Is the Sports Card Market Too Top Heavy? W/ Leighton Sheldon

Welcome to the Goldin Age of Cardboard podcast, where we remember a time when stacks of cards were held together with rubber bands and Mickey Mantles were put in bike spokes. We hope you will enjoy and reminisce as you come along with us as we tell stories about the baseball cards from the Goldin age of baseball. We will examine the state of the vintage baseball card market and talk to some of the greatest collectors in the hobby. You one-of-one be hearing us talk about any chrome or shiny cards. Here now, to take you on this retrospective journey, here's your host, direct from the shallow end of the gene pool, my son, Mike Moynihan. Yu-Gi-Oh And hello, everybody. Mike here. Welcome to another awesome episode of the Goldin Age of Cardboard podcast. Here we go, guys. We're now two weeks removed from the national. We are, you know, now in the doldrums of summer, but I think that's finishing up. People are starting, school, kids are getting back. You're. You're probably listening to me, you know, on your. Taking your kids to practice or something, because football starting and all the stuff, we get really busy in this time, and that's pretty common every year. But we're doing another monthly episode with my friend Leighton. I'm gonna bring him on in a second, and I'm excited to hear his thoughts of the national. He was set up again, and I know we did talk to Craig last week. You guys heard me talking to Craig. But Leighton has a different perspective. He's been there a long time. And let's bring him on now. Let's just say hi to Leighton. Hi, Leighton. Hey, Mike. How are you? I'm good. I love that we're going to start getting into rhythm month after month. This is going to be pretty fun. You're. You're probably going to get tired of talking to me, but too bad. So I doubt that. So national is over. Is the hangover over? Like, are you already on to other things? Well, yes, but the hangover is real, meaning I definitely miss the action. I miss the searching. I miss being able to see my friends literally nightly for dinner, and then there's like a nightcap after, you know, whether it be it's a YouTube party or a trade night. So I do miss that. But I also enjoy being home and, you know, seeing my son. We're going on vacation on Sunday, so, you know, there's that balance, believe me, as I was describing to people who weren't there, whether it be in the industry or on the fringe. Mike. Or even just friends, if it was Every week. It wouldn't be as special. Right. What's a day in the life at the national for Leighton Sheldon look like? What time are you up? What time are you. What are you doing? And what time do you go to bed? Give me a day in the life of you. Sure. So what I'm going to describe to you is almost every other day other than the last day, meaning I generally have a few tequilas, typically on the last night, so that the rules for the next day are off on the Sunday. But every other day, I typically arrive either Sunday night or Monday, and then the following days. Every day of the National, I generally get up about 5:45. And the reason I do so is because there's no doubt I have. I have work that was left over from before the trip. But then what happens is there's deals that. That occur. People either want to sell me something or I'd like to buy something. And so there's research involved, which generally involves the computer and taking notes or whatever the case may be. Then we have a team breakfast about 7:15. And we do that for a few reasons. One, I know from the national, you really need fuel. And so, you know, eating poorly is a terrible way to start the day. So what I like generally in most of these places, Mike, is they offer, you know, what I would call, like, a prototypical hotel breakfast buffet. But it has eggs of all varieties. Right. It has fruit, you know, of course, it has, like, the pastries or whatever. But you generally kind of stay away from that stuff till maybe later in the week on that Saturday. But we head over to the convention. We generally get there about eight, which is when it opens. The only day that I don't get there at 8 is when the booth lottery is, which this year was on Friday. And so I had to take care of selecting my booth, I believe, on Friday of this past National. And then when I head over the national, candidly, it's kind of like my, I guess, really exciting time because the booth is set up by the rest of the team, and I get to kind of walk the Fleer whatever that means. Right. And so that's the way that I was able to find some amazing stuff, including that Felix Mendelson, Babe Ruth that I was able to acquire and buy from, you know, really great guy named Chris at the National. And so then the. Let's just say whenever the end of the day happens, the end of the day happens. And I would say almost undoubtedly there's going to be either a cocktail hour, like, slash, I'm meeting someone for drinks or a dinner. And then usually after that, there could be a second event or just like a meetup, like a YouTube thing or something like that. And typically I would be back in the hotel from between 10:30 and midnight. But then a few nights I got back to the hotel, I saw, like, one night it was Greg from Midlife and Mike Petty and, you know, Cage. And so we're just hanging out, talking shop. And, you know, you realize those moments are special because it might be a whole year literally, before you do that again with those same Topps of, you know, folks. So, you know, you're really having a long day. As you can see, it stretches, and by the end, I'm usually pretty tired, but it's all worth it. And your feet are hurting and all the things. Right. Like, we all have, right? Yu-Gi-Oh sure. Most certainly. I mean, I buy good sneakers, but still, they still seem to hurt at the end of the week, like, so. From a just collect standpoint, successful show, most successful show ever. How would you describe it? Well, it was extremely successful. We have to put the finishing touches on the reports, meaning, you know, all the data we have in the national. But I believe it was either our best national or our second best national ever. And if it wasn't our best, it was very close to being our best. But that's just not financial. I mean, the amount of smiles, enthusiasm. Oh, we lost Leighton. Here he is. That's going to make a tough broadcast if you're actually not on the show. So this would be good. Yu-Gi-Oh Yu-Gi-Oh sorry about that. So I apologize. I should have let this individual know I was gonna be hot because they often call. But one-of-one so where did I leave off? Mike? You left off with the smiles and. Sure, keep going. Yu-Gi-Oh absolutely. Well, you know, in terms of the financial success, that was very evident. But it was also the stuff that was kind of like, in between the lines. The stuff that's maybe not so tangible, but you could still feel it. And like I said, smiles from all across the board. And I would say really interesting, like, range of folks, meaning really young kids. Definitely met Uncle Barry, who is, you know, Justin's family member with the mantle and kind of everyone and anyone in between and in general, like I said. Although there were some complaints about PSA grading, which was, you know, fairly common if you decided to utilize them and their services. But other than that, I mean, there wasn't anyone who said, oh, man, I came here and my dream car is not here, so this show is a waste. You know, the air Conditioning was pumping. They at least had food that was edible. And you know, it was just as an overall, Mike, I would say, even though last year was great, I mean, I don't know if it was just because people's collections are worth more or, you know, there's all these crazy chases and modern cards, but I am definitely telling you that the vibe was like. I felt like this might be. It might sound weird, but like a baseball card day camp. Meaning, you know. Yes, like, you know, right? You go to camp as a kid and to be fair, I play tennis at a place where the operated kids day camp. Most of the kids are happy most of the time, but you know, you get some kid, I'm tired. I don't want to be in the sun. Right? So, you know, I'm sure there were some people like that, Mike. Oh my God, there's so many cards. I did hear this, Leighton. This is only my first national or my second national. And this is sensory overload. And this is what I would say in response to number one, if that is the biggest problem. And I would start to be soft, right? Because I don't know who they are and where they come from. If that's your biggest problem this week, I'm telling you, that's fantastic, right? Because there's some times where, Mike, the bathroom lines are so long you can't use the bathroom or you really need to get your child a chicken tenders meal and you're not able to within 40 minutes. And I'm telling you, at least for me, I can't speak for the others, but I was right near the, the bathrooms and the food stations. Yes, there were some lines, but nothing untenable. Give a lot of credit to the staff of the place. I mean, listen, I'm the type of person, I walk up to a food stand, I say, how are you doing? Right. I try to be nice. Everyone, if you were nice and considerate, they were doing the same. Back all the way from the chocolate stand to some of the guests, including Ralph Macchio, who I guess Mark Mandel, my. My co founder of Auction Wire, he's apparently got his man crushes on Ralph Macchio, which I didn't know. So, like, you learn all these wonderful things, you know, about, about folks when you're traveling and you're on the road for a week. Mike. Well, the PSA thing, which I have heard obviously from people talking about what happened with psa, that's every year, like it doesn't matter what they charge, you're gonna have problems with PSA and other graders and you just. That's kind of a given. Lines are given, like. But what I've heard is that logistically it was well run, given the just massive amount of people that were there. And that's good. That's better than we've had some other nationals. So. Yes, I agree. I only wanted to comment, Mike, because we experienced this firsthand. Now, we were well prepared. We had two batches of stuff we want to submit to PSA without getting into the exact reasons I figured wanted to get the first batch in, maybe see how a few grades come back, etc. And so we're really strategic. We lined up, or had my team lined up as soon as they told us, you know, they would take submissions. And I knew, as you said, they have problems every year with demand. So I had a feeling it would be advantageous to get the stuff in early. It was. And we were able to get it all back. Now, to be clear, it did not get back, you know, the next day or the same day, but we did get it back by the end of the week. And I can understand how that would be, in some cases, very challenging for folks who may not be going the whole week. Mike. Right. They might only be going for a couple of days with their family, but yet I'm making this up. They have a Kobe chrome Refractor from when they were a kid. They want to get it graded. They don't want to mail it. So believe me, I empathize. I really do. And one of the things I was going to throw out there, hopefully I don't get into trouble with psa, right? But I think you can do this for me and my team. We go to the national, and this year we got there Monday. I got there about 2 in the morning, technically Tuesday, because traveling was a disaster for everyone as far as the weather was concerned. So next year I'll go Sunday just to be extra sure. This is what I'm getting to. Only on the Zebra high end. Right. We can't do this on the. On the lower end cards because it just one-of-one be worth it for you to submit to psa. But as long as we can, meaning if we're physically able, we don't get hit with too many. If you're out there and you're listening to this, or if you're watching this, or if you're a friend of Mike and his community and you have something you want to submit to the national next year, and I realized next year's a long way away, you're talking 300 plus days. But I can tell you that we submit the first day of the national to PSA and at least in all cases of the exception of some photographs of Kobe Bryant, which is like a separate authenticator, so on and so forth, we got all of our cards back. So if there is some way I can offer assistance. In other words, if you've had a tie cob in your collection for the longest time and it would break your heart to mail it, you need some assistance. At the very least, reach out to me directly. You know, Mike can put in the comments how to reach out to me. I'd be happy to help. But that is one solution, Mike, for folks, whether it be me or if you have an LCS and they set up at the convention and you know that they do a first day drop off at psa, it's really the only way to do it and pretty much get a 95 to 98 guarantee success in terms of submitting and then getting your cards back in the same week. Well, that's cool that you're willing to do that. I hope. We may have to remind them next year of that offer. You should do this clip, Mike, because this is what I tell my guys on the team. If you don't record it and you can't tell me I said it, then it didn't happen. Now that I've always, I've always done first day drop off. Like if you don't do it the first day, you can pretty much. And that's been true for a long time. This isn't new. Right? But if you do have somebody that's new their first or second national and they've never done it, I can see how that would be frustrating to them given the what PSA would say on the front end of Yu-Gi-Oh we'll be able to do end of day or end of week or whatever, blah, blah, blah. You and I know better that that's, that'll last about 12 hours and then they'll have to change what they're saying and okay, what about traffic at your table in terms of deals being done? Did you find more bigger deals? Was it a bunch of small stuff like how does that work? And then second part of that, what players were moving, what were people asking about? What kind of things did you find really popular with people at the show? Sure, I'd be happy to answer, Mike. And I just want to clarify, when you say deals, do you mean folks coming to our booth to buy from us Both. Both ends? Okay. Both sides. Yu-Gi-Oh sure. So in regards to how busy our booth was, let me just take a moment to say thank you to not only just my regular team, but a really good friend of mine, Todd, comes that he's a collector. Todd son Ryan is, you know, now he's a team, really into Pokemon. And then a really good friend of mine, Charles, has been part of kind of like the Just Collect community for a number of years. He's a collector. If I didn't have these call it friends and their fringe help, which, by the way, their fringe help was they were basically at my booth at least half the time. Meaning we were so busy that if it wasn't for this additional help and several members of my team, we were already. Or I can speak for myself, I was standing when I was at my booth the entire time. The only time I would be sitting at my booth if I was using the computer to try to work on a deal, because I just find it easier to sit down while working on a computer than standing. And as far as how busy we were, I want to give a lot of credit also to the folks that were out there. You know, there might have been one or two people who got frustrated or flustered and walked away. And I totally understand. Right. But they're literally. It felt as though you were almost like at a deli. And I know it's a funny comment, but you know how you go to the deli sometimes, Mike, and you don't really need a number. Right. They're just ready to take it because there's only one guy in front of you, and you kind of give each other the nod. He's already ordering his turkey. You're going to get the roast beef, whatever, you know, some myriad of cheeses. The point is, I'm telling you, that was not. There was no numbering system, but there was enough people to warrant it. And yet everyone was really, for the most part, very kind to each other and to us. So we're very grateful for that. And I thought that was awesome, right? Because there's a. You know, a lot of people. I'm from New York, Mike. So you don't get your bagel online in about 45 seconds, you're like, what the heck's going on in here? You know, So I really thought that that was great. As far as the players, keep in mind, if you're just listening to this and you don't know me, you know, my company Just collect. We turned 20 years old this year. We primarily specialize in vintage. It doesn't Mean, we don't have an Ohtani card or two at the booth. It doesn't mean we don't have some Kobe and Jordan stuff. But it does mean you're guaranteed to see the likes of Manil and Ruth and Jackie. And so, Mike, I'll just spend a moment to talk about those guys because the other stuff to me was fringe. Although we did have a fair amount of Jordan stuff and the demand was high. We sold a couple pieces. I don't know if it was a function of how many were in the room, and there was a lot of Jordan stuff. So it could have just become very price competitive by the end of the show. I'm not sure. But as far as what was actively being sold at our booth, or to be fair, being offered to us was the likes of who I just mentioned, Mickey Mantle, T206s, Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb. And what was really cool, I think people started to realize that although our booth, let's just say on Wednesday at noon would look like this, that if you came to us on Thursday at noon, not only would several cards have already sold, but it's likely we've added some new cards. So if I could add a new. If I could add a tip to folks out there, you may not realize this, but whether it be it's your favorite dealer or just down to, like, you know, someone that you don't know, there is so much activity happening at the National. That's part of the reason why I have the. I run my day the way that I do, Mike, in terms of the hours, because if I don't get any time during that day, I at least want to try to take a look at some of the better stuff that came in the following morning, you know, before the show opens. And that's a wonderful way, right, if you don't have Auction Wire, right? Because Auction Wire is not necessarily picking up all these different items on the Fleer of the National. But I know that if you want to get, let's just say, a little bit lucky, my ideas go to Steve Hart. Not every day, but every second day, right. See if he bought a collection. If you get lucky, maybe you're the first one there to see when he puts out a fresh group of diamond stars. Now all of a sudden you've been looking for a Hornsby for a few years that's really centered, and you're like, oh, my God, I would buy this in two seconds. And Steve kind enough to give you kind of first access because you were just there. I think that's a really cool tip for people, Mike, that doesn't cost any extra money at the show, but yet understand it's happening in real time. And to get back to center to just finish up with the answers to those questions. There was a lot of instances where people would come to sell me a card. I found this fascinating. And I say, you know, I would ask, I would comment and say, you know, are you shopping for another card to show? Are you saving up for something? And I'll tell you, in a lot of cases, they were taking that money and they might have been upgrading that card or. Yu-Gi-Oh late. I'm going after a grail here. And to be clear, they didn't always tell me what they were looking for. And rightly so, Mike, because maybe yours truly or others might buy it, but in large part, I would say the bigger names, but that doesn't mean I didn't have someone come up and ask, hey, do you have any odd or different Home Run Baker cards? So there was a very healthy amount of that. And then the last thing I want to comment on, because you had talked about this is set collecting just dead. Is it dinosaurs that do it? Is it really extinct? And I'll tell you, we had an ungraded section shout out to Dan from our team has been with us now several years. He was really managing that whole thing. You absolutely had. Some people came in, they just wanted to buy an old card. You had a lot of people that were looking there, Mike. They had their list, whether it be physical, you know, they're going to. They have the pencil in the ear, right? Yu-Gi-Oh I'm like, do you need any help? And you literally look at them, they're like, I don't need help. You know, they. They know exactly what they had going on. So I try to do the best I can to describe the way the land. And literally we say, have fun. You have any questions, let me know. And I would tell you we ran out of time. This is kind of funny. We had two, like, I would call them fact stacks. So in other words, let's just say at least two of each player in the 86 Fleer basketball set, not counting Jordan. I just wanted to bring some singles because I knew that forget about the money, you would get. You know, it's like a supermarket with milk. You put it out there, people are coming in to buy the milk. Right? A lot of people like 86 Fleer. Mike, I had to tell you, we had no less than probably 10 collectors buy singles. And I think in most cases they were Working on the set. Yu-Gi-Oh she's very interesting. So you were doing all the stuff with the just collect side, and yet you were having to wear two hats because you were also working on the Auction Wire side with Mark. And I did. I wasn't there. So I don't know how were they literally physically connected? They were right next to each other. They were connected. Mark had some really good real estate at the end of our booth, but the end of that booth faced like a really good aisle. And then the rest of our booth, you know, was like, you know, this, the short, then the really long, let's say two eight foot tables and then maybe another six foot the other way. And then that table on the other end kind of faced the aisle that the. The food was at and some of the, you know, the restrooms and things of that nature. That was our setup. And yes, we were attached to Auction Wire and I was wearing two hats the entire time, which was a lot of fun. And was that. How was the traffic for people kind of inquiring or. Or curious about Auction Wire? It was very strong. And what I found really refreshing is that last year I remember this well because we barely had an idea. We barely had rolled out anything, you know, meaning Mark and I for Auction Wire. And, you know, you kind of have to stop people, hey, miss or hey, sir, can I tell you about a new, you know, feature that's going to help collectors? And they're looking at me like, sonny, I want to look some more cards. Like, okay, no problem. And this year I was so proud of this. I'd be in the middle of a conversation in the just black booth, and they're like, can we get a demo here? And I'm like, wait a minute. I'm like, did you just ask for a demo? And literally I would stop. And I'm like, I had a smile. I was so happy. So the word is starting to get out there about what our tool, Auction Wire can do for you, the collector. And that was really exciting to be approached by collectors that had heard about us, Mike. But you know, right. It's like a lot of times you want that sample, you want that demo before you sign up. You want to understand exactly what it could do for you. And between myself and Mark, who did most of that lifting there, I think folks were getting, you know, some wonderful information that we're actually helping them literally on the spot of the show. Well, I want to throw out there to everybody and want to hear about what's going on at Auction Wire. But before I do you guys, if you were there at the show and you got a demo or you've just still been curious and you've never dipped your foot into it. Auction Wire Yu-Gi-Oh is the website. If you go sign up for their trial and you use the code Code Gold, the code Goldin Age, you will get an extra month of that free trial and then just see if it makes sense. It's such a handy search tool. I had a lot of. I was searching a lot because the funny thing about me, Leighton, is I didn't go right. So I know that's kind of this weird window that if you're checking auctions and stuff and most of the, like, there's a lot of hobby money not paying attention to ebay or whatever while the National's going on. And so I had hoped I would be able to find some things that might slip through the cracks. And so Auction Wire was my best friend, as I was like, oh, what about this? You know, and, and that can be a, a great tool for any searches for you guys. But if you did get a chance to see Leighton and them, I did have several guys that I know that you were doing hourly hundred dollar giveaways or something during the show. And many of my friends, actually, I say many. Two or three. That sounds like I have many friends. I only have two or three friends one-of-one But they all happen to one-of-one a hundred dollars from Just Collect, and they were Zebra stoked. And what y' alt art doing right now is, is really cool and you're adding a lot of cool stuff. So what, what can people that maybe tried it out and don't really, you know. Okay, what else is there? What's coming down the road for you guys? Sure. Well, first, Mike, thanks for the opportunity to discuss it just for a minute. I want to kind of lay out this scenario for you. If you did go to the national, and then if you didn't go to the National. So if you went to the national and you're like me and you're a little bit experiencing that hangover, then you can appreciate when I say that Auction Wire is the world's largest online card show, meaning when you've left the national, yes, you're certainly aware of ebay. Yes, you're aware of all of our friends at the auction houses from Rea to Mile High to love the game and anyone and everyone in between. However, it's really a bear to be monitoring all those, especially when you've now experienced the national and you're like, I want data, I want to be, you know, checking in for, let's say tickets to the first ever World Series. As well as I want to buy Ken Griffey Jr. Sign rookie cards, you know, to anything and everything in between. You know, like type 1 photos, things of that nature. And so if you're someone who didn't go to the national, then you could also appreciate that Auction Wire is the world's largest online card show. And you can see what the theme is here. So right now, I believe today at Recording Auction, Wire has hit 46 different sources, meaning 46 different platforms. From those platforms run the gamut. Yes, our primary focus is auction houses. But those auction houses run the gamut from really large like Heritage and ebay, all the way down to boutique style auctions. Maybe even, I think we included a golf auction because there are plenty of golf collectors out there. We're not just auctions though. We are also a place that you can find marketplaces like REA's Fixed Price Marketplace. There's even still people today. I tell people about that or when Memory Lane has an Own it Now sale. And they'll say to me, late, you mean their auction? The Memory Lane auction. And I'm like, no, no, no. Memory Lane has an own it now sale once or twice a year. They're like, Yu-Gi-Oh I'm like, Yu-Gi-Oh They're like, how do I keep track of that? I said, well, there's only two ways that I know of. You can either constantly go to Memory Lane's website every day for the next 362 days, which I wish you a lot of luck doing, doing that times 45, meaning the 45 other platforms, or you can come to Auction Wire, check out our auction calendar, which is totally free, so you don't even need to sign up for our website. I believe jinx it, but I believe you don't even to sign up for a website to access our auction calendar. But then when you layer on top of that Mike, like our mutual friend Ash from Legacy Cards or myself, our company just collect. Like I said, we turned 20 years old this year and we have an amazing inventory. But then there's others out there like Garrett and his dad from Ballpark Memories. We recently onboarded them. Meaning we're trying to make this the most fulsome product that you could go out and see and search so that when you decide to see and search, you're going to understand that when I tell you now that we are the world's largest online card show and we are bringing that to your doorstep seven days a week, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. It's a 60 day trial. I know at this point it sounds like a pitch, but I want you to check it out because it's free. And before you go to the next card show, this is a wonderful way to utilize auction wire. I know for me that when I'm in front of someone's booth to buy whatever the card is, I'm going to show off a cool card in a second, right in between. You've probably had this happen to yourself, Mike, that the market and the environment is so competitive that in between the time that you have to go out and angle your phone into the sun to get the Internet right to verify the pricing or that you feel good about what you're about to purchase, the card can actually sell. And so what I like to do before I hit, whether it be a big show like the national or even a smaller local show that I'm going to this Friday, the east coast national, but it is a great show. I like to understand that if I'm looking for a Jackie Robinson leaf, what's available on the landscape now through auction wire that I could buy today. And then if I go to the card show and I find either a better price and or a better looking example, I'm ready to pounce on it right then and buy it. But on the flip side and the contrary, if I don't meet or find anything that fills all those requirements, I'm then ready to buy right afterwards. And so to me, that's a wonderful way to use the auction wire tool for you, the hobbyist and the collector from basically all sides of going to the show, not going to the show, and then before and after. And hopefully I did a good job of laying it out for everyone. Yu-Gi-Oh absolutely. The aggregated search was enough for me. But then you layer on pop report and show calendars and other, you know, things that you guys are really working hard to make this a just one stop collector paradise, you know, online. And you're doing a great job of it. Y' all do amazing service. You've. I heard a rumor, tell me if this is true that you guys have hired another employee to add to the auction wire family. Is that right? We have shout out to Alexandra. She's recently joined our team. She's our first full time employee and she's great for so many different reasons. But to folks like you, Mike and other collectors, the reason why she's great because right now, if you had a question or some Feedback, you were really trying to track down me or Mark. And you know, we're both happy and willing and able to receive that feedback. But we started to be bombarded, especially come the national. And so we knew from leaving the national that we had to try to find someone to fit this role and we're really glad that we did. I'm going to set the over under for the next for next year's national auction wire. I'm going to set the over under at six full time employees. You have one now. I'm going to put it at six by then. Well, I'll certainly pass it on to Mark and accept the challenge. But no matter how many employees we have, and to be fair, it's not just me and Mark. Alexandra, you know, have Ryan, although he's our minority partner, he's done an amazing job, you know, kind of leading strategy for us. And then of course we have our dev team and then we have marketing folks. So even though they're not on the team officially as employees, we really, we're working with a lot of folks in a variety of different arenas to make happen auction wires. You see it now, but make no mistake, if you look in a week or 30 days, it will look vastly different because by the end of the year we're going to have an app and then we're going to cross 50 plus platforms slash marketplaces very soon. And to be clear, if you have, let's just say you're in Minnesota and I'm not so familiar with the landscape of Minnesota, but there's a wonderful sports auctioneer that runs an auction twice a year, but it's online and you think that they're someone who wants to increase their reach. You believe that they have great stuff that should be included in the auction wire, you know, vehicle. We would love to hear from you. So for now, because I don't know what email to give you, I will give you my email which is Leighton L E I G H T L n@just collect.com, but if you know of any of those Topps of platforms or auction houses that you'd like to see included that or not, let me know. And if you also have a piece of feedback, whether it be it's good, this is why you love it, or you hate this feature, this is why you hate it, please let me know. I'll be happy to share it with my team so we can get back to you and try to improve what you're asking about. So I appreciate what you just said, but if I'm the guy that has a honey hole of a auction house. I'm not going to give it to you. Just like, wait a second. I don't want to give up my secret stash of where I can get great deals and all that. Sure. So I think that you're right there. I was more looking at it of like, hey, you know what? This is an auction house who I really love, and I want this auction house to flourish, and I want them to do, you know, even bigger and better every year. That was the way I was looking at it. But you're totally right. If you're someone who's a collector and you're like, you know, I'm making this up, right? You get really good basketball deals. You're not going to be quick, so quick to out them. That being said, we're looking, Mike. So even without your help, we're still. I totally get it. I totally get it. Let me totally switch gears now because you said something earlier that I. It. I wasn't planning on talking about this, but when you started talking about Mantle, Maze, Aaron, Jackie, those kind of guys, I worry and I've not prepped you for this at all. Is the. Is the sports card world becoming too top heavy? Meaning are we only focusing on, let's even say, a dozen people, whether it's football, basketball, hockey, baseball. Right. The goats, for lack of a better term, is it becoming so top heavy that everything else is getting ignored? I don't. Or is it only the good stuff? The. The really good stuff of the best players is going up. Right. I'm just throwing that out there. I thought of this question as we were talking. So are we getting too top heavy? That's the basic question. Well, there's certainly some that would argue yes. If you look at the charts and graphs that are out there because of the growth on goats in the last, call it six to 12 months. But that being said, you know, the goats have cards, they have memorabilia, they have less expensive cards, they have less expensive memorabilia. And then there's like that next iteration of players that are below the goats. And so which one of those over time might rise? Right. Mo Berg is not a Hall of Famer, and yet his cards have gone up for a number of different reasons that you and I know, Mike, but make no mistake, you could have bought Mo Berg cards much more affordably years ago. And, you know, even in the case of the fictional characters, I'm not going to take any credit for this. I've heard Gary Vee and many others talk about, hey, you know, the fictional characters like Superman and Batman, you know, they're more popular worldwide than Mickey Mantle. And maybe that's true and maybe there's an opportunity there. So it is in some cases absolutely becoming top heavy. And if you want to pay to get a Jackie Leaf and a one, meaning a Jackie Robinson Leaf rookie and a one, you definitely have to pay much more than you did even a year ago. But I had a 1955 Tops, Jackie Robinson PSA8, which without getting into the reasons, I had forgotten about the card. And when I looked it up, it actually had stagnated, meaning that price had not really gone anywhere and it was a high quality investment grade card. And so I think that there's absolutely opportunities within the goats, but then, you know, not counting, let's just say the top of the top, you know, who did you collect growing up, Mike? You know, for me it was Donnie Baseball. Maybe Donnie Baseball will make the hall of Fame, maybe he one-of-one It doesn't matter that much to me because I love my collection. But I think you and I both know that if Donnie Baseball makes the hall of Fame, his cards, specifically his rookie cards of note, will definitely go up in value. So I think that there's a number of instances for a variety of different reasons that you could go out and seek these little, you know, niche roads of wherever the, the wind takes you. And there could be opportunity out there for you as far as things that are fair value or undervalued in the card of the memorabilia world. And that's where I'm kind of going with it. If you, okay, Mantle, Jackie, those have kind of, I've gotten kind of priced out of that. And you're, you're just a, a regular guy collector. You can still buy Killer Brew and K line and you know, there's plenty of guys that are greats of the game, you know, that you can still collect and buy their cards and it doesn't break the bank. And so if, even if the market is top heavy and if the hobby is going top heavy, that doesn't mean you have to participate. You can still, you said Frank, Homer and Baker was getting asked about or like that's, that kind of stuff is awesome, you know, or the Tris speakers of the pre war world or you know, smoking Joe Wood or, you know, just. There are plenty and plenty and plenty of opportunities out there. You don't have to only hear the noise of the crazy prices at the top end of, you know, the dozen or so players or 20 players, whatever. It Is that fit into that category? There's so many other things you can collect. And I'm just encouraging people to try to not get too discouraged if they only see these crazy prices on Mantle. Well, maybe you take a break from Mantle if you like Mantle that much or whoever. I get it. You want to own those cards, too. I do too, but there's, there's low hanging fruit. Lower hanging fruit, I should say. Everything's kind of gone up. Eddie Matthews is more expensive than he used to be in Carl Hubble and, you know, guys like that. But, and I know I'm all these names are coming to mind right now because I'm listening to the Baseball 100 Top Baseball 100 by Joe Pisnanski on audiobook and I today I listened to Frank Robinson and I'm just hearing about his, you know, description of why Frank Robinson is in the top 100 and these stories and insights and things. I'm just learning so much about these players. Some of it are very famous stories that most baseball fans know. Some of it's more kind of esoteric stuff that's, that I had not ever heard before. And I consider myself a pretty learned baseball fan. And so it's been a great read and it's getting me interested in these players in a way that I was, I didn't know I would have this reaction like, oh, I want to pull out all my Frank Robinson cards now, you know, and, and look at him and, and check out his baseball reference page. And just, oh, my gosh, he was really amazing. You know, that kind of stuff is, you know, there's plenty out there is my point. There's so much that can be collected and you can have a great time with it. And all of it you can find on auction wire using my code Goldin age to get two free months. But that's neither here nor there. So, Leighton, what's next for you? Like, what you got to have? I mean, National's over, but you're always probably thinking about what's next. I think you mentioned the East coast national this weekend. Are you going to try to pop by there? Yu-Gi-Oh So I'm going to go to the East coast national this Friday, so if anyone wants to meet up, drop me a line. I'll be there walking around, buying and, you know, just looking around, trying to enjoy myself. I am going on vacation with my son on Sunday, so I'm very excited for that. And then, Mike, as you and I were talking briefly off air, there's going to be the September Philly show, which is late September. And, you know, that show is always great. I know you're coming in for that. You know, my buddy Dan lynch comes in for it, several others as well. And then, you know, I'm next to a longtime dealer named Dan McKee. And like, I just. I love being down there. There's so much history of that show, you know, originating at Valley Forge and other locations. And, you know, there's just an amazing group of collectors that, let's just say, you know, for some reason or another, can't get out to the national, which has been in Chicago the last several years. So it'll be interesting to see, you know, kind of how all that goes. But I think the show's gonna be great and then very excited. But I got a text before. That's what that call was about. But we did finalize and we were able to purchase. So for those that did not see, I've got a fun little video of a 1952 tops Mickey Mantle that we got graded at PSA at the National, I did a little reveal. That video is now on my YouTube channel. Just underscore collected. It's also on my Instagram Leighton Underscore Sheldon. And we submitted it fresh from a screw down holder Mike. So, you know, you know, a little bit from being an avid collector, that screw downs and cards, over time, they don't always mix so well. So we were a little nervous about what the car was going to grade. So we did reveal that it got a PSA five at the National. And as I've been recording the show with you, I just got the message that we're able to secure the deal. We not only bought that card, but we're able to buy the rest of the 1952 top set, which was mailed to us recently, completely ungraded. And so the reason why we got that mantle graded along with the Jackie is because in particular, that mantle, as you know, right, if it gets a grade of authentic, the. The set itself is going to be worth a lot less based on that mantle being authentic. And so we thought it had a chance to get a numerical grade even though it was in a screw down. And so what we did for this particular individual was we told them that we would get it graded, we would front the money. We kind of had some stipulations in place as to what would happen, you know, based on the grades. And so, of course, he was elated when it got a five. And even though it cost us a lot more money, we just want everyone to one-of-one in the end. And as we described this individual having a greater PSA 5 is a lot better for us because the person who gets it will be happy, you know, with that grade as well. So very excited to announce that we just bought a 1952 top set completely raw, and we haven't done that in some time, so that's really cool. All right, so let me ask you this. Well, first of all, would the Jackie come back two and a half? Okay, so they're probably in. All the cards are probably in that range. I would. Yu-Gi-Oh I would say there's. Some of the high numbers are really nice. You know, they might get 6, 7, but if. If I just say they're VG to X, we'll use your. Yu-Gi-Oh So then. All right, you buy this set. Y' all have already made the deal. Yu-Gi-Oh Do you sell it as a set? Are you going to break it up? Does it depend, like, what goes into that process? I gotta be honest with you, Mike, and I know. I think you'll appreciate this for at least a little bit. I'm just gonna enjoy it. You know, I'm definitely not gonna keep it or at least the whole thing, but. Because I don't know what I want to do. I want to, like, look at it a bunch, you know, and enjoy spending some time with it. Because even though 52 top set is not uncommon, it's not as common as it used to be because of the value of them. And, you know, a lot of those cards, it's just nice to see them kind of, you know, raw and fresh from someone that bought really, them decades ago at this point. And then after that, I'm not sure, you know, what we'll do. You know, obviously that set breaks really well, Mike, because of the high series. And if some of the high numbers, you know, might grade well, you know, even some of the commons, I've been really surprised to what some of those commons are going for in 5, 6, and 7. So we'll see. The jury's out. But if you want to follow along, you can do so at our blog@blog-collect.com well, that's awesome. Great stuff this month, Leighton. I want to put a pinger out or ping out there for you for next month. That'll be the month. We'll do this early in September, and then the Philly show will be just a few weeks away. So having it being my first time to go to Philly and that show, I am excited to pick your brain on this show next month to talk to you about that a little bit, and we'll see what goes on in the hobby between now and next month when we visit again, because I'm sure there will be something. It's never a dull moment around this hobby, and we'll have some other topics to talk about. But thanks so much for being on this week again and this month. Absolutely. Can I show you? I had one card I wanted to share. Oh, my gosh, yes. So, you know, in all the craziness, even though I've owned many Mickey Mantle signatures, I've never owned a vintage signs or when I say vintage, signed, a signed, vintage Mickey Mantle card. You know, I've had Hall of Fame plaques or baseballs. But this is my last purchase from this year's national, and I'll likely sell it. But I did so because. Or I bought it because I liked it. I think it was a fair deal. And I know this, Mike, whether it be you're collecting, you're a dealer, you're someone who's kind of doing a little bit of both. The only way sometimes to learn is what I tell my son. Right. To get your hands dirty, you got to try. So I still don't know if I'm going to sell it, because I like it even as I'm sitting here looking at it. But I always love the 61 mantle MVP. And it's signed in ballpoint blue pen. Love it. And even though it says PSA claims, the autographs graded an 8, I'm like, I'm looking at it and I could read it real clearly. The card itself is presentable. It seemed like a fair deal. And it's one of those. Mike, I know you can appreciate this as a collector, and those out there who are just listening can also appreciate this at some point. You don't really care what the label says. Right. What the grade is or what the autograph grade is. It's all subjective. I'm like, oh, my God. Mantle had this card in his hand, and he put a beautiful signature on a 61 MVP card. See, even as I sit here and this is my. This is my problem, I don't really want to sell my cards, Mike. So I totally agree with you. The Mantle is like, I've had some friends influence me on being a lot more desirable to get the old ballpoint pen. It kind of dates the signature to a certain period. Pre sharpies. Right. Or whatever. And then it's not as bold, but you can. It's cool to see the impression of the. The. The pin on the. On the Cardboard. And there's just something cool about that. And yes, it doesn't always show up as you might get an 8 on an auto or whatever. Who cares? Like at the end of the day, you have a mantle autograph. Topps, MVP card. That's just awesome. I have no mantle signed vintage cards yet. He's one of the one guys that I just haven't. I've got errands and mazes and other guys, but I don't have a mantle. So we may need to talk after this. I may have to pry that out of your hands or something. You know, I'm only going to disclose the price of what I paid because I want to help other collectors out there that might be in the market for one. I'm being honest. I'm not a, I'm not a. I don't know, I'm not an expert in this, but I did a little bit of quick research. The card really resonated with me. I think he had a $3,000 price tag on it. And when I tell you it was the last deal, the National, I mean, it was past 4 o', clock, you know, I was walking around, who knows? I mean, I'm going to the bathroom or I'm like trying to hustle, see if I could buy anything. I'm not really sure. And it caught my Yu-Gi-Oh And it was one of those where I think it was, Yu-Gi-Oh it was Jamil from Mealy Tops. And he said 2,400. I repeated it because I didn't want to mishear it. Right. And I said, you know what, Jamil, this is fair. I'm going to go for it. Meaning I'm not going to counter, you know, or anything like that. And as I sit here, like, I don't think I'm putting it up for sale anytime soon, but I at least know what it took to buy it. Right. Maybe I could buy a second one that I would consider selling at the moment. I think I've talked myself into hanging onto it for a bit. Okay. Mad respect that you disclosed that because, you know, I, I just think it's. I would have guessed 3, 500 was going to be my guess. So that's. I think 2400 is a great deal for that card. So I felt really good. And honestly, when you, when you zoom out a little bit, Mike, whether it be you're in the vintage world or the modern world, 2400 doesn't buy you as much as it used to. And I hate to say it like that in the card world, it buys you a lot of, like, bananas and apples. Sure, sure. But. But in the card world, and especially in the vintage world, like, you're not getting an amazing mantle card for $2400. Certainly that's signed. And I know even the 50s, right? Like, you can get a Topps mantle unsigned with 2,400 bucks, maybe you're gonna get a twoish type of card. Nothing wrong with that. But, I mean, that's a dime a dozen compared to a signed 61 mantle MVP. Oh, by the way, there's none available right now on the Internet for sale. Yu-Gi-Oh Very, very cool. Love it. Well, man, fun conversation today. Appreciate it, as always. I'm already looking forward to next month and getting to chat with you again. And we'll. We'll preview the Philly show a little bit. We'll talk about whatever else is going on in the. In the hobby world, see what else other deals you guys have done, and appreciate you guys watching and listening this week, every week. Leighton, thank you again. And we'll see you guys next week for another episode of Goldin Age Cardboard podcast. Have a great one and keep collecting.