Latest / Collectors MD Features / #23: #RipResponsibly, The CMD Framework, & The Healthy Hobby Initiative | Greenie Sports Cards

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#23: #RipResponsibly, The CMD Framework, & The Healthy Hobby Initiative | Greenie Sports Cards · Collectors MD Features

• 0:08
  Really excited about our next guest to welcome
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  in Alyx Effron. He's the founder of Collectors MD,
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  a movement and support community built specifically
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  for collectors navigating compulsive spending,
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  break culture, and hobby burnout. Under Alyx's
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  leadership, Collectors MD has become the first
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  recovery -focused support group in the hobby.
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  Alyx and his team have created a safe, accountability
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  -driven space that's for collectors. by collectors,
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  helping people reconnect with the hobby with
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  clarity, boundaries, and intention. He's here
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  to talk about the mission, the movement, and
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  how Collectors MD is reshaping the conversation
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  around healthy collecting. Good evening, Alyx.
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  Good evening, gentlemen. Thank you so much for
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  having me on. Yeah, this is a very interesting
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  topic. I mean, very interesting. You know, there's
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  all sorts of recovery. We don't have to get into
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  all the different ones. I would need to recover
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  from collecting. And really, it is. I mean, with
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  the breaking and the live selling, give us a
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  little bit of detail on what goes into this.
• 1:15
  Yeah, so at a high level, Collectors MD is a peer
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  support and education initiative focused on the
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  intersection of modern collecting, compulsive
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  spending, and gambling adjacent behaviors. The
• 1:29
  hobby has... changed drastically over the last
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  several years right between live breaks live
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  auctions mystery products pack openings repacks
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  social media hype frictionless spending and just
• 1:45
  the constant chase for the next big hit there
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  are just so many more high engagement mechanics
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  built into the experience than there used to
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  be right our goal is not to demonize collecting
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  We're collectors ourselves. We believe the hobby
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  can be incredibly positive. It can be nostalgic,
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  social, educational. It's a great way to connect
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  with family and friends. What we're trying to
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  do is just create more awareness around the point
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  where fun can start to become something else.
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  Overspending, chasing losses, hiding purchases,
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  feeling a sense of no longer being in control
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  or realizing the hobby just isn't bringing the
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  same enjoyment anymore. And so that's really
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  where our Rip Responsibly campaign comes in.
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  It's all about encouraging people to collect
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  with intention, understand their boundaries and
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  recognize when they may need to slow down or
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  change the way they participate or maybe ask
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  for support. So again, we've built peer support
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  meetings. We offer educational tools and resources.
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  We have referral pathways. And we've also built
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  what we call The CMD Framework, which is really
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  designed to help bridge the gap between the collectibles
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  industry, the hobby, and the behavioral health
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  and problem gambling worlds. There's a real what
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  we call double blind spot on both sides. A lot
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  of people within the behavioral health field
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  don't fully understand. the nuances of how modern
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  collecting works. And a lot of people in the
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  hobby don't necessarily recognize how some of
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  these mechanics can affect vulnerable people.
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  So our role is really to sit in the middle within
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  this intersection and help both sides understand
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  one another and make sure that if somebody does
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  start struggling, there's a place for them to
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  turn that understands the hobby without judging
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  them. And the biggest thing for us is there isn't
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  one path for everyone, right? For some people,
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  abstinence might be the most appropriate pathway
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  for others. It might be learning how to collect
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  more intentionally and within healthier boundaries.
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  We're not here to diagnose anyone or to tell
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  people what they should do. We're here to create
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  awareness, provide support, and make sure people
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  know they don't have to figure it out alone.
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  Alyx, you mentioned Rip Responsibly, which also
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  serves as a hashtag. Talk about that a little
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  bit. What does that mean and how can that become
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  part of a movement? Yeah. So first of all, I'm
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  so grateful for the support that we've gotten
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  around Rip Responsibly within the last year.
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  Rip Responsibly is really the public facing message
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  behind a lot of what we're doing at Collectors
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  MD. Really at its core, it's a reminder that
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  ripping packs or joining breaks or buying into
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  auctions or participating in the hobby in any
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  capacity should still be rooted in enjoyment,
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  not chasing. So it's not an anti ripping or anti
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  hobby or anti collecting campaign by any means.
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  It's definitely not saying that people shouldn't
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  collect. The idea is that you can love the hobby
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  and still be intentional about how you engage
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  with it. So, you know, just keeping things in
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  mind, like know your budget, understand the odds,
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  pay attention to how you're feeling and recognize
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  when the motivation potentially starts to shift
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  from, you know, this is fun to. i need to hit
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  something or you know i need to make my money
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  back right so we also want Rip Responsibly to
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  become something the industry itself can embrace
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  and it already has breakers shops platforms manufacturers
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  creators influencers and collectors can all play
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  a role in normalizing healthier habits and reminding
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  people that the value of the hobby isn't just
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  the biggest hit or the highlight reels right
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  so for us it really comes back to one simple
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  idea which is collect with intention, not compulsion.
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  And the whole spirit behind that is enjoy the
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  rip, enjoy the community, enjoy the nostalgia,
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  but don't let the chase become the reason that
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  you're participating. Yeah, this is definitely
• 5:55
  interesting. So how do people go about getting
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  in touch with you? What's the protocol? If somebody
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  determines, I got to stop doing this, what do
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  they do? How do they reach out? How do we find
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  you? Yeah, there's a number of different pathways.
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  Generally, people can find us at CollectorsMD
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  .com. From there, they can learn more about what
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  we do, access our tools and resources. Join one
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  of our free weekly peer support meetings or connect
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  with the broader Collectors MD community, which
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  I'm proud to say we've grown substantially within
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  the last year and a half. We're also present
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  across all social media @CollectorsMD. And
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  if somebody wants to reach out directly, they
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  can always email us at info at CollectorsMD .com.
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  And I always like to emphasize that you don't
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  have to identify as having an addiction or even
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  knowing exactly what you're dealing with to reach
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  out. If collecting, ripping, breaks, auctions,
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  spending, any of that just doesn't feel fun or
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  as manageable as it should, that's enough of
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  a reason to connect with us. And again, if you're
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  a hobby operator and you'd like to support RIP
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  responsibly in the movement, then we'd be more
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  than happy to have a conversation about ways
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  you can get involved. Alyx, talk about The Healthy
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  Hobby Initiative as it relates to The Certified
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  Trading Card Association. Yeah, so I'm proud
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  to share, and this is something that's been in
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  the works for quite some time. Nick Jarman and
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  I launched The Healthy Hobby Initiative in partnership
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  with Collectors MD and the CTCA, The Certified
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  Trading Card Association. And The Healthy Hobby
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  Initiative is really about just bringing the
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  industry itself into the conversation. The idea
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  is that you shouldn't have to choose between
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  loving the hobby and acknowledging that some
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  of the modern mechanics can create problems for
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  certain people. both things can be true at the
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  same time, right? So the initiative is really
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  focused on working with breakers, shops, platforms,
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  creators, manufacturers, other hobby businesses
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  that want to be proactive about promoting healthier
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  engagement. And so that could mean supporting
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  Rip Responsibly. It could mean improving transparency
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  in education. making help resources easier to
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  find or creating a culture where setting limits
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  or stepping away for a while isn't treated like
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  some kind of failure. And a big part of it is
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  also trust, right? We want collectors to feel
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  like the people and the companies they're engaging
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  with actually care about their long -term relationship
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  with the hobby, not just the next transaction,
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  right? We see this massive churn that is happening
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  on live platforms today. We want to make sure
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  that collectors feel seen and heard. So if somebody
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  is showing signs that the chase is getting away
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  from them, the healthy response is to point them
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  towards support, not encourage them to keep spending.
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  And we're trying to do all of that without becoming
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  the hobby police or the hobby watchdog. That's
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  not what we are. That's not our jurisdiction.
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  We're not here to police the hobby. And we're
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  not interested in shaming people or calling out
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  companies or individuals or telling everyone
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  there's one right way to collect. It's just more
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  about creating shared standards and a common
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  language around. what a safer, more sustainable
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  hobby can look like. And that's really why The
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  Healthy Hobby Initiative, again, in partnership
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  with the CTCA and Rip Responsibly, fit together
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  so well. One is the broader industry effort,
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  and the other is the message collectors can actually
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  carry with them, right? Again, enjoy the hobby,
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  know your limits, and collect with intention,
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  not compulsion. Alyx, great stuff. We really
• 9:33
  appreciate your time and going over this information
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  with us. We'll definitely drop some links that
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  people can contact you and get in touch and,
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  you know, help, help, because, you know, we've
• 9:44
  all been there, right? So we appreciate it, and
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  we look forward to hearing some more stuff down
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  the road. Thanks, gentlemen. Really appreciate
• 9:51
  the support and looking forward to hopefully
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  doing this again soon. You got it. Thanks, Alyx.
• 9:56
  All right. Take care. All right. Thanks to Alyx
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  Effron from Collectors MD. Really powerful stuff.
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  The Rip Responsibly campaign, The Healthy Hobby
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  Initiative. So stay tuned for that. Hit them
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  up on the socials. Whether you think you need
• 10:10
  help or not, you can support those that do need
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  the help. So we appreciate Alyx joining us.