The 2026 National From a Dealer Perspective with Craig Halbig

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. And guys, we are post national. Now the national hangover begins. Good news, though, it's only 360 days till it does it all over again. But, you know, I have been watching content and listening to people's stories and, and getting anecdotal stories from friends and how it's been going and how the national was, but, you know, I wasn't there, so I cannot give you guys a first hand account of what the national was like and how, what the vibes were, any of that. So I thought I'd get somebody that could give me a firsthand account and a firsthand account from a perspective of someone who was in the trenches the whole week. And that's none other than my good friend and dealer, Craig Halbe. Craig, what's up, man? Hey, Mike. How's a shaolin in the jean pool doing? Well, I'm, you know, treading lightly. That's good to hear. You know, you and I talked pre national. I don't know if we. We. We talk relatively often and. And pre national, you were excited about the show and you were, you know, looking forward to it. You were getting all the cards ready. Would you say this show disappointed, met, or exceeded your expectations? Exceeded. Exceeded, Yu-Gi-Oh Yu-Gi-Oh And I got the chance to talk to some of the guys that have been doing the show like 30 years, and a lot of them I just said, you know, as far as sales and traffic, it was the best show they've ever done. So, I mean, it was. It was outstanding. Would you say your table was pretty buzzing kind of the whole time from start to finish, or were there slow periods or what was it like throughout the week? Yu-Gi-Oh So, you know, basically starting with setup. And I'll say that, you know, in Chicago, for us, I mean, for me is our setup. I mean, we're able to pull. I ran a great big cargo van and we're able to pull right up to the booth and unload. So I mean, they really have it. I mean, as we've done it there several times and they've got it set up pretty good. They got great security and cameras. And so from day one, everything was great. And the traffic in the amount of people was just. We have two booths and it was wrapped around from start at the sneak peek all the way now Sunday, it was slower on Sunday, but I had, it was of course Holly and I, my buddy Wade, Evan Quaid, my son Goldin and his buddy Adam. And they weren't all there at the same time. You know, Friday and Saturday it was all of us. And it was still tough to get a bathroom break, but a lot of Goldin age of cardboard collectors were, were visiting our booth. So that, that was great. We filled a lot of sets. That is awesome. And you know, we're a podcast mainly. People watch us on YouTube and stuff. And it's, it's cool that people recognize you and our, you know, they know, oh Yu-Gi-Oh Friendship and, and all of that. And you know, people know what they're going to get with you. Craig. I think that's what I love about like, I think people are, you're going to be fair, you're going to be, you know, helpful. And I know one of my buddies, Adam, man, he got a card from you that he is over the moon to own and that's a Topps. Jackie Robinson. Do you remember selling that to him? I do, Yu-Gi-Oh There's a lot of excitement over that card. And I had several, several folks that were interested in that card. But you know, it's always special when you sell a card to somebody like Adam and who's really going to cherish the card. I know, and it was a, it was a beautiful high end card. And he was, he was so excited and I was so glad that he got the card. How many sets do you think you completed at least where collectors vocalize to you, hey man, this finishes my 65 top set or, or whatever. How many would you say you got to help complete? I don't know. I mean, I would say I know of at least four or five people that said this completed my set, which is pretty good. Now Holly was down there and that's the true trenches. So I have one table that is empty, that is just where set builders can sit down, have the books or the boxes and they can work through and they can build their sets because everybody knows how Crazy. It is. And you know, I mean, obviously it's not cheap to get boost, but to have a table empty for these folks that are building their sets, I think is nice where they could kind of concentrate and look at cards. And so, I mean, I know Hollywood's down there. It was non stop, but I know she told me several people she had helped complete sets and I know several that did. And we sold a lot of raw also. So I don't, I don't know, at least, I know at least four or five folks that said this completes my set. And you know, we were really excited about that. So. And then it's like, okay, you know, a lot of these, most collectors have got a book and they've got all these sets, you know, and they, they finished that one and you know, the deep breath, like, okay, well what's next? You know, so it's just, it's in the blood and it's, it's enjoyable for sure. So you were busy pretty much the whole time. You had six people at sometimes all of you, and most of the times probably at least four of you the table all the time. Yu-Gi-Oh and it was busy. What was different about this national than maybe, you know, the last couple of years? Sure, I mean, I would say, you know, there was most everyone was just awesome patient. But there's a few people that I noticed that maybe weren't as patient, you know, guys that do this, I guess, Whatnot, or maybe selling Facebook. And there seems to be a lot of competitiveness to get cards, to get them cheap where they can, you know, cheap enough where they can put them on their live. I'm, you know, I don't have a YouTube or any of that stuff. I'm kind of, I don't know, old school or I should, I guess. I don't know, I just like to do my few shows. But I, I can feel that a lot of them would get upset if they Goldin get, you know, I have dollar boxes and cars for two or three dollars, two vintage and those, those boxes I sell a lot to collectors that want to build sets, but also these folks, you know, if they get a card for a dollar or two, they, they'd like to get them for half that. And a lot of those are 52, 53, Topps. And you just, you're almost, I mean, it's not a giveaway, but you're getting away cheap. But some folks would really try to work hard to get it even cheaper. And I'm like, you know, I have Collectors and people that love that stuff. That's why I put it out. So, I mean, you know, they would get a little bit short or get upset, or sometimes they say, well, I can't pay that. Sometimes they'd get upset. You know, and I don't. I. I rarely see that, but I could just feel attention in some people that were really searching hard to find cards at the right price, because, you know, some of them, I think, have. Do this. Do live streams maybe, where they have people. And I think there's an expectation for them to be able to have cards maybe every time. And I think with all the hype and then maybe people on Facebook or on different YouTube channels that are wanting to show their cards and what they got. And I think sometimes, you know, people kind of lose focus on respecting the hobby maybe a little bit and really enjoying it versus turning it into. And, Yu-Gi-Oh I mean, you know, there's opportunity to make money in the hobby, of course, but I think some people take it to another level where it's almost like they're miserable. I had one person that got upset over a card. I said, you know what? There's a lot more going on in our lives than baseball cards. There's no reason to get upset over a baseball card. And that guy kind of stood there and he kind of huffed and puffed around while his brother was with him, and he apologized, and he said, you know, you're right. You know, there's a lot more going on in life than baseball cards. So, you know, not every card is for everybody. And, you know, not everybody can't buy every single card. You can't buy every card you want. It's not going to happen. So, I mean, you know, just. You got to find a hat, your happy place. It's. It's still a hobby, but for some people, it is a living. And you can. You can feel that tension sometimes whenever you're working with people that are buying cars. Yu-Gi-Oh the tension you're mentioning, I. I think it's more pressure, like they're feeling pressure to get enough inventory so that when they get back, they can run their streams. And. And that's maybe their livelihood or whatever to run these streams. And. And it's. There's so many of them. There's literally thousands going on as we speak. As you're. Whoever's out there listening or watching this, there are thousands of streams, whether it's on ebay, live Fanatics, live Whatnot, Facebook, people selling cards, and they need inventory to do that, and lots of it. Because the pressure there, Craig, is well, if I don't have cooler stuff than the other guy, they're going to go watch the other guy and not watch me. And so they usually want, you know, an anchor card, a big card, a mantle of this or that or whatever. Maze Aaron. And then a bunch of stuff they're going to throw in there and they need that inventory. So there's this pressure among all of them. You have all this competition among them all trying to get the best inventory to attract the most people to their live stream. And I, that's just a part of the hobby that you and I aren't really a part of it, but it is definitely a huge part of the hobby now. Yu-Gi-Oh And I'd say there's a place, there's a place for it. I mean, you know, it's still more demand for cards I think individually. People just have to make sure that they, they don't make themselves miserable, you know. Yu-Gi-Oh Doing this because life's too short for this, you know, to feel that way. So I'm hoping, you know, people will maybe think about, you know, the respect for the hobby or, or enjoying the hobby. You still have to enjoy it a little bit. Even if it's, if it's baseball cards or your job. I mean we all have to find our happy place, you know, so, you know, I mean that's, you're going to have that stuff. But you know, one other note too. I saw a lot more kids than I've ever seen at the National. I saw a lot of parents with kids. I saw a lot of kids. And I think that's, you know, I think that's a great thing. So I, I know there's a lot, you know, I retired from Walmart supply chain logistics and I was surprised I got to walk around one time, I was so busy. But Walmart even had a big set up there and I, I didn't realize that. And I talked to a couple people there and they're getting in on like a marketplace maybe where you can go and sell, you know, so I mean there's a lot of corporate, there's a lot of big business going on, a lot of dollars. But you know, I think, you know, on one hand, you know, we're about the same age and a lot of us are old time collectors and we collect old cards. But you know, several years ago we were saying, you know, don't see a lot of kids in the hobby, you know, what's going to happen with vintage. Well, you know, this year I Thought about this. I mean, there's a lot. There was a lot of kids at the shows, and I know they're probably collecting new cards, and I know there's a lot of dollars and all this, but it's still bringing people into the hobby. It's still bringing kids into the hobby. So, you know, I think there's. We got to look at it that, at that point because I, I used to think that there's not many kids, you know, they're priced out. I used to take. My kids would go to Walmart and get a. A blaster box a lot less than what they are now. Now you can't even find them. But. But this is drawing kids into the hobby. And, and, you know, just like a coven. I remember coming down to Dallas, several young kids that were into new cards started getting into vintage. So if we can get them in the hobby, you know, hopefully they can maybe start diversifying a little bit and get into vintage, Collect vintage cards. I'm not saying anything wrong with new cards, but, you know, we're not going to be around forever, so, you know, they're gonna go somewhere, right? Yu-Gi-Oh Yu-Gi-Oh one-of-one you know, I just want to share that I, I did think there was a lot more kids at the National. A lot of excitement to this time versus, like the last several years. I thought. I agree that that's obviously a good thing. All right. I gotta ask you about inventory management because you, you have so many cards. So you show up Tuesday, you got this cargo van, probably loaded, you know, to the max weight and all. You know, it's Beckett from Fleer to ceiling with boxes and binders and all the things that you bring. Yu-Gi-Oh And you empty it out on your table and you get it set up. What. How much. What percent would you say goes back in? Like, how much did you take back with you? Did you sell half your inventory? 20. Like, what is. What do you. What would you guess? I mean, I wouldn't say. Now, as far as graded cards, I mean, I. We sold a ton of graded cards. I mean, a lot. And, you know, what I do is I have boxes for everything. So, you know, when you. When you start putting all the cards back and I have all the boxes labeled, and you get down to the end of the last few boxes and they're empty. It's like, well, I sold several hundred slabs, you know, same way with all the raw. I mean, I have everything, my inventory, all, you know, by ear, you know, T206s, the 1953, in this box or whatever. And you start filling the boxes and you start getting towards the end. It's like. Well, when you start having two rows that are empty, you know. You know, and then you start looking in the books and there's a lot of holes. So I. It's hard to say, but it is a. It's a lot of work. It is a lot of work to get the books and the boxes, keeping everything in order, you know, but that's. I mean, that's why I only do. I'm going to do a couple shows here with my son. I'm trying to get him kind of into it, see how he feels about it. But that's why I only do about four shows a year, because it's just. It's quite the undertaking with all the. All the singles and trying to help build sets. But that's, you know, that's what we do. So it's. It's a lot of work. But, Yu-Gi-Oh we did. I mean, the inventory is just. You're always working on your inventory. Because I want to. I want to come to the show and I want to make sure I have. Hopefully I can help most every collector find what they need. That's the key. And if I can, I feel kind of disappointed, I guess, because I want to be able to help, but sure. So what was. Would you say graded cards were more popular than Raw, or was it pretty equal or. The people know you that you have these raw binders and. And boxes full of commons, so you're kind of known for that too, but you had enough. I know all the graded stuff you had this year compared to maybe even last year, you kind of had a good influx of slabs. So. Yu-Gi-Oh What would you say was more popular if you could even pin that down? Gosh, it's tough to say. I mean, you know, it would be like we'd all be on one end of one booth and we'd be pricing graded cards, and then the next thing I know, I look down and there's 10 people on the other end down there in. Holly's about to. You know, she's getting swamped because she's got people looking at boxes and binders, and then there's people in the showcases looking at Raw because you kind of work and everybody likes to work through the books and the boxes for your commons and stuff, and then you get it. Start getting to the Raw and the showcases for your stars and your high numbers. But, you know, we sold so many graded cards. I mean, I was fortunate to buy some collections of some Raw that these Guys got graded and I end up buying a lot of it and brought, you know, I was able to upgrade my sets and pull what I want and then I bring what's what I've decided I'm going to part with. And a lot of all the stuff I brought mo, a lot of it was just freshly graded. A lot of SGC slabs. You know, I talked a lot of people on grading psa, sgc. A lot of, there's a lot of discussion with collectors and I feel like a lot of collectors are happy, pretty. I mean, they're not happy, but they feel a lot better about SGC definitely than they do PSA. 90 days, they're like, you know, 90 days is a lot better than six or eight months. Of course we know where PSA is at right now with a lot of the submissions you can't even send in unless you want to pay, you know, an arm and a leg. But we still sold a lot. Maybe it's, maybe it's more convenient, you know, for people to just be able to buy slabs at a show. They have to buy it or, you know, that to send anything in. I don't know. That could be the case. But we sold a lot, a lot of both. I don't know how many mantles I had. I had, I have no idea. I bet I had over 50 mantles at the beginning of the show and I sold a lot of them. I mean, mantles were hot. Jackie Robinson's, you know, Jackie Robinson, everybody was after him, you know. Yu-Gi-Oh I mean, it was. But the biggest thing I can say is high end or even if it's a 4 or 5, if the card has got great centering and great Yu-Gi-Oh appeal, sold, it's gone. They're gonna buy, it's gonna sell. I mean, that's just, that's where we're at right now in the hobby. People are buying the card versus, you know, the grade. I think that they're really taking a look at that because if you look at sales or you look at these cards, those are the ones that people are after. You know, the high, high appeal centering is huge. Yu-Gi-Oh So interesting. Maybe that's good for me because I kind of don't mind off center cards, especially, you know, if they were cut that way at the factory. It's like that's how it went into the pack, you know, it's not that card's fault. It got, you know, so I, I'm a little more lenient in my own personal collection. I, I just want an example of the cart. Would I love a centered cart? Of course. Like, you know, but I'm one of those guys. If I can buy a little a one that's a little more off center and get it for a significant discount from the beautiful copy in the same grade, then I'm all for it, you know, because that just allows me to buy the next card, you know, and you know, it's. But the I agree that I appeal movement is legit. NBA stickers make it even more, you know, pronounced and, and just in the minds of hobbyists and collectors and everything. But what was I was going to ask you about more about the inventory because as you were you saying Mantle was hot, Jackie was hot. What about guys like Clemente and Ma and Aaron and kind of those Koufax go guys like that? You know, there's a lot of. And I consider these collectors, but there's a lot of people that will go through the showcases and if they see a card, if it's a Clementi, if it's a Kofax, you know, a lot of the hall of Famers, if it has got great Yu-Gi-Oh appeal, a lot of times it will sell. You know, I sold a lot of Topps. Red backs, blue backs are tough to come by, as we all know. You know, the oddball stuff, a lot of people really enjoy that. But there's a lot of collectors out there and a lot of people that, you know, they just go there to look at cards and if the card is just something that catches their Yu-Gi-Oh and they like it and the price is fair, they buy it and you know, they're. That's what they enjoy. They don't necessarily have to look at, you know, the highest graded card or the most expensive card in the showcase, but if they grew up and they watched Harmon Killer killer play or Fergie Jenkins or whoever and they see a great copy of it, they're probably going to buy it. So I mean, you know, that's always encouraging because, you know, it's kind of pure heart buyer and they just, you know, they find something that they like and they buy it. So, you know, I try to get the slabs to where everything is kind of spread out. I think I had 18 or 19 showcases, which is quite a few. But still with the raw, I mean, every stack was full. So you know, I have within those stacks I've got, you know, Clementis and Aaron's and mazes and all that stuff. So a lot of those aren't even on display. So people have to kind of go through the stacks. But you know, you can only have so many showcases. But I like to have those in the showcases. And we don't set a lot of boxes and books out. You know, we felt pretty good about the security but you know, it's just, it's kind of makes me feel a bit better when we have them behind the table and on the shelves and then we just kind of hand them out to people for whatever year that they need. But I, I go ahead. Well, as you're thinking through like what you're talking about, you got stacks of cards, you know, in a case, right. Of Raw or whatever. And then you've got your slabs probably single stacked or maybe double stack at the most. And as those start selling, do you start doing shuffling and. Yu-Gi-Oh okay, I need to. One case could be empty, you know, by the end if you, Yu-Gi-Oh You know, you just kind of spread, start spreading stuff out more. And I had, Yu-Gi-Oh and I had, you know, a couple two row boxes full of graded stars. So I mean, if I need to pull more out, I can do that, you know. But the Raw, you know, I may have 4 or 562 clementis or whatever. So I mean, you know, there's several copies for someone to look at to see what fits their set or their budget, which is what we try to do where they have an opportunity to kind of look at more than one, more than one card for what they're looking for. But with the, with the slabs, I try to, especially the, the Mantles and the, you know, Rose rookie or Aaron rookies or whatever that I have, I try to obviously have those where they can get a good look at them. But the Raw, it's kind of tough to do. I don't like to put the stars in the books. I like to put those in the showcases. Right. Yu-Gi-Oh When you like Holly, poor Holly, drag her around all these shows and was she just wiped out by the end of the week? She had to be. She was, you know, she just had knee surgery not too long ago. So she's still kind of, she's still healing up from that. So, you know. But Yu-Gi-Oh it's, it's. I mean, you know, if you've got, I mean you put yourself in that position, you've got four or five people want to look at cards. They're over here looking at books and they're in and out of the showcases and you know, you have to keep your Yu-Gi-Oh on everybody. You know, you hope that nothing would ever happen, but that's just part of the show. You know, and you're just, it's, it's stressful. So, you know, I told her I'd make sure. And I'm, I really need to get one more person probably to help at the show. You know, I thought that four or five people was enough, but it really wasn't. I mean, we really could use, I know, we really could use somebody else. I know you. We could almost use one person for every three or four showcases. And then the, the books and the boxes is another. I mean, that could be a job. That could be. Yu-Gi-Oh Yu-Gi-Oh So, I mean, it's, it gets pretty wild. Well, let me get your perspective, Craig, from a year ago at the National. You've done one or two shows in between that, but the hobby's obviously gone nuts. And in it, you know, high demand a lot, high Yu-Gi-Oh appeal stuff, you know, stars and rookies and all those things. Were you, you, were you pricing things? Would, you would. If you were to guess like I was. I'm pricing things this year higher than they were last year because things have just done well. Like, do you literally see that as you're pricing cards? And God, I remember when this card was 20 bucks and now it's 150 or stuff like that, the graded cards, I mean, I try to step on that with VCP or ebay sales. You know, you gotta, you gotta, you know, just because, because you have a certain grade of a certain player, it doesn't say it's a PSA 4 or 5. It doesn't necessarily going to just be an average price. If it's a little bit off center, it's not going to be as good. But if it's dead center, it has great Yu-Gi-Oh appeal. You know, if you look up VCP for a Nicky Mantle, let's say a Topps, Pete Rose, you know, or whatever card you want to look at in a five or six, obviously there's swings. There could be in thousand thousands of dollars for one grade. So, you know, you just kind of have to do your homework looking at each car, looking at the grade. As far as Raw, I mean, I really, I mean I haven't, I don't really change a lot of those prices. Even since Strongsville, you know, I, I looked up some stuff on ebay to kind of see what it's sold for sometimes, but when you have that many cars, it's hard to do that. Sure. You know, if people, when they buy the raw, I just, usually we'll make them a stack and then we give them a discount at the End. And everybody seems to be pretty happy with. With all the raw stuff. So I think a lot of people do buy a lot of my raw and get them graded. I think there's a lot of people that do that, which is. Which is fun. So, Yu-Gi-Oh I buy your raw stuff, and it goes into a Pandora in my room here. Yu-Gi-Oh I gotta. I want to propose a deal. I'm gonna. With what you have left, which is probably. Hopefully some cards. I'm gonna. I'm gonna maybe send you my list of what I'm still kind of missing, and maybe like, all right, here's 500 bucks, whatever you. Whatever you feel like off these lists that you want to put for that 500. You think you could do something cool like that? That'd be fun. Oh, Yu-Gi-Oh Yu-Gi-Oh I could do it. I just. I'm in that mode right now with the hobby the way it is, that I just want to kind of do that stuff, you know? You know, I'm kind of like, okay, I can throw 500 bucks at some commons every few months, you know, and. And try to fill out sets and fill in holes on binders and stuff. And I enjoy that. Right. I don't have to be buying big cards, and I've got all the slabs, you know, pretty much. I mean, the stuff I'm missing is. Is rare and. Or expensive. So, Yu-Gi-Oh I want to. I want. I don't want to have to fall into the crazy and. And have to spend all this money to get stuff I want when I know I got plenty of, you know, some Topps that I need or Topps and I can go, Craig, here's 500 bucks. See what you can do here. You know, that. That, to me, is fun, and I'll be excited to see. Okay, what does he get me? You know, what is he. Which. Which sets does he. Because I'm gonna. I don't want to know. Like, I'm like, here, I need all these cards. So go. Any of these that you can put in there. I'd love it and would eventually want to buy them all one-of-one So stuff like that is where I'm kind of at in the hobby right now. Honestly. I think. I think set building is relaxing for people sometimes. You know, I mean, they're sitting down, they're getting to build their set. I think a lot of people find that enjoyable. We try to make it as enjoyable as we can, you know, but it's. It's something a lot of us have done for. I've. I'll show you some stuff here. I. I was fortunate. I love these hostess and I had a guy in his. You can kind of see these full sheets. Oh Yu-Gi-Oh A couple brothers. Their dad worked at a factory, I guess and these came off the roller. They have never been even made into the hostess. And I've got of course I collect everything and build my sets. I've got 75 to 79 complete sets of panels. And I'm already about to complete my second run of sets. I'm not sure why, but it's those things of that we did when we were kids. I remember as a kid cutting those out the hostess, you know, and building my sets and collecting them. And of course then. And I think it was 85 I met Mickey Mantle. And then it all changed, you know. And I. And I saw Luke Appling hit that home run in the Cracker Jack Old Timers game. And at that point in my life, that is when it all came together for me with vintage was I met Mantle. Mize and Whitey Ford were together to show I met them. And then when I and this was in the 80s and I was collecting vintage and Luke Appling hit that home run and I. I'm not sure how old he was in his 70s. I don't if you remember the. The home run he hit the Cracker Jack Old Timers game. But you know, I just love to see all, you know, Aaron. All the players at the Cracker Jack games and gotta make my first Mickey Male in 85 for my birthday. And then from then on it was just, you know, it just changed it for me. And collecting was that game because I have a Cracker Jack Old Timers baseball classic. The first annual. I have a poster from that set or that game signed by Hank Aaron, Brooks Robinson and Warren Spawn. And they're all. They're the three guys on the poster. Looks like it was held in D.C. warren spawn through the pitch. Okay. When Apple hit it out to left field. I just remember him getting around the bases and it was just hilarious. I mean he was so. It was so much fun. But I think that that probably maybe 80. Oh, I hate to get 85, 86, 87. I'm not sure. Somewhere in there, you know, every now and then you can find the bats. You can find autographed items and from the Cracker Jack Old Timers games. But hey, those guys all showed up to those Old Timer games. It was just so much fun to watch those. So cool. All right. Let me ask you about buying. You mentioned you obviously sold a lot of cards. Did you have a lot of people bringing cards to you to look at and see if you were interested in buying them? And I did. And the hardest thing and, and people want to trade or they want to sell me things and when I, it's so hard for me to do it. I mean, it's, I had one guy that had a scrapbook with the complete, you know, the sporting new supplements that have like Wagner and Matheson. I think he had the whole set, except I think one, they were in a scrapbook and we're talking about really a neat, neat item. And I got a chance to kind of go through it and he was like, I mean, and a lot of times I don't necessarily buy it. Like I even have dealers bring people over to me to kind of help. A lot of times it's more or less give them an idea what I think they should get and then if I end up getting it, but I'm so busy a lot of times I just don't have the time to buy much, which, you know, I, and I also, you know, it's so much fun to be able to talk with folks at the show and I'm so busy a lot of times I don't have the, I can't hardly take the time to really get to visit, which is really, really tough. But when you've got, you know, three, four, five people that are kind of looking at you like you're gonna come help me with my card. So it's, it's tough to buy. I, I, here's the, here's the item that I got that I love the most. Okay, let me see. Are you ready? Can you see it? Yu-Gi-Oh And autographed by Mini. That is so cool. Go for a double Pabst Blue Ribbon poster. It's old style, I think, isn't it? Or is it old style? Yu-Gi-Oh okay. Style. And he autographed it. Let me see if I can hold this. Right. He autographed it right there. Best wishes made, Minoso. Two, four. I thought that was really cool. I think it, it's got a stand up, I'm guessing it maybe was in a bar or something. I don't know because it's got some wear, but I, I had to have that. So that'll go, that'll go back here somewhere if I can find a spot. How many, how many of these will you see that, you know that Minnie Minosa signed. So I was kind of excited to have that. So maybe you just set me up at your buying station next year. And you just give me, like, mounds of cash and say, here, Mike. No, I'm just kidding. I mean, I had. I had a lot of great stuff. I had one guy had I don't know how many autograph mantles all slabbed, and he was wanting to sell them, but I just. I bet I had six or eight people waiting on me. And it's just, you know, it takes time to do these kind of things, and when you've got, you know, it's just. It's not the best buying for me. I mean, it could be, but I got to give the attention to the folks that are there to buy cards from me, so. Well, would you say you did more buying at Strongsville than here trying to even remember Strongsville? I would think Strongville would be more competitive to buy because everybody there buys vintage. You know, I think I. I had more. I looked a lot more stuff at the national, but I've been fortunate by a lot of collections and stuff around here, where I. In the Midwest, you know, since Strongsville, up to the National, I bought. I bought a lot of stuff. I mean, a lot of stuff. A lot of sets, you know, and I. If I buy sets, I can, you know, go through all the sets and then I can upgrade all my sets and all my cards and get stuff graded and pull out what I want to keep and go into my PC. And so I've been really fortunate to. To be able to buy a lot of stuff here, to kind of prepare for the show. So if I don't buy that much of the show, I'm not. I don't really buy from other dealers. I really don't. I mean, I. I mostly buy from people that want to sell their collections or people that have got a bunch of cards. One guy just was given tons of stuff. I mean, basketball, football, baseball, from the late 50s into the 60s, and he graded it all through SGC and he decided he wanted to sell it all. And we came to a price, and I brought a lot of that to the National. So I've been pretty fortunate. In the Midwest is still kind of a. And I think we've talked about this, maybe our last podcast, but there seems to be for me, and I've talked to a lot of dealers, and I always ask that question, are you. You know, do you see a lot of vintage. And a lot of them are having a rough time to find it, but I've been pretty fortunate to. To be able to find it around here where I'm at. So hopefully that'll. That'll stay, stay true. It's so much fun to be able to buy a shoe box or a box of cards or a collection and be able to go through and, and, you know, just enjoy it and maybe get a few graded or upgrade my sets. And it's just kind of, it's. I, I really enjoy that. I, I've heard some things about security there and a few of the thefts that happened and things like that. Would you say security felt better? Would you say you felt pretty good? I know you did some, your own personal security things and just everybody's head's on a swivel all the time. But. Did you have anything stolen or anything? You know, not that I know of. Not that I know of. You know, I kind of. Whenever we first came into the, to the show, I met a couple of the guys that were kind of helping direct traffic and stuff. And a lot of those guys were police officers and they were there throughout the show and they always came by and we'd talk and, and I think the one police officer said they had maybe eight or 10 instance that he knows of and this he told me that maybe on Saturday. I, I mean, there's one video out there. No, that you've probably seen and a few different instances that happened at the show. But, you know, we keep all of our showcases locked. I don't put them, you know, up and down where someone can easily lift. You know that if you have to get into mine and they're a long way, so you'd have to reach all the way to the back to try to get in. So I think, you know, dealers have to think about how they're going to set up their showcases because if you've got them side by side and long ways like I do, I think it's going to be awfully tough for somebody to pry or get in there. Now if you've got them the other ways they, and they're not locked, they just, it's right there. They can lift it up and get in. So the ring cameras are great. I think, you know, 25 a camera, you get two for 50 or something, you know, so those help. Those help I have, of course, I'm a deer hunter. So I, you know, I brought some, some cell cams. I didn't know putting them out, but I thought, well, I could. But you know, the guys that I talked to, the security guys over there, you know, great people. I think that they did a really good job with the show, but I didn't get to walk around a lot because, you know, we were at our location. But I, I felt pretty good about it. But you got to set yourself up where you're kind of prepared for something like that to happen. So unfortunately there's people like that everywhere that look to take advantage. But that is unfortunate that that seems to be something that we talk about every year and it's. It's a shame. Yu-Gi-Oh you're gonna love this. I'm gonna try to show this picture, see if this one or this one. This one's better. This is my feeder last night. I'm gonna make myself a little bit larger. Oh, it's. The glare's so bad. Too much glare. Too much glare. There's. I don't know. I had 12 deer at my feeder and just like going, oh my gosh, I can't wait for November. Well, I was on this. I was on the tractor today. As soon as I get back, I go to the farms and I'm on a tractor mowing or, you know, whatever. We'll have deer season here before long. But we've got a show in Marion, Illinois coming up. It's a just a two day show, guys. Just started and Yadir Molina's brother's going to be there signing and Matt Hughes, I think is going to be there signing. So I'm going to take my son to that show and set up a little bit of image and maybe put up a buying sign and maybe we can buy some stuff. And then we got another show in all the Illinois. A friend of mine, Bryce Circle, he's putting on a show up there at the college. So that'll be fun, couple little shows. Then we got Nashville and then it'll be time to get serious with bow hunting. So baseball cards will. And shows will be on the back burner while we're chasing big whitetail. So are you going to Philly? No. Okay. I've heard that's a. I heard that's a pretty good show. But I, I'm going this year for the first time and I'm excited about that. That's interesting. September. End of September and then I'm coming. I'm hoping to come to the one end of October, the Nashville show. Yu-Gi-Oh And you should come. Yu-Gi-Oh that's a big show. I don't. Is he like 16, 1700 tables. Does that sound right? I think that's what he advertises. It's huge. Yu-Gi-Oh it's. It's a huge show. Well, my, my son lives there now and my buddy Tony and my brother lives like I. I have more than just a card show as a reason to go, but I can kind of get out. I can get it all, like, hey, if I'm gonna be there if I want, if I'm gonna plan a trip, let's plan it when I can go a day or two to the card show. Yu-Gi-Oh And so I'm gonna try to do that end of October as well. We should come go out to eat dinner and talk baseball cards. Oh, if we have to, you know. But the hobby is not dying. You know, we always said the hobby strong. Never been. It feels like whenever we joke about that and hopefully you guys know and hear the sarcasm in our voice. We. We both don't think the hobby's dying, and we're both excited about things. I did a video yesterday about some things I'm concerned about, but for guys like me, I'm, you know, I just like buying cards. So, Yu-Gi-Oh the hobby's not dying. I love it. Craig. It's not. And we got to look at all the kids that are now getting into the hobby. I think that these, you know, there's a lot of young kids. I mean, my son is 24 at that age, and then the kids even younger. There seems to be more young kids getting in the hobby right now. But how do we keep them. How do we keep them in the hobby? I know that's the. That's the part. And, you know, the only thing that kind of concerns me is some of this. Sometimes I feel like is gambling or, you know, it's kind of a gamble. And hopefully they're. But, you know, I don't know. I mean, hopefully we can keep them in the hobby. I hope they don't get priced out. You know, that's kind of concerning sometimes. So if they want to buy a, you know, some cards in the 50s or 60s, it's pretty reasonable. And those guys aren't going away. You know, they're. They're always going to be collectible. I don't, you know, then you can start talking about next season with baseball. You know, I don't. I don't know where that's going to be going. But if something were to ever happen, we know that vintage sports cards are still there. And. And that's the. The best part of baseball, I feel like, is our pastime, you know. Yu-Gi-Oh Hank Aaron's not going on strike, getting locked out. You know, his legacy is cemented. All these other guys. Right. And I. Maybe that'll cause them to shift and pivot and, you know, being a Kid. We were kids in the hobby once. We Goldin afford all those. We were priced out back then of, you know, all the stuff in the showcases so they can maybe feel what we felt when we were little. You know, it's all relative. Right. And there was no chance I was buying all the cool cards in the showcases that I wanted to buy, and now I can, to some degree, and they'll have to wait their turn. How about that? That's right. So hopefully we can help guide them to doing the right things if they come see me. There's a lot of kids that do. You know, I kind of want to get into vintage. Well, you know, we talk vintage sports cards. It happens. So as long as they're plugged in. Thanks for the recap. And I love hearing your perspective. Sorry I didn't get to see you this year at the National I saw in Strongsville, and maybe I'll get to see you in Nashville. And, you know, Craig will send me cool stuff. You guys out there, you know, Craig and I talk. You know, when it's like we talk in spurts. Right, Craig, like something will happen and we'll have this Fleer of conversation and even talk on the phone or whatever, and then there might be a little lull because we're both. You're. You're helping with your grandkids, and we're both mowing our. Getting on our tractors and doing the things we got to do, and. And then something else will come up and we'll converse about it. And I. I value our friendship, Craig, and I appreciate it very much. So. A lot of fun. Yu-Gi-Oh it's been great. And I don't know how many times you've been on this show, but it's a few now. So, Yu-Gi-Oh it's. It's great. And, you know, I see so many folks that watch your show that come to our booths and talk cards. The national is tough to talk to everybody because it's so busy. We try to help everybody the best we can with their collection, so it's important. Well, I'll let you get some rest and thanks for being on the show again, and I'm sure we'll talk soon. And. And I'll have you on soon enough. But everybody out there, guys, thanks so much for watching. Thanks for listening. Leave comments down below. Let. Let me know what you think about this conversation with Craig, and if you have any questions, ask him, and I'll try to get them to them. And thanks again so much, guys, for watching this week and every week. We'll see you soon for another episode. Take care and keep collecting. Thanks, Mike.