Hobby quick hits
delivering that breaking hobby news
You want to know those hot drops from
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Welcome to another edition of Hobby
Quicks. I don't know, it seems like it's
been more than two weeks, but uh happy
to be back. Uh today's a Q&A episode.
So, you know, I always get I don't want
to say always, but a lot a lot of times
I'll get uh questions asked to me uh via
DMs or emails. I always answer them
answer them in in a prompt fashion. And
you know, depending on the question, I
will ask the person who asked it. Hey,
do you mind if I use this question on a
future Q&A uh episode because I think it
may be a question others uh may have as
well or I find it uh interesting.
Sometimes they could be about the hobby,
sometimes it could be a little off uh
topic. Uh it could range to to both. So,
uh, that's what today's episode. We got
a lot of news, uh, sort of to catch up
on because, uh, last episode we did our
football preview and we we kind of cut
out the news segment to devote more time
to the the preview. So, we'll we'll
catch up on some news and, uh, as
always, we'll have our uh, product
release uh, schedule uh, as well. So,
uh, we get a quick break and then we'll
be back with first with the releases of
the next couple weeks. 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
announcer, coming to you from the sports
card shop in beautiful New Buffalo,
Michigan. The Gocher family has built an
incredible place here for collectors to
buy, sell, and trade cards and
memorabilia. Be sure to stop by and let
Connecting sports, athletes, the hobby,
and collectors around the world.
Hi, this is Alan Pinket, and I'm here to
tell you the Gocher family has done it
again. They've just opened up the sport
card shop in downtown Valparezo,
Indiana, and it is awesome. If you're a
collector, you need to check this place
out. Tell them Allan sent you and get a
free gift on your first visit.
Let's check out this week's hobby wax
releases. Take it away, Owen.
Hey guys, Owen from the sports car shop.
Let's go over the week releases.
Starting off at the sixth, we have Fiora
World Unique Football Edition 21 Soccer.
Going to the eighth, we have Bowman
Chrome Baseball Mega, Panini Black
Football, Upper Deck Ultimate Collection
Hockey, and then the ninth, we have
Panini Flaws Football. That's a big one.
And going to the 10th, we have Penise
that Don Rous football hobby tin uh Tops
Um Trustar Hidden Treasures Football
Mini Helmet Platinum Season Edition. And
then the 15th we have historic
autographs 15 anniversary edition. Um
Panini Impeccable Football Super Break
Supercharge Series 2 Edition, Topps
Disney Wonder, Topps Disney Wonder
Blaster, Upper Deck Series 1 Hockey, and
then the 16th we have Panini Donos WNBA
uh, Panini Enirments Football. Um, then
the 17th we have Leaf History Book
Sports Edition Chapter 2, Panini Nor
Soccer, Pieces of the Past, Royalty Tops
UFC Knockout, and last but not least,
Tristar Hidden Treasures Autograph
Football Jerseys Edition series 2.
Thanks, guys. See you later.
Let's go round the Hobby verse and catch
up on this week's hobby news
All right, it's not really new news. Uh
about a week old, but again, we weren't
on last week, so we didn't get to cover
it. Uh PSA has announced uh a price
increase uh on some of their uh lower
levels, but uh Value Bo 1999 to $21.99.
Uh value $24.99 to $27.99
uh going up $5 to 44 uh.99. So going to
cost you a little bit more to send to
PSA. I think the grand scheme scheme of
things the increases are minimal,
but they're trying to uh offset some of
the the you know the backlog, if you
will. And if they're going to have a
backlog, they want more money to to to,
you know, get through it and get their
way out of it. also announced add five
days to any of the previous turnaround
time. So add if it was 40 days, it's now
45. If it was 20 days, it's now 25. So
add 5 days uh to any kind of uh um you
know turnaround time estimates uh if you
will. Uh staying on the PSA uh news
front, uh they uh in uh correlation with
the major league uh players incorporated
a business arm of the players union. Uh
some players were on eBay live uh
opening product and pulling cards. Uh
those players were Bobby Wit Jr., Corbin
Carroll, Bryce Terang, Trevor McIll,
Justin Turner, Evan uh uh Evan Carter,
and Travis Bazana. And some of those
car, some of those key cards that they
pulled, some of the bigger hits will be
slabed by PSA uh and sold uh uh on the
platform. Um, if you win that card or
buy that card, uh, you'll get a video of
that said player uh, pulling uh, pulling
that card and the slab itself will be
designated uh, players uh, collection.
So, and uh, I know Bobby Wit Jr. and
Corbin Carroll for sure, but I think all
those players that I just mentioned are
all collectors uh in their uh own right.
So, uh little little own a little small
piece of of small history there if
that's uh uh sort of your thing. So, uh
happy uh happy uh auctioning there.
another uh the Baltimore news 1914 Babe
Ruth uh you know Air Tags rookie graded
SGC3 which sold in December of 2023
is coming uh back uh for sale this time
on Heritage uh their fall auction and
last sold in December of 23 for $73
million. This is a card that's only been
available to auction uh two times in the
last 10 years. This will be the second
time in the last uh 10 years. And uh
million December of 2023 sale.
Holy cow, I don't believe it. We'll
we'll see here uh come uh the Heritage
fall auction. If you like to get Otani
cards like I do, there is one that was
only distributed on September 21st uh at
Dodger Stadium. It's the Darte
uh Dodgers three card set which features
Otani uh Freddy Freeman and Tioscar
Hernandez. they were given out uh to
fans uh coming through the turn styles
only 10,000 uh sets produced. So uh it's
uh you know something if you collect
Otani cards there's one that uh maybe
you can chase and add to your
collection. Uh uh Darte, I guess, is a
um uh cosmetics brand that uh Otani is a
spokesman for. And the three cards
depict the players doing um a hand
gesture that Otani did during their uh
commercials there. So um uh you know,
the chase is on uh for that set.
All right. So, uh, you know, uh, Big
Bucks is not just relying to, uh, the
major sports. And not that tennis isn't
a major sport, but Carlos Alcarez's
tennis ball, the last one he hit to win
the 220, uh, the 2025 US Open uh, in his
uh, victory over Yannik Center, uh, just
sold at Southern Beast in auction for
that surpasses the previous record for a
tennis ball, which was a 2013 US Open
victory ball from Serena Williams. Uh
that ball went for 9 and a half
So $80,000 more. Again, we're talking 12
years uh later. So the market is a lot
different. If you want a chance at
another piece of Alcarez's uh history,
uh the his racket, which is a Babbo
Bablet or Bablet, uh forgive me if I
pronounce that wrong. his racket from
the 2023 Wimbledon victory over uh uh
No, uh Nok Novac uh is uh going to be
ending in October 19th on prestige
memorabilia. It's already got uh bids
and it's expected to go over 200 uh K.
So uh if you want the racket from his
2023 Wimbledon run, save your money, and
uh bid uh bid on that. uh as well.
Fanatics has announced a first ever uh
distribution to uh China with a
basketball release which will be uh
coming up here in a few weeks I believe
26 Topps Master Attacks and they're
uh distributorship which is a
manufacturing distributor uh to China to
distribute that product uh to China
first time uh for that. And so again,
Fanatics trying to broaden their range
and and obviously their you know be
worldwide. So that's uh look for that if
you're in China here uh very soon uh to
to be honest with you. So uh there you
go. Uh that's the news uh uh for this
segment and u uh enjoy the hobby. And
now our feature presentation.
All right, time for another Q&A episode.
Always enjoy these. Uh again, just so
everyone knows, these are questions I've
gotten over the last uh few weeks. I've
already answered them. Uh they come in
via either DM, PM, or email. Um I've or
or text. Uh I've answered these to the
people answer uh asking them already.
They don't make them wait uh for the
show, but I asked their permission to
use it as part of the Q&A episode. So,
uh that that's what you'll hear on the
show. Uh if they let me use their name,
I'll say their first name. Every once in
a while, someone will say you can use
the question. Just don't attach my name
to it. I don't have any of those on
today's particular episode. So, uh, with
that being said, uh, let's start with,
uh, in no particular order, just the way
I I printed these out. First question
comes from Riley, who asked, "John, I
followed you and the show on social
media. You didn't follow back. How How
come?" Um, not I'm not malicious. I'm
not avoiding you on purpose. I get a lot
of sometimes I get a lot of like people
who want to do logo designs and and
different things like that. So sometimes
I don't follow everybody back. The best
way to get a follow back which I love to
do is to be interactive. So if you like
one of my posts or you you comment on
one of my post I will see that and it
will say follows you uh and it'll be a
follow back sort of button to click.
That's the best way to get a follow
back. If it's important to you, PM me,
DM me, and I'll make sure to do it. It's
not I'm not not doing it uh to be
negative or or malicious. I just, you
know, I try to get to as many
followbacks as I can, but sometimes uh
they do slip through the cracks. So
there's the best way to do it is sort of
be interactive and then it's easier for
me to see that I'm not following that
person who's being interactive with me
and then I I I fix that. Solve that. All
right. Next question comes from Ryan who
says, "I heard your preview uh baseball
episode earlier this year, but now that
the playoffs are set, give me your World
Series matchup and winner." Uh it's
going to be hard to pick against the
Dodgers. Uh that just lineup is just too
formidable. So I'll say the Dodgers uh
And man, I I I'm leaning Tigers or
Yankees uh in the AL. Uh AJ Hench is is
a great manager and a great postseason
manager. Tariq Scroo is one of the best
pitchers uh in baseball. Hard to pick
against them. So, I'll say Tigers or
Yankees. And I'll hedge my bet by saying
whether it's the Tigers or the Yankees,
I'm going to pick the Dodgers uh to win
the World Series uh again. So, Dodgers
versus either the Tigers uh or the
Yankees. Uh and that was a pretty new
question that actually just came in uh
yesterday. So, all right. Next question
comes by way of Chad. Uh what are your
thoughts uh with PSA PSA SGC and SGC's
numbers on the decline? Um you know,
people know how I feel about SGC and I'm
a bulk s. Uh the latest generate report,
uh I'd be lying if I said wasn't uh
disappointing. Um I hope they're not
going away. Um, you know, I hope the
decline, and I know I just spoke about
this on Hobby Hotline. Um, I hope the
decline is coming from the place of
a little tentative of this SGC going
away and then when they don't, they'll
jump back on board and submit. I will
say this, I just had a bulk sub that was
like my fifth highest, including before
the bulk rates went away. So on a local
level, uh uh I'm still seeing uh
significant amount of cards. So, but
again, when you look at the the big
picture and that's not being indicated.
So, yeah, it's disappointing. Uh I don't
want SGC to go away, but it's also
obviously not my call. And and what
we're seeing here, folks, is I'm not
sure what Collectors is doing other than
opening the door up for a CDC to kind of
try to step foot into that that number
uh there's smart people that work in the
building, I always say, but I I really
this kind of decision. And you know, you
asked about PSA. I know they just raised
their prices. the the raises were very
slight. So, I don't think that's uh
significant there, but they extended
their turnaround times by 5 days. Well,
5 days when your turnaround times are
already pretty significant or also kind
of a a blip uh on the radar. So, not not
a lot to say there, but I just hope uh I
hope SGC is is still around. And again,
that comes from a selfish point of view,
All right. Uh, next question comes from
Laurel. Uh, a few weeks back, she asked
me uh before the season, "Give me a
football player that maybe I should be
buying." And there's it's hard to give,
uh, just one. And and I I'll take this
question as this one that's sort of at a
lower level but has the potential to um
you know have a a higher ceiling if you
will. I would have loved to say Brock
Bowers. That's a guy that I have plenty
of and been buying. Little slow start. I
think he's got a nagging knee injury. I
still love Brock Bowers. Um, another guy
I love, Marvin Harris, Jun Marvin
Harrison Jr., he's off to a little bit
of a slow start, I guess. And I still
believe in both those guys. So, it's a
great buying opportunity as their cards
uh will down tick, right? Uh, so there's
two. Um, I obviously the NFL is a
quarterback uh driven uh league. Um, you
know, just when we thought the Chiefs
were dead, they're starting to play
well. Uh, I think Patrick Mahomes has a
couple Super Bowls uh left in them uh
before his career is over. May his cards
might be a little bit down due to some
of their early struggles. Might be an
opportunity to snag a couple uh of his
cards. Uh if you will, uh if you like
rookies, you know, if you're a Giants
fan or a Jackson Dart believer, you
might go uh that route. you definitely
on the the ground level potentially uh
there in the quarterback uh side of
things. Uh and if you think the Josh
Allen era has begun, uh you know, again,
his stuff's not necessarily cheap
either, but uh you know, you might be
able to get him if he was to win a Super
Bowl uh title this year. Uh might be an
opportunity to buy some of his stuff
before that happens. I know you asked
for one and I gave you a lot. Five or
six there, but that's it's so hard to
pick just one guy, especially in
football. A sport I'm definitely
passionate about. So, I gave you a few.
Uh you may have your own uh thoughts or
or other guys I didn't uh mention uh as
Next question comes from Mark. And
again, I I mentioned sometimes these
questions are not hobby specific, which
it's kind of nice cuz we're all human
beings and we do stuff outside the
hobby. Uh Mark says, "Hey, I follow you.
You your personal Facebook account. I
see you uh you post a lot of food pics
and stuff you make. What is your
favorite food?" Uh quick answers,
anything I make on my Blackstone. Um but
my favorite food really is probably
seafood. Uh, lobster, crab. Uh, I'm a
huge seafood guy. Could eat I don't eat
it every day, but I definitely could. I
couldn't afford to eat it every day, but
seafood I could live on every day. Uh,
one of my favorite uh uh foods. Thanks
for the question. Uh, Mark Bob asks,
"Uh, I've heard your hobby pet peeve
show. Do you have any new ones that you
did since the the show that I listened
to?" I guess, you know, I don't nothing
like ruins my day or anything like that.
I don't let the hobby uh get to me uh to
that level. It's it's 8% of my life. So,
of non-hobby stuff that takes up my
life. Um, I guess I'd say my if I have a
new hobby pet peeve, and again, don't
take this as me losing sleep or I'm mad
or I'm punching walls, but I've noticed
uh to me, and I could be wrong, this is
one man's opinion, I've noticed in
content creation, it seems like, and
again, perception isn't always reality,
but I feel like certain content
creators, I think, are more in love with
the content creation than the hobby or
the cards themselves. And again, I don't
want to paint with a broad brush. That
doesn't apply to most people, but I
think there are a segment of content
creators who I feel like are more in
love with themselves on video um than
them talking about cards or showing
cards and that sort of thing. That
doesn't make them the antichrist or or
bad people. It's just not my thing,
right? the the cards were always here
before the content creation was for me.
So that that's the order uh that I put
them in and will always put them in. So
again, just just my perception and and
my answer to that that question. Thank
you uh to Bob. All right, we have one
more question comes from Eric. He says,
"What is your f I know you do vintage.
What is your favorite player modern to
to buy and sell and why? Uh man, that's
again hard to answer one. I I I'll give
you one. I I'm a I know he didn't have a
tremendous year this year, but uh he's a
collector in his own right, too. Uh so I
might be competing against him to buy
some of his cards. But that's uh Bobby
Wit Jr. I think he's uh one of the best
5-2 players um in the major leagues. I
reminiscent of Mike Trout. Hopefully he
uh injuryfree unlike Mike Trout
unfortunately. So Bobby Whit uh Jr. uh
is my guy, you know, shortstop. People
love shorts stops. Um and uh I know he
signed a long-term deal in Kansas City.
I know they didn't make the postseason.
Uh but uh he's going to be barring
injury is a guy that we'll we'll talk
about uh every year. Probably a Hall of
Famer barring injury and um just love
how he plays the game. And I don't get
to see him a lot here on the East Coast
on TV, but anytime uh they they are on
TV, I always make a point uh to watch
him. And uh uh just a great player I I
kind of like. And uh uh his cards can
be, you know, he's not cheap. wouldn't
classify them as cheap, but these cards
are definitely affordable, and I think
there's definitely a lot of sealing uh
