Stacking Slabs

One NFL game can change how you see a player, a team, and the cards sitting on your watch list. Pack and Brett examine when an on-field result creates a buying opportunity and when it creates an emotional decision. They discuss the risks of team collecting, the long-term outlook for Justin Herbert, Sam Darnold’s lack of hobby attention, and whether the $1.238 million Tom Brady Prizm Black Finite s...

What gives a card value when no comparable sale can explain why it matters to you? Chris McGill and Josh Johnson join Brett for a conversation about what the market cannot price. They discuss the owner’s price, replacement difficulty, the appeal of one-of-ones, and the difference between following the market and building your own card hierarchy. Josh shares why he bid $27,000 on a Todd Gurley card...

The hobby spends a lot of time talking about how cards enter collections and how they leave. We talk about the chase, the deal, the grade, and the sale. We skip the years when the card is yours. In this episode, Brett explores what ownership gives collectors beyond market value. He shares the story behind four T.Y. Hilton Prizm Black Finite 1/1s and examines how time, knowledge, memory, and relati...

Shawn (@motorcitymarks) started following Marina Mabrey when she arrived at Notre Dame. When she entered the WNBA, he knew he wanted to collect her cards. That decision became a supercollection. Katelyn and Shawn discuss the hunt for Mabrey’s cards, the work behind completing rainbows, the role relationships have played in finding one-of-ones, and why her 2021 Prizm Gold /10 remains his personal g...

Sam Gordon had accepted a job on Wall Street. Two weeks before he was set to start, he walked away and joined Overtime as its 12th employee. The company had a few months of funding left. Today, Sam serves as VP of Programming and Head of YouTube at Overtime. Sam shares how $15 videos of Zion Williamson reached SportsCenter, why Overtime chose speed over production quality, and how the company grew...

Relationships gain value when you take care of them before you need something. In this episode of Hobby Jobs, Brett shares why trust remains one of the most valuable assets in the sports card industry. Brett also announce BCW Supplies as the presenting sponsor of Hobby Jobs and explains why this partnership supports the people building businesses across the hobby. You will learn:  How to support c...

Brett joins Adam for a round of wrestling card hot takes. Will Prizm become the defining product of the Panini WWE era? Are wrestling card values understated because many of the best cards are locked inside collections? They also break down the new Topps Universe release, WWE debut patches, PSA’s reopened grading tier, and recent sales involving Hulk Hogan, The Rock, X-Pac, and Becky Lynch. Plus,...

A 1998 SkyBox E-X2001 Randy Moss Essential Credentials Future rookie numbered to six sold for $144,000. The prior owner sold it for $60,000 to a buyer who said it was staying in their personal collection. Then the card changed hands. Pack and Brett discuss why “PC for life” should never influence the terms of a deal, why collectors must accept that interests change, and why selling a card means gi...

One sale can change how collectors view a card. That does not mean the market has accepted the new price. In this episode, Brett explains why collectors should stop counting the days after a landmark sale and start counting confirmation. Using the John Cena WrestleMania Patch Auto 1/1, the Michael Jordan Red PMG, and the 2003 Topps Chrome LeBron James PSA 10, Brett breaks down what buyers and sell...

Online card sales reached $911.79 million in August, setting a Card Ladder monthly record. That level of activity brings demand, access, and pressure to keep buying. Brett shares why he has limited his buying, sold cards that no longer fit, and focused on cards that hold meaning after the transaction ends. He breaks down the forces behind our purchase decisions, from social proof and scarcity to a...

Katelyn (@coldlunchcards) sits down with Jenny (@wsportscollector) to explore her Seattle Storm collection. Jenny shares how moving to Seattle during the 2020 championship season connected her to the team. She explains why she narrowed her collection, how she chooses cards, and why eye appeal matters more than a serial number. They also discuss Sue Bird, Lauren Jackson, Breanna Stewart, Jewell Loy...

Grant Slayton has built Waldorf Stories by finding cards most collectors never see and connecting them with people who value them. That reputation took years to earn. Grant joins Brett to explain why trust sits at the center of his business, how he approaches trades, and why relationships matter more than any single transaction. They discuss the five-and-a-half-year pursuit of the 1997 Ultra Micha...

Card Ladder tracked $911.75 million in online card sales during August 2026. That total exceeded the prior monthly record by more than $200 million. The demand is clear. The question is whether the sports card industry has the people and systems to support it. Brett explains why customer support shapes the collecting experience, how Leighton Sheldon built trust into the acquisition process at Just...

A $115 break spot turned into the pull of a lifetime. Darius, known as @ihitbig2, joins Adam and Ryan to share the full story behind pulling the Rhea Ripley WrestleMania Patch Auto 1/1. He explains why he flew to Seattle to retrieve the card, why he brought it to Wrestling Card Takeover before consigning it, and why selling the card became the right decision for his family. The conversation also c...

What makes one card the defining card of a player? The rookie label? Market value? Recognition? Rarity? Pack and Brett challenge the belief that a player’s rookie card must be his best card. They use the $240,000 Patrick Mahomes Topps Chrome Superfractor and his $195,000 Prizm Gold Vinyl rookie to test where they stand. They also make their NFL division and Super Bowl picks, consider what the Topp...

A landmark card sale creates attention. It also creates assumptions. The 2025 Topps Royalty John Cena WrestleMania Patch Autograph 1/1 has reached six figures with time left in the auction. What does that number tell us about Cena cards, wrestling cards, and other markets where sales data is thin? Brett breaks down the difference between a signal and a comp, introduces the evidence ladder, and sha...

The hobby has changed. Prices have risen. More cards compete for your attention. Every sale becomes content. It is fair to miss what collecting used to feel like. But the hobby we have now gives collectors access to sales history, checklists, population reports, saved searches, auction archives, and people with years of knowledge. Access is no longer the edge. Judgment is. Brett explains why the m...

Matthew (@dynastysportscards_) followed Georgia Amoore from college basketball to the Washington Mystics. That connection grew into season tickets, a family business, and a collection centered on the players he watches each week. Matthew joins Katelyn (@coldlunchcards) to discuss the Mystics’ young core, the link between attending games and collecting cards, Shakira Austin’s place on the hobby’s D...

Leighton Sheldon has spent more than 20 years building Just Collect by asking questions, studying the market, and treating each collection as part of someone’s story. In this episode of Passion to Profession, Leighton shares why he chose the sports card industry over a career in consulting, what he learned working at Leland’s, and how those lessons shaped his approach to buying collections. He als...

Every company in the sports card industry says it supports collectors. The question is whether the collector has power inside the business. In this episode of Hobby Jobs, I break down five places where a collector-first approach becomes visible. What a company measures. How it rewards employees. Where it removes friction. How it responds when something breaks. Whether collector knowledge shapes de...

The wrestling card market has attention. That does not mean every card has value. Adam and Ryan examine the John Cena and Rhea Ripley WrestleMania patch auctions, the Cena and Shohei Ohtani one-of-one, and why putting chase cards in the same auction can serve each sale. They also break down the decisions collectors face when prices move:  When should you pay above the last comp?   Which cards shou...

Football Cards Are Up 380% since 2020. This Is Bigger Than Quarterbacks. When many collectors returned to football cards in 2020, the message was clear: only buy quarterbacks. Since January 1, 2020, the Card Ladder football index has increased 380.99%. That growth extends beyond one position. Pack and Brett separate collecting advice from resale advice. They examine why Barry Sanders and Jerry Ric...

Technology has a larger role in the hobby than it did a year ago. The question is whether it solves problems collectors care about. Scott Lock and Ed Snider of InfernoRed Technology join me to discuss what they saw at The National. We examine Topps’ digital redemption process, the use of AI inside hobby businesses, and where technology can remove friction from buying and selling cards. Scott and E...

A 1997 Metal Universe Michael Jordan Red PMG /100 BGS 8 sold for $1,473,988.80. The same copy sold for $480,000 in 2021 and $360,000 in 2023. This episode is not about deciding whether the buyer overpaid. It is about reading the signal. Brett explains why demand matters as much as scarcity, why one sale does not create a market price, and how money moves through a collecting category. What does th...

What keeps you collecting when your team tests your loyalty? Katelyn talks with Josh (@luvdadubs) about his connection to the Chicago Sky and the cards that preserve it. Josh shares how Candace Parker led him deeper into WNBA collecting, why he buys multiple copies of the same card, and what makes Rittenhouse releases worth chasing. He also explains why in-person autographs mean more to him than t...