Latest / Sports Card Clubhouse / MidLife Sports Cards Q & A- January 25, 2026

Transcript

MidLife Sports Cards Q & A- January 25, 2026 · Sports Card Clubhouse

0:10
What's going on, everybody? Alright, here we are on our
0:13
Wednesday, my favorite Q&A days. Q&A day is so much fun.
0:18
And again, any question that you guys have, you want my take on
0:22
it. You just want to start a
0:22
conversation. Maybe it's not so much that
0:25
you're interested in my take, but you're interested in what I
0:28
might have to say to get the conversation going.
0:32
There are all these things that are constantly happening in our
0:34
hobby. There's so many different
0:36
directions, so many different projects, so many rabbit holes
0:40
that we can fall down that it's just fun to get other people's
0:44
opinions on. One of the things about how
0:47
widespread we are, I mean, we have people who watch this in
0:51
Australia, Hong Kong, Canada, the United States, from coast to
0:56
coast. We're so spread out.
0:58
But this is a platform that allows us to come together and
1:01
share our thoughts. And so when I share my thoughts
1:05
on something on AQ and a episode like this, just because I'm
1:10
saying it or I'm feeling it at that moment at that time doesn't
1:14
make it right. It makes it a conversation
1:17
starter. And the conversation continues
1:19
down below in the comments. And sometimes if the
1:21
conversation keeps going down in the comments, I'll address it in
1:25
another episode or a follow up or an episode of its own.
1:28
So never hesitate if there's something that you just want the
1:32
community to share some thoughts on, just get the ball rolling,
1:36
get the thing started. Ask that question down below.
1:40
Last week we had some great questions.
1:43
In fact, I had 6 questions that I'm using this week.
1:47
Two, I'm tying into one response because I think that the answer
1:53
to 1 is very similar to the answer to the other.
1:57
And I'm, I'm very interested. I'm very eager and excited to
2:02
share with you some information that I think could really be a
2:07
game changer for a lot of us. I think a lot of us that are
2:12
card collectors, but specifically for people who are
2:17
hunting cards that don't show up that often, cards that are few
2:22
and far between and we don't really know where to go to find
2:27
it. We don't know how to find it.
2:28
We don't know where that card is hiding.
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I think that I've got a I'm going to be able to introduce
2:36
something to you that I think could completely change the way
2:42
that you find those rare cards that you're looking for.
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With that, let's go ahead and take a look at our first
2:50
question. First questions.
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There's two here right here. This first one says Greg.
2:58
Another great video, thank you. Since 1990 when I bought my
3:02
first pack of Skybox Basketball to today's, 99% of the cards I
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have bought are from card shops, card shows and a lot on eBay.
3:14
I've never once bought from another website.
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And I hear you and Mike, Junk Wax Hero and Tony Southern
3:21
Collector mentioning other websites and auction houses all
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the time and I want to start scooping some out buying some
3:30
singles from them. I collect 99% vintage but also
3:35
by Derek White, Drake May and Otani.
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Do you know if anyone has made a spreadsheet or a screenshot that
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shows the best safe sites and what each site specializes in?
3:49
Thanks. And another question asks, what
3:54
is auction wire? All right, so auction wire, you
4:01
know, remember way back in the day when we used to look for a
4:06
hotel and you'd go to a travel agent or you'd go hotel chain by
4:11
hotel chain, you look up their website, you'd call them, you'd
4:13
look online, you'd try to book the hotel room.
4:16
And then like Expedia showed up or Kayak or you know,
4:21
Travelocity or whichever 1 you use, I use Expedia and you go to
4:26
one place and it, it searches all of them and then it gives
4:30
you back results. That's basically auction wire.
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It's a complete game changer. Now, thankfully for me, I'm I'm
4:42
friends with the owners on there's a couple of guys,
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Leighton, Sheldon, you probably know Leighton from just collect.
4:48
You probably know Leighton from Sports Cards Live.
4:52
Layton's a good guy. He's been in the in the hobby a
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long, long time. He's got a card shop on the East
4:58
Coast. And then Mark, his partner on
5:01
this project, is a great guy. He's very active on Facebook.
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I've communicated with him there.
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I've talked to him on the phone. I've I've video chatted with him
5:11
and they basically built a website that is like Expedia for
5:16
cards. So instead of having to go, oh
5:20
man, I'm looking for this 39 play ball DiMaggio.
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I really want one in like a 4-5 or six, like a mid mid grade
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type card. Where do I look?
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Is there's a new auction that just popped up?
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What about this auction? This auction house, that auction
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house, it searches a bunch of them and it does it all from one
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platform. And I've talked with Leighton
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and I've talked with Mark and I've talked about doing some
5:50
sort of like partnership deal with them.
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And we've had those discussions. Nothing's been finalized.
5:57
We're working on it. But you're asking about auction
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wire, You're asking about how do we find the, the, the places,
6:06
the place to not miss out on a card.
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See what happens right now is a lot of collectors will go to
6:17
their favorite dealer or two and they'll say, hey, I'm in the
6:19
market for a 52 tops Willie Mays.
6:24
I want it centered. I'd like it to be in like at
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least a three or A4 ideally no creases and they'll kind of keep
6:35
their eye out. And then what will happen is
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that dealer will, will try to locate 1.
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They'll maybe send some pictures and then they basically get a
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cut. They basically are the middle
6:47
man because they get a finder's fee.
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But what, what this website does is it allows you to find when
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one pops up, if it pops up on, you know, an eBay auction, it's
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included if it, if it hops pops up on and there's CIA auction,
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they're they, they're partnered with CIA.
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So if there's something that you want, you can save a search and
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you can, or you could just do a search and it'll search all of
7:19
the sites what's currently available.
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So now instead of worrying about, Oh no, I'm gonna, I
7:24
missed out. I actually had that happen
7:27
today. I was watching JTJTS channel and
7:32
he was showing a Cracker Jack, Roger Peckinpah that he bought
7:37
and it was like either 2 1/2 or 3 1/2.
7:39
And I was like, man, I'd have been interested in that card.
7:43
And I don't know where he found it.
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I don't know which site or you know, if it was online or
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something, but I was like, there was like FOMO going on.
7:52
And the reason there was FOMO going on is because it's a card
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I'd like to have. I don't know what he paid and I
7:57
don't know any of that. But I, I missed out.
8:00
I, I lost out because a card was listed and it was sold and I
8:04
didn't even know it. This website does that now
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again, you know, I want to show you the site.
8:12
So the the site was in beta mode for last month or two and beta
8:18
was basically testing. So they didn't have it open to
8:21
everybody. And because I'm, I'm friends
8:24
with Mark and Leighton, they gave me an early access code.
8:28
And so I've been using it. I haven't been using it as much
8:32
as it is a normal routine yet, but I've tried it out.
8:36
I've tried the different features and it's, it's, it's,
8:40
it's a game. It's a total game changer.
8:44
And there it isn't free. It's, it's got a fee.
8:49
It's like a $10 fee. But through the website they do
8:54
a $30, I'm sorry, a 30 day trial.
8:59
And so in my communications with Mark and Layton, I was like, can
9:04
you give me a promo code? Not something where I'm like an
9:07
affiliate and I get like a cut of it, but can we do something
9:11
for my viewers? Can we do something for Midlife
9:14
Nation? And because when I see some see,
9:17
when I see a tool, I always I'm skeptical.
9:21
And then when I try it and I'm like, this is pretty good, like
9:24
I am with card ladder. I then reach out and I say, Hey,
9:28
can you do something for, you know, the people in this
9:32
community? And usually they do, you know,
9:35
card ladder as you know, you can get, you know, a, a, a discount
9:40
$20 off a one year subscription, you know, and so I, I did the
9:47
same thing and, and Leighton, he recently got back to me and you
9:51
said, yeah, how about 90 day free trial?
9:56
So I was like, yeah, that beats the heck out of the 30 day free
10:00
trial that you get if you just go to the site.
10:03
So I think that if you try this, you're going to be hooked again.
10:09
You see, Greg, what are you getting paid for this?
10:13
Everybody thinks. Everybody thinks I'm getting
10:16
paid for stuff. I'm telling you right now, if
10:20
you use my code or not is not going to put money in my pocket.
10:24
I am currently trying to set up some sort of partnership with
10:30
them. We're in the talks of doing that
10:32
because I believe in the product and I think everybody will
10:35
benefit from it. But a 90 day free trial of
10:41
auction wire. So I want to show you how it
10:44
works. It's it's one thing for me to
10:46
talk about it. So what I'm going to do is I'm
10:49
going to put the camera down, I'm going to go screen record me
10:54
on the site how it works. You can see how it works.
11:00
And then I'm going to show you how to sign up and, and how to
11:03
get 90 free days there. I, I genuinely think that when a
11:11
lot of people look back on 2026, I think like 2025 was the year
11:17
of the scandals. There was scandal here, scandal
11:19
there, scandal here. I think when people look back on
11:22
2026, it's going to be the year that that auction wire launched.
11:28
I wouldn't miss out on this one. If you're not interested, if you
11:32
don't want to try auction houses, I, I, I get it, but I
11:37
don't know why you wouldn't. And but enough of me talking
11:41
about it. Let's take a look at it.
11:42
I'm going to turn the camera around, not turn it around, but
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I'm going to screen record here. I'm going to talk through how it
11:49
works. It is a really impressive tool.
11:52
And I think that this is going to make sure that people stop
11:56
missing out on big items that hit the market that you never
12:01
even knew were available. All right, so here is the
12:06
auction Wire site. Now, First off, notice it's
12:10
auction wire dot AI up here. That is the website for auction
12:16
wire. It's incredible.
12:18
Now there's a search bar right here and you can type in look
12:22
for whatever you want. Now these things right here,
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these, it starts to kind of figure out what you like and it
12:29
starts to put in cards here that kind of fit your preference once
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it starts to to learn about you. So I'm going to just type in
12:37
your 1947 bond bred. And when you search for that,
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what it's going to do is it's, well, I could use some filters
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First off, or I can just simply search that in general, but I'm
12:51
going to click on filters because maybe there are certain
12:56
grading companies and certain grades that you want.
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Maybe you want to use all the auction houses.
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Now there are a bunch of auction houses that it'll search, but
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maybe there's an auction house you don't want searched.
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You can uncheck it. So if you just go over here and
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you say, OK, I'm going to look up certain PSA grades, like
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maybe an authentic and APSA one and APSA 2 and, and you know,
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maybe I can't afford A6 or A7. There probably isn't A6 or A7,
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you know, And then same with SGC.
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You could look up SGC. I'm not even 100% sure if PSA
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grades these bond bread cart. Well, they grade some of them, I
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suppose, just not all the clip corner ones, I guess.
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So if I go up here now and I search, it's going to look in
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all of those locations. So you can see like right up at
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the over here on the left. I can continue to filter it.
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Maybe I don't want to look up some of the grades.
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May I want to take off some of the auction houses.
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You can change the filters right here live.
13:57
So as I'm scrolling through, you'll see that there are lots
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of them, like lots that showed up.
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Here's the Jackie right there. There was a stand usual on the
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first page. You know, there are a lot of big
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players in this Yogi Berra's in this set, and there are quite a
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few. So maybe I want to just change
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it to Jackie. I want to add Jackie to my
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search. It keeps my filters.
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Yeah. So you can see the one Jackie
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there in a Bond bread, couple of them.
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So they do grade some of them and then it it says the auction
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house in question. So like most of these are eBay,
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but it won't always be that way. If there's something on a
14:38
different auction house, it'll show up there.
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So if you click on it, it takes you directly to the auction
14:43
house to make the purchase. So we can go back and again,
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basically we're what we have is Expedia for cards.
14:54
Now I can again change my search and here I got Stan and there's
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just the one stand mutual bond bread, 47 bond bread that shows
15:03
up as a result. And and you can also save
15:07
searches. So up at the top there I could
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have saved this search so I can just go back to it later if I
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want and I don't have to change the search all the time.
15:17
So here is again, if I were to look now I'm changing some
15:23
filters and I'll change my search.
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Maybe if I want to do the 33 like the 33 sport kings or
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something. And I, I go to the 33 sport
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kings and I search now again, I can change my filters, I can
15:39
change the grades, anything you want.
15:42
So it's, it's just like if you were searching on eBay, but in
15:45
instead it's instead of just searching like eBay like this,
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it, I can search for whatever I want.
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I, I can search 12, you know, 10 different auction houses and
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eBay as one of the auction houses.
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I can eliminate eBay and just do the other auction houses.
16:07
So again, it's pulling up all of these, these cobs here.
16:12
And if I want to again change the filters, 'cause that was not
16:17
eBay included. So if I wanted to change it to
16:20
all the auction houses, just click on all of them and it will
16:24
have a whole bunch. So there's a whole bunch of
16:27
Sport Kings cards that fit my criteria in the filters.
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And again, you, you can scroll through these.
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So instead of going to eBay and searching for the card or the
16:40
types of cards, you can search a bunch of auction houses, same
16:45
place, one, one time, one place. So if I went into the Bobby
16:49
Jones Sports Kings, which is a card I'd love to get, you can
16:52
see there are multiple here now. Right now there aren't a ton of
16:58
auction houses open, so it's pulling mostly eBay results
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because eBay has a few. So if I click on this one here
17:08
again, this is obviously a high grade one in SGC 6 and I can
17:13
look at the description just like if it was an eBay without
17:17
leaving the site, right? But if I want to buy the card, I
17:21
don't buy it directly through auction wire.
17:25
That's where I go to the third party site to do the purchase
17:30
like I did a few minutes ago with the Jackie.
17:34
So again, here's another one and you could just search for
17:38
anything you want like Expedia. That's the easiest way to
17:43
explain it is it's like Expedia searching for a hotel and but
17:49
it's a bunch of auction sites. I think this is a complete game
17:54
changer. Now if you look at the about
17:57
section on auction wire again, you can see, you know, 4
18:01
collectors. The biggest thing is, you know
18:05
you're not going to miss out on missing your grail.
18:10
You're never going to miss a grail card again.
18:12
You can search one place, find it on whatever auction house.
18:18
If you're not currently a bidder on that auction house or you're
18:23
not an approved buyer on that auction house, you can register
18:27
and then you can bid on it. So I think this is going to
18:32
change everything. I think this is a really big
18:36
deal personally. Again, you can check it out for
18:40
90 days, three months for free with my promo code.
18:46
Now my promo code is midlife. That's easy to remember, right?
18:51
But in order to do that, what you're going to have to do is
18:53
you're going to have to set up an account.
18:56
And I'll show you how to do that right now.
18:58
So if if you're just in Google and you go up to your address
19:03
bar up at the top and you type in auction wire dot AI, it's
19:08
going to take you to the site. Once you get to the site, once
19:14
you get to the site, it you're you know, you're going to be
19:16
brand new, so you're not going to have an account.
19:18
So you have to set up the account first.
19:21
So again, here's a little bit more information about it.
19:25
But what you're going to do is you're going to create an
19:27
account. Your promo code is going to be
19:30
midlife. So after you set up the account,
19:32
it's going to ask you for your credit card information.
19:34
It's not going to bill you if you cancel before 90 days, after
19:38
90 days, then it would be, it would bill you and it's $10 a
19:42
month or $100 for a year. But if you use the promo code
19:46
midlife, again, I'm not an affiliate, but this is a big
19:50
deal. I really think this is going to
19:52
change everything and how people search for cards, especially
19:55
rare ones. This next one says question for
19:59
you and the midlife community. Put on your investment hat.
20:04
Would you rather have APSA 8 auto 10 versus APSA 9 Auto 9?
20:13
All right, I'm going to be interested down below to hear
20:15
what you all think about this one.
20:16
I think I have a fairly strong opinion.
20:19
I've seen a lot of 10 autos that didn't look like 10 autos and a
20:25
lot of nine autos that did look like 10 autos.
20:28
I don't personally in most cases see many flaws between A9 and
20:35
A10 Auto. The the whole point of an
20:38
autographed card is that the player touched and held the card
20:43
and signed it. It it's their way of saying I
20:46
was here. And that doesn't change whether
20:50
it's a nine auto or A10 auto. The the fact that they held it
20:55
and they autographed it, it it it's the same to me.
21:00
Now if it's a really bad Otto, like the the pen gave out
21:07
completely for part of it. It's majorly streaking.
21:10
It's fading. That's a little bit of a
21:13
different story. So with that said, for me, the
21:18
difference between a nine auto and A10 auto is almost nothing.
21:22
It it changes very, very little for me.
21:26
Now again, I'm going to be interested down below to hear
21:29
what you guys think about this. In a lot of cases, a card in an
21:34
8 versus A9, you can't tell. But for a vintage card and, and
21:39
I'm not sure if we're talking about vintage cards or modern
21:41
cards here. For me, in a modern card, the
21:45
difference between an 8 and a nine kind of irrelevant.
21:48
The difference between a nine auto and A10 auto most usually
21:52
irrelevant. If we're talking about a vintage
21:55
card, There are times where to me, a vintage card and a nine
22:00
basically looks like a 10 an 8 at times it kind of looks like
22:07
there are some flaws. So for me, I feel like a lot of
22:12
the times I can notice the difference between the 8th grade
22:16
and a ninth grade in a vintage card.
22:18
Not in the modern card, but in a vintage card.
22:21
The price in a vintage card from an 8 to a nine usually jumps a
22:27
ton. So if we're talking about
22:31
vintage cards here, I'm leaning towards I'll take the 9 auto and
22:36
the nine card grade because a nine card grade in a vintage
22:41
card is like a phenomenal card with a huge premium.
22:47
If we're talking about a modern card, whether the card is an 8
22:52
or a nine for me, I that that hardly matters.
22:59
And the autograph difference between A9 and A10 in a modern
23:02
card hardly matters. So I think what I'm going to say
23:07
and, and again, I want to hear what you guys think down below.
23:10
I think vintage card, I'll take the 9 card 9 auto If it's a
23:17
modern card. I I, I I guess I would go 9 card
23:25
9 auto as well because I again rarely can I tell the difference
23:32
between a nine auto and A10 auto.
23:36
I think that I think that's my answer.
23:39
I could be. I could easily be swayed on this
23:41
one. I don't have a strong opinion
23:43
initially on reading this but I think it partly depends if it's
23:48
a modern card or a vintage card. Might change the answer I I
23:56
think. I think I'm going 99 either way
24:00
but a a good argument could probably get me to change my
24:04
mind pretty easily. My guy over at straight race
24:09
card says Excited to listen to this.
24:12
Before I forget, I have a question for you that was
24:15
inspired by Chris from Missouri and Brad's Vintage Collection.
24:20
How have you balanced the excitement of a new set you're
24:23
going after versus the sets you are currently working on?
24:27
I'm working on a 56 tops run and have gotten excited about 75
24:33
tops lately and find myself trying to figure out the balance
24:37
between the two. All right, great channel,
24:42
straight race cards, great guy. Let me take a stab at this one.
24:47
Now, when I first started reading this, it was sort of
24:50
like, OK, the new shiny object. Does it completely take my
24:57
attention away from this other thing that I was already
25:02
involved with and already fascinated with?
25:08
I mean, my initial analogy was was as follows.
25:12
My initial thoughts was this, if, if I have a job that I like
25:19
now, the first of all, that would be fantastic.
25:22
Man, what a what a thought. That would be amazing.
25:27
Let's say I had a job that I liked.
25:30
And let's just say that I'm single.
25:35
So I'll go back, I'll go back in time 20 to 23 years.
25:40
I'm a first year teacher. I, I'm teaching and I, I meet my
25:46
wife, OK. And at the, at the time I'm
25:50
also, she's not, she's not my wife at the time, right?
25:52
I just met her. And although she did become my
25:57
wife not all that long after that, but that's a whole
25:59
different story. We, we got engaged very quickly.
26:04
But what I didn't do is I didn't, I didn't drop out of my
26:10
teaching credential program. I didn't quit my job.
26:14
I didn't drop all my other hobbies.
26:16
I didn't never see my friends again because I was so
26:20
infatuated with my wife, which I was.
26:23
There's still a balance. There are still other things
26:27
that matter, right? There are times that you get
26:32
completely like invested in something, but it doesn't make
26:38
you leave everything behind. I love making these YouTube
26:42
videos. I love my YouTube friends.
26:45
I love my card friends. I love the hobby.
26:47
I love searching for cards. I love going on websites and
26:50
looking for new cards and looking through my cards and
26:53
organizing my cards. But I still go golfing
26:56
sometimes. I still golf sometimes.
26:59
I still go out on hikes sometimes.
27:03
I still do this stuff with my family.
27:05
Sometimes I still go on vacations.
27:06
We just got back from 1. I don't go.
27:09
So all in that everything else doesn't matter.
27:14
It's it's an addition to the menu.
27:18
It's not the only thing on the menu.
27:22
And I do think that what a lot of us do is I think that
27:26
sometimes we go in so hard and so fast on some new shiny object
27:33
that we completely forget about the other thing that we've
27:37
enjoyed for a long time. Now, that's not to say that your
27:42
collection can't take a turn. That's not to say that just
27:47
because you've been collecting 90s refractors for the last 10
27:51
years and now you're getting into pre war that you can't pare
27:56
down some of your 90s refractors collection to put some money
28:00
into pre war cards. That's not to say that you can't
28:03
do that, but I do think that we we have to stay level headed at
28:10
times and we have to go. This is another thing that I
28:15
like. It's not the only thing that I
28:18
now like I, I had a had a lot of times in my life and I think all
28:26
of us have that we were really excited about something, you
28:30
know, whether it's a, a new book that we started reading, a new
28:35
TV series that we enjoy. You don't find a new TV series
28:40
that you like in on Netflix and you want to binge watch it and
28:44
you just call in sick for the next two days.
28:46
That's not normally what people do.
28:49
They don't call their friends and say I'm not going to go down
28:52
to Ontario for the West Coast card show because I'm just all
28:56
in on this TV show. This TV series is only thing I
29:01
care about now. I think it's a balance and it's
29:06
adding something to the menu. It's you showed up at your
29:10
favorite restaurant. There's this other menu item
29:14
that looks really good, but you usually get one of these other
29:18
two or three things. Do you not even try the new
29:22
thing? And then if you do try the new
29:24
thing and you really like it, do you never order the other things
29:28
again? Now, some of you say, yeah,
29:30
that's exactly what I would do. When I find the thing that I
29:34
like, why would I get something else?
29:36
Some people like trying other things and new things.
29:40
I would just say this. There's a reason that you really
29:45
love the 1956 set, and there's a reason that you've been working
29:51
on a run for that set for a long time.
29:54
And there's also a reason why you love the 75 set, and that
30:00
now that's the shiny object that you're really interested in.
30:05
My response is how fortunate are you that now the number of
30:11
options when you go to a show or you look online or you're
30:15
looking for a new addition, it just doubled.
30:19
It doesn't mean that you can only focus on the 75 set.
30:25
It means now you have the 75 set and the 56 set and that just
30:31
doubled your opportunities. I would say I get it because I
30:39
do the same thing. We all have the new thing that
30:43
we get all excited about, but don't completely turn your back
30:49
on the thing that you've liked for a long time.
30:53
Take a minute to remember. I do still love this and I
31:00
really like this new thing too. So let's find a way that I can
31:05
enjoy both of them. I don't know if that helps but I
31:09
hope that it did. This one says what are your
31:14
favorite pre war hall of farmers that don't break the bank?
31:18
Players like Babe, Gehrig, Cobb, Young, Wagner, Matthewson,
31:23
Jackson and Johnson are expensive acquisitions.
31:26
My favorites are Tinker, home run, Baker, Dor Hornsby, Jimmy
31:32
Fox and Trish Speaker. Honorable mention Eddie Collins.
31:37
Thanks, Greg. I, I think this is a wonderful
31:41
question. You know, so many of us get so
31:44
caught up in the biggest names, you know, and it's easy to want
31:48
Cy Young cards and Ty Cobb cards and Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig.
31:52
That's easy. And if you're a pre war
31:54
collector, those are the names that a lot of people want.
31:57
And I understand why I want those cards too.
32:01
I want those players too, but there are a lot of players that
32:05
are kind of special or very special that don't necessarily
32:11
break the bank. And you mentioned a couple of
32:13
them. I mean, Eddie Collins, what's he
32:14
#10 or 11 on the all time hit list?
32:17
I mean, and his cards are very affordable.
32:20
Rogers Hornsby, His cards actually over the last couple of
32:23
years have jumped up a little bit.
32:28
Why? They haven't always been higher.
32:30
They're still, I think pretty cheap for what he is, but they
32:35
do seem affordable anyway. So I think that's a great
32:41
choice. You mentioned a few others and I
32:43
think they're all great choices. So you're asking me and, and
32:47
I'll give you my take now. First of all, I kind of like
32:51
players that have a little bit of a story that there's
32:55
something unique about the player.
32:58
You know, there are some player, I mean, every player has a
33:00
story. Don't get me wrong.
33:02
Every player has a story. And I'm going to show you some
33:04
cards here in just a second of some of these players.
33:08
Every player has a story, but some some stories are really
33:11
unique. For example, this guy, Mordecai
33:16
3 Finger Brown, I mean, this guy has an accident when he's young
33:22
that actually helped him to develop a pitch that made him
33:28
hard to hit. I mean, that's a pretty, I mean,
33:32
first of all, that's a beautiful card.
33:35
That's a beautiful card and he's got an incredible story.
33:41
So Mordecai 3 Finger Brown is definitely one of them.
33:44
I'm a huge Willie Keeler fan and one of the reasons I'm a Willie
33:49
Keeler fan. See if I can get it to focus on
33:51
the card instead of my ugly face.
33:54
One of the reasons I'm a huge Willie Keeler fan is because he
33:59
was like the first Yankee superstar and, you know, batted
34:04
over 400. He had the hit streak before Joe
34:08
DiMaggio broke it. I mean, just incredible player.
34:12
I love this card. It's even got that.
34:16
Look at that. It's got an A, A.
34:19
What is that? What is it?
34:20
AI can't even see that. Top 30%.
34:23
There you go. That's a beautiful card.
34:28
And I think now is probably the time to show a new edition that
34:32
I got this month to the collection.
34:35
So a friend of mine who's also a big Willie Keeler fan friend of
34:41
the channel didn't want me to name him, but he sent me that
34:48
gorgeous. Let's see if I can get it to
34:50
focus. That gorgeous card.
34:55
Look at that thing. That's the Willie Keeler with
34:59
the bat in an SGC 5. Look at the centering.
35:05
My goodness, This was a gift that showed up this month.
35:14
Gorgeous card. And we're both big Willie Keeler
35:17
guys, so that was amazing. So thank you to him.
35:21
First time I'm sharing that card on the channel.
35:24
But other players were the story.
35:26
I mean Chief Bender, Chief Bender's got a pretty cool
35:29
story. I mean a very cool story.
35:32
Tony Southern Collector has shared it on his channel a
35:35
couple of times. I mean very interesting guy,
35:39
very interesting story. There's a beautiful SGC, two
35:43
example of the T2O6 and then a guy who I think is is a really
35:50
interesting character too. But the nickname, I mean Home
35:55
Run Baker, another Yankee. Love that love, love his cards.
36:02
So I got the T2O6 of Home Run Baker in the SGC 3 here.
36:06
A lot of the players in the T2O6 set have two 3-4 cards.
36:12
I mean, is it Hal Chase? It has five, I think.
36:15
But a lot of the players have 3 or 4 cards.
36:17
Cobb, obviously Cy Young has multiple cards.
36:22
Baker, I think hit or I'm sorry, Bender I think has three.
36:26
But I'm I love I love all the T2O sixes.
36:31
The portraits are my favorite. But I'm I'm gonna look back at
36:36
his Keeler cart. Look at how Willie Keeler in his
36:39
back pocket, he's got his glove. That is, that is, I mean, my
36:47
goodness, unbelievable. So those are some of my guys.
36:52
Willie Keeler, Mordecai Brown, Chief Bender, Home Run Baker,
36:58
Other guys, if you're looking at pictures, Lefty Grove, look up
37:02
that guy's stats. Lefty Grove was a freak and
37:08
doesn't get the hobby love for some reason.
37:12
Grover Cleveland Alexander, same thing.
37:16
Absolute stud cards are very affordable for some reason.
37:22
And if you if you're talking pre war, I mean technically some
37:26
cards from the 30s and would be pre war.
37:29
So some of the early Joe Di Maggio cards would technically
37:33
be pre war right? Some Joe Di Maggio cards are
37:37
still affordable for whatever reason.
37:41
His 39 play ball has a little bit of a higher pop report.
37:45
The population on that card is higher than the 40 or 41.
37:48
So the 39 play ball Joe DiMaggio is a very affordable awesome
37:53
card of him. Bob Feller 38 Gowdy Bob Feller
38:00
is awesome card. So some of the guys that are war
38:04
heroes, some of the guys have stories are the guys that I tend
38:07
to lean toward. So those are some of my picks.
38:11
I think some of your picks were fantastic too.
38:15
But yeah, I mean, when when a guy has an something interesting
38:18
like Mordecai 3 finger Brown, I mean, he's that that's that's a
38:26
good choice. I think that's a good choice
38:29
right there. That's just my take.
38:34
This one says hello, this is Roy Ackerd.
38:37
I've been away from YouTube space for a while.
38:41
Here's a question After being back in the hobby for two years,
38:44
our family is setting up at a local card show, buying small
38:49
collections and doing the things.
38:52
I sell excess stuff and save for a card on my must have list.
38:57
We are doing rather well, but does the teacher have any wisdom
39:02
to add to this? All right.
39:05
So I'm not 100% sure what what exactly you're looking for with
39:10
the question on on what I can add.
39:14
First thing I would say is I think using cards to teach kids
39:20
about business and business skills is a fantastic way to do
39:24
it. And you said your family is
39:25
setting up its shows. So I, I'm assuming based on the
39:29
way that is worded that you have kids that are participating in
39:32
this, they're learning about buying, they're learning about
39:35
selling, they're learning about negotiation, talking to people.
39:39
I think all of that is fantastic.
39:41
I basically learned economics through sports cards.
39:46
You know, the, the newer cards that are high print are never
39:50
going to really be worth that much because the supply is so
39:54
high. The vintage cards that are
39:56
rarer, you know, of the big names are going to have a lower
39:59
supply. They're still going to have a
40:01
high demand. You know, I, I basically learned
40:04
economics that way. So I think working with kids and
40:09
and using cards with kids to learn business skills is.
40:16
Phenomenal. I as a teacher, you know,
40:19
actually telling somebody about something is never going to be
40:24
as powerful as them actually doing it.
40:26
So going to a show, buying cards, selling the cards,
40:31
pricing the cards, negotiating the cards, all of that is more
40:36
valuable than anything that they will learn in their classroom
40:39
that week, in my opinion. So I love this concept.
40:43
I think anybody out there who has kids who is who the kids
40:48
have any interest in cards at all, I would highly recommend
40:52
you to involve them in the process.
40:55
Take them to shows and and talk about the process because they
41:00
are learning more than you realize that they're learning.
41:03
And I love that. Now, if you're asking about
41:08
what, what else would I suggest to be successful in dealing,
41:16
that's a different question. I do have strong opinions on
41:20
this. I do have strong opinions on
41:22
what makes a good dealer. When I look in the the hobby
41:28
space and I think of who are the top dealers, who are the most
41:33
successful dealers? One of them is my buddy Ash,
41:37
right? I, I, I had the, the, I have a
41:39
podcast that I do with him about once a month.
41:41
We're going to record our next one soon.
41:43
I mentioned that the other day. One of them is over on our
41:46
sports card Clubhouse podcast network where we talk about all
41:50
things cards. The thing that makes the best
41:55
dealer in, in my opinion, This is just my opinion.
41:58
Let me turn it around. When you go to a card show,
42:02
there are certain tables and certain dealers that you go to
42:06
1st. Some people start at the front
42:09
and they just work their way through.
42:11
Some people the door opens and they go straight to a particular
42:14
dealer or two. And there's a reason you go to
42:17
those dealers and it's usually one of two reasons, right?
42:21
Think about it for a second, what is it about the dealer?
42:25
When you go to a show and there's the one dealer that
42:28
you're most interested in, there's usually one of two
42:31
reasons why that's the dealer that you like going to the most
42:36
#1 it's they have the best inventory, they have the best
42:40
stuff, right? The best fisherman might be, he
42:44
knows the spots to fish, but he might just have the best bait.
42:50
And the best bait usually attracts the most attention.
42:54
Ash has the best stuff. And so one of the reasons Ash is
42:59
so successful is because he has the best stuff.
43:04
The local card shows that I go to.
43:06
There's a couple of dealers that I definitely spend a lot of time
43:10
at and I look forward to seeing them.
43:12
It's because they have the best stuff.
43:14
So one thing I would recommend if being successful as a dealer
43:17
is make sure you have the best stuff.
43:20
Now, how do you get the best stuff?
43:23
How does Ash always have the best stuff?
43:27
Well, one, he has a lot of connections, but two, he pays
43:31
strong. If I'm going to sell, I'm going
43:36
to sell to the guy who's going to pay me the most.
43:39
And the guy who's going to pay me the most is going to have the
43:42
slimmest margins. It's like, do you go to the
43:45
Honda dealership? Do you go to CarMax?
43:48
Like CarMax? If you don't know what CarMax
43:51
is, it's, it's basically a big used car dealer.
43:54
They do volume, right? The Internet sales guy at the
43:59
car dealership, he does the most volume and he he's going to give
44:03
you the best deal because he does more deals but makes less.
44:08
Ash does tons of deals because he has the best stuff.
44:12
So everybody wants his stuff. So what he does is he pays
44:16
strong and he does high volume because he has the best stuff.
44:22
So my advice would be be a dealer who pays strong on the
44:28
liquid stuff. I wouldn't pay strong on the
44:31
card that's going to sit there for the next 6 months, but there
44:35
are certain cards that aren't going to last the show.
44:39
Why not pay 8085%, sell for 100% and make your 10% And then guess
44:49
what, next time people have good stuff to sell, they're going to
44:52
come to you. So to me, the the dealers who
44:57
have the best stuff have the best stuff because they pay the
45:01
strongest and that's who people want to sell to.
45:04
And and so again, a good fisherman has good bait.
45:10
Now the other thing that is the dealer you look forward to at
45:14
the local card show, it's because they have the best
45:16
prices. Now why do they have the best
45:19
prices? Well, it might be because they
45:22
paid the least, but they probably if they have the best
45:25
price. Rarely does a dealer have the
45:28
best stuff and the best prices they they might have one or the
45:33
other. So the guy with the best prices
45:36
generally doesn't have the best stuff.
45:40
So do you want to be the dealer who has a lot of stuff that's
45:46
not as liquid and not as in demand but sells under comp?
45:52
Or do you want to be the dealer who has the best stuff and you
45:56
pay strong for it? To me, if I was doing cards,
46:00
what I would want to do is volume.
46:03
I would want to be a destination dealer.
46:06
People are going to travel to a show because I'm at the show and
46:10
because I'm at the show, they know I'm going to have good
46:13
stuff. And in order to get good stuff,
46:14
you have to pay strong. But again, you don't want to pay
46:17
8085% on the card that has a very, very small potential
46:26
client base. You don't want to, you don't
46:29
want to find the card that's, you know, AT2O6 rare back card
46:35
that's going to just sit there for a while.
46:39
You want the common back red gob portrait.
46:44
You want the 56 Tops mantle, You want the the cards that are
46:50
selling frequently that people are always want.
46:54
People always want Cobbs. They always want Wilson,
46:57
Frank's, Ted Williams cards. They always want Leaf Jackie
47:02
Robinson cards. They always want 56 mantels.
47:07
They always want 53 mantels. They always want 53 jackies.
47:11
They always want 55 and 56 jackies.
47:15
Like there are certain cards that are going to be hard to
47:19
keep in stock. And when those cards show up and
47:22
you have the opportunity to get those, pay strong for those
47:26
because then you're going to be a destination dealer.
47:31
Ash is a destination dealer and he pays strong.
47:35
When I sell, one of the places I look is Ash.
47:39
Another guy, Same thing as my buddy Garrett over at Ballpark
47:43
Memories. He pays strong and because he
47:46
pays strong, he's got good stuff.
47:48
Look him up on Facebook. Look up his website again, Ashes
47:52
Legacy cards with az.net. Garrett is a Ballpark Memories,
47:59
he's got a website as well. He's all over Facebook as well.
48:01
Those guys pay strong and, and they have a thinner margin and
48:08
because they have a thinner margin and they pay strong,
48:10
they've always got good stuff. I would want to be that kind of
48:13
dealer. So I'm not sure if that's what
48:16
you're asking me for like some sort of strategy or something.
48:19
But if I was a dealer, that's how I would do it is I would pay
48:26
strong. I would I would have a firm
48:29
price, a fair price, but I'd always have good stuff.
48:35
That's just me. All right.
48:37
If you have a question for an upcoming episode, don't hesitate
48:40
down below in the comments. Simply ask it.
48:42
I'd love to start a conversation about a topic.
48:46
Share the topic, share the question.
48:48
I'll share my thoughts, open up the discussion for everybody
48:52
else. I appreciate everybody with
48:54
checking it out with me. Auction wire.
48:57
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