Dec. 2, 2024
Hobby Quick Hits Ep.193 The Cat Scan Episode
I wasn't going to touch in this subject since it affects a small percentage of the hobby but it was requested by listeners and it is important overall so here it is.
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hobby quick
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news directly to your
[Music]
ear you want to know those hot drops
from the car shop we've got you covered
with your
host John
[Music]
Newman Hello everybody welcome to
another Edition of hobby quick hits
today's topic a little controversial uh
and uh well let me tell you what it is
and then we'll we'll talk about it it's
cat the cat scanning some of you may
have heard about Breakers and other
people in the hobby using a cat scan
machine to determine what is in a sealed
product before it's even open uh they're
able to do this without damaging the
product so it can either be sold uh as
is if nothing they deem worthy of uh in
there or you know uh been reports that
some breakers have done some uh
unscrupulous things with the info they
gather from those scans and at first you
know I haven't talked really about this
uh at all yet uh even on sports card
nation and I because I I'm typically
don't buy those high-end products that
these scans are being taken of and I'm
like it really doesn't affect me but
you've heard me say uh in more than one
occasion right what happens in Hobby
really affects the Hobby in general so I
had a few people honestly uh messaged me
and said you know John why haven't you
weighed in on the cat scanning
controversy and um you know I was trying
to really avoid it as much as I can but
I'm not going to beat a dead horse or
spend a a million hours on it but I'm
going to talk about it on today's
episode obviously it's wrong uh you
don't need me to tell you that but I'm
going to kind of give you know my
opinion uh kind of let you know with
more specifics than here in the intro
what's actually going on and talk about
some solutions right where's always you
know I always try to it's easy to
complain right but it's not as easy to
come up with uh a solution
to a problem or ailment and so I'll I'll
talk about maybe some viable solutions
that the hobby can do to avoid this or
curtail this type of illegal activity
okay now a quick word from our great
sponsor followed by the new product
release schedule then we'll go around
the hobby verse to tell you all the
latest hobby happenings and news then
we'll tackle today's topic of discussion
hi this is Pat Hughes Cubs and announcer
coming to you from the sports card shop
in beautiful New Buffalo Michigan the
goer family has built an incredible
place here for collectors to buy sell
and trade cards and memorabilia be sure
to stop by and let them show you around
the sportscard shop.com connecting
Sports athletes The Hobby and collectors
around the world hi this is Alan pinket
and I'm I'm here to tell you the goer
family has done it again they've just
opened up the sport card shop in
downtown Val perzo Indiana and it is
awesome if you're a collector you need
to check this place out tell them Allen
sent you and get a free gift on your
first visit all right let's go over what
is coming out for new releases on the
product front for the next couple weeks
let's start with December 4th 2024
Bowman draft baseball who knows what
that's going to cost but uh none of my
business uh also on the same day 2025
pieces of the past
1776 the Freedom Fighters Edition also
2024 Upper Deck Marvel masterpieces 92
Platinum let's move to December 6th
quite a bit on this date uh these will
all be December 6th 2025 Leaf metal
Sports Heroes regular and solo Edition
2024 onx rips baseball collection 2024
Panini certified football 2024 Panini 3
count
WWE 2024 Pro Set pure football also on
the six 2024 Topps Chrome Major League
Soccer hobby uh 2024 tops chome Major
League Soccer Mania and Yu-Gi-Oh
crossover Breakers let's move to the
11th 2024 Leaf Maryland Monroe icons
collection 2024 Panini black football
staying on the 11th 2023 24 Panini
National Treasures basketball 2024
Panini prism colia draft football 2024
Topps definitive baseball get out your
checkbooks uh staying on the 11th 11th
is still a big day 2024 tops yifa Club
competition soccer Hobby and blasters
2024 25 Upper Deck artifacts hockey 2024
Upper Deck Fleer Ultra matriarchs of
Marvel uh going to the 13th decision
2024 trading cards 2024 Leaf Collective
multisport and solo Edition 2024 Leaf
Elvis Presley icons collection 2024
Panini National Treasures WWE
2324 Panini 1 and one basketball 2024
Panini prism baseball
2024 Topps Paddock pass Formula 1 racing
Hobby and blasters staying on the 13th
yugi-oh speed duel battle city finals
and tops 2024 Topps Major League Soccer
Chrome soccer blasters let's go to the
16th and wrap it up there uh 2024 Panini
mosaic football foot no huddle and
2024 Panini prism football Hobby and
that wraps up uh the next couple weeks
as I always say Choose Your Weapon happy
ripping good
luck Let's Go Round The Hobby verse and
catch up on this week's hobby
news and find
out all right let's start with a
exclusive signing
Paige Beckers signed to Panini to a
multi-year autograph deal and if you
know uh Panini already has a deal with
uh University of Connecticut the
university uh to produce cards but this
will be uh for for Paige Beckers to uh
have an autograph uh deal uh with panini
so uh she's going to uh get paid there
and and uh probably doing uh very
well all right let's uh speaking of
money and it's money spent sh otani's
last home run of the regular season of
2024 his
54th uh went for
$158,000 uh at Golden so uh they're uh
you know not the not the ball that made
him a 5050 guy but part of that whole
year and so it brings uh
158k all right let's talk about some bad
[Music]
stuff bad news for Becket continuing
their CEO Greg
Lindberg uh pled guilty to $2 billion
worth of insurance fraud money
laundering and a few other charges uh
he's potentially could uh be sent Ed uh
between 5 and 15 years uh of prison time
but no no
sentencing uh yet but uh you know we
we'll see how that all shakes out but uh
this is a company to me guys uh I almost
think they need to sell uh to somebody
else and and kind of clean the Slate try
to rebuild that U that the brand as much
as as much as they can can net Turner
PSA or collector's uh
owner one of them is now on the board of
directors at GameStop and in case you
don't know uh I think most people do
GameStop is now accepting PSA
submissions at uh a majority of their
locations so this kind of goes lock step
in with that Nat Turner will now serve
on the Board of Directors for GameStop
uh there's been some bumps in the road
there uh with issues uh you can kind of
search that and you'll see what I'm
talking about so
hopefully that uh that kind of stuff
gets uh uh ironed out if if you will and
let's say let's end on a a positive note
here and uh I know this young man he he
was on a special show I did a few years
ago when he was 10 years old but
12-year-old Blake Grace and his
20-year-old brother Austin
GCE uh did something really nice I'm
going to effort to see if I can get one
or both of them on the show and we'll
talk about this amongst other things in
the hobby but they had a 19 stick NHL
hockey stick collection most of those
sticks were were signed and um they uh
donated them to uh auction to Heritage
and all the funds are going to go to the
assist the officer Foundation to uh help
uh fallen officers and their families
and uh you know so kudos to uh
12-year-old uh Blake rice uh who has his
own kind of program and and content
called the Blake down and his
20-year-old brother Austin love to see
stuff like that you know and as I often
say right we have enough negative
stories in the hobby but you know these
these kind of things outweigh them and I
I wanted to highlight that so hopefully
maybe we can get uh Blake and and Austin
on a future uh sports car Nation uh
episode and now our Feature
[Music]
Presentation all right folks I'm not
going to lie to you I really debated
tackling this topic and I actually kind
of avoided it uh for some time and it
was three or four DMS and emails I got
saying John can you weigh in on on this
that really kind of talked me off the
ledge so so here we are uh I'm talked
off the ledge we're going to tackle this
now let me say that uh cat scanning of
wax and boxes doesn't affect me directly
because I don't open that kind of stuff
I don't buy in to those kind of breaks
and so that was one of the reasons I
sort of steered clear and a lot of this
is speculation no one's admitted to it
other than I'll talk about that in a
minute um so you you know we can't point
a finger and say someone for sure is
doing this but I believe what happening
um and so what's going on and this story
broke if my memory serves me
correct mid July end of July August uh
that certain potentially Breakers uh
have been cat
scanning you know prestigious boxes
stuff like Flawless National Treasures
Exquisite boxes of of that elk uh while
they're sealed and the cat scanner
allows you the the user to see
the hits that are in those type of of
products without opening it doesn't
damage the Box doesn't damage any shrink
wrap on it and then the owner of said
box knows kind of what is or isn't in
that box to do what he or she wants to
do with it and you know again uh things
that have come out is hey now a breaker
knows there's hey and I'm just making
you know big time cards up hey there's a
Steph Curry you know uh logo man in this
101 uh and now they have a choice right
they can open it themselves and and get
the card they could even if they really
want to look even more legit and and
make money on top of that they can have
a friend buy into the break as let in
this case using the same card buy into
and buy the Warriors right they know the
person it's all kind of set up up from
Jump Street and whatever deal they have
you know we you you win the card we'll
sell it uh I'll give you so much and
I'll profit uh the percentage after that
uh you know real shady there's also a
rumor I heard and and I know which one
it is for because it's all speculation
I'm not going to mention their name but
there's a large wax seller that has been
rumored to be doing this
and you might say well how who's got a
cat scanner how is this happening right
um I mean if you know somebody in the
medical field you can arrange a deal
after hours hey buddy I'm coming over uh
you know at 5:30 with like six boxes you
know and I'm sure they're paying for the
the use or or the person the the cats
the certified CAT scan person is putting
money in their pocket you know uh before
they leave for the day and that's how
this is happening you can buy so you say
well what's a cat scan machine cost uh
they can range it you know obviously
they're different sizes from full body
ones but uh they range anywhere from
eight new this is 80k to
$350,000 but you know I did I did kind
of a preliminary search just to see what
was out there and I found a small used
functioning one for
$99,000 uh out there uh that can be
bought I didn't buy it so maybe you know
for 9k heck folks some of these boxes go
for more than 9k right Transcendence and
and different things like that the the
Mercury uh which can be scan scanned so
for
$9,000 a breaker or someone a someone
owning an LCS
could buy it right and have it in the
back have it at home wherever they
conceal it and do these unscrupulous
things and I for sure believe if if it
works it's it's happening right this is
you know we've seen the you know
trajectory of of unscrupulous things
right people making counterfeit cards uh
dealers and stores weighing packs
dealers and stores you know people going
into retail and and weighing packs or
feeling the packs looking for thick
cards right anywhere you know a a a
shortcut or something illegal can can be
done to get the big hits out without
having to open or buy a whole bunch of
the product right people going to look
for that and it's sad but that's that's
you know it's again it's not relegated
to just the Hobby in any kind of Market
stock market any you know
jewelry uh fashion there's going to be
unscrupulous activity we're just talking
about the hobby here and it's it's sad
that U you know people will go to any
extreme lens right long as it's not
exorbitant like it's got to make sense
profit wise you know no one's going to
buy a
350,000 cat scan machine
uh to you know necessarily scan you know
a $10,000 box but you might buy a $9,000
Use CAT scan machine to do it and and
keep doing it right so you know or and
then you don't even have to buy I'm not
going to lie to you my wife works my
wife's a nurse she works in a medical
office now I don't have this type of wax
anyway but if I did and I was
unscrupulous uh um I'm 0 for two there I
don't and I'm not unscrupulous but I
could probably go to my wife's off where
she works you know she my wife knows the
the CAT scan
technician and I'm sure I don't want to
say I'm sure but I'm sure some if push
came to show I could have a deal where I
could CAT scan some boxes if I had them
you know for the right
price make it worth the technicians
worthwhile they're not really doing
anything illegal It's Not a Human Being
going in the machine after hours and and
no medical records just a inanimate box
of sports cards right so I'm sure some
of these Breakers have people they know
in in in the local medical field and
they're making these deals to get these
boxes scanned right so you find out a
box you know a box isn't that great
right that one's definitely going for
sale that one's defin going to be uh
offered for breaks right and then they
find a box that has a big hit in it
right and they can go again like I said
already they can go two ways here right
they could just you know eat the cost of
that box and rip it open and P get that
card out of there and then do whatever
they want on the secondary Market or
they can hey let's listen what's cooler
you know this is going to be great we're
going to get we're going to get Pub uh
when this hit gets pulled and and
notoriety right and uh might make some
of the hobby news Publications and
online sites and social media and we're
going to get you know some shine out of
this so they know whatever team that
that big card is related to you know
they'll tell a buddy you buy you know
we'll say you're buying this team we're
going to sell this card you're going to
get 10% uh for doing nothing you know so
if this card sells for
$400,000 we're going to give you you
know
$40,000 for just the Optics of this and
we're going to PO we're going to pocket
$360,000 and it looks legit if you
didn't know any better right and that
person's going to be in the live stream
and they're going to be
excited and U they're going to list it
for sale and this deals all kind of uh
the the you know it's rigged it's uh
Jerry rigged so uh you know and and I
believe that's probably happening if the
these cat scan machines do what they're
reportedly doing uh there's a now listen
you think I'm it's not possible
Connecticut companies doing this right
out in the open
$75 per box uh a kinectic to get a
company I'm not going to mention their
name you can Google it not no free
advertising especially when to me it's
it's not above board but for 75 bucks
you bring it to them and they'll scan it
and you can see what's in that box
without opening it and um they got
public ads it's not even in in the back
rooms it's it's now out there and now
common place and so you know that's
where we are uh this is the latest
shootter drop right it'll be something
else uh as
Technologies uh get better you know
what's the what's the Sol you know we
talk about I always talk about hey it's
easy to talk about problems what are the
solutions bring some solutions and this
one's tricky right let's start with some
solutions again any solutions is going
to cost money on the manufacturer side
right if top slash Fanatics Panini and
other companies want to prevent this
from occurring they could you know they
could put certain materials in the
product whether that be lead or other
and again I'm not a a scientist here but
I'm sure there are other products that
can block these CT scans so that you
can't see what's in the packs or what's
in the box or what's in the case and um
you know but that's going to ca that's
going to be cost
intensive to Tops to Panini and others
right and where where do those costs
gets passed on to you know the you the
consumer right us the consumer I do buy
wax here and there not again along these
lines but I do and um so that's who's
going to take it on the chin if if the
manufactor ever decided to do kind of
anti you know anti-at scanning uh
materials in these future boxes you know
what else could they do uh you know
let's be real if a if a breaker or
company gets
caught doing it and it's you know it's
it's happening for sure those companies
need to ban that company for Life uh
from ever purchasing product directly
from them uh yes that's harsh but that's
that's the stiff penalty you need to
sort of deter this and you know I'd love
to see one of those manufacturers come
out even preemptively and says we know
about this cat scanning
controversy if your company is direct
with tops and you engage in this kind of
activity you no longer will be direct
with tops I I you know could there be a
work a loophole there could it could
someone else you know buy it for them
and they still get it from Top sure but
i' I'd like to see tops take a stance uh
on this but I'm sure they're just hoping
the story uh kind of goes away I don't
think it's going to um you know what can
we do as consumers of the hobby well I'm
kind of already doing it because I don't
live in that space of buying you know
those kind of
wax uh level products so or or into
break so this again that's why I said I
was kind of trying to avoid this but uh
tackling it today uh so I I don't I this
really won't affect me uh directly so
you could you could avoid these products
um so don't buy right buy an item when
it first comes out uh literally the day
of release right before maybe some of
this can be scanned and even then it's
it's hard to to know if it hasn't been
scanned already but I think the sooner
you buy into something it it it leaves
less time for a breaker or wholesaler or
wax dealer to get that uh scanned right
and the old adage right use trusted
Sellers and Breakers if you're someone
that buys in the brakes buy use someone
who's reputable who you do not believe
would ever do something like this same
thing on the selling side whatever
whatever place you get your wax from you
know there's a million of not a million
of them but there's there's you know
four to six big ones if you trust them
then I guess you have to keep TR
trusting them
until they give you a reason not to
although I will tell you I have heard
through the grapevine that one of these
big whack sellers is reportedly guilty
of doing this again it's hearsay it's
speculation uh that's why I'm not going
to mention um um you know you can you
can again scour the internets invented
by Al Gore and maybe figure that out or
find out the rumor uh yourself
so that's where we are um I'm I'm not
going to beat this topic uh to death I
tried to avoid it but you know I got a
couple I got called to kind of weigh in
on it and uh you know it gets me I'm
disappointed uh but listen I've been in
the hobby uh 40 years and uh nothing
surprises anymore and I what's the next
thing right I don't know I don't know
but uh uh you know just be careful if
you live in that space of of high-end
wax high-end cases high-end product be
careful where you're getting your stuff
from and do your due diligence and I
hope no one out there uh you know takes
this one on the chin but uh if it's true
and I believe it to be someone is taking
it on the chin hopefully that's not you
all right thank you for listening to
another episode of hobby quick hits want
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