The Shallow End

In the third installment of The Shallow End: Total Content, we catch up with some of the most interesting hobby content from the last month. The Shallow End is hosted by Dave Schwartz ( @Iowa_Dave_Sportscards )

Soccer-collector Mark ( @SJSoccerCards ) joined the hobby just two years ago. Like all of us, he's making mistakes, learning lessons, and discovering which cards stoke his interests. In this episode, meet a collector who appreciates cards as much for their artistic value as for their personal connections. The Shallow End is hosted by Dave Schwartz ( @Iowa_Dave_Sportscards )

I pressed the reset button. I eliminated 90 percent of my collection to acquire one card. In this episode, I discuss how I got the deal done, the emotions surrounding it, and whether "The Shallow End" is still an appropriate name for this podcast. The Shallow End is hosted by Dave Schwartz @Iowa_Dave_Sportscards

We're told we should collect the greats. The GOATs. But over the last 12-18 months, I've learned the best way to get a hobby education isn't through the legends, but through collecting obscure players who also had cards produced in legendary sets. That is a more practical entry point into a richer hobby experience.

Sometimes the moment comes when the truth hits you: Your sports-card PC isn't what you want it to be. That can be a bad feeling, but it comes with good news. It's never too late to change how and what you collect. The Shallow End is hosted by Dave Schwartz ( @Iowa_Dave_Sportscards on IG)

By now, the phrase "10x the hobby" has become as cliché as it is superficial. It's a slogan for a cash grab. But 10x the community? Now we're onto something. That's how Samuel C. Evans (@ thesprtzcardcoltr ) describes his ambition for the sports-card hobby. He wants collectors to feel welcome, encouraged, and at peace when they look at their cards. The Shallow End is hosted b...

How boring would this hobby be if we all collected the same thing? In this episode, we speak with Chad aka @blackhat_cards on IG. He collects players from his beloved Minnesota, but he also collects the villains of sport. Many of the athletes who make up his PC have decided to wear the black hat. The Shallow End is hosted by Dave Schwartz ( @Iowa_Dave_Sportscards )

The latest edition of The Shallow End: Total Content. Featuring … Cardboard Chronicles; Cards to the Moon; Stacking Slabs; The Collector's Gene; Sports Card Madness; Sports Cards Nonsense; Lemme Get That Podagraph; Wax Pack Hero. Contact Dave Schwartz on IG @Iowa_Dave_Sportscards

Collector Kevin M. Cormier once called it the "paralysis of indecision." It's those moments when you have too many cards that you want, the funds to get some, and the decision and contemplation becomes so much that you end up doing nothing. On this episode, we consider it from a slightly different perspective—from the unhelpful point of view of "What If …" The Shallow End i...

Sports-card influencers have power not because of some cosmic or mystic force. They have power because we give them power. Who are the most powerful influencers in the sports-card hobby? That's an easy answer: Look in the mirror. The Shallow End is hosted by Dave Schwartz @Iowa_Dave_Sportscards Referenced in this episode: " Hodinkee Radio episode 21: Matt Jacobson " (aired Nov 26, 20...

Clark, curator of @fivecardguys and host of the Cards to the Moon podcast, recently committed to attending his first National. Then he changed his mind and will instead go to the first Fanatics Fest a month later in New York. Here's why. Plus, we talked about Cards to the Moon recently celebrating its third anniversary, how he keeps it fresh, and we close by playing some sports-card related ga...

Welcome to an experiment. A new monthly series, "The Shallow End: Total Content," works to shine a light on some of the best, most interesting, and notable recent episodes in sports-card podcasting. If you'd like to leave feedback, host Dave Schwartz can be reached on Instagram at @Iowa_Dave_Sportscards .

When you spend a good chunk of your week sitting inside unmoving airplanes at one of the world's largest airports, the mind wanders. Mine wandered to sports cards. Please enjoy this abbreviated, hopefully entertaining, O'Hare-inspired episode. The Shallow End is hosted by Dave Schwartz @Iowa_Dave_Sportscards

The sports-card hobby is an ecosystem. It has apex predators, parasites and everything in between. If you're among the 99 percent of collectors who fall somewhere between the two ends of the hobby spectrum, how do you survive it?

A funny thing happened on the road to The National 2023: previously absent or scarce cards suddenly became available in droves. With the 2024 National about two months out, Austin Carlson ( @carlson_cards ) visits to talk about how last year's trend is informing this year's collecting. The Shallow End is hosted by Dave Schwartz ( @Iowa_Dave_Sportscards )

In this episode, it's three stories in 15 minutes. 1. A card negotiation in the shallow end of the collecting pool 2. Dave once again gets tripped up by his hobby nemesis 3. A new, surprising experience that could have ended badly, but didn't - The Shallow End is hosted by Dave Schwartz ( @Iowa_Dave_Sportscards )

The biggest U.S. sports figure over the last year has been basketball player Caitlin Clark. Now, armed with a fresh Panini contract as her WNBA career is set to begin with the Indiana Fever, the former University of Iowa star is beginning a new chapter in her remarkable run. To commemorate the moment, Dave welcomes three guests into The Shallow End: • Keith Murphy , WHO-TV Des Moines broadcaster w...

Dave saved up to buy a card that long had been on his watchlist. But when he finally had the funds, something happened: he didn't buy it. This is the story of what made him stop. Host : Dave Schwartz @Iowa_Dave_Sportscards

Joe ( @Henry_Rowengartner_Cards ) has one of those Instagram pages you can't stop looking at. His collection of late 1990s Cubs baseball cards is something of a marvel. In this episode we learn how – and why – he chose to build it. Host : Dave Schwartz ( @Iowa_Dave_Sportscards ).

In this episode of The Shallow End, we celebrate the quirkier sides of our PC's. We honor the lanes of our collections that nobody but us truly appreciates.

In this episode, @Iowa_Dave_Sportscards talks with Adam ( @SplendidSports ) about his ambitious collecting goals and how he reaches them. This is a story of discipline, patience, and sticking to the plan.

About. a year ago, two card collectors, @Iowa_Dave_Sportscards and @Paper_and_Chrome , started chatting over Instagram about their collections. Their real names concealed, it would be months before one of them realized the truth about the history of their relationship: close friends growing up who had lost touch after high school. This is the story of how cards helped Greg and Dave reunite after 3...

Sometimes a mistake is the best thing that can happen to us.

After greed, it's the sports-card hobby's greatest affliction: FOMO. The fear of missing out. Recent research has sought how to combat FOMO, with much of that research focusing on an antidote: JOMO — the joy of missing out. It's not a perfect solution, but it's a start. Let's dig in.

We all want to feel like we're in control of our own destiny, but a little more than two years ago, a moment of luck and an act of kindness sent me down a new path in the sports-card hobby. This is that story.