Stacking Slabs

Leighton Sheldon has spent more than 20 years building Just Collect by asking questions, studying the market, and treating each collection as part of someone’s story.

In this episode of Passion to Profession, Leighton shares why he chose the sports card industry over a career in consulting, what he learned working at Leland’s, and how those lessons shaped his approach to buying collections.

He also tells the story of purchasing nearly 1,000 Goudey cards in Arizona, including 18 Babe Ruth cards, and explains why trust mattered more than pressure in closing the deal.

We also discuss the problem that led him to cofound AuctionWire, the role content has played in his business, and the traits that give people staying power in the hobby.

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A special thank you to eBay for sponsoring Passion to Profession. The biggest and best marketplace to buy your next favorite trading card.

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Every company in the sports card industry says it supports collectors.

The question is whether the collector has power inside the business.

In this episode of Hobby Jobs, I break down five places where a collector-first approach becomes visible. What a company measures. How it rewards employees. Where it removes friction. How it responds when something breaks. Whether collector knowledge shapes decisions.

I also share the story of Shane Walls, lead buyer at Indy Card Exchange. Shane bought a Tom Brady Black Prizm 1/1 for $600 and sold it years later for $96,000. The value of that story is not the return. It is the experience, relationships, and judgment that allowed Shane to act before the market agreed with him.

Knowing cards is not enough to build a career in the hobby. You need to turn what you know into decisions that serve the collector and support the business.

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The wrestling card market has attention. That does not mean every card has value.

Adam and Ryan examine the John Cena and Rhea Ripley WrestleMania patch auctions, the Cena and Shohei Ohtani one-of-one, and why putting chase cards in the same auction can serve each sale.

They also break down the decisions collectors face when prices move:

•  When should you pay above the last comp? 
•  Which cards should you sell before supply catches up? 
•  How many buyers exist for your card? 
•  What makes a card worth holding? 

The conversation closes with sales from Oba Femi, John Cena, and Giulia, plus the card elements that matter most when building a collection.

Check out RbiCru7 for all your wrestling and sports card needs!

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Football Cards Are Up 380% since 2020. This Is Bigger Than Quarterbacks.

When many collectors returned to football cards in 2020, the message was clear: only buy quarterbacks.

Since January 1, 2020, the Card Ladder football index has increased 380.99%. That growth extends beyond one position.

Pack and Brett separate collecting advice from resale advice. They examine why Barry Sanders and Jerry Rice lead their era, why the early 2000s still lack a settled card hierarchy, and how research creates opportunities for collectors willing to look beyond the current quarterback class.

They also discuss the $414,800 Peyton Manning Gem Masters 1/1 sale, a $402,600 Bronko Nagurski, Jason Kelce, game-day rituals, saved-search cleanup, and the Football Card Podcast Pick’em League.

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Technology has a larger role in the hobby than it did a year ago.

The question is whether it solves problems collectors care about.

Scott Lock and Ed Snider of InfernoRed Technology join me to discuss what they saw at The National. We examine Topps’ digital redemption process, the use of AI inside hobby businesses, and where technology can remove friction from buying and selling cards.

Scott and Ed also take us inside Enter the Inferno, where collectors presented products built from their experiences in the hobby.

The future of hobby tech will not be defined by how much technology companies introduce. It will be defined by whether those tools improve the collector experience without removing the people, conversations, and search that make collecting matter.

Check out the awesome software that InfernoRed Technology can build for you.

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A 1997 Metal Universe Michael Jordan Red PMG /100 BGS 8 sold for $1,473,988.80.

The same copy sold for $480,000 in 2021 and $360,000 in 2023.

This episode is not about deciding whether the buyer overpaid. It is about reading the signal.

Brett explains why demand matters as much as scarcity, why one sale does not create a market price, and how money moves through a collecting category.

What does this record mean for collectors working with budgets of $150, $1,500, or $15,000?

The lesson is not to chase a PMG.

It is to study which cards hold meaning, demand, and scarcity after the attention moves on

Check out the awesome software that InfernoRed Technology can build for you.

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Get your free copy of Collecting For Keeps: Finding Meaning In A Hobby Built On Hype

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What keeps you collecting when your team tests your loyalty?

Katelyn talks with Josh (@luvdadubs) about his connection to the Chicago Sky and the cards that preserve it.

Josh shares how Candace Parker led him deeper into WNBA collecting, why he buys multiple copies of the same card, and what makes Rittenhouse releases worth chasing. He also explains why in-person autographs mean more to him than the signature alone.

The conversation covers the 2021 Sky championship, the Angel Reese trade, the frustration surrounding the franchise, and the players whose card markets deserve more attention.

This is a conversation about team collecting when fandom brings joy, anger, and reasons to keep coming back.

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Get your free copy of Collecting For Keeps: Finding Meaning In A Hobby Built On Hype

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Shane Walls spent almost 16 years at GameStop before taking a year away from work and turning his life as a collector into a career at Indy Card Exchange.

Today, Shane serves as the shop’s lead buyer. He reviews 30 to 50 collection requests each week and helps decide which cards belong in the cases, at shows, online, and in the shop’s kids section.

Shane joins Brett to explain why a recent comp is only the start of a card’s value, what he learns from the cards collectors bring in each day, and why trust matters when someone puts a collection in front of you.

They also discuss the $600 Tom Brady one-of-one Shane sold for $96,000, the soccer collection that helped him buy a house, and the relationships required to build a career in sports cards.

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A special thank you to eBay for sponsoring Passion to Profession. The biggest and best marketplace to buy your next favorite trading card.

Get exclusive content, promote your cards, and connect with other collectors who listen to the pod today by joining the Patreon: Join Stacking Slabs Podcast Patreon

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CardVault by Tom Brady has grown from three stores to 17, with a stated goal of more than 100. The investor list draws attention. The operating plan matters more.

In this episode, Brett examines how CardVault is placing the hobby where sports fans gather, what its expansion means for shops and collectors, and why capital works best after a business has built proof.

He also shares lessons from Stephanie Garcia’s path building Mama Breaks and studies five job openings that reveal where hobby companies are placing their bets.

The question running through the episode: Can a company scale without losing the collector relationship that made its growth possible?

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More money is entering wrestling cards.

That does not mean every card is rising.

Adam Gellman and Ryan Bannister welcome Chad Weldon from Sports Card Junction to explain what he sees from behind the counter. New collectors are entering from other card categories. They understand high-end cards, rare parallels, and chase-driven products. Their spending is changing how wrestling cards get valued.

The group discusses why the high-end market operates apart from the low and middle tiers, the growth of Gunther’s rare-card market, and the risk of inscription oversaturation.

They also examine the John Cena and Rhea Ripley WrestleMania Patch Autos entering the same auction, the role of Topps Royalty in attracting non-wrestling collectors, and the risks waiting inside Topps Dynasty.

Plus, Adam and Ryan play Buy, Sell, or Hold with Jacy Jayne, Fallon Henley, Lainey Reid, Tatum Paxley, Kevin Owens, Solo Sikoa, and Chad Gable.

Check out RbiCru7 for all your wrestling and sports card needs!

Join Adam's Main Event Wrestling Cards group for free

Get exclusive content, promote your cards, and connect with other collectors who listen to the pod today by joining the Patreon: Join Stacking Slabs Podcast Patreon

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