Aug. 17, 2026

"2026 National Wrap Up and Review Hobby Quick Hits E235

"2026 National Wrap Up and Review Hobby Quick Hits E235

The 46th National is in the books. In this episode i discuss my pickups, experiences and thoughts in candor. The Great, the not so great and more!


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WEBVTT

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Hobby, not Quick Hits, delivering that breaking hobby nimbs, direct loaders.

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You want to know those Hot Josh card shop shop.

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You've got your copy here, Hot John new name name, Hello, everybody,

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Welcome to episode two thirty five of Hobby Quick Hits,

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where we're a week late than our normal slot. I

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apologize for that, but uh, you know, we're gonna talk

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about why I'm a week late. It's it's the National.

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Came back from the National, and I'm still playing catch

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up with orders, getting orders shipped, catching up on content,

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life stuff that's not hobby related. So a lot, a

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lot to cover, a lot to do. We're not going

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to do our new segment or our product release segment

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on this episode, so we can talk more about the

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forty six National in Chicago. Forty seven will also be

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in Chicago next year. Start making your reservations and planning

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your itinerary accordingly. So let's get right into it, and

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you know, skip sort of the formalities. Right. I got

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there on Tuesday, had to fly let's say third about

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a thirteen hour drive. If I was to do that,

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that's a little bit too much for an old guy

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like myself, And so flew in Tuesday, you know, got

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my media badge midday there at noon, you know, hung

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out with a couple friends. Also had tickets to the

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White Sox game that night against the Yankees. Traffic was terrible.

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Had a rental car, but thought I left early enough,

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but traffic was terrible. Was traveling with my friend Brian,

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and we got there in the bottom of the second inning.

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You know, pretty low scoring game. Garrett Cole was striking

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out a lot of White Sox hitters. The Yankees wound

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up winning it three to two, even though Chase Madrath

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had a two run homer in the ninth to make

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it interesting off of David Bednar, but Yankees held on

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in one, three two. I always try to catch an

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event outside of the hobby when I'm in a sports

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town if possible, and did so. Last year was the

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Phillies White Sox, with the White Sox winning fourteen to five.

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This year was the Yankees White Sox with the Yankee

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winning three to two. So Tuesday was just sort of,

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you know, an easy day, pick up your passes, you know,

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and again attended the game and then get ready for

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the show on Wednesday, which started me day and no trouble,

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No trouble there and fairly quite you know, not a

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crazy Wednesday. Obviously you get into the Friday Saturday part

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of the show. That's when it's really, really, really busy.

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And I always go into the National with a less

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of five to ten cards with the hope to get

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two to three for the personal collection. I'm always open

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to buy inventory for my showcases as a dealer for

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the shows that I set up, and sort of that's

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kind of my mo and you know, I'll talk about

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the pickups. I was able to pick up two cards

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for the personal collection and probably two at the near

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of that top of that ten card list in a

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Ernie Banks PSA two rookie and a Pete Rose Rookie

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PSA three. And they're both, you know, I guess it's

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easy for me to say, but they're both I appeal

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wise better than their grade. And I've posted on my

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social media if you want to get if you want

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to see what I'm talking about, just check out Sports Cardination,

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look around National Week and you'll see those. And I

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bought these cards from the Las Vegas dealer brothers Dave

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and Jim. I've bought a prior purchase I think two

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years ago from them was a PSA four Bob Gibson rookie.

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And interesting story how I even made this purchase. So

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I believe it was Tuesday night or Wednesday night. I

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went to dinner with some hobby friends to Gioredonald's, a

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tradition anytime I'm in Chicago, gotta have some deep dish pizza.

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We don't really have that here in New York for

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obvious reasons. I like it just the same. And so

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I was coming out of Giordonald's and Dave and Jim

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were walking in, and you know, we made some small

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talk and they asked like, Hey, is there anything you're

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looking for? And I mentioned some stuff and they're like,

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you know, we just bought a pretty decent collection and

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we have, you know, a Rose and a Bank's rookie.

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I told him I wasn't, you know, in the market

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or in the budget for high high grades. But I

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gave them kind of a ball park of the grades.

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And they're like, hey, we think we can help you out.

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After dinner, we'll text you what we have and we

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we can go from there. So later, actually the next morning,

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I got a text with some picks and a price.

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And I won't go into all the gory price details,

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but like what I saw at least on picture wise

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and told them that, you know, I had a main

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stage the next morning. As soon as that main stage

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was overright, head over to their tables and see if

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the cards in person. They're on the second floor along

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with the Mike Burkis main stage. A little little off

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tangent here, but the Mike Burkas main stage is now

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on the second floor of the Donald Steve Convention Center.

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A lot of new stuff, audio equipment, video equipment, and

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in past years we always you know, if you're on

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a panel, you were just in some folding chairs and

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behind kind of a you know, folding tables with table cloths.

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Well they redid that, Like I said, a lot of

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new equipment, microphones, and furniture. They have real lounge chairs

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and couches and so very big difference, you know, more comfortable,

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feels more profession So I did that main stage with

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the Sports Collector's Digest group. As soon as that was over,

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you know, we took some photos, talked, and then I

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made a bee line over to Dave and Jim's table

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up on that second floor. Now I will say this,

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there's more dealers there. Last year was really really tight.

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This year was still tight. It was difficult getting in

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and out of there, especially when most people have been

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so hopefully if they continue to do it on the

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second floor in Chicago and Rosemont, maybe they can make

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those aisles wider for comfortability, not only for the vendors,

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but for the consumers as well. So made my way

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to David Jim's table, saw the Banks and rose rookies

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in person, and you know, again I'm not a gory

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detail guy, but you know, we haggled a little bit

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and finally came to an agreement on price. I paid

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and cash for those two cards. And those were my

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two first two purchases of the show, and very pleased

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with them. You see them if you watch my content

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on video, you'll see them behind me on those acrylic desks,

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cases and so. And also, you know, I like to buy.

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I like to do business with people who I like

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and know and I you know, are good people. David

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Jim are really good people. If they've been a guest

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on Sports Carnation and really you know, guys doing it

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the right way. I know they you know, they missed

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the National here where they didn't get a table. I

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think it was last year, but they got a table

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this year. Good for them and hopefully that continues to

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be the case. They're from Las Vegas, so definitely a

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trip for him. You know. In previous episode they mentioned

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that their luggage got lost momentarily for a few days.

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Thankfully that didn't happen to them this time. So had

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my first purchase. Bank's Rookie Rose Rookie. Very pleased with

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those purchases, and you know, had some time obviously. I

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try to cover as much ground as you can. You

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meet people, you talk to people. I've never been short

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or cut anyone short. It's not my m o. Someone's

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willing to say hello or talk to me. I try

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to be courteous in that fashion. Wound up later on

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just kind of to close out my purchases at the show.

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A few days later, I bought a good, nice stack

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of vintage stars. I don't know the proprietor's name, but

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he was having a fifty percent you know, he said,

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had a great show. My gift to you, remaining inventory

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fifty percent off, and he had shoe boxes and monster

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boxes of all sports, nonsports, vintage, some modern, and got

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quite a bit of vintage stars for my dealer inventory,

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for my showcase and for my inventory. There got a

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really great deal. He was priced fairly to begin with,

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and then when you add the fifty percent off on that,

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that was very good as well. Now, you know, I

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think we all know, right, you got to expect some

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sticker shock at the National. You know, it's expensive to attend,

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it's expensive to set up as a dealer. When you

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think of all your expensive travel expenses, your table fee,

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your hotel, your food. Right, I'm not trying to have

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a pity party, but you've got to expect a little

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sticker shock. But I will say this two things. I

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don't think the sticker shock was as bad as I

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expected or in past years. And I also felt many

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of the dealers I spoke to were very reasonable. They

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were willing to, you know, negotiate and haggle and come

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down off of price, most of them. So, you know,

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everyone to each their own, but I think the majority

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of the room was willing to negotiate that. You know,

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when we think about the modern market, Jordan's stuff was insane,

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you know, price very well and selling very well. Otani

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not that he's sneaking up on anybody, but I think

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people are really starting to realize, like what he's doing

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is out of this world. And he's still got probably

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a good, barring an injury, a good double digit years

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of baseball potential. He's thirty one years old, so he

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could do some damage in the next two years into

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his just when he turns forty, and even if he

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doesn't pitch again, he's just doing some incredible stuff. So

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Otani stuff was selling, moving and priced high. Griffy Junior

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was up as well. I'm sure I will leave certain

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athletes out, but I know his stuff was moving and

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priced with an upward tick. And that Pinnacle, I think

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it's ninety seven Pinnacle, the one where he's blown a bubble.

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That card somehow went from being a two dollars card

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to a fifty plus dollar card. It's mind boggling, to

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be quite frankly. It reminds me of the Bo Jackson

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you know, black and white score card, sort of the

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rise that had all of a sudden, very quickly Billy Ripkin,

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you know f face error card again, those continued to rise.

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I think Ricky Henderson rookies were up there. As well

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with his passing, you know, in the past calendar year,

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and so you know, some sticker shock, but really there

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was deals that could be had if you were smart

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and shopped around. You know, it was crowded, obviously on

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Saturday was to me the busiest day. You had the

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sort of finago for to get in front of a

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table or showcase space. But you could do. It wasn't

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impossible like it felt like in some years. I will

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say this a lot of corrections on the positive side.

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Right we've we've been past years of Nashville where it's hot,

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where you're sweating through your shirt. It was cold, to

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tell you the truth, and it was warm outside or

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hot outside, but the National ac was blowing strong. It

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was chilling in there. And if you give me a

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choice between sweating my you know what off and being

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a little little chill, I'll take the chilled over any day.

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Because you can always wear a hoodie or a light

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windbreaker when it's hot. You can't walk around shirtless at

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the National and you probably wouldn't want people to do that,

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even if it was okay to do so. I will

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say this definite improvement on the temperature market or department

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Wi Fi. I didn't have any issues with my phone,

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you know, looking up things, reading stuff, getting messages, you know,

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in past years. I remembered I texted my son from

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the show and he never got the text till like

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three or four hours later, and it was sort of

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a time sensitive text. So improvement on Wi Fi, improvement

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on temperatures. It was a new layout. We had sort

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of that Breakers and you know live breaking and you know,

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in all in one section, that what not section. It

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was like a carnival atmosphere. If you didn't like that

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stuff or didn't need to be in that area, you

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could literally avoid that area completely. And they moved again.

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They moved the Mike Burkers main stage up to the

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second floor. Was nice and quiet, so you didn't you know,

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in years past, the Burker's main stage was near that

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Breakers and so you'd get all those let's go and

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yelling and screaming while you were talking on the main stage,

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and it became very difficult to hear yourself and others

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on a panel. So they, you know, power to kudos

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to the powers that be. They're they're trying to do things.

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No one's perfect, but they are making some decisions to

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make the experience better. I felt and again WI FI,

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the temperature, the breakers all in one area. It felt

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like a carnival there, and if you didn't want to

232
00:14:54.120 --> 00:14:57.360
go to the carnival, you didn't have to go into

233
00:14:57.480 --> 00:15:00.600
that room. Going back to the upstairs, there was an

234
00:15:00.639 --> 00:15:04.679
international dealer section, so dealers not from the United States

235
00:15:04.720 --> 00:15:08.399
who were coming in from abroad with their inventories to sell.

236
00:15:08.440 --> 00:15:11.440
They had sort of their own section, which I thought

237
00:15:11.480 --> 00:15:14.000
was kind of neat. I thought it was neat, you know,

238
00:15:14.039 --> 00:15:17.759
I don't like the thought about segregating, but I don't

239
00:15:17.799 --> 00:15:19.960
think it was met like that. I think it was

240
00:15:20.039 --> 00:15:24.840
to showcase and highlight the worldwide phenomenon which the hobby

241
00:15:24.879 --> 00:15:30.039
now or really always is, but we're seeing even more so.

242
00:15:30.039 --> 00:15:34.279
So I think it was done in a positive fashion

243
00:15:34.519 --> 00:15:39.320
and really glad to see some new wrinkles. Always good

244
00:15:39.440 --> 00:15:42.840
like right. They changed the layout, so if you went

245
00:15:42.960 --> 00:15:45.039
last year and you thought it would be the same

246
00:15:45.120 --> 00:15:49.639
this year, you were pleasantly surprised as I was. Some

247
00:15:49.720 --> 00:15:53.480
things I noticed, you know, a lot more kids, and

248
00:15:53.559 --> 00:15:57.320
a lot of kids making some really head scratching, big

249
00:15:57.360 --> 00:16:00.639
money deals. I remember being at one and there was

250
00:16:00.679 --> 00:16:03.240
a young man, I was looking at the showcases and

251
00:16:03.279 --> 00:16:06.200
there was a young man to the right of me,

252
00:16:07.320 --> 00:16:10.759
and I don't know what he was buying, trying to

253
00:16:10.879 --> 00:16:13.279
sort of not be a nosy buddy, but you know,

254
00:16:13.399 --> 00:16:16.720
I could hear the negotiation. Whatever he was buying card

255
00:16:16.840 --> 00:16:20.240
or multiple cards. It was a thirty thousand dollars deal.

256
00:16:20.399 --> 00:16:23.240
Like I said, this kid couldn't be more than fourteen,

257
00:16:23.360 --> 00:16:25.759
fifteen years old. He was not with his dad, at

258
00:16:25.879 --> 00:16:28.559
least at the table with an oh, someone older at

259
00:16:28.559 --> 00:16:31.480
the show itself, but his dad was not with him.

260
00:16:31.519 --> 00:16:34.320
He was making his own deal and it was for

261
00:16:34.360 --> 00:16:37.399
thirty k. And it's just just mind boggling to think

262
00:16:37.440 --> 00:16:40.440
when I was fourteen and fifteen and I yes, I

263
00:16:40.600 --> 00:16:43.759
was in the hobby. Then in nineteeny six and eighty seven,

264
00:16:44.440 --> 00:16:46.440
and I was, you know, if I made one hundred

265
00:16:46.440 --> 00:16:50.080
dollars deal or one thousand dollars deal, I thought that

266
00:16:50.240 --> 00:16:54.440
was a big deal. But to these kids, now, what

267
00:16:54.519 --> 00:16:58.759
they're carrying around in these ion cases and the cash

268
00:16:58.799 --> 00:17:01.320
there came around and this was a cash deal. You know,

269
00:17:01.799 --> 00:17:04.960
some pet peeves, you know, sometimes with a lot of

270
00:17:04.960 --> 00:17:08.319
people were selling, right, they'd go up to the dealer, Hey,

271
00:17:08.359 --> 00:17:10.359
are you buying. The dealer would say, well, I'll take

272
00:17:10.359 --> 00:17:12.559
a look at what you got, and you know, the

273
00:17:12.640 --> 00:17:16.480
Zion case got put down onto the showcases. And again

274
00:17:16.559 --> 00:17:19.160
it's free enterprise. This is America. I don't want to

275
00:17:19.400 --> 00:17:22.559
state anything to you otherwise. But a lot, a lot

276
00:17:22.599 --> 00:17:25.240
of that was going on, and it made like whatever

277
00:17:25.359 --> 00:17:29.079
case that that Zion case was on top of, you

278
00:17:29.200 --> 00:17:33.519
really couldn't see what cards that dealer had available in

279
00:17:33.559 --> 00:17:36.640
that case. So it's sort of, uh, you know, had

280
00:17:36.640 --> 00:17:41.759
to navigate around that. Content creation wise. You know, there

281
00:17:41.839 --> 00:17:45.640
was people filming, but it seemed less intrusive than in

282
00:17:45.839 --> 00:17:48.440
past years, so that a lot of people I didn't

283
00:17:48.480 --> 00:17:54.599
recognize doing content creation. Uh. And but with some crazy rigs,

284
00:17:54.640 --> 00:17:57.759
you know, think cameras where they were around the waist

285
00:17:57.799 --> 00:18:00.720
and then it came over their back into their front.

286
00:18:00.799 --> 00:18:06.079
They looked like Doctor Octopus from the Spider Man series.

287
00:18:07.400 --> 00:18:10.799
But it seemed less intrusive than in past years. And

288
00:18:10.839 --> 00:18:13.359
I think some of that might be due to the

289
00:18:13.720 --> 00:18:16.240
I think the ops were wider, there was more space

290
00:18:16.359 --> 00:18:19.519
to a little more elbow room, and that was always

291
00:18:19.720 --> 00:18:22.799
you know, that's always a plus. I did three main

292
00:18:22.880 --> 00:18:26.839
stage panels. I did for the first time Sports Collector's

293
00:18:26.920 --> 00:18:30.000
Digest had a writer's panel. I was on that with

294
00:18:30.519 --> 00:18:35.039
editor Jeff Owens, Greg Bates, writer, and myself and Clemente

295
00:18:35.119 --> 00:18:39.039
Leasi writers had a good time, well forty five minutes

296
00:18:39.079 --> 00:18:42.279
talking about the year that was, in the future, what's

297
00:18:42.359 --> 00:18:45.839
coming for the future of the hobby. Then I did

298
00:18:45.880 --> 00:18:50.839
a Sports Carnation panel and I had Nick Jarman from

299
00:18:50.880 --> 00:18:55.119
the Certified Trading Card Association up on the stage and

300
00:18:55.200 --> 00:18:57.880
we talked about what he's trying to do to make

301
00:18:57.880 --> 00:19:02.759
the hobby a better and safer place for everybody, you know,

302
00:19:02.920 --> 00:19:08.119
on both sides of the sellers, companies, consumers at the

303
00:19:08.160 --> 00:19:13.920
whole hobby as a whole, and it's a worthy endeavor.

304
00:19:14.000 --> 00:19:17.319
I'm happy to be on the advisory board of that.

305
00:19:17.480 --> 00:19:20.839
So me and Nick sort of chopped up what, you know,

306
00:19:21.160 --> 00:19:23.799
his course of action and what he wants to make

307
00:19:23.839 --> 00:19:26.839
the hobby a safer and better place. On Saturday, in

308
00:19:26.880 --> 00:19:31.039
our normal spot ten am Chicago time, we did our

309
00:19:31.039 --> 00:19:35.039
Hobby Hotline panel and if you didn't see it live,

310
00:19:35.799 --> 00:19:39.359
you can check that out on the Hobby Hotline's YouTube channel.

311
00:19:39.480 --> 00:19:43.440
Again forty five minutes. We talked about the national because

312
00:19:43.440 --> 00:19:45.680
it was done on a Saturday morning when the show

313
00:19:45.839 --> 00:19:48.440
was kind of coming down the home stretch show, we

314
00:19:48.519 --> 00:19:51.759
shared some of our observations and thoughts of the current

315
00:19:51.839 --> 00:19:55.720
national and where the hobby and the nationals going in

316
00:19:55.759 --> 00:19:59.559
the future. So check that out on hobby hot Hobby

317
00:19:59.599 --> 00:20:05.279
Hotline YouTube channel. Some pet peeves. You know, it was

318
00:20:05.319 --> 00:20:08.839
more than one person, but you know there was almost

319
00:20:08.920 --> 00:20:11.960
every table had a buying sign on it, whether it

320
00:20:11.960 --> 00:20:15.039
be a little eight x ten you know, a piece

321
00:20:15.039 --> 00:20:19.880
of paper or a big bracketed above the table vinyl

322
00:20:19.920 --> 00:20:23.480
sign that said buying station or buying. So most a

323
00:20:23.519 --> 00:20:26.160
lot of people were buying. You know, probably seventy eighty

324
00:20:26.200 --> 00:20:29.200
percent of the people set up. But one thing that

325
00:20:29.279 --> 00:20:31.839
bug you know, again, to each their own. You pay

326
00:20:31.839 --> 00:20:33.480
for the table, you can put whatever you want in

327
00:20:33.480 --> 00:20:36.000
the showcases. One thing which I thought was a weird

328
00:20:36.039 --> 00:20:40.400
flex was dealers who put you know, showcases out, those

329
00:20:40.440 --> 00:20:44.480
like those metal all state showcases and just fill them

330
00:20:44.480 --> 00:20:46.759
with one hundred dollars bills and spread them all out,

331
00:20:46.960 --> 00:20:48.799
and it's just a flex, like, hey, look at me,

332
00:20:48.920 --> 00:20:51.440
I got one hundred dollars bills. Fill in this case,

333
00:20:51.680 --> 00:20:53.559
put some cards in there. I don't want to look

334
00:20:53.599 --> 00:20:55.680
at your hundred dollar bills. I know you got money.

335
00:20:55.720 --> 00:20:58.759
I have money too. Let's let's we've established that for

336
00:20:58.839 --> 00:21:02.240
most part, put some cards in there, sell your cards,

337
00:21:02.519 --> 00:21:06.160
trade your cards. But just putting one hundred dollar bills

338
00:21:06.160 --> 00:21:09.039
in a showcase and spread them all around, and it

339
00:21:09.200 --> 00:21:12.119
just screams, look at me, you know I got bank

340
00:21:12.440 --> 00:21:15.000
and we don't need it. I don't know. It's just

341
00:21:15.039 --> 00:21:18.160
silly to me. You know, I look at my table

342
00:21:18.200 --> 00:21:20.119
space as a dealer. Now I'm not setting up at

343
00:21:20.119 --> 00:21:22.920
the national, but as precious man, I'm trying to get

344
00:21:22.920 --> 00:21:26.480
out as much of my inventory on in sight of

345
00:21:26.720 --> 00:21:31.400
potential customer as much as I can. I'm not filling

346
00:21:31.400 --> 00:21:33.799
the case with a bunch of money just to flex

347
00:21:33.839 --> 00:21:37.039
and show off. So I thought that that that I

348
00:21:37.039 --> 00:21:40.759
could live without. What did I see? More of a

349
00:21:40.799 --> 00:21:43.720
lot of significant others? Right? Kids? Going back? I can

350
00:21:43.839 --> 00:21:47.400
went off with a lot more kids, young and teenagers.

351
00:21:47.839 --> 00:21:51.079
A lot of big money deals come from that sector.

352
00:21:52.079 --> 00:21:55.759
Not surprised, Well, it's not a surprise anymore, right, A

353
00:21:55.759 --> 00:21:58.799
lot of wives and significant others. Some seem to be

354
00:21:58.920 --> 00:22:04.119
active with their uh you know, male counter parts. Others

355
00:22:04.160 --> 00:22:07.319
seem to be sort of hanging back, just sort of

356
00:22:07.759 --> 00:22:11.599
along for the ride. Another thing I saw, probably more

357
00:22:11.920 --> 00:22:14.319
in my opinion than I should have. And I apologize

358
00:22:14.359 --> 00:22:17.480
if I'm being a little crash by young baby like

359
00:22:17.599 --> 00:22:20.559
young baby like. I'm not even talking toddlers. I'm talking

360
00:22:20.680 --> 00:22:23.759
just a few months old or even younger, or whether

361
00:22:23.799 --> 00:22:28.039
it be a dad carrying the infant or the mom.

362
00:22:28.279 --> 00:22:30.839
I say, a lot of babies and to me, I

363
00:22:30.839 --> 00:22:33.599
don't think that's the place. I don't think that's the play.

364
00:22:33.680 --> 00:22:36.079
Now I have a twenty zero, so it's easy for

365
00:22:36.200 --> 00:22:39.880
me to say, but I'm not bringing if I had

366
00:22:39.920 --> 00:22:43.039
a baby, that's not a place I'm bringing a baby.

367
00:22:43.039 --> 00:22:45.480
And I was not saying I wouldn't attend, but I'd

368
00:22:45.480 --> 00:22:49.319
make arrangements, whether that's a family member that's you know,

369
00:22:49.400 --> 00:22:52.039
watching my kid, or maybe if not the point you

370
00:22:52.079 --> 00:22:54.720
can't always make the trip. I get, I get fomo

371
00:22:54.880 --> 00:22:57.359
I gave. I get wanting to be there, but not

372
00:22:57.519 --> 00:23:02.200
a place for to me, young babies like that. Again,

373
00:23:02.319 --> 00:23:06.839
saw numerous of that. But and the other thing I want,

374
00:23:06.839 --> 00:23:09.240
you know, we know what's gonna happen. Right, happens every

375
00:23:09.319 --> 00:23:12.000
year at to Nashville, happens almost at every show. Right

376
00:23:12.079 --> 00:23:15.200
DEFs occur well Here's the one thing I want to

377
00:23:15.240 --> 00:23:18.920
say as a dealer myself again not doing the national

378
00:23:19.160 --> 00:23:22.880
any show I do with my showcases. Those showcases are

379
00:23:23.000 --> 00:23:25.880
locked and I have the keys on my hip. If

380
00:23:25.920 --> 00:23:28.480
someone wants to see something, I can unlock the case,

381
00:23:28.839 --> 00:23:30.880
have them look at it. Or if I make a sale,

382
00:23:30.920 --> 00:23:34.759
I can unlock the case, sell the card, relock the case.

383
00:23:35.039 --> 00:23:39.079
Do not tempt fate if you leave your cases, unlock

384
00:23:39.160 --> 00:23:42.119
your I hate to say like this, but your sort

385
00:23:42.160 --> 00:23:45.960
of advertising trouble. You're making it easier, just the same

386
00:23:46.000 --> 00:23:48.839
as if you leave your front door or your house unlocked,

387
00:23:48.839 --> 00:23:53.440
where someone can just walk in and take whatever jewelry, money,

388
00:23:53.759 --> 00:23:57.519
your safe, your cards. Don't make it easy. Lock your door.

389
00:23:57.599 --> 00:24:00.920
Can someone still break in? Yeah, it happens every day,

390
00:24:01.000 --> 00:24:04.240
every minute. I get it. Well, why make it easier?

391
00:24:04.400 --> 00:24:07.240
And I will tell you, man, And I know something

392
00:24:07.240 --> 00:24:10.079
about insurance. I have it. If your case is unlocked,

393
00:24:10.279 --> 00:24:14.200
the insurance could could refute covering your your theft claim.

394
00:24:14.519 --> 00:24:17.119
You know, if like you leave your car door unlocked

395
00:24:17.400 --> 00:24:20.359
and something in your car, rate, stereo, or something else

396
00:24:20.680 --> 00:24:23.640
of value in your car is taken, the insurance will

397
00:24:23.680 --> 00:24:26.599
probably refuse to pay that you just made it easy

398
00:24:26.599 --> 00:24:28.839
and left your door unlocked. If you lock your door

399
00:24:28.880 --> 00:24:31.160
and someone broke in, then you're going to be better.

400
00:24:31.200 --> 00:24:33.559
Your coverage is probably going to be covered. So I

401
00:24:33.640 --> 00:24:38.359
don't understand why dealers are not locking their case. It's

402
00:24:38.400 --> 00:24:41.119
a head scratcher to me. I get it. You want

403
00:24:41.160 --> 00:24:43.000
to be you want the convenience. You don't want to

404
00:24:43.000 --> 00:24:46.960
break out your key every few minutes potentially, but air

405
00:24:47.039 --> 00:24:50.079
on the side of caution. Lock your case, lock your case,

406
00:24:50.160 --> 00:24:52.720
and someone will say, well, you know, John, I don't

407
00:24:52.759 --> 00:24:55.799
lock my cases, but I'm always looking at them. It

408
00:24:56.119 --> 00:24:59.680
just takes a distraction. It takes you. You could drop

409
00:24:59.720 --> 00:25:01.880
something on the ground, go to pick it up, and

410
00:25:01.920 --> 00:25:05.200
someone goes and pull something out of there and and

411
00:25:05.359 --> 00:25:09.680
mad dash it away. Just avoid that from a possibility.

412
00:25:09.799 --> 00:25:11.880
You know, if someone can pick a lock, sure, but

413
00:25:12.079 --> 00:25:15.000
you're going to see that a lot easier than if

414
00:25:15.039 --> 00:25:17.720
you leave your cases over it and you know, get

415
00:25:17.759 --> 00:25:21.039
distracted and someone can slip a card out without making

416
00:25:21.799 --> 00:25:26.119
very much noise or commotion. So when are we gonna learn, Well,

417
00:25:26.160 --> 00:25:30.240
I've learned my cases are locked, but dealers, please lock

418
00:25:30.319 --> 00:25:33.319
your cases. I hate as a dealer, and it's not

419
00:25:33.359 --> 00:25:35.720
even just as a dealer. As someone who loves the hobby,

420
00:25:35.839 --> 00:25:40.359
I hate someone get robbed of something they built, right, Uh,

421
00:25:40.400 --> 00:25:42.759
and uh, don't make it ease, don't make it easy.

422
00:25:42.759 --> 00:25:46.119
You can tell them. I'm sort of passionate about that

423
00:25:46.319 --> 00:25:50.000
as a dealer as well. So, uh, you know, very

424
00:25:50.039 --> 00:25:53.559
good national uh in my opinion. Uh, you know, went

425
00:25:53.640 --> 00:25:56.559
to some of the oh you know, real you know,

426
00:25:56.640 --> 00:26:01.480
went to the PSA registry party on that was Friday night,

427
00:26:03.000 --> 00:26:06.440
great great event. Last year they had hosted Jerry Rice

428
00:26:06.519 --> 00:26:10.000
with Scott Hansen from the NFL Network. This year was

429
00:26:10.039 --> 00:26:14.039
Barry Sanders, another goat, and you know, everyone got a

430
00:26:14.079 --> 00:26:17.559
PSA box handed out to him and in that box

431
00:26:17.960 --> 00:26:22.000
was a couple packs and a Barry Sanders SLAB registry card.

432
00:26:22.720 --> 00:26:26.440
And your card was either not signed or signed. And

433
00:26:26.480 --> 00:26:29.960
there was five hundred cards. Fifty were signed and thankfully

434
00:26:30.839 --> 00:26:34.160
and luckily mine was so I got a Barry Sanders

435
00:26:34.400 --> 00:26:40.920
certified PSA DNA autographed registry card, which was very cool.

436
00:26:41.640 --> 00:26:44.319
My friend Tony d who was sitting next to me

437
00:26:44.480 --> 00:26:49.240
with his son, his son Anthony, got one as well,

438
00:26:49.279 --> 00:26:52.960
So congrats to Anthony. One other person at my table

439
00:26:53.000 --> 00:26:56.400
of ten got one, and a few other people I

440
00:26:56.519 --> 00:27:00.559
know got one, so I know about five of fifty

441
00:27:01.240 --> 00:27:05.000
Barry Sando's auto to be had at the event. PSA.

442
00:27:05.119 --> 00:27:07.400
Does you know he can say whatever you want about him?

443
00:27:07.839 --> 00:27:11.000
And I do that too. That they did a great job.

444
00:27:11.039 --> 00:27:14.279
The food was great, the event was not too short

445
00:27:14.400 --> 00:27:17.000
and not too long was the timing. Scott Hanson, You

446
00:27:17.039 --> 00:27:20.039
know Barry did some photo opportunities if you pull the

447
00:27:20.119 --> 00:27:23.119
Barry Bass card out of your packs. I didn't. I

448
00:27:23.160 --> 00:27:25.640
got to Barry Auto, but I didn't get to take

449
00:27:25.680 --> 00:27:27.359
a picture with him. Last year I got to take

450
00:27:27.400 --> 00:27:30.480
a picture with Jerry Rice, but I thought, well, I'll

451
00:27:30.480 --> 00:27:33.839
never forget that. And they just put on a great

452
00:27:34.039 --> 00:27:39.079
show of great party for people who enjoy what they do,

453
00:27:39.480 --> 00:27:42.519
and gave out some awards to people with like the

454
00:27:42.559 --> 00:27:45.839
best sets in sports and non sports. Again, the food

455
00:27:45.960 --> 00:27:49.240
was excellent and after the event, even when it was over.

456
00:27:49.720 --> 00:27:53.559
You know Scott Hanson, former Syracuse Orange Man football player,

457
00:27:53.680 --> 00:27:56.359
all of the Red Zone NFL network. He stays in

458
00:27:56.480 --> 00:28:01.440
chats with everyone, does videos, pictures, talks, just a great

459
00:28:01.480 --> 00:28:04.240
down earth guy. Even at one point someone with his

460
00:28:04.359 --> 00:28:06.960
group sort of went up to him and I was

461
00:28:07.000 --> 00:28:09.359
close enough to hear to say, hey, you know, you're

462
00:28:09.359 --> 00:28:12.039
you're kind of along with people up and hey, these

463
00:28:12.039 --> 00:28:16.079
people are waiting online to see me. I'm going to

464
00:28:16.119 --> 00:28:19.119
the least I can. Just really cool to hear a

465
00:28:19.160 --> 00:28:22.680
celebrity and yes he is a celebrity, say that right

466
00:28:22.799 --> 00:28:27.200
and not rush through it. And just great to see

467
00:28:27.240 --> 00:28:30.720
that and very appreciative of that. He cut a little

468
00:28:30.799 --> 00:28:33.880
promo for me. You might hear it on if you

469
00:28:33.960 --> 00:28:40.680
listen to Sports Card Nation podcasts. So that was great, great,

470
00:28:40.880 --> 00:28:44.000
you know, great dinners. We had our Hobby Hotline dinner

471
00:28:44.319 --> 00:28:47.400
on Saturday night at Harry Carrey's. It's kind of become

472
00:28:47.480 --> 00:28:52.119
our Saturday night tradition. We had some of the folks

473
00:28:52.160 --> 00:28:55.559
from Hobby Hotline there, small intimate, you know, it wasn't

474
00:28:55.559 --> 00:28:58.680
a ton of people, about eight six to eight people.

475
00:28:59.319 --> 00:29:01.119
We had a couple people even not a part of

476
00:29:01.160 --> 00:29:05.279
Hobby Outline, friends of ours to a tend. It's just

477
00:29:05.319 --> 00:29:09.000
a good way to decompress, enjoy a great meal with

478
00:29:09.400 --> 00:29:13.119
you know, hobby fraternity we're all part of and it's

479
00:29:13.160 --> 00:29:15.440
one of the things. As crazy as it sounds, I

480
00:29:15.480 --> 00:29:18.799
look forward the Hobby Hotline dinner on Saturday with some

481
00:29:18.920 --> 00:29:22.720
ritten dumb just a great event, you know, right now,

482
00:29:22.960 --> 00:29:26.039
I'm still just trying to play catch up with content

483
00:29:26.160 --> 00:29:29.039
and orders. You know, it never seems to fail. Whenever

484
00:29:29.079 --> 00:29:32.480
I go on this trip, I have a stack of

485
00:29:32.559 --> 00:29:35.079
or I don't put my stuff on vacation, and I

486
00:29:35.160 --> 00:29:37.279
just seem to have a stack of orders catch up

487
00:29:37.319 --> 00:29:41.960
on went back home. I'm tired. My order ring says

488
00:29:42.000 --> 00:29:45.839
I'm fourteen hours behind in sleep. I probably have to

489
00:29:45.839 --> 00:29:48.720
sleep a whole day even to get back on track.

490
00:29:48.799 --> 00:29:50.880
That's not going to happen. I do have a couple

491
00:29:50.920 --> 00:29:54.000
of weeks coming up here with no summer school and

492
00:29:54.039 --> 00:29:57.319
no regular school yet, sort of to maybe catch up

493
00:29:57.400 --> 00:30:01.000
by some of that. Take some naps, sleep in and

494
00:30:01.319 --> 00:30:06.279
hopefully get that fourteen hours sleep deprived number gone or

495
00:30:06.599 --> 00:30:10.119
at least a lot lower. So I hope you if

496
00:30:10.119 --> 00:30:13.079
you went to the National, I hope you enjoyed the National.

497
00:30:13.519 --> 00:30:16.440
If you didn't go this year, I understand it. Sometimes

498
00:30:16.519 --> 00:30:18.240
it's hard to go a year. If you didn't go

499
00:30:18.359 --> 00:30:21.640
this year, I hope and you want to go. Hope

500
00:30:21.640 --> 00:30:26.440
you get to the next again. Thanks everyone that I

501
00:30:26.519 --> 00:30:29.759
met there in person, whether it's the first time or

502
00:30:29.799 --> 00:30:35.039
I met you already. I enjoy those conversations talking about life. Cards,

503
00:30:35.680 --> 00:30:40.759
you know anything, right, I really do appreciate those interactions.

504
00:30:40.799 --> 00:30:44.000
So with that being said, I think I've sort of

505
00:30:44.599 --> 00:30:48.640
covered everything I wanted to cover, and we'll see you

506
00:30:48.680 --> 00:30:49.160
next time.