He Pulled the Cooper Flagg Debut Patch… Here’s What He’s Doing With It

It was the moment that shocked the sports card collecting world. Last week, the 1 of 1 Cooper Flag NBA debut patch was pulled by a breaker in Rhode island. And the moment that card came out of that pack, it changed the life of one collector. That collector's name is Jason Williams. And this last weekend I got the chance to meet him and see the card. Jason came into Cards hq. We sat down and we talked about that moment at length. I was Zebra impressed and excited that Jason is actually a lifelong collector and he's really into this and his story about how he's approaching what to do with this card. It's really interesting and I want to bring this story to you. So we're going to bring Jason Williams, the owner of the 1 of 1 Cooper flag debut patch, on this show and talk to him right now about that moment and his plans for this card. The Jeff Wilson show is brought to you by Arena Club, the official home of Slab packs. Now available every day, Slab Packs offer an exciting way to collect graded cards with confidence. Plus, every pack comes with an instant offer to buy your Slab. Don't miss out. Explore the latest Slab packs and more by downloading the Arena Club app. Just search Arena Club in your app store and use promo code SCI20 for 20% off your first purchase. Thanks for having me, Jeff. I'm so excited to talk to you today. I got to talk to you a little bit when you visited Cards HQ this weekend and one of the things that really struck me from our conversation that I want to tell the audience about right away is the fact that you are a true collector, which I think's a big deal. I'm so happy that the person who hit this life changing card is somebody who's actually been collecting for a long time and truly loves this stuff. Tell the audience about your collecting background. Hey, I appreciate you having me Sunday. That was a great opportunity. You know, since I was 12, me and a friend of mine, we started, you know, playing with baseball cards together. And back then, you know, it was on a different level. There was no Internet. We got our little Beckett guides. You know, we would pull a little numbers out and we had built sets back then, you know, we, we traded, you know, you would get to school, you're trading behind the scenes so the teachers don't get on to you and things like that. But it's been an incredible journey of collecting and there's been times in my life where it's been off and on because, you know, I had kids, you know, life happened at a career and different stages of the career. So it stopped things for a minute. But I'd say from 12 to early teen, late teens, it was pretty heavy. And then from in the 20s a little bit, but from 35 on, Yu-Gi-Oh I've been in it pretty heavy again. So that's awesome. Yu-Gi-Oh So you've Zenith, you know, the incredible boom we've had here for the last several years and that kind of has all led up to really this card like it would have been, you know, it really would have been unthinkable, you know, 10 years ago that there would be a singular card of a rookie basketball player with a game worn patch that would get inserted into a tops product and that it would be the card that everybody would be chasing knowing that it is literally, you know, millions and millions of dollars of on the line. The truly a life changing, a life changing card. Are you, since you've been a collector for a long time, are you surprised that the, that the card kind of hobby and market has, has grown and evolved the way it has in a sense? Because think about in the late 80s, early 90s, there was no numbers or autographs. We had that one opportunity with the Griffy Manels with Upper Deck, but there was never, we were never chasing those things. It was truly all about the cards. Your team, your player, you know, at this point, a car, you know, the cards we're looking at now, there's tons of autographs. You have the opportunity to hold anybody you want in your hand, flux on your side. So it's, it's just amazing, you know, it's amazing that a regular person has the opportunity to be able to hold a piece of history and in their hands. Yu-Gi-Oh And I want to talk more about that, that moment of you being a regular person, getting this in your hands. But before we do, when you were here, I got, got to meet your wife as well. You came to the cards HQ together this last weekend. She was, you know, her, her opinion about your card collecting was that your collection has gotten a little, a little big at this point, Jason. It's maybe, it's maybe got it a little bit size wise out of control. We're almost hoarders at a certain point with our cards because you never want to get rid of them. They're yours. You know, I still got the things I had, let's say from my middle teens, my earlier years of collecting. No, I don't think I had many of those. But my braves collection I have had, you know, since I was a kid. I mean it's got out of control. I one-of-one gonna say it hasn't. Well, now you got one card that goes all above the rest. So take me through that moment where, you know, you, you. I guess, first of all, tell me your relationship with this breaking company. You were obviously part of a smaller break, a three hobby box break. Tell me your relationship with this group. So 2019 ish. That early Covid area, you know, we Goldin get out. We Goldin really go buy anything. And Internet was a big deal then, so I was just sort of on YouTube messing around. I seen some guys breaking, and it just so happened to be roadie. And I watched it a couple of times, and I was like, this is interesting, and figured out how to work it and get everything going. It has afforded me the opportunity to buy, you know, hobby boxes, you know, sometimes hard to get your hands on because my hobby shop's 45 minutes away. So it afforded me the opportunity to get into things, you know, a few nights a week if I wanted to. I started it six years ago with them, and I haven't stopped since. You know, I don't do it all the time. There's times where I don't get to break, but I try to at least once a week, once a month, jump in on a break or two. But break ins afforded me the opportunity to be able to get certain cards I want or at least have a chance at certain cards I'd like to have. And was this a pick your team break where you specifically were targeting the Mavericks? It was a pick your team break. And I was like, you know what? I'm gonna take a chance. I'd like to have a nice Cooper flag. So this is my chance to spend 550 bucks, $515 on the Mavericks and have the opportunity at maybe pulling a card, which we did pull a card. You did. Yu-Gi-Oh Yu-Gi-Oh that'd be nice. Yu-Gi-Oh I'd like to buy the Maverick spot and have a chance at a nice Cooper flag card. I. I think you got. I think you got a return on that. So. So it was a three hobby box break. You paid $515 for the Maverick spot. Did you buy any other spots in the break? Or did. Or was that. Or did you buy any other breaks that night? Or was it just like that break that spot? So I got a. They got a name for me on the channel. It's Jay Fils. I think the Knicks were hanging around, and I was like, you know what? I'll just go ahead and buy the Knicks that way we can patch auto So they call me the Fleer guy. I'll just close out a break sometimes on the lower teams so we can patch auto Everybody gets to enjoy it. That's awesome. So you had a couple of teams. Of course, you're sitting there, you're watching the stream, and then the moment happens. The. The debut patch card redemption for flag comes out. What was the reaction? The reaction was immediately, I don't even know why I was in the Fleer crying. My wife Lacey has no idea what's going on. She is. She doesn't have any idea. She's sitting there trying to get a Sam's Club order in for drinks next week at the shop for the guys. And. And I'm losing my mind. Emotions took over my body, and I still don't know how to explain that, but I knew and I knew the magnitude of this. So, Yu-Gi-Oh it was the card. I mean, it is the card. It's the card that everybody wants, that everybody was hoping for. Yu-Gi-Oh So did it feel. You see this? The emotion takes over? Did you have to, like, kind of check multiple times that this was real and you weren't dreaming? And, like, this was actually a legitimate thing. So when they slid that Fleer off, you know, to reveal the coop, it took me about five seconds to realize, like, what I was looking at because it just. It was hard to imagine that's what I was looking at. And that's when it took over. It was. I wake up every day and it's laying beside me on my nightstand, my redemption. And I. And I wake up, it's still a dream. You know, it feels like when people say that feels like a dream. I know what that feels like now. It still feels like a dream. Yu-Gi-Oh I mean, the. It's incredible. The. It was literally the one card everybody in the world was chasing, and it. The odds of actually hitting it are humongously long. Right. You know, there's breakers all over the country, including here at Cards hq, ripping cases and cases and cases trying to find the card. There's hobby shops all over the country, all over the world that are selling, you know, hot boxes and boxes, and everybody's trying to find the card. And then there it is, which is just unbelievable. I was, I, you know, just at home that evening and, you know, only took a couple of minutes after you hit it before I started getting messages from people, you know, saying, like, oh, my gosh, this. And they said it was, you know, this roadie breakers. I. I was. I actually wasn't aware of them. I had never heard of roadie before and so I googled it, I found the YouTube and then I, I, it was still, it was still live. And when I got onto it, it was still live. They were still like showing the card. And then I rewound a little bit and saw the moment and I'm like, oh, Yu-Gi-Oh Like this, it is a iconic moment in the history of sports cards, that card being pulled at that moment. I would argue that it is one of the biggest polls in maybe, maybe the biggest singular poll in history by a breaker because of the anticipation of it. Like we've seen, you know, we saw like the Luca Logoman one of one get pulled by laden sports cards back in like, I think it was like 2019. That one got pulled out of National Treasures which went on to be a four plus million dollar card. But at the time it was pulled, it was still a huge card, but it didn't have as much buzz and anticipation around it. Not everybody in the country was like searching for this one card, but this card, this card was the one that everybody was searching for. All the hype, all the buzz, everybody wanting the card and then here it is. And you know, that moment being captured on, on video as part of the break. I think that's one of the most iconic, if not the most iconic poll in sports card history. Right? I believe so too. It's, it's a powerful piece of paper, you know, and it's, it's just an amazing ride. This is great. I mean, it's just a great thing. So it is still a redemption. You have not redeemed it yet. You've held onto it as redemption. The card is available. I saw the card at Fanatics Fest. It's in the tops vault. Topps is waiting for you to come redeem it at some point. You've chosen not to do that yet. Why? And are you going to actually go get the card at any point? I am taking my time with this. This is way bigger than I can even imagine. For me it's family first, my business second. This is third. So I really want to take my time with this, make sure I make the right decisions. And you know, along the way, people like you, you know, I'm getting to speak with people and I'm picking up pieces of my puzzle, I think from important people along the way. That'll influence how I do what I do later on. Yu-Gi-Oh well, and of course that's the, that's the big question, like what, what do you do later on? Right. I Mean, that's obviously, everybody's very aware of bounties that have been posted about this card. You know, all the way on up to three or four million dollars. We've seen auction houses, we've seen, you know, Goldin who put out a guaranteed cash advance of one and a half million plus, you know, will auction, and you get all the upside. We've seen all two currently is running a bounty auction where they're kind of. They're kind of selling your card even though they have no right to sell it. That one, that one. I'm kind of like, what are. What are we doing? We're like running an auction to sell a card that you haven't, like, given them permission to do. That was a little weird to me. But it's up to 3.7 million when you add in the buyer's premium. So as of the recording of this, so there's clear. I mean, there's a lot of options. I'm sure you've been contacted by a zillion private collectors and funds and, you know, auction houses, the whole thing. Why not just right now, while everything is so hot, say, all right, I'm going with the highest bidder or I'm going with the auction house with, you know, the best outcome. You know, I'm a patient man. I'm pretty calm. I feel like, you know, it's just if I jump too soon, I mean, I don't know who I'm going to meet along the way. I mean, Yu-Gi-Oh there'll be decision made in time. Absolutely. And that's sort of building a little bit of mystery here as well. I get it. Not my intention at all. I just want to take my time with it. I'm never getting this opportunity back again. I get it. There's a history here, and I'll always be attached to it, I think, but I just want to take my time with it, make sure I do the correct thing, especially for the hobby. There's nothing wrong with that, right? Honestly, like, there's some things about your story that I find very refreshing. I find the fact that you are, you know, as I said at the beginning, the fact you're a lifelong collector, the fact that you buy into these breaks as an opportunity to, you know, get your hands on some product that you don't have a local LCS serving you, it seems like you do that responsibly. And, you know, you're not just in it for the gamble, you're in it for, you know, really the whole collecting experience and break supplement that Experience that's awesome and refreshing. And the fact that now you've hit the big hard, but you don't. You're resisting the immediate pressure to just, like, jump at a, you know, very, very quick outcome. And you want to be patient and you want to take your time and you're not feeling the pressure, which must be immense right now with I'm sure, a bunch of people coming at you. I find that refreshing as well, which is. So all of this is fantastic. But. But how do you deal with the fact that. I'm sure. I imagine a lot of people are coming out of the woodwork trying to, like, you know, get ahold of you right now and convince you as to what you should be doing with your card. Right. I think at this point, everyone. Everyone's been Zebra respectful. There's a lot of people I do want to talk to, regardless of what I decide to do with this card, but it's business as usual for me right now. You know, I'm. I'm in the shop today. I told my guys, I said, you got to give me a minute. I got to go do something, but I' be right back out. You know, everyone's been very respectful. It's not been very bombarding. I mean, I haven't been. Yu-Gi-Oh I get some messages here and there. I'm not a social media guy, so I don't. I don't have any of those platforms. Yu-Gi-Oh we have set one up, of course, but I'm not involved. Since last Tuesday, I quit looking at the Internet. I don't want to distort the memory in my mind of what's going on. And that's why I'm choosing not to look at any of those things and, you know, to really talk to a whole lot of people right now. So I want to keep it fresh as I can for as long as I can, because this smile on my face has been here for, like, eight days, and it hurts, but there's nothing I can do about it at this point. Yep. It's a smart approach. I like the approach is there. So, you know, obviously you got a lot to think about, and so there's not going to be any breaking news today during this video about what you're doing with the card or anything like that. Is there any scenario where you. Where you. You don't eventually sell the card? I would think it would be difficult to not. To not do that because you. I mean, you're talking about millions of dollars. Right? Right. I really don't know. You know, but at some point. I just don't know when that is. You know, I don't know what that decision is. I don't know how I do it, which way I decide to do it. But Yu-Gi-Oh I think there's an end game here, but I just don't know when. One thing you said to me when you were at the store when we were visiting over the weekend was that you want to make sure no matter what that end game is, whatever you decide to do with it, whenever that decision is eventually made. You said that you want to do something good for the hobby as a result of this happening. And you mentioned kids specifically. What are your thoughts and feelings there? I know that this card's very important to the hobby. And with a voice right now, I think there's something. I don't know what this is yet. And when it shows itself, I'm sure I will. There's something I can do out of this to help kids in the hobby here. You know, I mean, I got a lot of little kids around me because of my 12 year old that, you know, they're into it and I always try to take one or two of them with the shit with me. We got Comic Con this weekend in Charlotte. Yu-Gi-Oh we're going to be there Saturday because my son's a big Pokemon collector. I might take one of his friends with us this weekend. But every time I get to take one of those kids to a show, they love it and they're just getting a pack here or there. Their parents don't know a whole lot about it, I'm sure. And I was. Parents aren't collectors, so it's, it's great to be able to share those experience with kids. I really don't know what the plan is here, but it'll be something to do with children, you know, getting them more exposed to the hobby, helping them learn the hobby. There's a lot of aspects of the hobby and there's a lot of ways kids can play with it and do different things with it. You know, trading is important. You know, that, that builds all kinds of human skills, you know, you need in life. And you can get that early as a kid, you know, just trading cars with people. So there, I don't know, there's a big thing. There's something big to come out of this, I'm sure. Speaking of kids, how did, how did your kids react, you know, when they found out what happened here? My 12 year old was like, we can get some more Pokemon now, right? I'm like, we sure can. And my 18 year old, he's getting ready to start college, so he's a little concerned, but he understands the, the way the world works with the social thing. So it's, it's been big for both of them. And then my older boys, you know, they, it's cool for everybody. It's just a great experience for everyone. And now I'm trying to bring my family into the hobby a little bit more. I mean, me and my family sat down all together last night and all ripped some cards together. Never done that before because they've never been interested. But it's starting to bring interest to a lot of people around me, which is great. I was curious about that too. Friends or, you know, maybe business associates who know you collect but don't, you know, don't really understand it themselves. I got plenty of friends that way. I mean, I got a lot of friends who obviously know I'm deep in the card business and I got a store and I do all the social media and YouTube, but they don't, they don't really know much about cards or care that much about cards. But I imagine now some of them have seen the news of this. Oh, Yu-Gi-Oh And are like, what the heck is going on? Right? Oh, Yu-Gi-Oh I've had a lot of that. Yu-Gi-Oh And I've had a lot of, hey, what team should I buy on a break tonight? And I'm like, oh, you know, I'm not giving advice here. So, Yu-Gi-Oh I've had, I've had a lot of those come out. And I actually had my best friend coming by that we started collecting together at 12. He's actually swinging by the shop this morning. At some point I was like, man, we got it. We got to get together. We don't get to see each other much. But I was like, we got to take a picture with his card together. You know, we started this at like 12 together. So it's, it's bringing some things back together where life gets so busy and you just don't slow it down sometimes to take the time to do these Topps of things. Just let me do that right now. I think that's wonderfully smart. And you're right, like, life goes quick. It's hard sometimes to take the forced time to celebrate wins and, you know, appreciate the moment. Right. And sometimes, sometimes big things happen in our lives professionally, personally, whatever it may be with our collecting journey, big things happen. But then you're on to the next. You know, you're on to the. It's like, cool that happens but now I'm on to the next Right. And it's forcing yourself to take a moment to celebrate the wins and celebrate those moments. I think is undervalued. And I'm personally really happy to hear that. Like, you're taking some time here. You're taking some time to make sure you capture those moments. Absolutely. Absolutely. Very, very cool. Well, Jason, this is going to be a fun journey ahead. Obviously, you know, nobody coming off of this interview here, nobody knows what you're going to do. Yourself included. Yourself included. Truth. Yu-Gi-Oh But this is going to be a fun journey. You know, we've got obviously, basketball season coming up later this year, Cooper Flag, his market in general has been really heating up. I've noticed, you know, in market movers, some of the charts starting to tick up now over the last couple of months on Cooper Flag, I think, you know, you had, when last season ended, obviously had a little bit of a lull in the off season, but now people are starting to, you know, chase Flag again, and they're seeing that the new season is, you know, not that far away. A few months still, but not that far away. So I think people are pretty excited about this kid. And, you know, it's. It's. You never know how any of this is going to turn out. Right. But with the excitement around Flag and his pedigree and the fact he's so young, this card could be like, long term, you know, short term. It's already certainly like, you know, an unbelievably iconic card, but there's a chance. There's a chance. A lot of things have to work out, but there's a chance that you, 20 years from now, this card could end up being the single most important card in the history of basketball cards. Yep. That's always in the back of my mind, too. You know, we'll see. You know, only time will tell at this point. Only time will tell. Well, Jason, please keep us updated on your journey. I want to keep our audience updated. I'm sure everybody's going to be curious what moves you end up making. But in the meantime, take your time as you've been doing. Enjoy the moment. I appreciate it, Jeff, and I think I'm thankful for this opportunity this morning. Absolutely. Wonderful to talk to you. Talk to you again soon. All right, have a good one. Thank you. Bye. Bye. All right, there we go. What a fun interview. I'm so excited to see where that goes. I love the fact that Jason's a true collector. Zebra excited to see what he does with that card and how it helps the sports card hobby in the long run. Hope you guys enjoyed the show. If you did, please give it a like and subscribe. And don't forget to subscribe to the Jeff Wilson show Everywhere. It's on YouTube. It's also on Spotify and on Apple Podcasts under the Jeff Wilson Show. Thanks for watching. See you soon with our next one.