A missing co-host, a guest in the hot seat, and a kitchen studio set the tone for a candid ride through football form and the modern sports card grind. We kick off with West Ham’s burst of goals, Liverpool’s off-day after Europe, and that familiar knot in the stomach when VAR makes the game harder to love. It’s the same knot a lot of collectors feel during breaks: the thrill of possibility fighting the fear you’re playing the wrong odds.

From there we get practical. Dom walks us through tightening a PC, shifting from scattergun buys to targeted West Ham hits, and why reading product checklists matters more than hype. We break down the difference between random team and pick-your-team, when player breaks make sense, and why sticker autos, on-card signatures, and “not associated with any event” patches aren’t equal. The smartest move isn’t always the most exciting: sometimes you buy singles, other times you leverage a cheap team slot with frequent hits. The trick is to know which is which.

Then we tackle the big question: do manufacturers steer monster hits towards influencers? We can’t prove it, but the economics of case hits and sustained demand suggest there’s more orchestration than pure chance. Our advice is grounded: control what you can. Balance the rush with a plan, learn your products, and keep a binder for base cards that might age surprisingly well—especially with first-year Topps NFL on the horizon, where rookie base could mirror early Prism’s long-tail value.

We round it out with mail day highlights, a sharp Steven Gerrard Chrome Flashbacks low-numbered gem, and a live break that reminds us why we love and loathe the chase in equal measure. Plus, Brighton card show prep: how to walk a hall without buying the wrong card first. Subscribe, share with a mate who loves breaks, and tell us: are loaded boxes for influencers a clever myth or a quiet truth? Your stories and reviews help more collectors find us.