Latest / Collectors MD Features / #1: Where Can Sports Card Collectors With Gambling Problems Turn For Help? | Sports Card Madness

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#1: Where Can Sports Card Collectors With Gambling Problems Turn For Help? | Sports Card Madness · Collectors MD Features

0:00
Hello, everybody, and welcome to another episode
0:02
of Sports Card Madness. This is LZ. I am here
0:07
with Nick. Today on the show, we have Alyx, who's
0:10
the founder of Collectors MD. And this is really
0:16
going to be a cautionary tale of gambling, addiction,
0:21
really in the sports card world. And Alyx has
0:25
kind of turned his challenges. into a positive
0:30
opportunity that he's going to get into around
0:33
helping collectors in our space with addiction,
0:37
whether it be breaking or gambling. And he's
0:41
here to tell us all about it. We're going to
0:44
get into his story and how we got here. And then
0:47
we're going to end with where you can receive
0:50
help through Alyx and others. So, Alyx, welcome
0:54
to the show. Happy to have you on. Welcome, Alyx.
0:56
Thanks, LZ. Thanks, Nick. Really appreciate you
0:58
guys having me. You got it. Absolutely. Yeah.
1:01
So this is when when we heard about the service
1:05
that you are offering, it it really hit home
1:09
for us. This is a very important topic. Nick
1:13
and I do get into a lot around like where the
1:17
hobby is going. And we focus a lot on maybe like
1:21
let's call it like the sociology of of the hobby
1:24
and how people think and act and. When we heard
1:27
that you were kind of offered this, we were like,
1:30
we got to talk to you, Alyx. So I think a really
1:32
good place to start is just to tell your story
1:37
because your story is interesting. And I think
1:39
it's going to bring up a lot of follow -up questions
1:41
from us and even the audience. It's going to
1:43
get the audience thinking as well. Not just interesting,
1:46
but you've already told me the story prior to
1:49
recording. I think it's actually very relatable.
1:52
uh so are many people in the hobby as well and
1:55
i think this episode it's important to understand
1:57
like it's not just you you know what i mean like
2:00
if somebody else is going through this there
2:02
are other people as well and this will give it
2:04
some visibility yeah i appreciate that guys yeah
2:08
so why don't you dive right into it and tell
2:10
us how you got to where you are today what what
2:13
the story is yeah Yeah, so I've collected my
2:17
whole life. I grew up in the 90s. As a kid, I
2:21
was into Pokemon, you know, the Chicago Bulls
2:24
era, collecting Upper Deck. Fleer Topps. So it
2:28
was a part of my DNA from the very beginning.
2:30
As I got a bit older, graduated college, started
2:33
to earn some income, had an opportunity to start
2:36
spending some of that disposable income. I got
2:39
super into the sneaker community and I started
2:41
to collect sneakers. So for the better part of
2:43
my 20s, I was the sneaker guy. I was the sneaker
2:46
head. I got to a point. you know, where it started
2:50
to get a little bit out of hand. And I realized
2:52
that quickly when I was running out of space,
2:54
I was running out of, you know, space to put
2:58
these drop -down containers, which you actually
2:59
see behind me. It's my, what's left of my collection.
3:02
But at one point I did have 500 plus pairs of
3:06
sneakers and, you know, my wife, girlfriend at
3:10
the time would constantly give me grief that,
3:12
you know, it was just. becoming a problem. So
3:15
I started to kind of downsize, started selling
3:19
on platforms like eBay and StockX. And that was
3:23
really always my passion. You know, I would attend
3:26
SneakerCon and big releases, line up with friends
3:31
for, you know, the next Jordan release or collab
3:34
or whatever the case may be. And so, you know,
3:38
fast forward to 2020, pandemic hit, and everybody
3:42
was on lockdown. And a buddy of mine who knew,
3:45
obviously, I was into collecting reached out
3:47
to me about the sports card hobby. And he kind
3:51
of, you know, gave me some high level, you know,
3:56
ideas around ways that we could potentially monetize
4:00
through breaking. And I watched a few breaks
4:04
that he was hosting through a. an account called
4:08
Bogo Breaks. And so I was super interested. I
4:12
thought it was really cool. And, you know, basically
4:15
being reintroduced to the hobby, you know, got
4:18
me sucked in really, really quickly. And so me
4:22
and a few of my buddies that I grew up with,
4:25
again, we started this brand, Bogo Breaks, and
4:30
we were breaking on Facebook, Instagram. Throughout
4:35
the majority of the pandemic, I would say 2020
4:37
to 2021, we were doing it almost every night
4:40
and we were having a lot of fun. We were meeting
4:42
a lot of new people. It was a really, really
4:44
great opportunity for us to earn a little side
4:47
income, but also become acclimated with the community
4:52
that was really thriving at the time. We were,
4:57
I would say, again, doing it through the end
5:00
of 2021. And then we all kind of collectively
5:03
decided that, you know, we had to prioritize
5:05
work as things were starting to return to a state
5:08
of normalcy. And so everybody kind of just slowed
5:11
down. We went from doing it every night to once
5:14
a week. And eventually we kind of just stopped
5:18
altogether. But I was the one who continued to
5:21
join breaks by personals. And at first I was
5:26
like, this is great. I love the hobby. I love
5:28
collecting. I love sports. You know, this is
5:30
this is the perfect sort of combination for me.
5:35
And, you know, I collected and, you know, accumulated
5:40
cards similar to the whole sneaker hobby. And
5:45
it got to a point where I was like, I have. You
5:48
know, all of these cases of cards, what am I
5:50
going to do with them all? And eventually, again,
5:53
I started to realize that I was overspending
5:55
and I was trying to be involved in every single
5:59
release and every break. And there was this sense
6:02
of FOMO that if I didn't, you know, join a break
6:04
for the newest. product or the newest release
6:07
um i would be missing out and it's only exponentially
6:11
gotten worse since then right we um we all tend
6:15
to uh spiral when um you know things become more
6:20
and more hyped and that is exactly what's happened
6:23
with the hobby as Fanatics has taken over and
6:26
Whatnot has entered um the uh environment and
6:31
and everybody you know is learning about the
6:35
hobby and it's just becoming more and more mainstream.
6:37
And so through this entire process over the last
6:40
five years, I was also gambling and it got to
6:43
a point where, you know, I was spending thousands
6:46
of dollars in a break and getting skunked and,
6:50
you know, going on my phone, joining a live blackjack
6:54
table and trying to win the money back that I
6:57
had just lost on, you know, a break on, gambling
7:03
and it was this vicious cycle and it was just
7:07
you know only getting more and more serious and
7:11
i just wasn't realizing it i just thought oh
7:13
i'm just like another normal guy you know uh
7:16
everybody gambles they have the ads everywhere
7:20
they force it down your throat and um you know
7:23
i realized after you know a little while a few
7:29
really really bad nights or you know, tilt sessions
7:33
as we call them, but I had a problem. And so
7:36
I started to go to GA meetings and I was going
7:40
for, I would say about a year and a half, almost
7:42
two years. And I think they were helping a little
7:45
bit, but the problem was that, you know, folks
7:49
in those rooms didn't really understand the scope
7:52
of the sports card hobby and, you know, how.
7:57
There are so many synergies between the hobby
8:00
and gambling. And while, you know, I think I
8:03
had a deep rooted issue with just gambling in
8:08
general, it really was the sports cards that
8:10
was fueling that addiction. And so, you know,
8:15
I stopped going to those meetings because, again,
8:18
I just felt like I couldn't resonate with those
8:22
people or they couldn't. understand my story
8:25
and um you know what i was going through and
8:28
so i started to you know collect again um i wasn't
8:32
gambling because i did self -exclude uh but i
8:34
was you know i was joining breaks and i was buying
8:37
personals at you know Just a disgusting rate,
8:42
you know, spending thousands, if not tens of
8:44
thousands of dollars on a weekly, monthly basis.
8:47
And it just, again, it spiraled out of control.
8:49
Can we break down this path a little bit before
8:53
we... Because you mentioned a lot of different
8:55
things there that were interesting to me. The
8:58
first one was you mentioned that you were taking...
9:02
losses or winnings from the sports car breaking
9:05
world. And you were literally going to try to
9:07
recover that on the blackjack table. Did I hear
9:09
that correctly? That is correct. So when you
9:14
are, I'm not a big gambler, but obviously I've
9:17
been to casinos when you're doing like, like
9:20
that blackjack, you know, you're at the blackjack
9:22
table or the craps table or whatever you're playing.
9:24
Does that feel like when you're in a break to
9:27
you or does it feel different? It's similar there.
9:31
you know, a lot of feelings that you get when
9:35
you are doing either, right? You get that sense
9:38
of rush. You get that excitement that, you know,
9:41
next big hit is just going to deliver that, that
9:43
dopamine hit that your, you know, your body is
9:46
craving. I would say there are some differences
9:49
where with sports guards, there's the nostalgia
9:52
factor. There's the fact that you, you know,
9:55
are chasing something that you want to. collect
9:58
or put in your personal collection whereas you
10:02
know with blackjack or gambling it's just you're
10:04
just trying to double your money right so the
10:09
collecting side of it when you were getting into
10:11
these breaks were you actually collecting or
10:15
were you hitting a getting a big hit and then
10:19
flipping it on eBay the next day it was both
10:22
it was you know it was it was 100 both Yeah,
10:25
I was, I was definitely collecting, you know,
10:29
I curate my collection and everything was in
10:32
order, I would photograph everything and post
10:34
it on Instagram. So I definitely, like, you know,
10:38
was trying my best, I think, subconsciously,
10:40
at least to focus on my collection or justified
10:44
as like, I'm collecting. But you know, when push
10:47
came to shove, and I, you know, spent $5 ,000
10:51
in one night and realized, I got that 5 % of
10:55
that. I would turn around and sell a portion
10:57
of my collection to recoup that money. So was
11:00
I really collecting? I don't know. Interesting.
11:04
So you were getting into breaks. Were you also
11:08
buying wax? Were you buying boxes and ripping
11:11
them yourself and getting a high off of gambling
11:14
that way as well? Yeah, I was buying a lot of...
11:18
personal boxes through breakers, whether it be
11:21
on Instagram or Whatnot, or Fanatics Live. But
11:25
I was also, you know, going to my LCS or to Walmart
11:30
or target to, to buy boxes, to, to open myself,
11:33
to kind of scratch that itch for sure. So when
11:37
you went through this process, one of the big
11:39
questions I have, I actually, it's funny, like
11:41
I communicate with my wife all the time when
11:43
I buy like a big card or a set or something like
11:45
that. Were you open about what you were spending
11:49
with your girlfriend or wife at the time or were
11:52
you hiding it from them? I was hiding it. She,
11:56
my wife now, we've been married now for two and
11:59
a half years. She knew that I had, you know,
12:02
an addiction. You know, it's kind of hard to
12:05
hide, especially when things start to accumulate.
12:07
She knew that I was a degenerate gambler, but
12:11
she didn't know the extent. She didn't know how
12:13
much money I was spending, how much money I was
12:16
losing gambling or winning. You know, there were
12:19
ups and downs, but I was definitely hiding it
12:23
from her. And that's something we're still working
12:25
through today. Alyx, you brought us to the story
12:30
and you started as a sneakerhead, like you said.
12:32
You had over 500 sneakers. You were chasing the
12:37
latest drops and going to the shows. You were
12:40
buying them on, I think you said eBay, and there
12:44
was another platform as well. What do you think
12:47
the difference is between the highs of the sneakerhead
12:54
days of you versus... now card collecting and
12:59
it feels like in your story that things went
13:01
like really hardcore totally different direction
13:05
when you got into to cards and i'm wondering
13:08
if you've done any like self -reflection on why
13:12
that is is it marketing is it like what what
13:15
could it be yeah that's a great question lg i
13:19
think um With sneakers, when you would chase
13:23
a release or you knew something was coming out
13:25
and you planned to buy it or you had an opportunity
13:27
to buy it because you won a raffle or you waited
13:30
in line, you knew what you were spending your
13:32
money on, right? The newest Jordan 3 black cements
13:35
that just came out, you knew you were spending
13:38
$220 on those. Or if you were paying resale or
13:42
aftermarket value, you knew you were spending
13:45
$400 on a pair of sneakers. With wax, with breaking.
13:50
with sports cards and the TCG, you don't know
13:53
what you're getting. You're spending upwards
13:55
of two, three, $400 a box for, for a hobby box.
14:01
And you don't know what the contents of that
14:03
box is. You don't know if you're going to get
14:04
back 5 % of your value. You don't know if you're
14:08
going to get back a thousand percent, you know,
14:10
like it's, it's so volatile and there are so
14:16
many nuances. that um it's it's a lot more exciting
14:21
because of that surprise factor and so from a
14:24
psychological perspective it's like it's it's
14:27
the high of the surprise or the high of not knowing
14:32
what you're going to get and it just brings a
14:34
whole nother level a whole nother high to the
14:38
to it yeah you're not breaking a box of you know
14:40
Topps Chrome Air Jordans you know what i mean
14:42
and then like exactly three of you get sketchers
14:45
and then you know so it makes sense um yeah you
14:50
know one of the things at the beginning of your
14:51
story i wanted to or actually probably the middle
14:53
of the story the gamblers anonymous thing you
14:56
know i i thought about this and i was like why
14:58
you know i wish more i was just thinking like
15:02
the collectors need something like this and you
15:04
entered that did you feel like it was effective
15:08
for this sports card addiction? Or do you feel
15:12
like it left something to be desired? And also,
15:14
were there other people dabbling in sports cards
15:17
in these groups? Yeah, it's a great question,
15:20
Mick. I felt like there was definitely something
15:23
still left to be desired. And that's one of the
15:26
reasons why I stopped going to those meetings.
15:28
At first, it was... It was therapeutic because
15:33
I had an outlet where I could go and just speak
15:35
my mind. I could talk about whatever I wanted.
15:38
Judgment -free zone. People would provide feedback.
15:41
And, you know, I'd chit -chat with people after
15:43
these meetings. I got to meet, you know, other
15:46
people that have gone through very similar things.
15:49
But no one could really relate to sports cards.
15:51
And, you know, to the average Joe. sports cards
15:56
are very um you know juvenile it's it's a children's
16:00
it's a children's hobby it's like you're collecting
16:03
toys you know like it's sneakers are similar
16:07
in that sense but like not to the same extent
16:09
when you sports cars or pokemon you know you
16:12
think of your childhood right and so it was really
16:15
hard to connect with those people um but there
16:18
were there were a handful of other people i would
16:21
say two or three other people that i met through
16:24
my experience in ga that also dabbled with sports
16:28
cards interesting was that support so did that
16:32
support group so you said that you you weren't
16:35
necessarily getting what you needed were they
16:37
taking you seriously because you mentioned like
16:40
the the fact that sports cards are are thought
16:44
of as being a bit juvenile right and it's I could
16:47
see in scenarios where you're going and you're
16:50
talking about your issues and they're just like,
16:53
oh, I mean, whatever. That's just sports cars.
16:55
Big deal. I'm dealing with alcoholism. That's
16:59
a real addiction, Alyx. Did you ever get static
17:04
like that from anybody? A little bit, but for
17:10
the most part, I was also gambling and I was
17:11
gambling a lot of money. I guess some validity
17:16
in that. But if I showed up to the room and just,
17:18
you know, solely talked about how I was, you
17:22
know, buying sports cards and I consider that
17:25
gambling or it's having the same impact on me
17:27
that gambling would, I'm sure people would be
17:30
open -minded. be willing to take it seriously.
17:32
And I say that because GA isn't necessarily just
17:36
for people who are addicted to sports betting
17:38
or casino. There are people that come in who
17:40
have addiction to the stock market, you know,
17:42
have issues with day trading. There are other
17:45
realms of, or forms of gambling or other, you
17:50
know, hobbies that definitely mimic gambling.
17:56
All right. That's good. So I do. So me and Nick,
17:59
you went through this story and we kind of eventually
18:02
jumped in with a lot of questions because this
18:04
is a very interesting story. But we did kind
18:06
of cut you off. And I think we ended with you,
18:11
you know, trying to get help, going to Gamblers
18:14
Anonymous, finding out that it's not really for
18:17
you. And then we kind of jumped in. Is there
18:20
anything like more to the story that you want
18:22
to tell? tell the rest of your story and then
18:28
certainly talk about now where you are today.
18:32
Yeah. So there's definitely another side to it,
18:34
right there. I would like to think of this entire
18:38
project I'm working on as a two pronged effort,
18:42
right? There's the support side of it where there
18:45
needs to be some sort of outlet or safety net.
18:48
for individuals like myself who have gone through
18:50
what I've experienced with collecting or with
18:53
the sports card hobby specifically. But on the
18:57
other hand, the sports card hobby in general,
19:02
and I think we all have collectively either agreed
19:05
on this or have talked about it to an extent,
19:07
has become the Wild West. And there is no regulation.
19:12
There is no gaming commission or SEC looking
19:16
over, you know, the shoulders of Fanatics or
19:19
Whatnot, or any of these, you know, massive conglomerate,
19:22
you know, conglomerates of companies that hold
19:25
the keys to everything. And so I think there
19:28
just needs to be some accountability. And if
19:31
we can't hold Fanatics and Whatnot and eBay and
19:35
Panini, you know, accountable, then we can at
19:38
least hold ourselves accountable. And so. My
19:42
biggest message, and I'll get into Collectors
19:44
MD shortly, but my biggest message that I want
19:47
to preface is that I am by no means anti -hobby.
19:51
I still love the hobby. I still love sports cards.
19:54
I still have my, you know, what's left of my
19:56
personal collection, pieces that, you know, I
19:58
never want to part ways with for a number of
20:00
reasons, and it has nothing to do with their
20:02
value. But, you know, it's okay to love the sports
20:07
cards. As long as you hold yourself accountable
20:10
and are making sure that you're not hurting yourself
20:12
or those around you. All right. So let's talk
20:16
about Collectors MD a little bit. Actually, before
20:19
that, I did have one very quick question. What
20:21
is a tilt session? Oh, man. So a tilt session
20:25
is when you go from this to that. Okay. Thank
20:29
you. Gambling is a very, very slippery slope.
20:32
And, you know, your intention or, you know. what
20:36
you think you're doing in that moment could be,
20:39
yeah, I'm just sitting down for, you know, quick,
20:41
a few rounds of blackjack. I'm only going to
20:43
play with a couple hundred bucks. I'm only going
20:46
to bet 50 bucks on this, this, you know, college
20:48
basketball game. And then next thing, you know,
20:51
you're in full tilt. Got it. Yeah. You're spending
20:54
everything and it's, it's all. I think, yeah,
20:57
I mean, I've seen the terminology before, but
20:59
I never knew what it meant. So this story is
21:03
kind of led up to now, basically. I think I talked
21:05
to you last week and you formed Collectors MD,
21:08
as LZ talked about in the beginning. How can
21:11
this organization help? Can they help right now?
21:14
You know, what's your vision for helping people
21:17
like you? Yeah. So first of all, I've never been
21:21
this excited or passionate about any project
21:24
that I've worked on. And it's an idea that I've
21:26
been toying with for a number of years because
21:29
I've acknowledged and realized that I have a
21:32
real problem now for for quite some time. And
21:37
so. a huge part of launching something along
21:42
the lines of Collectors MD, I think I was scared
21:48
for a while. I had a sense of what's called imposter
21:52
syndrome, where I wasn't sure that I was the
21:55
right person or qualified to carry such an important
21:58
message. But finally, I realized that, you know,
22:01
if I don't do this now, then when is it going
22:02
to happen? Who's going to do it? Who's going
22:04
to be responsible for for something like this?
22:08
Because as the hobby continues to grow, it's
22:10
only going to get worse and worse. You know,
22:12
they're bringing in they're targeting younger
22:14
people who aren't educated. There's just, you
22:18
know, no end in sight as to like where this could
22:20
potentially be headed. And so last week, I. You
22:25
know, bought a premium subscription with WordPress,
22:28
created a domain, an email address, an Instagram
22:32
account. You know, it wasn't expensive. It didn't
22:35
require any sort of like, you know, investment
22:37
or anything like that. And I created Collectors MD.
22:41
I actually originally branded it. as collectors
22:43
anonymous but i want something like this to be
22:46
uh more approachable and uh hopefully more mainstream
22:50
in the long run so um what collectors nd is it's
22:54
a support driven platform for people who collect
22:57
uh anything from sports cards to you know tcg
23:00
to sneakers to handbags to luxury goods so i
23:05
want to you know um emphasize that this is for
23:08
everybody in the collecting world it's not necessarily
23:11
just for sports cards but that's what we're focused
23:13
on right now and it's for those people who have
23:15
felt overwhelmed overextended or even you know
23:18
out of control with their collecting and it's
23:21
a space where uh you know We're focused on accountability,
23:25
reflection, and community built by someone who's
23:29
actually lived it. So like I said before, we're
23:32
not anti -hobby. We're pro boundaries. We still
23:35
love the chase. We love the stories and the nostalgia,
23:37
but we believe you shouldn't have to lose yourself
23:40
in order to really enjoy it. And so through things
23:43
like daily reflections, real collector stories.
23:46
your support groups um and hopefully eventually
23:49
future educational resources Collectors MD is
23:53
here to help people who collect with intention
23:55
and not compulsion so we're creating a space
23:58
for the conversations this hobby has avoided
24:01
for too long and it's not just about judgment
24:04
it's about support because you can love collecting
24:06
and still protect yourself while you're doing
24:08
it All right, Alyx. So next week I decide to
24:11
sign up. I go on your website and I'm yes, I
24:14
want to get involved. I want to get some help.
24:16
What am I going to experience? Because this you
24:19
admitted, right? This is this is early stage
24:22
for this venture. What what is the next, let's
24:26
say, 90 days look like for me if I start getting
24:29
involved in your your organization? Yeah, that's
24:32
a great question. I've been having a lot of conversations,
24:35
one on ones, just. Speaking with people on the
24:39
phone who are in the same shoes as me or have
24:43
experienced loss or are going through really
24:46
tough times. And it's been really, again, therapeutic
24:49
for not just me, but the other person to be able
24:53
to have these conversations and be open again
24:59
in a judgment free. zone to share what we've
25:04
gone through. And so in the short term, I am
25:08
collecting as no pun intended, as many names
25:13
and email addresses as I can, so that I can start
25:17
hosting virtual meetings that will mimic the
25:21
experience of being in a GA room. And even if
25:25
it's just half a dozen people at first, you know,
25:28
that's still enough. of a community for people
25:32
to join and reflect, self -reflect, share feedback,
25:36
and have, you know, a space and a safety net
25:39
to fall back on when they're not feeling, you
25:42
know, the best about themselves. Yeah, you know
25:44
what's crazy about this space? Like, you've got
25:47
gambling companies like in Vegas or even DraftKings,
25:50
you know, they fund. groups like this they have
25:53
call centers that are funded by people that help
25:56
they have mental health professionals um they
25:59
have caps they can set you know i've been on
26:02
the super bowl with my son like i see like this
26:04
responsible betting caps and things i'd love
26:07
to see more of that enter the sports card space
26:09
you know like watching Fanatics take a real serious
26:13
stance with this and say like you know maybe
26:15
on the back of a box like here's your odds and
26:19
it's gambling or um on a break you know here's
26:22
here's some guardrails on this break so you don't
26:25
just blast the credit card you know i don't know
26:27
it's interesting yeah there are no guardrails
26:29
in place that's that's such a great point nick
26:31
and it's not just gambling i mean think about
26:33
like alcohol brands they are constantly promoting
26:36
responsible drinking you know you know against
26:41
drinking and driving underage drinking things
26:43
like that every single uh you know, category
26:48
or company that, you know, has some risk associated
26:50
with it. Those companies have a corporate responsibility
26:53
to share that message or, you know, at least
26:57
endorse those types of messages in order to prevent
27:00
people from spiraling out of control. And even
27:03
when those people spiral out of control, they
27:06
offer some sort of service or resource. Hey,
27:10
you're, you know, you're gambling too much or
27:13
you have a problem. You know, somebody who has
27:14
a problem. Paul, one 800 gambler or something
27:17
like that exists. At least, you know, it's, it's
27:19
not enough in my opinion, but it's at least something.
27:22
And to your point, Nick, that does not exist
27:25
in whatsoever. It doesn't. All right. So time
27:28
is flying. LZ and I usually do like a final question
27:32
for each other. If you've ever listened to the
27:33
show, but we're going to include you in on this
27:36
as well. And I think this question will be helpful
27:38
because we're going to almost crowdsource feedback.
27:42
for this organization for you. So this question
27:45
really goes out to the audience on audio. It's
27:48
sportscardmadness at gmail .com. Hit either me
27:51
or LZ up on Instagram or leave in the comment
27:52
section. Yeah, comments. It's going out to all
27:55
of you. So we'll let you go last because you're
27:58
the guest, but I'll kick the question up. LZ
28:00
will go first. My question is, if you had a gambling
28:03
problem, a sports card gambling problem, or...
28:07
If you can't possibly think that you're ever
28:09
going to have a problem and you're perfect, your
28:11
brother -in -law has one. Yeah, my brother -in
28:14
-law does have a lot of problems. I'm just messing
28:17
with you, man. Whoever, right? Your cousins,
28:19
uncles, you know, whatever, has a problem. What
28:23
is the one thing that you would want to see out
28:25
of this program that could help them? So LZ will
28:28
go, I'll go, then you'll go, and then we'll wrap.
28:31
All right. So I want to give you know me, man.
28:35
I don't like to just go with one. I like to give
28:36
you a couple a couple options. He cheats all
28:39
the time. So as as Alyx was talking about this,
28:41
I was thinking about I do think that you should
28:46
not reinvent the wheel. And some of these programs
28:49
do work. Gambling Anonymous, Alcohol, Alcohol
28:51
Anonymous, Alcoholics Anonymous. I think a sponsor
28:55
would be really helpful. Having somebody. who's
28:59
lived and breathed this that I could potentially
29:02
just send a text message to or or give a call
29:07
to and like, hey, man, I made a mistake last
29:10
night. I went way too hard on this break or I
29:13
see this card on eBay. I really need it for my
29:16
collection, but it's 10 grand. I can't afford
29:18
it. Like, help me out. Right. I think I think
29:20
that would be helpful. Also, Alyx, as you're
29:23
describing, you built this website last week.
29:26
I think one of the things that I would recommend
29:29
you do, and this is going to happen over time,
29:31
right? Because this is going to cost money. But
29:33
building infrastructure to actually have some
29:37
virtual sessions with people as well. Like you
29:40
see this, this is becoming a huge, huge thing
29:43
with all of these online therapy. uh services
29:50
that are out there and there's a lot of tele
29:52
telehealth technology out there so i think this
29:56
is probably more like medium to long term for
29:58
you it would be great if you could outsource
30:03
some of your therapy to maybe some additional
30:06
professionals and you're gonna have an online
30:10
therapy session a telehealth session with somebody
30:14
So those two ideas that came to my mind, Nick,
30:17
what were some of the ones that you were thinking
30:19
about? Well, you cheated and did two, so I'm
30:21
going to do two. Fair enough. Fair enough. Alyx,
30:24
the question for you is almost like, what would
30:26
you like to accomplish if you had like... you
30:28
know, not unlimited money, but you had the means.
30:30
So my two, it's similar. The first one, similar
30:33
to what you said, this is free. Big brother,
30:36
you know, big sister programs have done great
30:39
for a hundred years for a reason. It's a perfect
30:41
mentorship. Those have more of a positive spin,
30:45
right? But like, I love this idea of, you know,
30:49
somebody that's struggling and if they are struggling,
30:52
they could just call you Alyx, you know, just
30:54
to start. Right. And then as your time gets sucked
30:57
up, You have another person that they can call
30:59
and you have like this, you know, this two way
31:02
relationship, like a big brother, little brother,
31:04
you know, little brother type of thing. I think
31:05
that would be absolutely pretty, pretty cheap.
31:07
And it'd be kind of cool. The other thing that'd
31:11
be awesome is getting a real mental health professional.
31:14
You know, like I myself have a therapist that
31:16
helps with, you know, not just performance coaching,
31:19
but also, you know, like mental health stuff
31:20
that she's great. And I think that this space
31:23
could benefit like. we all have our stuff, you
31:26
know, and if people are having issues with gambling
31:29
and things like that, like getting somebody and
31:31
yeah, this, this will cost some money, but they
31:34
have excess time. And if you could get on a virtual
31:36
call with somebody for a half hour, maybe, or
31:38
maybe not covered by insurance, whatever, you
31:40
could talk to them and just say like, Hey, you
31:42
know, here's my problems. And they can at least
31:44
give you a framework, you know, to start with.
31:46
I think that'd be amazing down the road. Yeah.
31:49
This, this is what I'm talking about. I mean,
31:52
what I, love about this conversation is that
31:56
it's allowing for collaboration. It's allowing
31:59
for all of us to put our heads together and come
32:01
up with some ideas to create, you know, a sense
32:05
of positive change for a hobby that we love.
32:08
And that's so important to me. So, you know,
32:11
with that said, you know, I want to be able to
32:12
offer the community educational resources beyond
32:17
just therapy, right? Like things like you know,
32:22
budget trackers, or, you know, like, yeah, I
32:27
don't checklists for specific products coming
32:30
out, where like, you don't have to focus on the
32:33
entire product, it could just be like, a few
32:35
of your favorite players, Mike, I don't know,
32:38
I'm just spitballing. But, you know, again, educational
32:41
resources to help people that are new to the
32:44
hobby, and people who have been in the hobby
32:46
for a long time, understand. the nuances, and
32:49
also understand the risks and danger of being
32:52
involved in such a lucrative hobby. Great. Alyx,
32:58
I love that. If I go back to an episode that
33:01
me and Nick did probably at least a year ago,
33:05
we talked about how if you're going to get into
33:07
the hobby, you need to have a real plan. So I
33:10
think to your point, you could give some resources
33:14
on Trying to figure out what you really want
33:17
to collect, like come up with a plan instead
33:21
of just buying everything, just chasing anything
33:24
and everything. Maybe you identify that, oh,
33:27
this is my favorite athlete or my favorite sport.
33:30
I'm only going to focus here. That would be great.
33:33
Yeah. Or even if you do want to gamble, then
33:36
you could say this is how you gamble responsibly.
33:39
Totally. Almost like a life coach of sorts or
33:42
an advisor. Sure. Right. And then another one,
33:46
I mean, we're doing it right now. I think, I
33:49
think you should do a podcast. I think that would
33:51
be a great addition to what you're trying to
33:54
do. You could have, you know, people come on
33:58
and tell their stories similar to you. I mean,
33:59
that's the way you help people out, man. So yeah,
34:02
no, I would love to do something like that. Yeah,
34:04
for sure. Cool. All right. So we're going to
34:07
finish it up. Why don't you tell the audience
34:10
how they can get in touch with you, how they
34:12
can find your services, what your website is,
34:15
all those great things. Yeah, absolutely. You
34:18
guys can check out Collectors MD. It's @ Collectors MD
34:23
on Instagram. We've also launched Twitter, TikTok,
34:29
Discord. We're going to be everywhere so that
34:32
regardless of where you are consuming your content,
34:35
you'll be able to check us out. Right now, we
34:38
are focused on Instagram as it's only been a
34:40
week that we launched. But you can also check
34:42
out our website, collectorsmd .com. You can email
34:45
us at info at collectorsmd .com or you can just
34:48
shoot us a DM. And I am happy to speak with any
34:54
and everybody. I just want to have a conversation
34:56
and honest conversation and, um, you know, spread
34:59
the, spread the word, spread awareness. So, well,
35:02
that's beautiful. That's great. Thanks for coming
35:04
on Alyx and in the audience, don't be shy. Thank
35:06
you guys. Leave feedback, um, what you'd want
35:09
to see out of this service in the comments or
35:11
just, you know, email us or DM us or whatever.
35:13
Thanks again. All right. Great. Thanks Alyx.
35:16
Thanks so much guys. Really appreciate it. Bye
35:18
everybody.