This is NOT sponsored content and I do not have an affiliate code with Center Stage. I get nothing out of having the CEO of Center Stage, John Wie, on the podcast other than a great chat with a kind hobby friend. Center Stage is a free app to scan cards, available in the Apple Store for iPhone users! There are paid memberships, and so it is a freemium model.Here is a link to a FAQ about Center Stage:https://centerstagehq.com/faq/Here is a link to the different membership tiers:https://centerstagehq.com/membership-plans/Thank you John for a fantastic chat! We will have you on again later this year.

The episode that was supposed to happen last time is happening this time! Live recording, cross streamed with YouTube and wherever you get your podcasts. Why is a new father on the way promoting a card show? Dakota of dakotastorm_rips_cards will tell you why!

Dakota's show will be at the Heritage Community Church in Severn, MD from 9am to 1pm on March 1, 2025 with free admission for all! 40 tables, tons of giveaways, and it benefits the Royal Rangers, an organization that helps young boys turn into upstanding young men!

In 2025, I plan to tell 2-3 long arc stories following the hobby paths of three hobbyists trying out new ventures.

The sixth episode of Season 3 was supposed to be the start of the first such story and it was supposed to be recorded with a card friend who is a new card promoter and has a baby on the way, but he had to reschedule (not because of the baby's arrival!).

This is when having good card friends is handy, because on short notice before the livestream, Bryan (on IG @goatz_sportz_cardz) was able to join the podcast studio to tell us about the plans for his new card shop in Northern Virginia.

Bryan also shares a poignant childhood story about losing his entire collection (and his dad's) to a house fire, which took him away from the hobby for a while, but when he came back, he was ready to jump in with both feet. That is why, even though they are not a sponsor or affiliate of this podcast, I would like to let listeners know about Collectibles Insurance Services (collectinsure.com) if you are interested in insuring your cards!

Untimely at time of publishing this as a podcast episode, but timely at the time of recording in the evening of January 17, 2025. I had a live stream where I invited Hobby TikTokers to come share their thoughts on the potential end of TikTok come January 19 and how this affects their business, their hobby, and their lives. No one came on, citing personal and business reasons, which are understandable!

This group podcast welcomes Austin (@carlos_rodon_pc on IG) and Chas (@thehobbyohio on IG) to talk about their experiences with having an eBay storefront with a monthly subscription plan. They will help me figure out if it's worth it for me or not as I continue to form my selling plans for 2025. We also look at their eBay stores to see their approaches to how they present their cards. Both had different approaches and so it was interesting to see!

John (on IG @zbocards) is a player collector, and you can take one guess as to who he collects! When I was very new to Hobby Instagram, I was amazed at how well he took photos of his cards (and I still am!). With just his iPhone, he has been able to capture the intricacies of the cardboard we all love. We talk about why and how he started collecting Zach Randolph cards, the state of the NBA, and what he looks for when buying sealed wax online!

This is a random special bonus episode that is part of my YouTube series of the road to 1,000 subscribers. It was recorded the morning of January 12, 2025, when I was at 571 subscribers. Whether you're trying to grow your podcast audience, YouTube subscribers, Instagram or other social media presence, I hope that you enjoy this series, and for the full series, please check it out in my playlists on YouTube!

The second episode of Season 3 of The Card Diary by Hobby S. Thompson is a monologue episode, where I talk about how the hobby is supposed to be an escape, but you can't help but see on your social media feed the absolute devastation and destruction of the fires in LA. So that's the fire.

The ice part is about the super extended winter break due to snow and ice in the DMV and I do (somewhat) bring it back to the hobby.

Everything Nice is just what I want in 2025.This episode is NOT brought to you by any affiliate or sponsor, but I do mention why I made the personal decision to get insurance for my trading card collection from Collect Insurance Services.

You can see if it's a good fit for you by going to collectinsure.com or calling 888-837-9537. If you found out about them through me, use code DENNY. Just kidding, but if you told them you found out about them through me, I would really appreciate that!

First episode of Season 3! Episode 101 was cross streamed live on Neo Cards & Comics's Youtube channel and I still cannot believe that we went almost a full three hours on stream. We started talking about the 2024 Year in Grading with Ryan from GemRate, but then the three of us started going down some interesting Hobby rabbit holes, talking about Pokemon/TCG, incentives for content creators making certain types of content, gambling in the hobby, whether PSA could start grading sealed hobby boxes, the future of Beckett, and so, so much more. I even kept in the audio at the end of the stream past the end of the podcast where we talk about grading comics.

One of my most fun podcasts to record, easily the longest, please enjoy this in piecemeal or however you like to enjoy long form content!

100 is a nice, round number, but it's just a number. 100 podcast episodes is certainly a milestone, but in this centennial episode, I discuss why the 21st episode is more impressive than the 100th.

What is also more impressive is the number 49, which represents the number of guests that I have had on this podcast to this point. 40 solo podcast guests and 9 group podcast guests, and I hope that in future episodes, that I do more group podcasts and live podcast recordings. Thank you to every single person who has appeared on this podcast in some capacity in the last year and a half.

Finally, the "thesis" I have come to a conclusion with doing this podcast about trying things in the hobby is that when you get good enough in doing something, you can become a threat to those in that same space who are feeling inadequate, and people can start doing the comparison game and take their inadequacies out on you, specifically in the content creation side of things and specifically in the social media side of things.

Thank you all for listening and supporting this podcast, especially if you are a day one supporter! Truly means a lot to me, thank you.

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