Stacking Slabs

SummerSlam season is taking shape, but the biggest opportunities aren't coming from title changes. Adam and Ryan break down why absent stars like Bianca Belair, Stephanie Vaquer, Bronson Reed, and Rhea Ripley deserve more attention from collectors while everyone else chases the latest storyline. They also discuss what makes a wrestler collectible beyond the ring, why entrance music matters more th...

The National is almost here and football collectors are making decisions. Pack and Brett discuss why major cards are changing hands before the biggest show of the year, what Brett learned after consolidating part of his collection into one grail, and why 2012 Prizm Gold continues to establish itself as one of football's defining modern sets. They also break down one of the biggest steals of the ye...

In this episode, Brett sits down with Matthias Peuckert, General Manager of PSA Europe, to discuss what it takes to build PSA's European operation from the ground up and why this launch matters for collectors around the world.  Matthias shares why Europe is seeing rapid collector growth, how PSA is preparing for demand, why education is a priority, and what local grading access means for collector...

Every collector dreams about landing a grail. Few talk about what happens when that opportunity finally arrives. In this episode, Brett explores the decisions that come before a grail enters a collection. Drawing from a real situation he is navigating, he shifts the focus away from the card itself and toward the process behind the purchase. The conversation examines why access is not obligation, h...

The best collections start with connection. In this episode, Katelyn is joined by Griff (@rockyscardboard), one of the hobby's most respected WNBA collectors and a passionate New York Liberty fan. They discuss how Liberty fandom shaped his collection, why Sabrina Ionescu became a cornerstone of his PC, and how buying, selling, and collecting all work together to create a more rewarding hobby exper...

The best businesses in the hobby are not built one deal at a time. They're built one relationship at a time. Mike from MC Sports Cards returns to Passion to Profession to share why trust has become the foundation of one of the fastest-growing consignment businesses in the hobby. We talk about what happens after the first transaction, why honesty wins over short-term revenue, how technology should...

Product knowledge gets you in the door. Systems determine how far you go. In this episode of Hobby Jobs, I break down why the next generation of sports card businesses will be built on repeatable processes instead of founder instinct alone. The hobby is getting bigger. Companies are hiring. Events are growing. Expectations are changing. That means the operators who build training, marketing, hirin...

WWE finally gave collectors plenty to talk about. Adam and Ryan break down Night of Champions, Oba Femi's King of the Ring win, Sami Zayn capturing the World Heavyweight Championship, and what those moments mean for the wrestling card market. Then the conversation shifts to something every collector should think about. Are you chasing the biggest cards in the hobby? Building the best player collec...

Chris Johnson reminded football fans why collecting is about more than championships. After sharing his ALS diagnosis, collectors looked back at one of the most electric careers of the last 20 years. Pack and Brett revisit what made CJ2K special, why his cards matter, and why memorable seasons leave a lasting mark on the hobby. The conversation then shifts into one of the biggest collector debates...

The sports card market keeps reaching new highs. Sales volume continues to climb. Record prices keep falling. New collectors keep entering the hobby. But are collectors making better decisions? In this episode, Brett and Chris McGill discuss what the data is telling us and where they see warning signs. They compare today's market to 2021, break down the record Tim Duncan sale that has everyone tal...

You spend years preparing for the grail. You save. You study. You build relationships. You pass on other cards so you're ready when the opportunity comes. Then it happens. The card is finally yours. Now what? This episode explores the part of collecting that rarely gets discussed. What happens after the chase ends. I break down why landing a grail can feel different than you expected. Why ownershi...

What does it feel like to collect a team with no history? This week, Katelyn is joined by Mark (@ramjamsportscards / @valkyriescardvault), a collector who has built his collection around the Golden State Valkyries from day one. They discuss what makes expansion team collecting different, why patience leads to a better collection, how emotional connections form without nostalgia, and why documentin...

What happens when experienced business operators build a sports card company instead of longtime collectors? In this episode of Passion to Profession, Brett sits down with Gavin Hoover, Chief of Stuff at Tombstone Collectibles, to discuss what happens when enterprise experience meets the hobby. Gavin shares how his background building large retail organizations shaped the way Tombstone approaches...

Growth in the hobby is easy to spot. More inventory. More content. More followers. More customers. The growth that matters is harder to see. As your business expands, your role has to change with it. If every decision, customer issue, hire, and piece of content still depends on you, you've built a bottleneck instead of a company. In this episode, I break down why leadership capacity is becoming on...

Who's right? Who's wrong? Adam Gellman and Ryan from RBICru7 put the biggest wrestling card opinions to the test. Are we at the peak of the market? Will Panini-era cards continue to rise? Is 2024 Flawless WWE already an iconic product? Are one-of-ones overrated? Has Topps already changed wrestling cards for the better? Along the way, they break down recent WrestleMania Patch Auto sales, Rey Fenix,...

What makes a football card iconic? This week Pack and Brett McGrath discuss one of the biggest Peyton Manning rookie cards ever to reach the market and why sales like this help define the hobby. From Calvin Johnson and Patrick Surtain to Bronko Nagurski and Mike Ditka, they look at the cards that shape collecting across generations. They also tackle a collector question that sparks a bigger conver...

What does the sports industry see when it looks at the hobby? In this episode of Built for the Hobby, Brett McGrath is joined by Scott Lock of InfernoRed Technology and Dan Kaufman, Managing Director at Sports Business Journal, for a conversation at the intersection of sports, collecting, media, technology, and fan engagement.  Dan brings a perspective few people can offer. He's a lifelong collect...

In this episode of Stacking Slabs, Brett continues the conversation around taste, conviction, and building a collection that reflects your point of view. This is not an episode about what to buy. It is about how to think. Brett walks through the questions serious collectors need to ask before making decisions: How do you spot opportunity before consensus forms? How do you separate overlooked cards...

Most collectors focus on the outcome. The card. The deal. The mail day. The auction win. But the best things in this hobby rarely happen overnight. They come from trust built over years. Relationships formed without expectations. Research completed before the opportunity appears. Conviction developed long before consensus arrives. In this episode, Brett explores the power of planting seeds as a co...

What does it take to build one of the largest hobby businesses in Canada? John Amendola, CEO of Mintink, joins Passion to Profession to share the story behind turning a pandemic-era card business into a national brand. John discusses the early days of Breaks After Dark, scaling livestream commerce, hiring and developing talent, creating community through retail, and why relationships matter more t...

In this episode of Hobby Jobs, Brett breaks down why “building for the hobby” is too vague to guide a real business. The sports card industry is not one customer. It is trust. It is convenience. It is liquidity. It is discovery. It is fandom. It is customer behavior. Brett expands on this week’s Operator Note and explains why the best operators in sports cards do not build for a category. They bui...

Ryan is back in the saddle with Adam for a loaded episode of Booked to Last. This week, they dig into the state of WWE booking, the impact it has on wrestler collectability, and why collectors are trying to make sense of a market that is moving week to week. They break down Topps Cosmic WWE, the ripping experience, the planet odds, and why product structure matters so much in wrestling cards. The...

One year ago, we launched The Football Card Podcast with a simple idea: create a place where football card collectors could gather every week and talk football cards. Fifty-two episodes later, we're reflecting on what we've learned. Pack and Brett revisit the cards they highlighted in Episode 1, discuss why patience remains one of the biggest advantages in collecting, and explore the growing disco...

What makes a card worth chasing? In this episode, Brett breaks down the purchase of one of the most important cards to enter his collection in years: the 2025 Topps Chrome WWE John Cena Superfractor 1/1. But this isn't a story about a big card. It's a story about the process behind the decision. From negotiating against a $10,000 asking price to identifying what makes a card canonical, Brett explo...

One of the biggest mistakes collectors make has nothing to do with buying the wrong card. It has everything to do with waiting. Waiting for a sale. Waiting for a content creator to talk about it. Waiting for the market to tell you it's safe. In this episode, Brett explores why waiting for validation is rarely about needing more information and often about seeking permission. Using examples from PM...