The Card Diary by Hobby S. Thompson

Part Deux with Jesse “Sports Boi” Gibson, where Jesse and I finally get to TCG Nonsense, particularly Pokemon.  I would write more for the show notes here, but I am really behind with packing for The National!

Jesse Rhodes Gibson, the better half of the duo that makes up the Sports Cards Nonsense (on Instagram @sports_cards_nonsense) comes by the podcast studio mainly to talk about how he beat Taylor Swift in a Battle of the Bands competition in high school.  Jesse then graciously allows me to do his annual performance review by playing the part of Bill Simmons. Jesse provides the origin story for Sport...

The second half of my chat with Blake Grice from The Blakedown (on IG @the_blakedown) takes us down some rabbit holes such as WWII history, Adam Sandler’s humor, what he wants to be when he grows up, and then we get back on track talking about what Blake’s duties are as an Ambassador for The National and how he feels about his local card shop scene.  Blake then shares an innovative idea for a card...

This is simultaneously the BEST guest appearance I have had the pleasure of hosting, but also easily my most difficult podcast to host and record, and it was because of the pure energy, enthusiasm, and JOY coming from my 11 year old guest, fellow content creator and Hobby Ambassador, Blake Grice of The Blakedown (Instagram @the_blakedown) We talk about Blake’s origin story where he had to think al...

In this "interlude" episode, I share my plans for The National, just ten days away, inspired by a movie I just saw earlier in the day. I also share my want list and put other things out into the universe on my mind. I dive deep into the number one card on my list, and I don't even know if it exists. I wrap up this non-chapter episode talking about why I would rather be quick than goo...

Part III of III of my chat with Doctor Collectible starts off with a monologue that does not include a pseudo-science brain game. Doctor Collectible and I start where Part II ended, with discussion about Geoff Wilson, about how hard it is to be a creator, the scrutiny we face and why we do have some empathy for him. As a result, we talk more about diversity and inclusivity in The Hobby to further...

This podcast episode with the second part of my chat with Darryl Garner (on IG @doctorcollectible) starts off with a monologue intro that includes a fun brain game. I hope you give it a try and let me know how you did! Once we get to the guest chat, the good doctor and I talk about how sometimes concepts can sound or feel gimmicky, but sometimes you have to stick to your gut when you are the CEO o...

Part I of my fireside chat with the one and only Doctor Collectible!  We did have some audio issues to begin the recording, and I also had to stop my dryer from making so much noise, but once we got going, we really started having a deep, meaningful conversation.  The doc talked about how he got into The Hobby, how he thinks that adults lose imagination and that is why we need more kids in The Hob...

After six consecutive guests on the podcast, we get back to the chapter monologue episodes. Chapter 3 is about what happens after you get your cards, you want to share them right? Right??? Ok maybe you don't, but if you don't, this entire episode about creating content and social media won't be your cup of tea. I talk about why Instagram is my favorite social media platform, how I grew...

Part II of my chat with Keane, a very successful singles stream seller on Whatnot and equally successful YouTube vlogger.  He can be found on Whatnot @keane_ and in YouTube under Someone Talk to Keane.  Also TikTok @talk_to_keane give him a follow, as well as my other previous guests, because I’m trying to curate an awesome group of hobbyists and collectors with great platforms and interesting voi...

Part I of my chat with Keane, a very successful singles stream seller on Whatnot and equally successful YouTube vlogger.  He can be found on Whatnot @keane_ and in YouTube under Someone Talk to Keane. We talk about how Keane’s cardboard journey, where he started with selling penny sleeved dollar cards in value bins to now being a successful singles stream seller after he was rejected from 60 place...

Before I present the second part of my chat with Jason, I monologue for a good bit about diversity and inclusion in The Hobby and in the Netflix show, King of Collectibles: The Goldin Touch. This is such an important topic that I think gets swept under the rug, and the conversation is going to be difficult, but it has to happen, and change is inevitable, because that's the only way we are goin...

How would you feel if you pulled a $2.4 million card? What if you owned that card with two other collectors? What would you do, would you keep it or would you sell it on a Netflix show such as King of Collectibles: The Goldin Touch? These are the questions I ask Jason Hickey (on Instagram @jhic5175), who was on the show and had the pleasure of owning the 2020-21 Flawless LeBron James Triple Logoma...

How's the dog walk going so far? Good I hope? This is Part II of my chat with my best card friend and National roommate, David Spinrad, The Rated Rabbi (on Instagram @ratedrabbi and via email: theratedrabbi@gmail.com). Let him know how he did on the pod! Link to Dave's podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@theratedrabbi In Part II, Dave talks about 1 marshmallow cards, night stand c...

Join me on a dog walk with my best card friend, David Spinrad, The Rated Rabbi, who will also be my roommate for the National. In Part I, we talk about our dogs, breaking being a form of gambling, going to casinos as kids, our want lists for National, almost getting scammed on Instagram, podcasts we like listening to, eye appeal on vintage and the concept in general. His Instagram handle is @rated...

Stream of consciousness episode centering around the similarities between hosting a party and being a breaker on a stream, Father's Day, end of school year, Juneteenth, and just whatever came to mind when I hit record. I thought I lost my audio files (uploads were failing), and so I recorded a second time, and I just decided to include that second go around, because why not. If you're read...

Everybody's got a price for The Million Card Man! This is Part II of my chat with Nick Sostak, who purchased and sold a one million card collection. We get into the nuts and bolts of how it was done, and also why this may be his current claim to fame, but there is so much more to come from this incredible young man. We talk about content creation, bobbleheads, fun stories with being a dealer,...

What would you do if you had the opportunity to buy and sell a ONE MILLION card collection? Would you even do it? Where do you even start? What would your plan be? Nick Sostak, who I have dubbed The Million Card Man (in the lines of The Million Dollar Man, Ted DiBiase), is the YOUNGEST guest I have had on and yet, with his old soul and immense experiences in The Hobby, I learned so much from him d...

Part II of my chat with Brian Pirrip (@brianpirrip on both TikTok and Instagram). What do we talk about? Well, we finally get into what makes for a great LCS and maybe what makes for not so good of one. We talk about how cardboard can heal our fractured society and our childhoods. We talk about our dads, which I honestly did not think we were going to do, and some similarities in our lives that on...

If you love The Hobby, if you love America, and if you're a true collector, you are going to LOVE this podcast episode and the next one, where I had the absolute pleasure of having a fireside chat with Brian Pirrip. You may already know him from his positive, uplifting content from TikTok and/or Instagram, and if you don't, please go ahead and follow him @brianpirrip to not only follow his...

Fingers crossed that this episode description doesn't get deleted this time! Part II of this fireside chat gets to the meat and bones of BTS, and when you take a listen, you'll see why that phrase works so well. You may even salivate during our discussion. Meat and bones and also tenderizing as a way to negotiate.....I hope you marinate on these concepts. Even right now as I type this, I&#...

I totally wrote this really nice episode description and then it got deleted....but let's try it again! I am so excited to publish this first guest episode, where I had on Dan Nguyen, who is widely known in the hobby as The Great Curator (Instagram @the.great.curator and his podcast on YouTube is called Between Two Slabs). For those of you new to the hobby, he is polarizing and you will instan...

The chapter on buying went longer than I expected, so I cover selling (IRL as a dealer and online as a streamer) and trading in this chapter, which I now call BTS Part II. I also share my thoughts on whether cards are investments or art pieces.

Behind The Scenes on Buying Trading and Selling

"What is past is prologue" - The Tempest by William Shakespeare (I had to go back and look it up!)