Ep. 115: Celebrating Hobby Championships

Welcome to Crosstown Cardboard, a sports card podcast with two collectors from opposite sides of New York City. Craig and Carmine share sports card stories from the perspective of a teacher and broadcaster. This is Crosstown Cardboard. Welcome to Crosstown Cardboard, episode 115. We're calling this one Celebrating Hobby Championships. And it feels like a big time championship. To be back here with my guy, Craig, originally from Long island, now in New York City, the math teacher, the soccer coach, and myself, Carmine at Carmine's Cards, the sports broadcaster here in Greenville, South Carolina. Craig, it's been 11 months almost exactly since our last podcast episode, which we used to do one every single week, uninterrupted, for two years straight now. There have been some good interruptions in our life, including another championship and a win for the hobby, which is you with a brand new son who's already a hobbyist. So we'll get into that. A New York Knicks championship, a hobby championship in the way of Fanatics Fest and us both preparing to go to the national. Me setting up as a dealer for the first time with our boy Big Ken at sportscardlessons. But I wanted to ask at New York City Sports Cards, which is yourself, what the hobby's been like for you and catching up on the Knicks championship and the newest member of the hobby. You're a little guy chase there. Yeah. Since we last recorded in August 11 months ago. A lot of growth in life, like you said. I got a new teaching job, which is one of the greatest professional decisions I've ever made. Card club was alive for a little while in my new school and it was actually going well. But then priority shift. My son was born and that's obviously been the focus. The Knicks won a championship and an NBA cup during that time. So two trophies, right? I attended Fanatics Fest. I attended another show called Got Soul. You're setting up at national, the granddaddy of them all. So, yeah, a lot's happened in the last 11 months, but sports cards in the hobby never goes away. It's always in the background, lurking, sometimes more prevalent than others. But I think a lot with sports cards has been happening lately, as usually happens during the summertime. So I'm excited to get into what's ahead. But obviously also recap the last 11 months, figure out how my hobby perspective has changed since becoming a dad, how the Knicks championship has impacted both of our collecting and yeah, just looking forward to letting it rip with you and see what you've been up to. Yeah, bro. So I think you were talking about, well, I guess we should start with the. Maybe we can do chronological order. So the birth of your son coming in the first of all, these hobby championships with the Knicks fanatics fest and the national. How did that change your perspective? Collecting. And probably and rightfully so, a little break from the hobby to focus on being a dad for the first time. Definitely. And speaking of that break, it's funny you say that, because those first few weeks of being a dad are tough. You're not sleeping, you're figuring things out. You don't know what you're doing. But there is a lot of downtime in between apps, in between naps. I said apps for a reason. That was a Freudian slip. And I said it for a reason. A lot of downtime where you're not working. Right. Because I'm on parental leave. And what do you do to kill that space? I actually found myself, like on card ladder quite a bit, just, like, looking at my collection, looking at stuff just to fill the void. And I noticed I was spending a little too much time on card ladder. Like if. If my son was napping and I was just chilling by myself, I was, you know, looking up comms, researching cards to the point where I'm like, I got to get rid of this. So I actually got rid of card ladder and I haven't gotten it back since. A conscious decision because I didn't want to spend too much time on it and I wanted to be present and focused on just being there and being a dad. But with all that, how becoming a father has changed my collecting perspective is I don't have really time to go to local shows to buy, sell, and trade. I don't really have time to sell things on ebay too much. So I really took a deep, deep dive into my collection, my inventory, really trying to figure out what is a card I want to hold on to long term. What is a card that means something to me? What is the card I want to pass down to my son? And anything that didn't fit into that category turns into my inventory. And if the goal of inventory is to sell or to trade, then that's what I did. I sold or I traded pretty much everything. So now everything that I have here in my home with me, I would say 99, are cards that I don't plan on bringing with me to national, I want to keep because they're unique, they're New York Knicks cards, or they're just cards that I believe in the value long term. So just continuing to come more and more narrowly focused on what kind of cars mean something to me. What's something I believe in the value of long term. That is definitely, you know, become a focus. So it's really cause you to reflect on it seems like from what you're saying, the most important qualities, the most important cards and getting rid of the fluff. Like you always like to say. Yes. So what have you cut out of your collection or maybe added in using those guidelines that were caused to be re reflected on based on the dadlihood. Okay, so like take Jalen Brunson collecting for example. I don't want to jump ahead to that just yet, but as I I took a look at my Brunson collection, maybe it's like I had 15 really great cards. The let's call the bottom five cards. You know, a couple gaming patches, some autographs. Like do I really need these? They're cool. No, I don't need these. They are replaceable. The stuff that's irreplaceable are the things that I kept. And it's funny because maybe in the last year or two cards that I considered PC not fluff have now entered that fluff territory. Yeah, I gotcha. Okay, great. Well, that's super because I have some new PC cards that I wanted to share at some point when we get there. Oh yeah, I got the same. And then also preparation for the national too and your experience at Fanatics Fest. So I wanted to see what you thought. But first we got to congratulate ourselves because throughout the two years we were doing the podcast every week, more than 100 episodes in a row. And thanks to everybody who's, you know, catching up with us as we're catching up with each other, talking about the hobby either on any podcast platform or YouTube because we had a really nice following. Probably about 500 views total average per week between YouTube and podcast. So, you know, nice to talk to everybody again. Get back on the mic. Craig's throwing up the heart if you're watching on on the the Josh Heart. So why don't we talk about that because we have to congratulate ourselves. I'm wearing the Knicks T shirt here. Craig's name on this zoom call is Nixon 5. He's got the Knicks water bottle and is literally in New York City. What was the championship like for you? Just as a fan, obviously it was heart pounding because, you know, not to bring it back to Josh Hart again. But he did come. He did create a heart pounding moment too by missing that layup and then fouling Stefan Castle to put him on the free Throw line that almost took down one of the best comebacks ever in any game in NBA history. But thankfully, OG and Jalen and. And Jose Alvarado and Mitchell Robinson saved the day there to help the Knicks, you know, come back from 27 down at halftime. But what has the experience been like for you as a Knicks fan in New York City and then as the card and hobby perspective pertains to it too? Yeah. So I want to keep it about the cards, but I do think it's important to touch on what it was like being here. This is the first season of my lifetime where I did not miss a single game. Wow. Regular season and playoffs, I was fortunate enough to go to four regular season games. I went to the opening playoff game against the Hawks at home, and I went to Game 3 of the NBA Finals with my dad. Yep, that was the game they lost, unfortunately. But it was cool to be a part of it. It was very fun and noticeable. Seeing the amount of Knicks gear, like, very gradually increase when you're just walking around the streets from the start of the playoffs to the end and by the finals, everywhere you looked, every business capitalizing on it, I see baby stores selling, like, blue and orange balloon displays. I go to the local bakery, and they're selling blue and orange cupcakes with a edible Jalen Brunson face on it. So. So just being all around it, feeling the energy was incredible. Nodding to random strangers on the street street. Let's go, Knicks. Seeing someone else in Knicks gear and just, like giving a head nod. The guy at the local deli near my new job, I would say every round of the playoffs gave me free coffee because he's a Knicks fan, I'm a Knicks fan, and we just chop it up. And I would say four times throughout the playoffs, he's like, coffee's on me today. So just feeling that energy was amazing. But keeping it, keeping about the cards, it's just so validating. You know, years and literally decades of rooting for your team, collecting your team, and then seeing it all come together, it's just so satisfying and validating. It's like, not that it's all for nothing, right? Because we're loyal sports fans, but we earn this. You know, I can't lie, looking at my New York Knicks collection, players past and present in it just hits different now. It does. There's no doubt about it. Also, our Knicks chat, which is close to 50 people and representing over 10 countries. Wow. Yeah. Personally is one of my greatest hobby accomplishments, because the number of people that have been brought together through the Knicks card chat. You. You can't put a price on that. Yeah, true. That's a great point. And it's been very interesting to see. Also, I was, you know, I'm here in South Carolina, but I was going through airports during the Knicks run because. And really right in the Finals because I was going to a wedding in St. Louis from one of my girlfriends really close friends. Then another wedding for my girlfriend's cousin. And I was wearing knick shirts throughout the travels because I was supporting the Knicks and showing everybody. There's Knicks fans everywhere. The number of head nods like you said, high fives, daps and fist bumps and just getting eye contact with people and then starting to celebrate about the Knicks was awesome. Oh, yeah. So that was really cool. So I figured we could talk about some of our Knicks cards. Let's get into it. Yeah, let's start about. Well, I added. Let's see, one, two, and I'm thinking about a third. I added definitely three and maybe four new NYX PC cards since our last recording. I'll start with the one that has been in my PC, though, and that is the notable nicknames. I want that the Captain Willis reed. This is first year notable nicknames from National Treasures. This is 2010 and it's really cool with the inscription. And if you follow along, crosstown cardboard. You know, Larry Bird and inscriptions are kind of my two things along with magic is somewhat in there or other players connected to Larry Bird. So I got that one in there. I got this with you at Culture Collision in Atlanta from Jeff. From Jeff. Yeah. Legendary Jeff. Also a New York legend. Yep. Saw him this weekend. Very good guy in the hobby and also has a lot of unique cool cards and a very impressive career also outside of cards. Okay, so now another card you've been trying to get off me. And we'll see what happens at the national because we'll both be there. Like we mentioned, this is a. This is the dual autograph Willis Reed and Walt Clyde Frazier from Immaculate, numbered out of 49. But it's way more rare than that because it's such a collector card, especially for Knicks fans and collectors in a BGS8 with a 10 auto holding it up here if you're watching on YouTube. But you know, the two biggest pillars of the first two championships for the Knicks right here. And maybe there could be a. A rehashing of notable nicknames with Jalen Brunson and a Captain inscription one day. Oh, that wouldn't be too neat. Would definitely take that. Okay, now here's one that's. I just got. It just got into the mail this week. And I'm debating if it's a collection piece. I think it meets the standard. It's an Earl to Pearl Monroe, not inscription, but it is from one of the iconic early autograph sets, the 1999 UD Legends. And it's legendary signatures in a PSA 10 card grade. And the auto is also in really good condition. My signature. So that one, I'm debating if it's PC or not. And then I posted this on Carmine's cards Instagram too, because it's such an incredible pair. And. And I think it's a more iconic 1999 autograph set. But it's the epic signatures. And it's Willis Reed and Walt Clyde Frazier. Two more that I've added to my PC. Wow. Both 10 tens. Both tens. And it's. Yeah, Willis Reed, Walt Clyde Frazier, both PSA 10s. And the Willis Reed is a 10 ten. The wall Clyde Frazier is just a ten card grade. But if you're looking at the auto, you could. I mean, it looks like a 10 also, despite not having that official grade. But these are very low pop. I think each of them is like a pop 30. So it's, you know, and there's probably not going to be any or many more because it's from 1999. We're coming up on, you know, more than 25 years. Oh, excuse me. The Willis Reed is a pop five in a 10 10. Nixon five. Oh, my gosh. So how can I leave it out of the PC now? But, you know, we always talk about the cool to cost ratio on crosstown cardboard here and the cool to cost ratio on these. And the Wall Clyde Frazier is a pop 15. So you got a pop 5 and a pop 15 between the Willis Reed and the Walt Clyde Frazier epic signatures here. Wasn't Earl The Pearl number 15? Earl of Pearl was number 15. Boom. Great call connections. So. And as a math teacher, I mean, the math just adds up. So those are some of the PC cards I added. The Willis Reed, the Captain I already had, like I said, from our time at Culture Collision from Jeff, but the four others I added to the PC from the Knicks collection since our last recording 11 months ago, so pretty happy about those. And then the Knicks winning the championship. And it's been interesting to see the values increase in the legendary Knicks cards. And I know he wanted to talk about that, too. Like, I got a couple Walt Clyde Frazier flawless autos, you know, just for inventory for funsies. For funsies. For, you know, in the, in the semi collection or just not really. I mean, you're just enjoying them until you sell them. As far as like show inventory and preparing for the national and seeing those. When I bought them for like, you know, let's say a flawless autograph numbered out of 25. Walt Clyde Fraser. Like 40 bucks. Exactly. And now it's like 80, 90, 100. It's like after the championship and you know, just people realizing. Or just Knicks fans coming out of the woodwork or just general sports card fans who are rehashing some of the Knicks legends based on how good the Knicks are doing now. And it's like, oh, this is kind of cool to see. A rising tide lifts all boats. Yeah, exactly. I see, I see it happening. Legendary players are getting a lot more respect because more attention is being put on the Knicks. Naturally you go back in history, like, wow, these guys were legends. Plus Walt Clyde Frazier still being at the games. Get to see him. He's still on the call with Mike Breen for the local MSG broadcast. So listen, aside from my parents, Wal Clyde Frazier has been one of the most consistent voices in my life. Yeah. Crazy to think about that. Yeah. And you have that iconic picture also with him. Yeah, he's going to be a national. I'm thinking of getting that picture signed. That would be cool. I know. I know it would be. But yeah. So I like, I don't. I look at cards as an investment, like an alternate investment, obviously. Yeah. And when you get to collect something you like just because you enjoy the player of the team and now you see all the fruits of your labor in terms of like what you've collected has gone up in value. Like collecting Jalen Brunson has just been so satisfying. I didn't really get a chance to take advantage of the market. Like, I wasn't like buying, let me buy all this stuff and then I'll sell it for the finals. Yeah. Although I did have one, one of one card that I made on Jalen Brunson that I sold right before the players, right before the playoffs. I made a 13x profit on it. Wow. 13x profit on it. What was that right before the playoffs? Someone who lives in New York City. I met up with him and I did the deal in person, which was great. I got to hand it off to him. He PayPal me and like it was a great card, but hard to turn down. 13x profit. Yeah. In a few months. That's awesome. Yeah. What exactly was the card it was a hoops one of one. Like the black artist proof. Okay. Yeah, but can I. Can I get into some of my pickups? I think you'll appreciate. Please. Yes. I had this Willis Reed first year flawless diamond, which is actually the base card. So I paired it with the first year flawless autograph. Nice. So the diamond with the autograph together, first year flawless. Got to continue to pay respect to the legends. This was an ebay buy it now right before the playoff started from the new Tops flagship, a Josh Hart game. Warren chunky patch. Nice. The 101 Platinum. Oh, that's cool. Something. Now, correct me if I'm wrong, if that wasn't a Knicks star and now legend because of the championship. We. We talked about the one of one. You know, many episodes ago, that patch would probably not be something you would collect as a one of one because it's not like a one of one patch as far as like a tag, a logo. But because it's a Knicks guy, it makes it much more appealing, you know what I mean? Because it kind of doesn't meet that one of one patch quality. Even though it is a nice patch for this card. It does. I get what you're saying. But like, that's actually a little piece of the letter there or one of the. And also just the hollow foil from the 101 is pretty nice. Yes, it is nice. Couple more Josh Harts and I'll get to the Brunsons. How about a 24 prism black finite Josh Hart and a PSA 10 101? Wow. I got this from my buddy, Al, New York City hoops collector at the Got Soul Show. And in addition to a 2024 flawless Josh Hart patch auto. Oh, what a patch there. That's a patch right there from the the City edition Kith uniform. Nice autograph game patch. And you can also tell it's not a usual patch because the white letter is on top of the orange letter. Right. Those are their. Their Kith City edition jerseys. Yeah. Now to the Brunson. I look at my Brunson cards as investments as well. And we talked about cards that are irreplaceable. Are you familiar with the set Revolution? Yeah. So this is the Kido Jaylen Brunson, the one of one. See it on there? But look at that design. Look at that shine. Yeah. Nice 101 stamp on the back. This is 2023 hoops premium stock black disco 101 as well. I don't know how well you could see it in the light, but the New York City in the background. Oh, that's cool. Yeah. So a couple Brunson one on ones. And now hear me out. You've seen this card before. I talked about this. The Brunson flawless patch auto jersey number 11 out of 15. Let me tell you why this card now hits different. I've since graded it PSA 8 with the 10 auto. We'll take it. My son was born on the 11th, Jalen Brunson, 11. So, like, the number 11 is obviously significant. He was born at 4:15pm and the Knicks won the Finals 4 to 1 in five games. I'm just saying. Born, born on the 11th at 4:15pm it was just a sign. Wow. It was a sign from above. Wow, that's pretty cool. Yeah. So that's a lot. And we could talk all day about the Knicks, but let's get to more topics because I do want to hear your thoughts going into national because you're setting up for the national for the first time and you're welcome for the assist. Yes. No, I know you're. You're kind of joking, but you did definitely. I'm not joking. I am definitely not joking. I facilitated this. Okay. So thank you for the. For the assist. And then I was like OG Anunoby tipping it in for the win with Big Ken because he had an open space at the National, a showcase space because he has one table after being on the wait list for a few years. Even though he did set up when we went the last time in Chicago in 2023 alongside Rob, the sports car therapist, in conjunction with the artist formerly known as the Wolf Pack, our old group with cousins Collectibles and Tony and Oz, Cousin Oz, the people's mailman and that great group of guys. So. So, yeah, so we were there in Chicago the last time, and now the next time will be, you know, three years later with me setting up as a dealer. So I have more cards than I've ever had before. And like I said, thank you for the assist. Big Ken was nice enough to let me come in and also be with his table there. So that'll be great. I'll have a dealer badge and we're splitting up the cost of the table, which is really nice. So I'm a little nervous, like you mentioned before we started recording. Like, are you feeling nervous about the National? I've set up at a bunch of card shows before, but never anything to this magnitude. So I'm really interested to see. Just, I. I just think, like, with the cards I have a lot of them are you know, unique. And they're cards that if they were Nick's cards for us or if they were Larry Bird cards for me, as far as the type, style, age of card I would be interested in for my collection if I collected that team, that player. So I think the sales will hopefully be inevitable just because the number of people that are going to come by the booth at the national and our booth number is 20007 and I'll double check that just to make sure. If anybody wants to come by, say hi to me, Big Ken and. And then also Craig, because I'm sure you'll be there to check in and everything and see what's going on. But yeah, I'm, I'm a little nervous about transporting everything to get there, but. And also about five days in a row, Wednesday through Sunday of just, you know, trying to do a good job and, and represent the cards and make some sales and maintain energy for that amount of time. But I'm excited. I feel like, you know, I'm pretty ready after being back in the hobby for five years now after collecting as a kid and hopefully should be good. I'm excited. Yeah, you're going to crush it. Listen, I'm still in tune with the hobby enough and I, I went to Fanatics Fest this past weekend to know that there are definitely two types of cards people are looking for. What could you buy that you're just going to flip? That's ultimately it's going to go to repackers. We can get into that later. Or you're looking for the collectible cards, the type of cards that you and I really prefer. And I think people are going to walk by your table and appreciate the uniqueness and the, the real intentionality you put into the types, types of cards that you buy. Like, oh, like I haven't really seen these around here. You know, this is cool. And maybe there's not like a direct comp for everything, but I think that kind of makes it a little more fun. So I would say you're gonna have a more, you're not gonna just have like the normal type of ultra modern inventory everyone's looking for and I think that's gonna play to your advantage. Yeah, you're so personable, so obviously like you know what you're doing behind the table. But listen, bro. Yeah. Four days at the national, like it's really five. I mean, Wednesday, Wednesday is like a half. Not, not as full of a day, but then it's four full days. Yeah, you're right. I mean but you're gonna be. You're gonna be drained. Yeah, like, you're built for this. Don't get me wrong, but a lot of days behind the table, like, the mental energy takes back and forth to, like, big to people. But listen, I've seen you out on the field. You got this. You're built for this. Thank you, bro. I'm excited. And yeah, like you said, the intentionality behind the cards, because it's really like buying, you know, one card at a time or two or three cards at a time. It's not like buying a big bulk collection, which, no offense to people who do that, but they. You can't be as selective. Obviously, if you're buying a big bulk collection at 60% off Facebook Marketplace, that's another great business avenue. If that works for you. Mine will be like buying one, maybe two, three cards at a time that fit my style or sports card wardrobe that I feel like will be collector's items for other people that, yeah, I'd probably have to hold on to them longer because they're not as quick flips and it takes the right person. But at the same time, doing that a bunch of times in a row creates a certain style for the showcase that I can be okay with and that I can also be okay with not selling because I think they're cool, you know, for the meantime. And I don't, you know, need that money to make my life work, which is good. So I'll tell you what also gives me confidence. I set up just this past weekend at the Heywood Mall show hosted by Wilder side of Sports, which is a great follow on Instagram for shows in the local area and even expanding to autograph signings different parts of the country. But for South Carolina, North Carolina, they have a lot of shows. So I made, let's see, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. About close to 20 sales of cards that are, you know, $50 or more. And not counting, like, some of the dollar bin items, this is not counting that, which also was good. So I sold and not counting trades. Trades. I made about 1, 2, 3, 6 different trades. So that was good. So let's say on the 20 sales of cards, $50 or more, I sold gross, $2,340, strictly in sales, which is decent. At the last two shows before this, I was around 4,000, but 2340, no big sales. The biggest one was $330 for a 2005 Peyton Manning. Sign of the times. So 2340 in total sales, 625 was profit. So that was around a 27% profit on a little over 2,300 in sales and a little over 600 profit. So that's a, if I can hit that percentage, I'll be very happy. That's. I'm usually between 20 and 30%. So it gives me a tangible factual number to look at, which I know you like too. And I've got everything in a spreadsheet now. No more of my, my notepad that I had, which I still have for old school. You're an old soul. I used to, I used to do everything on the notepad, but since I transferred everything in this notepad of how I used to keep my card records of how much I bought a card for, how much I sold it for, transferred this into an Excel spreadsheet. So now I can really see the statistical data, Craig, which I know you appreciate of what I'm buying cards for, what I'm selling them for and the profit margin. Whereas before I was just kind of observing and making my own mental trends from the notebook, now I can actually see them and get the data aggregated much more quickly. So what I noticed was most of my sales were between that 50 and 350 range. Like I said, my biggest sale was 330. I had another sale of a Hulk Hogan Clutch Factor National Treasures patch auto for 300 and that was my second biggest sale. But for the most part after that, after those two in the 300 range, Hulk Hogan and Peyton Manning, everything else was below 200, between 50 and 200. So I'm interested to see and like I said, this is just data from one show in Greenville, South Carolina at the Haywood Mall. I think it's going to be much different. I'm really excited to see the aggressiveness of the buyers at the National. People who are making a travel plan to get their hotel flight, intentionally coming there looking to spend money to buy things for their collection much more actively than somebody who is taking a 10 minute drive down the street to the Heywood Mall or just passing through on their way from Bath and Body Works to Macy's and looking at the showcase. So it'll be a different mindset. I'm interested to see what the mindset is as setting up as a dealer for the first time at the National. I mean it's also easy to go on Instagram and see big dollar deals happening and assume that's the nor form. But I think at the end of the day, the vast, vast, vast majority of card collectors are still people buying in that 50 to 500 range. Yes. We just don't see, you know, those deals aren't as sexy, so we don't see them online. But I have a feeling you're gonna find it's going to be what you experience at the show, but at a larger scale. Yeah. Which would be great because that's what most of my inventory is in that. In that purchasable range. Because, of course, you want to lend yourself to things that'll sell if you're trying to buy and sell. Yeah. I mean, listen, it's not all about hitting the home runs, right. Boom. Tony Gwynne. Yes. Singles. Tony Gwynn. Just get on base. Yes. Exactly, bro. Yeah. So excited about that. But also, I cannot believe what Fanatics Fest has turned into. Now, I haven't been, but I have seen all the content. I've talked to you about it. And our boy, former guest of crosstown cardboard, SportsCenter anchor Kevin Ngandi. Oh, I saw. Yeah. Hosted two days of SportsCenter from Fanatics Fest. And I was like, I have to Instagram message him. I have his number, too, but I don't know how close we are. But anyways, I've gotten, you know, sports broadcasting advice from him, too, and I'm like, this is so cool. And he's, of course, an advocate for the hobby, too, because he's Negandi cards. He's a collector, too. Yeah. I saw him hosting an event with Anthony Edwards looking at cards. Yes. Did he get back to you? What's that? Did he get back to you? Oh, I haven't messaged him yet, but I was going to. I will message him and say, man, this is so great what you're, you know, helping do for the hobby and, and getting that mainstream sports media talking about it. Not just Instagram and other sites, but I mean, hosting SportsCenter from Fanatics Fest, in addition to what Michael Rubin and all these athletes are doing is. Is another level. So how was your experience of it? And. And what do you think about how it's increasing the popularity of the hobby? Okay, so it's an impossible event to have a bad time at. You just can't. If you're a sports fan, like, you're not gonna have a bad time if you're going in there just thinking, like, I'm here to buy, sell and trade cards and make deals. Like, maybe it wasn't the best experience for some, but if you could look at it holistically, like, I'm at one point, I'm sitting, I'm like just looking at a table, looking at cars. I look to my left and like Bam. Adebayo's walking by. Listen, I'm a grown man with a kid now. I'm not like getting starstruck and like running up to athletes, but it's like cool. There's Bam Adebayo. Okay, moving on. You know. So like for me, like it was just cool being around the energy. Like I'm in the same building as Lionel Messi and LeBron James and Jalen Brunson. Very sad that I wasn't there yesterday when Justin Bieber was there. But oh yeah, the point is it's like it's all of sports into one. You know, I made it a point to take a break from the cards at some point and check out everything. I didn't buy anything else. I didn't participate in anything else. But seeing all this exclusive merch, seeing how you could do like a shooting contest to win prizes. You could do a WWE walkout where like Logan Paul is there soaking all in and seeing all of it. There is no event like it in the world. In the world. It is not just a card show. It is a sports fan and sports collecting show now as. But if we're keeping it about the cards because this is crossed down cardboard. There was definitely a New York City Fanatics Fest tax. But honestly, rightfully show hot market you are at Fanatics Fest. It is a premier event and it's expensive to set up and lodging in New York City so dealers have every right to charge more. So I noticed it like I'm not, I don't know comps off the top of my head. I don't even have card letter anymore as I said. So I stick to eBay and 130point. But even so like to give concrete examples like I have a Michael Jordan game used Jersey card from like oh6 sweet spot. It's a 500 card and I saw a lot of very similar cards priced at like 8, $900. Oh wow. Realistically that's like a 4, 5, $600 type card. I really wanted a Justin Bieber autograph card from his 2012 Panini set and I saw one there and I saw recent comps doing around a thousand and this guy was asking 6400. Whoa. Some people were a little outrageous. Do I expect to see inflated prices at National? Of course, you know, that's just the nature of the beast. But I definitely noticed it a little more during Fanatics Fest. Like I didn't make a ton of card Deals, you know, my best deal was I'll try to find a picture of it. But, you know, when I go to a show, my goal always is because I'm not buying and flipping and buying and flipping. Not anymore, at least. Yeah, those cards are ending up at repackers. Those are people who want to buy cars at 80% and then sell it to someone for 85 and just make small margins in large volume. That's not my game, you know, that's not what I do. I don't. I don't need that to survive. Yeah. I like, like you, like, first of all, trying to buy a car that I really want to hold in my collection for the long term, something that I could now pass down to my son and like, slowly see the value appreciate over time. But it takes more of a skill, buying something, looking at a value, buying it at 85% and selling it at 95. 90. That is not a skill that does not require any sort of expertise that just like anyone could do that. I like finding hidden gems. To me, that's so much fun, whether it's for my own collection or maybe trying to sell. So the one card that I was able to pick up that I thought was going to be a long time hold was a Tom Brady game use patch card from a 2003 set Fleer Avent. And if you look at the patch, it's actually a piece of the Patriot head. Yeah. And it's also, like, right next to the Patriot. I know. It's cool, right? It's cool. Very cool. Hey, if you. If you think this isn't the Patriot head, just look an inch to your right and tell me it's not. I know it's an awesome car. I don't have any Tom Brady cards. I like Amy's patch cards. I'm like, this will be a cool one to add to my collection. So I actually got it from, you know, Tom Brady's store, Card Vault. Yes, yes. They had a set up there. So I got. I bought it from Card Vault. Wow. So believe it or not, all these dealers there, the best value I felt was from Card Vault and you didn't have to pay tax because it wasn't their store. It was just a setup. So, like, what do you think I paid for this? Is it numbered out of 25? Okay. I'm gonna say like 400, 950. What? Sold it on Instagram later that night for 1600. Oh, my gosh. So, like, I was hoping this was going to be a car. I was going to hold on to. But I'm not going to turn down 600 plus dollars profit in a few hours knowing I'll be at national in a couple weeks. So that changed my perspective a lot because I didn't really force any deals. I made some decent flips. I was able to sell some stuff on free up cash. And I said like Fanatics Fest in itself is a great experience. I don't need to buy a card to go home happy. I'll save my cash for the national. So being able to flip that pretty quickly, my mindset would have been different if I wasn't going to national in a couple weeks, I think. Yeah. But I recognize inflated prices. I didn't see anything I like loved. I'm like, cool. Let me just be patient. I got national in a couple weeks. That's another hidden positive about Fanatics Fest is that for most card shows, what's your souvenir is that you need a card really to be like, okay. Or at least something small where that was worth it. That was fun. I got this card. Now I have a tangible piece of what I came away with. But at Fanatics Fest, like you just said, you can come away with the experiences too. You don't really need a souvenir to come back with as far as a. An actual card because there's so many other things going on and it's like a sports. It's a showcase of sports. It seems like much more than it is just the sports cards. Yeah. I mean I. I ran into one of my best friends, two brothers and his nephew at the show randomly. Do you know the NBA writer Dave McMenamon? Yeah. Yeah. I was right next to him. He's not like a big celebrity, but I like his work. So he was at a table right next to me and I was like talking to him for a couple minutes. Celebrity was like, oh cool. I follow this guy. We're talking cards for a couple minutes. Yeah. So experiences like that. Honestly, one of the coolest things for me from Fanatics Fest was meeting a dealer. Born and raised and still lives in Iceland. Wow. He grew up collecting as a collector in Iceland. Just such a unique. Like I've never met a person from Iceland, let. Let alone a card dealer that seems like there wouldn't be that much going on in the card scene in Iceland. But what do I know? Yeah, that's. That's what I'm. That's what I said to him. But yeah. So to summarize, if you are just there wheeling and dealing and it wasn't a good experience for you? I. I mean, I don't know what to say. Like, I. Honestly, the worst thing that happened to me at Fanatics Fest was discovering that they had a build a bear pop up, but then learning that they ran out of Nick's bear so I couldn't get my son a souvenir. Oh, that would have been epic. And Nick's Build a bear from Fanatics Fest, the year they win the title. I know. Put an orange heart inside there. Yeah, exactly. But it's. It is a sports collectors and fan experience with a card show built into it. Like I said, incredible event. A lot of fun. Just cool that you're in the same building as LeBron James, Lionel Messi, Anthony Edwards, Kevin Nagande, and this is all going on around you. Brunson and harder. Doing a live podcast with Aaron Judge, which I tried to go watch, but it was as mobbed as the Knicks parade, which I went to. So, like, I didn't get a chance to see it live. Like, it's all right. I'll catch the videos later. Just being around it, seeing people I know, being in the vicinity of these athletes. But like, like I said, I'm a grown man. Like, I'm not getting starstruck over these people. A lot of fun. It doesn't hurt that it's a 20 minute ride door to door for me. I hop on the subway, take the subway four stops, and I'm at the Javits Center. Pretty cool. Pretty cool. You know, I would say it's a can't miss event, Fanatics Fest, and it's only getting bigger every year. Yeah, I'll have to eventually go. That'd be awesome. I'm glad to hear the experience was so good. And that's rolling over the momentum from the Knicks championship to the Hobby Championship at Fanatics Fest to another Hobby Championship at the National. So what is your outlook, Craig? I know you're going for a couple few days and walking the show as we did three years ago together. The first time we met in person, despite doing the podcast for like a year and a half, almost two years, I think, leading up to that point. But what's your outlook? What are you looking for and your mentality going into the National? Okay, last tidbit before I get into that. Someone that's in the Knicks group, Ruckus. Ruckus Cards is his Instagram name. I've communicated him over the last couple years. And we met for the first time at game three of the finals. He lives in North Carolina but he flew to New York for game three of the finals, so we got to hang for the first time in Madison Square Garden. He also flew here for Fanatics Fest. So I got to hang out with him again this past weekend. And he told me he was just walking up and down the card aisle and J.J. redick and his son walked past him like not recognized by anyone. And I'm like, damn, what a good chance that would have been for me to say JJ, we spoke for 20 minutes at Tobias's wedding. Do you remember me? But did you ever text him to get him on the show? No, I texted him once at the after the wedding. No response. Never again. But I guess I technically still have JJ's number. National outlook. I wasn't gonna go because I don't want to miss any days or nights with my son. Like this has been the most incredible summer of my life just getting hang with him every day. It is the national though, but national is national. Sorry, sorry, Jason. It was a no brainer purchase. I planned for me to go once I found out I could fly Friday morning, go to the show Friday. One of my best friends who lives in the suburbs of Chicago, who's very looking forward to meeting you as well. Oh, nice. He's gonna meet me at the show on Friday. I'm gonna spend the night at his place in the suburbs and then I'm gonna go to the show Saturday. So I'm not paying for lodging, I'm paying for the ticket for two days and a cheap flight and my sister in law is flying in to take my place to help with my son. So easy decision, cheap trip for me. What do I hope to get out of it now that you know Fanatics Fest, I make it a point to look around, see everything happening. National's about the cards. Yes, it's about the cards. Right. So now my real goal is to come home with a card that I really see the long term value of something that could just be proud to own, Be really proud to own and trade or sell a lot of cards to get there. I mean that's really it. And try to find those hidden gems, try to find those Tom Brady patch cards that I think are undervalued because I know the mid 2000s patch market maybe make a little money along the way, but it's really just to acquire one or two new cards for the personal collection that I want to see myself owning in 20 years. And that philosophy has not changed. Yeah. For as long as we've been recording. Yep, yep. And hopefully Getting rid of some fluff in the process. If you even have any left after your fluff exodus from having Chase Fluff. Fluff has changed over the last few days after going to fanatics fest. Oh, okay. See that Bill Russell to your left? Yeah. I have that card in the orange out of 15 and a PSA nine. Okay. And I've had it. I've had that for five years. My thought was always, I feel like I need a Bill Russell in my collection. And then after this weekend, understanding, like the types of cars I'm really looking for, I thought to myself, I understand Bill Russell's a legend of the, of the game, but like, I'm not a Celtics fan. I don't need that card in my collection. So just over the course of the last couple days, I made that shift in my mind that this card I've owned for five years is now going to come with me to National. I'll be able to use it as trade bait. Nice. Yeah, that's a good one. And I have long gotten rid of this, even though it's still in my background because I have a bird and Bill Russell dual auto immaculate. That's in the PC with, with the, with the bird connection and the top two Celtics legends ever. Really? So. So yeah, that's. That's great. You could do one of your classic fluffing stuff deals. Another crosstown cardboard. Or in your case, you're going fluffing. Fluffing PC is the end goal. Doesn't quite have the same ring to it, but I would love dream. Dream card is a Kobe MJ dual patch. Like chunky patch of both. I think I, I think I can make it happen. And the way those two players markets have ballooned up though, in the last six months to a year. I mean, of course they're the goats, but the goat market has just exploded and I don't know what's caused it. If anybody in the comments can see what or. Or opine on what they think has caused this, but I sold a Kobe Auto last summer. 0304 ultimate signatures. Remember when I was collecting that set? Great set. But then it got so expensive I was like, I can't see myself putting in like 10, 15 grand, 20 grand for the LeBron and Jordan of that set. I sold that Kobe for around 2300 and now it's selling for over 5000 a summer later. Not. It wasn't even a summer later where it sold for that. It was like six months later. And I was like, what's making the Kobe Market go up now, I couldn't understand it. Maybe the turn turned to goats and, you know, I don't know. But it was a gut punch when that happened. Of course, there's been a lot of wins to offset that too. But when you see a card sell for double and it's thousands more, it's like, oh. So if anybody. You know, I would love to also get into these discussions as a dealer at the national and see what people think. But, yeah, I mean, people are gonna say inflating prices leading up to Fanatics Fest and National, so dealers have a little leverage. But this was like six months ago, Craig. Or more. So I'm interested to see what people think. Remember, I got this card. Yes. The Killian Mbappe, the color of the. Not gonna lie, I really wish I had this because this is his Prism Rookie. Yeah. And I. I got this with you in National a few years ago. Yep. That was the Cleveland one, wasn't it? I believe so. Now, I sold this at last year's Fanatics Fest. By the way, for listeners, it's the 2018 PRISM World Cup. Killian Mbappe, which is like kind of his rookie card because it was the year they won the World Cup. Very nice blue collar match. And a BGS9 5 numbered out of 199. I sold it at Fanatics Fest last year for $2,000. It is now worth 5,500 in a matter of a year, which kind of sucks when you think about it. But yeah, here's the consolation. Why did I sell it? I didn't just sell it to get cash. It was a card at Fanatics Fest that I really wanted, that I felt like was undervalued. And it was the LeBron Michael Jordan dual exquisite game use jersey numbered out of 23, which at last year's Fanatics Fest was priced at 3, 300. So I want to free up as much cash as possible. I sold the Mbappe and I use that towards this 3300. This has a recent comp for 6000. So. Wow. You know, it all evens out in the end. Good for you. That's great. Yeah. And I've had a lot of cards that have increased in value along with the Kobe that I sold that then doubled. So yeah, it. You can't control it and you can only be like, okay, well this was maybe a loss and sold too soon. How was I going to know that it wasn't my fault? And then, you know, some others that you've lost and won on will hopefully even it out. If you are in it as consistently as we are, you're in a great position of leverage being behind the table and just having great inventory that, like another Kobe Auto may walk up to your table. And I think you'll be able to make it happen. Yeah, it might. And so my goal for the national on my side, as the dealer side is, of course, just to sell a bunch of cards, come back with a good amount of money, maybe something I can put away for a. A down payment on a house would be a awesome future goal to have that. And then you. You want to sell, get money out of the hobby or, like, not all of it, but, like, put some money aside for personal use, but then also reinvest some into it. Okay. Yeah, yeah, but I'm. It kind of sounds silly, but the goal would be getting a lot of cash for setting up at the National. Like you said, it's all about the cards. And setting up as a dealer for the first time would be great to make a lot of sales. And I. The inventory I have, with the cash I have, I'm very inventory heavy with not very much cash as far as hobby usage. And so that was, of course, strategic, knowing that I was going to set up at the national and have a lot of inventory because people will be buying, and I know the hobby's in a great place. I feel like my inventory is in a great place for collection pieces for people who would be going to the national to look for cards like that. And Big Ken told me, I want somebody who I'm going to enjoy my time with and who's going to be able to refill the table so that we have cards there, you know, the whole time, because that's what the showrunners need. They don't want people packing up early and leaving. And I think some people even lost their table on the change of ownership because some of the dealers who were grandfathered in are leaving early. And so they want the show running, humming, making them more money for the entire extent of the show. So I definitely can do that with my inventory. And a goal would be another. Also another PC card, which would be. I really would love a Larry Bird Limited logos. Oh, yeah. Specifically from the 0304 iconic rookie year set with LeBron, Carmelo Wade. Don't forget Darko Milicic, Chris Bosch, Kirk Heinrich. Kirk Heinrich. Shout out to the Kujhawks and the Bulls and Chicago Bulls, you know, being in the national area. But that would be great Larry Bird limited logos. And so that's kind of my. My Top thing. But who knows? Something could surprise us, and we're like, oh, I would really love that, and be able to trade for it or, you know, see what happens. So that's what I'm. That's what I'm excited about for the national, and then just the experience of. Of rising to the occasion. You know, kind of like Coach Mike Brown would coach up the fellas for the Knicks and say, you know, maybe we haven't necessarily been here before, but, like, you like to say, craig, we're true to this, not new to this. So hopefully I can be ready for a. A dealer setup at the biggest show possible. I'm excited for you because you're. You got the charisma and the personality for, like. You're gonna have a good table. You guys are gonna crush it. I'm very excited. I'm very excited to join you for a little bit. Thank you, bro. Me, too. Me too. So I have a. I have a good hobby story. Okay, go ahead. You watch a lot of Knicks games, right? Mm. You know Bill Peto? Yeah, right? Yeah. He's your. He's your buddy. He's my buddy. So I got lunch with him over this. Not over the summer. It was June. May. Think it was May. I got lunch with him and the student from my old school that he was a mentor for. Mm. Because me and that student had a good rapport. So when Bill would come into my classroom, meet with the student, I would join them for lunch. So we had a little boys reunion before a Knicks game. So Bill. Bill is on his way. After lunch, Bill's on his way to Madison Square Garden to work, going on his way to the job. And I was stopping off at Dave and Adams. You know David Adams. Yes. They have a huge location a block away from msg. One of my best friends is the general manager there. So I'm like, Bill knows I'm a car guy. I'm like, you know, Bill's catching the train. I'm like, you know what? I'm going to David Adams. I'll catch a train with you. So Bill had a little time. He's like, you know what? I'm gonna come with you to Dave and Adams. I'm gonna. I'm gonna see how this card thing goes. So Bill. Bill watched me facilitate a trade with David Adams, and I think he really enjoyed the experience of, like, seeing it go down, looking at the values, trading and cash a little bit. So my buddy's a diehard Rangers fan, so obviously, and Knicks fan, so obviously he watches A lot of msg. So for him to be there with Bill just like one of the boys was a cool experience for everyone. But the card I traded for was something I've always wanted. And I like Jackie Robinson game worn cards, but you can find game war jersey cards. I always wanted a chunky patch card. Okay. So Bill watched me do a little cat for a Jackie Robinson. Flawless. And that actually comes from his Kansas City Monarchs Negro leagues uniform. Wow. Yeah. I have two, I have two jersey cards, but not a patch. Yeah. So I've always wanted one of these up thumbnail pick. There it is. Nice. I've always wanted a chunky patch. I was able to do like 85 trade. And what's cool is Jackie Robinson only played 43 games for the Monarchs. Huh. So the uniforms are hard to come by and you see like the nice chunky stitching. So I was pretty happy about that one. That's one that's definitely staying with me. And a good story because my boy Bill was there to see it go down. Bill. Bill Peto of MSG network fame. Okay, that's really cool. Bill Peto and the Gandhi. We're just name dropping over here. Wow. Yeah. So we got a great, great field. That's a great story. Really cool. And cool how it unlocks the childlike joy and nostalgia around sports when you see the sports card deals go down. Okay, so as we're closing out, Craig, I just wanted to go through a few more PC pickups. Yeah, I got one more too, so you go first. Okay. I got some rapid fires for you. PC pickups since our last crosstown cardboard show 11 months ago. You ready? Ready. All right. This is cool. Sneaker Spotlight signatures, Penny Hardaway with foam posits. You love the foam posits. Yes, I have a pair. I've had a bunch, you know, growing up. But to me the sneaker spotlight is a great insert set, but it also has to have an iconic shoe like you know, Allen Iverson with the questions or your, your own signature shoe has to be on here in my opinion. And the better known the shoe, the better the card. But for me, the Foampos, it would be the number one card to get of this set. Auto Penny Hardaway. Pretty cool. It's like a five or six hundred dollar card. I also picked up this Terrell Owens skybox autographics from what I think is the coolest year of autographics, 1999. To pair with the other best wide receiver of that generation, Randy Moss. So I got these two with very cool Coloration and design. Terrell Owens, Randy Moss, good condition. Great autos from 1999. Skybox Autographics. Shout out to. Shout out to Adam Mulligan. Cards on Instagram. He literally messaged me yesterday. He's like, how was fanatics Fest? If only you guys still had the podcast, because I could hear a recap. And I'm like, funny you should say, we're recording. And the reason I said that is because he's a big Randy Moss fan, so I think he'll appreciate that card. Oh, so a double shout out to Adam for Adam. Shout out, Adam. That sounds great. All right. Marshawn lynch, one of one. Nike logo, flawless. Unfortunately, player worn, but you got to take what you can get these days in the Oakland Raiders uniform. Native of Oakland, of course. Even though he did win his super bowl, should be two with the Seattle Seahawks. They would have handed him the ball at the goal line. But really cool Nike logo. One of one from the Oakland Raiders. I'll never forget how he got ejected from the game and sat with his family in the stands. Marshawn lynch, by the way, great acting in the latest season of Euphoria. Yeah, he's launched a second career for himself. He was. He was good. So that's cool, too, because he's still relevant. So that's another one where I feel like the value will increase. You're going to like this. Mariano Rivera, New York Yankees, flawless dual game, used patch numbered out of 15 on card auto. That's a really cool one. And then I'll go through these inscriptions. Of course, I had to add a bunch of inscriptions in the meantime. Another New York connection, Lawrence Taylor with the LT inscription. He does not have very many. That's notable. Nickname set. Barry Bonds. Hot market. Hot market right now. Barry Bonds, his market. You might want to check the comps of those, but compared to what you paid, I bet you're doing real well. Okay, this is sweet Sigs. And this is Barry bonds with the 1990 MVP inscription. So he has the most MVPs of all time, but this was his first one. I think he has seven or eight MVPs. I think it's seven. But. But 1990 MVP was the key one for me because that was his first time. When you pay for that? I think I got it for like 450. 500. I'd see one on eBay. For 2000. That sold. For 2000. Not sold. I'll look it up. You keep going. Okay. And then just to go through these, because I know we're running out of time on our recording, Broadway Joe Namath. This is also first year of football. Notable nicknames I believe 2013 in a BGS95 with a 10 auto numbered out of 10. What I like about this, it has the Broadway Joe inscription and it has his full. It has his full last name that he autographed it with. To some of the more recent notable nickname set. It only says Broadway Joe on there. Peyton Manning, the Sheriff. Notable nicknames, really cool. Love the quarterback nicknames. I have a Joe Cool one for Joe Montana. And Last 1, the 18 time Nathan Goats only champion to add to the goat market, Joey Jaws Chestnut. The Jaws inscription is exactly what you want. 18 time Nathan's hot dog eating champion. You can't have 4th of July without Joey Chestnut, the glizzy God. That's right. And I think that's his other inscription that he does. But I prefer Jaws because of Joey Chestnut. But yeah. So those are ones I've added in the 11 months since our last pod. This one I bought raw and graded myself. Only one additional pickup for me to share. But speaking of Alan and Ginter, good transition. The Larry David red, red ink auto numbered out of 10. PSA 2010 10. Like man, I love this card. Love that. I recently picked this up to go along with that. I know you're not a Curb fan, but you know his co star in the show, his manager, Jeff. Yeah. Boom. Wow. And both of the red. Is that numbered out of 10 too? It's not. Which is actually like a little obscure because you don't really see a lot of red non numbered. Right. It's almost like a glitch. But this is the real one. This is, this is the beauty right here. That is sweet. And plus with his. I've been watching his new series Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Unhappiness. So that's pretty fun. I gotta watch that. But listen. Yeah, sorry, we're gonna say something. I was gonna wrap. No, I was just gonna say I got the Joe, Buck Allen and Ginter red numbered out of 10 for the sports broadcasters out there. So I think that's a cool set. Hey, it was good to chop it up. We'll continue this conversation at national. I'll join you behind the table at some point probably on Saturday. Yo, get, get ready. You got, you got a marathon ahead of you. Yes, I know. Ready for a great finals run, just like our Knicks bro. But it was good to get back on here and hopefully we, we brought the same energy we used to so consistently. Now it's a little more intermittently, but it's still the same crosstown cardboard and the same, you know, collecting style, selling stories. So I'm sure we'll have more. I'm sure we'll have more coming out of the national too. We'll have to hop back on. Might have to do a post national show. Yeah, sure we will. All right, bro. Talk to you soon. Peace, Sam.