Should the next generation of collectors want the same cards we do?

Chris McGill brings a fascinating question to the panel: when new collectors enter the hobby, should they buy into the hierarchy of cards, players and grails that previous generations have established, or should they use their fresh perspective to discover entirely new collecting lanes?

Jeremy, David Chase, Joe Poirot and Joshua Adams dig into what that means in a hobby where many of the cards longtime collectors grew up chasing have become extraordinarily expensive.

Are newcomers really best served spending huge amounts of money chasing the same Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Mickey Mantle and other established grails everyone already knows? Or are there overlooked players, sets, inserts, eras and cards sitting right in front of us simply because the existing hobby establishment hasn't decided they matter yet?

The panel discusses herd mentality, questioning conventional hobby wisdom, the importance of understanding why certain cards became iconic and the difference between teaching someone WHAT to collect and teaching them HOW to think about collecting.

Jeremy argues that your approach may ultimately depend on where you fall on the Hobby Spectrum. Someone primarily interested in making money may be better served understanding and participating in established markets, while a collector has considerably more freedom to explore, experiment and build something completely unique.

The conversation also explores whether the collecting experience many longtime hobbyists enjoyed growing up can even be recreated today. Packs are different. Prices are different. Information is everywhere. Market data is instantaneous. And newcomers arrive in a hobby with far more infrastructure, money and established narratives than previous generations ever encountered.

So maybe the goal isn't to recreate the old hobby.

Maybe it's helping the next generation find its own.

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How certain can anyone really be that an autograph is authentic?

Steve Grad joins Jeremy and David Chase for a fascinating deep dive into autograph authentication, beginning with one of the most controversial signed cards currently in the hobby: the 1952 Bowman Mickey Mantle that PSA has authenticated and Steve believes was NOT signed by Mickey Mantle.

Steve explains why he believes the signature is secretarial or clubhouse signed, walks through the exemplars and signing tendencies he uses to reach that conclusion, and discusses what it's like to publicly disagree with another major authenticator when hundreds of thousands of dollars may be at stake.

But how certain is an autograph authenticator? Steve explains when instinct enters the equation, when an authenticator should simply "punt" on an autograph, and even recalls reversing one of his own authentication decisions after going back and doing more research.

The conversation then turns to another potentially enormous issue: signed 1952 Topps Jackie Robinson cards. Of the nine known examples discussed on the show, Steve says he has seen five that he believes are not authentic.

They also discuss increasingly sophisticated forgery techniques, autopens, aging ink, whether autograph grades should have expiration dates and why an autograph sitting inside a slab can still change dramatically over time.

Then things get considerably more entertaining.

Years ago, David bought a collection of celebrity autographs on eBay, each accompanied by a letter of authenticity. He sends them to Steve for his verdict live on the show.

Michael Jackson. Aerosmith. The Sopranos. The Goonies. Michael J. Fox and more.

The verdict isn't pretty.

Meanwhile, Jeremy puts his own three vintage hockey autographs in front of Steve, including Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux and Steve Yzerman, with dramatically different results.

Finally, Steve explains why education remains a collector's greatest protection. Learn the signature. Learn the signing habits. Learn the known secretarial and clubhouse versions. And never assume that simply because an autograph is already inside a slab, the question has been settled.

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Sports card grading will never be the same.

Jeremy officially unveils SPA Grading, the hobby's first full-service card wellness experience, where every card deserves a little self-care.

From soaking away decades of unwanted memories to massaging out creases and wrinkles, manicuring those troublesome edges and applying a little makeup where necessary, SPA takes your card through the entire process before sending it to an entirely independent and conveniently uninformed grading department.

And don't forget the final touch: a genuine SPA eye appeal sticker.

From soak to sticker.

Leighton Sheldon and David Chase react to the revolutionary new service, its nine-second grading process, potential upcharges, crossovers, international expansion plans and what happens when demand inevitably overwhelms capacity.

Before the SPA opens its doors, Leighton also shares his latest Kobe Bryant pickup and explains why rare memorabilia sometimes requires throwing the comps aside and trusting your own instincts.

Then Steve Grad joins the show.

The longtime autograph authentication expert and Pawn Stars regular talks about his years running PSA/DNA, the early evolution of third-party autograph authentication and the massive surge in vintage non-sports collecting.

Steve discusses the explosion in 1977 Star Wars cards, the emergence of "rookie card" terminology in the non-sports world and watching cards he once owned reach extraordinary prices.

Then the conversation turns to a fascinating problem: secretarial autographs. From Luka Doncic to Shaquille O'Neal and Ewan McGregor, how can an autograph that wasn't actually signed by the celebrity or athlete make its way into the hobby? And what happens when the questionable autograph was inserted directly into a pack?

Plus, Steve shares stories from Pawn Stars, including what happens when someone really doesn't like being told their autograph isn't authentic.

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Search auctions across the hobby with AuctionWire.ai.

Research the market with Card Ladder. Use promo code SCL.

And check out Pops & Comps, available now on Amazon.

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The hobby is changing. The question is whether everyone in it is willing to change with it.

Jeremy is joined by David Chase and Leighton Sheldon for a wide-ranging conversation about the evolution of the sports card hobby, beginning with news that Mark Wahlberg is getting further involved in the card business. Is celebrity involvement good for the hobby? Does it even matter? And should collectors care who's entering the space as long as they're doing honest business?

That leads into a bigger discussion about Fanatics, product allocation and the future of the traditional local card shop. What happens when longtime shops no longer fit the vision manufacturers have for the modern hobby? Is there something worth preserving about the dusty old-school LCS, or is adapting simply part of doing business?

Leighton also weighs in on the vintage card show circuit, including why the Philly Show may be one of the best places in the country to actually buy vintage, how it compares with Strongsville and the National, and what separates each show.

Plus, Mikey Singer joins Jeremy to preview the upcoming Sport Card Expo in Calgary, the continued expansion of the Expo across Canada, the growth of the Toronto show and what collectors can expect when the Expo arrives in Jeremy's backyard.

A conversation about change, nostalgia, business and finding your own way to enjoy the hobby, regardless of what happens around you.

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Track the market and research your cards with Card Ladder. Use promo code SCL.

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What is a sports card actually worth?

Jeremy Lee, David Chase, Chris HOJ and the very wordy Josh Adams finish the night by digging deeper into one of the hobby's most deceptively complicated questions: how do we determine value when buying and selling cards?

The conversation begins with more insight into Card Ladder and the effort to maintain the integrity of sales data. Chris explains why the goal isn't simply to fix individual questionable sales, but to identify the underlying systems that allowed a problem to occur and improve those systems for the future.

From there, the discussion turns to something every collector encounters: the difference between a reported comp and the actual economics of a transaction.

A marketplace may report the final price paid for a card, but that number doesn't necessarily reflect what the seller received after commissions and fees. It also doesn't capture everything the buyer may have spent on sales tax, shipping, financing or other transaction costs. Jeremy shares how financing part of a major card purchase pushed his actual cost basis well beyond the publicly reported sale price.

So which number represents the card's true value?

Jeremy revisits a question he and Chris discussed years ago: why should the buyer have all the power in determining value? For highly liquid cards, recent comps may provide an obvious answer. But with truly scarce cards, shouldn't the owner's willingness to part with the card matter just as much as what a buyer is willing to pay? And as David points out, value can also depend on how long a seller is willing to wait for the right buyer to arrive.

The panel also returns to vintage non-sports and the possibility that rising prices could eventually send a large supply of previously raw cards into PSA. How dramatically could populations change once cheaper grading tiers become available, and how long will collectors have to wait before the true supply becomes visible?

Then, as tends to happen four hours into Sports Cards Live, things get a little less serious.

Is chess a sport? What about poker, darts, billiards, professional wrestling, auto racing and competitive eating? Does something have to involve physical exertion to qualify as a sport, and is being an athlete necessarily the same thing as participating in a sport?

Plus, Josh Adams names the 1990s card he'd most like to see consigned to 90s Auctions, and the panel puts the finishing touches on a four-hour-and-15-minute edition of Sports Cards Live.

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Take the Hobby Spectrum Assessment and learn more at thehobbyspectrum.com.

Discover cards across multiple auction platforms with AuctionWire at auctionwire.ai and use promo code SCL for 60 days free.

Check out Card Ladder for sports card sales history, market data and research.

And pick up Jeremy Lee's book, Pops and Comps: Truths, Insights, and Psychology Behind the Numbers That Drive the Sports Card Market, available on Amazon.

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How much should you actually trust the comps you're using to buy and sell sports cards?

Jeremy Lee, David Chase, Joe Poirot, Chris HOJ and Josh Adams dive deep into one of the most important issues in today's data-driven hobby: understanding what the numbers actually mean before allowing them to influence your decisions.

The conversation begins with a viewer claiming there are too many fake sales appearing on Card Ladder. Chris explains how Card Ladder handles potentially unpaid, staged or otherwise questionable transactions, why sales initially appear as they happen, how marketplaces subsequently provide information about unpaid items, and what collectors should actually take from the green verification check marks appearing beside certain sales.

But even a verified sale doesn't answer every question. Was it truly an arm's-length transaction? Was the card an unusually strong or weak example for the grade? Was there something about the seller, provenance or bidding that made the result unusual?

That leads into a detailed discussion about Card Ladder Value and one of its most misunderstood characteristics. How can a lower-grade card have a higher estimated value than a higher-grade example? Chris explains the methodology behind CL Value, why each card and grade is treated independently, how the applicable market index is used to adjust an older sale, and why Card Ladder deliberately avoids creating a black-box algorithm that simply assumes a higher grade must always be worth more.

Eye appeal makes the problem even more complicated, particularly with vintage cards where two examples carrying the exact same numerical grade can command dramatically different prices.

David calls attention to the hobby's “dummy tax,” the price collectors and dealers can pay when they use data without understanding it. Jeremy also raises the opposite danger: knowledgeable buyers or sellers potentially weaponizing a valuation tool against someone who doesn't understand how the number was generated.

Throughout the discussion, Chris returns to one central principle: don't outsource your judgment. A comp, an estimated value, a green check mark, an asking price and a current auction are all pieces of information, but none should replace your own research and understanding of the card.

Plus, the group discusses stale comps, half grades, confidence levels, market manipulation around The National, why older sales may become more trustworthy with time, and whether there could ever be a truly “perfect” sports card valuation tool.

Subscribe to Sports Cards Live on YouTube and wherever you listen to podcasts.

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Discover cards across multiple auction platforms with AuctionWire at auctionwire.ai and use promo code SCL for 60 days free.

Check out Card Ladder for sports card sales history, market data and research.

And pick up Jeremy Lee's book, Pops and Comps: Truths, Insights, and Psychology Behind the Numbers That Drive the Sports Card Market, available on Amazon.

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How big is the Shohei Ohtani effect on the sports card hobby?

Jeremy Lee, David Chase, Joe Poirot, Chris HOJ and Josh Adams dig into a phenomenon that may extend far beyond Ohtani's own cards. Chris reveals that the monthly dollar volume being spent on Ohtani is now on par with or even exceeding Michael Jordan, traditionally the biggest name in the Card Ladder database.

But what happens to all that money after an Ohtani card sells?

The panel explores how enormous gains on Ohtani cards can inject fresh capital back into the hobby as sellers redeploy their profits into other players, sports and eras. Ohtani's pursuit of baseball immortality can also lead collectors backward through history to Babe Ruth, Barry Bonds and other all-time greats, creating a potential ripple effect throughout the market.

Then comes a provocative question: if manufacturers can put an Ohtani Logoman autograph into a new product and potentially create a seven-figure card almost on demand, should collectors be concerned? David questions what scarcity means when manufacturers can continue producing new one-of-ones, patches and premium Ohtani cards year after year, while Jeremy asks whether some of the traditional rules used to analyze the sports card market still apply.

The conversation returns to the possibility of an MLB work stoppage. Could a lockout reduce demand while simultaneously increasing supply and become a catalyst for a market correction? Would modern baseball take the biggest hit, or could the absence of daily baseball storylines also reduce interest in vintage legends who benefit indirectly from today's stars and their accomplishments?

Vintage non-sports isn't necessarily safe either. David explains why the recent explosion in prices could eventually unleash a wave of previously ungraded cards once lower-cost grading tiers become available, potentially changing population reports dramatically.

Finally, the panel tackles two monster basketball cards: the LeBron James and Kobe Bryant Exquisite Dual Logoman autograph versus Cooper Flagg's Debut Patch Autograph. Which sells for more, and what does the fact that we're even comparing them tell us about today's sports card market?

Plus, can we ever truly know whether a massive public sale represents an arm's-length transaction, and how much verification should the hobby expect before treating it as a legitimate comp?

Subscribe to Sports Cards Live on YouTube and wherever you listen to podcasts.

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Discover cards across multiple auction platforms with AuctionWire at auctionwire.ai and use promo code SCL for 60 days free.

Check out Card Ladder for sports card sales history, market data and research.

And pick up Jeremy Lee's book, Pops and Comps: Truths, Insights, and Psychology Behind the Numbers That Drive the Sports Card Market, available on Amazon.

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If the sports card market eventually turns, will every card get hit equally?

Jeremy Lee is joined by David Chase, Joe Poirot, Chris HOJ and Josh Adams for a wide-ranging hobby roundtable about what the next market cycle could actually look like and whether collectors are better prepared for it this time.

The panel debates whether the hobby has really gotten smarter since the last major downturn or whether there is simply more money in the market today. If collectors suddenly need liquidity, do they sell their best and most valuable cards first because one transaction can raise the necessary cash, or do they protect those cards and work from the bottom of their collections instead?

That leads to one of the biggest questions of the episode: high supply versus scarcity. Could cards with enormous populations face significantly more downside if sellers flood the market, while scarce cards, low-numbered issues, one-of-ones and important vintage cards prove more resilient because demand only has to compete for a limited number of available copies?

The conversation also turns to the return of football, basketball and hockey. After an unusually hot summer for retired players, vintage cards and 1990s issues, what happens when current athletes begin generating daily headlines again? Does hobby attention shift back toward active players, and could that create buying opportunities elsewhere?

The group also discusses whether there is even such a thing as a hobby offseason anymore. Collectors are connected to auctions, marketplaces and their watchlists 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Does it still matter what night an auction ends, or has technology permanently changed collector behavior?

Plus, David wonders whether the traditional November and December buying opportunity will return this year, Chris looks at historical fourth-quarter market performance, the panel considers how a potential baseball work stoppage could affect modern baseball cards, and Joe explains why rising prices have him returning to one of the simplest collecting principles of all: finding cards with great aesthetics and character.

Subscribe to Sports Cards Live on YouTube and wherever you listen to podcasts.

Take the Hobby Spectrum Assessment and learn more at thehobbyspectrum.com.

Discover cards across multiple auction platforms with AuctionWire at auctionwire.ai and use promo code SCL for 60 days free.

Check out Card Ladder for sports card sales history, market data and research.

And pick up Jeremy Lee's book, Pops and Comps: Truths, Insights, and Psychology Behind the Numbers That Drive the Sports Card Market, available on Amazon.

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What does the explosion of card shows tell us about the health and future of the hobby?

Steve Menzie, owner and operator of the Sport Card Expo and co-operator of the legendary Strongsville Sports Collectors Convention, joins Jeremy Lee and David Chase for an inside look at the card show business and just how dramatically it has changed over the past decade.

Card shows aren't simply places to buy and sell anymore. They've become social gatherings, entertainment experiences and an important place where online hobby relationships become real-world friendships. Steve discusses the growth he's witnessed, the influx of younger collectors and families, and why fans who may initially come for autographs or other attractions are increasingly becoming card collectors themselves.

They also tackle the massive growth of TCG at shows and whether sports cards and TCG should be separated, the challenge of curating the right mix of dealers and inventory, and why buying has become as important as selling for many vendors.

Then David puts Steve on the spot with ideas borrowed from Comic Cons and other major fan events. Why can't card shows offer better food, easier access to water, more places to sit, carpeted floors and a smoother entry experience? Steve explains which improvements promoters can actually control, which ones venues make surprisingly difficult, and where he believes card shows still need to level up.

Security is becoming another major concern. With increasingly valuable cards and large amounts of cash changing hands, Steve discusses theft, counterfeit currency, parking-lot safety, increased police presence and mandatory collector insurance for dealers at his shows.

Plus, we get an update on the future of Strongsville, why maintaining its vintage identity matters so much, and the search for the right long-term home for one of the hobby's most beloved vintage shows.

And we find out what happens when a longtime card-show promoter becomes a collector himself, as Steve shares the vintage baseball cards that have pulled him deeper into the hobby.

Subscribe to Sports Cards Live on YouTube and wherever you listen to podcasts.

Take the Hobby Spectrum Assessment and learn more at thehobbyspectrum.com.

Discover cards across multiple auction platforms with AuctionWire at auctionwire.ai and use promo code SCL for 60 days free.

Check out Card Ladder for sports card sales history, market data and research.

And pick up Jeremy Lee's book, Pops and Comps: Truths, Insights, and Psychology Behind the Numbers That Drive the Sports Card Market, available on Amazon.

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The sports card market is running hot, cards are hitting prices many collectors never imagined, and suddenly a new question is creeping into the conversation: should we be getting nervous?

Jeremy Lee and David Chase discuss the psychology of collecting and investing during a rapidly rising market. When a card you love is suddenly worth many times what you paid for it, when does the money become more meaningful than the card? Do you take profits, build up cash reserves and prepare for the next downturn, or hold onto the cards you bought because you genuinely wanted to own them in the first place?

They also examine the difference between healthy appreciation and outright market madness, whether increased supply from collectors taking profits could contribute to the next correction, and why selling a card at today's inflated price only to buy another card at today's inflated price may not accomplish much at all.

What happens when your favorite collecting lane simply becomes too expensive? Jeremy and David discuss moving between collecting lanes, buying what you actually love, the difference between collecting and investing, and why adaptability may be one of the most important traits a collector can have.

The conversation eventually turns to an even bigger question: are we simply experiencing another hobby bubble, or have sports cards and collectibles reached a new level of cultural relevance that could permanently expand the market?

Plus, David reports directly from the massive Front Row Card Show in Pasadena, where 770 tables, strong attendance, active buying and positive dealer sentiment offered a real-time look at the current strength of the hobby.

Subscribe to Sports Cards Live on YouTube and wherever you listen to podcasts.

Take the Hobby Spectrum Assessment and learn more at thehobbyspectrum.com.

Discover cards across multiple auction platforms with AuctionWire at auctionwire.ai and use promo code SCL for 60 days free.

Check out Card Ladder for sports card sales history, market data and research.

And pick up Jeremy Lee's book, Pops and Comps: Truths, Insights, and Psychology Behind the Numbers That Drive the Sports Card Market, available on Amazon.

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