-Gi-Oh I think he's one of those guys where if you want to hold the rare stuff and then maybe capitalize if that moment comes, because I don't think it's ever going to fall below what it is because it's not like he's Zebra expensive, but just sell the other stuff because you can always get a Chad Gable autograph. Awesome. Let's get into some big sales here. And glad to have Chad on as well, because I know he follows along here. The roman reigns Bape one of one baby Milo autograph. The foil fracture sold for $3,050 a few days ago on ebay via auction. I'm curious. I didn't actually check this once. I'm curious if this actually went to a legit account. I thought it was best offer, but it looks like it sold via auction or this is on Goldin Sorry. It is legit for the Bape stuff. Seeing the cards here sell in this range seems even a little bit high. But I mean, like these Baby Milo cards appeal to a certain demographic of collectors who grew up with Bape and all this other stuff and the Baby Milo stuff. This card is a very unique one. It's likely the only one they're ever going to do. So I'm curious what your guys's thoughts are on this sale at $3,050 for Roman Reigns and a PSA 1010. If you think that this is Any other Roman Reigns. Actually a picture of him that seems like an Absolute steal for 3,000. But I mean as much as I'm. I'm not a raving fan of these, I now own the Randy Orton 101. Like because I have problems. I don't know why. I just tucked myself out of it and I just said screw it, I'm going to buy it one-of-one I'm not a raving fan. I know it's a certain niche that collects him but again, I think for. This might be about right. But if it was any other type of Roman Reigns with just him, I think this is A for a 10 with a 10 auto one of one seems really low for Roman Reigns in my opinion. Yu-Gi-Oh I mean I think the Gunther one pulled mid threes if I. I think it was like 3, 500 on best offer. Which obviously we all know that the Gunther market is very weird right now. Really? Is it? Tell us about it. Yu-Gi-Oh Yu-Gi-Oh But I personally am not Zebra moved by these cards and it's not that I don't appreciate the art and the community that likes them, it's just they aren't for me. Which I think that's the whole point of collecting cards is not every card is for everyone. So I think we're showing age here is what it is. Yes. Yu-Gi-Oh Yu-Gi-Oh Like I. Up until these cards I had never heard of this. This like genre of card. I don't know what this is. Like I said, I'm like Ryan was saying, I might be older than the. You're showing your age is what this is like. This is a coming of age moment, my friend. I mean if you're just talking Roman one on one autographs, sure it's cheap, but I think it's because there is like a more senior collector that is not going after these. I also don't know that I would have sold this particular type of card on Goldin Exactly. So it's very niche. I would have probably just thrown it on ebay for like 15k OBL and see what offers come in. But I don't know. I guess it's accurate in the conditions of what it is and where it was sold. Gotcha. Well said. All right, let's move on to Sami Zayn's copped Superfractor variation autograph with the let's go inscription. Somebody listed and there were like three or four big Sammy Zane cards that all sold at the same time and they all got some good prices which I think is likely due to sort of the focus that he's had in recent sort of days and weeks with the title run being only nine days. Doesn't matter. People still see him as a champion now and they should. This one sold via Best offer 27.50 It's a great looking photo. It's from that that bloodline sort of raw that they did in or smackdown they did in Montreal right before elimination chamber in that match with Roman Reigns. It's an iconic sort of moment and I think that also probably contributed to this price but 2750 for Sami Zayn Zebra fractured chad. It like is this kind of card like more representative of the inscription or the moment or everything? Like what's your reaction here to this price? I didn't until you said the price I was not aware of this sale. It seems high to me. There was like I think when you said the other cards went up there was a bunch of Sami Zayn one of ones that were listed for buy it now in the last week and a half or so that were closer to like the 3 to $800 mark. If you had asked me prior to the sale what that car would sell for I would have said like 800 to 1200 bucks maybe. I would say that you're right. It's probably more so going to a collector who is interested in inscriptions in the finer moments more than the talent. I mean Sammy's market like we were talking to other guys it's not. I mean his non numbered autographs are like 1020 bucks so seems like someone really wanted this one. Maybe not necessarily all due to Sammy Brian breaking records. This has to be the highest selling Samus Zane card in history and it cannot be close. That's the first thing I thought of. This card has the look I love the image. You cannot go wrong. Superfractor. Oh and it's on card and there's an inscription which is a famous saying with his song obviously. Let's go. If you're a collector. Yes this is for you. This is arguably probably one of his best cards to date. You don't see a lot of Sami Zayn inscription auto out there but yes I think this is probably closer to that thousand 1250 range. Maybe 501500 if you're really pushing it. So this is. This went very high. So if you're the sell on this one great for you. And you're the collector. You wanted it. Congrats to you. Yu-Gi-Oh I think there was a collector who had almost all of this selling it. He goes PD cards or something like that on Instagram. I talked with him A few times. And he was a big Sami Zayn guy. And I think he's selling off most of his stuff at the right time. Would you guys be shocked if I told you that there was another Superfractor autograph with an inscription that sold for generally this amount as well? So I think to Chad's point, it's likely somebody collecting the inscriptions and the Zebra Fractures versus collecting Sammy's name. But you never know. Like, he does have collectors out there. So another huge sale. This is the frozen Fraktor PSA 10 of the rock. It sold for 2697 via best offer on ebay. I was shocked at this price until I remembered there's a guy out there who is literally trying to complete the frozen fracture set in a PSA 10. And given that there's only five of these cards per wrestler, when one of them comes up, I'm guaranteeing you he's probably putting in a chubby bid on a lot of these things. So, 2697, Ryan, what's your thoughts there? Yu-Gi-Oh that was my first thought. I. I know. Like, I. I pulled his red Refractor, this card, and it wasn't even more than five, six hundred bucks. And that's number to five. I get it's Frozen Fracture, but I thought this was going to say maybe closer to the 1200s, maybe 1500 range. But to see that now, if you're that guy and you're building it as frozen fractures as PSA10s, kudos to you. You're probably going to be stressed the entire rest of your life because I don't know if that needs to be accomplished, but kudos to you for trying. This is a massive sale for what the card is. The Rock stuff's kind of weird. Like, some of his stuff, you're like, okay, this went high, this went low. This should be worth more. His market's really weird. I've learned with the cards. You would think some of his stuff be better, and it's not. I'm traditionalist. I'd rather have a red Refractor. I do love the Frozen Fractures. They're cool. I own Orton. My kids own Bray. They're really cool, unique cards. But to see that number, I mean, whoever wanted this really, really wanted this. Yu-Gi-Oh I don't think this picture is very great either. Like, I don't like the picture they use in a lot of the 2025 Chrome cards. Like, I think that was a something they fixed dramatically in 2026 with so many better cards. I do have the Becky in a PSA 10. I bought it that way, and the guys asked me a couple of times to sell it. I just can't bring myself because there's not been other ones that have surfaced. These frozen fractures are really tough. Let me ask you this. Let me ask you this for you, Chad. If you were able to Uptown a Becky save as a PSA 9 and this guy would way overpay for the Becky PSA 10. Absolutely. Okay. That's what I wanted to make sure. This much for a non PSA 10. Mine's a PSA. If he wants to pay me for that and get me the Raw version, I'm happy to do a cash and trade deal. But do you have the Gunther ones for. Yu-Gi-Oh I have. You said this is 25. I have one. I don't know exactly if it's the 25 or 26. I'm not incredibly moved by them. I bought it just because of the gunther. At the time, it seemed like a good buy. I think I got it for like under 200, baby. Raw about right. I mean, that's a pretty tough chase to go after that entire set. Just due to the fact that we talk about this. I mean, obviously just on the side all the time, that I feel like so many of these cards never hit market because a lot of the wrestler collectors, if they hit it in a break, they tend to keep it and they don't put it. It's not like with traditional sports where people are just buying spots to flip the cards like you. I mean, most people buy, like Cooper flag spots in basketball. They're. They're trying to hit cards. Great. Even sell them now. The Rock is probably one of the unique ones in like, that small sliver that people do buy that spot to flip stuff. But that's a big number, man. I don't know. I would. I would probably be selling my Becky Lynch 10 if I had it. But I understand you needing it for your rainbow. Oh, Yu-Gi-Oh the rainbow. I'm still waiting on the base one of one to surface. So the Superfractor from 25 for Becky has not surface, even though many of her variations have. I'm like Ryan. I'm like, I like building rainbows. But at the same time, I have Beckett off significantly in the last year and a half just due to volume of cards I need to acquire. I mean, what are these rainbows? Like, 30ish, 35 cards or 40 cards with the geometrics and everything? It's a lot. I. I know that I buy most of, like the reds and stuff that I See, but if I had to have paid up like 4, 5, 600 bucks to get the gunther frozen fracture, I would probably bow out and put that money to something else. I mean, for the Rock, you can get a lot of his autographs for that price, right? Exactly. This is the cost of a rock autograph and a piece. I don't know. I think obviously this guy chasing the set, he's the guy. And clearly someone else might know that too and could be manipulating some, Some under bids, but you never know. There's no manipulation on the wrestling card market. Yu-Gi-Oh right, Exactly. I was actually lucky enough to pull the 26 Becky frozen fracture. I have, I pulled it with Filth Bomber. One of the release date breaks. But I think the cards are cool. Like, when you have them in hand, they're cool. But, Yu-Gi-Oh this is a little bit high. Talking about the buying potential for Solo Stako, I think the cat's out of the bag a little bit. He had a one of one Superfractor autograph. This is the blue brand from 26, even though it's labeled as 25 and it's labeled MFT boss on the inscription, Solo Sikoa with a full autograph because he's sort of reverted to just signing solo these days. $2,200, the best offer. Again, there were like five or six of these Zebra factor inscription autos that all sold within the course of a few days. Like back to. Back to. Back to back to back to. Your point, Chad. I think it is somebody going and buying this up. But if there was one that actually deserved to have the come up happen, is likely this one. With all the recent TV focus, 2,200 bucks. Chad, what's your thoughts on this sale here? Congrats to the buyer and seller. I think long term, though, with the MFT inscription, I don't like it as much just because that faction obviously fell pretty flat. It was obviously Hyper up so much throughout the last year. Yu-Gi-Oh Yu-Gi-Oh I, I don't know that it's a bad buy. Obviously, tides raise all boats, so if his entire market goes up, that could be a good buy. If I was collecting him, I would have rather had some other solo inscription on it. But Brian, you have the other one, right? You have the 25? No, I have the Flawless autograph relics inscription. I thought you had a 101. Yu-Gi-Oh Yu-Gi-Oh I mean, I, I, it comes back to the same thing. Like, if Solo is truly undervalued and his entire market goes up, then this, this card will go up too. I don't know that this one is going to raise at the same percentage as one that's maybe a little less pigeonholed into the MFT thing, but I don't know. I mean, it's a. It's a cool ass card. I like you said he mentioned he's not just doing the just solo thing. I'm very bullish on the solo market, though. Like I said, overall, I think if they can finally just let him be his own thing, it'd be great. Which they still are not letting him be his own thing because he's kind of like LA Knights, like Watchdog, but I think eventually he gets to get highlighted a little bit more. It's kind of tough when his older brothers are still on the. On on the roster too, because they want to have them have interaction. But I don't know. I mean, it's a cool card. I like his penmanship. It looks great. Ryan. Yu-Gi-Oh I'm with you on the MFP thing. I mean, yes, it's an inscription, but you're paying up for something that should never be brought back again. It did not work out well. It was very interesting and I think it felt completely fat on his face. But to see this, if you want to get again, it's top chrome, it's Zebra frakker, it's autograph, it's on cards description, you're going to pay up. It makes me feel extremely happy that last year I bought the Flawless one at the national, which was the vertical up and down autograph with inscription. Now I got to go home and look at what it was. I think I paid like 500 bucks for it last year, 101. And I was like, I'm kind of to the point now where, where I'm like, I want to. I think I talked about this last week is I want to buy some more inscriptions of just one wrestler that I liked and just put it back because I love inscriptions. I love on cards. So I think somebody really paid up for kind of what they're doing with his storyline right now. But also not that it was a good storyline. That with the inscription that goes hand in hand, this new character is something I think they can really spin off and continue to build upon. And that MFT is just going to be never, hopefully never brought up. It literally ended J.C. mateo's WWE career. It ended Tangaloa's career. I mean, like, granted, neither of them really had. I mean, Jeff Cobb is a great talent, so it was kind of unfortunate for him. But Tangaloa was never going to Be the guy. I have a lot of stuff to talk about with Chad, I'm sure. But first of all, thank you for your support for Wrestling Card Takeover. You were one of the key sponsors for us there. He came on a little bit early to the podcast. We always love having additional commentary, so thank you for that. How was the national for you? Like what was your experience that week? Like, you guys, look, I talked to Ryan Shear who was working your table that you guys were busy, non stop curious what your experience was. Yu-Gi-Oh I mean people who know me well know that I recognize the national almost as like a holiday. I can never have a bad time there. I tell people and truly mean this. I don't care if I buy, sell or trade one card. I get to see people there that I only get to see at the National. I mean it's gone to the point where I see Ryan maybe twice a year and the national is one of them. Adam, I see you once a year. It's at the National. I see Ryan Shear once a year. So what I tell people too is if you're a dealer or just a collector, if you have a bad national, you are the reason why it was a bad national. I mean it's true though, if you're a dealer and you have a bad show selling, I would maybe soul search on how you are handling your, your pricing model, how you're interacting with people. If you have a bad time buying, maybe you need to readjust with how you buy cards. I managed to pick up a few PC items that I was happy with. This year's national was really cool. I liked. Now I was not on the consumer side of the national promo cards the Topps did. So I don't really have any comments on how the EQL thing worked and like price points and all that stuff. And I know that it people are a little. People are disappointed on how like you know how they didn't do like the, the product trade in for packs and stuff. I was able to acquire really cool the Gunther Red from those packs. I have not seen the Zebra Base or auto surface. I think the national was crazy. It was really interesting to see just the Fleer Like it was so busy. I still like, I know Ryan probably wishes this too. I wish the national was like seven days in two of those days I'm just a collector on the show Fleer and I can walk and see these cards and like I didn't get to go see any of these wrestling tables that people were talking about at our booth and get to just like Enjoy the show. I mean, when I would leave the booth, it would be to go use the restroom as fast as possible to get back because there's some. Some question or something going on. I know Ryan has probably very similar thoughts to that. I mean, the national, it's a special place, man. It's. It's a place for, like, every genre of collector has a group there, which due to. Obviously, Adam, everything you've done, you're. You're helping bring the community together. I know that the soccer community, they do, like, their big SOCO show next to the National. Really, like, the V Friends people have their group of people there. So, like, it's the one time of year where you're around the most collectors that have similar interests to you. And for me, I just like making connections with other collectors, because at the core, that's what I am. So we've had a lot of talk about that. And, Ryan, you've given your feedback a lot as well, and just how drained you are going. Seven days, I think might be pushing it as long as. But two days where you don't have to be behind the booth, maybe that changes. Well, in defense, I'm there basically six days. You're there five plus days, Chad. I mean, like. I mean, we're there to get it on Monday, and then we don't leave till Sunday. We're setting. We're dropping off Monday, and we're setting up on Tuesday. But I'm with you. Yes. We don't get that opportunity to walk around. I did actually start getting the opportunity on Sunday. I think it was like the first time I went over to thc Brian's table, and then next thing you know, I'm buying some stuff there. So again, I think that is, like, the only opportunity you get is because it was such a weird Sunday, I think check test. It started off really slow, like ghost town. You're like, all right, everybody's gone. And then, like, noon it hit, and you're like, crap it. There's people here, you know. Yu-Gi-Oh it's just. Yu-Gi-Oh I think I'm with you on that. Like, I love seeing everybody. I only can see Chad usually twice a year now, which is the national, and usually one of the conferences, usually at his tops. So it's the only time I get to see him, Even though we keep in touch and we text almost daily. But it's an opportunity that you just don't get going anywhere else and that amount of people to bring together. I call it the Christmas week for cards. I really do for the hobby. And it's just one of my favorite weeks of the year. But every year, it's like we're just talking the Nationals, like, three weeks ago, and it's like, it's a blur. It's already gone and over with, and it was done like that. And the thing is that you mentioned, like, okay, it is like, it's a marathon of a show. But, like, what a lot of people don't see is the fact that we start prep work months in advance, and then, like, the two weeks going up to the national, it is, like, all day. So really we got, like, three straight weeks of, like, working on kind of like that show. And then you get back, and me and Ryan have shops, so we're immediately. We don't have even time to decompress from the show. We're right back into it, which I know kids at home waiting for us, too, which I know Ryan has probably already started stashing cards for next year and going and figuring stuff out for that. So it comes and goes very quickly and is also very exhausting at the same time. So, like, in the moment, it's just kind of a blur. But you also wish there was more of it, too. Like I said, I think that's more so because we don't get to enjoy it as much as collectors as we would like to. It's just go, go, go for us. I'm going to give you some advice, and I know you got the kids at home. This has become my national. I go to the Dallas card show, and I go there now. I went from once a year to now. I'm going three times this year. I'm going in September and up again. I'm flying in Thursday and flying out Friday. John and I go. It is our favorite show to go to because it's like the national used to be. You get to walk around that show, you see great cards, you talk to people. It's not overly crowded, but, man, the amount of cool stuff that I see, and it kind of gets me back to my collecting grassroots. And what I loved about going to the national before I was a dealer. That's my cheat code. I call that I get to enjoy the national without walking the National. So word of advice. When the young one gets a little older, maybe I could see you three times a year and you come to Dallas and hang out with me for a day or two. Yu-Gi-Oh that sounds. I'm. I've been interested to go to Dallas since it first started as, you know, it's just. It's logistics of figuring out how to get in and out of there and. And make a meaningful trip in a short period of time. I know that you've had a lot of success picking up some really cool cards while you're there. So I don't know, maybe. Maybe this year I'll finally be able to Whatnot one of them. January. Get out of Pittsburgh in January. January, I get to go two days because we're. No sports go in January. It's the best one of the year because everybody in their mother who is north of Dallas is ready to get the hell south. Because, you know, as much as I know he's in Minnesota, I'm in misery and you're in Pittsburgh. We get some cold winter, so there's your opportunity. I know it may conflict with Upper Deck, but if you can even get down for, like, leave on a Thursday, come home on a Saturday, the only problem you could face would be weather delays and stuff like that. Well, Yu-Gi-Oh Sounds like I'm sleeping on the Fleer in your room with you and John then. Oh, you can snuggle with me, baby. Come on. All right. Come on, Ryan. Makes me good. So I think the. The Dallas. I went once. Adrian Peterson was signing those. The first public signing he did after he was drafted, and they did it at the Dallas show. So I drove from San Antonio and like, that show at the time was still mega show, but probably pales in comparison to what it is now. It's sort of gotten the reputation of being sort of like the dealer's show where people like Ryan go and sort of stock up on stuff. I definitely want to go and just because, like, I know the area. Yu-Gi-Oh January, maybe that's a time where we all need to sort of make it a point to get out there. I still want to make it down to Ryan's new shop. I'm trying to organize a camp day for my son who can go to one of the universities in the area so I can go visit Ryan's new shop. You said Washu or something like that, which is about 40 minutes away. Yu-Gi-Oh Something that's not division one that I can actually have a shot with my son at. But, Yu-Gi-Oh that would be a lot of fun to do all of us in. In January in Dallas because it is really cold here. It's not much better in Pittsburgh. I have to. No, Pittsburgh is miserable as well during the winter. I would love to get away. Is that why it's called Shittsburg in the wintertime? No one calls it that. I must be me this must be me. I don't listen to outside city opinions of my city. So maybe that's just you. Maybe it is. No, no disrespect to Pittsburgh. I also needed to make it to Ryan's new store because I didn't even make it to RBI Crew 2.0. I only saw 1.0, so I need to, to make it out there too. And in my rebuttal, I've never been to your shop, so I need to come out there and see because once Andy was there facetiming me, I epically realized I' failed as a human being. So that's all right. We need, we need like a world tour of card shops. Like, I think like organizing like, you know, everybody goes to all the baseball stadiums, all the football stadiums. Like there needs to be like a map and just like a wrestling card collector shop tour would be awesome. I'm out in Pittsburgh usually once every other year for business. So I just. Last time it just did not work. I was in Philly for, for Raw and a few other things and I Goldin get to Pittsburgh. But like, man, I'd love to see all of that and see Nate and everybody as well. And you know, I think like, from your perspective, because you, you obviously have been in this community a long time. We've had you on the, the old old podcast as a guest and so you've been doing wrestling cards for a while. Like, what has been so over the last, let's call it, since the beginning of 2026, even when everything is just gone to the moon. Like, because I think we had you on this podcast around that time as well. What's changed since sort of the last time you've been on sort of in store the market? Like, what's your commentary on where things have gone so far? Well, we had, I mean, we had that run about, I don't know what was that, Ryan? Maybe nine months to a year ago where there was like very few releases. So things were getting really dry out there from the wax perspective. Unless you're a psycho like me and Ryan and you had like acquired some stuff. I've noticed we definitely have more wrestling collectors with every set, which we have Universe, obviously in what, a week or two. Which I think that product should help get more entry level stuff just because it is a cheaper rep and they're adding mega boxes and stuff this year. But what I've noticed in the past year is just, it seems like there's a lot of new money coming in and new money that is Used to buying other genres and they're throwing it around in a way where the traditional wrestling collector doesn't fathom. I think a lot of like I've been collected wrestling cards since I was a little kid. I didn't get really heavy into it until like right around Covet like six years ago. I got right back into like collecting wrestling cards again. I would say a lot of these older guard guys, they don't understand it's not all market manipulation. People are really buying these cards, they're paying for them. And I think people just love when they see a big sale, they like to just say like, oh, it's manipulation, it's shilling all this stuff. And sure there is that in every category but there are a lot of collectors that are newer into the space that are like I said, they're throwing money around. And it is still such a smaller percentage compared to baseball prospects in football and basketball. I mean look at like the basketball market. Like the cheapest debut patches. What are those going to be? 50 to 100k? Like it's well the one. I think the Fleer on those is like 10 to 15k. I'm the worst guy. Yu-Gi-Oh And I mean I just, I think that Topps relationship with these athletes has done very good. I don't know how you guys feel about this. I don't know. I don't know. Something in me thinks that there's a little oversaturation on inscriptions right now. I think that it. I don't know that every product and every one of one needs them even though they are one of ones. Like I mean Gunther. I mean heck, I think between cards I own and other cards that people own, he might have like 20 plus cards that have the ring general inscription on 101s. Obviously Ko does it in his own way where there's you every inscription. Yu-Gi-Oh So. But I think that the. We are still, I think on the very beginning ascent on the high end market. We obviously we none of us have seen much room on like the lower to mid end stuff. I know that Adam is forced to possibly give people information they don't want in. They don't always understand that the low to mid end market is not the same as the high end market and it's not the same players. So like I remember when we had there was like a kerfuffle on a, a Gunther card and people were trying to quote Adam like orange is going for 50 bucks. And he's like, Yu-Gi-Oh but these are not in the same like tier of card. Like look at Sammy, that sale at 22.50 and you can get Sammy autographs for 10 bucks. That. That is not a. It is not as simple black and white as oh, this wrestler isn't popular. So their one of one shouldn't be worth X amount of dollars. I mean, like, fortunately and unfortunately I collect Gunther and his market is. I don't know. Adam probably has a better way of tracking like market percentages than I do because he's like a big numbers guy. But his market is up crazy on rare stuff. Like three, four, five collectors now. You know them death bats and you and nature and all those people like you. There's people who collect that. But Yu-Gi-Oh it's. It's an interesting take. And then there's still like the. The. We. We've talked about this before too, where like the. The. I think this is more like the core like longer standing wrestling collector group. It seems like they don't know the market so they undersell stuff and oversell stuff at the same time. Like they. There's not as much understanding of the market. So I know like there was a pad one of one from 26 that was. I mean it was listed for like 6k and I made what I felt was an incredibly fair offer and was immediately countered at like 20% higher. And I'm like, man, you should have taken my offer. It was a good offer. So I don't know. I think that there's still a lot of education that needs to happen in the wrestling community, which I know we all kind of take that upon ourselves to do so, but I think we're still really early. I mean, obviously if you're, if you're on Twitter and stuff, you see that there's a lot of unhappiness with the way that the show is Beckett but that doesn't really translate the card values. In my opinion. It has nothing to do with it. So if that is hindering some people from coming into the market, imagine if even like 10% of wrestling fans collected cards. I mean it's probably in single digits for actual collectors that. That watch the product. I'm with you, Chad. The one thing I'll say, and I thought about this when you're talking about product and everything like that is I noticed with royalty was the first time we've ever seen really people who aren't wrestling collectors dive in for the chase, the gamble. Trying to hit that John Cena trying to hit those WrestleMania patches. I was crazy. The amount that we sold in shop to people that were Like I'll take a gamble, I'll take a shot. Even Cancer was ripping the stuff and I'm like, can't you know nothing about wrestling? Absolutely nothing. But we saw for the first time WWE made a product. Sorry, Topps made a product. Again, Flawless was different. It never really translated over. But this added element, these WrestleMania patches really drove other people into the gambling aspect. The higher end consumer who is probably dealing in basketball, football, ideally, usually for taking shots in ripping and trying to pull one of these debut patches. It's the first time we've ever seen that in the WWE market for cards. And I think you're going to continue to see the growing on that, especially with one-of-one Dynasty coming at some point, which we're all itching for, which will have the SummerSlam patches in them. So again I think you're going to see more of that. They're going to make more of these type of products in the WWE Scope that are going to drive other people from other avenues of collectibility into this. Yu-Gi-Oh I. I agree. I had people talking to me about the Cena. I would say that in 2024 update Chrome baseball, the Paul Skeens card definitely brought people into collecting because they were chasing that. I think that that small category, I don't know if that creates long term fans or not or if it is just the gambling side of it, I think. When does the cena go off? Is it like a few days from now or a week? No, it starts tomorrow. It starts Wednesday this week and again it starts tomorrow. Yu-Gi-Oh For a month. Yu-Gi-Oh So the final sale price, the Hammer price of that I think will send some shockwaves through the wrestling community and the non wrestling community. It's going to get a lot of press. It already has. I think all that's going to do, like you said, is going to propel people to want to chase those again in the next product which I'm looking so much forward to Dynasty and also not at all due to how much money it's going to cost. Are you looking forward to pulling your Sami Zayn autograph relic worth 120 bucks? Maybe like a 1200 box or something. Crazy. Yu-Gi-Oh like Ryan knows I ripped a couple cases of Royalty. I did not do very good on the financial side of those rips. I love it. I was, I was very lucky and grateful to pull a gunther one of one from Royalty breaks on like the first day or two. Was that Troy from Wax Culture hit That wasn't that. I believe so. And then I missed out on a Couple of the other 101s that just at the time his market was just starting to. I was just getting used to his new market and I. I kind of balked at a couple prices and I missed out on some cards which, I mean, I learned. I. I understand if I want to go after something, I'm going to have to go crazy heavy now. But Dynasty I think is good to chap some asses. I think there are going to be some people who, Yu-Gi-Oh aren't like the wrestling community probably isn't that familiar with Dynasty understanding it's five cards per case. The checklist is however many names, there's going to be a lot of skunking. And those spots, I don't know if they have remotely. When does it come out? We don't. It hasn't been to be determined. But like it's clearly. We all know it's not going to be selling for the suggested price on pre order. We all know it's going to be much higher than that. And breaks are going to be very expensive, which I will be. I don't know how I'm gonna assess that one yet. I know I did like 40 or 50 cases of royalty breaks and I did not do very good in them. Yu-Gi-Oh So I don't know. I. I think that that one is going to be. The cena. Selling is going to send some shockwaves and then we are going to be dealing with answering a lot of unhappy collector comments when Dynasty drops. I have one more question for you and then I got to wrap up because I do have to jump here, but the Disney market, I want to draw some parallels here because three years ago there wasn't a Disney market and Disney 100 product has become the new darling of the. The investor community with people buying just like it's 5x month over month. I think wrestling has gone through a similar renaissance at a much lower scale in terms of like how much the cards have jumped because there was already more value built into the wrestling cards than there were Disney cards. But do you think that there is some parallels to be drawn between what's going on at the Disney market and what's going on with the wrestling market? Obviously Disney has a much larger footprint than WWE does. I've seen some of these prices. Do you sell much of the Disney products in your store? We do. I don't know at the level in which some of these sales are going down, it's more so the. The collector side of it. Like a lot of like the blasters and stuff. But I don't know. I, I think if it even gets a taste of that Disney bump that we're, we're in for a crazy ride here. I don't even know. Aren't like the base Mickey PSA 10 song for like 500 or something and it's insane. Like it's, it feels like 2022 or 2021 where you have very like the Disney 100 set in 23 is what really has driven a lot of this. And I was just curious because you guys both have large shops with a lot of different product selection. You have probably some of the most wide ranging different Topps of cards in your store. Like are you getting more people coming in asking for this stuff the same way you did for wrestling back in the day? Now is there a potential sort of parallel to be drawn that hey, some of these cards that we're seeing massive spike in Disney are driven by. It's the flavor of the month. It could wrestling eventually become one of those flavors of the month? Maybe not at the same scale because of how many people like Disney products versus how many people like wrestling products in on TV and whatever. But. And Disney owns Marvel and Fox and Simpsons and everything. There's a new movie there coming out too. Like I just think that there's like if we saw a fraction of that in wwe, it would be cool. Here's what I'll say about the Disney why it's doing so well and not just talking about those. Why it's heating up. Girls and women, they want to collect it. You're getting those type of collectors now or women that don't collect but their husbands do and they're discovering Dizzy. I had one of my. The guy who actually did our shirts, he actually hit me up about a week ago and he's like, hey, I love what's going on. My girlfriend is now into cards and it's because of Disney. Here's a list of all these Dizzy Chrome parallels on your website. Can you pull them off? I'll come in by him as a gal, take care of you. So it's grabbing a different demographic that we're not used to seeing because most traditional card people are men or boys. Now you're getting girls coming in and also they don't make a ton of product every year. They only make three or four SKUs maybe a year. And they had the cheaper one, the Disney 70. The chrome is very popular. The Zebra though is Zebra expensive. Those trading at like 12 to 1300 hours a box. You're dealing with a Different demographic, but somebody who could really talk about this. I think we need to maybe dive in with Stephanie. Mama Breaks does a lot with it want to bring in. But I don't know if the parallels could be similar because you're getting so much demographic into it. And I know wrestling is worldwide. Disney is also even bigger worldwide and well known. And I think it's something that any person who wants to get into a hobby, especially in the cards. Like my daughter loves it. She's like, I want to collect the girls. She loves collecting girls and wrestling. But oh, Minnie Mouse, this character. Oh, princesses, princesses again, you're. You're grabbing something different, different audience. If wrestling you could do a fraction of what Disney's doing to the next level. Instead of we're talking what Chad said earlier, that maybe a couple percent of a hundred to actually watch wrestling collect. If we can get that number closer to 7 to 10% in the next two to three years, Sky's the limit. But it's going to take a lot and I think we're going to need more from Tops who's already doing it with basketball and football and baseball. They're slowly doing the wrestling. There needs to be more emphasis on wrestling to really gauge more people. And yes, they're putting product at Wrestlemania. They're doing this. They're doing this. There's still more to grow upon that. And I'll also, yes, we can get women into collecting it or girls. And there are that collect. That's something that is lacking in the wrestling department. I have one more note for that too, which I've noticed. So on Iraq, I didn't know what topics you were talking about today. My wife. I don't read the script. I don't read the script. So we me, my wife were sitting on the couch last night after the kids had fallen asleep and she is getting targeted reels lately that are trading card based. And I guess she told me that like Josh Groban is a big Disney collector now and she's seeing him collecting cards. I know that like is it Emma Roberts that collects Disney heavy? Like I don't know that we have a lot of big influencer type guys and women that are collecting wrestling. I know Dominic Mysterio, I think collects his own cards and stuff. But the big thing that Disney Push has had is I think a lot of celebrity have been talking about Disney cards. It's in wrestling has so many big celebrities that watch if they start collecting and talking about it, I think that has a ripple effect too. The Fact that my wife, who has separate. She doesn't do anything with cards. Obviously I do, but she doesn't care if it's getting into her reels. Now that Josh Groban is collecting Disney cards, I think if something similar translated for wrestling, because wrestling, honestly, I feel like when you go to a live show, it's a pretty neutral field. There are so many women and men that collect that it could. Yu-Gi-Oh it can take my wife like certain wrestlers, but it's not in like her field of vision unless she's talking to me about cards. So I think if they can tap remotely into any of that celebrity to talk about these cards, there may be some wrestling collectors that still aren't even aware that the card thing is as big as it is. Well said. Awesome. I love it. And yes, these topics come from my butt. So it's like, you know, it's, it's. You just pull them out of your ass sometimes. You have great. I just think like this is one I heard. I've heard on a number of podcasts. I know, you know, we, we talk about all of the different content that all of us are exposed to. But like this was one of those topics that I've seen percolate up through the ranks, the content sort of ecosystem. So. And I saw just a lot of parallels and like Disney is coming up and whatever I want to that the most asked about type of cards of the national war. Do you have more Disney? Do you have Disney just telling you. Interesting. Yu-Gi-Oh And hopefully one day that will be more of wrestling. More. There are people out there who don't want that and don't want that exposure. But with that, Chad, why don't you tell everybody where they can find you just on social media and in your shop and. And we'll end it there. It was wonderful having you back on again. Thank you for your support of wrestling card takeover and everything. So I'll give it to you to give them the handles here. Yu-Gi-Oh thanks for having me, guys. I mean if you just go to sportscardjunction.com we have click through links for any social media that we post on. Awesome. Thank you. I like that. And his shop is in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Go stop by. They have a ton of wrestling stuff. Boxes wax across. They also have Nate. Don't. Don't forget to give shout out to Nate. My boy Nate. Love me some Nate. And. And they're. And they. And you guys have gone into Pokemon as well, which is big. So if you're a Pokemon guy, make sure to. We've honestly. So we were. We've been in Pokemon since 99 but in the last five years we've gone really heavy into like the side of it. I don't know if you can see the cases behind them. Those are ETBs by the way. I'm sure. Yes, I'm sure. ETBs over there. I see it. So thanks for coming on, man. Yu-Gi-Oh thanks. And with that, we will see you guys next week. Big Gulps. See you later. Always good to have Chad on the pod. I love bringing in outside voices to help elevate the conversation around wrestling cards. We get perspectives from Adam and Ryan every week, which I appreciate. I also appreciate when other voices come on the podcast. I think it's good for everyone. Appreciate all of you for supporting the Book to Last podcast. The best way you can do that is go to rbi crew7.com buy some wrestling card singles or wax. Support the pod until next week. Happy collecting. Take care of. Talk to you soon.