Ryan from GemRate stops by to share with us the year in grading (TCG is still over half of all graded cards! Sports down YoY! We as collectors are getting smarter with what we submit! Or are we?).  But of course, this podcast being what it is, we analogize grading companies to fast food restaurants and school teachers.  Ryan shares information about a project he’s been working on with Universal Pop Reports (don’t go to gemrate.com) and the Top 10 Most Graded Players by PSA.  

This podcast episode is not sponsored or affiliated with any grading company.  But it is sponsored by My Card Post!  It’s fun, check it out (mycardpost.com), and let me know what you think about it. Thanks! - Denny

This is the second half of the podcast chat with Dan, The Great Curator (on IG @the.great.curator).  In our first half of the conversation (Episode 49, published way back on November 9th), we talked about particip-hation, blocking trolls, the state of content in The Hobby.  In this episode, we talk about how people monetize content in The Hobby (#5 will shock you! JK those click bait lists are funny to me).  We also get into questions from listeners (including yes, Rob G. the Sports Card Therapist, because this was recorded around Halloween time, and well, a lot happens in a month in The Hobby!).  Questions pertained to Dan’s grail, hobby goals for 2024, whether heel/face status matters for wrestling cards, Arena Club and lesser frequented marketplaces and auction houses, fiduciary duty in taking on sponsorships, and why is he the way he is.

Finally, shoutout Dan The Great Curator’s sponsor, Mr. Minty.  And Merlin, the happiest person in The Hobby.

We welcome back the better half of the Sports Cards Nonsense duo, Jesse Gibson aka Sports Boi.  We talk about SCN and Card Shop Live, how to save breaking (hint: baby breakers, ok maybe not a subtle hint), and why his partner, Mike Gioseffi, keeps ducking this podcast.   We start by talking about the mega bid/shill bid situation with Sports Card Therapist (seems like eons ago already), because that’s how much I delayed publishing this podcast episode.  Jesse, I am so sorry for the delay in releasing this episode.  I blame Cblez and the repackers who are supposedly ruining The Hobby =)

Finally, If you would like to buy Sports Cards Nonsense merch (not a sponsor, not an affiliate), go to www.sportscardsnonsense.com where you can buy all the merch you want….just not any baby onesies.

Continuing my podcast experimentation, I try recording a podcast while recovering being kinda sick.  I probably shouldn’t have recorded this episode, but I was inspired by the recent Juan Soto trade and the discussions by Cage Lawyer and Iowa Dave.  So I’m not an influencer, I’m actually the influenced!  Not to be confused with influenza, which I probably have.  Dad jokes.  Enjoy. - Denny

What’s it like to be a repacker for one of the biggest breakers on the planet?  Matt from Ultimate Sports Breakers (USB) comes on the pod to talk about that and more.  We first talk about his hobby journey and then get into how he got into repacking for Backyard Breaks and then what happened after that relationship ended.  We dive into what it’s like going from “comp-to-table” with buying, packing and shipping repacks.  Hope you enjoy! - Denny

With repacks being such a hot topic currently in The Hobby, I bring on Jonathan Rotonda (on IG @rotobreaks), the founder of a breaking company (Roto Breaks) and repack company (Roto Box) to the pod.  We start off talking about his hobby journey and how comps worked back in 2016 (RIP Card Snoop!).  Then, I pick his brain on how the entire process looks like to get a repack product ready “comp-to-table” (like eating at a restaurant: from farm-to-table) - buying to packing to shipping.  This is my longest episode yet, and I considered breaking it up into two parts, but with repacks being a hot button issue, I wanted to deliver this to you soon as possible.  Thanks for giving it a listen! - Denny

Learn more about the Roto team here: https://rotobreaks.com/pages/about-us

Who would even consider buying a $12 pineapple?  What happens to your hobby budget when you have a financial event outside of your hobby life?  Who is even buying these boxes of cards that cost five figures?  This is a monologue episode that I recorded in a hotel room and so the audio is going to sound a little bit different (and maybe I’m lower energy on this one too), but I wanted to capture my thoughts on some things within The Hobby and in my life.  Hope you enjoy it.  You can always DM me on Instagram at denny_cards.  - Denny

This is a monologue episode about my ever evolving thoughts on the megabid/shill bid situation from Rob G., the Sports Card Therapist and the early stages of grief, or at least in this case, hobby grief.

What does 10X-ing The Hobby mean?  Is it the number of cards, corporate profits, number of participants, or something else altogether?  I bring on the pod someone who was in The Hobby as a kid, but never came back into The Hobby, even during the pandemic.  My very special guest, TK, is my friend from outside The Hobby and I wanted to have a candid discussion with him about The Hobby in this experimental bonus episode.  Because if 10X-ing The Hobby means having ten times the number of Hobby participants, then Fanatics will have to do their best to court people like TK.

To the brave men and women who have served the United States of America, Happy Veterans Day!  For a very special Veterans Day podcast episode, I bring on the pod Alex Tressler (@armyatc22 on all social media platforms), an Army veteran who was deployed to Afghanistan for three tours and has traveled the world while breaking boxes in the early infancy of social media (btw, he PC’s Pat Tillman).  We talk about his service in the military, how serving in the military helps him in The Hobby, especially setting up as a dealer.  We discuss a deal we made that I alluded to in Episode 48, and how it is sometimes hard to make deals with friends.  We even talk about whether he gives a military discount when he sets up as a dealer!  Thank you Alex for your service, and thank you again to all those who served.

YouTube link: https://youtu.be/gdWv3l47fRU