This podcast episode features Ryan from GemRate, who provides us the recap summary of the first half of 2025 with grading from the Top Four grading companies - PSA, BGS, CGC, and SGC.He dives into what the numbers actually mean and you will learn a lot about the grading space in this video from GemRate!

For three days from June 20 to 22 in the second ever Fanatics Fest, Michael Rubin hosted the first ever Fanatics Games. The Fanatics Games tested participants across eight sports-themed events, including quarterback accuracy, basketball shooting, soccer goal-scoring, puck shooting, UFC striking power, WWE-style entrances and a golf simulator challenge.

Tom Brady got first place and $1 million, and UFC champion Justin Gaethje won a 2025 Ferrari 296 GTB for placing second, and it was an "Average Joe" Matt Dennish, a health teacher at Red Lion Area High School in Pennsylvania, who placed third and won a 2003-04 Topps Chrome Gold Refractor LeBron James BGS 9.5.

In this interview, Matt explains how Tom Brady offered $250,000 for the card as well as everything that happened before then. We talked about how he was not sure he was going to hold onto one of the top three positions, because he went on Day 1 and there were many athletes and participants going on Days 2 and 3. Nevertheless, his strong performance in the Games allowed him to finish third out of 100. Congratulations Matt! You are certainly not average!

You can find Matt's Instagram @averagejoe_dennish

You can find the CNN article referenced in the interview here: https://www.cnn.com/2025/06/25/sport/philadelphia-teacher-matt-dennish-third-place-fanatics-games-spt

Three vendors, all of whom attended both the 2024 and 2025 Fanatics Fest shows, come onto the podcast for a special group podcast recording to talk about their vendor experience at Fanatics Fest.

Ben @benscardworld

Whiz @mf_whiz

Baba @baba_2ccards

They all have years of experience in the national sports card show circuit, and they have a wealth of knowledge to share. I won't spoil anything here, but when you take a listen, you will hear some great stories and details about what they liked and did not like about Fanatics Fest, and yes, they also compare/contrast Fanatics Fest vs. The National.

Thank you so much to these three fine gentlemen for coming onto the podcast and thank you to all of you for tuning in!

This was a hard episode to record. Don't get me wrong, talking with David Spinrad, the Rated Rabbi, has always been easy, and in this episode, you get to come along with us on one of our walks where we talk about The Hobby....but it was hard to record, because it was our last walk with our dogs.

As you will hear us talk about, David is the reason I got back into The Hobby after a ten year hiatus in 2022. We were just two dads talking about sports, when he told me that he jumped back into The Hobby and asked me whether I used to collect. Back then, I had no clue what grading was. My cards were in shoe boxes in the attic.

There was no Instagram account, there was no podcast, there was no YouTube. Times were much simpler back then. But I was craving connection, meaning, I was turning 40. The joke about it being a mid life crisis turned into a half joke, which turned into a stark reality.

David was my original, ground level supporter. We would go on these great walks, talking about The Hobby, and I felt so grounded with great conversations. He encouraged me to collect, share, post, connect, because as he says, in the end, we collect ourselves. But on October 6, 2023, I felt like I lost him, and I lost my guide, my mentor...my friend. However, with time passing, we started to go on our walks again, and I missed them so much. And now, we won't have those walks anymore...but our friendship does not end; instead, it enters a new chapter.

So this is not a goodbye then, but L'hitraot - until we meet again, good friend.

Thank you for your friendship, generosity, curiosity, support, encouragement, and always challenging me to do better.

One week prior to the second ever Fanatics Fest, Clark (on IG @fivecardguys) of the Five Card Guys podcast joins the podcast studio to talk about his plans for Fanatics Fest, how it was to interview the CEO of Fanatics Events, Lance Fensterman, as well as what it is like to be in The Hobby in Canada.

We also got to talk about what it is like to be a father in The Hobby, which is especially timely given that this episode is dropping right before Father's Day weekend.

This episode is brought to you by friend of the podcast (and host of the Wilmington Card Show), Carolina Sports Promotions. The next show is June 14-15 at 2412 Infantry Road in Wilmington, North Carolina.

In this episode, I talk about the biggest issue I have with Jac Caglianone and spoiler alert: it's somewhat tongue in cheek, because it is FOMO - Fear Of Missing Out. I talk about why I have this sudden desire to collect cards of a player I know just his basic biography and nothing more. Am I getting caught up in the hype machine? Should I try and trade/buy one of his several thousands of dollars card from a friend, when this is the perfect time to sell? How much will his cards be worth a week a year from now? A month from now? A week from now?

I also take a tangent talking about baseball players' autographs and why I think they might be better than autographs from basketball and football players. It is just a working theory, and I would like to know what you think!

In this episode, I share my internal monologue about choosing between two great events - Fanatics Fest and The National. Ideally, I could do both. Ideally, YOU could do both. But sometimes there is a limit to time (when you are older) and money (when you are younger) and sometimes, both too.

So I juxtapose these two events and even break down by category of person you are, and which show may be right for you, but you may have already made your decision by now, and so thanks for listening anyway!

I am SO excited to share this podcast episode, where I had the great pleasure and opportunity to speak with the CEO of Fanatics Events, Lance Fensterman.

Lance was the president and founder of ReedPOP, which helped produce some of the biggest conventions, such as New York Comic Con, Emerald City Comic Con, Complex Con, Star Wars Celebration and PAX. Since becoming CEO, Fanatics Events created WWE World at WrestleMania 40 in Philadelphia, WWEW World at WrestleMania 41 in Las Vegas, and the inaugural Fanatics Fest at the Javitz Convention Center last year.

Avid listeners of this podcast know that I like to go long form and go down rabbit holes and tangents, but for this one, we only had 20 minutes and so I did my absolute best not to do that this time!

However, in the beginning of the conversation, we learn that Lance is an avid Minnesota sports team fan, and we talk about how one of the differences he has noticed with attendees of Comic Cons and Fanatics Fest is the inherent tribalism that occurs within sports, which does not necessarily exist in the worlds of Pokemon, Star Wars, etc.

These 20 minutes just went by so quickly, but I had SO much fun with this one and I hope that you enjoy my conversation with Lance!

In this monologue episode, I talk about how I veered away from the audio only experience of this podcast, and how I plan to get back on track and back to the roots of this podcast. This is important to me, as I try to remember why I started all of this, the kind of content I enjoy, and the fun journey this has all been. I reveal who my next podcast guest is in this episode, and it is just as much as a surprise to you as it is to me! Thank you for listening wherever you are listening to this podcast, and while I cannot promise consistency with this podcast, I can I promise you that as I go forth with this podcast medium, that I am going to continue to learn and grow as a hobby podcaster!

Bryan (on IG @goatz_sportz_cardz) got an experience of a lifetime by making a trade with his favorite baseball player, Bobby Witt Jr. where he traded a $7,000 rookie card of his for meeting him and getting a couple of game used and autographed bats. Bryan is also opening up his very first LCS later this year and so we are going to talk about that, the Witt experience, how it was talking with Topps about sharing it on social media, and much more!