The WNBA Card Podcast: Building a Collection Alongside a New Franchise | Golden State Valkyries Team Collecting with Mark (@ramjamsportscards)

Foreign. Welcome back to another episode of the WNBA Card Podcast here on the Stacking Slabs Network, hosted by my good friend Caitlin at Cold Lunch Cards. We are continuing the Team Collector train here and we've got a new team. Not the newest team, but new last year. Mark Ram Jam Sports Cards Valkyries Collector Caitlin dives in and explores the mindset and mentality of being a new team collector and what it's like, what Mark is thinking, how he's building out his collection. Shout Out Card Ladder, the official data provider of the WNBA Card Podcast and the broader Stacking Slabs network for helping bring these conversations to you. If you want to show your support, make sure you follow at WNBA Card Pod on the Instagram machine. Hit the follow button here, tell a damn friend. Run on over to the Patreon group to get video of each of these episodes. But for now, Mark Ram Jam Sports Cards Valkyries Collector. Let's get into it. Welcome back loyal listeners to the Stacking Slabs Podcast to season five, episode five of the WNBA Card Podcast. This season we've been doing something different around here. We've been bringing on different types of collectors, but they all have one thing in common. They love their team. And I am so excited today for today's episode which is all focused on the newest team or what was the newest team at one point, the Golden State Valkyries. I've got Mark on here from at ramjam Sports Cards. I think he's got another account called Valkyries Card Vault and he focuses on the Golden State Valkyries and a team that I love to watch. Just a competitive team out the gate and we're going to be talking all about his collecting strategy, what it means to collect an expansion or a new young franchise, kind of what got you into it. So Mark, if you don't mind introducing yourself to folks, if they don't know who you are, kind of shout out your Instagrams or where they can find you and then we can get into it. Well, hello and first I just want to say thank you, Caitlyn. Love the podcast. I've been a first time, long time listener. So you're doing an awesome job with this and I'm really happy to be on. My name is Mark Haymower. I am from the East Bay of California. That's where I live currently. I've been there, living there for about 20 years and obviously huge Valks fan, but I go by Ramiam Sports Cards, which is named after my daughter Ramona on Instagram. And then as you had said, I also have The Valkyries card vault, which I started a few months back just to highlight all my. My Valkyries collection. So those are my. My two Instagram handles. And I'm also Ram Jam sports cards on Whatnot as well. I do selling of some singles on whatnot. Awesome. Well, I'm excited to kind of get into your fandom and your identity as a collector. So why don't we start from the beginning, I suppose. Were you always a WNBA fan or did the Valkyries kind of bring you in? I kind of want to hear your origins of how we, how we found ourselves here. Yeah, that's a, That's a great question. You know, I was always a basketball fan of the mnba, so I was a, you know, growing up, a big Charles Barkley fan. And I, I actually like the Bulls too, and then moving out to the Bay Area, the Warriors. But I was not a. Honestly, I did not watch the WNBA as a kid. It had started when I was probably in. In high school, I guess, or a little bit before that, maybe middle school. Not revealing my age, but yeah, it's. I would. I'm new to watching the wnba, but like, with anything when I do it, I, I kind of go in head first in a little bit nuts with it. So while I am new to it, I am all about it. So, you know, that's, that's, that's my origins. Sounds good. So I hear that you kind of said that you're from the East Bay, or at least that's where you live. Is that what drew you to the Valkyrie specifically as a franchise? Because, you know, you. You can pick any team in the wnba. It doesn't matter where you live, where you're from. You can really just have whoever you want. But you went with the Valkyries. What kind of stood out for you that. That kind of drew you into them, you know, being. Having moved from the great state of Wisconsin, where you're also from. I know. I mean, I'm a Packers fan and somehow I became a Chicago Cubs fan. And moving out, I did take on the warriors, but it never felt like it was, you know, my team because I didn't, you know, I didn't grow up in the Bay Area and I didn't just. I didn't really have that connection. So when this new team was coming out and I had the ability to kind of start right at the ground floor where the, you know, this brand new franchise, it just was very appealing and exciting to me. Nice. So let's kind of get into how you would rank your Fandom, it sounds like you have some different teams that you root for. We'll ignore the Cubs part, we'll say you have the packers part. But let's focus on the Valkyries. If you were to say one was kind of a casual observer, but you know, you support them because they're your local team. That's one and 10 is like you're a super fan. You're wearing those, those masks that they have in the stands. Like that's 10. Like that's crazy. Where would you rank yourself? Oh, well, if masks are 10, then I definitely can't go. I'm not a mask. But you know, I would definitely say an 8 or a 9. You know, I don't miss. I can't unfortunately afford to go to every Valkyries game. I do get to go to a lot of games, but you know, I haven't missed a game on TV since they've started. So I. And as far as my collection, that's. That's what it is now. So I would say an eight or a nine. Okay, that's a really good transition to. My next question is kind of a collection of yours. You kind of, kind of hinted at it with the two Instagram accounts, but you've got a WNBA collection and you have a Valkyries collection. At what point did it kind of shift for you to say, okay, I like the WNBA and I'm going to collect WNBA cards, but my focus is going to be the Valkyries. You know that that shift was when Donrus finally came out announcement. And I felt like probably this time of year last year that I was coming out and you know, being new to. I collected mainly baseball cards the last few years. So it was more on the fanatics top side. And their release was a little tighter than Panini's versus like we'll throw it at the wall, whatever, you know. So once donors finally came out, and I want to say like October, that's when I was like, okay, there are cards. And I had shared on my Instagram, it was a little disappointing because I didn't know that they would be like cards with them in their other uniforms and like the little traded on the side to Golden State. But nonetheless it was like when that, that Donnerous collection came out, that was like, I'm all in. I finally have my team transitioning into their own uniforms. They're not wearing other uniforms. And, and that, that was the exciting part is where that transition happened. The concept of cards not being available for your team is like heartbreaking to me. And that's not even me trying to be dramatic. Like, I think as card collectors, we can all understand that this is serious business. And, like, if you were to tell me, yeah, you can collect the links, but they're all going to be in Chicago sky uniforms or, you know, New York Liberty uniforms or something like that, I would be pissed. So, like, the patience we'll get into kind of like your approach and how you handled that, but the patience exercised and kind of that whole entire problem, we'll get into that, but I can't imagine it. It sounds. It sounds tough. It definitely was. Yeah, I bet. So I want to ask you, because when you're talking about a new franchise, there's not necessarily this, you know, large history to go back on. There's not a long list of players that you can go back and collect before, because there was no before. It's just today. And so when you think about the Valkyries franchise, at least to date, do you feel more connected to the team identity of we are the Golden State Valkyries, or is it the individual players as well that you feel connected to? You know, that's. It's kind of a cheap answer, but I would say a little bit of both. You know, it was pretty special watching, you know, those players break training camp last year, and you knew that, like, that was your first team. Those were your players, and there was, you know, every team. You know, you get emotionally connected to the players, but when it's like there are no others. They weren't traded here. They were. This is where they started. Yeah. And you got to watch them grow. It was pretty. It was like watching a. Kind of like watching a family, you know, as a cohesive unit. It was pretty cool. But then as it moves on, it does become more about the franchise because you get excited about winning, and it's like, oh, those are great players, but we want to take it up the next level, so maybe someday we can beat the links once it's a little. I won't rev it in. I won't rev it in. We'll just let that one sit there. I can do it to myself in my own. That's funny. So this kind of brings me to another question that I have for you, which is being an expansion team, the fan base is obvious. Not only is the team still taking shape despite the fact that they're seeing lots of early success and they're a very competitive team, even though their first year. But anyways, the team is taking shape, the culture is taking shape, but the fan base as well, right, because this is like people who. The Bay kind of loves basketball. I mean, they show up for the Warriors. You see kind of the basketball culture in the Bay Area. But if you had to describe the Valkyries fan base specifically, how would you kind of describe them? What is it like being a Valkyries fan? You know, I just. There's some. For some reason, the unity is just insane. You know, even though it's a new team, you go walking into the Chase center from those side streets and just seeing everyone pour in, it's really special. And it really started the first game. You know, it's, it's the, the energy that that is behind the team but then has not really ceased. Even though there have been some pretty low points already. I mean, they're jam packing the Chase center every home game. I mean, I think it's like 28 or 29 straight sellouts. But that energy that the, you know, the fans have is really special, I would say. Yeah, the, the thing that I like remember seeing is, you know, I, I feel like I collect these infographic of stats around the WNBA and it's. Whenever it's fan attendance, the Valkyries are always dominating those graphics. It's, it's quite not surprising. I'm not surprised by the Bay Area's commitment to women's basketball. But just take away the location and just put new franchise winning like that is crazy to me to see the amount of people that are showing up. So yeah, the energy, the crowd pops in Golden State seem to feel different than elsewhere. Maybe that's just like the taste center acoustics. But something about the crowd pops there is something special. So I hear that. And a question that I've been asking each guest that we have on and I plan to ask all of them is if you had to describe the franchise in three words or less, One, could you do it? And two, if you could, what would you choose? Wow, three words. I would say the first word would be like trailblazing. You know, they started. They're not the first obviously expansion team, but the way they're doing it is really impressive. The ownership group, you know, Gruber and Joe Lakup, the Warriors ownership group, they have really lined things up and are doing, I'm sure other teams are following the model. Like, you know, you don't want to get in the nerdy business side, but like the valuation of the team itself, it's, it's crazy. And I'm sure, you know, it wasn't like people, as I just mentioned, it's not like People trickling in. They, they. They were there day one. And it's because of how they, you know, that this franchise kind of started. I would say united would be another word. The, The. The fans that's welcoming. Maybe not the opposing players or teams, but, you know, as a fandom, you know, you feel really welcome there. It's. It's not like a uncomfortable place. Sometimes you go to, you know, sporting events and there can be a little hostility even from, you know, your own, you know, fans. So that would be a piece. They're welcoming and united, and then ambitious. You know, they, they, they're going. They've made the playoffs in the first year. You know, they didn't care about, like, tanking and getting a draft pick. They, they, they. They're taking off and, you know, they're not there yet. But it is cool to see that they're not just, you know, we'll just sit around and wait for a draft pick and then, you know, kind of market off that or, or try to center around a draft pick. So that's been cool. Yeah, 100%. I'd agree with those three. And I have two comments. The first is, to cultivate a positive sentiment around ownership in professional sports is no small feat. I feel like everybody complains about their owners or always has. Like, the first words out of their mouth are almost never positive, which, you know, I love keeping our owners as, you know, holding them accountable as much as we can. But it really does feel like the Valkyries fandom has appreciated the amount of investment, time, resources that the owners have put into building franchise. And you can see it in, like you said, the win column. Making a first playoff appearance is very impressive in your first year. It just kind of stinks of who you had to go up against. Otherwise, I think you guys would have had, like, a shot. I mean, those games were not, not all of them were blowouts, and it was a competitive game. And I think that also speaks to my second point, which is I remember when the expansion draft happened, and I, I don't recall who said it. Maybe it was Temmie or somebody else, but they were basically saying, you know, we're kind of a team of six man or six womans. And I think that that mentality of just being scrappy, but also understanding that, you know, when we come together and bring all these talented players that maybe weren't given a shot elsewhere, you can build a really respectful, like, really competitive team. So I think those three words kind of drive home those points, and I just wanted to Add my thoughts there to close out the personal fandom and identity first segment. Been asking everybody these, like, you know, broad questions about personal fandom, about describing their franchise from their perspective. But I. I want to close it out by asking you more broadly if we could zoom out to just women's sports in general. A lot of this season has been focused around community building. That's kind of how we kicked off the season. Was talking about how important it is to give, you know, niche spaces and their voices, amplifications. I want to ask you, when you remove the Valkyries from the equation and you're just looking at women's sports in general, what does it kind of mean for you to be a women's sports fan and a WNBA fan more broadly? Yeah, you know, there's two pieces to that for me. You know, being a girl dad, I think it's important for me, and whatever, just a father to my. My son. You know, my son and daughter need to see that there. There is. There's a lot of value in women's sports, but, like, beyond that, it's just good basketball. Like, it's having watched basketball, having played basketball, you know, through high school, and then just watching basketball forever. Like, I. Not even just conceding the fact. Oh, you know, that women's sports is important to follow and support. It's. It's good product. And I think that's what I'm trying to do when I am supporting the Valkyries, is trying to show and convert people to watch it with me and realize that this is good, amazing basketball. So there's, you know, those two pieces for me. Yeah, it sounds a lot like. We had a guest on Steve who collects the sun, and he talked a lot about kind of the connection between him and his kids and the importance of passing down that kind of understanding around, you know, women's sports being worth watching and that you don't need to justify watching it, that the product is worth it and communicating that to your kids. And it sounds like we've got a lot of good parents in the hobby that are kind of pushing that agenda as well, which makes me very happy. So, like I said to Steve on his episode, I wish, you know, we, like all. I kind of had that as a kid because my dad was into sports, but I wish all my friends had that experience, too, and I think we'd see a lot more accelerated, I don't know, fandom and stuff from kids. So glad to know that you're doing the work on the ground work, Mark. Thank you let's kind of pivot away from personal fandom and into what we're here to talk about today, which is the cards. I want to talk to you about your collecting philosophy. A lot of us kind of have approaches to how we collect different parts of our collection. So if we zoom into just the Valkyries, do you kind of have a solidified approach or are you just picking up what you can find? Well, you know, that is already funny enough in the whatever year, so it's already shipped, shifted, and that was kind of out of what was out there. Right. We had kind of talked about that earlier, but I am not. And I know you've spoken about Panini Instant. Like, Panini Instant is not something I get very excited about, but that's what I had last year. Like, so if Panini Instant was out, you know, I was going on that drop and I was getting my Panini Instant with my players in a Valkyrie uniform. But it's so funny because, like, I am not that. It's just not something I would normally do. So the. The shift has now finally become, you know, once Impeccable came out where they're in, you know, Donneros was there, as we said, there were a few players in Valkyrie's uniforms or airbrushed or whatever, but once Impeccable came out, that, that, that allowed me to really shift. Instead of just like fire, I wasing like, oh, there's a card with a Valkyrie. I'm getting it. And then I had everything, but now it's more much more refined. And generally, as a collector, that's. That's where I get. I get. I get a little unfocused. And then I kind of look into my collection. It's like, oh, my gosh, there is way too much here. And then I kind of, you know, shift on how I. What I consider part of the PC or part of the collection. As I move on, let's kind of dive into kind of that refinement strategy that you talk about. I know for me, I have certain rules that I set out, and, you know, sometimes I bend them or even break them, but I put them there as kind of a guardrail so that I'm not just taking in everything that drinking from the fire hose as you alluded to. Do you have any kind of like, personal guard rails or rules that when you do look at kind of, you spread out all your cards on the ground and you're thinking to yourself, there's too many here. How do you decide which ones are staying versus which ones are Leaving. I do have a problem. Like I need one card of every Valkyries player. So right now that's pretty easy. It's not that big in like the checklists haven't been that, that crazy yet as far as how many players. But like Micro Guard Rails really are, you know, to me they have to feel pretty special or you know, low numbered cards definitely. And I, I prefer an auto. Right. But the low numbered cards, to me just because they, they just, they're hard to get. They're, you know, they're, they're just a little more special than, than the higher print runs or just. Yeah, but I would say that. And then I really like, I do love Prism. Like that's my, that's my jam. So if I can find a Prism card, that would also be it. But really the, the biggest thing is keeping it load numbered and just I really like your approach. Your. Your six pack approach where it's like, you know, you're, you, you have your more. I guess it's more than six players, but more the idea that you just have one or like one or two really nice cards of each player. And that's really what I've been doing as far as my guard rails. I think it' approach to take. And like I said, there's always room to bend and break these rules. That's kind of like, you know, Brett's whole thing is like CEO of your PC. And I think that you know, being able to make those decisions and say, okay, well now we have an exception here is totally fine. And I think to your point, trying to understand how each collector's definition of quote unquote special differs is something I'm very interested in. And just because of the limited amount of history that a Valkyries fan has to lean on, the limited number of releases, all of these things that come together, your definition of special might be completely different than say a Mercury collector who has years and years and years to think about what's special. And so I kind of want to ask you, when you look across your collection, what are kind of the through lines or what kind of ties it together? Is it certain players? Is it certain sets? Are there certain. I know even some people collect like photos that are on the card of a game that they went to or they remind them of a moment in time, kind of what kind of draws it together aside from the serial number aspect? Yeah. So it really is the like it's more that I am able to collect every player and I would love to see how long I can keep Keep that going financially. But yeah, I would say the thing that ties it all together is these are all Valkyries players in Valkyries uniforms. And that is also kind of special that it's nearly impossible for a lot of other collectors to be able to do that unless, you know, they have a pretty healthy credit card line. That's pretty cool. I would say that makes sense. And we kind of touched on the next question that I had lined up. But I guess if you wanted to talk a little bit more about what changed in your collection, I kind of want to hear your mentality. Not necessarily like, you know, this card went and this card came or something like that, but just how your mentality shifted. For me, when I think about how my collection evolves, it's almost like one night I went to bed and the next morning I woke up and I said, I don't need all these cards. I want better quality cards. Like, it just was a light bulb. Did you have kind of a mentality shift at all or what happened? Yeah, I would say it's the same. It, it, it's, it's. For me, it was just like, you know what? I don't really need every, like, high number. You know, I don't need 20 Veronica Burton Donrus cards. I don't even really like Donrus cards that much. But yeah, so it's basically like one day it doesn't seem like a great idea anymore, you know, and that's okay. Well, I'm going to shift that to, you know, what I'm currently doing. So, yeah, it wasn't like a gradual thing. And just as a collector over time, it's kind of the same way. I'm just like, oh, you know what? It's just a pretty sudden shift. And that's, that's how it was with this collection as well. It's so interesting. I completely agree. Like, it, it feels almost like to use the word life changing is also dramatic here, but once again, I think we're speaking to people that understand the gravity of collecting and means to us. So, like, I'm gonna use it, but the day that I decided I don't need every card of whoever ex player was life changing for my collection, a collection changing, I suppose, would be a better word. And so that learning process, I think, is instrumental to every collector, especially newer collectors who are getting into it. But if you had to give advice to somebody who's new to team collecting or somebody that, you know, maybe they're a fan of the Portland team or the Toronto team, like a newer Franchise. What advice would you give to somebody that's looking to team collect like that? A great question. You know, I, I would say be patient. You know, it's okay to have to. To have some sort of connection to, to the cards. But like, if you're just buying, like, I was like, if you're just buying cards just through excitement, it, it general, you generally will come up with a bunch of cards you don't really want or don't really have that much connection to. You know, maybe the first card. But, like, if you just keep piling them up, it, I. I find it hard to believe that it's like, oh, I need that big stack. So I would say just practice patience. Wait for those checklists to come out, and then wait six more months until the actual product comes out and then start collecting on that end. But, you know, just pump the brakes. I would say much easier said than done, as we both can can say from experience. So completely understand everybody, anybody out there who's new to collecting in general. I think patience is the number one thing I wish I could tell myself. And it's like you literally have to hit yourself over the head with it every single time you go to a show, every time you log on to ebay. Like, patience will reward you in the long run, but in the short term, you're going to feel a little constricted. You're like, I not having this mail day every day now. I'm not having this excitement of opening a new card or hitting a new card in a break. And that patience, I truly believe, will result in a stronger collection down the road. So I think that's a perfect piece of advice. I want to shift kind of to an interesting aspect of what it means to collect an expansion franchise. And we've hit on this in the beginning that, you know, there's not a script of history that the Valkyries have to kind of lean on. And when I talk about emotionally collecting a team, a lot of people default or, you know, reference. This concept of nostalgia. I want to connect to when DT came into the league. I want to connect to, you know, XYZ year, when I started following the WNBA or when my team came. But for a team like the Valkyries, there is not really any opportunity for nostalgia, for yearning for a past time, because there is no past time. So when you think about collecting such a new franchise, what kind of creates that emotional attachment to the cards? If it's not nostalgia, you know, I think it's more. It's almost like you're I would imagine I'm not a scrapbooker, but it's almost like creating a scrapbook in real time, you know, like you're creating like a little history book of what's going on as you collect. And I think that, to me, is really special. So it's. You know, there. There haven't been a lot of huge moments in Valkyries basketball. You know, I. I don't even think. I'm pretty sure we. Yeah, there has not even been a game winner yet, like, you know, a buzzer. So for me, it's like just being able to collect those, you know, in the connection with those players and being able to. It's like a baby book, almost like, oh, this is like our little franchise started and year one. And so that's. That's really how I look at it, is I'm able to, you know, really connect to how it started and keep looking at that scrapbook as I go on through the years. It's a really interesting dynamic is because. Because when I think about, like, my personal WNBA fandom with the links, I feel like I'm almost forced to not force, but, like, I feel like I have to look back in my collection and pay respect to those that came before. And so then I have limited choices. I can only have so many cards, so many things, and I want those kind of moments or, you know, legacy players in. Represented in my collection. But for you, for somebody who's collecting a newer franchise, you almost have more to work with because you don't have to go back in time and you can live in the moment and, like, collect completely looking forward. And that is, like, very unique to me, I think, to be in that position. I have not experienced it before, so it's very interesting to think about it. It's almost like a completely foreign concept. Do you kind of relate to the way that I'm describing that, or is that not how it feels? No, absolutely it is. It's a totally different approach. And it's really just because there isn't that history, you can't go back and collect the, you know, pay respect to the Legends and. Yeah, totally. And that's why, Caitlyn, I think, you know, you can definitely shift to becoming a Valkyries fan. Right? You're excited about it. Put the mics. Cut his mic right now. No, I'm just kidding. But when you think about that approach to collecting for the Valkyries, as opposed to maybe some of the other teams or players that you collect or different segments of cards that you collect, have you Found it to be more enjoyable that way, or is. I'm just curious about, you know, the enjoyment factor of collecting like that. Yeah, no, it. It. It is enjoyable. That's kind of how I collected my other sports, though, too. I didn't. I often would collect those players that I was just really, you know, like, every. Like, that's not surprising, but, like, I would definitely be drawn to, you know, this player had a really exciting season, and I'm really. I. That's. That was my connection to it. So it wasn't that far of a leap, and it is. I do enjoy doing that. So. Yeah, it's been. It's been cool. Yeah, I'm. We talked on, like, the last season about ERA collecting and the season we're doing team collecting, and I just always find it interesting when you talk to folks that kind of live in these different. Brett. Brett and his. In stacking slabs has talked about it kind of as neighborhoods. It's like you got to find your neighborhood in collecting, and then you got to find your street, and then you got to find your home. And I think that the neighborhood of folks who are collecting presently, meaning they're watching something and then they're creating their fandom and they're collecting philosophy after that, as opposed to, say, like, vintage card collectors who are quite literally living in the past, like they're looking back a hundred, sometimes even 200 years at cards. Those neighborhoods feel completely different. It's like a totally different world. And so when we get into the mind of emotionally collecting, I'm just. This is just so interesting to me, so I just. I'll close it out there, but I just find it to be a completely foreign concept, and to hear somebody talking about it is very interesting to me, but I'll shift us away from this and kind of move on. I want to ask you. You talked about how there's not been a huge moment in Valkyrie's franchise history yet, but are there any cards that bring you back to maybe a moment that's personal to you or a moment that might not be big for the rest of the franchise, but was big in your mind? You know, some of those Panini instant cards. Because I was at the game, I was fortunate to go to the first game against the Sparks. Um, you know, that was a big one. You know, the. The moments when Chetchi missed that shot against the Links, that was another big moment, you know, and there are the. The instant cards related to those. I would say is. Is. Is those. Those real connections? But, you know, a lot of I, I guess it's more for me just not around moments as much as the. Around the players and my feeling around the players and probably a culmination of many different moments throughout the season. Yeah, that makes sense. This question is. I threw this question and I haven't asked any of the other collectors or guests this yet, but I'm very excited to hear your thoughts on it. If market value, meaning the monetary value of your cards disappeared tomorrow and we just woke up and they're not worth any money, which card would you look at and say this one. You mean the most to me? You know, Mark, remove market value as a factor in the equation. Which one kind of calls to. Yeah, that I. That's the one I had shared with you. I have a, A Veronica Burton, one of one Black Hollow from Donris. And that card to me is special because I. Veronica Burton was the player and still is. She's. She's my favorite player on the team. Love her. And Janelle Salon. Gabby Williams for later. She's great too. But anyways, but starting the year in. You know, the stories behind VB are much more amplified now, which is great, but watching this player who had basically been cut, she's on her third team, you know, and you had mentioned it's like these, these people who are generally coming off the bench or a little later in their careers and Veronica Burton took over and became a prominent point guard and choose the player that, you know, myself and my family, we all, we all love Veronica Burton. So this card being a. The one of one from the first set, you know, it is a little wonky because she has the Sun Union, which is weird, but because Donrus was the first real WNB set with Valkyries cards and it is my favorite player, that would be the card for me. I'm just looking at it and it's, it's so interesting to see her in that Connecticut sun uniform. But luckily you still get kind of a color match going on here, so that's kind of a plus from the design elements, I guess. Do you kind of have a story of how this card was acquired? Did it just pop up? Did it. How did it land in your collection? You know, it's, it's. It, it just, it was an ebay battle. It was one that I just, I just, when it came up, I had to have it. It was really the first one of one from that set even that I saw. And because it was Burton, I, I just had to go after it. But yeah, just your, your typical ebay. I'm gonna make this mine and I'll have a few more cards on. On whatnot to, to cover it around on ebay. But yeah, nothing too crazy now. It's been cool. You know, you see esun cards I think you can see on there, he, he's a friend of mine who's a Valkyries collector and then card collector my pal. Well you know, and others will send one of ones or other low numbered stuff to me. But this was pretty early on. I, I don't remember when I first got it. Probably November. So that you know, as far as Valkyrie's collecting, I wasn't getting a lot of DMs like hey, check this out. Don't, don't, don't miss this. So this was more just on my, you know, my nightly ebay scrolling. Love it. I'm so glad this one ended up in your collection. I've been looking at Donrus cards a lot and the thing that I like about this release of Donrus is those little. I don't even know what you would call them. They're like stripes that almost penetrate the photo from the bar from the border of the card. When you hit the, hit those in the right light. There's something special that happens with the technology that they implemented on those. Despite being a paper card, they really do have a nice shine to them. When you have this in person, do you kind of do look at it and like nerd out with it or does it kind of sit somewhere special? Where, where does it live? Yeah, I, I keep it with. They're warm and cozy in, in my Pelican case I do pull it out often. Um, you know, my wife will make fun of me that I'm. Oh, here he goes nerding out again. I got all my cards. But yeah, no it is there. But I would agree, you know the, the paper, just the base paper are not very fun but when you see the parallels, they're nice cards. And as you mentioned, the fact that she is that she's wearing a black uniform helps quite a bit. I, I don't know if, if it would have had the same appeal to me had she been wearing like an orange uniform but that it is the color match and it. There are Valkyries jerseys that are black that helps as well. So yeah, my final note on this card and why I think it might appeal to a Valkyries collector more so despite the fact that it's not in a Valkyries uniform is because it doesn't say on the front of the jersey huge Connecticut sun either Right. Like, it's not like, inherently advertising for another team because of the way that the sun uniforms are designed. So that's kind of like another added of why it might feel more palpable compared to, say, if Veronica Burton was in, like, a bright orange sun jersey. Right, Agreed. All right, let's move on away from that and get back into our questions. I kind of want to ask you about how your collecting experience differs when you're collecting a team that maybe, I don't know, I want to hear about kind of the reward factor. You're collecting a team that doesn't have a lot of history. Like we were saying, they're kind of writing it in their own time. What's been like, the most rewarding part of that approach and that experience compared to, say, collecting a team that already has a ton of history. I know you talked about kind of the scrapbooking aspect, et cetera, but specifically around procuring cards, finding cards, discovering what you want to keep in your collection. What's been the most rewarding part of that? You know, probably being like a Valkyrie's hipster. Like, I'm the Valkyries before it was cool because it is pretty. We're. It's still pretty niche. Like, there aren't a lot, but like, I. It is fun. Like, you know, when I can go into basically any whatnot stream and ask for the Valkyries. And, you know, obviously people always go after rookies. Like, they'll still like some Caitlyn Chen and there's still a huge Kate Martin following, even though she's not on the velvet, but her cards are. But it is nice to be able to go in there and. And not really have a lot of competition generally. And, you know, then you get the attention and usually are able to connect to some pretty cool stuff. So that's been fun. Speaking of cool stuff, let's get into the personal grail segment. It's probably my favorite segment of this season so far, which is where we pull up one card that, you know, the. A collector thinks kind of best represents your team fandom. So you sent me one over. While I'm pulling it up, why don't you describe what it is and why you chose this one? Well, this is. Yeah, this is funny because I had just railed on Panini instant. You know, I surprise am a nerd. And there's this card is a Cheyenne sellers draft night 2025 draft night one of one. I think it's a Magma or something like that. I don't know what they call that parallel, but it's the one of one of Cheyenne Sellers. And I like, I've always been drawn to kind of, kind of weirder collecting sometimes. So for a while I collected baseball cards that where they got Gatorade baths. So I had like 150 Gatorade bath baseball cards, which is like weird. I like the weirdness of this card because Cheyenne Sellers never actually played for the Valks. She didn't make it through training camp, but she was, you know, our second draft pick. Choose the 17th pick. And the reason I'm really tied to this card is I'm pretty sure it's the first card in production of a Valkyries card. Like I don't think there were any made before this. Right. So the draft night were the first cards and this is the one of one of the. The first Valkyries card. So that's why it would be my growl card. So you know, and it, there is something funny that it's a Panini incense to me and it's, it's, it's. That's why it's my Grail card. I love that story. I was, I was not expecting to see Cheyenne Sellers for the personal Grails segment, but I am pleasantly surprised with the story behind it. Did you win this at the Panini Instant site or did you pick this up aftermarket? No, I won it on ebay and it's, it kind of goes back to that. The, the, the fun of not really having a lot of competition out there. You know, it was up there and I threw an offer and they accepted and it was pretty easy peasy. I love that. That's such a cool card. I really like the concept of kind of like first produced card for a franchise. That's something that not a lot of people can claim. Like if you think about how many professional teams exist and cards being produced at their inception, it's got to be a low number of cards that you can definitively say that about. So I think that's really powerful and I really like that. I've never heard of somebody collecting like that before, so that's really cool. Mark. Okay, let's move on to community, culture and kind of environment surrounding the Valkyries. So you said you're local to the team in the Bay Area. How much of your fandom kind of is tied to the Valkyries themselves versus the idea of just like finally having a team in the Bay Area? You know, there's a little bit of both, but I think it's just the Valkyries. Like I am, I Love this team. So, you know, I would say that's the bigger part of it. Having a team in the area was big, as I had shared earlier. And, and having finally having a connection to. To a team, like a, A real connection to a team. So, you know, it's a little bit of both. Yeah. Do you think the Bay Area kind of culture and vibe, it's very distinct. I feel like you can see Bay Area collectors or Bay Area fans and you can pick them out at Card Joe's or you can pick them out elsewhere. Do you think that that culture is kind of influencing the identity of the Valkyries? And if you want to take it further to collecting to collectors of the Valkyries? Yeah. You know, the Bay Area culture is rich and people are very proud of where they come from. And you know, you know, now where I live, you know, before the fourth quarter of every game, they give a shout out to every area of the Bay Area. People go nuts, you know, so it is. There's a lot of pride. People take pride in, in that. And I think, you know, the excitement of having a new team and then also just the pride of the region, I think that's amplified it at card shows, you know, as I've. I've kind of touched on earlier, there isn't a lot of. There aren't a lot of Valkyries collectors. I've only put up. I've only had one or two table. No, two, I think tables. I don't generally do card shows, but I go to a lot of them. And really they're still, unfortunately, is not. You'll see people wearing Valkyries gear there, but as far as you know, you don't see like a table with a whole bunch of Valkyries cards. It's still mainly your Caitlyn Clarks and your Paige Beckers at the shows. That makes sense. Just from like a peer availability standpoint, the concept of procuring an entire showcase of Valkyrie's card is no small feat. So I understand probably why it's a little more scarce. But hopefully soon, once we see production ramp up in terms of just like years of Valkyries cards existing, that will become more, I don't know, prevalent at your local card shows. I want to ask you about. I'm going to come back to the rivals question, but I want to ask you first about social media. With the rise of social media, not only have we seen it contribute to the rise of popularity of the league itself, but I think it's helped a lot of collectors find each other, particularly on instagram do you feel like you're part of a Valkyries movement? Maybe not in person for collecting, but online. Have you found other folks or do you kind of feel like you're carving your own space? You know, I don't want to say I'm, I'm not doing anything big here. I don't think I'm carving a space necessarily. But yeah, I don't think there's unfortunately a huge community yet. And that could just be partially me needing to do a better job of that. But yeah, so it's pretty, pretty small at this point. I do, you know, being on whatnot has been really cool. I've run in Chrissy Sports is a friend of mine on whatnot, she's a Bay Area friend of mine and I've run into some people that way. But you know, Instagram, there's a few great collectors out there, but it's very. Still very small. Yeah, I think part of that is that, you know, we don't have, we don't have a superstar, you know, we didn't tank for a draft pick. You know, we don't have a. Or Paige, you know, selling. I, I think it would be much, much different if that was the case, especially on the, the, you know, how, I mean, you know that how. How much these rookies really drive the excitement of like non w collectors with not having that and having more vets or, you know, these six, six woman players. It. It's not probably pulling people into that card community as quickly as if it would having those players. We talked a lot about patience and maybe this is a good time to reiterate that that organic growth is probably. And being patient about that organic growth of the community is probably going to be good long term because you're going to pull in collectors that want to be there and want to be there to stay. So I'd hope that the community grows and you know, once we publish this, if there are any Valkyries fans out there, maybe you guys can connect because I know that they're out there. I know you guys are out there. It's just, you know, finding each other, which is always a process. Another part of community. I think personally this is my opinion is rivalries. I think it's important to have teams that maybe you don't love. That there's a little bad blood creates a sense of competition and it creates a sense of community. I think it's across sports, across leagues. With the Valkyries being so brand new, do you think they have any rivals yet or do you personally have any rivals as a fan of the Valk? Well, you know, it's pretty hard to, like, flex when you're not that great. Like, we're okay, right? Like, I, I, I love the Valkyries, but I'm also realistic as far as the order of basketball in the W. And while, you know, I think it is a strong team, it's hard to, it's hard to pretend that we can create these really strong rivalries this early, like, with the other side really caring about the belt. But he's like, I care a lot, but does the other side? So, but as far as, you know, what I've seen, you know, and recently, as you know, it's probably going to be, if they ever get better, it would be against the Links, but when you can't beat them, you can't have a rivalry. This is so. I think every episode of people I've talked to have included the links in their rivalry. I feel attacked on my podcast. Everybody wants to rival against the Lynx, and I'm just over here, like, I don't know, maybe, maybe we'll be rivalries. I guess we'll see. But I do think there is something to be said about, like, the underdog of it all, that kind of mentality of the Valkyries and, and kind of like trying to overcome a team that's always kind of, since their inception, has been a block for them. No doubt the law of averages says at some point, you guys will beat us. I can admit that. But I think that that's a good starting point. I'd be curious to see if there ever is a regional rivalry that the Valkyries forage against maybe a peer in the West. If you had to pick one, which one would you think is going to, like, permeate or last? That's a great question. Naturally, you'd, you'd hope it'd be the Sparks, because we have that, you know. Well, I'm not a fan of either team. It's the Giants and the Dodgers in baseball. But, like, having a northern, Southern California deal would be pretty, I mean, that would make sense. But then there, you know, I do see, you know, the storm, you know, being a, like, you're saying with a West coast deal, I could see that happening and they're kind of, you know, they'll be interesting to see. But like we had mentioned, it's pretty difficult at this point. But, yeah, I would say, hopefully the Sparks, that would be a good one. Okay. I like that. I kind of move to, away from community and more towards the players on the Valkyries. I know we've reiterated now that it's early and I'm asking you these questions that maybe are harder to answer, but if you had to pick out the foundational players so you have a smaller pool to work with here, so it should be an easier question, but the foundational figures of Valkyries basketball, could you try to carve out a way too early Mount Rushmore for me of four players? Okay. A Mount Rushmore of four players. Well, I would have to have Veronica Burton on there. You know, as we've already talked about and she really is having a great season. She slowed down a little bit. That could get into a lot of more nerdy basketball talk, but I think they're overusing her a little too much. But either way she would be on there. I think Tip Hayes, you know, she was a legend coming in, point scorer and she's been. I just love her tenacity. It's just a hard headed player and I really like her and a leader on the team. Even though she's coming off the bench now, that would be probably my second, my third. Kayla Thornton, she was our, she was our all star pick. She had a great year going last year. Unfortunately she blew her knee out. But foundational, she was the first all Star and she's coming back strong this year. The fourth one, that's a little hard. This one's kind of more on the collector side or maybe not. It's on also the Reddit side of the Valks. I'm going to say Kate Martin and I'm going to say that because there is some sort of like crazy connection people have with Kate Martin. It's the Iowa thing, it's maybe the Caitlin Clark thing. I don't know. You know, I, she was a great, she was fun to watch on social media and definitely seemed like a really great teammate. But the reason I put her there is people's undying devotion to Kate Martin and being like a like a six minute off the bench player was crazy. And like when she got traded it was when I said Reddit like it was ugly. So I think there's that connection. I think Kate Martin will quickly probably I would shift to Gabby Williams, but I'm not going to add a fifth head to that Mount Rushmore. That is so interesting, the concept of Kate Martin being out of Mount Rushmore. But I think if you look at the prices and I have not checked, but if you look at those three players or those four players you mentioned, I would bet Kate Martin outsells All of them, despite not even being on the team. So there is something to be said, something credible in your hypothesis there. And the Kate Martin effect seems to be some sort of psychosis that takes over wherever she goes, whether it be Iowa, like you're saying, or Golden State or Vegas, when even when she was in Vegas there was this like buzz. And I think we talk about the rise of social media. I think that has something to do with it. She's a prominent figure online. She's, you know, very well liked. She's easy to root for. She's the prototypical marketable woman. Right. Like all these factors she has going for her, then I think you could put her on the Mount Rushmore of the Valkyries. But I don't know, I don't know about how other Valkyries fans are going to feel about hearing Kate Martin on their Mount Rushmore right now. I think, I think it is important for me to know that she, that that's my realistic interpretation. That's not necessarily my fandom. Yeah. Of what would be my Mount Rushmore. But I think a lot is people like Kate. They do, they do. When you think about what people are going to like, remember, right. We're 12 years into the Mount Rushmore right now. So obviously these players are going to change over time. When you think people, when people are looking back on this first chapter of franchise history, do you think they'll remember which roster, the like expansion team roster, the people who actually took the court the first season, that roster or whoever comes next in this kind of early years, what do you think is going to stand out when people look, look back, boy, that's, you know, that's interesting. I think probably that first roster that, that mate like started playing, you know, watching them grow together and then experience early success was pretty special. It will be hard to tell though as, as fans come in, you know, obviously they're not going to be as emotionally to players that they never even saw play on the right. But I would say that that first team, because it was, it was cool and, and you know, no one expected them, you know, the ownership group expected them to be successful off the rip. But I think fans, you know, if you watch any sport, you know, an expansion team generally is not very good. Yeah, the excitement that really started the simmer and boil when those, those players did well together was, was really special for sure. And I want to kind of talk about this idea you touched on it with being unexpected success, underrated players. We talked about the six woman mentality that a Lot of these players brought to the team and it reminds me of my favorite metric that I have yet to quantify, which is the Disrespect index. I want to hear from you. I feel like you could pick anybody on the Valkyries and say that their play on the court does not equate to their market prices. But if you had to pick one player to represent probably the highest score on the Disrespect index, who would you pick for the Valkyries? I'm going to go with because I haven't really brought her up a whole lot is Gabby Williams. That's a good one. She is, you know, I, I had watched her the last few years but I, I am so impressed with her play. You know, she, she came in as like, oh, she'll be a great defender and she'll, she'll go well with the rest of the, you know, defensive minded team. But her, they have let her go and she has been an amazing player and yeah, I think she's undervalued. I think she will be an all star pick. I, I don't know how she couldn't be. She's an amazing player and you know, her cards are affordable. I don't buy them yet because she's not in that uniform. But I think the market there is, is, you know, I know she was really well loved. It's not like a very low market, but I think she is, she's an all star and a really great player and easy to root for. Like, just seems like a cool person. Yeah. When you add up the different factors that contribute to market price of a player, obviously the number one thing that comes to mind when we talk about the disrespect to index is on the court play. And Gabby is a perennial player like elite defender, elite player, a leader, very under, like underrated. But another factor that's interesting is her reach. She is a French player, so she has an international collector base. She play on the Storm, which has a mass, at least from my perspective. I feel like the Storm has a massive fan base because of Lauren Jackson, Sue Bird and the like. And so when you add up on the on the court play plus the reach of her fandom, it still is not equaling kind of the respect that we should be seeing in the market price kind of discussion. So I think that that's a really good pick. Despite the fact that maybe her cards might be a little bit more expensive than players on other players on the Valkyrie, that proportion or that that doesn't make sense. It still doesn't equate. So I think that's a really good pick. Yeah. And I think you could probably apply that equation to nearly every player in the wnba. You know, I also like Asia Wilson and it's like, what, what, what are we doing here, people? You know, so outside of those two rookies, I think the disrespect index is, is rampant. Yeah, we have to like put some sort of control on it. Otherwise it's just going to be massive. Yeah, for sure. One day I'm going to get around to quantifying it, folks. Like one day I'm going to do it. It's just I need to like figure out math and then do all the things around it. But one day we'll be able to do it and we'll sift through this season to pick out everybody's team's picks of the disrespect index to see if perception equals analytics. So stay tuned. Okay, so my final question around this segment is if you had to preserve kind of the story of early Valkyries fandom through say one to three cards, which cards would you choose and why? And does it differ than from what you're picking up? Does it differ from what the sales are saying? Kind of. How does it align to reality? That's a great question. If there were one to three cards, I would say, you know, this is one I haven't picked up yet, but another very well supported player with a she. I guess she doesn't have a limited role but a fairly small. She's a back point card. Caitlyn Chen. Yeah, her is it the next day? I believe it's the next day. Autos out of donors which are on card I think is a, that's a pretty special card because that's like the first Valkyries. I'm big into firsts. You know I kind of mentioned that earlier but the, the first Valkyries on card auto out of Donris that would be one I would select and then probably a Veronica Burton card out of Impeccable just because again she's in the uniform. That was the first set that it was, you know all, all the Valkyries in that checklist were in their uniforms out in the traded and the third would obviously have to be my one of one Cheyenne sellers. Obviously I like that pick a lot and I think it's interesting to kind of get the take of somebody who, I don't want to say purist because I don't mean it like that. It's like correct or wrong or right. There's a right way to do it. But from somebody who values the Valkyries jersey on the card, I think it'd be interesting to hear from a collector that maybe doesn't think that way. They would probably put in say a Prism Gold rookie of one of those players and I think you could exchange them. So if you. It's so interesting to hear kind of the differences within a fan base. You can get so many different flavors of collecting. If you had to think about, you know, let's fast forward 20 years from now. What do you think collectors are going to determine to be like the must have first season VAL card? Is it one of the three that you mentioned or is it something different? Oh, you know, I don't know if it would be. I'm going to go. It's actually wouldn't be the. It would be a player from the first season, but it would be a Janelle Salon low numbered card. She's my. Along with Veronica Bird, my other favorite player. I collect her heavily. I do think she's going to be an amazing player in the WNBA. She keeps getting better. But I think 20 years from now she started as a rookie on that first year and I think one of her nice low numbered Prism cards would be. Would be connected with that first season. Yeah, I think she screams opportunity to me as somebody who drafted her in her fan in my fantasy league. I believe in Salon a lot. I think her frame her, obviously she's young. I think there's a lot of room for improvement from like a very good starting point. So I like that pick. I feel like we're getting a lot of names that maybe wouldn't be mentioned if you're not talking to a Valkyries fan, you know, so they usually just see like Kate Martin. Yeah. And Veronica Burton. Let's get a little deeper here. And I really like these names that we've called out. All right, our last segment for the episode, we're going to round it out with kind of talking about hobby and market perspective. When you think about yourself as a Valkyries collector today, the way I've been phrasing it in past episodes is kind of this food chain analogy. You got your top dogs, which I think everybody understands from a market perspective is probably the fever. Probably where those big rookies are going with like the wings and stuff. And then the bottom is, you know, whatever team you want to put there. I'm not going to give any examples. Where would you put yourself in the WNBA food chain today? Yeah, we would be like the Minnow. We're very. I'm, I'm humble. I understand. Like, we are, we are not a top dog on that, that food chain for sure. We're on the low end of it. I'm surprised that you say that. Like, I wouldn't put the Valkyries low. I wouldn't like something about them. I think, like, it's just different. It's almost like they, they exceeded expectations so much that they earned a spot that isn't the Minnow. So I maybe put them up a little bit higher. But the humbleness is appreciated. I do like that. I do like that. Thanks. Yeah, no, I think, I think if you look at, on a basketball, just perspective, but from the collecting side. Yeah. Yeah. Still pretty new. So it's. Yeah, you're, you're still growing. I guess the, the middle will get bigger, but right now it's pretty small. Right. Okay. Do you think collectors are embracing the franchise the way that you expected or has the hobby response, whether that be how many people you find, how many cards you find. Has it, has it surprised you at all? You know, it has surprised me a little. I thought there would be a little. I thought the community would be a little bigger and maybe that's just me not finding those spots yet, but. And hopefully after this I will have more like you had said. But you know, I, I, as I had said earlier, I think because there isn't the superstar and there isn't those big name rookies, it was kind of destined to be a slow feel because you really have to be pulling in the fan, you know, the, the fan of the team versus maybe a W fan and the other way around just because, like it, just because there aren't those cards that are from a collector standpoint that people will probably be like, oh, I'm really interested in the Valkyries because of the, these, these players. Like you have to be a fan of the team and be like, I'm going to start collecting these players because I like the team. So that was part of it. When we talk about pulling in certain people and what attracts people to certain cards or certain players with the Valkyries, obviously it's not like a big name rookie, but when I think about, when I like, I'm like thinking about it currently, what comes to mind are like these advanced analytics stat nerds, I feel like that is like the group that the Valkyries need to target because Veronica Burton is like the advanced analytic God. Like if you look at her statistics, she is producing at a highly efficient rate. And I think that if we're Looking at different segments, I suppose of archetypes of collectors. The one that screams out to me as opportunity of what could come in is those advanced analytic Reddit stats. Nerd for sure. Bring on the nerds. Join another one with me. Which. Which makes it also contributes to kind of the Bay Area. I don't know, I don't know what you want to call it, like economic situation of the Bay Area of just like the booming tech. People like that kind of vibe. I think that if I were to think about where you could grow the collector base, it would be those types of people. I don't know. Maybe not. Maybe I'm just speaking out of my ass, but I. No, I don't think so. I would agree. Okay. That's what I am. So. Yeah. Okay. Okay. I want to talk to you. There's two more questions that I have. The first one is we've all experienced this hike in prices as a result of the entrance of Caitlin Clark. The entrance of names like Paige beckers, Angel Reese, etc. But the Valkyries kind of came in at the same time. So you guys didn't really have a quote unquote price hike because it's just when you started. How has kind of your market experience been collecting Valkyries cards in terms of prices? Like what does that felt like to you as opposed to say someone who was collecting. I don't know. Let me throw out a team. The dream pre Caitlin Clark really cheap to pick up some of those folks. Relatively now prices have exploded. What's the experience of somebody who came in at that explosion point? Yeah, I mean, you know, the prices I think in general were higher. Right. Like that at the Caitlin Clark brought up price of everything but still very affordable in my, you know, just coming from another, coming from baseball and because people aren't going after non, you know, your vet cards, even though they're nice cards, you know, they're low numbered cards or their autos or whatever, like they're not very desirable for any people. So there wasn't there and there still hasn't been a ton of competition. So I would say it was still very approachable in but you know, I'm sure much higher than it, you know, when Prism came out or you know, in 2020 or whatever else. So yeah, that makes sense. My final question for you on this segment before we get to rounding it out is what's kind of next for your collection? We talked about how you're collecting in the present. You're not necessarily looking back, so you're always Looking forward, what are you trying to accomplish in the future for your Valkyries collection? Yeah, just, you know, it is always evolving, but the idea that I just have something when I do pull out that collection and my wife makes fun of me is just one card from, I would love a card from each player because it is that emotional connection from how they played on the court and the game that you, you know, you spend countless hours watching these games or looking at Instagram or all the other spots where you, you know, follow your team. It's, it's, for me, it's like having that one nice card that really as part of that scrapbook and continuing to have that as I move on and as those checklists expand with more of those players. It's going to be an increasingly difficult passage for you through that time. I think as more releases come, as maybe licenses change eventually down the road, we're going to see that task become more and more difficult. But for now, I think you're doing a great job and I believe in you, Mark. I think you can do it. Like, I think it could be a really historic type of collection that gets built because it's just something different. It's so hard to think about, to look back on and try to do today for a different franchise. I think if you start now, it could be something really, like you said, special. So we'll, we'll, we'll, we'll stay tuned to see what happens with your collection. But I suppose I want to leave you space to kind of shout out where people can follow along on your journey of completing that. If you just want to tell people where they can find you, how to contact you, et cetera. Yeah, you know, Ram Jam Sports Cards is my main Instagram with, you know, call all my WNBA collection. And then I do have the Valkyries card vault, which is just strictly Valkyries Cards. And then I do. Usually I do. It's been a little limited lately, but usually I do once a week on whatnot. It's a very low key. I'm, I'm the opposite of trying to sell stuff. Like, I'm just there hang out with people and. Yeah. But like, if you want to find me on whatnot, it's Ram Jam Sports Cards. Usually it's like a weeknight show, but yeah, those are my spots. Awesome. And then the last buzzer beater question for you, and we can leave it here. If someone is listening to this episode and they're undecided on which WNBA team that they would like to root for, could you make your elevator pitch for them to join you with the Valkyries. Yeah. Okay. Elevator. What floor are we choosing? How much time? I would say so. The Valkyries. You picked the Valkyries because it is. You can come in at the ground level talking about elevator. That was an accident. But you can come on the ground level of a franchise and you can watch it grow and be really part of something special and really be connected to every part of that growth and understand every intricacy and of how that that franchise continues to expand. So I think that for me would be the most special part. Yeah, for sure. I think if I was coming in today and I was not a Lynx fan, this would be the team I would choose. So if that has any merit for people's elevator pitch as well, I think it's just a great team with a lot of bright future ahead. So, Mark, thank you so much for kind of explaining your collection, explaining your fandom, and hopefully this will lead to more Valkyries collectors getting to know each other because I know you guys are out there. If you guys don't Follow Mark at RamJam sportscards@ Valkyries Card Vault on Instagram, be sure to give him a follow. Mark, thank you so much for joining today and listeners. We will see you next episode. It has been a blast listening to Caitlin dive into these conversations with team collectors, understand why they collect, how they're collecting, and that passion and fandom is really coming through. Shout out Mark Ram Jam Sports Cards for being a part of the WNBA Card podcast. Shout out Card Ladder for sponsoring the WNBA Card podcast. And shout out to you, the loyal listener of the WNBA Card pod, for showing up and showing out each and every week. We'll be back. Take care, Top Juice, Sam.