Part one of this two part series I explore how I would use a long term approach rather than short term speculative strategy to collect the "players to watch' in the 2026 World Cup.

Seth (@soccercardcorner) and I revisit our discussion on collecting 2017-18 Topps Chrome UEFA Champions League set. We last discussed the state of our set collecting on Seth's YouTube channel in November 2023 after dozens of red refractors were auction off within a few week span. Recently, the market for 2017 Topps Chrome has shifted again with sales increasing by multiples hitting all time highs. We discuss the validation but also the uncertainty it creates when the price seem to explode overnight and how it changes our mindset in collecting the set going forward.

Travis @harrykanecards joined me this week to discuss why he abandoned collecting prospects and faded the hype in the market to supercollect Harry Kane. Lots of insights and vibes in the discussion of the state of the Harry Kane market and what it can tell us about the soccer card space at large.

I'm joined by Damian ⁨@retrosoccercards⁩ for a conversation about collecting soccer cards before the explosion of this hobby niche. He has been a dedicated collector of Premier League cards since he first started collected with Topps Premier Gold 2003. The mindset and joy he finds collecting were cultivated in a time before there were big chases. It was about completion and binders preserving his memories and the history of the league in card form. As the landscape began to shift in 2013 with modern parallels, he retained his soul as a set collector and evolved his approach as the soccer card hobby's popularity has blossomed.

Noah ( ⁨@Noahcollectssoccer⁩ ) joins me for a conversation about what draws him to soccer cards and stickers that some may call oddballs. The rarity and context of these cards can bring extra meaning and nostalgia, especially for soccer fans of the 90s and 00s.

Dan (@dreamcast_cards on IG) and I discuss the draw to jersey numbered cards and how it draws in serious card collectors. We tug on multiple other threads related to serial numbering, post-playing days collecting and what makes a set meaningful going into the future.

It was a treat to be joined for a discussion about soccer card collecting philosophy with Bryan from the @cajuncardboard channel to get a view through the lens of an experienced 90s basketball collecting, most famously Michael Jordan, into his journey into serious soccer card collecting.

I discuss the recent auction sales of 2014 Panini Prizm World Cup 1/1 Samba and Black parallels at Goldin Elite auctions. I share my thoughts and opinions on these sales and what they might mean for the soccer card collecting space going forward.

Matt from The PreMo Podcast joined me this week for a conversation about the Pre-Modern Space in Soccer/Football Collecting, its strengths, the factors that hold it back from gaining the same attention as modern cards and the future outlook for this era.

In part 3 of my "Collecting the World Cup" series, I discuss how most modern collectors have heard of the iconic 2014 Panini Prizm World Cup set that ignited the modern soccer (football) collecting era, but I dig into the populations and sales data to highlight how rare and scarce these cards are in the market. And despite some strong sales, the set is still accessible price wise for collectors and can be great place to be for collectors of iconic players in the first modern iconic set.