Sept. 21, 2026

"SGC Decision and Fairgrounds Show Review" Hobby Quick Hits E237

Show Notes
Transcript

On this episode of "Hobby Quick Hits" I discuss the recent SGC Submission price raising, how it affects me and the recent show I did at the New York State Fairgrounds.

Also:

*New Product Release Schedule

Follow us on Social Media:

Website:

https://www.sportscardnationpo....com

https://linktr.ee/Sportscardna...

E-Mail us at:

hobbyquickhits@gmail.com

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/sports-card-nation-podcast--4761791/support.

WEBVTT

1
00:00:01.129 --> 00:00:31.879
Hey everybody, welcome to episode 237. of hobby quicks copy

2
00:00:32.000 --> 00:00:37.009
quick hits podcast i am one week late getting this

3
00:00:37.950 --> 00:00:41.009
out there my apologies for that a little bit busier

4
00:00:41.390 --> 00:00:44.869
my schedule sort of ramped up school has started again

5
00:00:44.909 --> 00:00:49.020
so i am back to working at school i'm also

6
00:00:49.079 --> 00:00:53.359
taking uh doing some college coursework as part of my

7
00:00:53.439 --> 00:00:56.859
employment so that's taking a few more chunks out of

8
00:00:56.920 --> 00:01:00.740
my daily pie if you will but uh Wanted to

9
00:01:00.820 --> 00:01:03.840
definitely get, I got some traveling coming up as well.

10
00:01:03.859 --> 00:01:06.599
So I didn't want to get two weeks behind. So

11
00:01:06.640 --> 00:01:10.140
here we are. So what does this episode entail? Well,

12
00:01:10.170 --> 00:01:13.750
I just did my first show after a couple month

13
00:01:14.409 --> 00:01:18.569
summer hiatus from the show circuit. And it was my

14
00:01:18.650 --> 00:01:21.989
first show in, I believe, about three years where I

15
00:01:22.049 --> 00:01:27.170
did not have an SGC bulk submission table. So I'm

16
00:01:27.189 --> 00:01:30.129
going to talk about, you know, how the show went.

17
00:01:30.829 --> 00:01:34.790
kind of the thoughts and processes behind not having the

18
00:01:34.969 --> 00:01:38.609
SGC table and why, as you might have heard, they

19
00:01:38.670 --> 00:01:43.189
raised their rates up almost 300%. I'll talk about that

20
00:01:43.250 --> 00:01:47.200
as well, right? How I found out that news, my thoughts,

21
00:01:48.239 --> 00:01:53.299
as you probably can guess, not happy ones, and how

22
00:01:53.319 --> 00:01:58.829
this all kind of comes together as one with the show.

23
00:01:58.930 --> 00:02:04.629
So that's what I'm going to dive into on this episode.

24
00:02:05.290 --> 00:02:08.729
We're going to skip kind of the news segment, folks,

25
00:02:09.750 --> 00:02:14.349
and we'll do the product release schedule, and then we'll

26
00:02:14.550 --> 00:02:19.449
dive into, you know, the SGC decision, my first show

27
00:02:19.729 --> 00:02:23.419
in three years without having a table for them, and

28
00:02:23.460 --> 00:02:27.520
my first show in a couple months after a summer hiatus. So,

29
00:02:28.060 --> 00:02:32.280
We'll kind of put all those into one basket and

30
00:02:32.340 --> 00:02:36.229
tackle it and dive into it. So there you go.

31
00:02:36.250 --> 00:02:41.469
Let's start the show. All right. It's me doing the

32
00:02:41.629 --> 00:02:45.710
product release schedule. Let's talk about the next few weeks

33
00:02:45.789 --> 00:02:49.129
and products coming out to the market. So let's start

34
00:02:49.180 --> 00:02:54.099
with the 23rd of September. We have 2026 Bowman Chrome

35
00:02:54.159 --> 00:02:59.080
Baseball Megas. All these are actually the 23rd, so I

36
00:02:59.099 --> 00:03:04.159
won't keep saying the 23rd. 2026 Leaf Autograph Collection Football

37
00:03:04.180 --> 00:03:09.620
Hobby and Jumbos. 2026 Topps Marvel Vault. 2526 Upper Deck

38
00:03:09.639 --> 00:03:13.210
Ice Hockey. 2026 Upper Deck Team USA Juniors Hockey. Now

39
00:03:13.229 --> 00:03:17.210
let's move to the 24th. 2025-26 Topps Pristine Basketball as

40
00:03:17.569 --> 00:03:29.090
basketball continues. To roll out with the licensing changing over.

41
00:03:29.610 --> 00:03:34.669
Also on the 24, 25, 26. Topps Royalty Premier League Soccer.

42
00:03:35.129 --> 00:03:41.340
Going to September 25th. We have 2026 Leaf Metal Melange.

43
00:03:41.340 --> 00:03:48.740
2026 Panini Score Retreat Halloween Bundle. That tradition continues. 2026

44
00:03:48.740 --> 00:03:54.569
Wild Card Haunted Hits Breakers Brick. On the 30th, 2026,

45
00:03:54.569 --> 00:04:01.349
Bowman Football, Blasters, Delight, Hobby, Jumbo, and Megas. Also on

46
00:04:01.460 --> 00:04:08.780
the 30th, 2026, Panini Prism, WNBA Basketball. 2026, Pulse, X,

47
00:04:08.939 --> 00:04:14.080
Big League Chew, Baseball, Blaster, Hobbies, Megas, and Value Packs.

48
00:04:14.680 --> 00:04:20.160
On the 30th as well, 2026, Top Star Wars, Chrome Blasters, Delight,

49
00:04:20.620 --> 00:04:28.199
and Hobby. On the 30th as well, 2026, Tops, Chrome, Tennis, Blasters, Delights,

50
00:04:28.740 --> 00:04:35.339
and Hobby. Also on the 30th, up 25, 26, Upper Deck, Splendor, Hockey.

51
00:04:35.819 --> 00:04:39.939
And let's go to the first week in October. We

52
00:04:39.990 --> 00:04:49.370
have the 2nd, October 2nd, 2026, Leaf Football, Pokemon, 30th Celebration,

53
00:04:49.810 --> 00:04:55.689
Booster Bundles, and Mini Tins. Going to the 6th. 2026.

54
00:04:55.689 --> 00:05:02.620
Topps Mars Attacks Xmas. 2026. Topps Allen and Jinter Baseball

55
00:05:02.660 --> 00:05:08.100
Blasters and Hobby. That's on October 7th. Also on October 7th. 2026.

56
00:05:08.100 --> 00:05:14.850
Topps Museum Collection Baseball. 2026. Slash 27. Upper Deck Series

57
00:05:14.850 --> 00:05:17.750
1 Hockey. So that's your next two or three weeks.

58
00:05:17.829 --> 00:05:21.230
Lots of products coming out. As I always say, choose

59
00:05:21.269 --> 00:05:25.050
your product, and happy ripping. Good luck. And now, our

60
00:05:25.069 --> 00:05:34.930
feature presentation. So let's start with the SGC decision. And really,

61
00:05:35.089 --> 00:05:38.870
I say SGC decision, but most know that that came

62
00:05:39.050 --> 00:05:44.310
from above. So they decided this on September, well, before that.

63
00:05:44.350 --> 00:05:48.310
They announced it on September 2nd. On the 1st of September,

64
00:05:48.350 --> 00:05:50.610
and I'm not going to name this person, I got

65
00:05:50.649 --> 00:05:55.029
a message from somebody in the hobby who said, hey, John,

66
00:05:55.089 --> 00:05:59.490
heads up, SGC is about to raise their submission prices.

67
00:05:59.610 --> 00:06:03.870
I don't know to what, but it's happening soon. And,

68
00:06:04.329 --> 00:06:06.329
you know, I just thought I'd give you a heads up.

69
00:06:06.750 --> 00:06:09.589
And I said, OK, you know, it's weird coming from you.

70
00:06:09.670 --> 00:06:12.009
I would hope my rep, you know, as a bulk

71
00:06:12.050 --> 00:06:14.850
subber would have gave me a heads up and that

72
00:06:14.910 --> 00:06:17.879
sort of thing. you know, and then I hope, you know, well, maybe,

73
00:06:17.920 --> 00:06:22.579
you know, people talk, right? Rumors start and sometimes they never, uh,

74
00:06:22.639 --> 00:06:24.980
come to fruition. So I, I hope there was some

75
00:06:25.040 --> 00:06:28.560
of that, but on the very next day, September 2nd,

76
00:06:28.620 --> 00:06:32.339
I woke up and, you know, I saw the press

77
00:06:32.399 --> 00:06:37.500
release and, you know, from $ 15 to $ 50, that's a

78
00:06:37.639 --> 00:06:42.939
three over 300%, uh, increase. Uh, and, uh, it's crazy

79
00:06:43.000 --> 00:06:47.600
if you ask me and, um, talked to my rep.

80
00:06:47.759 --> 00:06:51.120
I even told him about the heads up the day before.

81
00:06:51.160 --> 00:06:55.800
He said, doesn't understand how that happened. Everyone is pretty

82
00:06:55.879 --> 00:07:01.560
tight-lipped and that this decision came from, again, above rather quickly.

83
00:07:01.639 --> 00:07:04.430
So there wasn't a lot of time for stuff to

84
00:07:04.470 --> 00:07:08.290
get out. That's another bone of contention, right? A lot

85
00:07:08.329 --> 00:07:12.949
of times when companies raise their rates, if you will,

86
00:07:13.519 --> 00:07:15.759
They sort of gave you at least a week or

87
00:07:15.879 --> 00:07:20.480
two to get stuff in. Like, hey, you know, last

88
00:07:20.560 --> 00:07:25.689
call at the current level. This was sort of immediate. Now,

89
00:07:25.949 --> 00:07:28.269
in defense, you know, my rep said, hey, John, if

90
00:07:28.310 --> 00:07:31.910
you're in the middle of a bulk submission, we'll give

91
00:07:31.949 --> 00:07:35.649
you a couple days to finish that up and get

92
00:07:35.709 --> 00:07:39.420
it in and honor the, you know, lower previous price,

93
00:07:39.769 --> 00:07:42.600
which I wasn't because I had just sent one in

94
00:07:42.680 --> 00:07:46.329
probably like four or five days before, which that got

95
00:07:46.410 --> 00:07:49.389
in at the lower price. So he also asked me,

96
00:07:49.410 --> 00:07:52.649
you know, when's your next show? And I said the 13th,

97
00:07:52.730 --> 00:07:57.689
which was 11 days away from that conversation. And he goes, well,

98
00:07:58.149 --> 00:08:01.529
I can't help you there. You know, so my phone

99
00:08:01.550 --> 00:08:05.180
was very busy on September 2nd with some of my

100
00:08:05.250 --> 00:08:09.540
bulk subbers calling or texting, asking if it would affect

101
00:08:09.579 --> 00:08:13.939
their existing submissions, asking anything. if I was still going

102
00:08:13.959 --> 00:08:18.079
to take cards at the $ 50 level, which I'm not.

103
00:08:18.540 --> 00:08:21.920
I just can't justify that. And frankly, let's be real,

104
00:08:22.459 --> 00:08:26.540
I'm not going to get nearly as many cards at

105
00:08:26.540 --> 00:08:30.680
$ 50 a pop than I was at $ 18. So, you know,

106
00:08:31.000 --> 00:08:34.019
and again, I'm paying the freight, I'm paying insurance, I'm

107
00:08:34.070 --> 00:08:39.210
paying shipping on these orders. At $ 50 a card, I'm

108
00:08:39.250 --> 00:08:42.460
going to wind up not getting enough cards to bulk

109
00:08:42.480 --> 00:08:45.659
sub and lose money. But it's not just that. I

110
00:08:45.700 --> 00:08:50.590
can't look my clientele in the face and suggest they

111
00:08:50.610 --> 00:08:54.210
pay $ 50 a card. And I get why these companies

112
00:08:54.269 --> 00:08:57.370
do this. You know, I get why they raise their

113
00:08:57.450 --> 00:09:01.580
rates when they get backlogged, right? And we know PSA

114
00:09:01.639 --> 00:09:06.320
took a good percentage of SGC's graders, making their manpower

115
00:09:06.500 --> 00:09:10.220
lower and their turnaround times longer. And now, you know,

116
00:09:10.759 --> 00:09:13.799
Now they're getting backlogged because of that, so they're trying

117
00:09:13.820 --> 00:09:16.919
to catch up. Now I was told that, you know,

118
00:09:17.000 --> 00:09:19.940
one of the questions I asked was, how long will

119
00:09:19.980 --> 00:09:23.919
this rate increase last? And I was told that hopefully

120
00:09:24.120 --> 00:09:28.620
they will be back down lower in January of 27.

121
00:09:28.620 --> 00:09:31.620
But back down lower, what's that mean, right? Is it

122
00:09:31.679 --> 00:09:35.149
going back to the original low price? Is it going

123
00:09:35.250 --> 00:09:37.590
to be lower than 50, but 40 bucks, 30 bucks,

124
00:09:37.590 --> 00:09:43.000
25 bucks? And that was another question I got asked

125
00:09:43.059 --> 00:09:46.299
by a lot of my clientele. When it comes down,

126
00:09:46.370 --> 00:09:49.549
will it be what it was? I don't know. I

127
00:09:50.029 --> 00:09:54.629
don't know. It's all speculation. But I would be pleasantly

128
00:09:54.769 --> 00:09:58.860
surprised if it went back down to the original 15

129
00:09:58.860 --> 00:10:02.220
a car i don't expect that i hope that but

130
00:10:02.279 --> 00:10:06.039
i don't expect that so i'm gonna assume you know

131
00:10:06.159 --> 00:10:10.179
it's going to be you know lower than 50 but

132
00:10:10.320 --> 00:10:13.740
still you know anywhere from like between 25 and 40

133
00:10:13.740 --> 00:10:16.100
bucks would be a guess i know that's a fairly

134
00:10:16.159 --> 00:10:21.399
broad range but that's what i think happens there. I mean,

135
00:10:21.460 --> 00:10:24.110
in a perfect world, it goes back down to 15

136
00:10:24.110 --> 00:10:26.809
on January 1st, and all is good and right in

137
00:10:26.830 --> 00:10:29.929
the world. I'm not predicting that. I wouldn't bet my

138
00:10:29.970 --> 00:10:31.870
house on it. I wouldn't bet a lot on it,

139
00:10:32.429 --> 00:10:35.830
for that matter. So, you know, the show was 11

140
00:10:35.830 --> 00:10:39.379
days away. All this happened on September 2nd. I had

141
00:10:39.429 --> 00:10:43.860
my show at the New York State Fairgrounds on September 13th.

142
00:10:44.279 --> 00:10:47.240
My last show was June 7th, so I got almost

143
00:10:48.879 --> 00:10:51.899
two and a half months off of not doing shows.

144
00:10:52.559 --> 00:10:55.220
The summer months here in Central New York, we have

145
00:10:55.240 --> 00:10:59.720
the New York State Fair, which runs for almost two weeks,

146
00:11:00.100 --> 00:11:02.700
and a lot of outdoor events. So a lot of

147
00:11:02.740 --> 00:11:05.850
the show promoters and the main big one, which is

148
00:11:05.879 --> 00:11:09.909
the one I do shows with, sort of let that

149
00:11:09.990 --> 00:11:15.049
time to take a break. You know, he rents the fairgrounds.

150
00:11:15.090 --> 00:11:18.620
He can't rent the fairgrounds. They have a sort of two-month,

151
00:11:18.980 --> 00:11:24.639
you know, moratorium where there's no extra events there between

152
00:11:24.679 --> 00:11:28.620
the State Fair and other shows that have always, always,

153
00:11:28.720 --> 00:11:32.230
always done it those couple months. So July and August,

154
00:11:33.159 --> 00:11:36.769
you know, the Fairgrounds show takes a pause. And so

155
00:11:36.850 --> 00:11:40.289
September 13th was my first show in two and a

156
00:11:40.330 --> 00:11:42.889
half months. So I was chomping at the bit to

157
00:11:42.929 --> 00:11:45.940
get back You know, I love doing shows. I love

158
00:11:45.980 --> 00:11:49.639
being behind my tables. I love seeing my friends, you know,

159
00:11:49.700 --> 00:11:53.139
on both sides of the table. And so really look

160
00:11:53.220 --> 00:11:57.710
forward to September 13th. But I've done this bulk subbing

161
00:11:57.750 --> 00:12:01.389
now for years for SGC. Oh, and that's the other thing.

162
00:12:01.409 --> 00:12:04.389
I had to call the promoter. He had some advertising

163
00:12:04.490 --> 00:12:08.169
out there with me and SGC, you know, being there

164
00:12:08.490 --> 00:12:11.789
and taking bulk subs. So he had to sort of,

165
00:12:12.450 --> 00:12:17.009
you know, kind of reel those back as much as possible,

166
00:12:17.090 --> 00:12:19.830
get those back in. And so it was a busy

167
00:12:19.929 --> 00:12:23.960
two weeks from the 2nd to the 13th, getting ready

168
00:12:24.019 --> 00:12:27.639
for the show, repricing stuff, answering a lot of questions

169
00:12:27.720 --> 00:12:31.159
pertaining to SGC. But I was really looking forward to

170
00:12:31.200 --> 00:12:34.159
the show, you know, for not doing one for two

171
00:12:34.179 --> 00:12:37.429
and a half months. But there's a little trepidation as well,

172
00:12:37.450 --> 00:12:39.769
and here's what I mean by that. is when you

173
00:12:39.809 --> 00:12:42.789
get used to doing something and you get used to

174
00:12:42.909 --> 00:12:45.929
if there's income involved and you get used to that income,

175
00:12:46.149 --> 00:12:49.539
truth be told, right, and that's not going to happen

176
00:12:49.620 --> 00:12:53.340
any longer, it can be a little scary. You know,

177
00:12:53.360 --> 00:12:56.779
I always do pretty well on both ends, right, with

178
00:12:56.820 --> 00:13:00.899
my own cards as a dealer and the SGC bulks up.

179
00:13:02.000 --> 00:13:06.009
But there are moments, there are shows where, like, you know,

180
00:13:06.779 --> 00:13:11.360
they're they're kind of close uh you know but combined

181
00:13:11.419 --> 00:13:15.120
it makes for a very good show one maybe not

182
00:13:15.200 --> 00:13:18.500
as much so you're always fearful like i'm not gonna

183
00:13:18.519 --> 00:13:22.000
have that sgc bulk sub income it's gonna be strictly

184
00:13:22.480 --> 00:13:25.179
you know what i sell at my other two table

185
00:13:25.500 --> 00:13:28.549
and so that is you know that's can be i

186
00:13:28.549 --> 00:13:30.409
don't want to say scary but you know you you

187
00:13:30.610 --> 00:13:33.860
you think about it right like Again, you get used

188
00:13:33.889 --> 00:13:36.899
to a certain thing, and then when it changes, you know,

189
00:13:37.000 --> 00:13:40.159
by humans, we don't like change. So I was a

190
00:13:40.179 --> 00:13:44.100
little concerned about that. Are people not even going to

191
00:13:44.159 --> 00:13:48.870
come my way because I'm not taking SGC cards, right?

192
00:13:48.899 --> 00:13:53.210
You know, the SGC table at these shows, you know,

193
00:13:54.269 --> 00:13:57.149
is great for everybody. For people who want to sub,

194
00:13:57.269 --> 00:14:00.710
it's great for me for a little side income. I'm

195
00:14:00.730 --> 00:14:02.549
not getting rich off it, but it is a nice

196
00:14:02.610 --> 00:14:06.990
little side income. It's good for the promoter because it

197
00:14:07.029 --> 00:14:11.139
brings people through the doors. And so I was worried

198
00:14:11.159 --> 00:14:13.240
that people are not even going to come over to

199
00:14:13.340 --> 00:14:16.779
the area I'm in. You know, sometimes when people sub SGC,

200
00:14:16.799 --> 00:14:19.379
they might buy some cards off me or vice versa.

201
00:14:19.779 --> 00:14:23.309
They come over to buy some cards and then they

202
00:14:23.330 --> 00:14:26.370
see the SGC stuff. So, you know, you're taking one

203
00:14:26.409 --> 00:14:29.110
of those elements out of that. So I was worried

204
00:14:29.289 --> 00:14:32.250
or concerned, you know, how is this going to affect

205
00:14:32.330 --> 00:14:35.580
my show? But there's nothing I can really do about it, right?

206
00:14:35.620 --> 00:14:38.759
You got to just show up. You got to price

207
00:14:38.799 --> 00:14:42.059
your stuff accordingly and hope for the best. And there

208
00:14:42.120 --> 00:14:45.480
was a show the week before, another show by a

209
00:14:45.519 --> 00:14:50.159
different promoter, smaller show, but about, you know, 15 miles

210
00:14:50.220 --> 00:14:52.740
away from where this show is. And so you worry,

211
00:14:52.759 --> 00:14:58.820
did everyone spend their discretionary income last week? or a

212
00:14:59.370 --> 00:15:02.370
considerable amount of it. So all these thoughts pop through

213
00:15:02.389 --> 00:15:05.210
your head as a dealer. But you just, you got

214
00:15:05.250 --> 00:15:08.350
to go in and do the best you can and

215
00:15:08.389 --> 00:15:11.679
let the chips sort of fall where they may. So,

216
00:15:12.600 --> 00:15:15.860
you know, set up. And then what it was, and

217
00:15:15.899 --> 00:15:18.200
then what, you know, I do have, I did have

218
00:15:18.240 --> 00:15:20.850
some SGC cards that had yet to be picked up

219
00:15:20.909 --> 00:15:24.350
that were completed orders. So some of those people came out.

220
00:15:24.799 --> 00:15:28.120
to pick their cards up, which was, you know, good.

221
00:15:28.139 --> 00:15:31.549
I don't like having other people's cards any longer than

222
00:15:31.570 --> 00:15:34.870
I have to. But what was a little surprising to

223
00:15:34.950 --> 00:15:38.289
me was, as big a news as that was, there

224
00:15:38.350 --> 00:15:42.740
were a few people that had no idea that SGC

225
00:15:42.769 --> 00:15:47.080
had raised their submission prices. So I had to turn away, unfortunately.

226
00:15:47.759 --> 00:15:52.179
Three people came up with cards and semi-rigids, all planning

227
00:15:52.299 --> 00:15:56.870
to you know, sub not knowing that they had raised

228
00:15:56.889 --> 00:15:59.879
their prices. And they're like, where's your table? And I'm like,

229
00:16:00.269 --> 00:16:02.740
I'm assuming you didn't hear the news. And they're like, no,

230
00:16:02.799 --> 00:16:05.840
what news would that be? And I'm like, SGC raised

231
00:16:05.879 --> 00:16:09.299
their price to $ 50. And, you know, they're like, holy crap,

232
00:16:09.340 --> 00:16:12.340
how long will that be for? I don't know. You know,

233
00:16:12.399 --> 00:16:14.340
I told them the same thing I just said on

234
00:16:14.360 --> 00:16:18.240
this podcast, that I'm being told that maybe in January

235
00:16:18.720 --> 00:16:21.850
the prices will come back down. So those three people

236
00:16:21.909 --> 00:16:26.220
did not sub at $ 50, and frankly, I wasn't going

237
00:16:26.240 --> 00:16:29.059
to take their subs at $ 50. But as soon as

238
00:16:29.120 --> 00:16:31.460
I told them that, they're like, oh my God, I

239
00:16:31.500 --> 00:16:33.919
guess I'll hang on to these until the price comes down.

240
00:16:34.340 --> 00:16:37.100
I did have a fourth gentleman come to the table

241
00:16:37.139 --> 00:16:40.419
with his cards in hand and send me rigids to sub.

242
00:16:40.860 --> 00:16:44.299
He did know about the increase. He had about eight cards,

243
00:16:44.360 --> 00:16:48.450
and he was prepared to pay $ 50 a card. I

244
00:16:48.529 --> 00:16:51.820
informed him that I won't be taking them at that

245
00:16:51.960 --> 00:16:55.090
intake level and price. And so he's like, man, I

246
00:16:55.090 --> 00:16:58.169
have to see, you know, don't take, I'd rather go

247
00:16:58.190 --> 00:17:01.110
through you, John, but if you're not, I might have to,

248
00:17:01.549 --> 00:17:03.889
you know, sub these on my own and it's going

249
00:17:03.909 --> 00:17:06.339
to be more expensive than it would through you. But,

250
00:17:06.819 --> 00:17:09.900
you know, I'll have to think about it. So it

251
00:17:09.940 --> 00:17:12.359
told me right there, right, there are going to be

252
00:17:12.440 --> 00:17:16.420
people who still sub at $ 50 a card. Not a lot,

253
00:17:17.200 --> 00:17:20.329
a lot less. It's not something I'm going to do

254
00:17:20.589 --> 00:17:23.200
at that level. I even had a couple people, truth

255
00:17:23.220 --> 00:17:27.309
be told, ask me to, you know, could you see

256
00:17:27.369 --> 00:17:32.849
about another grading card company? CGC was mentioned. And, you know,

257
00:17:32.930 --> 00:17:35.849
I said, well, I never close the door on anything,

258
00:17:35.910 --> 00:17:40.390
but right now I'm not looking at replacing SGC. Let's

259
00:17:40.450 --> 00:17:45.400
see what January 1st, 2027, brings with a price reduction

260
00:17:45.539 --> 00:17:48.799
if we get one and what that looks like before

261
00:17:48.880 --> 00:17:52.029
I make any sort of rash, you know, jump off

262
00:17:52.089 --> 00:17:55.470
the ship, so to speak. I'm very disappointed with the decision.

263
00:17:55.950 --> 00:17:58.769
I'd like to say I understand it, but I don't,

264
00:17:59.230 --> 00:18:01.349
you know, and it's going to be interesting to see.

265
00:18:01.410 --> 00:18:03.690
I know a lot of people have said, you know,

266
00:18:04.130 --> 00:18:07.269
collectors is trying to kill off SGC. I think it

267
00:18:07.309 --> 00:18:10.009
would have happened. I would assume it would have happened

268
00:18:10.049 --> 00:18:13.660
by now, but like anything is possible. you know, after

269
00:18:13.700 --> 00:18:17.269
the Beckett acquisition, which is the newest one, right? So

270
00:18:17.289 --> 00:18:20.049
maybe they do want to kill one off. And maybe

271
00:18:20.269 --> 00:18:24.670
SGC drew the short straw, right? So maybe, you know,

272
00:18:24.789 --> 00:18:28.390
less submissions come because of the new $ 50 price level

273
00:18:28.410 --> 00:18:31.589
and collectors can say, you know, SGC is not getting

274
00:18:31.630 --> 00:18:34.670
the volume and we're going to phase them out. I

275
00:18:34.710 --> 00:18:37.950
hope that's not the case. I really love SGC. Has

276
00:18:38.019 --> 00:18:40.539
nothing even to do with the bulk subbing. I love

277
00:18:40.579 --> 00:18:45.980
them as a brand. I love them more before the acquisition. But,

278
00:18:46.319 --> 00:18:49.079
you know, it's what are you going to do, right?

279
00:18:49.299 --> 00:18:51.799
In a sense, we're at the mercy of the grading

280
00:18:51.859 --> 00:18:56.240
card companies, especially now where collectors owns the, you know,

281
00:18:56.339 --> 00:18:58.700
what many consider the big three. And then you have

282
00:18:58.920 --> 00:19:05.130
some other ones, right? CDC, TAG, Forensic, and others. So

283
00:19:05.650 --> 00:19:07.529
it's going to be interesting to see the next few

284
00:19:07.569 --> 00:19:09.829
months what happens there. So let's talk about the show.

285
00:19:10.250 --> 00:19:13.789
So I got the SGC stuff all kind of buttoned

286
00:19:13.890 --> 00:19:18.289
up and talking about how that went. So, you know,

287
00:19:18.329 --> 00:19:19.769
when you don't do a show for two and a

288
00:19:19.769 --> 00:19:22.289
half months, you definitely have to go through your inventory

289
00:19:22.930 --> 00:19:26.009
and reprice some stuff. I also did a couple new

290
00:19:26.069 --> 00:19:28.259
things with how I set up my tables. Every time

291
00:19:28.299 --> 00:19:30.980
I go to the National and I see what someone

292
00:19:31.079 --> 00:19:34.480
else has set up, it gives me ideas for my

293
00:19:34.960 --> 00:19:37.599
personal setup. So I had changed a couple things, was

294
00:19:37.680 --> 00:19:41.119
excited to put those in place, if you will, had

295
00:19:41.180 --> 00:19:46.140
repriced some stuff, lowered quite a bit of stuff, and

296
00:19:46.549 --> 00:19:49.410
had one of my best shows in a while. Like,

297
00:19:49.470 --> 00:19:52.460
I've had really good shows, but this one, and I

298
00:19:52.500 --> 00:19:56.440
was shocked, you know, without the SGC table there. I'll

299
00:19:56.460 --> 00:20:00.920
say this, I did more than I would normally do

300
00:20:01.089 --> 00:20:05.450
with the SGC table there without it. So that was

301
00:20:05.549 --> 00:20:07.569
a complete, I don't want to say a complete shock,

302
00:20:07.589 --> 00:20:11.500
but I was definitely pleasantly surprised uh surprise surprise sold

303
00:20:11.599 --> 00:20:14.519
a lot of graded cards you know from my showcases

304
00:20:15.059 --> 00:20:17.240
and the show at one point was so busy with

305
00:20:17.420 --> 00:20:20.420
stuff moving that early on you know i'd sell a

306
00:20:20.420 --> 00:20:22.960
couple cards i put new cards out in the case

307
00:20:23.019 --> 00:20:25.339
and was kind of keeping up with it and this

308
00:20:25.579 --> 00:20:28.059
this show you know i couldn't keep up with the

309
00:20:28.140 --> 00:20:30.400
empty holes i tried you know i'd fill them some

310
00:20:30.440 --> 00:20:32.839
more cards would sell and i got to the point

311
00:20:32.880 --> 00:20:34.940
i was just you know i'd have a stack of

312
00:20:35.009 --> 00:20:37.420
cards sort of fanned out i just fan them out

313
00:20:37.480 --> 00:20:40.309
more to do um you know, fill the hole as

314
00:20:40.369 --> 00:20:41.990
best I can. But by the end of the show,

315
00:20:42.509 --> 00:20:45.490
you could see in my cases where there were holes

316
00:20:45.950 --> 00:20:48.980
that I couldn't even fill fast enough. So that is

317
00:20:49.039 --> 00:20:54.059
always a good problem to have. And very pleased with

318
00:20:54.099 --> 00:20:59.130
how the show went, especially considering all the surrounding circumstances.

319
00:20:59.930 --> 00:21:03.029
Have to buy some cards. I actually did buy some

320
00:21:03.089 --> 00:21:07.839
cards at the show. Nothing special. nothing crazy, bought some Otanis,

321
00:21:07.940 --> 00:21:11.500
and you say, well, nothing crazy, some lower level Otanis,

322
00:21:11.539 --> 00:21:17.109
just because I didn't have one to my dealer inventory whatsoever,

323
00:21:17.119 --> 00:21:20.160
I have some put away in my PC, but not

324
00:21:20.200 --> 00:21:23.849
in my dealer inventory, so sort of replenished that a

325
00:21:23.930 --> 00:21:28.220
little bit, bought a few graded cards, and then The

326
00:21:28.240 --> 00:21:31.559
week after the show, locally, I made some local deals,

327
00:21:31.619 --> 00:21:35.720
you know, via Marketplace and online and that sort of thing.

328
00:21:35.789 --> 00:21:40.069
So did I fully restock? You know, I wouldn't. I'd

329
00:21:40.109 --> 00:21:42.589
say no because I sold a lot of stuff. But

330
00:21:42.609 --> 00:21:47.650
I have another show in Massachusetts, so I definitely didn't

331
00:21:47.690 --> 00:21:50.349
want to come into that show with a lot of

332
00:21:50.410 --> 00:21:55.859
holes in inventory. So I bought enough new inventory to

333
00:21:55.920 --> 00:22:01.420
be ready. for that Springfield, Massachusetts show. Speaking of that,

334
00:22:01.720 --> 00:22:04.839
when this comes out, that show will have already taken place.

335
00:22:04.920 --> 00:22:08.579
If everything goes well, I'll have some interviews with some

336
00:22:08.619 --> 00:22:11.759
of the show dealers there, and then I have two

337
00:22:11.819 --> 00:22:17.450
interviews scheduled with one former NBA player and one current

338
00:22:17.589 --> 00:22:20.769
NBA player. The former one is a Big East legend

339
00:22:21.210 --> 00:22:24.349
and Big East player of the year in 1994, Danielle Marshall.

340
00:22:24.789 --> 00:22:30.190
former NBA player, and was in the coaching ranks as well.

341
00:22:30.710 --> 00:22:35.380
And then UConn legend Cam Spencer, national champion. He's with

342
00:22:35.420 --> 00:22:39.940
the Memphis Grizzlies. I'll be interviewing him at the show.

343
00:22:40.000 --> 00:22:44.319
So that, again, if everything goes well, you'll hear those

344
00:22:44.380 --> 00:22:50.019
interviews on future programming. So that's, you know, so the

345
00:22:50.079 --> 00:22:54.700
show was good. Over 900 people. Just short of 1,000

346
00:22:54.700 --> 00:22:58.599
is what the promoter told me walking through the door,

347
00:22:58.660 --> 00:23:02.380
which is very, very cool. That is a good number

348
00:23:02.460 --> 00:23:06.079
for our area here in Syracuse. We're not a small city,

349
00:23:06.880 --> 00:23:09.839
but we're not also a major metropolis either. We're not

350
00:23:09.900 --> 00:23:13.000
New York or Boston or Los Angeles. So you get

351
00:23:13.000 --> 00:23:16.900
900 plus through the door. That is a good thing.

352
00:23:16.980 --> 00:23:20.700
And shows right now are just very successful across the board,

353
00:23:20.759 --> 00:23:24.539
across the nation. So my fears were, were put aside

354
00:23:24.599 --> 00:23:28.380
by what happened on Sunday, September 13th. I know I

355
00:23:28.420 --> 00:23:32.069
don't do a lot of show reviews. I don't, I'm

356
00:23:32.109 --> 00:23:34.210
not going to do a show review on, on every

357
00:23:34.289 --> 00:23:37.329
show I do, card show that I do, but this

358
00:23:37.509 --> 00:23:40.829
one with all the surrounding circumstances, it's been two and

359
00:23:40.849 --> 00:23:43.849
a half months since I did a show. Um, You know,

360
00:23:43.990 --> 00:23:48.950
the hobby is alive and well. What was impressive to

361
00:23:49.009 --> 00:23:51.410
me was a lot of people came up to the

362
00:23:51.470 --> 00:23:54.599
table and just bought stuff without even like, hey, can

363
00:23:54.619 --> 00:23:56.539
you do better? Now, I had some of that, too.

364
00:23:56.599 --> 00:23:59.079
That's par for the course. But it seemed like more

365
00:23:59.180 --> 00:24:02.359
people just came up and said, hey, I'll take that

366
00:24:02.420 --> 00:24:05.269
or I'll take those two. Or, hey, if I take

367
00:24:05.750 --> 00:24:07.789
I'm interested in these three, if I took them all,

368
00:24:07.809 --> 00:24:11.490
what could you do as far as price goes? So

369
00:24:11.950 --> 00:24:17.190
business was good. The show was very busy and did

370
00:24:17.230 --> 00:24:22.519
very well, surprisingly, and thankful and blessed that was the case. So,

371
00:24:23.500 --> 00:24:29.440
you know, we'll see what the grading landscape brings in

372
00:24:29.480 --> 00:24:32.619
the future. I don't know. I don't think anyone does.

373
00:24:32.640 --> 00:24:37.650
Sometimes I don't even think the grading companies know themselves, honestly.

374
00:24:38.150 --> 00:24:40.650
I think, you know, I scratch my head sometimes with

375
00:24:40.690 --> 00:24:45.250
some of these things. decision-making, right? We know history tells us, right,

376
00:24:45.650 --> 00:24:49.750
smart people can make not smart decisions sometimes. You hope

377
00:24:49.789 --> 00:24:53.980
they don't. You hope it's the opposite, but sometimes that

378
00:24:54.039 --> 00:24:57.839
does occur. So that's going to do it for this episode.

379
00:24:58.519 --> 00:25:02.309
I thank everybody out there. Happy collecting, and we'll see

380
00:25:02.329 --> 00:25:02.769
you soon.

"SGC Decision and Fairgrounds Show Review" Hobby Quick Hits E237

Listen On

Featured Episodes

Recent Episodes

Support On