The Card Diary by Hobby S. Thompson

This podcast episode features Ryan from GemRate, who provides us the recap summary of the first half of 2025 with grading from the Top Four grading companies - PSA, BGS, CGC, and SGC.He dives into what the numbers actually mean and you will learn a lot about the grading space in this video from GemRate!

For three days from June 20 to 22 in the second ever Fanatics Fest, Michael Rubin hosted the first ever Fanatics Games. The Fanatics Games tested participants across eight sports-themed events, including quarterback accuracy, basketball shooting, soccer goal-scoring, puck shooting, UFC striking power, WWE-style entrances and a golf simulator challenge. Tom Brady got first place and $1 million, and...

Three vendors, all of whom attended both the 2024 and 2025 Fanatics Fest shows, come onto the podcast for a special group podcast recording to talk about their vendor experience at Fanatics Fest. Ben @benscardworld Whiz @mf_whiz Baba @baba_2ccards They all have years of experience in the national sports card show circuit, and they have a wealth of knowledge to share. I won't spoil anything her...

This was a hard episode to record. Don't get me wrong, talking with David Spinrad, the Rated Rabbi, has always been easy, and in this episode, you get to come along with us on one of our walks where we talk about The Hobby....but it was hard to record, because it was our last walk with our dogs. As you will hear us talk about, David is the reason I got back into The Hobby after a ten year hiat...

One week prior to the second ever Fanatics Fest, Clark (on IG @fivecardguys) of the Five Card Guys podcast joins the podcast studio to talk about his plans for Fanatics Fest, how it was to interview the CEO of Fanatics Events, Lance Fensterman, as well as what it is like to be in The Hobby in Canada. We also got to talk about what it is like to be a father in The Hobby, which is especially timely...

In this episode, I talk about the biggest issue I have with Jac Caglianone and spoiler alert: it's somewhat tongue in cheek, because it is FOMO - Fear Of Missing Out. I talk about why I have this sudden desire to collect cards of a player I know just his basic biography and nothing more. Am I getting caught up in the hype machine? Should I try and trade/buy one of his several thousands of doll...

In this episode, I share my internal monologue about choosing between two great events - Fanatics Fest and The National. Ideally, I could do both. Ideally, YOU could do both. But sometimes there is a limit to time (when you are older) and money (when you are younger) and sometimes, both too. So I juxtapose these two events and even break down by category of person you are, and which show may be ri...

I am SO excited to share this podcast episode, where I had the great pleasure and opportunity to speak with the CEO of Fanatics Events, Lance Fensterman. Lance was the president and founder of ReedPOP, which helped produce some of the biggest conventions, such as New York Comic Con, Emerald City Comic Con, Complex Con, Star Wars Celebration and PAX. Since becoming CEO, Fanatics Events created WWE...

In this monologue episode, I talk about how I veered away from the audio only experience of this podcast, and how I plan to get back on track and back to the roots of this podcast. This is important to me, as I try to remember why I started all of this, the kind of content I enjoy, and the fun journey this has all been. I reveal who my next podcast guest is in this episode, and it is just as much...

Bryan (on IG @goatz_sportz_cardz) got an experience of a lifetime by making a trade with his favorite baseball player, Bobby Witt Jr. where he traded a $7,000 rookie card of his for meeting him and getting a couple of game used and autographed bats. Bryan is also opening up his very first LCS later this year and so we are going to talk about that, the Witt experience, how it was talking with Topps...

If you ever felt that you have been spending too much money getting into breaks or hiding packages and cards from your spouse, but think you have no one to talk to about this and you might be in over your head, Collectors MD might be the thing you have been waiting for. Alyx of Collectors MD (collectorsmd.com and on IG under collectorsmd) comes onto the pod to share what Collectors MD is all about...

What happens after you pull a card of a lifetime with your family while on family vacation? Chris and Jake from @JakesBreaksUK traveled from the United Kingdom to Orlando, FL and pulled THE product hit - a Superfractor 1/1 Auto of Lamine Yamal from 2023-24 Topps Chrome UCC. Then, they graded it with PSA and sold it on Goldin Elite Auctions. With that money, *spoiler* they decided to open up a LCS...

We have Ryan on back to back as he has an upcoming show on Saturday May 3 at the Silver Spring Civic Center. We talk way more about Pokemon than either of us wanted to, because the chat wanted to know, and we also get into whether Pokemon collectors are happier than sports card collectors, plans and past experiences with The National, and even whether we think 100 men could beat one gorilla in a f...

Disclaimer:  Nothing that Ryan and I discussed should be construed as legal or tax advice.  As with everything regarding the legal and tax fields, please consult a professional legal or tax advisor, such as a CPA, to help your individual needs.   One such person you can reach out to is James Skorheim, The Hobby CPA (on Instagram @the_hobby_cpa) and you can also reach out to him via phone at (949)...

About three months ago, I split two 2024 Panini Prizm NFL Hobby Boxes with a complete stranger on the internet, and we became fast card friends. I have Dan on a second time on YouTube, first time on the podcast, to talk about coming back to the hobby he loved as a kid and how he decided to get back into it with breaking and why. You can check out our first video here: https://youtu.be/vYICcev2a9g...

This is NOT sponsored content and I do not have an affiliate code with Center Stage. I get nothing out of having the CEO of Center Stage, John Wie, on the podcast other than a great chat with a kind hobby friend. Center Stage is a free app to scan cards, available in the Apple Store for iPhone users! There are paid memberships, and so it is a freemium model. Here is a link to a FAQ about Center St...

The episode that was supposed to happen last time is happening this time! Live recording, cross streamed with YouTube and wherever you get your podcasts. Why is a new father on the way promoting a card show? Dakota of dakotastorm_rips_cards will tell you why! Dakota's show will be at the Heritage Community Church in Severn, MD from 9am to 1pm on March 1, 2025 with free admission for all! 40 ta...

In 2025, I plan to tell 2-3 long arc stories following the hobby paths of three hobbyists trying out new ventures. The sixth episode of Season 3 was supposed to be the start of the first such story and it was supposed to be recorded with a card friend who is a new card promoter and has a baby on the way, but he had to reschedule (not because of the baby's arrival!). This is when having good ca...

Untimely at time of publishing this as a podcast episode, but timely at the time of recording in the evening of January 17, 2025. I had a live stream where I invited Hobby TikTokers to come share their thoughts on the potential end of TikTok come January 19 and how this affects their business, their hobby, and their lives. No one came on, citing personal and business reasons, which are understanda...

This group podcast welcomes Austin (@carlos_rodon_pc on IG) and Chas (@thehobbyohio on IG) to talk about their experiences with having an eBay storefront with a monthly subscription plan. They will help me figure out if it's worth it for me or not as I continue to form my selling plans for 2025. We also look at their eBay stores to see their approaches to how they present their cards. Both had...

John (on IG @zbocards) is a player collector, and you can take one guess as to who he collects! When I was very new to Hobby Instagram, I was amazed at how well he took photos of his cards (and I still am!). With just his iPhone, he has been able to capture the intricacies of the cardboard we all love. We talk about why and how he started collecting Zach Randolph cards, the state of the NBA, and w...

This is a random special bonus episode that is part of my YouTube series of the road to 1,000 subscribers. It was recorded the morning of January 12, 2025, when I was at 571 subscribers. Whether you're trying to grow your podcast audience, YouTube subscribers, Instagram or other social media presence, I hope that you enjoy this series, and for the full series, please check it out in my playlists o...

The second episode of Season 3 of The Card Diary by Hobby S. Thompson is a monologue episode, where I talk about how the hobby is supposed to be an escape, but you can't help but see on your social media feed the absolute devastation and destruction of the fires in LA. So that's the fire. The ice part is about the super extended winter break due to snow and ice in the DMV and I do (somewhat) bring...

First episode of Season 3! Episode 101 was cross streamed live on Neo Cards & Comics's Youtube channel and I still cannot believe that we went almost a full three hours on stream. We started talking about the 2024 Year in Grading with Ryan from GemRate, but then the three of us started going down some interesting Hobby rabbit holes, talking about Pokemon/TCG, incentives for content creators ma...

100 is a nice, round number, but it's just a number. 100 podcast episodes is certainly a milestone, but in this centennial episode, I discuss why the 21st episode is more impressive than the 100th. What is also more impressive is the number 49, which represents the number of guests that I have had on this podcast to this point. 40 solo podcast guests and 9 group podcast guests, and I hope that in...