Latest / Ultimate Rewinds Podcast / WHAT’S IT WORTH? 💰 What Collectibles Are Really Worth! Ep #29

Transcript

WHAT’S IT WORTH? 💰 What Collectibles Are Really Worth! Ep #29 · Ultimate Rewinds Podcast

• 0:00
  My guest today is Travis from Landry Pop
• 0:02
  Auctions, one of the fastest growing
• 0:05
  auction houses in the pop culture and
• 0:07
  collectible [music]
• 0:07
  space. You've also seen him on TV as one
• 0:10
  of the familiar faces from Antiques Road
• 0:12
  Show, helping people uncover the stories
• 0:15
  and value behind some truly incredible
• 0:17
  items. Welcome. Today we're talking to
• 0:21
  Travis Landry from Landry Pop Auctions.
• 0:24
  First and foremost, I know I told you a
• 0:25
  while back at Elite Comics Expo last
• 0:28
  year, but I've been dying to get you
• 0:29
  back here on the podcast. And thank you
• 0:32
  for joining us today. I think there's a
• 0:33
  lot of people out there who kind of need
• 0:35
  to know what you're doing at Lantry Pop,
• 0:37
  and I know right now you have some
• 0:38
  amazing books that are coming up for
• 0:39
  auction.
• 0:41
  >> I appreciate it, Lawrence. You know,
• 0:42
  thank you for having me back. And uh
• 0:44
  it's great. Yeah, we have the vault sale
• 0:46
  coming up next week, February 10th. 66
• 0:49
  comic books of the best power uh we
• 0:51
  could put together. And yeah, we're
• 0:53
  busy. I mean, it's been non-stop just
• 0:55
  pedal to the metal building LPA.
• 0:58
  >> So, let's take it back a little bit cuz
• 1:01
  there people out there who may not know
• 1:02
  who you are. So, for the people who
• 1:04
  don't know you yet, how do you
• 1:06
  originally get into auctions and
• 1:08
  collectibles?
• 1:10
  >> Yeah. So, this is all I have ever done
• 1:12
  my entire life. I mean, literally 12
• 1:15
  years old, started working at an auction
• 1:17
  house on a Friday night for 20 bucks as
• 1:19
  a runner, like the person that holds up
• 1:21
  an item. uh born and bred in auctions.
• 1:24
  You know, my parents, they didn't work
• 1:25
  at the trade. They just collected
• 1:27
  material, but like American art,
• 1:28
  pottery, uh Victorian furniture. So,
• 1:31
  it's all I know and I love the action of
• 1:34
  auctions. Uh when I was in high school,
• 1:36
  really started chasing collections to
• 1:38
  buy and sell. I had a little break where
• 1:40
  I uh ended up with a role on Travel
• 1:42
  Channels Toy Hunter, which lasted three
• 1:44
  seasons and that really gave me like
• 1:46
  that kind of TV bug and uh just expanded
• 1:50
  my contacts of people I could find and
• 1:52
  people I could deal with and that
• 1:54
  knowledge base and that lasted my uh
• 1:56
  senior year in high school basically
• 1:58
  through the beginning of my sophomore
• 1:59
  year in college. And uh from that point
• 2:02
  I knew like I no longer wanted to study
• 2:04
  nuclear engineering and I steered into
• 2:06
  the skid uh to deal with comics,
• 2:09
  collectibles, toys, and everything I've
• 2:10
  loved since I was a kid.
• 2:13
  >> That is amazing. Going from nuclear, you
• 2:16
  know, engineering to the collectible
• 2:17
  space. That's quite like a 180, right?
• 2:19
  That's crazy.
• 2:21
  >> My brother is like an actual uh I dare
• 2:24
  to say genius, but he's a Harvard PhD
• 2:27
  chemist. I always thought that was the
• 2:29
  way I needed to go. uh toy hunter pushed
• 2:32
  me forward, but it didn't really give me
• 2:34
  the itch until I remember like I'm
• 2:36
  sitting in my sophomore organic
• 2:38
  chemistry class and not pop culture
• 2:40
  related, but it was a painting I had
• 2:42
  bought at a local auction and I
• 2:44
  consigned it to a place in Boston called
• 2:46
  Skinners and I'm in organic chem. I had
• 2:48
  the computer on a uh the auction on a
• 2:50
  second screen and here's this thing I
• 2:52
  paid 400 bucks for. I'm watching it sell
• 2:55
  for like three grand and I'm like what
• 2:57
  am I doing here studying compounds when
• 3:00
  I should be looking for art and
• 3:02
  collectibles and uh I change you know I
• 3:05
  left UMass Low went to Framingham State
• 3:07
  to study uh art history because I do
• 3:09
  love everything fine art decorative arts
• 3:11
  outside of the world of pop culture but
• 3:14
  that is my true original passion and uh
• 3:17
  from there you know I teamed up with a
• 3:18
  local auction house in Rhode Island that
• 3:20
  lasted 10 years building a comics and
• 3:23
  toy department. And then in 2024, I got
• 3:26
  the bug where I just or the itch like I
• 3:28
  need to do this for myself. I need to do
• 3:29
  it for my name. And my wife and I
• 3:32
  branched off to found Landry Pop
• 3:34
  Auctions. And uh July 31st, I want to
• 3:37
  say was when the press release came out
• 3:39
  that we partnered with Rego Wright and
• 3:41
  uh it's been non-stop ever since.
• 3:44
  >> It's funny because my next question to
• 3:45
  you was was there a specific moment you
• 3:47
  were like, you know what, this is more
• 3:48
  than a hobby. This is what I want to do
• 3:50
  in my life. I guess it was that that
• 3:52
  moment with that painting and and going
• 3:54
  to auction. I'm assuming that was it.
• 3:55
  >> Correct. And on top of that, you know,
• 3:58
  skipping a big part of my career like um
• 4:01
  with that little part, it's funny, but
• 4:02
  my life goal was always as a kid to get
• 4:05
  on Antiques Road Show. I mean, I grew up
• 4:07
  watching it with my parents on PBS. And
• 4:10
  uh it was during my junior year in
• 4:13
  college, end of junior going into my
• 4:14
  senior year. I was still living in my
• 4:16
  dorm and it's like I had finally had my
• 4:18
  break to get on road show at 20 and uh
• 4:21
  the first thing I ever appraised on that
• 4:23
  show was a printers proof uh for a Bob
• 4:26
  Kain lithograph of uh the Joker playing
• 4:28
  with Batman and Rob Robin as puppets and
• 4:32
  uh you know getting on Antiques Road
• 4:33
  Show now being on there for nine seasons
• 4:37
  has really helped you know just
• 4:38
  accelerate building the brand you know
• 4:40
  knock on wood I'm very thankful for uh
• 4:43
  the opportunities I've been able to have
• 4:44
  over course of my life and it's just
• 4:46
  helped to build me to this stage where I
• 4:49
  needed to do something for myself and
• 4:51
  build my own brand.
• 4:53
  >> It's it's funny because we're going to
• 4:54
  segue into Antiques Road Show, but it is
• 4:57
  such a fun watch. I really enjoy
• 4:58
  watching that show. Like what what what
• 5:01
  is it like stepping into that world for
• 5:03
  the first time and it's funny you say
• 5:04
  that like you always wanted to be on
• 5:06
  that show and and you made it a reality,
• 5:08
  but stepping on that set for the first
• 5:10
  time and being a part of that, what was
• 5:11
  that like? Honestly, uh it's crazy. Like
• 5:15
  even the thought still today gives me
• 5:16
  goosebumps. It was Green Bay, Wisconsin
• 5:19
  season uh 22 filming in 2017. And it's
• 5:23
  like to walk in and this is when the
• 5:25
  show was still in convention centers.
• 5:27
  Now everything is filmed in outside
• 5:30
  locations. And it's like that first
• 5:32
  feeling walking in uh the day before
• 5:34
  filming and here are all these people,
• 5:36
  you know, basically for 20 years of my
• 5:38
  life that I've watched on TV at home
• 5:41
  with my parents and it's like whoa. To
• 5:44
  be there with them was pretty uh pretty
• 5:47
  crazy, you know, cuz before me it's like
• 5:49
  the next youngest appraiser on the show
• 5:51
  was in their late 30s at the time, mid
• 5:54
  to late 30s. So me coming on on 20, you
• 5:58
  know, I'm the first person, younger than
• 6:00
  the show, and I'm bringing in a whole
• 6:01
  new category. Like comics had appeared
• 6:04
  on Antiques Road Show, obviously toys,
• 6:06
  like older cast iron and tin, but there
• 6:08
  never really was a dedicated person
• 6:10
  there for comics, trading cards, uh, you
• 6:13
  know, Star Wars, He-Man, all that great
• 6:15
  stuff. That's my jam. And uh so now it's
• 6:19
  and that's why I joke it's like you look
• 6:20
  at my my rookie photo it's like first
• 6:23
  year on road show I wore a salmon blazer
• 6:26
  I had a bow tie on. I'm thinking I have
• 6:28
  to do the and they've allowed me to
• 6:31
  evolve into my uh my crazy self to you
• 6:34
  know to represent our hobbies.
• 6:36
  >> Yeah it really is a great show. So if
• 6:38
  anybody doesn't know what Antique Road
• 6:40
  Show is, it's a show. It's still on PBS
• 6:42
  right?
• 6:43
  >> Yeah PBS Monday nights. We're in the
• 6:45
  middle of uh the new season now, season
• 6:48
  30. I just had last week uh it was a
• 6:50
  dream team basketball 1992 Olympics that
• 6:53
  air. Oh my god. I had a collection of
• 6:54
  original Kenner Star Wars. So, knock on
• 6:56
  wood, I had a lot of action uh this
• 6:59
  season. So, yeah, it's 30 seasons deep.
• 7:01
  We're already getting ready to film
• 7:03
  again uh for next season. And you know,
• 7:06
  the big thing I always like to put out
• 7:07
  there is contrary to other reality TV
• 7:11
  show, I mean, I worked on one myself. I
• 7:12
  was on toy hunter. It is the only show
• 7:15
  that is truly not staged where we are
• 7:18
  out there, we go into a city, they hand
• 7:20
  out x amount of tickets, every ticket is
• 7:22
  good for two items to walk through the
• 7:24
  door and when we're at that table, you
• 7:26
  come up with something great. It's my
• 7:27
  job to be like, whoa, hold on before I
• 7:29
  say anything, are you interested in
• 7:31
  going on camera? And you know, from that
• 7:33
  point in time to get a producer and
• 7:35
  pitch to when us where uh to when we are
• 7:38
  actually in front of a camera, I've
• 7:40
  never had more than typically 45 minutes
• 7:42
  to an hour. So, we have no idea what
• 7:44
  we're going to see when it's something
• 7:46
  great. We have to be able to recognize
• 7:47
  it, uh, identify, get all the facts, get
• 7:50
  the evaluation, and present that total
• 7:52
  package you see in a very short amount
• 7:54
  of time. Because most people always
• 7:55
  think, "Oh, it must be staged. They know
• 7:57
  what they're get." No, we have no idea.
• 7:59
  We show up in a city, tickets are handed
• 8:01
  out, people come in through the triage
• 8:03
  process first where you go to clocks,
• 8:05
  you go to furniture, you go to
• 8:06
  collectibles, and then from that point
• 8:09
  after triage, you get to the tables with
• 8:10
  the on camera appraisers. And we have no
• 8:13
  idea. It's excitement. Every single
• 8:15
  person that walks up is a total wild
• 8:17
  card.
• 8:18
  >> So, uh, that's always my big thing I
• 8:20
  love to plug about the show is it's a
• 8:21
  real experience. It's real people, real
• 8:24
  items, and real stories that we get to
• 8:26
  tell.
• 8:26
  >> That That's amazing. She It's funny
• 8:28
  because this is the second time I was
• 8:29
  going to ask you a question and you just
• 8:31
  answered it because I wasn't asked like
• 8:32
  what's something about antique road show
• 8:34
  that we wouldn't know like behind the
• 8:36
  scenes that you could share and just
• 8:37
  knowing that people are coming on the
• 8:39
  lot with their items and you have to
• 8:41
  stop right at them like holy crap this
• 8:43
  is amazing you know do you want to be on
• 8:45
  camera that was something I would never
• 8:46
  think about the show that's great. Yeah.
• 8:49
  And one of my favorite experiences comic
• 8:51
  related on the show was this is maybe
• 8:54
  three, four seasons ago at this point.
• 8:56
  Uh I had an older gentleman in his 80s
• 8:59
  who shows up with his original childhood
• 9:02
  copy of Amazing Fantasy 15 and he's the
• 9:05
  type of guy like not internet savvy. He
• 9:08
  doesn't understand grading. Uh doesn't
• 9:10
  really comprehend like he knows it's
• 9:12
  important. He knows it's the first
• 9:14
  Spider-Man. He lived it, but he doesn't
• 9:16
  really know the value. And his story
• 9:18
  buildup to me was like he brought it to
• 9:19
  a local comic book shop, you know, maybe
• 9:22
  a year or two ago. They offered him I I
• 9:24
  forget what he says either 2,000 or 2500
• 9:27
  for the book.
• 9:28
  >> And it's like when I was able and it was
• 9:29
  a rough copy uh but obviously complete
• 9:32
  presentable cover attached and it's like
• 9:34
  for me to be able to tell him you know
• 9:36
  18 to 24,000 or whatever the the number
• 9:39
  that was the range of 99%. It was 18 to
• 9:41
  24 at the time and it's like it was mind
• 9:44
  it was electric like that feeling the
• 9:46
  excitement the onset of the pressure for
• 9:49
  someone to be there to know it's real
• 9:51
  and it's uh and because the other thing
• 9:53
  with road show is no business is
• 9:55
  conducted there absolutely there is like
• 9:58
  zero tolerance for any of the appraisers
• 10:01
  for anybody who tries to conduct
• 10:02
  business like we're going there to
• 10:04
  educate to inform to evaluate and you're
• 10:07
  getting the facts you're getting the
• 10:09
  real deal and that's what road shows all
• 10:10
  about
• 10:12
  >> that. That's amazing. So, on the flip
• 10:14
  side, you gave us a story about someone
• 10:16
  who didn't know what something like an
• 10:18
  AF15 and low grade was worth. Have you
• 10:20
  ever had to like gently break to someone
• 10:22
  bad news and be like, you know what, who
• 10:24
  thought they item might been worth a lot
• 10:25
  that you're like, ah, you know what?
• 10:26
  It's it's kind of really not.
• 10:28
  >> Oh, all the time. That is the best. And
• 10:31
  it's like there's some people who take
• 10:33
  it in stride and they're like, "Yeah,
• 10:35
  that's what I figured." But then there
• 10:37
  are people that are so adamant that you
• 10:40
  were wrong and you have no idea. And one
• 10:43
  of my favorite memories of this type of
• 10:46
  story is someone comes up, their father
• 10:49
  worked for the Coca-Cola company for
• 10:51
  like 50 plus years and as part of his
• 10:54
  retirement package, he was given this
• 10:56
  plastic alarm clock about this big that
• 11:00
  flipped up and it was like little
• 11:02
  Coca-Cola bottles in it, battery
• 11:03
  operated. And you know, this lady was
• 11:07
  convinced that this was some extremely
• 11:09
  rare presentation alarm clock for 50
• 11:13
  years at Coca-Cola. And the crazy part
• 11:16
  is I literally have one of these in my
• 11:18
  house. I have one of these clocks.
• 11:20
  They're so common. You can find them on
• 11:22
  eBay for like 10 bucks. It's no big
• 11:26
  deal. And uh like so adamant I'm wrong.
• 11:29
  I have no idea what I'm talking about.
• 11:31
  like this is the most important piece of
• 11:33
  Coca-Cola memorabilia and it's a '9s
• 11:36
  battery operated alarm clock made in
• 11:38
  China worth a $10 bill and you have that
• 11:41
  like I can't fix that no matter how hard
• 11:43
  I try to deliver that message I can't
• 11:46
  bring it home and whatever that person
• 11:48
  leaves like upset or irritated but at
• 11:50
  the end of the day they get told the
• 11:52
  truth and they'll always believe that we
• 11:55
  were wrong and they have this amazing
• 11:58
  impressive piece but it's There's people
• 12:01
  out there that believe everything.
• 12:05
  >> All right. So, Landry Pop Auctions, I
• 12:07
  know. And for I know you used to work
• 12:09
  for a different auction house and you
• 12:11
  decided to branch out on your own. And I
• 12:14
  got to be honest with you, you said when
• 12:16
  it was started, when did you guys
• 12:17
  actually found it and and go into
• 12:18
  business? Uh so that we ended end of
• 12:22
  July is when like the press release hit
• 12:24
  and we had announced that I had
• 12:25
  partnered with Rego Wright to become
• 12:27
  part of their network to launch Landry
• 12:29
  Pop. Our first auction uh was October of
• 12:32
  24 like our big inaugural sale where we
• 12:35
  showed all the different categories we
• 12:36
  were going to handle. And now we fast
• 12:38
  forward already to 2026. We're going on
• 12:43
  like in the calendar our 40th auction.
• 12:46
  Uh, we were able to handle the Paper Boy
• 12:48
  collection last year, which was
• 12:49
  incredible with a Fresh Tech 27 and the
• 12:51
  highest grade 31. Um, it's just been non
• 12:55
  non-stop. Like, I can't I feel so I I
• 12:58
  have no other way to describe it. Like,
• 13:00
  I can't be thankful for the collections
• 13:03
  and the people that have come to us. And
• 13:04
  it's just, you know, our approach to
• 13:06
  auctions is a little different or a lot
• 13:08
  different compared to the conventional,
• 13:10
  you know, comic collectibles auction
• 13:12
  house and what we cater to and what our
• 13:14
  mission is. And uh it's just the hobby
• 13:17
  is receiving it very well or very
• 13:20
  receptive of it and it's showing that in
• 13:22
  bidder support and consigner support. I
• 13:24
  mean Lawrence, we got to handle a great
• 13:25
  book for you. So I mean uh team Landry
• 13:28
  is building. I'm very [clears throat]
• 13:30
  thankful for it.
• 13:31
  >> Absolutely. And I think from my
• 13:33
  perspective of a lot of collectors out
• 13:35
  there, especially comic guys, I know a
• 13:37
  lot of people in this space, trust is a
• 13:39
  big issue when it comes to, you know,
• 13:41
  deciding to consign your book with
• 13:43
  anybody. and I had a great experience
• 13:45
  with you. You actually standing in this
• 13:47
  room with me talking about it. So just
• 13:50
  that experience alone was was a really
• 13:52
  great time. But I want to ask you this.
• 13:54
  You guys have had a strong start. You
• 13:57
  mentioned a tech 27 which is a wild
• 13:59
  story. I saw all the posts and
• 14:01
  everything on Instagram everywhere. The
• 14:03
  tech31, my Batman one, a few other
• 14:06
  books. What was the vision when you
• 14:08
  first started this?
• 14:11
  So the vision for LPA and this is going
• 14:14
  to sound corny uh but I really my end
• 14:18
  goal in life when I look back 20 30
• 14:20
  years from now is I want to build the
• 14:23
  Sabbes equivalent near equivalent for
• 14:25
  pop culture. Now obviously there are
• 14:28
  massive companies out there that have
• 14:29
  been selling comics for 25 plus years
• 14:33
  but they're high volume. You know
• 14:34
  they're pumping out thousands of books
• 14:36
  in every single auction. they're putting
• 14:38
  the same issue with four or five uh
• 14:40
  different grades sometimes only
• 14:43
  separated by 0.2 two, right? They'll
• 14:45
  sell 96 94 92 of say an ASF129.
• 14:49
  Uh the appreciation or the focus on
• 14:52
  design marketing, how the items are
• 14:55
  presented. You know, in my mind, when
• 14:58
  you scroll through a comic auction or a
• 15:00
  Star Wars auction, it should be no
• 15:02
  different to when we're selling great
• 15:05
  Shepherd Fairy prints or an Andy Warhol
• 15:07
  suite. I mean these things are material
• 15:09
  culture ver on the verge of fine art at
• 15:12
  this point especially when we look at
• 15:14
  original comic art and toy related art
• 15:17
  and it's just I felt nobody was giving
• 15:19
  that care and attention to this material
• 15:22
  I mean it's out there right when you
• 15:24
  look at the other auction houses it's no
• 15:27
  uh it's not bad their model is different
• 15:29
  they want to be high volume you know you
• 15:32
  scroll through a list of thumbnails you
• 15:33
  get a scan but for me I want to really
• 15:36
  focus on the presentation, the
• 15:38
  marketing, and that when you look at the
• 15:41
  Landry Pop website, every comic on there
• 15:44
  gets a feeling that it's special.
• 15:46
  Especially when it comes to what we
• 15:48
  consider our tier 2 and tier one
• 15:50
  auctions, uh, icons and heroes being
• 15:52
  tier 2 in the vault tier one. And it's
• 15:55
  like you just scroll through the
• 15:56
  animations that pop out, um, the added
• 15:59
  content, the stories that we give, and
• 16:01
  just the overall presentation is what I
• 16:04
  really strive for.
• 16:06
  >> I agree with you. The site itself is
• 16:08
  absolutely beautiful. I It's from the
• 16:10
  colors, the pop. I mean, I was looking
• 16:13
  at it last night and the first thing you
• 16:15
  see when I logged on to the site was
• 16:16
  this beautiful yellow background with a
• 16:19
  um I think it's a Captain America. I
• 16:21
  forgot what the issue was. The white
• 16:22
  issue with with him running through it.
• 16:24
  >> Oh my god, it was such a great
• 16:27
  >> 109. So such a great shot as soon as you
• 16:30
  you get on the page and it just really
• 16:32
  pop 100%. If you guys are listening to
• 16:34
  this and you haven't checked out Landrew
• 16:35
  Pop Auction, all the great books they do
• 16:37
  have, make sure just check out the site
• 16:39
  at the bare minimum, but I have to ask
• 16:42
  you this. Has the process, experience,
• 16:44
  and outcome met your expectations so
• 16:47
  far?
• 16:48
  >> Oh, it's absolutely blown it away. Uh
• 16:50
  because one of the big things I always
• 16:52
  encountered before where I worked is
• 16:54
  like everybody knew to deal with me like
• 16:56
  Travis, everybody knew me, but they
• 16:58
  didn't know who the owner, the operator
• 16:59
  was. So, I always had that barrier to
• 17:02
  entry with a lot of consigners and
• 17:04
  biders, but now that you're dealing with
• 17:06
  me, it's my name on the business. And
• 17:09
  like you said, Lawrence, I come to you,
• 17:10
  we do the consignment contract, we do
• 17:12
  everything. You know, I've felt a lot of
• 17:14
  people are really receptive to working
• 17:16
  with us. And um the other thing where
• 17:19
  we've really been striving is just
• 17:21
  simple customer service. Responding to
• 17:23
  emails on time, letting consigners know
• 17:25
  when their items are coming up for
• 17:27
  auction, doing the process soup to nuts,
• 17:29
  beginning to end of taking in a raw
• 17:31
  collection, getting things pressed,
• 17:33
  cleaned, graded. Um you know, knock on
• 17:36
  wood. Yeah, it's it's wild to think that
• 17:39
  we are going on uh what 17 months of
• 17:43
  Landry Pop. We're almost at the year and
• 17:46
  a half mark at this point and uh knock
• 17:49
  on wood like I can't say that enough.
• 17:51
  I've got to repeat it all all night
• 17:53
  tonight is that the collections have
• 17:55
  been coming in. Uh competition has been
• 17:57
  fierce. Like I definitely feel there's a
• 17:59
  target on my back to some extent and uh
• 18:02
  we're never going to win all the deals.
• 18:04
  We're never going to win them all.
• 18:05
  There's always going to be people that
• 18:06
  go in different directions which is
• 18:08
  great. That's the world of competition
• 18:09
  and that's what keeps businesses honest
• 18:12
  and on the up and up is that when
• 18:14
  there's competition to keep everybody in
• 18:16
  check. Um but no, I mean it's it's a
• 18:19
  strong start. You know, in my mind I
• 18:22
  always worry that oh it's going to slow
• 18:24
  down. When's the next collection? But uh
• 18:26
  we teased it already and like coming up
• 18:29
  in May. Last year we had the Paper Boy
• 18:31
  collection. Uh coming up in May we're
• 18:33
  calling it the Dixie Cream collection.
• 18:35
  original owners silver age marbles
• 18:38
  coming out of Georgia. And uh I'll drop
• 18:40
  it here because the video hasn't hit on
• 18:42
  CGC yet. But out of this collection, we
• 18:44
  will be offering truly the finest copy
• 18:48
  of Fantastic 4 issue two first
• 18:50
  appearance of the scrolls in 98 with
• 18:53
  white pages. It is one of two and 98 on
• 18:56
  the census. The other one has off-white
• 18:58
  pure white page copy. But I mean this
• 19:00
  collection FF1 and 80 Journey into
• 19:02
  Mystery 83 85. Uh the whole run of
• 19:06
  Fantastic 4 super high grade. The number
• 19:09
  one's an eight. The number three is an
• 19:12
  eight. I mean I think the worst one in
• 19:14
  the run unfortunately was the Dr. Doom
• 19:16
  book and it came in at like a 70. Uh you
• 19:19
  know it's just had some really rare uh
• 19:21
  golden age in there. Some Marvel mystery
• 19:23
  10. had a pep comics uh like the iconic
• 19:26
  German uh cover with the swasta with the
• 19:28
  hands coming up out of the fire. So, I
• 19:30
  mean, every time I get worried that
• 19:32
  something is not going to come to
• 19:34
  fruition or I'm worried we're not going
• 19:36
  to hit a big collection,
• 19:37
  >> there it comes.
• 19:39
  >> So, uh I don't want to jinx it, you
• 19:41
  know, but it's uh I mean,
• 19:43
  [clears throat]
• 19:44
  >> here's the thing. I'm 30 years old,
• 19:46
  right? I turned 30 this year, which was
• 19:48
  like a big mind thing for me. Uh cuz you
• 19:50
  know for what I did between 20 and 29 I
• 19:52
  was like what are we going to do next?
• 19:54
  But it's like I'm not going anywhere
• 19:56
  anytime soon. God forbid I get hit by a
• 19:58
  bus. So it's like there's a lot of
• 20:00
  building and a lot of ground to cover
• 20:02
  and uh it's just the beginning.
• 20:04
  >> Wait till you hit 40, brother. I'm
• 20:05
  telling you it's it's a different
• 20:06
  feeling. [laughter]
• 20:07
  >> No, I don't I don't want to rush.
• 20:10
  Please. I already feel like I'm 40. God.
• 20:13
  No. I'm trying to ride the wave of 30 as
• 20:15
  long as possible.
• 20:17
  But let me speak to something you said a
• 20:19
  little earlier because I have experience
• 20:20
  obvious obviously because obviously I
• 20:22
  sold the book through through LPA.
• 20:25
  The biggest compliment that I can give
• 20:27
  you guys is that me and you talked about
• 20:30
  when we were here and then afterwards
• 20:32
  after you left about what's best for the
• 20:34
  book, what's best for the sale, what
• 20:36
  what could we do to kind of get the most
• 20:38
  value out of the book and make sure that
• 20:41
  you I'm comfortable, you know, the
• 20:42
  seller's comfortable. I'm sure it's the
• 20:44
  same way when you're a buyer as well.
• 20:46
  that to me like kind of made me feel at
• 20:48
  ease. So that's one thing I can 100%
• 20:51
  speak to for people who are thinking of
• 20:53
  kind of consigning their books to
• 20:55
  auction houses is that I was completely
• 20:57
  taken care of from top to bottom. So I
• 20:59
  give you guys kudos to that man.
• 21:01
  >> Thank you Lawrence. I that's what I want
• 21:02
  to hear. That is my goal at the end of
• 21:04
  the day. I want everybody to be happy.
• 21:07
  You know people ask me like how big do I
• 21:09
  want LPA to grow? And it's I want to
• 21:13
  handle the best books. I want to handle
• 21:14
  them all the time, as frequent as I can,
• 21:17
  but I personally have no desire to have,
• 21:21
  you know, 12 offices across the world,
• 21:23
  as great as that would be,
• 21:25
  >> I but I like being a boutique niche spot
• 21:29
  where, you know, we sell quality, we
• 21:31
  sell it right, we represent it, and
• 21:33
  we're going to get you all the money.
• 21:34
  Plus, I mean, there are things on our
• 21:37
  platform when you look at the sales
• 21:38
  results that blow me away and I still
• 21:40
  talk about is we had a AF-15 in 3.5 and
• 21:44
  like market average on GPA for that book
• 21:47
  was anywhere from 28 to 32,000
• 21:50
  and in our icons and hero sale day two
• 21:52
  because again we're live. It's all video
• 21:54
  streamed. You're watching the
• 21:56
  auctioneer. It's not a timed countdown
• 21:58
  with a digital voice. And it's like we
• 22:00
  got 43,000 for a 35 uh AF-15 in 2025. I
• 22:06
  mean those that's a price that was near
• 22:08
  peak COVID level. Uh there was only one
• 22:11
  other result higher and it's like it was
• 22:13
  paid for shipped out within two days
• 22:15
  happy customer. And uh because I also
• 22:17
  credit to that we get some weird
• 22:19
  crossover
• 22:20
  where people that are regorite customers
• 22:23
  who might buy Andy Warhol, they might
• 22:25
  buy Danish design or maybe they buy
• 22:27
  watches, jewelry, whatever it is,
• 22:29
  they're now seeing the LPA sales on the
• 22:31
  regite network and we're getting
• 22:33
  different end users that might not be
• 22:35
  totally plugged into the hobby, but
• 22:37
  they're like, "Whoa, I remember reading
• 22:39
  Hulk 181 as a kid, and if I'm going to
• 22:42
  spend, you know, seven, eight grand on a
• 22:44
  Danish chair, why can't I spend five
• 22:46
  grand on a you know a comic I had. Um so
• 22:49
  there's some great customer crossover
• 22:51
  with that too.
• 22:52
  >> So is that the item that that that book
• 22:55
  is that like the one item that has
• 22:56
  surprised you how much it sold for at
• 22:58
  auction because that was one of my
• 22:59
  questions as well.
• 23:00
  >> No, we've gotten I mean I post them time
• 23:03
  to time of things that blow me away and
• 23:06
  sometimes it's the littlest things like
• 23:07
  we had uh the 80s Star Comics, Marvel,
• 23:10
  like Mad Balls one, uh Care Bear, all
• 23:13
  those different things, all new stand
• 23:14
  copies. It's like we got 800 and change
• 23:18
  for a Mad Balls 198 where all the data
• 23:21
  proves it should be like a $200 thing
• 23:23
  and it's like wow you know and I really
• 23:26
  I credit the difference in those results
• 23:29
  especially for lower value thing because
• 23:32
  like top 1% items you know auction is
• 23:36
  not there to um you know to like create
• 23:40
  the like the value of those high-end
• 23:43
  items are proven right We know what they
• 23:45
  are. But when we're selling the
• 23:47
  everyday, the lower value material on
• 23:50
  the Wednesday night sale especially, you
• 23:52
  know, that value ad of entertaining,
• 23:54
  right? You're not just watching the
• 23:56
  digital countdown. You're hanging out
• 23:57
  with me. I'm doing a podcast style
• 23:59
  similar to this against my comic wall.
• 24:01
  Got my microphone out. We're talking
• 24:03
  about the books. And I feel that value
• 24:06
  ad really helps the difference of a
• 24:09
  comic selling for 175 or 350. And the
• 24:14
  other thing that I find that we have a
• 24:17
  really unique kind of skill set for
• 24:19
  selling and I don't know maybe I'm
• 24:21
  opening like my my uh my secret sauce
• 24:24
  here because I don't want people to
• 24:25
  overthink it but late Bronze Age uh and
• 24:29
  early copper you know modern in 98 that
• 24:32
  are low population right like we had a
• 24:35
  random Jonah Hex some mid-run issue 98
• 24:38
  one of three and it's like all the data
• 24:41
  for that book it should have been like a
• 24:42
  $100 $100 thing and we ended up getting
• 24:45
  like $ 350 for it. Again, who a $350
• 24:48
  comic, lowhanging fruit in our world at
• 24:51
  the end of the day. But the entertaining
• 24:54
  value factor is saying it's one of three
• 24:56
  in its population. It's a 98 everybody
• 24:58
  getting people excited. You know, I
• 25:00
  think that's where our platform really
• 25:02
  strives. I think a lot of the
• 25:05
  collectible space right now is based on
• 25:07
  entertainment value. If you have the
• 25:08
  ability to entertain and sell and talk
• 25:12
  about the the item that is available for
• 25:14
  sale, that is like the trifecta because
• 25:16
  you're bringing knowledge, you're
• 25:17
  bringing entertainment, and you're
• 25:19
  bringing the product itself. And I think
• 25:20
  that's a big hit when we're talking
• 25:22
  about collectibles right now in this
• 25:24
  market.
• 25:26
  I'd be remiss if I didn't ask you this
• 25:28
  question because you have been in the
• 25:29
  collectibles game for basically your
• 25:31
  entire life. But what makes a great pop
• 25:34
  culture auction item in your eyes? Like
• 25:36
  what separate what separates something
• 25:38
  cool from something special?
• 25:41
  >> So, all right, great. Something cool is
• 25:45
  like, you know, a Hulk 181 in 98. Yeah,
• 25:48
  it's great. It's the Flash. You know,
• 25:50
  there's over a hundred of them. I think
• 25:52
  it's even over 150 of them in this point
• 25:55
  in 98. And I get it. First full
• 25:57
  Wolverine killer cover, but it's not
• 26:01
  necessarily
• 26:03
  special like in my mind if I were to
• 26:05
  compare it. And I I shouldn't say that
• 26:06
  cuz I'm selling a Hulk 181 and 98 right
• 26:09
  now. You're getting brutally honest
• 26:10
  Travis everybody. It's like that's a
• 26:12
  great book. I love it. But there's a lot
• 26:14
  of them out there. But it's, you know,
• 26:16
  it's vanilla ice cream. Whereas you look
• 26:19
  at, you know, a hero for hire one in 98
• 26:23
  or you look at a werewolf by night 32 in
• 26:26
  98 where a books are older, right?
• 26:29
  Hulkwood 181 is 1974. Hero for hire and
• 26:32
  werewolf by night 32. I believe they're
• 26:34
  both 1972 and the populations are
• 26:38
  literally like a tenth like there's in
• 26:41
  98 a hero for higher one black cover
• 26:43
  there's less than I I got to say off the
• 26:46
  cuff less than 30 of them same thing for
• 26:48
  a first moonight I mean wicked rare low
• 26:51
  pop 98 and they are a fifth of the cost
• 26:54
  of what you're going to spend on a 181
• 26:56
  and to me that's cool real rarity you
• 26:59
  know 181 is a book that in 1974 when it
• 27:02
  came Now, comic collecting has already
• 27:05
  been in near full swing. I mean, values
• 27:08
  were not crazy, but your first comic
• 27:10
  cons are in the early 60s. So, by the
• 27:13
  time you get to 74 and a book like that
• 27:16
  comes out, Wolverine on the cover, major
• 27:18
  character, people are already buying
• 27:20
  them to put away. So, it's like the fact
• 27:22
  that you can get great first appearances
• 27:25
  with a fraction of the population for a
• 27:28
  fifth of the cost, you know, that is
• 27:30
  cool. Or another thing for me is like
• 27:34
  you know a rand they don't I always say
• 27:35
  it during my auctions they don't all
• 27:37
  have to be keys like to just have an
• 27:39
  unbelievable
• 27:41
  strange tales you know 103 or 104 right
• 27:46
  and have it in super high grade where
• 27:48
  less than 15 of these things exist and
• 27:51
  you can pick them up for a,500 bucks
• 27:54
  like that's a great quality comic prime
• 27:58
  silver age Marvel uh you know That's
• 28:01
  like this is what I run crazy about all
• 28:03
  day. You know, it's like a book I
• 28:04
  recently picked up for my PC was uh Fox
• 28:08
  Future Syndicates, you know, Eagle One,
• 28:10
  right? This is like
• 28:11
  >> basically it's the equivalent of Captain
• 28:13
  America before Cap. It was a 6 book, you
• 28:17
  know, wicked scarce as a 6o. It's like
• 28:20
  top 15 or top 10. There's less than 30
• 28:24
  universal grades at all on the CGC
• 28:26
  census. It's like I picked that book up
• 28:28
  for three grand. I mean that to me that
• 28:31
  feels like a lot of comics for $3,000
• 28:34
  compared to what else you could buy for
• 28:36
  three grand.
• 28:37
  >> True.
• 28:37
  >> You know,
• 28:38
  >> true. What about experiences? Obviously
• 28:41
  that that Tech2 27 was kind of all over
• 28:44
  IG and all over a lot of places you find
• 28:46
  in that. But can you talk about some of
• 28:48
  your experiences that you've had finding
• 28:49
  some of these crazy items go up for sale
• 28:52
  at LPA?
• 28:53
  >> Yeah, I mean I could talk about uh the
• 28:55
  Georgia collection Dixie. The reason
• 28:57
  we're calling it Dixie Cream is because
• 28:59
  this guy funded buying his comics in
• 29:01
  1961 and up by selling Dixie Cream
• 29:04
  donuts doortodoor in Georgia. Uh which I
• 29:08
  guess that was a thing. You know, some
• 29:09
  kid sold newspapers in Georgia. There
• 29:11
  was a company to sell donuts doortodoor.
• 29:14
  And it's like I walk into this guy's
• 29:15
  house, original owner stuff. These books
• 29:18
  now at this point have been around for
• 29:21
  64, 65 years, not bagged and boarded,
• 29:26
  still raw in like what we call a
• 29:29
  barristister bookcase. It's like a
• 29:31
  shelving unit where they stack and they
• 29:33
  have these glass doors that you pull up
• 29:34
  and slide in. And there were the books
• 29:37
  all in stacks. And it's like to walk
• 29:40
  into this guy's house to see this
• 29:42
  collection and for a Fantastic 4 number
• 29:46
  two to be sitting around for 64 years or
• 29:50
  65 years at this point and to get a 98
• 29:54
  white pages. It's like how does this
• 29:56
  exist? But it does. It's all out there.
• 30:00
  I mean these books are printed in runs
• 30:02
  of hundreds of thousands and there are
• 30:04
  collections like that out every day. And
• 30:05
  that's what keeps me motivated, right?
• 30:07
  the hunt and the thrill the uh what is
• 30:10
  it? The thrill of the hunt, right?
• 30:12
  >> Yeah.
• 30:12
  >> And it's like to talk to that guy and
• 30:14
  hear his experience of buying these
• 30:16
  books. And the big thing was his story
• 30:19
  that blew me away. He loved Incredible
• 30:23
  Hulk. His issues of Hulk 1 through six
• 30:27
  are absolutely destroyed. 30 4025
• 30:31
  because he loved Hulk. All the other
• 30:33
  comics he bought, he didn't like the
• 30:35
  stories. He just liked the visual appeal
• 30:38
  of the cover and uh so it just meant and
• 30:42
  left for unbelievable grades. I mean
• 30:44
  some of these books it doesn't even look
• 30:46
  like the cover was ever lifted. It's
• 30:48
  like they're so perfect and uh yeah like
• 30:52
  those are the stories that they just
• 30:54
  they keep me going. It's it's like
• 30:56
  creates goosebumps. It's like being
• 30:58
  that's why I say I've never grown up.
• 31:00
  I'm just still like a 13year-old kid
• 31:02
  doing what I've done except now I'm 30
• 31:04
  overweight with a beard.
• 31:06
  I got to tell you, man, this must be the
• 31:08
  most incredible job because as a
• 31:10
  nostalgia guy like me who I absolutely
• 31:12
  love the things I grew up with and and I
• 31:13
  come back to an adult I come back to
• 31:15
  them as an adult now just to talk about
• 31:17
  them and relive them and that and that's
• 31:18
  really what I think collecting is. But
• 31:20
  to be able to do what you do has got to
• 31:22
  be just very fulfilling. I will say
• 31:24
  that.
• 31:27
  All right, so let's talk about the
• 31:29
  current items that LPA has for sale or
• 31:31
  auction I should say right now. You have
• 31:33
  some massive, massive books, stuff that
• 31:37
  we as collectors do not get to see every
• 31:39
  day. So, first you have your comics and
• 31:42
  art auction that ends on February 4th.
• 31:44
  Can you talk about that auction and a
• 31:46
  few of the books that are available?
• 31:48
  >> Yeah. So, the February 4th sale is our
• 31:50
  what we consider a tier three. It's a
• 31:52
  Wednesday night auction. You know, it's
• 31:54
  packed with a lot of like lower grade
• 31:56
  like silver age keys that people love.
• 31:58
  Uh modern stuff. There's some great
• 32:00
  group lots in it. So, Wednesday night,
• 32:02
  February 4th, it's a 6 PM Eastern start
• 32:04
  time. And that is basically our outlet
• 32:07
  for anything that's like 2,000 and
• 32:10
  under, you know, we do put a couple good
• 32:12
  books in there. It's a much more casual.
• 32:14
  You know, I'm hanging out here, my
• 32:16
  wife's doing the bookkeeping, we have
• 32:18
  three people running internet bidding,
• 32:19
  and it's uh, you know, it's a real
• 32:21
  auction. We're doing it, but we're also
• 32:23
  joking at the same time. You know, it's
• 32:25
  definitely a more informal podcast
• 32:27
  style. So, yes, that is uh it's two days
• 32:29
  from now. It's February 4th coming up uh
• 32:32
  Wednesday night six o'clock
• 32:33
  lanternpop.com.
• 32:35
  But the big one is February 10th which
• 32:38
  is like uh exciting and nervous all in
• 32:41
  the same breath to have you know 66
• 32:43
  books of that caliber crossing the block
• 32:46
  one day. It's it's a little
• 32:48
  nerve-wracking.
• 32:49
  >> We're we're going to get to the to the
• 32:51
  big vault auction in a second, but I
• 32:52
  want to tell you guys by the time this
• 32:53
  podcast comes out, it will be Wednesday
• 32:56
  morning. So tonight guys, check out that
• 32:59
  February 4th auction. You never know
• 33:01
  what you may find in there, what you may
• 33:03
  end up actually loving. So the big boy,
• 33:05
  the vault, which ends, like you said,
• 33:07
  February 10th. Crazy stuff. Talking
• 33:10
  Detective Comics number one in a
• 33:11
  restored 7.0, Action Comics number one
• 33:14
  and a restored 5.0, Batman number one in
• 33:17
  a restored 9.2, and then the big boy in
• 33:20
  my opinion, the AF-15 Blue Label 9.0.
• 33:25
  talk about some of these amazing books
• 33:27
  and how they came about to you as well.
• 33:30
  >> Uh all different outlets, right? So, for
• 33:33
  example, uh the Action Comics one and
• 33:37
  the Detective Comics one, both coming
• 33:39
  from people in our community, dealers,
• 33:41
  collectors that work in the trade, they
• 33:43
  were consigned to us uh pregraded. The
• 33:46
  Detective one though, when it was
• 33:47
  consigned to us, was in like a firstg
• 33:50
  CGC holder. So, we made sure we resubmit
• 33:53
  it to get a fresh case on it because
• 33:54
  that book is beautiful, right? Even
• 33:56
  though it's a purple label. I mean,
• 33:58
  think of it. It's it's platinum age. I
• 34:00
  know the title we go golden to modern,
• 34:02
  but 1937
• 34:04
  technically counts end of the platinum
• 34:06
  age. And that's the book, right?
• 34:07
  Detective one. That's where DC Comics uh
• 34:10
  gets its name from ultimately the change
• 34:12
  from national publications. And uh you
• 34:15
  know, to handle that, it's wicked rare.
• 34:17
  and 70. I mean, you look at that. You
• 34:19
  look at the red. It like it teleport.
• 34:22
  It's so sharp. It pops.
• 34:24
  >> Um, you know, other book, there's a
• 34:26
  Wonder Woman one, uh, blue label. That's
• 34:29
  beautiful. 75 that came in from a
• 34:31
  collector. But the AF-15, I mean, yeah,
• 34:34
  that is, you know, I thought and on my
• 34:36
  last vault back in September, we had an
• 34:39
  8.0 AF-15 that was graded on site at
• 34:43
  Heroes Con. And I was like, "Wow, this
• 34:46
  is like next level. I can't believe
• 34:47
  we're handling an 80 AF-15 and that
• 34:49
  brought 282,000.
• 34:51
  And it's like here we are 6 months or or
• 34:54
  not even. Yeah. 7 months later from that
• 34:56
  September auction and a Nino walks in
• 35:00
  the door and uh yeah to hold that, you
• 35:04
  know, it's like you see an AF, yeah,
• 35:06
  it's AF15, but to hold one in that
• 35:08
  quality that is arguably the same
• 35:11
  condition it came off of the news stand
• 35:14
  and uh it's just like wow. It gives you
• 35:16
  goosebumps. And it's a book that, you
• 35:19
  know, a curator copy did sell in 2024,
• 35:23
  but the last time a regular straightup
• 35:25
  blue label according to GPA, obviously
• 35:27
  there's private transactions, things
• 35:28
  that don't get listed, but it's been
• 35:30
  since 2017 when you look on GPA that a
• 35:34
  90 has sold. So, it's uh you know, it's
• 35:37
  a lot of pressure, right? like eyes of
• 35:39
  the market are on us cuz that 2017
• 35:42
  result was 390,000 and change. But
• 35:46
  that's a totally different world. That's
• 35:48
  pre-boom.
• 35:48
  >> Yeah.
• 35:49
  >> And uh you know it's like if this would
• 35:51
  have came up
• 35:52
  >> two years ago or three not two year
• 35:55
  three years ago at this time if this
• 35:56
  would have came up during the pandemic
• 35:58
  you know it's arguably threearters of a
• 36:00
  million plus. I mean back then an 85
• 36:04
  sold for 550,000.
• 36:06
  Um, so right now it's sitting at the
• 36:08
  time of us recording this. It might
• 36:10
  change by Wednesday, you know, it's
• 36:12
  currently sitting at 340,000. When you
• 36:14
  factor in the buyer premium, it's just
• 36:17
  about at last sale right now on the
• 36:19
  AF-15 at 390 and change. Uh, but I don't
• 36:23
  know where it's going to go. I mean,
• 36:24
  it's not like AF-15s and 90 grow on
• 36:27
  trees.
• 36:27
  >> Yeah. So, it's like if you're a serious
• 36:30
  player and you want a book of that
• 36:31
  caliber, I mean, this is the day to shop
• 36:34
  and to buy it, you know? And like
• 36:36
  another thing that it's arguably
• 36:40
  just, you know, not as important.
• 36:42
  Obviously, it's Spider-Man, but like for
• 36:45
  talking about rarity and special,
• 36:47
  there's a Brave and the Bold 28 in that
• 36:49
  auction, 9.2,
• 36:52
  and this is a freshly graded copy. This
• 36:55
  is a book that was brought to us raw and
• 36:57
  had was graded in 2025
• 37:01
  and it's like that to surface first
• 37:03
  justice league of America 92 one of five
• 37:06
  only two higher and again you look at
• 37:09
  GPA that book hasn't sold for a public
• 37:12
  result posted on GPA since like 2012
• 37:16
  and back then it was 120,000 and here we
• 37:20
  are like and that's the thing at Landry
• 37:22
  Pop is everything is there to sell it is
• 37:24
  going to the highest bid. We are at no
• 37:26
  reserve auction house when it comes to
• 37:27
  the comics. Everything is there to sell.
• 37:30
  And it's like right now it's sitting at
• 37:31
  50 grand opening bid. And like to me
• 37:33
  it's like that is a book to buy, man.
• 37:36
  You know, only five in that grade. It's
• 37:39
  1961. It's early DC silver. And it's
• 37:42
  like what a book, you know, an AF-15 and
• 37:44
  92. That would be a million plus right
• 37:48
  now easily. And it's like here you get
• 37:51
  Brave the Bull 28 First Justice League
• 37:53
  for like a hundred grand. It's like oh
• 37:56
  my god. If I had like that's a book if I
• 37:58
  had endless money uh you know I that's
• 38:00
  something I would buy.
• 38:02
  >> That that's wild. I think you said there
• 38:03
  was only five and a 92 and two higher
• 38:06
  for that book. That's it.
• 38:07
  >> Yes. Five and 92 94 and 196. And the 96
• 38:13
  I believe sold maybe two years ago for
• 38:15
  like over 800,000. So like to me that's
• 38:18
  a book to buy. But when we go to the
• 38:20
  bronze age stuff, you know, Hulk 18198,
• 38:22
  wear off 3298, hero for hire 198. Um,
• 38:27
  and then what I think again, talk about
• 38:29
  historical significance, right? If you
• 38:31
  want
• 38:33
  prime history, like unbelievable
• 38:35
  quality, there's a book called Ebon
• 38:37
  issue one, which is a San Francisco
• 38:40
  underground comic.
• 38:41
  >> Uh, was extremely limited print run from
• 38:43
  when it came out. It is the first comic
• 38:46
  book ever written, illustrated uh by an
• 38:49
  African-American man. You know, the
• 38:51
  character main title uh it predates Hero
• 38:55
  for Hire once. So like the first black
• 38:58
  superhero that comes out, we uh have
• 38:59
  Black Panther, but his solo uh title
• 39:03
  didn't come out until later in the 70s.
• 39:05
  [snorts] So this is like such a cultural
• 39:08
  his significant book. One of one 98
• 39:11
  white pages again freshly graded. This
• 39:14
  book came out raw of a collection in
• 39:17
  Sacramento, California that required a
• 39:19
  26 ft truck from Sacramento back to mass
• 39:23
  to move this collection. I mean it was
• 39:24
  over 500 lawn boxes and this was in one
• 39:28
  of those boxes raw untouched graded 98
• 39:31
  white pages. And it's like what's it
• 39:32
  worth? How do you put a value on that?
• 39:35
  Uh because the only recent data point is
• 39:37
  like an 85 for four grand. So I put it
• 39:41
  up there at 20 to 30,000. Uh it got a
• 39:44
  bid right away at the opening bid of 10.
• 39:46
  But you know, look at that. Look at the
• 39:48
  history in that book. Look at the
• 39:50
  rarity. And as an underground comic,
• 39:52
  it's newsprint. So it's very like it's
• 39:55
  subject to condition issues all the time
• 39:57
  and they just don't exist. The book is a
• 39:59
  ghost. So that is one to look at. Um,
• 40:02
  and then finally, we always ended out
• 40:05
  with Modern Age, which you know, God,
• 40:08
  imagine if this book sold during COVID.
• 40:10
  It's avenging Spider-Man 9, the Miss
• 40:13
  Marvel book there. It's a 98 news stand.
• 40:18
  Only 98 news stand. And it's like when
• 40:20
  you look at COVID pricing, a 94 news
• 40:23
  stand was like 2,200 to 2,300. So, here
• 40:27
  we are. Granted, I know Modern is at the
• 40:30
  worst point in the market right now, but
• 40:32
  98 News Stand, Avenging Spider-Man 9,
• 40:35
  and it's like it's the only book in the
• 40:37
  auction that doesn't have a bid, and I
• 40:39
  started it at 900. I estimated at 18 to
• 40:41
  24 because if it wasn't a news stand,
• 40:44
  it'd be a $150 comic. And I get that,
• 40:48
  but you have a 94 data point at 2000 and
• 40:51
  change from a couple years ago. So, it's
• 40:53
  like here's your one of one 98 news
• 40:55
  stand and like here's your chance. is
• 40:57
  finding a new home.
• 40:58
  >> A little side note when we were talking
• 41:00
  about AF15 before from not really a
• 41:03
  history perspective but a price
• 41:05
  perspective. So before the big boom in
• 41:09
  2020 2021 AF-15 kind of was like not
• 41:13
  doing much for a really long time
• 41:14
  price-wise and then all of a sudden we
• 41:16
  had that 9.6 CGC copy that sold and then
• 41:18
  all of a sudden AF15 started to take
• 41:21
  off. So I believe now where we are is a
• 41:23
  really great point because the price for
• 41:25
  that book has kind of settled where it
• 41:27
  should be. Definitely more than before
• 41:30
  that 9.6 sold at a good, you know, at a
• 41:33
  good pace after that that sale. It has
• 41:35
  come down a bit, but it's right we're at
• 41:37
  that point right now when I think AFT is
• 41:38
  a really really good buy. Not only
• 41:40
  because of Spider-Man, right? Most
• 41:42
  popular character there is when we're
• 41:43
  talking about comics, just because of
• 41:45
  the history of that character, that
• 41:47
  book, his creator, all that stuff. But
• 41:50
  the main thing is that history when
• 41:52
  we're talking about collectibles, I feel
• 41:54
  like that's the missing point that a lot
• 41:56
  of collectors
• 41:58
  uh when they're buying things or when
• 42:00
  they're collecting things, they kind of
• 42:01
  skip over sometimes. Can you talk about
• 42:03
  the history of some of these things that
• 42:04
  we we go to collect?
• 42:06
  >> Yeah. I mean, for the history, right?
• 42:08
  Everything, no matter what it is,
• 42:10
  whether it is a office chair, whether
• 42:13
  you know painting, some a vase, a piece
• 42:15
  of pottery, there's always a story.
• 42:18
  There's creator. It's how it's
• 42:19
  manufactured. And it's like when you
• 42:21
  look at Amazing Fantasy 15 and
• 42:23
  Spider-Man as a character, I know
• 42:25
  everybody's gonna say, "Travis, shut
• 42:26
  up." We all know the history. But it's
• 42:28
  like, think of this. Prior to
• 42:29
  Spider-Man, every hero before it was an
• 42:33
  older adult. The kids were always for
• 42:36
  that sidekick role, right? Happy
• 42:38
  go-lucky, cheerful boy helping the hero.
• 42:41
  Spider-Man is your first relatable young
• 42:44
  kid. Dark upbringing, right? No parents.
• 42:48
  Uncle Ben gets murdered. I mean, he's so
• 42:50
  relatable. Kid growing up in New York,
• 42:52
  dealing with high school bullies,
• 42:54
  dealing with chasing the girl that he's
• 42:56
  hot for. It's like, it's the
• 42:58
  quintessential character made for the
• 43:01
  12-year-old boy to read in comic books.
• 43:03
  And that formula done in Amazing Fantasy
• 43:06
  15 had never appeared before. So, it's
• 43:09
  like that is why Spider-Man will always
• 43:12
  be the number one king of the silver.
• 43:14
  And granted, also, yes, early 2000s, we
• 43:17
  have the Tobey Maguire movies that
• 43:19
  really start putting them on the screen,
• 43:20
  but it's like, if you boil it down,
• 43:22
  what's the most important book for the
• 43:24
  silver age of Marvel? It really should
• 43:26
  be Fantastic 4 number one, right?
• 43:28
  November 1961. Prior to that, there were
• 43:32
  no uh Marvel superheroes at the time for
• 43:35
  the Silver Age. It was all, you know,
• 43:37
  during Atlas, they were focusing on
• 43:39
  horror, uh suspense, you know, crime.
• 43:42
  And granted, there are the prehero
• 43:44
  books, right? Tales to astonish 13. You
• 43:46
  get Grrew and uh Ant-Man, Tales to
• 43:49
  Stylish 27, but it's not the same,
• 43:50
  right? It's your first Marvel team. It's
• 43:53
  like that should be the book.
• 43:55
  Populations are way less and but no,
• 43:58
  Spider-Man is Spider-Man. And that's why
• 44:01
  when it comes to how we present these
• 44:03
  things at auction, you know, especially
• 44:05
  I've seen it on road show and I love it
• 44:08
  when I talk to my older colleagues
• 44:09
  because now it's all fun, but there's
• 44:11
  always been like this weird shadow on
• 44:13
  collectibles like, oh, there's fine art,
• 44:15
  there's antiquities, there's design,
• 44:18
  there's all these great things highbrow,
• 44:20
  and then collectibles are, oh, those are
• 44:22
  collectibles. They're fun, whatever.
• 44:23
  They're not serious. No, collectibles in
• 44:25
  pop culture are serious. I mean this is
• 44:28
  real history that you know in the grand
• 44:31
  scheme of markets and appreciation it's
• 44:33
  really in its infancy when you think
• 44:36
  when you look at other collectible
• 44:37
  fields you know as dumb as an analogy as
• 44:40
  it is you know period American furniture
• 44:43
  right 250 years old at this point even
• 44:45
  earlier colonial uh impressionist art
• 44:48
  late 1800 I mean these things have a 100
• 44:51
  plus years of collector interest and
• 44:53
  appreciation and modern era of superhero
• 44:56
  starts in 1938. We're not even at a
• 44:58
  hundred years yet. And there's
• 45:00
  regenerated interest every day. There
• 45:02
  are 10-year-old kids that are watching
• 45:05
  movies, playing video games that when
• 45:07
  they're 30, 40, 50 years old, they're
• 45:09
  going to want to buy back that history.
• 45:11
  And it always comes back to the origin
• 45:14
  story.
• 45:17
  >> So, I have you here. So, I'm going to
• 45:18
  ask you a little bit about the comic
• 45:20
  market right now or the market for pop
• 45:22
  culture, you know, collectibles as it is
• 45:24
  right now. So from your perspective,
• 45:25
  what areas of collecting are the
• 45:27
  strongest right now? We could talk about
• 45:29
  comics, movie props, memorabilia, sports
• 45:32
  cards, you know, TCG, whatever it is
• 45:35
  that is a collectible. What do you think
• 45:36
  right now is the strongest market?
• 45:39
  >> So my big area that I cover, it's
• 45:42
  comics, TCG, and toys. Those are my big
• 45:45
  three. I do video games as well, but
• 45:47
  that's like my fourth lowhanging thing.
• 45:49
  Um, obviously, you know, we'll go
• 45:51
  category by category. Uh TCG, obviously
• 45:55
  Pokemon has the world on fire. It never
• 45:58
  seems to be ending, but to me, Pokemon,
• 46:02
  when you look at it, when it was
• 46:03
  released in 1999, it's being released on
• 46:07
  the back of the success of the Game Boy
• 46:09
  game, the cartoon, and Pokemon was made
• 46:13
  to be a collectible, right? Gotta catch
• 46:15
  them all. Gotta collect them all. And
• 46:16
  you think back in your childhood,
• 46:19
  everybody had their binder of Pokemon
• 46:21
  cards, right? Everybody knew to keep the
• 46:23
  holographic cards, but how many kids do
• 46:26
  you actually know like played Pokemon?
• 46:29
  The numbers are far fewer than when you
• 46:30
  compare it to a game like Magic the
• 46:32
  Gathering or Yu-Gi-Oh. And uh for me,
• 46:35
  you know what Action Comics is, what
• 46:38
  Action Comics one is to the world of
• 46:40
  comic books, Magic the Gathering is that
• 46:43
  to TCG where we wouldn't have TCG or
• 46:46
  know what that concept is if it weren't
• 46:48
  for Richard Garfield and Wizards of the
• 46:50
  Coast taking the influence from Dungeons
• 46:52
  and Dragons and creating magic in 93. I
• 46:55
  mean, it's the first time ever cards, a
• 46:59
  trading card has an actual application
• 47:01
  to do something. baseball cards. You
• 47:04
  know, there were card baseball cards
• 47:05
  made to be like regular like a regular
• 47:07
  deck of cards with players on it, but
• 47:09
  there was never a game. Magic has
• 47:12
  extremely low populations and you know,
• 47:15
  obviously the alpha print extremely
• 47:17
  limited. Yes, an alpha black Lotus and
• 47:20
  Gem 10 is a $3 million card. That is the
• 47:23
  pinnacle, but you can buy a beta Lotus.
• 47:25
  I mean the market right now for strong
• 47:28
  magic
• 47:30
  alpha uh excluding the black lotus but
• 47:33
  the remaining power nine and alpha dual
• 47:36
  lands you know good rares like sheon
• 47:39
  dragon wheel of fortune uh mana vault
• 47:42
  you know these are cards that I still
• 47:45
  feel have a lot of room to grow. So I as
• 47:48
  hot as Pokemon is and that's the hype. I
• 47:51
  feel there's a such a high population
• 47:54
  for Pokemon and even though it is I get
• 47:56
  it. It's the world's biggest IP. It's
• 47:59
  the biggest brand in the world. I know
• 48:01
  that and I sell a ton of Pokemon and I
• 48:04
  love it. It's my childhood, right? When
• 48:06
  the cards came out, I was four turning
• 48:08
  five years old. I have still my Game
• 48:10
  Boy, but I don't know if I would be
• 48:12
  paying peak prices now for Pokemon. If
• 48:17
  you're looking for upside potential, if
• 48:19
  you love it and it's your hobby and you
• 48:21
  want to own it and whatever and you're
• 48:23
  into it, that's one thing. But I
• 48:25
  wouldn't be buying Pokemon now on the
• 48:28
  speculation for the upside because I
• 48:31
  think there is further room for
• 48:33
  correction because I mean as someone
• 48:35
  again Landry Pop small operation just
• 48:39
  since we've opened the door I've
• 48:40
  probably graded a dozen first edition
• 48:43
  Charizards that come out of the
• 48:45
  woodwork. Now, only one was a 10, but
• 48:47
  the point is these cards are still
• 48:49
  coming out every single day where
• 48:51
  compared to Yu-Gi-Oh, which out of the
• 48:54
  big what I consider the big three of
• 48:56
  TCG, Magic, Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh, that
• 48:58
  market is so undervalued right now. Uh,
• 49:02
  it's similar to Magic in that Yu-Gi-Oh
• 49:04
  was a players game. And the other big
• 49:06
  thing is that Yu-Gi-Oh cards printed by
• 49:08
  Konami don't have a core. They're paper
• 49:11
  through and through where Magic and
• 49:13
  Pokemon have a rigid layer in the
• 49:14
  center. So, Yu-Gi-Oh cards are further
• 49:17
  prone uh to condition problems. And it's
• 49:20
  like you look at a Legend of Blue Eyes
• 49:22
  White Dragon first edition LO00001 Blue
• 49:25
  Eyes White Dragon. A PSA 10 is like 35
• 49:29
  to 40,000 depending on glossy or wavy.
• 49:34
  And I know that's still a ton of money,
• 49:36
  but to compare that to a first edition
• 49:39
  Charizard that has now brought twice
• 49:41
  within the last two months, a half
• 49:44
  million dollars back to peak co. I mean,
• 49:46
  when you look at the Pokemon graph, it
• 49:48
  is like this. It is one big wave of
• 49:51
  volatility. Um, you know, I also my
• 49:56
  understanding and just my experience,
• 49:57
  the boom of Pokemon had a lot to do with
• 49:59
  the boom of crypto, taking money out of
• 50:01
  that, putting it into the cards. But
• 50:03
  it's like for TCG, I'd be buying great
• 50:06
  Magic to put away because at the end of
• 50:08
  the day, that is the game that inspired
• 50:11
  it all. And I would be buying uh great
• 50:14
  Yu-Gi-Oh 2002 to 2004, the original
• 50:19
  sets, first edition, as much sealed
• 50:21
  product as you can, and as many grade
• 50:24
  nine, nine and a half, and 10 as you can
• 50:25
  get because the prices are so cheap
• 50:28
  compared to any other game. and not to
• 50:32
  and I'll say for Pokemon if I were to
• 50:34
  say what to buy right now when you look
• 50:36
  at the different cards that are
• 50:37
  undervalued
• 50:39
  uh all the Wizards of the Coast era
• 50:41
  stuff 99 to 03 always going to be wicked
• 50:45
  hot it's the OG stuff and then you go
• 50:47
  through the modern era when the
• 50:49
  licensing reverts back to Nintendo you
• 50:51
  know all the later 2008 2009 10 when you
• 50:55
  get the full art stuff that is all super
• 50:57
  hot but when you look at the original EX
• 51:00
  X period 2003 to about 20067
• 51:06
  everybody is always focused on the gold
• 51:09
  stars right everybody always wants a
• 51:11
  gold star those are the hottest cards
• 51:13
  but 2003 EX Ruby and Sapphire the first
• 51:17
  expansion set uh of the EX period it's
• 51:20
  like you can get PSA 10 Blazakin uh the
• 51:25
  green guy oh my god blazakin was it
• 51:27
  Septile yeah Blazakin Septile
• 51:30
  at Marshd. You know, these are e-reader
• 51:33
  cards. They were tough to get in high
• 51:35
  condition. PSA 10 populations are so
• 51:38
  low. It's like you could pick them up
• 51:40
  for a,000 bucks, 800, 1,200. So, it's
• 51:43
  like if you're going to be a Pokemon
• 51:44
  person, I would be be ahead of the
• 51:47
  curve. Like, I feel Pokemon the market
• 51:50
  is a lot of, you know, influencers come
• 51:52
  out, content's created. This is the hot
• 51:54
  card. And all I could say is patterns
• 51:57
  repeat itself. And look at the poncho
• 51:59
  market. Like Poncho Pikachu, those cards
• 52:02
  went ballistic for years. And then when
• 52:05
  the market got to the absolute top,
• 52:07
  everybody starts dumping. It's a modern
• 52:09
  era card within the past 10, 12 years.
• 52:13
  And now prices are just falling like a
• 52:15
  brick. Buy the stuff that's truly rare
• 52:18
  and undervalued at the moment. That's my
• 52:20
  TCG pitch. Sorry, I went on a couple
• 52:22
  tangents there, Lawrence. I'm going to
• 52:24
  flip it around now and I'm going ask you
• 52:26
  something complete opposite and it's
• 52:27
  it's more speculation, but right now
• 52:30
  what is something that you think people
• 52:32
  are sleeping on that could explode over
• 52:34
  the next couple years in collectibles?
• 52:37
  >> Um, so totally unrelated, different
• 52:40
  categories. You're saying something
• 52:42
  that's not
• 52:43
  >> being anything. It could be anything
• 52:45
  collectible that you think that people
• 52:46
  are kind of sleeping on right now that
• 52:47
  could have a big big pop in the next
• 52:49
  couple years. So, I'll tell you this is
• 52:52
  what I'm buying right now as aggressive
• 52:54
  and they are so hard to find in good
• 52:56
  shape. Uh, I think factory sealed
• 53:00
  Beyblades.
• 53:02
  That is one of my picks. Let it rip,
• 53:04
  right? Like the battling tops. Think of
• 53:06
  it. Beyblades, great anime, manga,
• 53:10
  unbelievable concept, right? Similar to
• 53:12
  Pokemon creatures being cats to fight,
• 53:15
  but the product Beyblades, you open it,
• 53:18
  you assemble it, and they get played.
• 53:20
  So, played with Beyblades, whatever.
• 53:23
  Open box, sure. But to find Beyblades,
• 53:26
  factory sealed, the original Hasbro
• 53:28
  period stuff is a big pick for me. Uh,
• 53:32
  another one just, and it's thinking back
• 53:33
  to my childhood, too. It's like Bakugan,
• 53:37
  right? Think of that. How novel of a
• 53:39
  concept Bakugan was. Trading card game
• 53:42
  where you roll this little ball, magnet
• 53:45
  operated, ball falls on the card, spring
• 53:48
  monster comes out. Now there already are
• 53:51
  key Bakugan things that sell for 1,200
• 53:55
  bucks for the ultra rare like crazy
• 53:57
  level things. But nobody's paying
• 53:59
  attention to the factory sealed stuff.
• 54:02
  And I really think it's, you know, what
• 54:05
  makes something a future collectible
• 54:08
  is a novel idea where when the thing
• 54:11
  comes out, nobody is thinking about
• 54:14
  preserving it. So it's like one of my
• 54:16
  favorite story is like when you look at
• 54:18
  Star Wars Phantom Menace, everybody and
• 54:21
  their brother in 99 thought they found
• 54:25
  the secret recipe to infinite wealth by
• 54:28
  just buying Phantom Menace, Star Wars,
• 54:30
  and Hordes. And it's like, well, no,
• 54:32
  because now when we're 27 years later,
• 54:35
  everybody has a tote of Phantom Menace
• 54:37
  Factory Sealed and your figures are
• 54:39
  worth the same price, if not less than
• 54:42
  what you paid uh when they came out. Um,
• 54:46
  but you know, when I look at comics
• 54:48
  where I think of where areas are
• 54:50
  depressed, you know, I'm a big believer
• 54:52
  in buying early silver age DC and
• 54:57
  because when you look at the comparative
• 54:59
  value of just, you know, what a Batman
• 55:03
  181 first Poison Ivy sells for compared
• 55:07
  to any other Marvel, you know, silver
• 55:09
  age villain first appearance. It's a
• 55:11
  fraction of the cost. I mean, take a a
• 55:15
  Batman 181 and 85 and compare it to, I
• 55:20
  don't know, let's pick a book.
• 55:22
  Spider-Man
• 55:24
  9 and 85, first Electro. It's like that
• 55:28
  Electro book at 85 is like four 4,000
• 55:32
  give or take a little depending on page
• 55:33
  quality. And the Batman 181 is 2,000.
• 55:37
  And on top of the 181 just being a first
• 55:40
  appear, it's wicked hard to find in high
• 55:42
  grade because it has a pinup.
• 55:43
  >> Most kids in 1966 were removing the
• 55:46
  pinup to put on their wall. So it's like
• 55:48
  you could get it's goes back to the
• 55:50
  Brave of the Bold, right? Brave of the
• 55:51
  Bold 28. 1961, first Justice League 92,
• 55:56
  you know, top seven copy, one of only
• 55:58
  five in its grade and it's worth half of
• 56:02
  what a AF-15 is in 8. People want to
• 56:05
  collect what they consume in media and
• 56:07
  if it's relevant and it's hot. So I
• 56:10
  don't I think Silver Age DC, that is my
• 56:12
  pick.
• 56:12
  >> For anybody listening out there, you're
• 56:14
  getting some great insight information
• 56:16
  from somebody who is in collectibles in
• 56:18
  the space and his opinions on where
• 56:20
  things could possibly go in the future.
• 56:22
  But I want to ask you a few more insider
• 56:24
  questions. I'm hoping you can answer
• 56:25
  them. What's the biggest mistake you
• 56:27
  think people make when consigning items
• 56:29
  to an auction? Are there full paws that
• 56:32
  people make? like, you know what, you
• 56:33
  know, people don't really understand or
• 56:35
  whatever.
• 56:36
  >> I mean, it's signing to an auction. Uh,
• 56:40
  it could be a scary process if you're
• 56:42
  not used to it, right? Because the thing
• 56:44
  with auction versus retail is retail,
• 56:48
  you're putting a piece out there, you're
• 56:49
  putting your number on there, and it can
• 56:52
  sit for a day, it can sit for six
• 56:53
  months. Auction is the way of a
• 56:58
  identifying true value because it's an
• 57:00
  item put up in the moment. And the thing
• 57:03
  that is true is you can have the same
• 57:05
  comic at the same auction house five
• 57:08
  days, Monday through Friday, and every
• 57:11
  single day I would bet the book almost
• 57:13
  sells for a different price. probably
• 57:15
  not by a lot, but it's because it
• 57:17
  depends who's looking at the auction,
• 57:18
  the advertising put behind it, what the
• 57:21
  auction is, and um you know, that's why
• 57:25
  it's like there's different ways of
• 57:28
  play. You have to make sure your item is
• 57:30
  being put into the right auction. it
• 57:32
  gets the right treatment, the right
• 57:33
  level of exposure because all, you know,
• 57:37
  all auctions are not created equally,
• 57:40
  you know, and there are certain books
• 57:42
  that will do great at one auction house
• 57:44
  and do bad at another auction house. I
• 57:46
  mean, I witness it all the time. I mean,
• 57:49
  it's a small world. I'm very There's
• 57:50
  some dealers out there that I've worked
• 57:52
  with over 10 years now, and they'll buy
• 57:54
  for my auction to put in another. And
• 57:57
  it's like there'll be 10 books, you
• 57:59
  know, out of the 10 books, six of them
• 58:01
  will basically almost break even, you
• 58:04
  know, maybe a couple hundred either way.
• 58:06
  Uh there'll be two books that it's like,
• 58:08
  "Wow, great job, man. you get an awesome
• 58:10
  flip, you know, and then there'll be two
• 58:12
  books that you took it up the wazoo
• 58:16
  because for whatever reason at my
• 58:18
  auction they were an unbelievable
• 58:19
  highlight focused on and then you put it
• 58:22
  in auction house over here and it's just
• 58:24
  one book amongst 800. Mhm.
• 58:26
  >> So, understanding venues, diff uh
• 58:30
  venues, different avenues, what the
• 58:32
  auction house is going to do for you is
• 58:33
  important. But I'd say the main thing is
• 58:36
  working. You know, you want to be able
• 58:38
  to have an open line of communication.
• 58:42
  And that is, you know, I have to toot my
• 58:43
  own horn, but that is really where I've
• 58:45
  strived and I've landed a lot of deals
• 58:47
  is that just being attentive to the
• 58:49
  customer, what the customer needs. If
• 58:51
  you have a question, make sure it's
• 58:52
  answered. You know, you should be able
• 58:54
  to pick up the phone and talk to your
• 58:55
  person, talk to your rep and say, "What
• 58:58
  is going on?" Because, uh, time and time
• 59:00
  again, I've seen it where an auction
• 59:03
  house will pitch you promises ABC
• 59:08
  and then you're left in the wind and all
• 59:10
  of a sudden you get result D. And it's
• 59:12
  like, "Wow, well, that is not cool." Um,
• 59:15
  and you know, I know for a fact, like
• 59:17
  again, not every auction is going to be
• 59:19
  the greatest result, but find someone
• 59:21
  you like, that you're comfortable with,
• 59:23
  uh, that you can work with, and just,
• 59:25
  you know, honesty is the best policy.
• 59:28
  You whatever they're telling you they're
• 59:29
  going to do, you should hope to receive
• 59:31
  that. Plus, that's why my thing is I
• 59:33
  always want to underpromise, overd
• 59:35
  deliver. That is always my goal. Is
• 59:38
  there an item you ever came across that
• 59:40
  you wish you kind of would have kept for
• 59:42
  yourself instead of selling?
• 59:45
  >> Um, so you know that is a good question
• 59:48
  and uh the analogy I give, as horrible
• 59:51
  as I said, I'm probably going to get
• 59:53
  roasted for this, [laughter] but I don't
• 59:55
  do the drugs. I just sell them. As
• 59:58
  horrible as that sounds, I'm not trying
• 1:00:00
  to be a jerk, everybody, but just if I
• 1:00:03
  ran my auction house trying to be this
• 1:00:06
  insane collector that kept things and
• 1:00:09
  bought things, it wouldn't work, you
• 1:00:12
  know? So, I have I love this stuff. I
• 1:00:14
  eat, sleep, and breathe it. But I am
• 1:00:16
  very thankful that I get to take it in,
• 1:00:20
  love it, enjoy it, and find a new home.
• 1:00:23
  And that is the joy. And I hate to use
• 1:00:25
  that analogy. It makes me sound like a
• 1:00:26
  total [ __ ] and so please I apologize
• 1:00:29
  in advance but uh there are very so the
• 1:00:33
  way I collect not to go down this rabbit
• 1:00:35
  hole but if you're curious how I collect
• 1:00:36
  things in my house is I don't collect
• 1:00:39
  one area it's like I want examples of
• 1:00:43
  everything. So, it's like I always have
• 1:00:46
  a personal collection of comics, but I
• 1:00:48
  keep a limit where I will never have
• 1:00:51
  more than 50 books myself and I keep it
• 1:00:54
  as a revolving thing. And because the
• 1:00:56
  other, you know, I'm buying when I'm
• 1:00:58
  buying these comics, I'm buying it from
• 1:00:59
  other places. Either I'm at a convention
• 1:01:01
  and I buy something or I'm buying it
• 1:01:03
  from a different auction house because I
• 1:01:05
  don't bid in my that's not what I do and
• 1:01:07
  I don't want that. It gets weird. Um, so
• 1:01:10
  like one uh one project I've started is
• 1:01:14
  that every major convention I go to, I
• 1:01:16
  buy a comic book for my son who is uh,
• 1:01:19
  you know, he's 16 months old at this
• 1:01:21
  point. He doesn't even know what's going
• 1:01:22
  on. But it's like I buy him books all
• 1:01:25
  year long and then at the end of the
• 1:01:26
  year I take that stack of books and I
• 1:01:28
  try to trade it for one great key and
• 1:01:31
  then that's going to be Everett's comic
• 1:01:33
  collection. So this kid is, you know,
• 1:01:35
  again, he's a year and a half. He's got
• 1:01:36
  a Showcase 22 and 6. He's got a
• 1:01:39
  All-American. I forget the issue, but
• 1:01:41
  it's like a 85. And it's just me having
• 1:01:43
  fun with it. Um, I love toys. You know,
• 1:01:48
  my big thing is that like I'm a true
• 1:01:50
  believer. I think Star Wars that as blue
• 1:01:53
  chip as Star Wars has already gone.
• 1:01:54
  Sorry going back and forth here, but
• 1:01:56
  things to collect. It's like Star Wars
• 1:01:58
  has gotten blue chip with rocket firing
• 1:02:00
  Boba Fett, uh, double telescoping Vader,
• 1:02:03
  Obi-Wan Kenobi, Luke on the card, but
• 1:02:06
  you really haven't seen the standard
• 1:02:09
  production stuff take that next leap.
• 1:02:12
  And we look at markets, you know, Star
• 1:02:15
  Wars, we're coming on the 50th
• 1:02:16
  anniversary of the brand, right, in
• 1:02:18
  2027.
• 1:02:19
  We're a year and change away from it.
• 1:02:22
  Star Wars toys, especially original uh
• 1:02:26
  78 through Empire Strikes Back. Nobody
• 1:02:29
  was keeping them sealed, right? They
• 1:02:30
  were played with. It was a new concept.
• 1:02:32
  There weren't collectors. That's why
• 1:02:33
  when you get to Return of the Jedi in
• 1:02:35
  1983, there's a lot of sealed examples
• 1:02:37
  out there. Um so I do buy Star Wars.
• 1:02:40
  That's like my other thing is that and
• 1:02:42
  it's all so my my kid's uh bedroom is
• 1:02:44
  all Star Wars themed. He's got a big
• 1:02:46
  Mandalorian and Grou on his wall. I'm
• 1:02:49
  lining up all along the ceiling graded
• 1:02:51
  figures with like double-sided tape. Um,
• 1:02:55
  but I'm I'm a big believer and I collect
• 1:02:57
  Star Wars. That's my thing.
• 1:02:58
  >> People who want to get into the
• 1:02:59
  collectible space, what is a big
• 1:03:01
  misconception
• 1:03:03
  uh that they have they could have when
• 1:03:06
  they walk into the space?
• 1:03:08
  >> Uh, the big misconception is that
• 1:03:10
  everything is a great investment. That
• 1:03:12
  is not true. I know so many people that
• 1:03:15
  have gotten into the space because like,
• 1:03:17
  oh, it's money making for the future.
• 1:03:18
  And it's that is true. You can 100%
• 1:03:22
  speculate, play the market right, and
• 1:03:24
  make a ton of money. There was a time,
• 1:03:26
  you know, in 2016, 17, 18, I had AF15,
• 1:03:31
  FF1, all the major keys. And then when I
• 1:03:33
  saw the market bloom in like 21,22, out
• 1:03:36
  the door they went because everything is
• 1:03:38
  replaceable. And um for the most part,
• 1:03:41
  obviously there's one of one art, but
• 1:03:43
  for regular things, commoditized, graded
• 1:03:45
  toys, comics, there's always another one
• 1:03:46
  if you want. Um but it's like to think
• 1:03:50
  that everything you're going to buy is
• 1:03:52
  just always going to appreciate is not
• 1:03:55
  true. And again, it's like why we study
• 1:03:57
  history. There was a time in the world
• 1:04:00
  where castiron banks, things by like J
• 1:04:02
  Stevens, uh were the hottest collectible
• 1:04:05
  in the world. And you know, you'd have
• 1:04:07
  like a magician with a hat bank that
• 1:04:10
  used to bring 30 to 50,000, especially
• 1:04:13
  if they had the original felt on the
• 1:04:15
  stairs. And now we're in a world where
• 1:04:17
  it's a $10,000 bank. So, play this
• 1:04:20
  market smart. Make money while you can.
• 1:04:23
  It is an investment, but also don't fool
• 1:04:26
  yourself that what you're buying is the
• 1:04:29
  equivalent of, you know, Nvidia stock or
• 1:04:32
  buying treasury bonds or putting money
• 1:04:35
  in the bank. I always joke I tell my
• 1:04:36
  wife, "Oh, the stuff is money in the
• 1:04:38
  bank." But at the end of the day, there
• 1:04:40
  are markets that have crumbled and gone
• 1:04:43
  almost to nothing. Uh so you just have
• 1:04:46
  to be mindful of that what we deal in
• 1:04:48
  nobody needs to survive. It's not food.
• 1:04:52
  It's not gold and silver and a true
• 1:04:54
  asset. I mean they are, you know,
• 1:04:57
  anything can happen. So you just have to
• 1:04:59
  buy what you like, have a passion for
• 1:05:01
  it, enjoy it. But you just got to be
• 1:05:04
  smart and don't be naive in thinking
• 1:05:06
  that everything you have is going to be
• 1:05:08
  worth that amount of money forever cuz
• 1:05:10
  it always changes.
• 1:05:14
  >> All right, this is quick hitters. So,
• 1:05:16
  you're going to tell me the first thing
• 1:05:17
  that comes to your mind with no
• 1:05:19
  explanation when I ask these, just four
• 1:05:20
  of them. All right.
• 1:05:21
  >> Oh, man. This is exciting. I'm on it,
• 1:05:23
  Lori. Let's do it.
• 1:05:25
  >> What's the most overrated collectible?
• 1:05:28
  Oh god, I have now I'm over.
• 1:05:32
  Oh man, this is tough. I don't know.
• 1:05:34
  First thing that comes to mind um
• 1:05:37
  God, I am going to be thrown at the fire
• 1:05:40
  for this Pokemon.
• 1:05:42
  >> Most underrated collectible.
• 1:05:45
  >> Why is this difficult?
• 1:05:46
  >> This is tough on the spot. I'm not going
• 1:05:48
  to lie to you because there's a lot of
• 1:05:49
  stuff out there, especially for you
• 1:05:52
  >> because now I like regret because I mean
• 1:05:53
  like Pokemon. Yeah, there's a lot of
• 1:05:55
  hype but it's the biggest IP. Oh man.
• 1:05:57
  What is the most underrated collectible?
• 1:06:01
  Uh, oh wow. This is I'm like sweating
• 1:06:04
  over this, Lawrence, because I
• 1:06:06
  [laughter] wanted to answer like I'm
• 1:06:07
  thinking to like answer accurately of
• 1:06:09
  what I feel is the most underrated. Um,
• 1:06:15
  okay. I am going to throw out there what
• 1:06:18
  is the most underrated collectible. I am
• 1:06:21
  gonna say Japanese toys. Japanese toys
• 1:06:24
  being
• 1:06:26
  >> uh kaiju good diecast like Chigoka stuff
• 1:06:30
  from the 70s because it's a huge market.
• 1:06:33
  It's wicked cool. It's the best quality.
• 1:06:35
  I mean if you look at the quality of a
• 1:06:38
  Goden Tetsigen 28 and compare it to a
• 1:06:41
  transformer or compare it to you know
• 1:06:43
  any relatable toy. I mean, Japanese toys
• 1:06:46
  are amazing, but it's a small world, and
• 1:06:51
  I think there should be greater exposure
• 1:06:54
  to the world of Japanese domestic market
• 1:06:56
  toys.
• 1:06:56
  >> One item you'd buy today if price didn't
• 1:06:59
  matter.
• 1:07:01
  >> If price didn't matter today, what I
• 1:07:03
  would buy,
• 1:07:04
  >> one item,
• 1:07:05
  >> um,
• 1:07:08
  >> I'd buy a rocket firing Boba Fett. One
• 1:07:10
  franchise collectors should always pay
• 1:07:13
  attention to. Could be anything.
• 1:07:15
  >> One franchise.
• 1:07:17
  One franchise collectors should always
• 1:07:19
  pay attention to.
• 1:07:21
  >> Star Wars, Transformers. Like one thing
• 1:07:23
  that that's like that is the thing.
• 1:07:26
  Could be a comic. Could be Spider-Man.
• 1:07:27
  Could be anything.
• 1:07:28
  >> You know, my gut. Well, all right. So,
• 1:07:31
  pay
• 1:07:32
  I I'm just go I I'll go with Star Wars.
• 1:07:35
  I'm gonna stay with Star Wars. And
• 1:07:36
  that's coming from a guy who
• 1:07:38
  Transformers at the end of the day was
• 1:07:41
  my core niche uh p I mean guy I helped
• 1:07:46
  write the last book on G1 Transformers.
• 1:07:48
  I mean that was my jam. It's my thing.
• 1:07:50
  And uh but I think Star Wars ultimately
• 1:07:53
  is a bigger brand. And um it's funny
• 1:07:56
  when you asked me about a thing I'd buy
• 1:07:58
  of money uh was wasn't an option. The
• 1:08:01
  reason I picked the rocket firing Boba
• 1:08:03
  Fett is because my true grail that I
• 1:08:07
  will own one day. I don't know how I'm
• 1:08:08
  going to own it, but I will. It is a
• 1:08:11
  Transformers generation 1 VSX gift set.
• 1:08:15
  And that is the only time ever G1
• 1:08:19
  Optimus Prime, G1 Megatron were
• 1:08:21
  available in one box in Japan. And a
• 1:08:24
  cool fact about it is on that Megatron
• 1:08:26
  in the VSSX gift set, he has blue inner
• 1:08:29
  legs. The plastic of Megatron in his
• 1:08:33
  legs are blue when all the other regular
• 1:08:35
  releases are red and that is an ode to
• 1:08:37
  their original microchange color, the
• 1:08:40
  precursor to Transformers. But I'll own
• 1:08:42
  it one day.
• 1:08:42
  >> So, we're winding this thing down and I
• 1:08:44
  have one more question for you, bud.
• 1:08:46
  Where do you see auctions heading in the
• 1:08:48
  next 5 to 10 years, especially with
• 1:08:50
  online bidding and social media? Any any
• 1:08:53
  changes in the next 5 10 years or what's
• 1:08:55
  coming, you think? So uh as you touched
• 1:08:59
  upon earlier I think the thing with
• 1:09:02
  auctions that is going to push the
• 1:09:04
  industry further is uh the entertainment
• 1:09:07
  aspect because there are other outlets
• 1:09:11
  there's whatnot there's Instagram
• 1:09:13
  selling there are all these things but I
• 1:09:15
  truly feel where the auction house will
• 1:09:17
  always be needed is to have uh
• 1:09:21
  representation of big items like the
• 1:09:24
  difference for a buyer security and
• 1:09:26
  peace of mind. Like it's a very uneasy
• 1:09:30
  feeling to buy something for 50,000 let
• 1:09:32
  alone 5,000 online from somebody you
• 1:09:36
  don't know ear like a whatnot very
• 1:09:38
  informal platform. Uh but the reason the
• 1:09:42
  purpose of the auction house in my
• 1:09:43
  opinion is it provides assurance. You
• 1:09:46
  know this company is standing behind
• 1:09:48
  your purchase to where if there's a
• 1:09:50
  problem it's not like the person just
• 1:09:52
  disappears right like you deal with the
• 1:09:54
  auction house they have to be credible.
• 1:09:56
  they have to back because we're putting
• 1:09:58
  our name on it, right? Like everything
• 1:09:59
  that sells through LPA is like has a
• 1:10:02
  Travis Landry stamp of approval that I
• 1:10:04
  represent this item. I stand by how we
• 1:10:07
  are representing it and if you have a
• 1:10:08
  problem, you can come to me, call the
• 1:10:11
  office and we are going to rectify it.
• 1:10:13
  Uh, but I do think that the old school
• 1:10:16
  way of just firing out thousands of
• 1:10:20
  items with a thumbnail and a digital
• 1:10:22
  countdown, yeah, it's worked forever and
• 1:10:24
  it will always work, but I think you're
• 1:10:27
  leaving a lot of uh meat on the bone,
• 1:10:29
  you know, money on the table with that
• 1:10:31
  with that option. And that's why you
• 1:10:33
  know I feel with LPA the way we have the
• 1:10:36
  entertainment aspect uh the way we are
• 1:10:38
  pushing that personal touch to where
• 1:10:40
  when you are bidding with us you know
• 1:10:42
  you feel you were there with me in the
• 1:10:44
  room you know that's where I think the
• 1:10:46
  advantage is going to be for the future
• 1:10:48
  and I'm sure the competition uh will
• 1:10:50
  begin to model that eventually but uh
• 1:10:53
  I'm happy that we have a head start.
• 1:10:55
  >> Travis thank you for coming on the show
• 1:10:56
  with me today. Again, I want to say
• 1:10:59
  congratulations on all your success that
• 1:11:01
  you've had and all the future success
• 1:11:02
  you will have going forward. And of
• 1:11:04
  course, the two big auctions are going
• 1:11:05
  to end one February 4th and then the big
• 1:11:08
  one on February 10th. Tell everybody
• 1:11:10
  where they could find you if they want
• 1:11:12
  to contact you to either sell their
• 1:11:14
  stuff or or possibly contact you about
• 1:11:16
  buying something.
• 1:11:18
  >> Yes, please always check out the
• 1:11:20
  website, landryop.com.
• 1:11:22
  You can go on there right now and
• 1:11:23
  register for the auction again. Uh this
• 1:11:26
  Wednesday night tonight after watching
• 1:11:28
  this, we have a 6 pm auction. That's our
• 1:11:30
  online edition. But then February 10th,
• 1:11:32
  the vault, that is our tier one, the big
• 1:11:35
  boy auction. Again, you register on
• 1:11:37
  landryop.com.
• 1:11:39
  And I am very active on Instagram. Uh
• 1:11:41
  that is my platform. You can follow me
• 1:11:43
  personally, popculture,
• 1:11:45
  and uh the company is Landry Pop
• 1:11:48
  Auctions. Don't be bashful. Say hi.
• 1:11:50
  We're here to work with you. And uh all
• 1:11:52
  I can say is give us a shot. My thing is
• 1:11:54
  when it comes to consigning and I know
• 1:11:56
  there's other companies that have been
• 1:11:58
  around for 25 plus years. I mean I'm 30.
• 1:12:02
  I'm not going anywhere. This is what I
• 1:12:03
  do. It's my only life skill. Let me just
• 1:12:05
  show you what LPA can do. That's my
• 1:12:07
  pitch. Give us a shot and let us show
• 1:12:09
  you the magic. If you'd like to become a
• 1:12:10
  sponsor here on the MightyR podcast,
• 1:12:12
  make sure you reach out at the mighty
• 1:12:14
  rewind podcast atgmail.com.