transcript

Speaker 1:
[00:11] What's going on, everybody? Welcome back to the fastest growing podcast in the world, centering around football cards and football cards. It is the Football Card Podcast here on the Stacking Slabs Network with my good friend, John at Pack Nicholson, brought to you by our wonderful sponsors, Card Ladder, the official data provider of the Football Card Podcast and the broader Stacking Slabs Network, number 44, coming at you. NFL Draft Week, how you doing? Time to be optimistic. Time to start thinking about those players who land on our teams and what those rookie cards are going to look like. We get into the Topps Chrome Football fallout of it all, big sales, mailbag and more. Make sure you're following us at the Football Card Pod on Instagram if you want to show your support for the broader Stacking Slabs Network. Hit the follow button. Tell a damn friend. Run on over to the Patreon group. It's the Football Card Podcast. Let's be happy. Football cards rule. Coming your way.

Speaker 2:
[01:23] Hello and welcome to the Football Card Podcast. This is it. It's Friday. You made it and you are listening to the fastest growing podcast in the entire world that's centered on football cards and most importantly, football cards. I'm your host, John, aka Pac Nicholson, and with me as always is Brett, Mr. Stacking Slabs himself. Brett, how are you doing?

Speaker 1:
[01:44] Well, it's a big week. We've got the draft. We're here picking guys, guys that will be on rookie cards, that will spend way too much money trying to acquire, which is fun. Love all the official finalized mock drafts flooding my feeds going out. Interesting year here because we traded our first round pick for Sauce Gardener. So I don't get to participate in that day one of it all, which is fine. But yeah, I always think that all the pomp and circumstances and the hoopla is in that Thursday night, which I really enjoy. Typically, I have friends over. We eat pizza and watch and do all that. Less celebration this year because my team's not picking, but those other days is where you really strike gold and find guys that can add an impact. Not saying first-rounders aren't great. They're the attention-grabbers, but I like the later rounds and seeing what unfolds. So that's happening. And then we're on the other side of the Topps Chrome launch. And I'm sure you and I both have a lot to talk about in terms of what's come our way, our observations. So I've not participated, but I am having a damn good time analyzing the landscape around Topps Chrome Football.

Speaker 2:
[03:07] Yeah, Topps Chrome Front agreed. I haven't really made any purchases yet, but I'm watching. It's fun to just see the new cards pop up, what things are selling for, what seems like a good buy, a bad buy. High prices, but then just the volume. There's so much stuff, so many inserts, so many parallels. So, I don't know, I'm intrigued. I'll say that. I'm officially on the intrigued meter. I'm looking, I'm trying to find, I'm like, there's gotta be some sort of little angle I can get in here where I'm not breaking the bank and I'm picking up some of these new cards and all this, it just makes me want to rip a box. But again, the prices, I just stayed away for now. And then on the draft front, yeah, nothing better than day two stuff. I missed when it was all one day and it was just a marathon. It was on like ESPN2 for eight hours and then there's nothing better than the day after where every draft pick looks amazing, like for your team. It's like, oh, we got this guy in the fifth round from Alabama, but it's like, you went to Alabama, he's gonna be amazing. What do you mean he was a steal in the fifth round? So many late round picks that I was convinced were going to be superstars, that then they don't even play. You're like, wait, what? I thought, I read so many articles about how this guy was the biggest steal of the sixth round, and now he's not even, he didn't even make the team.

Speaker 1:
[04:39] The full day of it all reminds me so much of being in college, and in my fraternity house, we had a bum room, and we just had a large projection TV, and when that draft day came, and that sat, like that Saturday specifically, we'd wake up and we'd start having fun, and we would literally, from start to finish, watch every pick, get the pizza, you have the pops, you have all of it going on, and then you, after the, you've sat through, you know, 12 hours of draft, then, you know, you might brush your teeth and shower, and time for a party, and I think about that, and I go back to that point in my life, and it's like, man, all of that time, just to watch the draft, and yeah, man, I will say it's, I miss that, but there's no chance I would be able to replicate that, so it's, I'm holding on to the memories.

Speaker 2:
[05:40] Yeah, I was, when you said, imagine that, I wasn't just thinking of the time it spent watching the draft that I used to have, but going out at night after a long day of doing something else, it's insane. People who go out at 10, 11 p.m. to start their night, I can't do it anymore, I'm washed.

Speaker 1:
[06:01] Oh, big time washed. On the Chrome front, as we were preparing for this episode and things to talk about, like, I just had this song just stuck in my head based on my week one experience with Topps Chrome, and I think this song was in a Dockers commercial, like, when we were growing up, but the band is Squeeze and the song is called Tempted, you know, Tempted by the Fruit of Another. I'm hearing that song played in my brain all the time, especially because the wonderful community of great football card collectors are constantly sending me these cards and sending me these parallels. And I'm clicking the links and I'm like, these cards are cool. And then I see the price and I'm like, good Lord. And I don't think I got a chance to, I think we talked privately about this, but good, good story for the Football Card Podcast. After we got done recording, launch day last week, I was like, you know, it's, I feel really good about my position and just spectating. I'm very busy with my other stuff. And then I like put my kids down and go back to my phone in the evening. And I just saw all the blue dots. I was like, what could this be? Well, everybody had sent me the fact that the Daniel Jones super fracture had been pulled. And so I, I'm getting this image from all angles. And I look at it and I'm like, man, the last year, prison, they really shit the bed because they didn't put Daniel Jones in the product. And this is a Daniel Jones Colts card. It's the best Colts card. Amazing. So I slid into the owner's den and learned that he had pulled it from a $25 hanger pack.

Speaker 2:
[07:58] That's awesome, though, that they're out there.

Speaker 1:
[08:00] No, it isn't. You know, great poll. And, you know, I just followed up. What do you want for it? I don't know, of course. I wasn't, like, thirsting for the card. But because I had access to it, and because it's a quarterback of my team and I don't have a Daniel Jones Colts card, in that moment, I was like, let's see if this guy wants to play some ball. So I did a quick card ladder search. Like, literally, it's the day this product was released, just checking, has any Superfractor sold? And there was a Mike Evans that had sold, and I think it sold for $1,000. And I'm guessing, I didn't look into it in any detail, but I'm guessing it was listed really quick and it got, you know, been smashed. So I didn't, like, use that as context, but I just, like, I could tell that the owner did not like Daniel Jones and did not want the card. And so I got to make an offer back. And so I decided, okay, well, the Hall of Famer, Mike Evans, got been smashed for $1,000. I'll just throw a $1,000 offer out there. Throw a $1,000 offer. They just left on red. And so we went from, I don't know what the price is, to here's a $1,000 offer, to apparently I'm insulting by offering someone $1,000 for a card that they pulled for $25, an insulting offer. And then the other shoe drops were, then I start getting more messages. This card has then been put in a Facebook group, in a basically the context of the Facebook group says, you know, I'm looking for $15,000 for this card or best offer, only serious offer. So $1,000 wasn't a serious offer because it triggered, you know, this post in the Facebook group. And then the third shoe drops, if that's even possible, where I saw that it had been purchased by somebody else and already posted on their Instagram. And yeah, so that was like all I needed to know about Topps Chrome Football and continued my confidence in my position to knock it down in the weeds on this stuff because it's an interesting time, that's for sure.

Speaker 2:
[10:29] Yeah, there's just, it's a lot of attention right now. And so everyone who pulls something thinks they have something really, really special until, and over the next weeks and months as so much of this product is going to get ripped and all of a sudden that card that's out of 50 really starts to reveal that it's out of 50. Like even a card out of 50 from 2010 is different than a brand new card out of 50 where every hit is captured on video and then shared on social media. So, no, because like you, I'm tempted. I'm seeing things I like. I'm seeing cool cards, but I'm just trying to stay on the sidelines until, you know, give it a couple months when the next product comes out that breakers are focused on that card vault by Tom Brady is ripping. With like the next product, you know, like just once the spotlights are off of this Topps Chrome, I feel like prices will come back down to earth or, you know, find whatever their level actually is. But it's just so hard to be like the first purchase of a product. Like we've seen it a billion times. The first sales from any new product are a lot of times the peak. So it's going to take, it's going to take what 14 years for this to be like 2012 Prism. Like if people are, you know, buying this thinking like this is, or paying 2012 Prism prices because of the thought that this will appreciate like 2012 Prism and all that. It's like that took 14 years. You can look at data from 2012, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, like Prism wasn't selling what it is now back then. So it's going to take time. All of this is the copium I'm using to not spend money on these new cards.

Speaker 1:
[12:18] It's smart. Well, one more question back before we jump into the episode officially is this angle on the comparison with Prism, and there's a big disconnect that I have with this because this isn't the first year of Topps Chrome Football. We've had a whole history and I've seen that lever being pulled and it just doesn't resonate with me. Like 10 years from now, are we really going to like, are we gonna preface it by saying like, this is the debut year of Topps Chrome Football in the fanatics era? Like, is anyone gonna give a shit about that? I don't know, like I can't predict the future, but I can't, to me it's not apples to apples with another debut year in its first official year because we have a whole history of Topps Chrome Football. It obviously adds to the legacy and it obviously is an important year. I do think it is an important year because it is the return year, but I think the return year is very different than the debut year in my humble opinion.

Speaker 2:
[13:34] Yeah, agreed. I think the gap in between is like big enough for it to feel different than some of those sets in the late 90s, early 2000s that were like on again, off again. Like, I feel like Select, I'm like, I don't really know how long Select ran. I feel like it stopped for a little bit and it kept changing brands and all that. So it just kind of gets muddied. There's not as clear of a start and stop as like, oh, Topps Chrome ended in 2010. Or I guess it didn't even because football went until.

Speaker 1:
[14:07] We've talked about the 2015s and how we hate them.

Speaker 2:
[14:11] Yeah, never mind. I was thinking basketball. Yeah, but yeah, just trying to that tempted song. I feel I was just Googling it because I'm like, was it a Fruit of the Loom commercial?

Speaker 1:
[14:23] That's it. That's it.

Speaker 2:
[14:24] But no, there's a Gap commercial that in 2003 with this song that is like, because you're saying Jeans and it's like.

Speaker 1:
[14:33] I think it was Dockers too.

Speaker 2:
[14:35] Maybe, but this Gap Broken In Jeans commercial is like, is the top of my, is what AI is telling me, is what my search is telling me. There's a Burger King commercial that used it.

Speaker 1:
[14:49] Everyone should listen to that song and read the lyrics while you're listening to it and tell me if you feel what I'm feeling.

Speaker 2:
[14:56] There's nothing worse though than like hearing a song first in a commercial and it getting ruined that way. I guess that happened more as a kid, but I remember hearing Like A Rock by Bob Seeger for the first time, in a car commercial. I was like, what? This was strictly a car commercial song.

Speaker 1:
[15:17] That might be the ultimate growing up song in a commercial call out. This is a whole sub. We could probably do a whole podcast on this topic because I'm getting really excited thinking about it, but What a great spot for an ad though.

Speaker 2:
[15:33] Oh my god, it's perfect. Love some Seeger.

Speaker 1:
[15:38] Hell yeah. Night Moves guy. Oh, God.

Speaker 2:
[15:41] Yeah. Night Moves is, I mean, I don't know the catalog that deep. I feel like Night Moves turned the page, the hits. I know the hits, but Night Moves, I've listened to a lot of Night Moves in my life.

Speaker 1:
[15:53] Great tune.

Speaker 2:
[15:56] All right. Episode 44, we are cruising to Episode 44. But it wouldn't be possible without our wonderful sponsors, Card Ladder, the only ones.

Speaker 1:
[16:10] Shout out Card Ladder, the official data provider of the Football Card Podcast and the broader Stacking Slabs Network. Always stuff to do on the platform whenever I am finding an opportunity or I'm getting fatigued by the safe searches and the Instagram. I just spending time looking at my cards digitally on there a lot recently. I just like it, man. My collection is up to date and it feels like a great extension of what I've been building. So Card Ladder, thank you for supporting the pod. Everyone, go sign up for Card Ladder. If you're not signed up for Card Ladder, what are you doing?

Speaker 2:
[16:46] What are you doing? Episode 44, we've got an uptick of Hall of Famers for episode 44. We've got Bobby Dylan, Leroy Kelly, Dick LeBeau, Floyd Little, and John Riggins. But there's some other 44s I know that stand out to us. I'll let you go first, because this is a great player that you have. That's a personal one.

Speaker 1:
[17:12] Yeah, shout out old Dall, Dallas Clark. Just, I mean, I feel like he might be the forgotten soldier in the Manning era on the Colts, probably because he played tight in without gloves, mind you. But first round draft pick from Iowa. Just a good old boy who loved playing football, catching balls, getting dirty, getting out there in space, had some wheels. I had a white Dallas Clark jersey that I wore for quite an era going into the RCA Dome. John Mackey award winner, first team all-pro in 09, Colts Ring of Honor, career stats, 505 receptions, 5,665 receiving yards, 53 touchdowns. In preparation of this episode, I was considering what is my favorite Dallas Clark memory and it is, without a shadow of a doubt, Monday Night Football against the Dolphins 2009, which we've talked about the 2009 Dolphins quite a bit, and Ricky Williams and all of that, but it was a hell of a game. Dallas Clark, first play of the game, Manning just hit him and he just busted a touchdown. Monster game, seven catches, 183 yards and a touchdown. Just such a stud. Big Dallas Clark guy, he's come back to have some conversations and talk and do some press. It's always good to see Dallas. I was looking this up and I remember when this card went for sale, and this is the highest selling Dallas Clark card of all time, which is, speaking of 2009, the year of my favorite memory. I'm connecting the dots there. I'm wondering, is this potentially from that game? If this card is from that game, I'm going to be pissed that I didn't get it when it came up. But it is the 09 Bowman Chrome Dallas Clark Superfractor 1 of 1 PSA 9. This thing sold at auction, Leland's Auction. And dude, I remember people sending me this card. And they're like, it's on Leland's. And I was like, I cannot forget this. And what did I do? I totally forgot it because of Leland's. Maybe first Leland's call out in Football Card Podcast history, this card sold for $1,513. And the card is so beautiful because it's almost like, if you think about any awesome baseball card where you've got like a center fielder who's like going up to catch a ball on the tracks, like this is that but a football version of Dallas just floating in the air. You can just see his taped up fingers getting ready to catch a manning ball over the middle. It's just such a nasty card. Shout out Dallas Clark. I love you, man.

Speaker 2:
[20:04] Yeah. This card is incredible. I'm glad you brought up, I mean, of course, the no gloves just bare handed beast out there. I love that this card very clearly is, his bare hands are like a centerpiece of this card.

Speaker 1:
[20:17] Yes.

Speaker 2:
[20:18] I'd rather see that than a football in them. I like seeing the paws getting ready to make a catch. He was so good. That season when he had over 1,000 yards, I feel like everyone had over 1,000 yards, meaning was just, or maybe that was even a different year, because I feel like there was the year that there were 3,000 yard receivers.

Speaker 1:
[20:37] 05, there was three guys with 10 touchdowns and 1,000 yards.

Speaker 2:
[20:42] And Clark's big season was 2009, in 1100 yards, 10 touchdowns, first team all-pro. What a beast.

Speaker 1:
[20:51] Help me understand this, dude. It might be probably the Tony Gonzalez and the Antonio Gates of it all, but I was kind of stunned a little bit by the fact that he only had one first team all-pro, but then I was like, well, that's because Gates and Gonzalez probably got it every... one of those guys probably got it every year.

Speaker 2:
[21:12] Yeah, that was a tough era. And when did Gronk... I guess Gronk was a rookie in 2010. And then 2011 was like Gronk's biggest year. Yeah, 2008, I wonder 2008, NFL tight end first team all-pro. Who was it? Tony Gonzalez?

Speaker 1:
[21:31] Yeah. I mean, he cleaned up. Him and Gates just cleaned up.

Speaker 2:
[21:35] Jason Whitten. There was a lot of good tight ends in that era. I mean, but yeah, shout out Dallas Clark. Some 44s I wanted to mention. First off, I saw the name Leroy Kelly. Do you remember Leroy Jenkins?

Speaker 1:
[21:53] Oh, do I remember Leroy Jenkins? Really, classic, that's like E-bomb's world. I know.

Speaker 2:
[22:00] Just when viral videos meant something, when there was, and I rewatched that again recently or I went back, I was like, I gotta see this Leroy Jenkins video. It's so long and it's like, my attention span is cooked, is what I'm saying, where I'm like, how did this go viral when it was like this five-minute, like very kind of niche insider video type thing that like is minutes to set up this one line, but I like had the whole thing memorized. Like still, like it was such an iconic moment. That E-bombs world era was amazing. Before YouTube, like you looked at E-bombs world.

Speaker 1:
[22:40] Yes, that's, you know, if you're not familiar, I feel like if you are unfamiliar or not familiar with Leroy Jenkins, the, if E-bombs world at the time had like, you'd be interested in this, it would be like, give me the gold, like the, the leprechaun. That would be, that's like same era.

Speaker 2:
[23:03] So, but the whistle tip.

Speaker 1:
[23:05] Yes, the whistle tips go whoop, whoop.

Speaker 2:
[23:09] A great era of comedy on the internet, but Leroy Kelly, how to take away from Leroy Kelly's Hall of Fame career, running back for the Cleveland Browns, three straight first team All-Pros, which I love a three-year run of first team All-Pros, with twice leading the league in rushing, and this is 1966 to 1968. He had a touchdown machine, so in 66, he had 16 touchdowns, in 67, he had 13, and in 67, he had 20 touchdowns, along with 1,536 yards. Shout out Leroy Kelly, Browns running back, and then another running back that I'd always heard the name. I know John Riggins, it's like beloved player for Washington Redskins, fans, Washington Commanders fans, Washington football team fans, and I didn't realize how old he was when he was playing. For running back, it's crazy. John Riggins started his career with the Jets in 1971. Up until 75, he made a Pro Bowl for the Jets when he ran for 1,000 yards and 8 touchdowns. Spent his next four years for the Redskins, got up to 1,100 yards. Then he didn't play in all of 1980 contract dispute. That's when he's 31 years old. Normally, what, around 30 running backs and receivers start to kind of expire around the league. He is kind of, I'd say, a common point. But after this year he set out in 1980, Riggins came back and played five more seasons, including his best seasons. In 1983, he ran for 1,347 yards and 24 touchdowns, was a first team all-pro. The year after that, another 1,200 yards and 14 touchdowns, and won a Super Bowl in 82, in which, in that postseason, four games, he ran for 610 yards. So, well, let's say John Riggins is a beast and doing it at an old age. He was playing when he was 36 at running back. That just seems crazy.

Speaker 1:
[25:23] Check out this John Riggins' 72 Topps rookie card.

Speaker 2:
[25:26] I mean, look at that, look at that. This is the haircut that I see today on the youth. It is. He's got the bussin haircut.

Speaker 1:
[25:41] John Riggins, a couple of things about John Riggins that are notable here. John Riggins didn't play with gloves either. He's just, it's a 44 thing. He's just rugged, no gloves. Also, fun fact about John Riggins is that Tyler Warren wore 44 in college because of John Riggins and his toughness and tenacity. Then obviously gets drafted to the Colts and 44 is ring of honor material, so has to pivot and not wear the 44. But yeah, it's just like we're 44. There's something special about 44.

Speaker 2:
[26:19] Yeah, that's, he's a beast. I love the players like that. That's why, probably why people love Kim Skadebo so much. It's like the running back who isn't scared of getting concussed or getting knocked out. Like the job is to pound and get yards. But so.

Speaker 1:
[26:39] So I've been back and forth on the Skadebo versus Skadeboo.

Speaker 2:
[26:43] Yeah, I don't know what to say.

Speaker 1:
[26:45] I did, I found a video of him introducing himself, and he introduces himself as Cam Skadebo. So that's, I feel like we got to go with it because he, that's what he said.

Speaker 2:
[26:58] That's what I, that's what my brain always wants to say. But then right as I'm saying it, I'm like, there's only one O, should be Bo. But I don't know. And I just haven't done the due diligence to figure out, but we're going Bo. It's Cam Skadebo.

Speaker 1:
[27:12] Yep.

Speaker 2:
[27:13] Initially, all right, let's lock it. And yeah, what's with, I mean, I love Bijan, but it was like, it's not Bijan, it's Bajan. Is what, like he came out and said that at one point, and then he went back to, no, Bijan's fine. Though I gotta figure out the names, running backs, just figure out your name, or this isn't on me to learn how to pronounce it right. This is on you to simplify it.

Speaker 1:
[27:36] By the way, I think we're being clipped because, didn't we have a conversation about Bijan and him not having, his highest selling card publicly is not as much as Cam's Scataboo? No. Didn't we talk about this?

Speaker 2:
[27:56] We did talk about this.

Speaker 1:
[27:58] Dude, I saw outlets in the hobby with graphics with Cam and Bijan cards side by side. I'm like, didn't we talk about this on the pod?

Speaker 2:
[28:08] Well, I had, and we can talk about this more on passion to profession maybe next week.

Speaker 1:
[28:14] Well, everyone tune in. You might get a double dose of pack coming up.

Speaker 2:
[28:20] The PSA Vault Instagram account, I'm helping oversea run, and I did a Cam vs. Bijan post on there.

Speaker 1:
[28:29] Okay. So that... You're influential, man.

Speaker 2:
[28:32] And then Collect, yeah, I saw, did a post. They ripped the entire thing, word for word, bar for bar. And, you know, that's the content game when you're making, you know, imitation is the highest form of flattery, they say, so. But, yeah, you know, sometimes you just take some learnings from the football card pod and you can distill it down to a nice easy graphic and we're just, we're out here just comparing numbers and players, right?

Speaker 1:
[28:57] That's all we're doing and talking about guys.

Speaker 2:
[28:59] Yeah, guys talking about dudes playing football. One other one, shout out Kyle Juszczyk, shout out Fullbacks.

Speaker 1:
[29:09] Shout out his wife.

Speaker 2:
[29:10] Yeah.

Speaker 1:
[29:12] Making gear, making cool jackets.

Speaker 2:
[29:14] Yeah, making jackets. Kyle Juszczyk, 10 time pro bowler. Because I don't know any other Fullbacks that have really been around them. What a luxury to just be the guy.

Speaker 1:
[29:25] The only one.

Speaker 2:
[29:27] Which also reminds me, speaking of Fullbacks, we missed Lorenzo Neal on 31. I'm upset about that.

Speaker 1:
[29:36] Big miss.

Speaker 2:
[29:37] Someone commented or replied and I was instantly like, God damn it, how did we miss Lorenzo Neal? I think they commented on the post and tagged him. Like how did you miss at Lorenzo Neal? I was like, shit, don't get Lorenzo on me. I'll issue a formal public apology. I'm sorry.

Speaker 1:
[29:55] Cause he was so sick.

Speaker 2:
[29:57] So sick, has the best shoulder pad pictures. Like I definitely would have used him to lead off the 41 Instagram carousel. So had to shout out Lorenzo Neal, four time Pro Bowler, but two time first team All Pro as a Fullback.

Speaker 1:
[30:11] Okay. What I'm going to call out specifically, and this is for you Andy, bye bye baby cards. Put that USHAC collection out there. They said we need you because I know you've got some bangers. Episode 44, let's see them. You've got some bangers. I know you're a Niners guy. Let's see those cards.

Speaker 2:
[30:30] Let's see them. Get the cards out. All right. Episode 44. Should we get into some questions? We got a good batch of questions this week.

Speaker 1:
[30:37] Let's do it.

Speaker 2:
[30:38] All right. From Chris McClough on 77, what is the card you hunted the longest before acquiring?

Speaker 1:
[30:47] This kind of came.

Speaker 2:
[30:49] Okay, go for it. I think there's two ways to think about this, or I think it could be two different cards. Like, one is a card you've known exists and wanted, and over time, were able to get it. And then the second part is like an active negotiation. Like, you know where a copy is, and there's contact of like, I want this card, can we figure out a deal? And then how long that can take to work out? Because as I was thinking of it, I'm like, did Jay Cutler 2012 Prison Finite? That was a card I wanted for a long, long time, but it wasn't like a real pursuit. It was like, I just know this exists, I'm never going to be able to get it. It showed up on eBay, 10-day auction. 10 days is the time I spent actively working to acquire the card, but I wanted it a lot longer than that. So putting that out there, and curious which way maybe you went with your.

Speaker 1:
[31:45] I can do both now that I like both interpretations. I will go with the first version of this is the card that I tried to track down, and it's a full circle moment, and it is when I acquired the 2012 Andrew Luck Gold Prism, and my first National, when I got back into the hobby, dude, I didn't know anything, right? You know, you're just trying to find your footing, and it was like right after Luck retired, and I remember walking in the National, and walking up to a showcase, and there was a decision that I had to make, and it was a Manning card, or it was the Andrew Luck 2012 Gold Prism, and I looked at both of them, and I ended up going with the Manning card, because I was like, man, that cost of that Luck just is probably too high based on him retiring, and it was in the showcase of Paul, Favillous Cards, we made the deal on the Manning, and I remember leaving The National being like, it was like right as I was like really starting to appreciate Prism and loving Prism, and I regretted it, and I had his contact information, but I was like, I shouldn't do this because of the cost. And so it was just this big chase. And then finally, it reached a point where I was like, I need to get this card. And this is like three or four years later. Sell it on a price before The National, and it was like, you blink and you're there. I was right in front of his showcase again at The National, and he was very much like, this card needs to be in your collection, and gave him the cash, got the card. And so that one stands out to me. And then verse two is Andrew Luck as well. When I found out where all of these Andrew Luck Finites were sitting, and I knew that it was in Shelbyville, Indiana, and I knew I couldn't fuck it up. I needed to take it slow and steady, because I'd get, I don't know if I'm ready, just get rid of these. And so, dude, the nurturing of that relationship was, it was 12 or 13 months until finally I hit the message at the right time, where it was like we settled on a price. And it was like, I was like, can you meet right now? I will drive to you. And we got that deal done in the casino parking lot. But that one, dude, this is just feedback for the audience. When you know where a card is or cards are, and you don't want anyone else to know about it, and luckily this person was not like public on Instagram, you just, you can't be too aggressive. I feel like you got to have the commonality. We're both Colds fans, it sucks luck, retire like these threads and just having these chats over the course of a period and building up that goodwill until finally pouncing. So those are the two that stand out to me.

Speaker 2:
[35:09] Those are great ones. The Casino Finite Bounty is just, that's the best ever.

Speaker 1:
[35:16] I told them, I told them literally, mound of cash and this deal will never be replicated because I got like five Andrew Luck Finites, I got three Andrew Luck Gold Vinyl. I mean, it's the stockpile I got from this deal is it will never be replicated. Like I'll never be able to do that again. But I remember handing over the cash to the guy and I was like, don't you go blow it in the casino and he just looks at me and he goes, well, I'm going in there right now. I was just like, oh God.

Speaker 2:
[35:47] If he won, are you cheating?

Speaker 1:
[35:49] I don't know. I didn't follow up.

Speaker 2:
[35:51] That's who I aspire to be is one day in like, when I'm just a senile old man, I'm meeting some kid in a parking lot for the Jay Cutler transition where they're like, why is this old guy meeting me in a parking lot to sell all these rare Jay Cutler cards? Pass it on. I get the ones that stood out to me. One was the 2012 Prism Gold Jay Cutler. I remember it got pulled. There was a Facebook post about it, and I reached out to the guy in like 2023, 2022, and he just wanted too much money at the time. It was like a few hundred dollars, and I had bought his Cutler's 2013 Prism Gold for like 80 bucks or something. I was like, I don't want to spend hundreds of dollars on the 2012. But it was always a card that I knew I needed to get, and as time went on and Prism was doing what Prism did, I reached out like two years later, and I was like, do you still have that card? He did, and I just made it off. I was like, I'm getting this card. So the fact that it was still just available, he had never listed on eBay. He had just done one Facebook post about it, and it was still sitting on it, it's crazy to me.

Speaker 1:
[37:06] Can I, that's amazing, and I love the come back to that, but that person, that persona in the hobby, the individual who is probably doing just fine in their daily life, that they don't need to sell every card that comes in their, in their decision, what is that? I'll just like put it in case and whatever, it's just there, like, I love those people in this hobby that just like sit on cards and they don't need to sell everything. They, it's just like out of sight, out of mind, whatever, like those are the best people to interact with.

Speaker 2:
[37:38] Yes, for the love of the game. Yes. Buying cards to buy cards. And then another one is, shout out Jason, Chicago Bears Cards. So there are two I got from him, two Shawn Alexander cards, not even Bears Cards, but I remember on eBay, there was a 2002 finest gold refractor, Shawn Alexander, raw. I think it was $60 OBO. I was sitting there forever. I was just like, I don't want to spend $60 on a Shawn Alexander card. Like in like 2020, 2021, it didn't make sense. And then I feel like I was offering like 40 and they're countering like 60. You know, it's just stupid. It's like over $10. I'm just fighting with this guy and then it disappears off the watchlist. And I don't remember if he posted it or we were just talking one day. And Jason, like I learned, Jason got that. He was the one that bought that card. He loves, he likes Shawn Alexander is collecting them. He got it graded. It got a 10. And I was always like, I want that card so bad. And then I found out Jason also had the O2 Finest X-Fractor Shawn Alexander. So he had this beautiful pairing that I really wanted and just kept checking in over the years. And then at National, we got like so close to making a deal. Like he had the card there, but he just he wasn't ready to move it. And then like a year later, he finally reached out. I think the gold first and then the X-Fractor a couple of months later, but still have those cards, love those cards. It's fun to just hunt something for years. What else are we doing?

Speaker 1:
[39:12] It makes you love it. It like the feeling you have when you finally get it is so powerful. And it's just awesome.

Speaker 2:
[39:19] Yes.

Speaker 1:
[39:20] All right.

Speaker 2:
[39:20] Next question from TKD Tickets. What is one card from each other's collection that you covet most? Which would you take no strings attached for your own collection, not to flip, but to have and to hold until death do you part?

Speaker 1:
[39:37] This was easy for me. It's got to be the Cutler Finite. The whole story, and I feel like I'm a part of it in a way because of this podcast. And it would be cool to be interviewed. I wonder if I bought it for you for like a dollar more if the New York Times would interview me, if that would be possible. Yeah. So definitely the Cutler. Just I feel like that has such a rich history for this podcast.

Speaker 2:
[40:02] Yeah. It's a notable one. I was going through your Instagram page. I'm like, what would I pick? And so I think I put, if I was going to like sell it or flip it, 2014 Finite Luck, like I love that card, but I also-

Speaker 1:
[40:17] My favorite card, dude.

Speaker 2:
[40:18] It's one of the sickest cards just period. And like of the era, like when luck was at his peak, I feel like 2014, it's just, it's everything. Cause you don't have the 13, right?

Speaker 1:
[40:30] I don't have the 13 Finite, no.

Speaker 2:
[40:32] 13 Finite, yeah. But cause I was like, does he have that? That might have been my number one. Cause I love that picture, like him on the run and I just love my 13. And then honestly though, 2024 Finite Jonathan Taylor is pretty close. Cause that like fits more into my, like that would fit in my collection better. The luck I think is the cooler card and the more like powerful overall card, but the JT would, would fit in with my like Labian's and Bijan my kind of these like fantasy stud section that I have going.

Speaker 1:
[41:03] So, fun, fun question. Those are definitely two of my favorite cards in my collection. So you've got good taste.

Speaker 2:
[41:11] Yeah, we have more tastes.

Speaker 1:
[41:14] Yeah, we do.

Speaker 2:
[41:15] All right. Question three from ArcUK Cards. What to do when you are priced out of your favorite player to collect, aka Brady, dot, dot, dot.

Speaker 1:
[41:29] My feedback is just there can be other players that you love, and there's probably other opportunities. I think as I mature as a collector, the one thing that I am always looking for now in this era is value. I can't possibly, if I'm player collecting, I can't feel comfortable with myself just continuing to overpay for cards just because that's what the market says. I really feel like with Manning, in my collecting of Manning, it stalled out because just the profile of card that I want from Manning reached this level and this price threshold that I was unwilling to pay, and it wasn't fun for me anymore. It was like, all right, well, I'm going to focus my energy on a player like Andrew Luck, who I like just as much, if not more or like a TY. Hilton, same thing, and just go get their best cards. And so I don't know, like there, I also think that like rejuvenation and resetting is invigorating in a way. Like there's so much frustration when it comes to like a player's cards going up in value and you're trying to navigate, and it just keeps getting pushed higher and higher and higher. And then it reaches this point where it's like, I'm not spending $20,000 for a superfracture, like of some random year, like I'm just not doing it. So I think those moments are really fun as a collector, as frustrating as they are. So I don't know, feedback is like, you got to love it like someone else besides Brady. Just go out and buy their best cards or reset. It's fun.

Speaker 2:
[43:05] Yeah, well said. I think, well, I did a quick search and I found, I searched Card Ladder Sales, Brady, in between $20 and $40, just to see what's there. And I saw 2015 Topps, Tom Brady Gold, numbered out of 2015. So it's like a numbered Brady Gold for 25 bucks. Like, granted, 2015 Topps we discussed, it makes me sick to my stomach to look at. But still, this is actually a cool card. This looks better than the Topps Chrome version of that year. I don't know, just the fact you could get a numbered Brady Gold for 25 bucks. Like, there are opportunities out there. On the other side, I understand where it's like, I don't want those cards, I want the bigger and better cards. Or like, if you're at a different level of collecting, that doesn't sound as fun. But yeah, there's either other players or it's like either go cheaper or you just convince yourself that you're not spending that much and that you're not overpaying. Like, if it right now feels like you're overpaying for Brady, just convince yourself that it's a good purchase and all of a sudden you'll feel better about everything.

Speaker 1:
[44:10] It's good feedback, yeah. It's not easy, you gotta be adaptable in this space. That's what I have learned.

Speaker 2:
[44:17] Yes, all right. Question four, a two pack from Alex Bridgeforth, part one. Which non-quarterback is everyone going to be buying in August like Lad McConkey last year?

Speaker 1:
[44:32] I went with Malik Neighbors just because I'm tying him as the Robin to Jackson Darts Batman. It feels like because he's been out of sight, out of mind, people will be trying to get a piece of him. So the Giants have got these guys, they're the most hyped up team. Can you imagine if the Giants draft Jeremiah Love? Like Love, Scataboom, Neighbors, DART, just all these young guys that the hobby's just obsessed with. So I'm going with Malik Neighbors. And what was the second part about Chargers?

Speaker 2:
[45:06] Oh yeah, and then the second part is what retired Chargers would you invest in?

Speaker 1:
[45:09] Invest in? Well, I'm not investing in Chargers. Yeah, I don't really have an answer to this because I don't collect the Chargers. I mean, I guess I can get away with saying Philip Rivers, but that seems like Captain Obvious. I don't know, man.

Speaker 2:
[45:25] Yeah. So for players, skill position players that everyone's going to be buying in August, I said, I don't know if it's my bubble, but Colston Loveland seems really high. Like I'm looking at 2025 Topps Chrome stuff, Colston Loveland, and everything's a lot more money than I want to spend. I don't know if that's just, yeah, what I'm seeing and like how he compares to others, rookies from the class. But then I had to look up, I was like, who won Offensive Rookie of the Year last year? I couldn't remember, I had to Google it. And the Panthers receiver, Ted McMillan, yeah. Who had a great year, I had him in Fantasy, so I remember him performing. I just don't remember the like Offensive Rookie of the Year announcement. So I, and looking up prices, he does seem to be selling pretty high. So I think one of those two guys, I think Neighbors is a great call. I guess I was just thinking of rookies. Not as much, because Neighbors, I wonder if, I feel like Brian Thomas Jr. had a good year, but then he didn't have a good year. It just happened so fast, like the roller coaster of, like what happened to Brock Bowers? Brock Bowers was amazing after year one. Had like probably a really good year too, but it wasn't as good as year one. So it just is hard to maintain the hype. And then, oh, Chargers To Collect. So I think the obvious answer to me is like LaDainian Tomlinson. Like, people love LTE if you want to invest. Tomlinson makes sense to me, but then I put Ryan Leaf, because I would love to see a sick Ryan Leaf collection, because there's something about those collect, like for the love of the game collections, you know, like something where you look at it and you know that the person put in 10,000 hours on eBay to get that collection. Like they've scoured some forums to get that collection. Like that's the kind of collection that when Mr. Wonderful is like, this is going to make grown men weep and it's just like a $10 million exquisite card. I'm like, no, buddy. What's going to make me weep is when I see someone with a Ryan Leaf collection that has like all the rare, like he's got the 24 karat gold, he's got a gem master, he's got everything that you could want. So, yeah, get some Ryan Leaf cards.

Speaker 1:
[47:49] And Ryan Leaf has amazing cards too based on-

Speaker 2:
[47:53] And all those six sets, yeah.

Speaker 1:
[47:55] Do you think Mr. Wonderful knows that like people like us don't give a shit about seeing like the same players with patches and autographs, regardless of the product over and over again? Like, I'm just like, I get so, I just get so like pissed off when the position by the person is that because this is this player and this card with this autograph with this patch and it's like, this is what is shoved down my throat with people and their feedback and their cards. Like, the more it gets shoved down my throat, the more I hate it. And so like, I hate all those cards. Like, I don't even think they're cool. I don't care about the history. I just hate them because they're being thrown and propped up in my face. I don't care about the lineage and legacy. I care about the fact that other people lash onto them and are like, these are the coolest cards ever. I think that sucks. And so just a little bit of a rant, but the more you push something in my face, the more I hate it. So I hate all those cards, Mr. Wonderful.

Speaker 2:
[49:02] Truly though. I mean, I just hate the positioning of, I mean, this card will make grown men weep just off layers. It's a good line. Like he's cutting promos up there. I can't knock him out for what he's doing. But no, what would make me weep is if someone showed me, like if Mr. Wonderful showed me three Plexico Burr Superfactors years, I'd be like, all right, this is sick. Like if Mr. Wonderful is not on blowout forums, Mr. Wonderful hasn't done a deep dive on the internet trying to find something. Those are the cards that make me weep.

Speaker 1:
[49:41] Who did the Plexico Burrists like, who did the counter touchdown dance where they acted like they were shooting themselves in spite of Plexico Burrists? Do you remember that?

Speaker 2:
[49:51] No, I don't.

Speaker 1:
[49:52] But I got to look it up.

Speaker 2:
[49:55] That whole situation is still unbelievable. Shooting yourself and then going to jail for it. Like, of all time, just like bad feeling, like I fucked up, that's got to be all time. Like if you get into, you know, like a, like I scratched our car last year going through a gate and I was devastated. I was so mad at myself. Like how did that happen? Like what are you doing? Like you just feel so stupid. Imagine if I shot myself and then had to go to jail. That would be so much worse.

Speaker 1:
[50:29] Here it is. Such a great nostalgic name. And on November 27, 2011, Buffalo Bills receiver Stevie Johnson knocked Plaxico Burris in the 2008 accidental self-inflicted gun wound by pretending to shoot himself in the thigh during a touchdown dance.

Speaker 2:
[50:50] Gosh, that's... Bring back it. Actually, we overindexed on celebrations. Because now everyone does the big team celebration after every touchdown, after every... When a team's down two scores and does a big celebration after like a turnover, it's like, no, I don't want this. I liked when celebrations were solo. And yeah, they were a little derogatory.

Speaker 1:
[51:17] Non-choreographed. In the dark. We're all kept in the dark.

Speaker 2:
[51:21] Yeah, that's why. I mean, there's a million reasons why Joe Horn cell phone touchdown was so incredible. But the fact that he had planted the cell phone before and that there was this like, oh my gosh, he planned ahead of time, like that if he scored a touchdown, like that, I feel like was the first time something was... It wasn't choreographed in the sense it was a dance, but it was premeditated. Yes, which was like a new thing at the time. And then now it's too much, like, we spending this much time at practice doing that, do another suicide, like you better be undefeated, killing it if you're doing a whole dancer team.

Speaker 1:
[52:04] Yeah, well, I mean, I've got the ultimate cheerleader in number one choreographer in Cam Bynum on my team. But this is where I give him the hall pass. He's incredible football player.

Speaker 2:
[52:15] He's awesome.

Speaker 1:
[52:16] So it's like, okay, you're awesome. If you can get the boys together for getting a keg stand celebration going or doing an usher dance, I'm okay with it. What I do miss, and shame on the Shield for banning this, I miss, if you can do this, you score a touchdown, that's a feat in and of itself. But if you can do this and the NFL is banning you from doing this, shame on the NFL and shame on the Shield is the Tony Gonzalez second mention on the podcast, the slam dunk on the goalpost. That is this, with authority, like you just kept, down at dunk it, I miss that.

Speaker 2:
[52:55] Yeah, well, didn't Jimmy Graham ban the goalpost and then they had to, I feel like it wasn't level after.

Speaker 1:
[53:03] He's the reason?

Speaker 2:
[53:04] I think so. I could be wrong, but pretty sure. But it's like, all right, then dunk it right in the middle. Or put a little hoop somewhere that it goes into. I like the goalpost because where I was going, I'm like, bring back props. You got the pom-poms, cell phone, popcorn, Sharpie. I mean, Tio was an innovator. But then even Ezekiel Elliott, when he jumped into the Cauldron, the Salvation Army Cauldron, that was awesome. Buy yourself, being creative with the items around you. That's what I miss. I'd rather see that, that 15 dudes doing like a Cupid Shuffle.

Speaker 1:
[53:49] I'm with you, for sure.

Speaker 2:
[53:51] All right. Next up, from Power Wheels. Someone wants to buy a card you don't have for sale and they want you to make a price. I guess this is just a situation, not a question, but someone wants to buy a card you don't have for sale and they want you to make a price. I'm not responding. I just not responding.

Speaker 1:
[54:11] I can't stand it and those people should be kicked out of the hobby who are doing this. But this is probably my favorite question of the week because I hate it so much when it happens and it makes just me so pissed off. But I think not responding is a good call. But I think I have something worse and this happened to me recently, is when someone approaches you with cards that they have in their collection that they know you would want. And so they DM you and say, I have these cards and you're like, oh, no way, what's the price? And then they say, make an offer. You can't approach someone with cards and say make an offer. It happened to me recently with cards that I certainly want. And dude, I just ignored it. I was like, nope, I'm not playing this game.

Speaker 2:
[55:00] Yeah. If you are soliciting a card, you have to have the price. If you're going to someone unprovoked, if you're initiating contact and saying, I have a card that you might be interested to buy, you have to come with a price. That's just, you're trying to sell something, what's the price? It's not up to them. They didn't even, they weren't even asking for this.

Speaker 1:
[55:21] No, I couldn't even wrap my head around. I didn't even entertain the thought of coming up with a price in my head because instantly it was like, this is not the way I played ball. And go find someone else if you... It's, what do you think I'm an idiot? That's what I wanted to say. You think I'm an idiot here? Like, you approached me. So, Caleb, thank you for helping me relive that moment and other moments like that. So, we've all got those scars.

Speaker 2:
[55:54] Yep. And yeah, not responding. I realized this in the last two years. So I've been in Indiana for like three years now. But the power I unlocked when I realized I don't have to answer the door when a solicitor comes knocking at my house. Like, I feel like when I was in New York, someone was knocking at my door, it was like an important thing or it was a super or a neighbor. Like, I don't know, it was something important. And when we first moved in this house, I didn't realize like solicitors are a thing. Like, you know, people coming by and trying to sell me lawn fertilizer or gutter cleaning or something. And at first, I always answer the door because that's what I just was like trying to do. And then I realized like, I don't have to do this. I can just, you can even see me through this office window. I'm not getting up because I'm doing something. I'm working. Like, it's not, can't just interrupt my day to, for some 21 year old to talk to me about pesticides. Like, not doing it.

Speaker 1:
[56:54] This is such a great topic. And I will comment because I am in the position where I look out in my office of people approaching the door. And my least favorite thing in the world are solicitors who go door to door and interrupt me. I'm doing this all day, essentially. So if anyone's ringing or whatever, it's just interrupting me. So it reached the point probably a year ago where I had had enough and I decided to just go on Amazon and buy a no soliciting sign. And I have it literally right in my front yard. I'm one of those people, no soliciting. And when someone takes a step further, like where they're getting on the step before they see the sign, I'll look at them dead ass and I'll point to the sign and I'll give them the matumbo. I'll just be like, no, get out of here. And dude, when you... They're nervous to begin with because the jar blows. But when someone recognizes it and then gives the matumbo or points to the sign, there's no way I'm buying. You could be selling anything and I'm not buying it. So go move on to the next house. I hate the door-to-door solicitation.

Speaker 2:
[58:14] It's so brutal. And I feel for them because that is a tough job. But yeah, it's like... And the whole work... Like I work from home, so I'm like... I'm not going to step away from my job and then I'm not answering people for 15 minutes because some 19-year-olds talking to me about spider treatments. I'm like, nah, I can't do it, can't do it. But counterpoint to your... You don't care what they're selling. What if they're hawking 2025 Topps Chrome Football Hobby boxes like at a very good price?

Speaker 1:
[58:47] You better be wearing a Topps Hobby Rip Night T-shirt or something to get my attention. Don't come in a black hat and black gear with a clipboard because I'll just lump you in with everybody else. But show up like you're in the hobby and you might break through the security layers here at Stacking Slabs HQ.

Speaker 2:
[59:09] They need... All right, Michael Rubin, you want to 10x the hobby. Door to door, Hobby Box Salesman. And then even a little Hobby Box ice cream truck. Imagine that you hear a jingle, you look outside and the fanatics bus is pulling up and you run up there, get a quick hanger, get a blaster.

Speaker 1:
[59:29] It's a good way to get old signers like John Regans. Hey, John, you want to ride the ice cream truck? We got a stack of Chrome cards for you to sign. Go do the ice cream truck, shake some hands and pass out some hobby boxes and we'll make some money. That's looping the celebrity athletes. Let's do it.

Speaker 2:
[59:48] Yeah, kids running up to it. Who's the signer? Who's the signer? John Regans. All right. Next up, from Drake's PC. Earlier this week on the staging area, Brett discussed his love of knobs, more specifically his love of bat knobs. When it comes to football card relics, what is a specific non-Jersey relic that exists or doesn't exist that you think you'd enjoy collecting?

Speaker 1:
[60:14] You know, it's just tough, Drake, because I'm not a relic guy, but one thing that inspired me to think about coach cards, like I need more coach cards. How cool. Talk about Mr. Wonderful wants to make me weep. Go show me a curated coach card collection. Show me that, Wonderful. That's what's going to get me to cry and ruin my keyboard because there's so many tears. But if I want to address Drake's question, I'm saying coach cards. I want to see like famous plays. Like, can they get a cutout of the call sheet? Like, get that on a card next to the coach. I mean, how many cool plays would from the Bears playoff run would... Can you imagine like that card, like, with the play itself? And it could be like from the computer or even handwritten, whatever it is. Like that, to me, that would be fun. I'd buy that all day.

Speaker 2:
[61:07] Yeah, I saw you had written that down. I was like, that's it. I'm so jealous of that idea. That's so good. Coaching call sheets. Like the laminated one, it could just be the cutout, whatever. But imagine Eagles, Philly Special. Embedded into a card, maybe signed by Doug Peterson. I don't know. But then it really got me thinking, yes, more about coach cards. And the flagship product every year, there should be a card for every coach. That should be... Because there are so many bad coaches out there that it's hilarious to think of them having super fractures. And would I buy them or not? I was weighing that. Would I buy a Mark Tressman superfracture? I kinda might if it exists, but I don't know. I just think it would be funny. There's so much potential. And just good coaches too. It'd be so fun to have a run of coaching cards from your favorite coach.

Speaker 1:
[62:04] What about a set? Yeah, I'm trying to debate. Do I want this integrated in the flagship or so? You know Hobby Box, I'm buying in the breaks. I'm buying in the Colts breaks. Even if I'm not excited about, you know, current state of everybody. Like, can you imagine a product that has owners, GMs and coaches all in the same box? Like, sign me up. I want that.

Speaker 2:
[62:30] That, yeah, it'd be a fun rip. I don't want GM. Like, I guess what? It's like I only want my team though. Like, there's no other GM that I'm like, that would be cool to have. But yeah, coaches a little more. Owners, I don't know, a Jerry Jones Superfractor? That would be too cool. But that'd be a good product to rip. One other thing I was thinking on relics, because I was like, there's got to be something that hasn't been done, but there's been, there's goalpost cards, there's goalpost pad cards, there's ball cards. I feel like it could be cool if it was a thick card, like think like a flawless thick card, and it's like a cross section of turf and dirt, like it's like from the field, like how you would see like a amp farm, like a thin, could be like a cross section of Super Bowl field, or and then it's acetate, so you can see the cross section and maybe there's some stuff printed on there like what game it's from, but that's all I could come up with. But Play Sheets, I think is the one. Like yeah, that is a tangible piece of memorabilia that is being handled. They're huge now. They're like giant, you know, Chinese restaurant menus. They could cut those up and make tons of cards. That's a good one. All right. Next up. Oh yeah. From Bye Bye Babies Cards. So he has a long one that I'm just going to read real quick. But the gist of it is, okay. From Andy, Bye Bye Baby Cards. How confident are we really that one of ones and low numbered parallels are truly singular? And I'm not just talking about 90s releases. I mean modern too. Isn't it more realistic to assume that most of these cards had replacement copies or extras produced somewhere along the line? Whether we have proof of it or not, it's a little too convenient to think otherwise. We've seen enough across different releases to know this isn't isolated, not even a knock on manufacturers. It's just the reality of producing physical products at scale. Maybe it's less about deception and more about the nature of the process itself. Follow up, if we assume that many one-of-ones and serial numbered cards had undisclosed replacements or duplicates at some point in the production chain, does that undermine the concept of rarity, or does it reveal that rarity in this hobby has always been more of a shared agreement among collectors than an absolute truce?

Speaker 1:
[64:51] I think I read this question originally, and I don't know if I got all of it, but now I have it all. And it's an interesting question. And I think it gets us to like, do we trust the manufacturer is where my head is at. I think what's interesting, and I don't think Andy is wrong in some of his assumptions. You look at the 90s stuff and you obviously there was the sell-off and the bankruptcy which brought some of these backdoor copies to light. But I've seen that. I think it's like the Ray Lewis, the Flair Showcase 2000 where there's just literally two copies of the one of one. So, yeah, that, I don't know. I'm not saying it's not happening in this era. I don't know. I have no idea. But we have, like, I can't really recall a time where like another, there were two Finites, like, available in the marketplace. Not saying that if Panini went bankrupt, that wouldn't happen. It might. I don't know. It's tough to speculate, but, you know, I hope there's not a bunch of multiple copies, or at least if there are, like, after a certain period, like, they get thrown in the fire or something. I don't know.

Speaker 2:
[66:12] Yeah. I just think it comes with the territory, kind of like what he said about, it's the nature of the business of scaling a product. Like, I don't know. I'm not buying a one-of-one because I 100% undoubtedly believe that it is the only one, and it's like, yeah. There could be another Cutler 2012 Finite sitting in a bottom desk drawer, some desk in the Panini HQ that eventually surfaces, and I'll be pissed off, but I'll cross that bridge when I get there.

Speaker 1:
[66:45] If that happens, that is a major crack in the foundation of the current state of the industry. If that were to happen and become a thing, that would have a serious impact on the price of cards, specifically one-of-one cards from premium sets. I hope that never happens. That would suck.

Speaker 2:
[67:08] That would suck. All right, next, final question. You had this written down in our album chat, and I had started thinking of an answer, kind of, but you said, why does brevity increase perceived greatness? And I was like, that's a good topic.

Speaker 1:
[67:25] What's your response?

Speaker 2:
[67:26] So, but I was taking it as like the perspective of like player peaks, like how, and thinking of it in musicians, you know, like we've talked about Curtis Martin or like a Larry Fitzgerald, like those are collectible players, but they don't seem to have like the highest highs of other receiver or running back skill positions. And to me, it's like, I think what can drive collectibility is when even if it's just for one season, if that player is like the best player in the league at their position, that creates like a different level of memory and collectibility. Like one dominant year can create just as much collectibility as like a 12 year like steady career, you know? Like Derrick Rose, the youngest MVP, like that season is like burned into people's mind. And like that, it could be more collectible than like Karl Malone or like Chris Johnson and Curtis Martin was one in my head. I feel like people love Chris Johnson and I'm seeing like more and more people like Chris Johnson it's like CJ 2K like that just burned so bright. Whereas like Curtis Martin never had the like highest of highs. So I don't know. I just think there's something if if you are the best at your position or you're the best player, you get that like that's why I think I like first team all pros. It's like this was the best person full stop for that one season, two season, three season. And like those are the players that I gravitate to where like at that moment in time, they were the absolute best. Like that to me is exciting versus like, oh, you were steady and steady and solid, but you like were down in tier two your entire career. I think it's harder to collect for me for like, and I say that only from like the non bears perspective, because I collect a ton of trash bears players, but just from the like fantasy or like just other kind of exciting type of player. I don't know. I just think there's something there with, yeah, there is.

Speaker 1:
[69:26] And even though like there was Brady and Manning and a bunch of other guys during his era, this thought process is exactly why I felt so compelled, not only because of my affection for the player, but this thought process is why I just like a dog on a bone went to trying to buy all of Andrew Luck's best cards when he was the most down, because I just kept thinking about in that short period of time where he was on the field playing football, how happy he made me feel and how many moments he had as a player. And I just kept thinking like 10, 20 years from now, like, yeah, like the retirement will always be a part of the story. But the moments he had will always surpass that when people want to think about him as a football player. And that was like my guiding light to feel, to get the confidence to like spend real money on his cards because I was like, I love the guy. And I just feel like over time, like more people will appreciate his cards like I do. So I think it's, I think that's right. Like I think these peak moments or these moments are really like a compilation of those are really what drives like collectibility or people who actually just want pieces of those players in those cards to stay in their collection.

Speaker 2:
[70:51] Yeah. And Luck has an argument as the best quarterback in the league for a couple of years. Like he was so good. And then honestly, a good comp is like, is Andrew Luck Tupac in the science shows? Like we never, we never got the chance to see Tupac make a song with Imagine Dragons. You know, we never saw him get to 50 year old, 45 year old Tupac needing a check, needing a god, doing a collab with OneRepublic. He, like Tupac got killed at his peak. And like that, there's something about that that, you know, people like not not, they don't like that he got killed. But you know what I'm saying? Of like, you never got to see them not be successful. Kind of the Barry Sanders, Calvin Johnson of it all. Like we didn't get to see them be old and not productive.

Speaker 1:
[71:49] It's the Kurt Cobain of it all.

Speaker 2:
[71:51] Kurt, yeah.

Speaker 1:
[71:53] Like Nirvana didn't have time to like be washed and make shitty records because Cobain was dead. Like, and so people are infatuated by those few albums that they produced and they're always revered and maybe higher regard than they should be in the grand scheme of rock and roll. And I'm not saying Nirvana shouldn't be regarded in that, but I don't know. Like I think about that a lot. I think, you know, you can wear out your welcome awful quit with shitty albums or shitty years. But when you're done at the peak, when it's small and brief, like that makes it more desirable, I think.

Speaker 2:
[72:33] Yeah, rather burn out than fade away.

Speaker 1:
[72:36] That's right.

Speaker 2:
[72:37] But yeah, there's luck is Tupac.

Speaker 1:
[72:42] I'll take, I love Tupac, so I'll take that all day.

Speaker 2:
[72:47] All right. Great questions, everybody. Thank you for sending those questions. I've been rocking the last couple of episodes.

Speaker 1:
[72:54] Great batch.

Speaker 2:
[72:55] Well, we got to keep it going. 45 next week. Start thinking of your 45 questions for us. NFL check in. By the time this airs, the first round of the draft will happen, so I don't want to spend time wasting speculating. I'm just gonna assume the pair's made a great first pick.

Speaker 1:
[73:15] Yep. I've got no first round pick, so my thinking on the Colts is Ballard's gonna do what he always does. There's no chance we pick it. Our pick in the second round, he's gonna trade back, acquire picks, we're gonna have a million picks through rounds three and five, and those who we're gonna get guys, hopefully one or two of them work out. That's what's happening this year, for sure. Yeah, one you called out here, a Pack special, which this is even more than I looked at it yesterday, and I'm so glad you brought this to my attention because I didn't even know it was running, but goodness gracious.

Speaker 2:
[73:50] Yeah, I just was like, I wanna bring it up. The 2012 Panini Prism Black Finite, Adrian Peterson, PSA 7 is up for sale on Alt. Currently sitting at $32,956, this card last sold in November of 23 for $9,000. We love a 2012 Black Finite and just, I love watching one at auction. This is the Randy Moss just sold for $56,000, and that's the highest selling football 2012 Finite of all time. Moss in the Niners uniform though. This is Adrian Peterson, like MVP year in the Vikings gear, a top tier card from that set, I'd say of like non-quarterback cards. So I'm just excited to see where this ends up. It's crazy to see it's already at $33,000. But I guess my question, do we think this will break the Moss 56K number?

Speaker 1:
[74:50] When does this end? Why isn't it like a big one?

Speaker 2:
[74:54] Yeah, like the biggest thing that you can see. What are you doing?

Speaker 1:
[74:58] It blows my mind. It's like, yeah.

Speaker 2:
[75:01] Yeah, there's no clear end date on this. What if I click bid now? Oh, you want me to sign in? Yeah, I don't know. So who knows when this ends? Might be over by the time this airs. Is it even on, let's see, are you on shop on Card Ladder? Card Ladder Shop doesn't support alt sales.

Speaker 1:
[75:23] This is what I'll say. To answer, what was the, what did the malls go for?

Speaker 2:
[75:27] 56.

Speaker 1:
[75:28] Okay, I don't know when this card is ending, but...

Speaker 2:
[75:31] I think it like just got listed too.

Speaker 1:
[75:33] Oh, yeah.

Speaker 2:
[75:34] I think it's got some time.

Speaker 1:
[75:36] I think it's going to surpass that. I do. And I think the momentum around football cards, because of the Topps Chrome of it all, I think that might have some sort of impact on just the excitement and people are seeing what those cards are going for. And they're like, this is one of Adrian Peterson's best cards. I know Peterson has his rookies and Superfractors and Scheele, the rookies, whatever. If I could have one Adrian Peterson card, it would be this one, undeniably. So incredible card. I'm excited to see what it ends up.

Speaker 2:
[76:09] Yeah, it ends in... We're recording this on Wednesday. It ends in eight days, ten hours.

Speaker 1:
[76:14] Oh my. Yeah, this is going to be a monster sale.

Speaker 2:
[76:17] Next Thursday. Wow. And I think so. Yeah, excited to watch that one. Yeah, the Topps Chrome, that's another good call out. Football stuff, I feel like selling more than basketball. I don't know. I haven't fully looked at comps, but I'm like, where's this energy for... I thought no one collects football cards. Why does everyone spend this much money on these football cards?

Speaker 1:
[76:39] Yeah, bright, shiny object. People like to sell cards. So I'm guessing that has something to do with it, but I'm not trying to diminish football cards. We love football cards, but yeah, this will be fun. There you go. There you go. There's some visibility on this incredible card. Good poll. Yeah, let's jump in here. We've got this Mahomes 2017 Prism Gold Vinyl Autograph. This sold at the premiere for $150,000. It's the second public sale. The first public sale was in September of 25 for $144,000, which is a monster sale. I think it was the second highest football card sold at the premiere. I think there was a Brady Kaboom that went higher. But I don't know, man. It has me thinking like the sticker autos in Prism versus non-sticker in the Chrome stuff and just the impact of that on rookie cards long term. I think that's what I'm left with. But yeah, monster sale. I never resonated with the autos, obviously. This is a cool card nonetheless. But what do you think about this sale?

Speaker 2:
[77:50] Yeah, this card is sweet. For sticker autos, it looks good too. Like the audio is contained. That's something I've noticed about 25 Topps Chrome that I don't love. It's like the whole bottom half is reserved for the auto. Like the pattern fades out, the design fades out into like the white auto zone, auto zone, and...

Speaker 1:
[78:12] Sponsor the pod.

Speaker 2:
[78:13] Sponsor the pod, auto zone. Wow, that's okay, new segment. When we're talking about autos, we're in the auto zone. Sponsor the pod, auto zone.

Speaker 1:
[78:21] Oh, come on. Who knows anyone at AutoZone corporate we are willing to chill for cardboard.

Speaker 2:
[78:27] Football Card Podcast, we need a sales rep out there. But with the big auto zone on 25 Topps Chrome, sometimes I'm seeing a small auto and then there's this just noticeable white space where there's no pattern, but no auto. All that to say, this Patrick Mahomes 2017 Prism, even though it's a sticker auto, I like how the gold vinyl is everywhere except where the auto is. You're not skimping on the gold vinyl juice. It's full, this is a cool card.

Speaker 1:
[79:00] Yeah, for sure. We move over to the 2009 Topps Chrome Matthew Stafford Autograph Superfracture 1 of 1 PSA 9, selling at the premiere for $105,000, making this Matthew Stafford Super Bowl Champion MVP's first six-figure sale.

Speaker 2:
[79:20] That's a cool card. I'd rather, this is the one, though, I'd rather, I want the true 1 of 1, is what I'd like to see and see what that would sell for in this day and age. Because, yeah, that sticker isn't my favorite, but good signature, cool card.

Speaker 1:
[79:35] We move over to the 2014 Prism Gold Aaron Donald Rookie out of 10, BGS9, selling for $5,880. One of the best players of this era, but you know what I don't like, John? I don't like when the same copy of the card sells three times. So this card has sold, let's see here, it has sold three times since August of last year. It sold in August for $6,100, in December for $6,900, and now the same copy is sold once again for $5,800.

Speaker 2:
[80:15] Yeah. So that's exact same copy, three sales in under a year. I think we've always seen that kind of hurts a card. It's not always going to go up. People like when they haven't seen a card in a long time. We've seen that be a successful recipe for cards at auction.

Speaker 1:
[80:34] Yes. So I never want to see this card again, or at least for the next five years, because I love this card and think it's really important. I'm going to just hit these Chrome sales, how to call out Chrome, I'm going to hit these Chrome sales, and then just get your reaction. Speaking of doorbells, of course, my kids are.

Speaker 2:
[80:54] I thought it was going to be a solicitor.

Speaker 1:
[80:56] No, it's the kids are home. So let's jump into it. We have the Cam Ward Lava Auto, Red Lava Out of Five, selling for $15,000. We have the Jackson Dart Auto, out of 10, black.

Speaker 2:
[81:16] That's what I'm talking about with wasted space in the auto area.

Speaker 1:
[81:19] Yeah, this is sold for $14,000. We have the Caleb Non-Rookie Red Lava, selling for, this card sold for $13,000. We have the Superfractor Marino Tecmo Bowl, selling for $12,500. We've got a Brady Black Image Variation, selling for $9,000. So that's a lot of money for those cards. What's your reaction?

Speaker 2:
[81:53] It's so much money for cards that there's a lot of copies of or a lot of similar copies of. Like the Caleb Red Lava Auto out of five. Yes, there are five copies, but then there are five different reds out of five. And it hasn't been long enough where I'm like, oh, the red lava is different than the red wave and different from the red. Like they're all, they all blend together to me. So that hasn't enough time hasn't passed for them to kind of differentiate themselves. I'm sure over time preferences will emerge. Like people like the waves or they like the lavas, you know, like I think we will see that eventually, but right now, yeah, this is basically you're spending in my mind, $13,000 for Card.25, which is just a ton of money. I will say like the Brady Black, I like the variations. I normally don't like variations, but I like how they're all like the helmet off, close up picture of the player. It's that to me, like there's a good idea and theme there. Like action shot of player is the regular, variation is helmet off, a closer up picture, better than like the prism variations, where it's like ball in left hand, ball in right hand, jump, you know, like the variations of prism were too similar. I like that these are like clearly different.

Speaker 1:
[83:09] Good call out on the variations. I couldn't agree more. There's no chance in hell these prices sustain. So that's all I have to say, but that doesn't take away from the cards looking cool. Like they're pretty good looking cards, but just insane, man. Crazy time to be collecting football cards.

Speaker 2:
[83:29] Yes. All right. Card call out. Wait, collecting updates. Any collecting updates, Brett?

Speaker 1:
[83:36] Nothing for me.

Speaker 2:
[83:38] Nothing. I just have a couple of cards that have come in the mail, but I think I talked about both of them. The 2025 Prism Finite 101, DJ Moore, and I got the Caleb Williams 2025, Donress Elite, one of one. Kind of like a nebula look, but I bought those a while ago and they have finally arrived.

Speaker 1:
[83:57] Welcome to the Pack collection.

Speaker 2:
[83:59] Yeah. All right. Card call out. We asked to see cards and music. That was fun. There were some awesome pairings. I loved, I mean, also Luck and Lauryn Hill, like you had, and that is another good comp. This Education of Andrew Luck. I loved Dobbs Card Guy. He had a Breeze 2015 Topps Chrome Super, and with the Bruno Mars song, the, what was it? Something about still loving you. That's the way you are because you're amazing. That's the way you are. He's standing up for 2015 Topps Chrome. I appreciate that.

Speaker 1:
[84:32] I love that.

Speaker 2:
[84:34] It was very funny. And then Chromatic Cards posted a Chris Penn PMG, which is Bears player, but it's the 98 PMG where it's like over the Chicago skyline, the same background as the Jordan card with a little gang star in the background. Feel like I've shouted out Premiere a couple of times on here. So seeing, that felt like a targeted attack. And I liked it. It worked. I love that one. So good, good stuff, everybody. Thanks for submitting. And this week, episode 44, I was thinking we got to do something draft, but maybe like favorite draft bus.

Speaker 1:
[85:06] Beautiful. That's it. That's it.

Speaker 2:
[85:08] Player doesn't have to be like the biggest bus, but just like someone your team drafted that you're super excited about, or someone that when they came into the league, you're super excited about that maybe didn't pan out. So let's see favorite draft bus cards. Post them on Instagram, tag the football card pod. We'll reshare. Tell a friend to follow the football card pod. We're almost at 1,000. We got to get to 1,000. Let's do that this week and we'll see you next week.

Speaker 1:
[85:33] Thanks, everybody. Lot packed into that one. Love digging into cool football cards, mindset mentality, the market, everything in between. We really appreciate you supporting the football card podcast here on the Stacking Slabs Network. Shout out Card Ladder for sponsoring the damn podcast and shout out you for listening, posting your cards, being passionate about what we're doing here. We'll be back with another one on the other side. Take care. Happy draft. Talk to you soon.