Dr. James Beckett: Sports Card Insights

Keith shares his hobby origin story beginning with working in a card shop before joining Beckett Publications for twelve years and now Panini for twelve years - thanks Keith!

The last two months of thrice-weekly episodes quickly summarized or commented on based on the passage of time - most episodes are intended to be evergreen, but many necessarily are not.  Send your episode ideas to doctorjamesbeckett@gmail.com  and thanks!

I opened a couple of this year's Upper Deck SP boxes and reminisce about the origins of the SP brand and its extensions and coverage across various sports.  My choice was surprising even to me.

I opened three boxes of different brands of this year's Panini football cards - the distinguishing feature was that each box had 15 or less cards - certainly helping me with my desire to have less cards each year.  Thanks Panini!

Matt came over a couple of Saturdays ago and we turned on the recorder - Rich Klein as well as Stephan and Angela Loeffler were here too - to find out how and why Matt is pursuing T206's as he has successfully launched with his young family. 

Ryan Stuczinski, founder of GemRate, actually dropped in virtually to join my co-hosts John Newman and Victor Roman for this weekly rotational live call-in show and so we took advantage by drilling deeper on what's going on in grading.

The second part of my conversation with the Hall's founders, Ray Fonio, Bart Batholomew, and Scott Nathan.  Just google Football Card Hall of Fame to find out more and vote (before Feb 9th) - and thanks guys!

Ray Fonio, Bart Bartholomew, and Scott Nathan join me to review the inaugural candidates for their Football Card Hall of Fame - the ten cards selected based on your votes will be announced on February 11th - I voted and you should too if you love football cards.

Yesterday was the eighteenth anniversary of Beckett Publications being sold.  So  much has happened since.  John Newman and Danny Black ask me about feelings, regrets, and what-if's.  You can see the full video interview on their channel.  Thanks!

Danny Black and John Newman invited me on their Card Mensches show to discuss my retrospective thoughts on (18 years ago) selling the company I founded and which still bears my name.

Adam and I spent time on the ins and outs of the survey itself as well as the results, which have been broadly published and are indeed provocative, although Adam explains how the results are representative of the opinions of those surveyed.  Thanks Adam!

Patrick and I have a wide-ranging conversation primarily about the future.  As entrepreneurs we think about how things could be different and how we should respond to the opportunities. 

After acquiring a larger collection, even priced right, what are the appropriate selling platforms for getting the excess cards into the hands of someone who is eager to pay for and receive them?  Every card has an eventual home.

Long-time contributor Skepi (not his real name) sent me a bunch of interesting hobby questions - I answered many of them in this episode but reserved several for the next time Skepi guests in person - thanks Skepi!

Patrick shares his hobby origin story and how he has amassed a terrific collection and he is not done as he has lofty goals that are exciting and are a huge motivator for him, and correlate with his successful entrepreneurial career.

Steve, Rich, and I have talked basketball cards seemingly every year at the National for decades.  Steve has the inside scoop and has always been willing to share - thanks Steve!

Rich Klein came over along with Angela and Stephan Loeffler and Matt Galvin and we sorted cards and recorded this podcast about their recent experiences with Secret Santa programs for our hobby.  Thanks and enjoy!

Many more than expected deaths in 2022 including many Hall of Famers and several who had not been tributed but were very deserving - understanding the short-term impact on their cards and memorabilia.

Patrick had some questions for me concerning the seemingly slow adoption of past products that are now absolutely iconic.  Patrick shares his strategy of getting ahead of where others are eventually going.

The discussion of vaults - pros and cons - short term and long term - was discussed during this live show along with co-hosts Danny Black and Cousin Tony.

Adam joins me to discuss his brainchild, the PWCC Iconic 100.  In spite of Adam's obvious passion for basketball cards, the Iconic 100 survey results reflected an eclectic mix of trading cards, within which were many surprises.

Mike Sommer, Wax Pack Hero, and fellow podcaster, had accumulated some questions for me since the last time we had seen each other.  Send your questions to me at  doctorjamesbeckett@gmail.com  and Thanks Mike!

Not smart to just send in random cards to a third-party grading service.  Not just the player, but the expected condition, needs to be considered and there are many "experts" out there who can help you with that.

Patrick and I had an extended conversation over here at my office and this segment dealt with our somewhat corporate speculation on what and how Fanatics may exponentially grow our hobby.

Steve, Rich, and I caught up on the phone yesterday for an hour - mostly talking about obscure basketball sets and especially Star Company of which Steve is the authority - thanks Steve for sharing your hard-earned knowledge.