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Speaker 1: Good morning, Hobby Verse. It is March seventh. Time is flying.

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It's time for another edition of Hobby Hotline. I'm not

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even sure I think we're three seventy seven. Sometimes I'm

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sure there was a there was probably an error in

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numbering in five years. So who knows for sure. But

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one thing I do know for sure, I got two

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great co hosts with me this morning. So without further ado,

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to my top right, Lauren from Lauren goes here, good morning,

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good morning, and only as I always say, only but

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only lower than us on the screen because we can't

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get three wide on the top of the format. Chris Carlin,

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good morning.

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Speaker 2: Good morning, great to be here, Thanks for having me.

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Speaker 1: Let's get to some good mornings from the chat room

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and those out there as well. We've got Orlando, Good morning, Orlando,

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Confluence Sports Cards, good morning as well. Uh. Orlando says

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he's listening on his way to the Fort Lauderdale Card

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Show Southern Cards twenty two four six, Good morning everyone,

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Good morning, Sir mad City Brew as always, Good morning, Uh,

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Peter B Hello everybody. Good morning. Larry Gitlin, Good morning,

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Warren in Cleveland, Warren to Tota, Good morning, David, Chase. Uh,

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he says, hello sports guards investors. All right, well, good

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morning to David in any case, Uh, yank me card

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Steve howdy on good morning. Yeah he's in two center. Yeah.

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I don't think there's another two so on other than Arizona.

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So our own rich Cline. Uh, savor geek says, good morning,

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foul five ball who you know, Uh doesn't mince words.

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I appreciate that. Good morning to you, sir Abel in Vegas,

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Good morning, Uh clean cheap shots, good morning as well,

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and the battery Uh, carly Rude, good afternoon there in Scotland.

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So top of the morning, top of the morning to you,

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or top of the afternoon, as you just said to you.

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We got Scott. Uh, good morning Scott. So guys. The

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first topic that I want to get to, uh is

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I guess attended a tops rip night. It was my

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second one I've ever attended. It was the first one

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for my local card store that's literally like two point

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three miles uh from my house. Cormarlo Anthony's Sun Kayan

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was the guest of honor. Kayane is a freshman at

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his dad's alma mater, Syracuse UH University, and it was

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just a great night. I know for the owners to

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get their first rip night and then to get a

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guest like Cayenne, that uh means a lot to the

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local community. They were stoked and it was packed. I

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had pictures, but my pictures are not working. I apologize

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for that. For those that do really want to see him.

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I did post them on my social you can find

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them there. At least that part's working. Who know anymore,

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but it was just a great night. Two to three

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hundred people came through the door. A lot of kids,

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which I know to all three of us seems a lot,

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especially you Chris, would would have in some young boys

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that are active in the hobby, and giveaways and and

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and just well done and like it's not a prerequisite,

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but that the Fellas ordered food as well for everybody,

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Like they put on a really great spread and it

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was just a great night with with a lot of giveaways. Everyone.

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Everyone got a free pack coming through the door, so

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like everyone got something, and there were giveaways through the

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course of the night, pack wars, a Q and a

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with with Cayenne as well. Uh. You know, I like

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these type of events where it's sort of like the

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the hobby gives back if you will a little bit. Obviously,

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let's be real, you know, it's it's a it's a

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retail event designed to also have products sold. Uh. You know,

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let's not be disingenuous about it. Uh. But uh, I

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like them. I like them, especially if they're not overdone,

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Like I don't want to see these now become like

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an every month or three quarterly, you know. But I

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think if they're spaced apart far enough, I think it's

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a great way to celebrate the hobby. I love the

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kids aspect and the giveaways and that sort of thing.

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I don't know who wants to go first, but kind

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of your thoughts at events like this for the have.

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Speaker 3: Well go first. I think it's great. I think it

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is good.

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Speaker 1: You know.

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Speaker 3: I know it is basically a big, you know, marketing thing,

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but I think it's great because it does get people

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in the door who might not normally. I feel like,

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you know, in the limited knowledge I have of how

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they plan it, I feel like they put a lot

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of thought into who goes. There's a card shop in

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Saint Louis and I think on Instagram he's RBI Crew

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and I went to his old shop. We passed through

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Saint Louis last year and I went to his old shop.

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He recently moved, so we have to go see his

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new shop. But he is a big WW fan. Randy

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Orton is from Saint Louis. That's who he collects and

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that's who they sent to his store, which is great

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because he's a or the community. He's significant to the region.

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So I feel like that, you know, And apparently Randy

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Orton was incredible. He was so kind. He only had

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to be there for like twenty minutes, and he ended

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up staying and signing a bunch of stuff, like anything

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anybody wanted him to sign. So I think it's great,

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you know. I think it's a relatively easy way to

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do like a massive marketing that like personally connects to

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a lot of people because they do it across the country,

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they do it in all different regions. If they put

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that thought in to like make sure that somebody like

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you know, Cayenne being at Syracuse and his dad being

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you know, a legend there, him going to that shop, like,

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you know, geographically it makes sense because he goes to

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school there, but like Randy Orton is traveling all over

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the place, so like they put thought into that, and

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I think that's great. I think that shows, you know,

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that they really want to make sure that it has purpose,

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that it's not just some kind of like marketing ploy

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that's like a flash in the pan, Like they're making memories.

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They're you know, building a relationship, you know, between you

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know who you collect, the community and the card shop.

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And I know, at the end of the day, you know,

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it is it's a big company and it's you know,

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to make more money. But I think, you know, for

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kids who don't care about that stuff yet, or for

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people who just like collecting and are like, you know,

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I'll take the w I think it's great. I think

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it's really cool. I think it's fun. I think they're

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doing a good job. Like you said, you know, everybody

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gets something, nobody leaves empty handed or unhappy. I think

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so I like it. I think it's cool. I think

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it's great.

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Speaker 1: Yeah.

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Speaker 2: Growing up at my local hobby shop on Sundays, there

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was the raffle, the weekly raffle, and I would beg

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my mom to get me there for this because they're

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given stuff away and and I would always get frustrated

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by the guy who would buy a whole bunch of

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product in front of me and get extra tickets and

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win everything. Every once in a while, I win.

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Speaker 1: You got to track him down, Chris and I you're

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older for me.

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Speaker 2: I'm not vindictive of that now, I I it was

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a great time. But then going up and working for

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Upper Deck and seeing what it takes to run one

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of these events, just getting one athlete to one shop,

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it doesn't seem like a big deal. It's almost a

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herculean achievement. I've had athletes take cars and go to

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strip clubs. I've had all sorts of things happen and

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had them be rude, disrespectful, awful. So these events, just

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one of these events could be a powder cake type

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of situation for the manufacturer where if something goes wrong,

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you know, it looks really bad on the company and

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the athlete on you know, the team. And we haven't

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had that, and they're they're not doing one event, one athlete,

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They're doing thirty forty sixty. It's it's the best thing

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in my opinion, that has happened in the fanatics tops

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world these days. And the athletes are bringing They're not

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you know, chumps, it's you know, to be able to

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open packs with Tom Brady like this is crazy. So

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I I think it is one of the best executed

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programs that TOPS Fanatics does right now. And in a

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in a world where you have people calling out fanatics

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like never before online and people going and meeting with

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Michael Rubin and general customers in this this is is

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something that looks really really good for TOPS Fanatics and

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and I think it's it's a great, great thing making

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core memories with these these folks that are going to

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last a lifetime. It'll keep them coming back. They'll always

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remember that time they met that athlete and it will

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be that warm spot in their hearts that you know,

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when they leave the hobby for a little bit, it'll

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be that that thing that nags them to come back

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and hoe back in the letter. So I think it's

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a fantastic program. I can't believe they've been able to

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pull it off so successfully for so long without you know,

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some type of blow up or flare up. But they're

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really their athlete relations team has doing a phenomenal job

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coaching up these athletes about what exactly they're about to

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walk into to make sure that it's a great event.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, no, doubt well, said Chris. Let's get through a

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couple of car comments AVN Vegas talking about the frequency

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of them one rip night per quarter per major sport.

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May it be adequate? I don't even know if I

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want that many, folks. I'm good with maybe two. I

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know the first one. I like this one, as Rich

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here says, coincides with the start of the baseball season

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in the release of the flagship baseball product, which makes sense.

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I mean, I get that that one hundred percent makes sense.

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At the one here we had in Syracuse, a gentleman

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pulled the Paul Skeins auto card number to twenty five.

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That that's probably made his year as well. And the

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one thing I would like, and you know you alluded

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to it, Chris, how hard it is working with these

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professional athletes right to get this all these ducks in

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a row and get them there and what the Yeah.

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Speaker 2: And it's not just athletes, they've entertainers too. It's it's

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crazy the types of people that bring it in. And

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this is the promise they made, which is great that

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they're living up to us.

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Speaker 1: Yeah. So, and they did this not just here in

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the States, but even in Europe in some of the

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shops there. I believe it was over one hundred and

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fifty different athletes slash celebrities that appeared as part of

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the Rip Knight promotion. And the only thing I would

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like to see listen, it's it's not false advertising like

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in most of the advertising it says, this is not

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like an autograph event, it's more of a meet and greek.

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But when I look at the line, because I was inside,

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they closed the store than anyone had to make their

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final purchases. Four rip Nights started and then you had

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to leave the store in line up, And when I

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looked at the line outside the store, you know, people

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had you know, basketballs in their hands and photos. Even

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though Kayanne wasn't signing. Now I'm not gonna you know,

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he might have snuck a few signatures in, but it

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was mostly high fives to the kids. The Q and

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a ripping packs with the kids and that sort of thing.

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What I'd like to see, Like, I know, you know,

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they're there generally an hour max. Between thirty minutes an hour,

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and they can't sign for everybody. I fully get that

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what I'd like to see maybe and it would take more.

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Like you said, it's hard enough to get them there

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in general, but maybe even where they could have signed

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before the event, you know, fifty cards and those could

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be given away. So because I know there were a

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few kids here at the Syracuse Rep party, guys that

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were disappointed that, you know, I saw a couple with

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tears rolling down their face that they did not get

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a Kayann autograph. And obviously it's not Kaya's fault, not

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mad at him, but I think the kids didn't. You know,

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the kids just assumed that he was going to be there.

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I could meet him and get him get his autograph.

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So maybe if they had like fifty or sixty cards

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like pre sign in advance, where they were just either

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given the kids only or you know, giveaways of some sort,

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I'd like to see something along those lines. Tied end. Again,

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Every rip night at every location is different. I'm sure

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some of the athletes maybe even did sign even though

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they really weren't supposed to. Just some of the thoughts,

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and especially from you, Chris, You've dealt with a lot

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of these logistics. I mean, that definitely ups the ante,

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but it could it be pulled off?

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Speaker 2: No, not at the skill that they're doing it. There's

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too many different athletes. You can't just do one type

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00:13:58,840 --> 00:14:01,360
of release for all of them. They all have different

238
00:14:01,399 --> 00:14:04,360
agreements with different companies for what they can sign, who

239
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they can sign for. I know that sounds a little

240
00:14:07,440 --> 00:14:09,879
Jerry McGuire ish, you know, in the beginning of Jerrem McGuire,

241
00:14:09,879 --> 00:14:14,840
I only signed top shelf cards. But it's it's really

242
00:14:14,879 --> 00:14:18,639
really tricky to execute on and they don't always know how.

243
00:14:18,679 --> 00:14:20,639
I mean, now they're getting to realize how big these

244
00:14:20,679 --> 00:14:23,399
events are. But what the bigger they get, the harder

245
00:14:23,440 --> 00:14:27,559
it is to do personalized stuff. And that's why you see,

246
00:14:27,679 --> 00:14:30,240
you know, it's it's not a great look. I don't

247
00:14:30,360 --> 00:14:33,840
think to be throwing packs and in it people and

248
00:14:33,919 --> 00:14:37,440
people trampling kids to get get out a pack. But

249
00:14:37,600 --> 00:14:40,679
that's the type of frenzy this this event is. Uh,

250
00:14:40,799 --> 00:14:44,639
these events have created and that's that's what they're you know,

251
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the excitement of the hobby is really what they're banking

252
00:14:47,279 --> 00:14:50,759
on and using for marketing purposes because it is It

253
00:14:50,840 --> 00:14:53,159
is exciting, it is fun, it's close, it's cool to

254
00:14:53,200 --> 00:14:56,480
be up to have the chance to get an autograph

255
00:14:56,519 --> 00:15:00,039
and have this person walk into your small community that

256
00:15:00,120 --> 00:15:02,879
quiet every day, and now there's a big light on it.

257
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And I think that that is the one great thing

258
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that TOPS has done for these small businesses is shine

259
00:15:09,120 --> 00:15:12,320
a light on their shop and allow them to show

260
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off what makes them so special. Every hobby shop is

261
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different and that's what makes it so fun walking through

262
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their doors. But that's what TOPS is doing is driving people.

263
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Speaker 1: Yeah, you know, Lauren, like, does that bother you that

264
00:15:24,960 --> 00:15:27,320
a lot of these athletes, you know, maybe aren't there

265
00:15:27,360 --> 00:15:30,720
to sign. It's just it's not possible. And you know,

266
00:15:30,799 --> 00:15:33,960
they they're only allotted there to be there a certain

267
00:15:34,000 --> 00:15:37,519
amount of time, and many of them have very busy schedules.

268
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The fact that they're they're making fitness into their schedule.

269
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You know, uh, I know every advertisement I've seen, I

270
00:15:46,080 --> 00:15:48,080
don't want to say everybody, I think the majority of

271
00:15:48,120 --> 00:15:50,840
them allude like, this is not a signing events to

272
00:15:50,919 --> 00:15:53,120
meet and greet. We're gonna have some fun. There's gonna

273
00:15:53,120 --> 00:15:58,120
be giveaways and pack wars and fun moments. You know,

274
00:15:58,480 --> 00:16:01,639
it was it a parent that maybe didn't tell you know,

275
00:16:01,679 --> 00:16:03,799
a little Johnny, like, hey, where we might get to

276
00:16:03,879 --> 00:16:07,519
meet Kyenne? But you know, we're probably not going to

277
00:16:07,559 --> 00:16:10,600
get an autograph, So like maybe the blame falls a

278
00:16:10,639 --> 00:16:14,320
little bit on there and the expectations kind of walking

279
00:16:14,399 --> 00:16:17,440
through the door, you know, kind of your thoughts on

280
00:16:18,120 --> 00:16:20,360
you know that that side of the topic.

281
00:16:20,600 --> 00:16:23,000
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think, I mean, I think the expectation is

282
00:16:23,399 --> 00:16:26,879
is pretty well said at least by card shops and

283
00:16:26,960 --> 00:16:30,279
by tops, that you get the opportunity to see this

284
00:16:30,360 --> 00:16:33,720
person live in your community, and that's the perk. Now,

285
00:16:33,759 --> 00:16:36,519
Like I said with Brandy Orton, he stayed and he signed.

286
00:16:36,519 --> 00:16:39,799
But he is a veteran, like he knows the capacity

287
00:16:39,840 --> 00:16:43,240
he has for situations like this. Kayenne is a teenager,

288
00:16:43,399 --> 00:16:46,000
he's a kid. This might be one of his first

289
00:16:46,039 --> 00:16:51,639
may you know, Like so you know, the I think

290
00:16:51,840 --> 00:16:54,639
setting the expectation low of like who will get to

291
00:16:54,679 --> 00:16:57,600
see this person and that's a win, and then allowing

292
00:16:57,759 --> 00:17:00,840
them to kind of choose how much want to do

293
00:17:01,200 --> 00:17:03,279
or what they can handle because some you know, like

294
00:17:03,639 --> 00:17:05,720
Diane as a kid, even though his dad is you know,

295
00:17:05,720 --> 00:17:09,720
both his parents are mega famous, you know, for him

296
00:17:09,720 --> 00:17:12,200
to do it personally, it's different. It might be overwhelming,

297
00:17:12,240 --> 00:17:15,480
it might be overstimulating. He might not you know, have

298
00:17:15,599 --> 00:17:20,160
that capacity yet. So I think setting the bar where

299
00:17:20,200 --> 00:17:23,119
they do, whereas like you will see this person and

300
00:17:23,160 --> 00:17:26,680
that's cool, and like take that win and then leaving

301
00:17:26,759 --> 00:17:29,240
it up to the person to decide, like do I

302
00:17:29,279 --> 00:17:30,960
want to go the extra mile? Do I want to

303
00:17:30,960 --> 00:17:33,440
stay a little bit longer than I'm contractually obligated to

304
00:17:33,839 --> 00:17:35,720
do I want to sign a couple of things for kids.

305
00:17:36,519 --> 00:17:39,400
I mean, I think, you know, that can get sticky,

306
00:17:39,559 --> 00:17:42,200
Like Chris said that, like you know the logistics of

307
00:17:43,559 --> 00:17:46,519
you know, who gets what, and like how do we

308
00:17:46,559 --> 00:17:50,079
disseminate that? You know, if you know the star is

309
00:17:50,680 --> 00:17:53,000
leaving that up to chance and making that choice, then

310
00:17:53,079 --> 00:17:56,079
I think like Brandy Orton, he's capable of doing that

311
00:17:56,119 --> 00:17:59,440
because he's been doing this forever and he knows how

312
00:17:59,440 --> 00:18:01,440
to handle, he knows how to be with people, he

313
00:18:01,519 --> 00:18:04,319
knows what he can handle. So I know it could

314
00:18:04,319 --> 00:18:06,200
get a little sticky, but I feel like overall, if

315
00:18:06,240 --> 00:18:08,920
you set that bar like we'll see this person, they're

316
00:18:08,960 --> 00:18:10,880
probably only going to be there for a minute. You

317
00:18:10,920 --> 00:18:14,160
will probably not get a personal interaction. If you then

318
00:18:14,240 --> 00:18:17,279
get that little extra bonus, that's awesome. That's a win

319
00:18:17,359 --> 00:18:20,039
and that's really exciting. So I think as long as

320
00:18:20,119 --> 00:18:24,119
you know, tops maintains that expectation of like you know,

321
00:18:24,359 --> 00:18:26,480
this is the cool thing that they're showing up. If

322
00:18:26,480 --> 00:18:28,240
they want to give a little bit more than like,

323
00:18:28,720 --> 00:18:31,440
that's awesome, But TOPS doesn't have to promise that. That

324
00:18:31,480 --> 00:18:33,720
can be up to the individual star or the shop

325
00:18:33,839 --> 00:18:36,680
or like what the logistics can manage.

326
00:18:36,759 --> 00:18:41,519
Speaker 2: So I appreciate the story on this. So we were

327
00:18:41,559 --> 00:18:46,160
at we were having a VIP event at the National

328
00:18:46,279 --> 00:18:50,119
for Upper Deck in Cleveland, and we brought in Shaquille O'Neill.

329
00:18:50,279 --> 00:18:54,440
Now I it was a bowling event, you know, at

330
00:18:54,440 --> 00:18:56,799
one of those cool bowling alleys, and we had our

331
00:18:56,799 --> 00:18:59,680
own private lanes and things like that, and I had

332
00:18:59,720 --> 00:19:03,759
the scheduled pretty easily. And when you deal with the agents,

333
00:19:03,880 --> 00:19:06,799
you have to put together exactly basically a run of

334
00:19:06,839 --> 00:19:09,119
show of what's going to happen and what what is

335
00:19:09,160 --> 00:19:11,920
the athlete, what's expected of them, And we had it

336
00:19:12,160 --> 00:19:16,119
pretty easily laid out. Photo op, sign an autograph for everyone,

337
00:19:16,559 --> 00:19:20,240
give out some product, and then bowl with the fans,

338
00:19:20,279 --> 00:19:22,920
you know, go from lane to land and just you know,

339
00:19:22,960 --> 00:19:26,720
mix it in bowl and uh we do the first

340
00:19:26,720 --> 00:19:29,079
part in Check. By the way, when you meet Check,

341
00:19:29,480 --> 00:19:33,680
your whole hand is lost in his hand. So it's

342
00:19:33,720 --> 00:19:37,200
so intimidating right off the bat, I'm trying to guide

343
00:19:37,279 --> 00:19:39,960
him around and uh and people going crazy, you know,

344
00:19:40,119 --> 00:19:43,519
check this is this is so awesome. So everyone gets

345
00:19:43,559 --> 00:19:48,000
their photos, everyone gets their autographs. He starts throwing, tossing

346
00:19:48,000 --> 00:19:51,079
out some product to people, and then it comes time

347
00:19:51,119 --> 00:19:53,119
to bowl, and he goes, I'm not bowling, And I

348
00:19:53,160 --> 00:19:55,079
was like, what do you? What do you? What do

349
00:19:55,079 --> 00:20:00,400
you mean? Yeah, we're a we run a bowling out Shack,

350
00:20:00,519 --> 00:20:02,960
Like it's in the deal that we did with you.

351
00:20:03,279 --> 00:20:03,680
Speaker 1: What do you mean?

352
00:20:03,720 --> 00:20:04,079
Speaker 2: It up on?

353
00:20:04,240 --> 00:20:06,480
Speaker 1: He goes, check, Shack, don't bowl?

354
00:20:07,920 --> 00:20:09,799
Speaker 2: Crap? What am I what I'm gonna do? I've got

355
00:20:09,839 --> 00:20:11,440
two people expecting.

356
00:20:11,160 --> 00:20:12,559
Speaker 1: To bowl with him. Uh.

357
00:20:12,640 --> 00:20:17,160
Speaker 2: So I had a customer challenge him a hundred bucks

358
00:20:17,799 --> 00:20:21,119
on a frame that that he could beat Shack. And

359
00:20:21,160 --> 00:20:23,480
then when money was involved, he was a little more interested.

360
00:20:24,519 --> 00:20:30,680
And he ended up betting people all night long one

361
00:20:30,759 --> 00:20:34,599
hundred bucks a frame, and people kept doing it and

362
00:20:34,599 --> 00:20:36,640
and he was winning initially, and then his arms started

363
00:20:36,680 --> 00:20:41,400
getting tired. His collectors are winning hundreds of bucks from Shack,

364
00:20:41,880 --> 00:20:45,400
and it's it's it's way past time for him to go,

365
00:20:45,519 --> 00:20:48,880
and and uh, I go, check, you gotta go. I'm down.

366
00:20:49,000 --> 00:20:52,839
I got to get my money back, so he stayed

367
00:20:52,839 --> 00:20:55,319
a little bit longer, and uh, it was a little

368
00:20:55,440 --> 00:20:58,599
frustrated that that he performed poorly in the end, but

369
00:20:59,440 --> 00:21:01,160
that was one of the those where you know, it

370
00:21:01,400 --> 00:21:05,039
ended up being an okay thing. But that's what I

371
00:21:05,119 --> 00:21:08,000
mean is you just don't know what to expect that

372
00:21:08,240 --> 00:21:11,680
that has been communicated over to the athlete before an

373
00:21:11,680 --> 00:21:14,440
event like this and and could cause some issues. So

374
00:21:15,440 --> 00:21:17,079
but you're also gotta be quick on your feet if

375
00:21:17,119 --> 00:21:18,920
you're going to be in those situations to try to

376
00:21:18,920 --> 00:21:19,960
try to say the day.

377
00:21:20,160 --> 00:21:22,640
Speaker 1: I gotta think, well, you know, Michael Jordan has the

378
00:21:22,680 --> 00:21:25,680
golf course for for a little you know, a little

379
00:21:25,720 --> 00:21:28,640
side hustle, and I guess shack shack took it to

380
00:21:28,680 --> 00:21:31,680
the bowling alley. Did they make up? Did they actually

381
00:21:31,720 --> 00:21:34,200
have a ball that his fingers could fit into or

382
00:21:34,240 --> 00:21:34,880
did he Yes?

383
00:21:34,920 --> 00:21:38,039
Speaker 2: But it was it was funny, like he's just it's

384
00:21:38,119 --> 00:21:39,759
it's a pebble in his hand, you know.

385
00:21:39,880 --> 00:21:43,720
Speaker 1: So that was cool to see that, that's funny. A

386
00:21:43,759 --> 00:21:47,559
couple of comments before we get to our next topic.

387
00:21:48,200 --> 00:21:52,880
Foule five Ball says he's not impressed by athletes. No,

388
00:21:52,880 --> 00:21:56,839
no big deal. Uh to him. Uh. And then we

389
00:21:56,960 --> 00:22:00,599
got a few more good mornings, hoops, Hobby hanging out.

390
00:22:00,640 --> 00:22:05,160
Good morning, sir Nick, who was setting up catching this

391
00:22:05,279 --> 00:22:08,920
while he's setting up at a card show at Uh,

392
00:22:09,000 --> 00:22:13,559
good morning, Nick, have a great show, hope well. Uh

393
00:22:13,680 --> 00:22:16,440
Rich put out in an earlier post that they got

394
00:22:17,279 --> 00:22:23,640
Robert Parrish, former Celtic great. Uh there as well, so

395
00:22:24,799 --> 00:22:27,559
Hick loss of money at that event.

396
00:22:27,359 --> 00:22:30,440
Speaker 2: Yeah, it was. It was presidentive when he left.

397
00:22:31,000 --> 00:22:33,880
Speaker 1: And Orlando grees right, we need to set expect like,

398
00:22:34,359 --> 00:22:36,359
you know, my son's older now. But if I was

399
00:22:36,440 --> 00:22:38,920
taking my son when he was younger to event, I

400
00:22:38,960 --> 00:22:41,920
knew the parameter, I would definitely make sure he knew

401
00:22:41,960 --> 00:22:45,880
as well. That way, we don't have whether it be disappointment,

402
00:22:46,000 --> 00:22:50,200
a tantrum, tears, try to avoid that and even ask

403
00:22:50,279 --> 00:22:52,759
him like, knowing that, do you still want to go

404
00:22:52,880 --> 00:22:55,480
like this is how it's going to go? Are you

405
00:22:55,599 --> 00:22:58,160
okay with that? Are we going? You know? And that

406
00:22:58,279 --> 00:23:01,680
way you avoid like it. Really I felt terrible, uh

407
00:23:01,839 --> 00:23:05,440
seeing seeing a couple of those kids crying, but you know,

408
00:23:05,680 --> 00:23:09,000
like that was that was part. That was really what

409
00:23:09,440 --> 00:23:13,079
like Chris pointed out, and Ritchiean pointed out what Chris

410
00:23:13,079 --> 00:23:16,759
said right at nineteen nil, there might be some rules

411
00:23:17,200 --> 00:23:21,039
right going on there, so, but it was at the

412
00:23:21,119 --> 00:23:22,880
end of the day, right, it was a great event.

413
00:23:23,079 --> 00:23:28,440
There was more more cheers than tears, and people walked

414
00:23:28,440 --> 00:23:32,440
out of there with some free stuff, definitely some free food.

415
00:23:32,920 --> 00:23:35,559
And I just my fear and I don't think this

416
00:23:35,599 --> 00:23:38,079
will happen. I'm not predicting this. I just don't want it,

417
00:23:38,400 --> 00:23:40,599
you know, like any good idea, then it gets beat

418
00:23:40,759 --> 00:23:42,759
like it dead, like we see too many of them

419
00:23:42,759 --> 00:23:45,200
in the bloom sort of comes off the rose. If

420
00:23:45,200 --> 00:23:48,319
they can keep this where the bloom stays on that

421
00:23:48,359 --> 00:23:52,039
sort of rose and people look forward to it, I

422
00:23:52,079 --> 00:23:54,319
think it'll be great. If it gets to the point

423
00:23:54,359 --> 00:23:56,960
where they're doing too many and it's like, oh, another

424
00:23:57,200 --> 00:24:01,160
another top srip night. We just had one month, you know.

425
00:24:02,319 --> 00:24:04,319
I like and I like that they do it the

426
00:24:04,400 --> 00:24:08,359
same night across all the locations. I don't want to

427
00:24:08,400 --> 00:24:10,759
see it like this week, it's here, next week, Yeah,

428
00:24:10,960 --> 00:24:14,319
it's here, this week, it's it's here. Do it one night.

429
00:24:14,359 --> 00:24:17,720
It's like New Year's Eve. We all know it's it's yeah,

430
00:24:17,759 --> 00:24:22,000
you know, we're going to celebrate together potentially, So I

431
00:24:22,440 --> 00:24:25,680
like that. I just hope it maintains that sort of Uh.

432
00:24:25,799 --> 00:24:28,640
I don't want to say mystique with that sort of format. Uh.

433
00:24:28,799 --> 00:24:32,759
Speaker 2: If you know, for manufacturers that are always trying different programs,

434
00:24:33,039 --> 00:24:35,559
uh and and I like that, and some of them

435
00:24:35,680 --> 00:24:37,920
end up being rinse and repeat, like Upper Deck. It

436
00:24:37,960 --> 00:24:39,799
was National Hockey Card Day that that was just a

437
00:24:39,839 --> 00:24:43,279
really successful program. Shops didn't want us to tweak anything,

438
00:24:43,400 --> 00:24:46,480
so we kept it largely the same. But I've done

439
00:24:46,480 --> 00:24:50,599
a myriad of different types of events, and you know,

440
00:24:50,680 --> 00:24:53,240
they don't always hit, but you you've got to tryump.

441
00:24:53,400 --> 00:24:56,240
You know, you have to try them to see what

442
00:24:56,559 --> 00:24:59,599
the audience will respond to. And one of the trickiest

443
00:24:59,599 --> 00:25:04,000
things in this industry is just how different every collector is.

444
00:25:05,279 --> 00:25:10,039
Everyone has different habits, styles, likes, dislikes. We make fun

445
00:25:10,079 --> 00:25:13,039
of our preferences. What do you mean to use Scott's

446
00:25:13,079 --> 00:25:15,880
tape on a top letter? You see village? You know,

447
00:25:16,000 --> 00:25:19,960
all these little things that make us so unique. So

448
00:25:20,000 --> 00:25:24,240
for our marketer marketing to such a diverse customer base

449
00:25:24,319 --> 00:25:27,559
that all has very, very passionate about how they collect,

450
00:25:27,559 --> 00:25:28,200
it's hard.

451
00:25:28,559 --> 00:25:31,240
Speaker 1: Yeah, Rich is right on it. Right. April eleventh, twenty

452
00:25:31,319 --> 00:25:37,759
twenty six, National National Hockey Card day. So there, there

453
00:25:37,839 --> 00:25:40,480
you go, and a lot of young listen, A lot

454
00:25:40,480 --> 00:25:43,000
of young talent there always is, but it seems like

455
00:25:43,039 --> 00:25:45,839
there's really a lot of great young talent in the

456
00:25:46,000 --> 00:25:50,079
NHL right now. You're Celebrinis and Burgards and will Smith's

457
00:25:50,119 --> 00:25:53,400
and I know I'm leaving someone up. So that's the

458
00:25:54,440 --> 00:25:54,799
right now.

459
00:25:54,880 --> 00:25:56,960
Speaker 2: Is named Matt Schaeffer for the Island.

460
00:25:57,119 --> 00:25:59,279
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, for the see, I'm a Ranger fan. I'm

461
00:25:59,279 --> 00:26:01,200
not I'm not given him any kind.

462
00:26:01,079 --> 00:26:04,480
Speaker 2: Of no, no, I know you, but it's funny. I

463
00:26:04,519 --> 00:26:08,359
have an employee named Matthew Schaeffer and the only difference

464
00:26:08,440 --> 00:26:11,160
is he has two f's in his last name instead

465
00:26:11,160 --> 00:26:13,680
of one. And so we're gonna rip some uh some

466
00:26:13,960 --> 00:26:16,160
uh Series two this week and try to get hit

467
00:26:16,240 --> 00:26:19,079
his young Guns. But the funny thing is upper Deck

468
00:26:19,200 --> 00:26:22,319
made an error on his young Guns rookie card where

469
00:26:22,359 --> 00:26:25,680
in the text in the back, uh, it's Shafer is

470
00:26:25,680 --> 00:26:28,480
spelled with two f's. So that's the card where we're

471
00:26:28,480 --> 00:26:30,960
gonna try to pull for for my Matt Shaffer this week.

472
00:26:31,000 --> 00:26:31,799
So that'll be fun.

473
00:26:32,119 --> 00:26:34,759
Speaker 1: Yeah, that that is that is fun. Hey, listen, he

474
00:26:34,880 --> 00:26:37,480
is he is probably one of the better young players

475
00:26:37,680 --> 00:26:40,920
probably probably gonna win Rookie of the Year. I'm a

476
00:26:41,039 --> 00:26:44,680
Ranger fan, so our draft picks, don't you know, Alexis

477
00:26:44,759 --> 00:26:48,799
Lefrenier isn't panned out like we hoped he was. Still

478
00:26:49,000 --> 00:26:52,400
there's still time, but uh, we're running out of a

479
00:26:52,480 --> 00:26:55,960
little bit. He almost was traded here at the trade deadline.

480
00:26:56,079 --> 00:26:59,920
So I'm a little jealous when when the Crosstown ride

481
00:27:00,160 --> 00:27:03,759
as will hit on a number one pick, when when

482
00:27:03,839 --> 00:27:06,200
we kind of I don't want to say swinging swung

483
00:27:06,279 --> 00:27:09,359
him as but maybe didn't hit the home run that

484
00:27:09,480 --> 00:27:13,880
day that they did so most no, I know, I

485
00:27:13,960 --> 00:27:16,599
was a big watcher. I don't know about you, Lauren

486
00:27:16,680 --> 00:27:19,480
or Chris, but I was watching a lot of the Olympics.

487
00:27:19,480 --> 00:27:21,519
So that ended a few weeks ago.

488
00:27:21,759 --> 00:27:22,400
Speaker 2: So much fun.

489
00:27:22,720 --> 00:27:27,079
Speaker 1: Yeah, and you know, both the US men's and women's

490
00:27:27,400 --> 00:27:31,640
took home the gold, both in dramatic fashion, both in overtime,

491
00:27:31,680 --> 00:27:35,119
with golden gold Jack Ques on the men's side, Megan

492
00:27:35,200 --> 00:27:39,240
Keller on the women's side, And you know, the women

493
00:27:39,279 --> 00:27:42,359
were the favorite, although they really had the rally late

494
00:27:42,440 --> 00:27:46,200
to get it done. The men's were a contender, but

495
00:27:46,359 --> 00:27:51,480
not were considered the favorite, and one in forty six years.

496
00:27:51,000 --> 00:27:55,839
We all remember nineteen eighty and Al Michael's calls on

497
00:27:55,920 --> 00:28:01,119
that upset and so, uh, you know, I just did

498
00:28:01,119 --> 00:28:03,200
a show and I sold a little bit more Hackey.

499
00:28:03,759 --> 00:28:06,799
I'll start with you, hear Chris, you know, coming from

500
00:28:06,799 --> 00:28:10,279
the upper deck side, like do you do you anticipate like,

501
00:28:10,759 --> 00:28:14,519
obviously Hackey is very strong in Canada. Will will two

502
00:28:14,559 --> 00:28:18,640
gold medals for the US helped the Hackey a or

503
00:28:18,680 --> 00:28:21,440
you know, bump up the Hackey hobby if you will,

504
00:28:21,720 --> 00:28:22,839
hear stateside.

505
00:28:23,400 --> 00:28:27,200
Speaker 2: Absolutely, yeah, yeah, I mean that was incredible. And again,

506
00:28:27,319 --> 00:28:29,680
you know I talked earlier about core memories and how

507
00:28:29,839 --> 00:28:33,079
this type of thing. You know, everyone's a lot of

508
00:28:33,079 --> 00:28:36,319
people who especially people who are hockey I Ficinado's are

509
00:28:36,319 --> 00:28:38,559
always going to remember this, unless you're in Canada and

510
00:28:38,640 --> 00:28:44,039
you're like a Cosby's golden goal. So I think that

511
00:28:44,119 --> 00:28:49,279
this will be a difference maker for the the industry,

512
00:28:49,400 --> 00:28:54,000
for the sport and for collectibles, and you're already seeing it.

513
00:28:54,039 --> 00:28:58,200
Deck Use's cards have gone haywire since this happened. So

514
00:28:59,079 --> 00:29:01,200
I'm kicking myself because I sold some a couple of

515
00:29:01,279 --> 00:29:04,960
years ago, and I should have stuck onto that, but

516
00:29:05,079 --> 00:29:06,759
you just don't know. You don't know who's going to

517
00:29:06,799 --> 00:29:09,160
be the star. And that's what makes it exciting. And

518
00:29:10,000 --> 00:29:15,079
what a great what a great person you have to uh.

519
00:29:15,240 --> 00:29:18,720
Someone asked in the chat here is there a list

520
00:29:18,759 --> 00:29:22,160
of athletes to stay away from? And and yeah, there's

521
00:29:22,200 --> 00:29:25,519
kind of a blacklist that's not spoken about or advertised.

522
00:29:25,839 --> 00:29:28,960
But what I always find is hockey players are the

523
00:29:29,000 --> 00:29:32,559
best athletes to work with out of everyone, and it's

524
00:29:32,599 --> 00:29:36,000
not even close. And a lot of times they're they're

525
00:29:36,200 --> 00:29:39,759
European what have you, But they don't see themselves as stars.

526
00:29:39,799 --> 00:29:41,920
They're just dudes that love to play again on the

527
00:29:41,960 --> 00:29:44,319
ice and throw hands every once in a while, and

528
00:29:44,400 --> 00:29:49,000
it's it's a beautiful things. So I think from who

529
00:29:49,119 --> 00:29:51,119
I would like to collect and who I would like

530
00:29:51,200 --> 00:29:54,079
to have my sons interact with, it's it's hockey players.

531
00:29:54,079 --> 00:29:59,039
They're they're fantastic. So but there's it's it's hard because

532
00:29:59,279 --> 00:30:02,119
you know, there's there's aspects of other sports that are

533
00:30:02,119 --> 00:30:04,920
so cool, and NBA in particular, when you have your

534
00:30:04,960 --> 00:30:07,680
son meeting someone who's like seven foot it's the it's

535
00:30:07,720 --> 00:30:09,799
the coolest thing in the world for that because there

536
00:30:09,920 --> 00:30:13,000
it's like talking to a tree. But I think that

537
00:30:13,640 --> 00:30:16,640
I think that, Yes, these these are tricky to pull off,

538
00:30:16,640 --> 00:30:17,400
but they're a lot of fun.

539
00:30:17,480 --> 00:30:19,720
Speaker 1: Yeah, a couple of comments here and then I'll get

540
00:30:19,759 --> 00:30:22,440
to Lauren. One. Lauren's got a question. This is not

541
00:30:22,640 --> 00:30:25,200
on topic, but I didn't want it to get lost

542
00:30:25,200 --> 00:30:29,319
in the shovel. From from maybe Vegas. He's asking you, Chris,

543
00:30:29,359 --> 00:30:31,880
when is National p S A card night?

544
00:30:32,480 --> 00:30:35,240
Speaker 2: A great idea, and you know, we have been doing

545
00:30:35,279 --> 00:30:40,359
some things, uh in partnership with top so on on

546
00:30:40,400 --> 00:30:43,000
the Rip nights at Day at the Rip night last

547
00:30:43,000 --> 00:30:46,960
week David Adams were giving away UH loops which are

548
00:30:46,960 --> 00:30:51,519
really cool help help customers look at their cards and

549
00:30:52,200 --> 00:30:56,119
make sure that they're worth setting in to be slabbed. So, yeah,

550
00:30:56,160 --> 00:30:59,079
we we partner with the shops a lot on these types.

551
00:30:58,880 --> 00:31:01,839
Speaker 1: Of question for Lauren from from fan in the Stay

552
00:31:01,880 --> 00:31:04,759
in Sports. Uh. He says, Lauren, I sent you a message.

553
00:31:04,759 --> 00:31:08,160
I need a nineteen ninety down Earth reverse negative one

554
00:31:08,200 --> 00:31:13,880
Gonzalez yarn cards. There you go, you might have yep,

555
00:31:14,000 --> 00:31:18,079
there you go. Kind of your your thoughts. I know

556
00:31:18,119 --> 00:31:23,200
you're a basketball lady, Lauren, but you know when when

557
00:31:23,240 --> 00:31:26,400
there's success in a sport right in the country, maybe

558
00:31:26,440 --> 00:31:29,000
where it's not the original culture or not, you know,

559
00:31:29,359 --> 00:31:31,880
European soccer. You know, if the US happened to ever

560
00:31:31,960 --> 00:31:35,279
win a World Cup in soccer, I'm not betting on it,

561
00:31:35,480 --> 00:31:38,519
but like, if it ever happens, I would expect like

562
00:31:38,599 --> 00:31:42,359
the soccer market to be enhanced here. Like do you

563
00:31:42,400 --> 00:31:46,160
do you expect that with the with the hockey side

564
00:31:46,160 --> 00:31:48,400
and did you watch? Did you watch even though you're

565
00:31:48,759 --> 00:31:52,119
because it's the Olympics and and even not being necessary

566
00:31:52,119 --> 00:31:54,759
a hockey fan where you was was it something you

567
00:31:54,799 --> 00:31:56,440
tuned into? Yeah?

568
00:31:56,559 --> 00:32:00,279
Speaker 3: I I was lucky enough that my schedule kind of

569
00:32:00,279 --> 00:32:02,279
lined up that I could tune in for both of

570
00:32:02,319 --> 00:32:06,240
the games about like halfway through the you know, the

571
00:32:06,279 --> 00:32:10,359
gold medal games, and they were awesome. So I you know,

572
00:32:10,440 --> 00:32:14,200
the women's game was first, and that was incredible. It

573
00:32:14,240 --> 00:32:16,359
was so exciting. I know you said they were favored,

574
00:32:16,400 --> 00:32:18,440
but like you just never know, and.

575
00:32:18,559 --> 00:32:21,799
Speaker 1: Like it was just they were down with they were

576
00:32:21,839 --> 00:32:24,440
down one nothing with two minutes left. And the thing

577
00:32:24,480 --> 00:32:27,279
that struck me is this was a team that was

578
00:32:27,400 --> 00:32:31,279
beating people like five nothing, eight one, and here they

579
00:32:31,319 --> 00:32:34,400
were getting shut out. Now Canada is obviously very good.

580
00:32:34,400 --> 00:32:36,400
It's like, I'm not but the fact that they were

581
00:32:36,440 --> 00:32:39,240
scoring all these goals and now we're like, I'm like,

582
00:32:39,279 --> 00:32:41,680
they're gonna lose the gold medal game and not score

583
00:32:41,839 --> 00:32:44,400
after score, Like maybe they scored too many of these

584
00:32:44,440 --> 00:32:47,559
goals in all the games before the gold medal game.

585
00:32:48,400 --> 00:32:52,720
And then Hillary Knight tied the game up in dramatic fashion,

586
00:32:53,519 --> 00:32:57,000
and then they went to you know, overtime where Teller

587
00:32:57,759 --> 00:32:59,920
won it, but go ahead.

588
00:32:59,480 --> 00:33:03,119
Speaker 3: I wanted to throw Yeah, no, I mean the context

589
00:33:03,160 --> 00:33:05,200
is important, because you're right. I was like, oh my gosh,

590
00:33:05,200 --> 00:33:08,319
we're gonna lose, and like we didn't score, and yeah,

591
00:33:08,319 --> 00:33:12,200
those last two minutes were amazing, and then Keller shot

592
00:33:12,440 --> 00:33:14,359
was like when they played it back in slow motion,

593
00:33:14,519 --> 00:33:16,920
it was so cool, Like if you haven't seen it,

594
00:33:16,960 --> 00:33:19,319
go watch it because it's just really cool how they

595
00:33:19,400 --> 00:33:22,200
like pulled it off. And I think for the entire

596
00:33:23,039 --> 00:33:28,519
Olympics tournament, their USA only let uh two, I think

597
00:33:28,559 --> 00:33:31,880
the goalie only let two goals scored on Team USA

598
00:33:32,039 --> 00:33:37,240
the entire time. Incredible. So yeah, it's just I mean

599
00:33:37,279 --> 00:33:40,960
it's really cool. And you know, the men's came second

600
00:33:40,960 --> 00:33:44,759
and that was also really cool. But like the women's

601
00:33:44,839 --> 00:33:48,039
was just very exciting. And I know it's the third

602
00:33:48,079 --> 00:33:52,039
season of p WHL and so I've seen a lot

603
00:33:52,079 --> 00:33:54,279
of excitement and hype around that, and I think that's

604
00:33:54,319 --> 00:33:57,039
really cool. I think it's going to grow that league,

605
00:33:57,079 --> 00:33:59,240
which is great, and it's a very accessible league and

606
00:33:59,359 --> 00:34:02,119
watch the game on YouTube so you can get a notification,

607
00:34:02,279 --> 00:34:06,559
you can watch it anywhere. I think that's great. I think,

608
00:34:06,720 --> 00:34:09,920
you know, upper Deck having a pretty good lock on

609
00:34:10,039 --> 00:34:13,159
hockey culture with the men's and the women's. I think

610
00:34:13,199 --> 00:34:17,840
it's great. So I'm not big into hockey. I'm not

611
00:34:17,880 --> 00:34:19,880
going to pretend like I'm like, you know, a know

612
00:34:19,960 --> 00:34:22,599
it all a hockey band. But I really enjoyed it,

613
00:34:22,639 --> 00:34:26,320
and I'm definitely watching more of like the Professional Women's

614
00:34:26,360 --> 00:34:29,159
Hockey League and I'll watch the men's too, but like,

615
00:34:29,239 --> 00:34:32,639
I don't know, I mean, it's cool, but I'm really

616
00:34:32,840 --> 00:34:35,840
like the women were just really like they were really

617
00:34:35,880 --> 00:34:38,360
locked in and they were really pumped, and like it

618
00:34:38,840 --> 00:34:41,639
was just more exciting to me personally. But like I

619
00:34:41,679 --> 00:34:43,639
know that, you know, the first win for the men

620
00:34:44,000 --> 00:34:47,400
in like fifty years is crazy, that's so exciting. But

621
00:34:48,360 --> 00:34:51,239
like the women, they've been consistently good, which I think

622
00:34:51,320 --> 00:34:54,719
is also exciting, and you know, it doesn't take away

623
00:34:54,760 --> 00:34:57,239
the fact that this is like, you know, they've never

624
00:34:57,400 --> 00:35:00,719
not won to medal, but yeah, so, I mean it's

625
00:35:00,760 --> 00:35:03,440
two very different ways to be excited about a sport,

626
00:35:03,480 --> 00:35:06,159
and there's never a wrong way to be excited about

627
00:35:06,159 --> 00:35:08,679
a sport. So I'm really happy that people are into

628
00:35:08,719 --> 00:35:11,519
it and I'm into it more and I love that

629
00:35:11,599 --> 00:35:12,119
it grows.

630
00:35:12,440 --> 00:35:14,800
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think there were also a lot of stars too.

631
00:35:14,960 --> 00:35:17,760
You know, it wasn't one person going crazy like we

632
00:35:17,800 --> 00:35:20,360
would expect it to be Connor McDavid. But you know,

633
00:35:20,480 --> 00:35:24,360
for Connor Hellibook, you know, to be awarded a Presidential

634
00:35:24,360 --> 00:35:28,159
Medal of Freedom a couple of days later, and you know,

635
00:35:28,239 --> 00:35:31,000
you don't see that for a goalie very often. And

636
00:35:31,039 --> 00:35:34,000
the Ka Chuck brothers and just how much they love

637
00:35:34,360 --> 00:35:38,119
the sport and what have you, and quitting Jack Hughes.

638
00:35:37,920 --> 00:35:41,280
Speaker 1: And bring it and bringing a little aggressiveness.

639
00:35:40,719 --> 00:35:44,440
Speaker 2: Yeah yeah, Jack losing Like it's just there are so

640
00:35:44,519 --> 00:35:48,239
many iconic moments from the tournament and you know, I

641
00:35:48,280 --> 00:35:53,360
was I was watching the first WBC USA game last

642
00:35:53,440 --> 00:35:57,079
night with my kids, and it's it's got the opportunity

643
00:35:56,880 --> 00:35:59,400
to do this a couple of times in a row here,

644
00:35:59,440 --> 00:36:03,880
but I think Japan and uh uh the Dominican Republic

645
00:36:03,880 --> 00:36:06,360
will be really tough teams in that. So, but it's

646
00:36:06,400 --> 00:36:09,559
it's fun that we get the Olympics the WBC, Like

647
00:36:09,599 --> 00:36:12,320
it's one of those years where we're spoiled at sports fans.

648
00:36:12,599 --> 00:36:14,559
Oh yeah, and then Mark, this is coming up right

649
00:36:14,639 --> 00:36:16,920
after that in baseball start No big deal.

650
00:36:16,960 --> 00:36:21,639
Speaker 1: Mark never heard of it. Chris, Uh oh no, I'm kidding. Yeah,

651
00:36:21,639 --> 00:36:24,000
it's great and and and shout out to you, like

652
00:36:24,079 --> 00:36:26,159
not that it's about one guy, but if you watch

653
00:36:26,280 --> 00:36:29,880
that gold medal game, Connor Hellibuk was standing on his head.

654
00:36:30,239 --> 00:36:32,519
Uh some of the saves he made just with like

655
00:36:32,559 --> 00:36:34,719
the edge of the stick where the game would have

656
00:36:34,760 --> 00:36:37,159
been over. If that gets by him, we we lose.

657
00:36:37,199 --> 00:36:40,840
And we're talking about you know, a different story. And

658
00:36:41,800 --> 00:36:44,039
just uh he played and the thing was, he played

659
00:36:44,119 --> 00:36:47,159
up well the whole tournament, but it just was amplified

660
00:36:47,199 --> 00:36:50,880
that that gold medal game against the Canadian team that

661
00:36:51,000 --> 00:36:55,400
knows what they're doing with with plenty of all NHL firepower,

662
00:36:55,400 --> 00:36:57,800
and he was just you know, they were out shot.

663
00:36:58,239 --> 00:37:01,599
I mean, you know, I know, h know, Cooper John Cooper,

664
00:37:01,639 --> 00:37:04,079
the Canadian coach, said, ah, all the better. You know,

665
00:37:05,239 --> 00:37:08,239
we played, we out maybe outplayed them and they made

666
00:37:08,320 --> 00:37:11,719
one more play and that might be the case. But

667
00:37:12,119 --> 00:37:15,320
thank you, thanks to hell a book making some just

668
00:37:15,400 --> 00:37:19,000
incredible saves on his back, uh you know, with a

669
00:37:19,039 --> 00:37:22,920
stick as he's going in a different direction. And here

670
00:37:22,960 --> 00:37:26,639
we are. And by the way, both of those game

671
00:37:26,679 --> 00:37:31,079
winning pucks are headed to ironically, the the Hockey Hall

672
00:37:31,119 --> 00:37:34,920
of Fame in Toronto, Canada. So I thought that was

673
00:37:35,280 --> 00:37:38,400
a pretty funny thing I read a few days ago

674
00:37:39,239 --> 00:37:43,519
as well. I want to get this comment a visit. Yeah, yeah,

675
00:37:43,559 --> 00:37:45,960
I got's on my on my list to do. I've

676
00:37:45,960 --> 00:37:49,079
been to Toronto, but I haven't got there yet. Carl

677
00:37:49,119 --> 00:37:52,159
from Ouss, Good morning, Lauren, Chris John and all. It's

678
00:37:52,239 --> 00:37:54,320
three thirty am here and I missed the start, but

679
00:37:54,360 --> 00:37:57,199
I'm ready to go now. God bless you. Carl. At

680
00:37:57,239 --> 00:38:01,400
three thirty am, I'm hopefully still sleeping or going down

681
00:38:01,440 --> 00:38:05,880
my stairs, hopefully successfully to hit the restroom. But you're

682
00:38:05,880 --> 00:38:09,800
watching Hobby Hotline. We do, I'm joking, but we do.

683
00:38:10,679 --> 00:38:15,440
We do appreciate and Carl asks too, uh for for Lauren.

684
00:38:17,000 --> 00:38:20,599
He asked Lauren like why why don't we see more?

685
00:38:21,400 --> 00:38:23,800
Right here, let me put the comment up, why are

686
00:38:23,840 --> 00:38:26,280
they not more women and girls in the hobby? Well,

687
00:38:26,320 --> 00:38:29,840
we're I'll answer, we're seeing more. I can personally attest

688
00:38:29,880 --> 00:38:33,360
we're seeing more here locally in my area Syricuse, in

689
00:38:33,400 --> 00:38:37,639
the Syracuse areas a lot more dealers or considerable amount

690
00:38:37,719 --> 00:38:40,360
more dealers. And when I you know, every year I

691
00:38:40,400 --> 00:38:44,360
go to the National it seems like that's we're seeing more,

692
00:38:44,719 --> 00:38:48,079
and even on the corporate side as well. Uh so

693
00:38:49,280 --> 00:38:52,360
I think it's getting better. I'll let Lauren kind of

694
00:38:52,440 --> 00:38:56,000
chime in here first. And I know we've Lauren's have

695
00:38:56,119 --> 00:38:58,480
been on my program when we we've talked about but

696
00:38:58,880 --> 00:39:01,320
for those that may not have, Dad, Laura, and I'll

697
00:39:01,360 --> 00:39:02,280
let your way in here.

698
00:39:02,400 --> 00:39:06,199
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean I agree that I think there are

699
00:39:06,280 --> 00:39:08,920
more and more coming in, which is great.

700
00:39:09,719 --> 00:39:10,000
Speaker 1: I think.

701
00:39:10,039 --> 00:39:12,760
Speaker 3: On your show, John, I mentioned an anecdote when we

702
00:39:12,760 --> 00:39:15,440
were at the Dallas card show in January. There was

703
00:39:15,480 --> 00:39:18,440
a girl she was probably about like twelve, and she

704
00:39:18,639 --> 00:39:21,719
was negotiating with my husband at our table, like she

705
00:39:22,360 --> 00:39:25,880
worked out the deal, several deals actually, and she would

706
00:39:26,000 --> 00:39:28,320
come over talk to him, run back to her table,

707
00:39:28,400 --> 00:39:30,199
and I you know, I guess maybe talk to her

708
00:39:30,280 --> 00:39:32,559
dad or get her money, or you know, for whatever reason.

709
00:39:32,800 --> 00:39:34,599
She would come back and forth, back and forth, and

710
00:39:35,119 --> 00:39:39,320
she The thing I liked about that is I won't

711
00:39:39,400 --> 00:39:41,199
you know, like rehash it because I can go watch

712
00:39:41,239 --> 00:39:45,440
the episode of Sports Cardination. But I liked that she

713
00:39:45,559 --> 00:39:48,800
felt safe in that room and she felt comfortable talking

714
00:39:48,840 --> 00:39:53,519
to grown men, you know, like she she was okay,

715
00:39:53,719 --> 00:39:56,519
you know, navigating back and forth. She was able to

716
00:39:56,519 --> 00:39:59,719
talk to my husband who's almost forty and like, you know,

717
00:39:59,719 --> 00:40:04,199
get a deal done. And she wasn't like scared or intimidated.

718
00:40:04,320 --> 00:40:09,239
She was open to you know, negotiating. And it was

719
00:40:09,280 --> 00:40:11,480
a really impressive site because I know at twelve, I

720
00:40:11,519 --> 00:40:13,679
couldn't do it. Like I'll just be honest. I at

721
00:40:13,719 --> 00:40:15,960
her age, whether she was you know, twelve or I

722
00:40:15,960 --> 00:40:18,199
mean even at like sixteen, I know I couldn't do it.

723
00:40:18,599 --> 00:40:21,760
And I think I think again, like I said in

724
00:40:22,039 --> 00:40:24,320
the show, So I hope people go watching on Sports Cardination.

725
00:40:25,440 --> 00:40:29,119
There's been a foundation built for decades of women who

726
00:40:29,119 --> 00:40:31,599
have been trying to make a solid foundation for girls

727
00:40:31,599 --> 00:40:36,440
to feel comfortable in the space. And now people are

728
00:40:36,800 --> 00:40:39,760
you know, able to stand on their shoulders and really

729
00:40:39,800 --> 00:40:42,880
benefit from the effort and the time and the passion

730
00:40:42,920 --> 00:40:45,480
that was put in to make the space, you know,

731
00:40:46,119 --> 00:40:50,320
more comfortable for girls. And I know it's it's kind

732
00:40:50,320 --> 00:40:53,400
of hard for you know, some boys and men to

733
00:40:53,519 --> 00:40:57,039
understand that or you know, consider it, or they don't

734
00:40:57,039 --> 00:41:00,679
want to and you know whatever. But I think there

735
00:41:00,679 --> 00:41:02,440
are more and I think they're coming in, and I

736
00:41:02,480 --> 00:41:05,320
think we all need to consider what are we doing

737
00:41:05,360 --> 00:41:09,039
to make space more comfortable and inclusive, and what are

738
00:41:09,039 --> 00:41:11,599
the assumptions that we're making when somebody walks in a room,

739
00:41:11,920 --> 00:41:14,920
you know. I think also, you know, kind of goes

740
00:41:14,960 --> 00:41:18,679
hand in hand with you know, race. I think that

741
00:41:18,800 --> 00:41:23,079
some black collectors are also overlooked, and you know, kind

742
00:41:23,119 --> 00:41:25,960
of assumptions are made about what they know and what they.

743
00:41:25,880 --> 00:41:26,400
Speaker 1: Are there for.

744
00:41:26,599 --> 00:41:29,519
Speaker 3: And so I think that everybody kind of just needs

745
00:41:29,559 --> 00:41:34,119
to reflect on, like what is hindering you from like

746
00:41:34,679 --> 00:41:37,760
experiencing the hobby with these people because they're there, you know,

747
00:41:37,920 --> 00:41:40,000
girls are there, women are there, and you know, maybe

748
00:41:40,079 --> 00:41:42,360
all don't collect the same thing, and that's okay, that's

749
00:41:42,400 --> 00:41:44,800
the reason that you're not interacting. But if you collect

750
00:41:44,800 --> 00:41:46,480
the same thing and you're passionate about the same thing.

751
00:41:46,800 --> 00:41:49,239
Why are the only people you're speaking to, you know,

752
00:41:49,400 --> 00:41:52,519
men of your same age or you know whatever, Like

753
00:41:52,599 --> 00:41:56,280
look at your circle and understand why maybe you're not

754
00:41:56,320 --> 00:41:58,679
seeing them because you're not looking for them. I yes,

755
00:41:58,800 --> 00:41:59,679
to answer that question.

756
00:42:00,920 --> 00:42:04,360
Speaker 1: I also think the hobby today, the hobby today is

757
00:42:04,480 --> 00:42:09,039
more welcoming than it has been in the past, and

758
00:42:09,079 --> 00:42:11,840
that's what really needs to happen. I think, you know,

759
00:42:11,920 --> 00:42:15,039
I think the first thing is like, if you're a

760
00:42:15,079 --> 00:42:17,679
woman in the hobby, I think there's that fear of

761
00:42:17,760 --> 00:42:21,320
trepidation of being accepted or how you're going to be

762
00:42:21,400 --> 00:42:24,480
perceived or looked at. And so if that, if that

763
00:42:24,679 --> 00:42:28,079
sort of mail goes down and goes away, and that

764
00:42:28,280 --> 00:42:31,480
sort of pre judging stuff, I mean, it's never going

765
00:42:31,559 --> 00:42:36,719
to not exist. But if if, if the percentages go

766
00:42:36,880 --> 00:42:40,320
down of that kind of behavior, I think, and I

767
00:42:40,360 --> 00:42:43,119
think it has and it continues, and that's why we're

768
00:42:43,159 --> 00:42:46,199
seeing more and I think we're seeing a lot of

769
00:42:46,239 --> 00:42:49,159
women say hey, listen, I don't care what you think, right,

770
00:42:49,199 --> 00:42:51,920
which is a great add Like I love the hobby.

771
00:42:52,400 --> 00:42:55,239
I'm in it, and that's your problem if you've got

772
00:42:55,239 --> 00:42:57,920
a problem with it, and that's you know, not every

773
00:42:58,039 --> 00:43:01,800
maybe not every women woman and how he thinks like that,

774
00:43:01,840 --> 00:43:04,960
maybe they're a little bit some are more shyer than others.

775
00:43:05,000 --> 00:43:08,880
But I like the fact that you know, I was

776
00:43:08,920 --> 00:43:10,760
set up. I've told the story the PI. I'll make

777
00:43:10,760 --> 00:43:12,920
this story a lot shorter than it is. I was

778
00:43:12,960 --> 00:43:16,639
set up with someone I knew and uh, this is

779
00:43:16,880 --> 00:43:20,599
probably double digit years ago at a show, and a

780
00:43:20,639 --> 00:43:22,679
young lady came up to him, and he was pretty

781
00:43:22,760 --> 00:43:26,159
rude to her, to the point where you know, I

782
00:43:26,679 --> 00:43:29,280
got I went right up to him and said, listen, man,

783
00:43:29,480 --> 00:43:32,679
like that was terrible to me. I would like find

784
00:43:32,719 --> 00:43:37,400
her and apologize. I'm very shocked by how you you treated,

785
00:43:37,719 --> 00:43:41,920
you know. And he didn't even really realize it until

786
00:43:41,920 --> 00:43:44,480
I sort of point like, which probably made it to me,

787
00:43:44,599 --> 00:43:47,079
even made it worse that it took me to like say,

788
00:43:47,079 --> 00:43:51,480
what are you doing? Like that's terrible and and you know,

789
00:43:52,239 --> 00:43:55,480
I don't remember him doing that, but at least I

790
00:43:55,880 --> 00:43:59,360
felt better like that, Hey, like, you can't treat Peter

791
00:43:59,599 --> 00:44:02,880
just in general, but even more so. And I hope

792
00:44:02,920 --> 00:44:06,679
he learned his his you know, I hope he learned

793
00:44:06,880 --> 00:44:10,360
from that experience, and I hope he changed his attitude

794
00:44:11,039 --> 00:44:16,599
with with that, but I think that's become more the exception, thankfully,

795
00:44:16,760 --> 00:44:20,119
than than the rule, if you will. Uh, and those

796
00:44:20,440 --> 00:44:22,440
folks that think like that, I think there's less of

797
00:44:22,480 --> 00:44:23,039
that thinking.

798
00:44:23,400 --> 00:44:28,760
Speaker 2: It just takes one to make the situation negative. But yeah,

799
00:44:28,800 --> 00:44:32,840
and it's frustrating that that it happens. But I will

800
00:44:32,880 --> 00:44:37,800
say kudos to the manufacturers for continuing to try to

801
00:44:37,880 --> 00:44:42,239
make offerings that would appeal to to women. There's a

802
00:44:42,280 --> 00:44:44,760
lot that people don't even realize. You know. We see

803
00:44:45,079 --> 00:44:47,559
La Boo Boo right now. You know, obviously that's a

804
00:44:47,599 --> 00:44:50,960
product that was you know, geared for both men and women.

805
00:44:51,559 --> 00:44:53,719
But you know, I think about my time at Upper

806
00:44:53,800 --> 00:44:57,159
Deck and how many different types of products we tried

807
00:44:58,320 --> 00:45:02,360
that never really hit, you know, like Strawberry shortcake and uh,

808
00:45:03,199 --> 00:45:06,440
Hello Kitty was when the company invested a lot of

809
00:45:06,480 --> 00:45:08,760
money in and it never hit. But you have to

810
00:45:08,840 --> 00:45:13,079
keep trying because the audience is there, uh there. They

811
00:45:13,199 --> 00:45:17,119
collect a little differently sometimes and it but it's just

812
00:45:17,519 --> 00:45:20,840
better I think if if everyone's involved, so could as

813
00:45:20,880 --> 00:45:23,760
the manufacturers. We're still trying with different products.

814
00:45:24,000 --> 00:45:27,039
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, and and we're we're seeing that and I

815
00:45:27,079 --> 00:45:31,320
think that's the positive things We're gonna it's on all fronts.

816
00:45:31,360 --> 00:45:36,400
It's corporate, it's collectors, if the card manufacturers themselves, and

817
00:45:36,440 --> 00:45:38,639
there's still always gonna be room for improvement. But I

818
00:45:38,639 --> 00:45:41,960
think we're we're going in the right direction rather than

819
00:45:42,239 --> 00:45:46,360
than the wrong one. And you know, it's it's it's important.

820
00:45:46,440 --> 00:45:50,199
Speaker 2: So I just got to set last night. John called

821
00:45:50,199 --> 00:45:54,519
the nineteen seventy nine Supersisters and it was the first

822
00:45:54,639 --> 00:45:59,119
ever set of trading cards made of women. Uh. And

823
00:45:59,159 --> 00:46:01,559
it was done by a family, and it's a great

824
00:46:01,599 --> 00:46:08,079
story on Hard Life. It's a segment related show, but

825
00:46:08,760 --> 00:46:10,559
it's one of those things where you're like, I didn't

826
00:46:10,599 --> 00:46:12,840
know that existed. That is super cool. I'm gonna go

827
00:46:12,840 --> 00:46:16,159
out and buy that. So and that was, you know,

828
00:46:16,599 --> 00:46:19,159
fifty years ago. We're trying to get more girls in

829
00:46:19,199 --> 00:46:22,239
the hobby then, uh And and I think it's kind

830
00:46:22,239 --> 00:46:25,280
of cool how far the companies have come again. Upper

831
00:46:25,320 --> 00:46:29,639
decks signed athletes like Alexis Morgan and Misty Made trainer

832
00:46:29,880 --> 00:46:34,360
Carrie Watsh Jennings. So you know, volleyball represented, Panini's got

833
00:46:34,440 --> 00:46:37,920
w n B A Tops is doing stuff. Our upper

834
00:46:37,920 --> 00:46:40,400
deck is pH WHL as well. You know, So there's

835
00:46:40,400 --> 00:46:42,719
there's a lot of positives happening.

836
00:46:43,000 --> 00:46:45,480
Speaker 1: A couple more comments, and then we'll get to our

837
00:46:45,559 --> 00:46:48,599
last topic. Let's just Phill in Oklahoma. I know Phil

838
00:46:49,239 --> 00:46:52,920
fairly well. He says, at the Oklahoma City Show top

839
00:46:53,039 --> 00:46:55,599
notch shows, by the way, there were a minimum of

840
00:46:55,679 --> 00:47:00,800
ten female dealers, and Oklahoma is usually behind. So I

841
00:47:00,840 --> 00:47:04,920
am seeing even here in my Syracuse shows that I

842
00:47:04,960 --> 00:47:08,960
set up, I'm seeing a lot more female dealers and

843
00:47:09,159 --> 00:47:13,480
knowledgeable ones, not you know where where they're running the table.

844
00:47:13,840 --> 00:47:18,039
Uh And it's good to see sports card Queen is

845
00:47:18,079 --> 00:47:20,760
a good comment here. Many women in this hobby. I

846
00:47:20,760 --> 00:47:25,800
wish more would go on YouTube and create content. That's

847
00:47:25,840 --> 00:47:28,800
that's tough, a little bit different, right. It's one thing

848
00:47:28,800 --> 00:47:31,960
to be in the hobby, but the turn the camera on,

849
00:47:32,760 --> 00:47:36,039
you know, I'm I couldn't do the stuff I do now,

850
00:47:36,159 --> 00:47:39,920
like maybe even twenty twenty five years ago or further back,

851
00:47:40,280 --> 00:47:44,039
because I was really a shy in my younger days,

852
00:47:44,079 --> 00:47:46,639
if you will. So that's not always easy to do,

853
00:47:46,960 --> 00:47:51,039
is to do, you know, content, But but you know

854
00:47:51,079 --> 00:47:53,719
what we're seeing, We're seeing more even there as well.

855
00:47:54,320 --> 00:47:59,320
I venture guests that continue to see uh more. So

856
00:48:01,000 --> 00:48:05,599
another comment here, Carl fromaz says the girl Findley. She

857
00:48:05,719 --> 00:48:07,920
was behind me to get readies out of the National

858
00:48:08,239 --> 00:48:11,480
and I thought that was great, and you know, the

859
00:48:11,519 --> 00:48:15,960
comments continue. So we're moving in. We're moving in the

860
00:48:16,039 --> 00:48:20,000
right direction, I think, I think, you know, it's trending

861
00:48:20,440 --> 00:48:24,119
in the right direction. That's better than the alternative. And

862
00:48:24,639 --> 00:48:28,519
there's always gonna be room for improvement. You know. I

863
00:48:28,559 --> 00:48:31,719
try to do my part where if I see something

864
00:48:31,800 --> 00:48:35,360
that's not right, I'm not shy anymore, so I will

865
00:48:35,400 --> 00:48:38,440
go to Just like I told that story and I

866
00:48:38,480 --> 00:48:42,039
wound up. You know, the young lady came to my

867
00:48:42,199 --> 00:48:44,840
table later on in that show and I kind of

868
00:48:45,159 --> 00:48:49,039
pulled her aside and I said, listen, don't let things

869
00:48:49,079 --> 00:48:52,199
like that get you know, bodily like. That's just one person.

870
00:48:52,760 --> 00:48:56,199
It's the wrong attitude. It was rude, and I apologize

871
00:48:57,119 --> 00:49:01,159
on their behalf, And don't let that discourage you. As

872
00:49:01,199 --> 00:49:05,880
a firetruck goes by, don't let that discourage you from

873
00:49:06,239 --> 00:49:09,079
you know, being active in this hobby. It's the greatest

874
00:49:09,119 --> 00:49:13,360
hobby in the world. I'm personally glad to see you participating.

875
00:49:13,920 --> 00:49:16,960
Just you know, I know it's tough and tough to hear,

876
00:49:17,039 --> 00:49:18,840
but as much as you can let it go in

877
00:49:18,960 --> 00:49:21,920
one ear and out the other, and you win by

878
00:49:21,960 --> 00:49:26,280
by being active and participating. So she was very thankful,

879
00:49:26,599 --> 00:49:30,559
and uh so, uh, you know anytime I can if

880
00:49:30,599 --> 00:49:34,119
I see something like that, Hopefully I don't, but I'm

881
00:49:34,119 --> 00:49:35,440
a guy that will say something.

882
00:49:35,599 --> 00:49:38,360
Speaker 2: So what do you think, Uh, what do you think

883
00:49:38,440 --> 00:49:41,400
cured you of your shyness? Because that is an issue

884
00:49:41,400 --> 00:49:44,000
in the hobby where people are afraid to go up

885
00:49:44,039 --> 00:49:47,280
and talk to a dealer or talk to another collector

886
00:49:47,760 --> 00:49:49,519
don't have the experience that they could have had.

887
00:49:50,119 --> 00:49:53,119
Speaker 1: For me, it was just I think shyness comes because

888
00:49:53,119 --> 00:49:55,320
you're you're worried about what someone's gonna think of you,

889
00:49:55,440 --> 00:49:58,519
or I'm gonna like say the wrong thing, or I'm

890
00:49:58,559 --> 00:50:00,960
gonna be talking and spin like you know, I used

891
00:50:01,000 --> 00:50:04,360
to hate making speeches in like English class in high school.

892
00:50:04,639 --> 00:50:07,559
And my English teachers say, John, you play football in

893
00:50:07,599 --> 00:50:09,920
front of like two thousand people, You play bait like

894
00:50:09,960 --> 00:50:12,239
you're an athlete. You can't get it up in front

895
00:50:12,280 --> 00:50:15,559
of thirty kids you're friends with, or no, and like

896
00:50:16,000 --> 00:50:18,880
talk for five minutes, And I'm like no to all eyes.

897
00:50:19,079 --> 00:50:22,679
When I'm on a football field, I don't see the plane,

898
00:50:22,800 --> 00:50:26,559
trying to do my job and not screw up. I

899
00:50:26,599 --> 00:50:29,239
don't see the crowd when I'm in front of the class,

900
00:50:29,519 --> 00:50:32,559
you know, it's like the hot lights are on me.

901
00:50:33,320 --> 00:50:36,119
Like But his response was like, but you know him,

902
00:50:36,159 --> 00:50:40,599
I'm like, that doesn't really I would try with friends.

903
00:50:41,079 --> 00:50:43,840
But what it was for me, Chris, it's a great question.

904
00:50:44,039 --> 00:50:46,239
And I know, like sometimes you don't know how you

905
00:50:46,280 --> 00:50:49,280
got it. For me, I got to an age where

906
00:50:49,360 --> 00:50:52,119
I was like, I don't care what someone thinks like

907
00:50:52,159 --> 00:50:53,760
I do. I don't want to. I don't want to

908
00:50:53,800 --> 00:50:56,840
make a sound like I do care what people think.

909
00:50:57,119 --> 00:50:59,760
But like internally, I'm like, listen, I'm gonna be me.

910
00:51:00,320 --> 00:51:02,559
I'm gonna, you know, I feel like I'm a nice guy.

911
00:51:02,559 --> 00:51:06,000
I'm gonna I'm gonna be me. And if someone likes me, great,

912
00:51:06,079 --> 00:51:10,079
and if someone doesn't, that's their issue to to wrangle with,

913
00:51:10,280 --> 00:51:14,079
right and listen, Let's be real. Some people will look

914
00:51:14,119 --> 00:51:17,119
at someone and already the verdict is in I like

915
00:51:17,239 --> 00:51:19,840
that person I don't like before they even say a

916
00:51:19,880 --> 00:51:24,119
word or write something, you know, and those are the

917
00:51:24,159 --> 00:51:26,679
people you can't worry about them because they were already

918
00:51:26,840 --> 00:51:30,440
like past judgment. So for me, that's an easy answer.

919
00:51:30,519 --> 00:51:33,360
I just knew I got to a stage and an

920
00:51:33,400 --> 00:51:35,920
age and stage in my life where it's like, it

921
00:51:36,039 --> 00:51:38,800
is what it is, and hopefully more, you know, hopefully

922
00:51:38,840 --> 00:51:41,079
I win more of the room than than than not.

923
00:51:41,440 --> 00:51:44,920
And I think in general I feel like I have,

924
00:51:45,199 --> 00:51:47,800
but you know you can. At the end of the day,

925
00:51:47,840 --> 00:51:51,199
you can't control what other people and nor should you.

926
00:51:51,639 --> 00:51:54,800
Uh So I just do. I try to do the

927
00:51:54,920 --> 00:51:59,480
right thing and and be honest and let the chips fall.

928
00:52:00,000 --> 00:52:02,199
But if you would have told the younger version of me,

929
00:52:02,440 --> 00:52:05,760
Chris and Lauren, the things I'd be doing, I would

930
00:52:05,760 --> 00:52:08,960
have thought you were not crazy and crazy so like

931
00:52:09,039 --> 00:52:13,320
coaching varsity sports and having parent meetings. And I was

932
00:52:13,360 --> 00:52:16,280
a kid like even in my like elementary school days,

933
00:52:16,320 --> 00:52:18,800
I didn't even want to raise my hand to use

934
00:52:18,840 --> 00:52:22,320
the restroom. I would hold it all day, sometimes go

935
00:52:22,440 --> 00:52:26,519
home and then used to true story, true story.

936
00:52:26,840 --> 00:52:34,880
Speaker 2: This has turned into psychology. Friends, that's incredible.

937
00:52:34,880 --> 00:52:40,159
Speaker 1: To overtime. Yeah, well we're coming, We're coming down the

938
00:52:40,159 --> 00:52:42,000
home stretch here, Chris. But I don't I don't want

939
00:52:42,039 --> 00:52:44,559
to not talk about this. Right We're seeing these p

940
00:52:44,800 --> 00:52:48,679
s a kiosks in store. I know Burbank HASM some

941
00:52:48,760 --> 00:52:52,280
other stores have them. I think it's kind of cool,

942
00:52:52,519 --> 00:52:55,639
Like what is the like, what is the logistics? How

943
00:52:55,679 --> 00:53:00,000
does this work? Is there is the store as an employe?

944
00:53:00,480 --> 00:53:03,280
Is that a PSA employed that's in the store.

945
00:53:05,000 --> 00:53:08,480
Speaker 2: Yeah, so this is interesting. I've I've always worked really

946
00:53:08,519 --> 00:53:11,400
closely with hobby shops. I believe that that's where the

947
00:53:11,440 --> 00:53:16,119
magic happens. And you know, from the manufacturer side to

948
00:53:16,199 --> 00:53:19,320
now on the p s A side, I just I've

949
00:53:19,320 --> 00:53:22,960
always believed in it. And there are some there's a

950
00:53:23,000 --> 00:53:28,079
trend happening right now that's really exciting where some trading

951
00:53:28,119 --> 00:53:33,280
card shops are becoming almost like a superstore. And so

952
00:53:33,559 --> 00:53:37,199
I was at a conference last January and I was

953
00:53:37,239 --> 00:53:41,679
talking with Rob Verus of Burbank Sports Cards about what

954
00:53:41,880 --> 00:53:44,800
he was doing, and it was just it. I had

955
00:53:44,840 --> 00:53:48,239
never heard of someone doing this. He bought a Right Aid,

956
00:53:48,400 --> 00:53:51,199
a Right Aid liquors or a grocery you know, grocery

957
00:53:51,199 --> 00:53:54,679
liquor what have you, drug store and was converting it

958
00:53:54,760 --> 00:53:57,119
into a sports card store. And I was like, are

959
00:53:57,159 --> 00:54:00,960
you nuts? Like this is this is crazy? And I've

960
00:54:01,079 --> 00:54:04,079
known Rob long enough to know that it was going

961
00:54:04,159 --> 00:54:07,440
to work, and so I wanted to work with them

962
00:54:07,440 --> 00:54:10,559
and say, you know, let's do something that's never been done.

963
00:54:10,679 --> 00:54:13,920
Let's put an actual shop in a shop, a PSA

964
00:54:14,039 --> 00:54:16,840
submission center in a shop. And the reason why I

965
00:54:16,880 --> 00:54:19,920
believe in this is, you know, when I came over

966
00:54:20,559 --> 00:54:23,239
from Upper Deck, we were doing some events, but now

967
00:54:23,239 --> 00:54:27,119
we're doing hundreds of events a year. What we've found

968
00:54:28,280 --> 00:54:32,239
is that when people can be face to face with

969
00:54:32,320 --> 00:54:36,559
someone to talk through which to talk to, what type

970
00:54:36,559 --> 00:54:40,079
of collector they are, where they're collecting, journey is taking them.

971
00:54:41,000 --> 00:54:45,119
It's really good for that customer to have someone to

972
00:54:45,239 --> 00:54:48,400
talk to and consult with with regard to how they

973
00:54:48,400 --> 00:54:50,320
want to have their item graded, because there's a lot

974
00:54:50,360 --> 00:54:52,679
of different ways that you can skin the cat there.

975
00:54:53,000 --> 00:54:55,079
You could grade the card, you could grade the autograph.

976
00:54:55,119 --> 00:54:56,880
You could grade the card and the autograph. You could

977
00:54:56,880 --> 00:55:01,679
do authentic only, and that guidance is really important. So

978
00:55:02,039 --> 00:55:04,800
what we saw from those events is that people want

979
00:55:04,920 --> 00:55:07,000
us to come meet them on their own turf. They

980
00:55:07,079 --> 00:55:10,800
want to speak to a human being, and that's why

981
00:55:11,119 --> 00:55:13,760
it made sense for us to look at something more

982
00:55:13,840 --> 00:55:16,960
we could do in a hobby shop. I talked earlier

983
00:55:17,000 --> 00:55:19,079
about you got to try different things in this industry,

984
00:55:19,119 --> 00:55:23,480
and this was one that definitely has gone gangbusters for us,

985
00:55:23,519 --> 00:55:27,880
where people feel safe coming and dropping off their items.

986
00:55:28,119 --> 00:55:30,920
I found that people have a lot of trepidation about

987
00:55:30,960 --> 00:55:35,079
putting their valued item, their favorite collectible in the mail,

988
00:55:35,480 --> 00:55:38,679
and to hand it right to a PSA employee feels

989
00:55:38,679 --> 00:55:41,039
a lot better to them after getting the guidance they need.

990
00:55:41,440 --> 00:55:44,800
So we started it with Burbank. It's gone very very well,

991
00:55:45,000 --> 00:55:47,320
and we wanted to look at other shops that were

992
00:55:47,360 --> 00:55:49,480
doing similar types of stuff and had a lot of

993
00:55:49,480 --> 00:55:52,519
real estate, so cards HQ in Atlanta made a lot

994
00:55:52,559 --> 00:55:56,000
of sense. We started that in December and it's gone

995
00:55:56,119 --> 00:55:59,840
very well. Then we opened up David Adams Card World,

996
00:56:00,000 --> 00:56:04,360
New York City. They're right by they're right by Times

997
00:56:04,400 --> 00:56:08,320
Square and that's been sensational. And then the one that's

998
00:56:08,360 --> 00:56:11,480
been just crazy is Mojo Breaks, which we just opened

999
00:56:11,480 --> 00:56:14,880
around the Super Bowl and they're in Santa Clara up

1000
00:56:14,880 --> 00:56:18,480
in the Bay Bay area. But the area that they

1001
00:56:18,480 --> 00:56:20,320
had for us, it used to be a paint store,

1002
00:56:20,360 --> 00:56:21,840
so it's where they used to mix the paint. So

1003
00:56:21,840 --> 00:56:24,480
we have a big area on there and it's it's

1004
00:56:24,480 --> 00:56:26,920
been it's been wonderful for us. To be able to

1005
00:56:26,920 --> 00:56:31,400
engage with customers in that face to face type of environment.

1006
00:56:31,559 --> 00:56:34,800
So I think that we'll be doing more of these

1007
00:56:34,840 --> 00:56:37,679
in the future. I think that'll be a slower rollout

1008
00:56:37,840 --> 00:56:40,559
just given the fact that we're a little bit capacity constrained.

1009
00:56:40,559 --> 00:56:43,920
We don't need more units per se. But it does

1010
00:56:44,199 --> 00:56:47,719
make sense for people. If you've never graded an item

1011
00:56:47,960 --> 00:56:51,440
or have questions about the process, or you've graded something

1012
00:56:51,440 --> 00:56:54,239
in the past and weren't happy with the results, or

1013
00:56:54,239 --> 00:56:57,679
we're happy with the results, come talk to someone and

1014
00:56:58,119 --> 00:57:00,440
you can check that out. Where the tea is going

1015
00:57:00,480 --> 00:57:04,400
to be every weekend at PSA card dot com slash events.

1016
00:57:04,519 --> 00:57:08,360
But these other centers are kind of an always on

1017
00:57:08,719 --> 00:57:13,360
type of centers. So two PSA employees are staffed at

1018
00:57:13,400 --> 00:57:16,280
each location to really help guide people in the right collect.

1019
00:57:16,119 --> 00:57:18,880
Speaker 1: So if I heard this right and I didn't realize this, Chris,

1020
00:57:18,880 --> 00:57:22,280
I really this was your idea? Like, did I hear

1021
00:57:22,320 --> 00:57:22,960
that correctly?

1022
00:57:24,000 --> 00:57:27,000
Speaker 2: Yeah? So, But there's going to do it without an

1023
00:57:27,079 --> 00:57:30,679
amazing team that works on bringing these to life, especially

1024
00:57:30,719 --> 00:57:31,199
our marketing.

1025
00:57:31,840 --> 00:57:34,639
Speaker 1: Was there any liked once you came up with this

1026
00:57:34,800 --> 00:57:36,880
idea and you brought it to the powers that be?

1027
00:57:37,159 --> 00:57:39,199
Was did it go pretty smoothly.

1028
00:57:39,400 --> 00:57:41,880
Speaker 2: It was like talking about we looked at we looked

1029
00:57:41,920 --> 00:57:44,800
at what was happening at game Stop, and for me

1030
00:57:44,880 --> 00:57:47,960
to be able to have the manufacture experience, it felt

1031
00:57:48,079 --> 00:57:51,280
very much hobby in retail, right, So game Stop is

1032
00:57:51,320 --> 00:57:54,119
that retail market. Why can't we do something in a

1033
00:57:54,159 --> 00:57:56,760
hobby market? And you think about where some of the

1034
00:57:56,800 --> 00:57:59,400
biggest cards are pulled. They're pulled in some of these

1035
00:57:59,400 --> 00:58:02,920
big shops that have higher allocations, so it made sense

1036
00:58:02,960 --> 00:58:05,280
to partner with them. And then what the shops love

1037
00:58:05,280 --> 00:58:08,519
about it is there's a lot of people that as

1038
00:58:08,559 --> 00:58:11,599
big as Rob versus Burbank Sports Cards is, there's a

1039
00:58:11,599 --> 00:58:14,760
lot of people that don't know he's there, and uh,

1040
00:58:15,119 --> 00:58:17,719
we're able to drive a lot of traffic from our

1041
00:58:17,760 --> 00:58:20,800
website that says, hey, if you're in this location, why

1042
00:58:20,800 --> 00:58:22,920
don't you go down to Burbank Sports Cards and get

1043
00:58:22,960 --> 00:58:25,840
some get some help in person. Uh, And it works,

1044
00:58:26,000 --> 00:58:28,480
It works very well. It's a it's a very symbiotic

1045
00:58:28,519 --> 00:58:32,519
relationship where they see the value in us being there

1046
00:58:32,519 --> 00:58:34,440
and we see the value in being there and helping

1047
00:58:34,480 --> 00:58:35,559
to drive traffic to them.

1048
00:58:35,840 --> 00:58:40,039
Speaker 1: Do you anticipate more maybe car stores kind of reaching

1049
00:58:40,079 --> 00:58:41,760
out like hey, we want one.

1050
00:58:41,800 --> 00:58:43,639
Speaker 2: Here like.

1051
00:58:45,000 --> 00:58:45,079
Speaker 1: That.

1052
00:58:45,199 --> 00:58:46,559
Speaker 2: I get a lot of calls about.

1053
00:58:46,360 --> 00:58:50,280
Speaker 1: That, so the prerequisite like do you have to be vetted?

1054
00:58:50,400 --> 00:58:51,159
Like how does that?

1055
00:58:51,679 --> 00:58:55,480
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, I was. I was looking at shops

1056
00:58:55,480 --> 00:58:58,119
in the Seattle area. You know, we're looking at different markets,

1057
00:58:58,159 --> 00:59:00,239
so I was. I go and do a lot of

1058
00:59:00,360 --> 00:59:04,480
events myself as well to talk to the shops to

1059
00:59:04,519 --> 00:59:07,920
see if there's real estate that makes sense. But there's

1060
00:59:07,920 --> 00:59:10,239
a lot of different markets we're looking at. Having a

1061
00:59:10,280 --> 00:59:13,559
permanent home end and just helping make the journey easier

1062
00:59:13,559 --> 00:59:17,159
for customers. And I often say that I provide success

1063
00:59:17,199 --> 00:59:20,679
suggestions and you make the decisions. So that's how we

1064
00:59:20,760 --> 00:59:22,440
want to help guide customers.

1065
00:59:22,800 --> 00:59:25,840
Speaker 1: Yeah, I thought it was. I found it very interesting.

1066
00:59:25,960 --> 00:59:29,840
And see, I'll be very blunt, like I would not

1067
00:59:30,199 --> 00:59:33,719
probably drop my cards off at game stop. That may

1068
00:59:34,000 --> 00:59:36,559
make me very And I've had people come up to

1069
00:59:36,639 --> 00:59:39,639
me at my shows that I'm set up when it's

1070
00:59:39,639 --> 00:59:41,760
like what are your thoughts on? And I'm like, you know,

1071
00:59:41,840 --> 00:59:44,599
they may be very knowledgeable. I just I don't know.

1072
00:59:44,880 --> 00:59:47,280
I just can't in my head, I can't get over

1073
00:59:47,440 --> 00:59:48,920
that hurdle. You know.

1074
00:59:49,320 --> 00:59:52,719
Speaker 2: I feel though, like game stop is when I think

1075
00:59:52,719 --> 00:59:56,000
of traditional retail, I think of Target, Walmart. So I

1076
00:59:56,000 --> 00:59:58,760
feel like game Stop is a bit more hobbyist. Like

1077
00:59:58,800 --> 01:00:00,920
the people that work there are you know, they're not

1078
01:00:00,960 --> 01:00:04,039
dealing with groceries and things like that lounge shares. But

1079
01:00:04,320 --> 01:00:07,840
the hobby shop is is obviously the Kreme dealt Creme

1080
01:00:08,000 --> 01:00:09,480
for knowledge experience.

1081
01:00:09,559 --> 01:00:12,840
Speaker 1: Yeah, no doubt. I'd be more comfortable in that situation.

1082
01:00:13,000 --> 01:00:16,880
I also do mail them obviously, but you know, we

1083
01:00:16,920 --> 01:00:20,360
don't have any Kiosks at this point but here. Uh

1084
01:00:20,559 --> 01:00:24,840
but if when that ever happened, that would be pretty cool.

1085
01:00:24,960 --> 01:00:27,400
Lore And I don't know how much grating you do

1086
01:00:27,559 --> 01:00:30,320
or don't do. Kind of as we wind down here,

1087
01:00:30,480 --> 01:00:34,119
kind of your thoughts on seeing, you know, a grading

1088
01:00:34,239 --> 01:00:36,519
kiosk store. Yeah, I think.

1089
01:00:36,360 --> 01:00:39,519
Speaker 3: That's I think it's cool. I think, you know, I

1090
01:00:39,559 --> 01:00:43,920
think some people are adamantly against grading, and some people are, like,

1091
01:00:44,280 --> 01:00:46,119
they love it. They have to have it, that's how

1092
01:00:46,119 --> 01:00:50,280
they want their cards. I we we're selective with what

1093
01:00:50,360 --> 01:00:55,199
we agree, So I think it's cool. I mean having it,

1094
01:00:55,599 --> 01:00:57,280
like Chris said, it makes sense to have it in

1095
01:00:57,320 --> 01:01:00,400
the hobby shop. I mean, and like you said, John,

1096
01:01:00,480 --> 01:01:04,760
like there's a trust there over GameStop, you know, and

1097
01:01:04,760 --> 01:01:07,840
and just the progression of target to GameStop to your

1098
01:01:07,880 --> 01:01:10,559
local hobby shop that makes sense. I think that that

1099
01:01:10,639 --> 01:01:13,480
will translate to a lot of people. And I think

1100
01:01:13,480 --> 01:01:17,000
people who are maybe nervous about grading or don't fully

1101
01:01:17,079 --> 01:01:20,840
understand it or don't get the concept having somebody in

1102
01:01:21,000 --> 01:01:23,880
their local store to say, hey, like, this is the deal,

1103
01:01:24,159 --> 01:01:26,079
this is why we do this, this is you know,

1104
01:01:26,199 --> 01:01:28,639
like to kind of answer any questions or like, you know,

1105
01:01:28,760 --> 01:01:31,559
cure their apprehension. I think that's great. I think it's like,

1106
01:01:32,079 --> 01:01:36,639
you know, like ripnite, you know, having that extension into

1107
01:01:36,679 --> 01:01:39,559
the community. I think that that's a very important part

1108
01:01:39,559 --> 01:01:41,639
of the hobby and I think for PSA to focus

1109
01:01:41,719 --> 01:01:44,440
on that and to like continue that link and like

1110
01:01:44,599 --> 01:01:47,559
tether the two together, I think that's great.

1111
01:01:48,719 --> 01:01:50,800
Speaker 1: So here's the question, Chris, I love if you can

1112
01:01:51,079 --> 01:01:54,000
it says, uh, do these card shop owners get some

1113
01:01:54,440 --> 01:01:57,519
kind of discount on grading? I'm assuming he means the

1114
01:01:57,559 --> 01:01:59,519
ones that have the kiosk of the store.

1115
01:01:59,800 --> 01:02:05,159
Speaker 2: Now, okay, again, they see the value in having the

1116
01:02:06,320 --> 01:02:09,920
shop and a shop just because it's a level of expertise.

1117
01:02:09,960 --> 01:02:12,119
It's something not a lot of other people have. So Yeah,

1118
01:02:12,400 --> 01:02:14,639
like I said earlier, it's a really nice symbiotic relationship.

1119
01:02:14,760 --> 01:02:16,599
Speaker 1: Now, how about this, I got to answer this. So

1120
01:02:17,119 --> 01:02:20,119
let's say, and I'm just making arbitrary numbers up a

1121
01:02:20,199 --> 01:02:23,480
thousand cards get submitted that we get that card store

1122
01:02:23,599 --> 01:02:27,239
does does. Obviously the store benefits from people come in

1123
01:02:27,239 --> 01:02:30,559
in the store and maybe buying something else with these singles.

1124
01:02:30,880 --> 01:02:32,440
Speaker 2: They absolutely product.

1125
01:02:32,960 --> 01:02:36,199
Speaker 1: Do they get anything based on the number of submissions

1126
01:02:36,199 --> 01:02:37,119
the store brings in?

1127
01:02:37,719 --> 01:02:40,400
Speaker 2: No, not at this time. But again we see we

1128
01:02:40,519 --> 01:02:44,599
see a real strength of it's called attached rate where

1129
01:02:44,719 --> 01:02:47,239
people come in to do X, and then they also

1130
01:02:47,360 --> 01:02:49,960
do Y, So they come in to drop off, but

1131
01:02:50,000 --> 01:02:53,119
they're also buying a couple of boxes or a couple

1132
01:02:53,079 --> 01:02:56,039
of slabs, or they're selling some slabs. So for the

1133
01:02:56,239 --> 01:02:59,199
for the hobby shop owner, what really makes a hobby

1134
01:02:59,199 --> 01:03:03,360
shop work is traffic and having enough customers come through. Again,

1135
01:03:03,440 --> 01:03:07,760
every customer has different wants needs, so they just want

1136
01:03:07,880 --> 01:03:12,039
the the eyeballs, uh and and to give them a chance.

1137
01:03:12,400 --> 01:03:14,760
And again, a lot of the shops we've been partnering

1138
01:03:14,760 --> 01:03:18,199
with are very impressive shops that that people want to

1139
01:03:18,239 --> 01:03:21,599
go to anyway, So there's plenty of collectors that will

1140
01:03:21,639 --> 01:03:25,360
fly in from Japan or Europe just to go to

1141
01:03:25,360 --> 01:03:28,840
Burbank sports Cards. But there's also some that come just

1142
01:03:29,039 --> 01:03:31,480
for P S A. And and I had a customer

1143
01:03:31,519 --> 01:03:34,400
this week from Taiwan who flew out just to drop

1144
01:03:34,440 --> 01:03:38,480
off at Burbank sports Card. So again it's it's really

1145
01:03:38,519 --> 01:03:43,559
interesting the types of consumer behavior that this new this

1146
01:03:43,599 --> 01:03:47,239
new program is causing UH to come come to shops

1147
01:03:47,360 --> 01:03:48,159
like never before.

1148
01:03:48,400 --> 01:03:51,440
Speaker 1: I have one last question. So there's there's there's two

1149
01:03:51,480 --> 01:03:55,000
P s A employees in in the kiosks. Are they

1150
01:03:55,000 --> 01:03:58,639
are they there the whole store opening hours or they're

1151
01:03:58,760 --> 01:04:02,599
like peak hours they exact schedule or not necessarily? Do

1152
01:04:02,719 --> 01:04:07,079
we lose you? Chris? I think you froze. So all right,

1153
01:04:07,199 --> 01:04:09,400
let's get the A. A couple of final comments. Maybe

1154
01:04:09,400 --> 01:04:13,880
we'll get Chris back. Uh yank yank me card, Steve says,

1155
01:04:13,960 --> 01:04:16,960
just to shout out cards in Phoenix, A lot of

1156
01:04:17,039 --> 01:04:20,599
card shows, the Philly card show. UH is today Carl

1157
01:04:20,639 --> 01:04:23,119
from UH from US as every time I go to

1158
01:04:23,239 --> 01:04:27,320
LA his first stop is bank burd Bank. UH. And

1159
01:04:27,400 --> 01:04:30,079
so UH, there we go. I don't know if we're

1160
01:04:30,079 --> 01:04:33,800
gonna get uh, We're gonna get Chris back? Things happened. Listen,

1161
01:04:34,079 --> 01:04:38,679
I had graphics that didn't work, so he he just

1162
01:04:38,760 --> 01:04:41,360
texted me, Uh, he can't get back, but he did

1163
01:04:41,400 --> 01:04:44,239
answer the question for those one and they have they

1164
01:04:44,239 --> 01:04:47,199
have the same hours as the card shop, so that

1165
01:04:47,320 --> 01:04:50,079
the two p s A employees get there when the

1166
01:04:50,079 --> 01:04:54,480
card shop opens and they leave when the cards still closes.

1167
01:04:54,639 --> 01:04:59,280
So I was curious to do that. So let me

1168
01:04:59,320 --> 01:05:02,840
bring him back and and and there he is.

1169
01:05:02,199 --> 01:05:04,760
Speaker 2: Sorry about that, yet I didn't realize the show was

1170
01:05:04,800 --> 01:05:06,480
going to go so long. So yeah, I get her dead.

1171
01:05:07,519 --> 01:05:09,880
Speaker 1: So I just I told him what you had texted me,

1172
01:05:10,039 --> 01:05:13,840
Like the the p s A employees in there, uh

1173
01:05:14,360 --> 01:05:16,880
as along with the store employees for the show.

1174
01:05:16,920 --> 01:05:19,239
Speaker 2: Yeah, I would recommend to checking with the shop, like

1175
01:05:19,320 --> 01:05:21,480
for David Adams right now. I think the weather it's

1176
01:05:21,559 --> 01:05:24,159
slowers for the most part. There to check with the shop.

1177
01:05:24,440 --> 01:05:27,079
Speaker 1: It's best, I know, I said the last one, last one.

1178
01:05:27,119 --> 01:05:31,119
This one's you know quick? Is that we're probably going

1179
01:05:31,199 --> 01:05:34,239
to see more of these or you think.

1180
01:05:34,159 --> 01:05:36,880
Speaker 2: Yeah, I do, uh, but I think it'll be a

1181
01:05:36,960 --> 01:05:40,199
very slow rollout again. P s A has some capacity

1182
01:05:40,239 --> 01:05:43,760
constraints right now that we're adding locations and greaters, so

1183
01:05:43,840 --> 01:05:46,760
we'll be launching this summer which will help a lot.

1184
01:05:46,840 --> 01:05:51,639
We're launching Submission Center in England, so there's a lot

1185
01:05:51,639 --> 01:05:54,920
of positives coming that will will help us grow. But

1186
01:05:55,440 --> 01:05:58,280
one thing I will say is I'd rather apologize for

1187
01:05:58,360 --> 01:06:01,719
the delays in getting things back to people then have

1188
01:06:01,800 --> 01:06:05,199
a situation where maybe p s A floods the grading

1189
01:06:05,280 --> 01:06:08,519
room with people who aren't ready to uh. To grade

1190
01:06:08,679 --> 01:06:11,320
at the level and consistency of a p s A grader,

1191
01:06:11,639 --> 01:06:17,079
it's about six months before someone's released of hard training

1192
01:06:17,239 --> 01:06:20,880
and uh and going through the grind every day. For

1193
01:06:21,920 --> 01:06:24,840
a junior grader uh to make it to the floor

1194
01:06:25,000 --> 01:06:28,960
and it there's a there's a real sense of awe

1195
01:06:29,079 --> 01:06:32,239
and uh and I've made it when when people do,

1196
01:06:32,320 --> 01:06:35,719
it's it's really cool to kind of junior graders become uh,

1197
01:06:36,119 --> 01:06:39,000
real graders. But at the same time it's uh, it's

1198
01:06:39,159 --> 01:06:42,400
it's I'm glad that they're not just throwing bodies at

1199
01:06:42,480 --> 01:06:45,159
all the demand, they're doing it the right way.

1200
01:06:45,480 --> 01:06:48,719
Speaker 1: Well, Carl wats one in Australia, So there you go.

1201
01:06:49,280 --> 01:06:53,119
Speaker 2: Carl, It's absolutely something we're looking at. So hang in.

1202
01:06:53,000 --> 01:06:55,639
Speaker 1: There, all right. There you go right from the sores

1203
01:06:56,079 --> 01:06:58,880
and I'm kid you, not for anyone listening, whether you're

1204
01:06:58,960 --> 01:07:02,280
you're watching live or or after the fact on audio death.

1205
01:07:02,519 --> 01:07:04,880
I did not know this was Chris's idea. I knew

1206
01:07:05,199 --> 01:07:07,960
about it, I didn't know this was his baby, so

1207
01:07:08,000 --> 01:07:11,920
to speak. So that worked out even better than I anticipated.

1208
01:07:12,039 --> 01:07:15,960
So there you go. Well everyone, we went a little overtime.

1209
01:07:16,039 --> 01:07:18,480
I appreciate it. I always say thank you to the

1210
01:07:18,519 --> 01:07:22,400
great chat room. Without you to show, it's not as

1211
01:07:22,440 --> 01:07:25,400
much fun, it's fun er. And even if you're not

1212
01:07:25,480 --> 01:07:28,519
in the chat room and you're listening to us after

1213
01:07:28,519 --> 01:07:31,159
the fact, right and still you're giving up your time

1214
01:07:31,760 --> 01:07:35,280
in that fashion, and we appreciate you just as much.

1215
01:07:35,440 --> 01:07:40,119
Just a reminder, we're live every Saturday eleven am eastern

1216
01:07:40,199 --> 01:07:46,039
eight am Pacific, generally with three new faces on the

1217
01:07:46,119 --> 01:07:50,840
screen and usually new topics as well. So we went

1218
01:07:50,880 --> 01:07:55,119
a little overtime. We appreciate it, and we'll see you

1219
01:07:55,199 --> 01:08:03,360
next week. Thank you, Chris, Lauren, thank you, thank you, thanks,

1220
01:08:04,559 --> 01:08:07,880
thank you for listening to this episode of Hobby Hotline.

1221
01:08:07,880 --> 01:08:10,599
I just want to remind everyone we are a live

1222
01:08:10,719 --> 01:08:16,279
show every Saturday morning, eleven am eastern eight am Pacific

1223
01:08:16,399 --> 01:08:21,079
on the four Collectors channel. On YouTube. That's the number

1224
01:08:21,119 --> 01:08:25,720
four the word Collector's channel on YouTube. We hope to

1225
01:08:25,760 --> 01:08:28,880
see many of you live on a future Saturday. We

1226
01:08:28,960 --> 01:08:32,920
have a great interactive chat room and we always provide

1227
01:08:32,920 --> 01:08:34,720
a link for anyone that wants to come on the

1228
01:08:34,760 --> 01:08:38,199
show and chop it up with us. So that's a reminder.

1229
01:08:38,319 --> 01:08:43,720
Every Saturday, eleven am Eastern eight am Pacific, only four

1230
01:08:43,800 --> 01:08:48,000
Collectors channel on YouTube. Hope to see you on the show.

