Where Content Meets Collectibles: Building a Card Shop for Creators, Traders, and Fans

We're going to be the first store with drive thru pack pickup. This is like trading card McDonald's and that's what it is. It's going to be retailtainment. It's like this intersection of retail, entertainment and media and ultimately showing other people what we're doing and helping elevate the hobby through the lens of what we are doing not only with this show, but also the store. Welcome to the trading cards and collectibles podcast, the Radcast Network. From chasing grails to calling bluffs, going inside the hobby. Are you ready to collect? Let's get at it. Here is your host, Ryan Alford. What's up, guys? Welcome to trading cards and collectibles here on the Rad Cast network. Continue to upgrade the studio here in the wonderful Easley, South Carolina. We're on Main Street. We got the studio, we got the store starting to rock, starting to feel like a store. And we're thankful that you're here wherever, whenever you are listening, we appreciate you. We know you have options, so many options. You could be watching that grandma Tick tock video. I don't know I'm making up. But you never know. There's attention to be had anywhere with any video. So if you're listening, watching, we appreciate you. Don't forget us over there on YouTube. You can see all the glory here and our expanding studio and holding up my Ken Griffey Jr. 1989 upper deck. You know, it's only a seven, but I'm telling you, that was the first chase card of that I had as a kid. You know, if you're listening, you're probably. We've probably got some guys a lot in my age range. This was kind of like the big hit in the day. Ken Griffey Jr. Upper deck, man, how many packs that I rip, hoping to get that guy. Then it became like Frank Thomas and Leaf and everything that came after it in the junk wax errors. It's like so many cards, so many donruss 1991 baseball cards worth absolutely nothing. But hey, it's not about the money. It is about collecting. That's why we do this show. We appreciate you here. We normally have a guest on our Tuesday episodes, but you got numero uno, got a few announcements, want to talk a few things. We lay the agenda here on the show. First, want to talk more about the store we are building. Destination store. Destination hobby store. That's what I'd conceptually call it. We do have a name now, Collector station here on Main Street. We've got a standalone building. It's kick ass. It's really cool. It's got kind of a, I don't know, I don't know, mid century feel to it. Maybe meets like industrial. It's got a nice pitched roof. That's kind of interesting. It was an old Chevy dealer back in the 50s, supposedly. And if you look at it from the street, you can almost see that even though it's smaller than dealerships now, dealerships are gigantic. They gotta have a place to count all that money they make selling you stuff. But again, we appreciate you. But. Yeah, but it's been interesting building a store. You know, 3,000 square feet may or may not sound like a lot of space, but it's a lot of space. And we've got the studio built into the concept here in the corner. We wanted to be open so when people come in. I might be recording content for this show, my business show right about now or my other wealth, health and wellness show. Hopefully wealth show wealth. Hey, health is wealth, baby. Vibe science. So I do three shows. Yes I do. Always doing the content. That's the way it is. Gotta, gotta pay them bills somehow. But yeah, but we built a studio right here in the space because we want this to be kind of a media hub. That's where the industry's headed. You know, you've got all the content that's in the hobby sort of happening and we're building some plans around that, which we'll talk about later. But it's been fun building the store and having the studio within the store and sort of like it's been really organic. I've been, I don't know, like a laboratory the last couple of months. Both doing, you know, like touch up work. The building needed floors and all that. Doing a lot of it myself mainly because I, I had the time and availability and. And I didn't really know what I want. I didn't know what to tell someone I wanted. So it's almost like been painting with a brush, you know, like bringing the artwork to life. I had conceptually what I wanted to do with the store which was this, you know, multimedia hub meets retail hobby store. But I didn't want to be just another trading card store. You know, bright lights, sports, you know, the same old same old that you walk in and you've got the white lights, the glass cases and look, cases are necessary, I've learned that. But at the same time I wanted it to feel different. I wanted to be somewhere that you didn't want to just come by something we wanted to be some somewhere you have an experience that you hang out and that's what we've been doing here. And I've been thinking through it, been thoughtful with decisions and continue to be as we bring this to life because we want it to be the modern place where people want to come to collect and to trade. And you know, I've been saying a few different things as I sort of crystallize the concept, but I think it's really this notion where every day at collector station is trade night. And what does that mean? Well, if you think about trade night, it's everybody brings their cards, they're hanging out, they're doing deals together. You might have dealers there, but you've got a blend of everyone and everyone's sort of hanging out. And I wanted to have that experience where whether you were doing, wanting to do live, whether you're wanting to trade one to one, meet up with, with friends or other collectors and you know, we're going to buy, sell and trade here just like any other card shop. But I wanted to foster that community of collectors and giving some place for people to hang out. And yeah, we need some people to buy some stuff, but you know, if you're hanging out and you're in the hobby, we're also creating sort of a safe home for that to happen where it naturally happens, where you've got access to the supplies that you need, where you have access to new product, where you can do deals. And we'll be buying and selling all day and certainly it will have those aspects that are common in any high hobby shop. But we wanted to facilitate that community where some people can trade and make some deals happen together and that we can facilitate that. And then the big thing is we're going to have media and so we do this show, we do a lot of social content, we've got a big following and growing on other channels and other mediums, you know, from business, my business show. But now we're growing in the hobby. We've got good momentum on YouTube and some of the other channels and we really want to just foster the ability for people to get that content out there and to kind of document stuff. And so we're not going to force that down. Anyone certainly doesn't want it. But at the same time that's what people love to watch and, and I think there's a demand and a desire for people in any community to be involved in that. They're seeing these things online and you know, if you don't that's cool. We got spots in here, you can come hang out and open some packs and do your own thing and you know, buy and sell and trade and never, you know, step in front of a camera. But it is part of the thread and the fabric of what we're building with this show. Trading cards and collectibles and the integration, organic nature with which the business and the hobby shop and you know, collector station gets integrated within that because it's our way of sort of authentically being in the business. We got if we're running a business directly in the field with which this show is about and we want to learn, grow and share those stories and bring to life that energy that we hope we have. And you know Bella, who's our executive produce on the show, I was talking to her yesterday, you know, like I want us to, you know, be a place that people, they don't come to shop, they come to stay. And that's the goal. And so I think we're headed towards that. And I think, you know, there's some concepts bringing to life. I think one, I'll go ahead and share it. We're gonna have a pack bar. So you, when you walk in the place almost feels like it should be a bar or restaurant. I've got some old tables that have been industrialized and really cool that were in my social house concept that, that we've kind of land the plane on and co working and we've brought in some of that stuff that's kind of given it, you know, like a bar and hangout feel. And then we have the bar, the original bar with the barn wood. It's like 100-year-old barn wood here and it feels like hey, let's walk into a restaurant or walk into a card shop. Well answers a little bit of both but definitely more card shop. We're not going to be necessarily cooking up food but we are going to be cooking up packs. So you know, when you walk up to the pack bar, we're going to have different flights of packs that you can order so that you can test out different things. You blend some things. We got some creative ideas. We are marketers here and so it's going to be a great way for people to, I don't know, dabble in different things maybe they haven't bought while may maybe getting some more higher end stuff at an affordable price. You can open some packs from something that's that that might be high priced and you know we're going to do some bundling of different Things that'll be fun may blend sports with Pokemon. Hey, look out. Crossing genres so that, you know, you can see what those are like. And then, you know, we are going to have some integration. Was talking to Brian Ludden yesterday who does the Friday show with us and we're going to have, you know, ways that, you know, their technology can be blended in this with scanning cards and get getting values quickly, knowing what you have. And it's going to be really cool to watch this sort of integration of things happen. But the pack bar is going to be cool and fun. I'm kind of staring at it here and I already have some product kind of on the shelves. I'm sitting here going, we're going to need more shelves and. But it's going to be fun and sort of bundling together different things that you would need. And then, you know, we're going to do some things digitally with ordering online, some stuff that might be harder to get pre ordering and picking up. We have some lockers here where people can store some stuff. So it's going to be sort of a collector's paradise and a hangout and a destination for people to buy, sell and trade things in the hobby. We are going to have collectibles that's probably going to start on the slower side. I mean, I have some stuff that will be here and on display and. But, but the big thing that we're also going to do is have a big consignment area. So for local people or wherever they are, they want to consign some stuff and have it in a, you know, fully secure, insured place where we can consign their collectibles or cards. We are going to offer that. So that will be unique to us in a lot of ways, especially in this area. And you know, it's going to be really interesting. It's going to be an organic process for how this sort of comes to life and how it fits into the community while also attracting, we hope, and we plan, you know, a broader national and regional audience for people to come buy, sell and trade here and hang out and, you know, watch some content. More than anything, we want to be a destination and somewhere you want to come hang out. You, you know. Yeah. Hey, we're gonna make it easy for you to stop in and grab some packs, grab what you want. We've even got a drive through window to make that happen. We're gonna be the first store with drive through pack pickup, buy online or reserve online, pick up in the window on the side. This is like trading card McDonald's here. It's going to be cool and we're going to make it easy for you to transact with us the way you want to. But ultimately, the store, our physical location is meant to be that destination. And we're going to do some cool stuff with the pack flights and the pack bar and you know, bringing some stuff. Not just expensive, but maybe, and not necessarily even like hyper rare, but maybe just hyper unique. So you want to open up that first year you started collecting an 87 tops pack combined with a 90. 87, 97, 2007, you know, stuff like that. So we're gonna try to collect and collate like a lot of random things. I'm. I'm got my eyes peeled when I'm out buying and doing things and putting my feelers out for stuff to kind of hold back and have for these unique things. And look, just because like I said, we're like, we're the trading card trading night destination. Like the store that feels like trading night every night is literally going to be easy for us to then turn the dial for those events. So we're going to host events, trading card nights. You. We have a huge parking lot, an area where we can do outside sales, where we can bring and do shows here and so people can show their. Their collection sale, set up tables. Again, lots of stuff for kids, lots of stuff for adults, all the different collectors. And of course, Pokemon's huge right now in trading cards. We're gonna have a great selection of that for buy, sell, trade packs of that and welcoming in that whole core audience to ultimately place where you can collect and trade anything. And that's why, you know, it's a collector station and it's purposeful in that name. Number one, we got the train running straight through the city of Easley. And we mentioned this on previous episodes. The train goes by while people are here. We're gonna do like a 10 off or something, maybe a free pack. It's gonna be fun and. And that's what it is. It's gonna be. Retailtainment is like this intersection of retail, entertainment and media and ultimately showing other people what we're doing and helping again elevate the hobby through the lens of what we are doing not only with this show, but also the store. So again, we want it to be one of those flagship, you know, put it on your bucket list. When you're coming through the state of South Carolina, you got to have collector station on your list somewhere to stop in and spend a couple hours Hanging out, talking, trading, flipping, selling, you know, bringing us some, some rare cards that we want to look at and hey, spring a buy and let us look and we'll help you get evaluation on something, whether you sell it to us or others. And we really just want to be that beacon for collectors in the area and in the region and nationwide as we bring to life something that reflects what's really become a staple in my life with the boys and otherwise. So the boys will be working here periodically and getting to see them interact with people and getting back into some of the live selling and stuff that we've been doing. And we're also going to open that up where we have people where they can come in and they want to do some live sales and stuff. We're going to let you set up live selling and you know, run it straight here. We'll help you do that from as much as you want to. And you know, we've got the space to, to sort of bring that to life. We've got big screens everywhere, we got a projector theater, we're gonna have hobby content, movies, all kinds of stuff playing. It's really going to be an experience that I think is going to be unique and something that we sort of learn and grow with over time. We are going to have and partner with some unique retailers and collectors. We calling up some of the guys I've met on this show and the last couple years, both the national for offering up some of their products, artwork and access to different things. And I think this is going to be that hub for access, you know, so, you know, what are you looking for, what are you wanting to collect? What do you want to trade? And you know, we want to be a central point for helping bring all of that together. And I think, you know, we're going to partner with some of the biggest and best players and getting distribution, working those angles. That's some of the hardest things to do in this business is, is getting that distribution. So we're going to be going calling all the bat channels, but we've got the connections to make that happen and to tap into some unique and cool stuff that not everyone else might be able to get hold of. And again, bringing that to life. Through some of our sections. We're have singles for sale, we'll have packs for sale, we'll have a little bit of everything. But again, I think it's going to be a little bit of a different flare because it's not going to be exactly what you see in almost every trading card. Store you go into it is about the product but this is going to be about the experience too and in about staying and hanging out to talk, collecting to meet a friend and make some trades and you know, again we'll be activating new and things. We're a lot of people when you opening. Well, I think we'd have like a soft opening than like a grand opening. So we're working through those dates. Probably soft opening this month to be announced and then a full grand opening probably January, February, work out a few kinks, get a few details in line and get our stock up at a few other surprises and people showing up and all that sort of stuff. So want to make that something really fun and to do. But again we're going to lean into the community, lean into having special event nights and events and all kinds of things that add on and I am really excited about where that concept's going. So again, Collectibles station here in Easley, South Carolina. We're going to have links to all of the social media and everything getting all of that activated with where you can learn more and find out everything that we have going on with that. Secondly, today I did want to talk about a little bit. You know, we're about to turn the calendar year into 2026. So as I look into the crystal ball of like, okay, where's collectibles, the hobby, where's everything going? I mean you've had this sort of and I only put myself the last couple years suddenly like inserted into the hobby. A business guy who collected young has kids. I think you're gonna see this further proliferation of non mainstream people coming into the hobby. And that's a lot of the reasons for me wanting to open this store to be accessible to those people. But I think it's going to be people that don't necessarily look, feel, smell and act like hobby people are going to be coming in and poking around either because of their kids coming into it as a potential asset. Something is to collect and to, you know, put away as an investment. You've seen the bigger investment players come into the industry space and make, make a lot of noise. I think you're going to continue to see those kind of things. You've got Tom Brady involved with the vault and fanatics and Tops now owning the licenses for all the major sports, sans hockey, but they've got, you know, baseball, football, basketball. So everything's been their tops. It's going to be sort of tops Fanatics world next year Fanax Fest is going to be interesting I'll be there and at the national, going to do the major shows. And I think you're gonna see a further push into this integration of sports culture, hobby side hustle, all of these things sort of continue to proliferate. I, I think that, and with everything that's happening with jobs and the economy and stuff, I think people are looking for, I think as much as anything, outlets for their time and energy and attention. And it's, it's bringing together all of these things because you've got the, the athletes, you got the sport that they play and the interest in live athletics being its highest level ever. All the sort of commercialization of all of these things. You've got even the WNBA being hot and their cards being hot. You've got soccer, the World cup, all of that stuff coming. So you're gonna, I think there's a lot of things that are just going to continue to, to burn the fuse of what's already lit in this, that you're gonna see more of it. So I don't know that you're gonna see different other than just it's gonna be different having, you know, one major retailer or one major manufacturer owning all these licenses and sort of for good, better and different. They've got all the attention. We're gonna have Mike Mahan actually on the show, hopefully gonna make that happen here in the next few weeks to talk about that very thing. And I think, I do think you're gonna start to see this push even more into not necessarily things that you might expect, having trading cards and having collectibles and I almost see this era of, if you think back to the days I'm age myself, but if you're, you know, in my age bracket or you know, know, 30 to 50, if you're younger, you might get it. But these collectibles like McDonald's would always have, they'd have the, they had the California Raisins, they had these glasses that everybody want to get. Everybody's kind of collecting and like it was part of a retail giveaway or an add on. I think you're going to see more of those types of things happen where collectibles get integrated as bonus items into other products and then you're going to see other things get, get cards that you might not have expected in entertainment and movies and other things where, I don't know, I think we're going to lean into what's happening in this collectible space and, and how these cards, both digital and physical, are so hot as assets collecting. And it's just so ingrained in our fiber to be collectors and the technology or things enabled, plus the desire to do it is at an all time high. So I think you're going to see increases in all of that. And hey, bring back those California raisins. If you're old enough, you get it. But I remember McDonald's having those get the giveaways. You're collecting every one of those things, man. And then I think some of that stuff still has pretty good value depending on what it is. I don't know about the California raisins, but I remember that distinctly, trying to get every one of them. What a crazy marketing ploy. But I do think you're going to see more and more collectibles as add on to get people enticed to different things. Movies, retail, food, you know, what can they add on? You've seen that integration already happen like Pokemon's integrated with some, a few different things and you've got obviously the natural integration with big box, special edition boxes and stuff. But that's a dial turn. But the bigger dial turn I think is going to be sports, entertainment, entertainment, music and how collecting kind of gets swiped across all of that, you know, like again spread across it. So I think you're going to see more and more of that and then it's going to be, you know, where does tops take us? Hopefully in a great direction with new product. And you know, we aren't just slapping the logos back on the jerseys. We're innovating with new idea, new concepts, new artistic approaches on cards and players and all that stuff. Let's keep the downtown effect going. And I think we're in, we're in the right hands with the leadership at fanatics, but I just hope they bring it to life and they can keep it all together. So we'll be talking more about all of that. And hey, that's what we're here for as a show, We're a show, we're a store. And ultimately here to bring it to life, to be authentic and to give you what you want and what you need in the hobby. So let us know what you think. Drop those comments. I, I replied. I had like 20 comments on our YouTube videos that I caught up with today. Continue to drop those. We it means the world that you care enough to listen to watch. I can't tell you what that means. And you know, it takes time, energy, effort, attention and we know you have a lot of options, so keep it right here and no that we do it just for you. And you never found us. Collectibles show, that's the website with all the content, all the information. More news coming on Collector Station and appreciate you for tuning in. See you next time on Trading Cards and Collectibles. Collectibles show is where you'll find all of the channels and learn more about what we're doing. And ultimately, hey, we want to hear from you. You do Case Hits Collectibles Show. It wants you to send in your favorite pulls of the week. And here's the difference. This isn't about just value. Hey, we want to see some $10,000 hits. Had a couple of those myself a few months back. But it's not just about the value. It's about what you're collecting, what means something to you. Share a story, share a video of you holding up the card that you hit last week that was your favorite player and you nailed it. So Case hitsollectables Show, send in those videos. I want to know the stories we're going to bring. Bring it to life here on the show. We're going to do a segment each week once we get rolling and get some videos in where we share that on the show with us. We want to feature you on Collectibles Show. Thanks for tuning in to the show. Don't forget to follow us on your favorite podcast platform and don't miss the full video version on YouTube. You can find us at www.collectibles.show or follow Ryan on Instagram @@ryan Ulford. Now get out there and collect yours.