← Collector Nation
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- [00:00]
A
The music industry. Vinyl is kind of like the baseball cards for artists. Like, 50% of people buying vinyl never even open it. And they don't even own a record player, so it's being treated like a collectible. Of course, we all want the one of one who wouldn't and go sell it if it's going to change your life, absolutely. But should also be doing this for fun.
- [00:16]
B
Welcome to the trading Cards and Collectibles podcast on the Radcast Network. From chasing grails to calling bluffs and going inside the hobby, are you ready to collect? Let's get at it. Here is your host, Ryan Alford.
- [00:35]
C
Hello and welcome to Trading Cards and Collectibles here on the Radcast Network. We're your number three sports show in the universe today. Actually, DJ Ski. Yeah, number three on the sports charts for Apple Podcasts. We appreciate everybody for listening, watching all that good stuff. We love you. We appreciate you. And hey, we're. You know why we're number one? Because we got the best guess, you know, like, we go. We're going like all. I could go so many different directions, you know, I have a host, a few different shows, and like, I want to talk to Ski about a lot of things, but he needs no introduction. What's up, DJ Ski?
- [01:15]
A
What's up, Ryan? How are you, man? Grateful to be here, man. I don't know if I'm gonna help the show anymore, but I'm excited to be amongst great companies, so congrats.
- [01:22]
C
Yeah, man, I, I just want some hardware, you know, I've talked a pre episode with DJ Ski. He's got some hardware you can't buy there behind them. He's done a few things in the. In the music industry, amongst others and. All right, I'm just going to, you know, we're going to do this just because not everybody knows anything but who for our audience. Anyone that hasn't heard of DJ Ski. Why the hell are you so damn famous?
- [01:49]
A
I don't know if I'm damn famous. I mean, I've just been fortunate to be, you know, in the right place at the right time and around the right people.
- [01:56]
C
You know, I call that talent.
- [02:00]
A
If you look at it right, Like, I've always just like doing cool things. Big fan of music, right? Like, music and sports were always my foundation. I thought I was going to be a pro athlete. Made my way in the music industry, and I was fortunate to be around some of the greats of our time and got known as being first to introduce or play everybody. Kendrick, you Know, Post Malone, Lady Gaga, Bieber, Travis Scott, first tv. Like all these, all the, all these guys been around them early on and helped play a small part and just, you know, when, when other people weren't paying attention to them, to shine a little light on them. Leveraging the platform that I had from, you know, clubs, radio, mixtapes, tv, whatever it was at the time. And yeah, from, from that if, you know, been able to expand, you know, I was always entrepreneurial, launch businesses and really, you know, fortunate to take me back to my first business which was, you know, the collectible industry. When I was seven, I was selling trading cards out of my garage and now, you know, trying to build a category defining business in the memorabilia side, you know, leveraging the best authentication in the world and working with the biggest partners. And we've been really, really fortunate to have a lot of success early on.
- [03:05]
C
Yeah, you know, talent is like real knows real talent, sees and knows talent. I think that you're a curator of what should be more noticed. And like, it's sort of like, that's where I've sort of like I always like go deep like on guests, like getting underneath, like, what does this person get at? Why are they like as soon as possible yourself, like some of the connections you've had and you know how to identify value and value is a loaded word, but you do know how to. Do you know how to. You're a taste maker. Like, you've probably been called that before, but. But I think that's what it is, man. And now you're doing it with a realist, what you're doing there. But how did you get that skill? Like, is that, is that nature or nurture?
- [03:56]
A
I think it's honestly nature. Right. It's just something that's always come natural to me. I was always just fascinated by seeing what's next. And it's, it's interesting, right? Like, I'm not responsible for all those artists that I mentioned. They're all have this incredible talent that comes from that. You know, I, I've always been able to see things. You know, I think my, my skill, if anything is identifying things and stuff, seeing where the puck is going right before others do. A little bit early, whether it's all the artists that I mentioned, whether it's, you know, early on, doing a lot of work with Beats by Dre, a lot of brands, even doing some of the first YouTube content, music space, and really diving into collectibles before it became as popular and mainstream as it was. It was obviously big, right? But we saw what was happening. I launched, you know, the, a lot of my activities and got in early in the card space right before the pandemic. And then obviously when that stuff happened was able to double down. And now we're doing kind of the same for memorabilia, that kind of sector while everybody focuses on cards. We think that there's a lot going on over here that you know, hasn't really been like, you know, optimized yet.
- [04:59]
C
Yeah, that's why we're here, baby. Because this is trading cards and collectibles. We are giving the audience where they, we're taste making ourselves curating, you know.
- [05:11]
A
Like looking at where it's going. Like we see cards and I, we're always like, look at RPA cards, cards and these things, right. You're like the jersey itself should be worth more than a cut up piece of it. Like it's just like you look at very obvious things. If you were to ask somebody on the street, when it comes to, I think if you just like my, my litmus test for anything, right. Is like ask somebody that has no idea and just get what an obvious opinion is. And if you were to tell somebody like say a player whose RPA's card is sold for 4 million and their jersey, the debut jersey or something sold for 400,000. If you were to ask somebody on the street like, hey, what's more valuable, artificially scarce item with a piece cut up, put into it or the actual one that was worn that's naturally scarce, that doesn't have to have a number on it. Yeah, both valuable, right? Not saying there has to be one or the other, but I just think that like the value proposition is going to change over time. It's just if you were to ask anybody, it just feels obvious in that sector. And I love cards, it's why I'm here in that. But you know, we've made, you know, on the business side, realists kind of focus on another category that's just been kind of ignored.
- [06:10]
C
I love the fact because it was so apparent to me, like my kids got me back into all of this with my four boys. I would, I was a collector growing up like yourself.
- [06:20]
A
Yep.
- [06:21]
C
But it was on the shelves, you know, like I say, like every other, I guess, red blooded American boy, they went. Cards and collectibles went on the shelf and cars, college and coeds.
- [06:33]
A
Yeah, great way to put it.
- [06:36]
C
Right. The, the new topic. But then, you know, a lot of guys my age like coming back into it because either kids or nostalgia or whatever, it Might be. But here's what I love about what you're doing and what I think is so smart and what I see myself is this intersection of culture, music, sports, and now collectibles. These are universes all revolving. I don't know which one's the sun, but they're all in this space and it's coming together. And that's why I love what you're doing with the Realist.
- [07:10]
A
I appreciate it. I mean, like, yeah, that. That's my life, right? Like, I thought I was going to be an athlete, got into music and collectibles were, you know, I was collecting things in both realms of that. And that's where, you know, so fortunate. Like, I kind of really made my name in the collectible, like the design scene by my work with Topps putting out kind of, you know, when they approached me to do Project 70, I was like, hell, yeah. Like, I'll do baseball cards. Like, who wouldn't? That was our dream. And then I had to really think, like, all right, what am I going to do? Design wise, I didn' want to just like, I needed to do something that had a story and that made sense and that tied into culture and it brought me back to, like, you know, my. My start music was mixtapes and mixtapes. We'd throw together covers of, like, pop culture and, like, put our name on it and Photoshop them. And I was like, let's treat the players like, like artists and combine music and sports. It makes sense to me. And I thought they were just some iconic album covers. And, you know, that that's what I did and leaned in on storytelling, putting 100 little details into every card. Like, yes, you can obviously see it's Kirby Puckett Prince. But did you know that there's this behind the motorcycle represents this and this represents Game seven and this represents his catch and like, all these different layers. So if you dig deeper, there's many more stories, but it's still, like, beautiful aesthetically. And it's led to us even creating products. Like, you know, behind me I'm hanging our, you know, collectible vinyl that we launched with the MLBPA and we launched in Japan with Ohtani and other players. You know, the day that he had the greatest game ever, which is just, you know, kismet and insane and, you know, like, yeah, that's. That's what it's. What it's about. You know, I always had. The reason we launched this is. It's literally vinyl records. It doesn't have music. Ohtani is not singing on Here, but we're treating players like rock stars. And if you look at, you know, in the music industry, vinyl is kind of like the baseball cards for artists, right? Like, 50% of people buying vinyl never even open it. And, you know, they don't even own a record player, so it's being treated like a collectible. And for me, it was a chance to get product into the hands of collectors that didn't care about cards necessarily as well as give people that wanted to see, like, this broader 12 inch by 12 inch kind of, you know, beautifully displayed art, high quality print that, you know, we're limited on cards, like, size wise, right. Like, here's the Otani card. Like, it's a lot bigger space to play with, and it's very easy to display. So. Yeah, yeah, that's just fun to me. Right? Like, it's. And it fits what I do, so.
- [09:25]
C
Yeah, but it connects all these dots that make so much sense with, you know, the scarcity that's kind of happening with, you know, limited edition, limited prints, the athletes themselves being so tied to culture and in music and all these other things. Like, I don't know. I think it's a perfect intersection. And I do have a white wall that's really empty over here. And I'm going, let's go. You know, like, DJ Ski, I need it. We'll put it in the background. We're redoing our set right now.
- [09:56]
A
Send me the address. I got you, Ryan, Easy.
- [09:59]
C
All right, I'm gonna hold. Bella, you get. You got. No, Easy, easy, easy. Talking with DJ Ski about all things collectibles. Entrepreneur, the Realist. Talk to me about, you know, we're talking a little bit about what's in the Realist, but the evolution of that company, the. That. Where did it all come from? Some of it's so clear to me, but I'd love it to hear it in your own words.
- [10:23]
A
Yeah. I think, like, for us, it's like everything that you said, authenticity meets engagement. We wanted to, like, really legitimize kind of, you know, and for us, everything starts with identifying what's real. I mean, going back to Operation Bullpen, the FBI just estimates up to 50 to 90% of memorabilia and stuff at the time might be fraudulent. And we've seen it, right? Like, I bought from the biggest auction sites and seen items that were not real. And, like, there's not that much accountability when you think of, like, who's authenticating items. At the end of the day, it's a letter of opinion. There's no certification required. Anybody can launch their own business. This, it's a space wildly riddled with fraud. And especially as, I mean we saw what happened with you know, card porn. Like we see these jersey things like it's, there's too much money in there to be taking risks. And I really realized it when I, you know, I launched a fund in the space and we looked at like what we could buy with not only for the first time, I wasn't just buying with my own money, it was with other people's monies as a fund. And we realized like the provenance is, is everything. We have to be 100% certain. We can't spend a million dollars on an item that yeah, we think it's real. 80% chance. Because if it's not, it's not like it's worth how it's only worth 800k. It's like, no, it's worth $8. So like, and just seeing how much fraud was out there and seeing kind of like in looking at the landscape, seeing baseball was the only sport and league that took it serious and actually used this like witness based program that's routed in evidence collection, we were like, why is every other property not only sports, like a concert is no different than a music show. Like why are all these other entertainment properties not leveraging this layer of authentication to protect fans and then also monetize their goods? We saw most of these items being leaked out. $10 million Jordan Jersey Michael gets no money from it. The Bulls get no money. The NBA gets no money. So none of the rights holders that made that valuable, not made of gold aren't participating. And we wanted to build a program in the infrastructure to allow us one protect fans. Like I built this for myself, but then secondarily to allow the rightful rights holders to go direct to consumers and give their fans a way to get closer to it with ultimate trust in a way that, that you know, engages fans in a deeper way and gives them these, these assets that have the potential to you know, really appreciate over time and stuff as we think about it. And that was really the foundation of just modernizing an antiquated industry with authentication. And then also with like a marketplace, we don't charge buyers premium. Like we don't have. Like we're not third party, we're not taking those things, we're from the source. Like we document them and we fully transparent in the whole process. And also like we want things at every price point. That's where we're making hard line goods that are affordable and, you know, $49 that everybody can walk away from. Not only are we setting records for selling gold gloves and silver sluggers, you know, $100,000 plus that, like, that's not accessible to anybody. We wanted something that everybody could afford because that's not going to be your first purchase. And last thing I'll say is, like, it's really about onboarding a new demographic. Like, for me, I always go back to, you know, growing up, it was the 89 Griffey card that was the most valuable one, right? 120 bucks, I think it was in Beckett. Like, couldn't afford that. You know, we're buying packs and, you know, I got hooked because I was still able to buy cards and, you know, for, for $0.10 and for $0.50 for a couple bucks and rip a pack for that. Like, a lot of things now are just getting too unaffordable, and we're going to, you know, alienate a whole audience because they just can't participate. And that's why, especially in, like, the memorabilia in the auction site land, like, for us, we want things across every price point because somebody's first purchase is not going to be, you know, $100,000 item. It's going to be something far less than that. But we, we have to hook them early. And, and there should be things for everybody.
- [14:03]
C
And it's about, you know, that's what this show's about. Like, don't get me wrong, I'm in the business. I mean, I, I'm turning a. My hometown, like, literally, easily South Carolina. I bought a building here. I moved out of downtown Greenville, one of the fastest growing cities in America. Small city, but little suburb. Easley, S.C. turned it into a hobby studio. And it's about collecting, you know, it's about the nostalgia, about the, you know, like, it's great. It's no problem with these kids like that go to shows and they flip something, make some money. I love it. I'm teaching my boys how to do that. But I also want them and really put an emphasis on the value of having. Of collecting something and it meaning something, you know, like, and, and what that meaning is to you and this remembrance of that and like stamping that in time. I really love that that's what you guys are doing. And I, I feel that with what I've seen.
- [14:56]
A
No, I appreciate that. And like, Ryan, you talk about it all the time on this show, right? Like, I've heard you talk about, like, yeah, of course there's like a business behind it. Like, we're here from those things and it's great, but that's not the foundation of this. And I think actually that's where we're in a big risk of. Right. Like everything is right now about. Especially on the card side, but I mean, you could say about everything, right? Like people. Poly market, like people are gambling on and everything. It's. It's about flips and what you can do to make money. And I saw what that did to the sneaker scene, to the street wear scene, right. And like those things don't last. People will move on to what's next. Whether it's Labubus, whether It's, you know, PlayStations, whether it's sneakers, whether. And cards happen to be hot at the moment, especially with, you know, some of the innovations and breaking is great and awesome. But what, what turns me off is like when we were a kid, like, of course, going back to my story, of course I wanted a King Griffey Jr. Card. I'd buy a pack and try to get that and would love to get that. But you know what? I was happy when I got any Minnesota Twins card because I love them or when I got other players that I like. Nowadays, it's like, even if you get your. Unless you get the hit, like kids are just throwing things away in the trash. And it's not. It's all about just what is the hit. What is the money? What is the money? What is the money? Which sounds a lot like gambling to me. And I think that, that, that is not a stable outcome long term. And what, what has me really scared, especially in the card sector of this, this world. Because it should be cool. Like, regardless. Like, yes, of course we all want the one of one hit. Like, who wouldn't? And go sell it if it's going to change your life. Like, absolutely. But should also be doing this for fun because you love it. It's a way you engage the sports. And like, you know, for me as a Minnesota sports fan, right, like, I want those, you know, Twins players and things like that's why, you know, that's more meaningful to me than. Than been one of the one outside of the cash.
- [16:37]
C
Yeah. I mean mine is. And I'm doing it and that's why, you know, twisted your elbow a little bit. Is part of my reason for doing this show is I want people to send me stuff that I want to collect forever and put on my walls. Like Matt Caesar won a World Series for the Cubbies and now as an artist did this one of one Michael Jordan for me in my radical colors, my brand colors, and that will never be for sale. Like, and I had. And I did this with the boys. Like, we. I went to Clemson. We're from South Carolina, so we're Clemson guys through and through. Bleed orange. Not a good season for us, by the way, but we collect Trevor Lawrence and all the guys. And like, so with the boys, we make a, you know, it doesn't matter. It's a $2 card. You know, like, we're. If we get a Trevor Lawrence, it means something to us. And I just. I always want to be an advocate for it's the two sides. Investment in business and then collecting. Because I'll tell you what, that tops Project 70. To this day, if I see one of those, I buy it. Like, it doesn't even matter what the value. It's just fun. And I told Brian Lund and I were talking about this last week on the show. I was like, there's so much room. And just the reason I was, like, so disappointed is like, the. The few artistic showings that we've had. I hope top spreader h you to do some killer, like, replacements of Kaboom and Downtowns and all this stuff in the cards, because what you did with TOPS, Project 70 and other things, we need more of that because, you know, I don't need to see the guy, you know, fielding a ball for the hundredth time. Like, it's cool and all. I want to see the. The artistic interpretation of this. And it doesn't have to be 1:1 necessarily. It's just different and collectible.
- [18:31]
A
Yeah, I think you. You nailed it, right? And. And I think, like, look, we're fortunate art cards are having a moment right, right now. And I think when we look back on this era, one of the catalysts of cards exploding is going to be Project 2020, which before what I did, Project 70 and those things afterwards. And, you know, it just onboarded a whole new demographic because people, you know, artists participating in it. There were some incredibly talented artists there, and they were able to bring in their communities that weren't card buyers while also, you know, taking card buyers and showcasing them, these. These different styles and also creating real value from it. Like, obviously there was a bubble in those things in that verse, but I think, like, there's actually probably some good buys long term, because I think era, especially with us all being home in the pandemic and looking at the site every day to see what was there, like, there was this moment in time that you can't recreate Even for me, going out and doing that like it was one of the most fun projects I've ever done. That's led me to like actually like here's the Otani card that I did as project part of Project 70 which was based on his walkout sign at Song at the time was Jujutsu Kaisen, which is the anime show. And he loved it so much. Like I really leaned in and storyteller like Shohei posted it up, I dropped it off. I went there to do an interview with Mike Trout and left the clubhouse attendant some of the Ohtani ones. And next day it ended up on his Instagram story. And like seeing players like really react because we dig into something that's unique.
- [19:51]
C
And like they see the cards and the basic cards all the time and they get asked to autograph this all the time. But that has thought and creativity and culture like built into it. That's different. Different is a winner 100%.
- [20:06]
A
Right? And that's where like it's just fun for me, right? Like and, and that's what's important. That's how we onboard new generations it is doing those cross cultural collaborations where all sides can benefit. And that was a great example and tops and the team there that was behind it did such an incredible job of that because you were able to take this artist world and this and like when you hit on these collaborations, there's too many labs in the world right now. But when they hit and they're right, like it just serves as an accelerant. I think we're going to point back to that as being a crucial market in, in a crucial time in the hobby that there'll probably be a lot of nostalgia 10, 15, 20 years from now for, for those. So you know, not investment advice but I actually think like anything from early Project 2020 to, you know, even through some of the Project 70 stuff, those are going to go down. As a lot of kids, that's gonna be the first moment that they had with cards. Same way I'm talking about my Griffey card.
- [20:55]
C
You know, that's why I buy every. I, I buy them because I like them, because it's different. But I also think there's a incredible.
- [21:02]
A
There'S a sneaky play, long term strategy. Who knows, like, but it's cool regardless.
- [21:08]
C
It doesn't pan out. It's just cool and different. It's like the first thing like when I have cards like that, when I'm showing like a non collector somebody, they're like, whoa, what's that? I mean, it is like, what stands. It stands out. And that's what true art should do. And that's what DJ Ski does. Talking with my man. He is the curator of culture. So what's. What are you excited about today as we sit here? You're doing a lot of, like, cool. But, like, what's. What's like, really got you popping off so much.
- [21:44]
A
I mean, like, it's been an incredible year for us. I mean, working like, we've been fortunate to do it at the highest level. I mean, at the super bowl this year, we had three clients, Philadelphia Eagles Kendrick Lamar and Serena Williams, who we authenticated and took all of their memorabilia from. Which is insane, right? It's like, yeah, like, it's insane. And we're, like, working there.
- [22:03]
C
Did I fall on the floor or did you just say, like, three of the biggest. We're there.
- [22:09]
A
They all happen to be doing super bowl, like, the same year. Like, it's. It's just insane, right? Like, we. I'm just so passionate and excited about what we're doing at the realest and, like, you know, bringing these. Yes. It's authentic products. Yes. Protecting fans for the first time, giving IP and rights holders a new way to. To engage with their fans while making these items available legitimately, not through just like, the back door where they've historically been, but it's also, like, how we create new things and onboard a new generation and storytelling a deeper way. I always say, like, we're just storytellers through, like, our medium is, you know, your medium is podcast. Our medium is physical ip. Right. We have a bottle of confetti from the super bowl that represents, you know, the. One of the biggest, you know, moments if you're a Philadelphia Eagles fan in your. Your life and to anybody else, you don't really care, but to. To them, it's wildly valuable and we're able to preserve these moments. And I think in an era of AI, of deep fakes, of fraud being everywhere and what's real and what's not, us being able to dictate that and legitimately provide fans that is. Is wildly valuable. So to be able to do that and come with cool collaborations and projects and, you know, go to Japan and open up pop ups with the MLBPA and launch products with, like, Shotani in the World Series that he has the greatest, you know, game in the NLCS before and goes down to one of the greatest series ever is just, you know, dream come true. Like, still. Still got to pinch myself. I'm still tired, though. From that.
- [23:31]
C
The World Series. Freaking awesome. I mean. Yeah. I got to be. I'll be honest. Like, baseball is like number like 4 for me for sports, like, but I'm a sports junkie in general. But that World Series and really a lot of the playoffs, like, like rejuvenated me for the sport. And like, I. It was so cool. Like the other night, my four. We know we rarely get where we can like, sit and like, watch all one game together. We got sports happening. Lots of stuff all four of my boys made. My wife was already like, you know, two hours of sleep. We're just sitting there watching that last game of the World Series. It was cool as shit. And it was just like. I don't know, the moment and how much tense. How tense it was, but the excitement, like, it was just an awesome game.
- [24:16]
A
I mean, the thing that people complain about baseball or what make it most exciting sport in moments like that, right? Like, the dramatic pauses, like, like the strategy, like the randomness, the fact that, you know, you know, the last play, LeBron is going to get the ball, right. You know, Tom Brady is going to be able to throw the touchdown. You know, what's happening in baseball might be Miguel Rojas, the number nine hitter who wasn't even playing in the series, hitting a home run to when everybody thought it was over. Right.
- [24:39]
C
Like, and then make a play. I mean, God, I guess that guy. Everybody's a bill in LA again. It's like, it's criminal crime.
- [24:47]
A
It's. It's insane. Right? So you never know what's going to happen. And it's just, you know, it's what makes it so exciting. And yeah, there can be lulls and you go through 162 games and long things, but I think, like, it was the best thing to happen for baseball is. Is this. And hopefully they can carry on and hopefully, you know, there's not a work stoppage, you know, next. Next year in 27. Like, I think that that be catastrophic the same way. 94 really took a lot of momentum out of baseball when I was a kid. Right.
- [25:12]
C
Yeah. Because they've got that going now. I think they really do. They need to figure that out. But here's what I love about what you're doing, though, with the realist. You know, we can't all go and be at these events and these things, like, either unattainable monetarily, logistics, whatever it might be, but, you know, physically, but like putting them in the bottle, like stopping time in a way and making these collectibles and then knowing the authenticity is there and the trust is there. That's what collecting is about, though. It's kind of like, look, attention is fleeting. Moments are fleeting. We're pulled in so many different ways. But having these things that bring back nostalgia, bring back reminders, and being a moment that is sort of captured in time is really cool.
- [25:58]
A
You nailed it. I mean, like, look, I'll show you what's behind me. I have a 91 Twins World Series trophy paired with a picture of me and my mom at the. You know, during the 91 World Series, my mother passed away. But, like, so for me, like, yes, as a Minnesota sports fan, the last men's championship we won. There's the obvious on field. That's the smallest part from. For me, that tugs on my memories as a kid. My memories with my mother, my memories of my father. Right. Like everything else. And that's what this trophy, when I see, represents, that moment in time. Yes. Like, to me, it's priceless. Right. Like, value in it. It's a gold trophy, but it's being there, and that's what I try to be. That's what I hope this represents. Like, it's confetti. It's a novelty product. Let's keep it real. Right. Like it's confetti. We put a lot of effort into collecting it, which is why, you know, it's still like, a $60 product, because we literally are on the field at the super bowl collecting it. We literally seal it up, protective tape with trackers on it. It can't be opened up unless one of our representatives is in the factory. We want to make sure that even at the factory, they're not trying to get cute and add in more confetti or take any of those things. Like, we want people to know what they're getting is real.
- [27:04]
C
Right.
- [27:04]
A
And from the source, because it represents so much more again, to a lot of people. Like, yes, on paper, Philadelphia Eagles won the Super bowl on February 9th in New Orleans. There's going to be some kid that is. This is going to be sitting on his desk 20 years from now because he remembers watching it with his family. And that's far more important than the outcome of the game. This is just what encapsulates that, and that's what I'm trying to bring is, like, the same nostalgia that some of these items bring to me and memories we want to preserve for others. And it just hasn't been. Just hasn't been available, and it hasn't been in a trusted source like that's what we're here for. And that's where I say we really storytell through these. And it's, it's more than just the value of items.
- [27:44]
C
And if you're listening, that is what should be a holiday gift and not some socks or something.
- [27:52]
A
Exactly. This is gifting.
- [27:56]
C
If I was an Eagle fan and I got that in thy gift, like, I'd be like, someone's paying attention.
- [28:02]
A
Like, you know what's great, Ryan, is that the fact is that whether you are a billionaire or somebody that's impossible to buy a gift for, whoever it's, it's literally the best, right? And like, people will put it on and like, by the way, it's worthless to us that aren't Eagles fans, right? Like, to anybody else it's not. But if you are, it is more valuable than anything else. And that's what I love. Like these Items, worthless to 99% of the population, almost everything that we sell, but to that 1% that is a fan of that team or loves that sport or loves that artist. It's, it's priceless and it's, it's really fun to be able to, you know, storyteller through products like that and bring that joy to fans. I mean, look, this is how deep.
- [28:44]
C
I go with my fandom here. I could care less about the Eagles, but you know why I'd want that? Because I get Will Shipley or Jeremiah Trotter, both Clemson guys.
- [28:53]
A
There you go.
- [28:55]
C
To autograph it, man, we gotta do it. My Clemson memorabilia as priceless. And so like, yeah, I love the angles.
- [29:04]
A
Yeah, you nailed it. Yeah, we'll get you one out too, Ryan.
- [29:06]
C
Easy the talking with DJ Ski. He is the curator of cash. Tell me a story, man. As we close out a little bit here, I want a good story. DJ Ski, you've seen him, you've heard him name dropping, you know, he doesn't have to name drop. It's, they're all names. But whether it's old school DJing or, you know, like, you've done such amazing things. I, I, I'll be honest, like dj, I, I just know, like, how deep you've been into like culture and these names. I'm like, how did this guy come out on the other side of it? So put together running a company and like, I like and because let's be honest, right? It's, that's a roller coaster of a million, a million things that you roads you probably could have gone down, I.
- [30:01]
A
Don'T know, making the music industry, you could make it anywhere. Which is why like, sports seems relatively tame now, right?
- [30:08]
C
I guess. Right. But what's a good story? What's something that would. Everybody would be like, holy cow.
- [30:14]
A
Like there's so many. It's tough where to start. But I mean, just the, you know, having the fortune to be around the greats and seeing what, what made them great, you know, I was fortunate to be around, you know, everybody from Prince, right. In tour with him. He wanted me to write a book on his tour, which is just insane. He found out I was from Minnesota after I wrote a Billboard article on him. And when I went on tour with him every night I was picking up guitar picks and set lists. I was like, somebody should do music memorabilia, right?
- [30:45]
C
Like, yeah.
- [30:46]
A
So that was kind of a lot of those things, like put the me on that path with it. I mean, being able to. I still vividly remember the first time I met Kendrick. Top Dog brought him to the studio. I just recorded 300 bars with game, which was kind of my breakout song that I produced. And Kendrick was maybe 16 at the time. And he freestyled for about 18 minutes. And somebody has it on footage too. There's. There was somebody recording on camera, so I don't know where that footage is. I hope it comes out one day. I remember telling him like, ah, you can freestyle. Like, if he ever learns how to make like a song and consolidated record, it'd be pretty good. And like watching his growth and journey and the hard work and seeing him like be signed and like didn't happen overnight to, you know, one of the greatest moments was, you know, we were at the super bowl walkthrough. They do a dress rehearsal the Thursday night before the game final walkthrough for artists every. Every year he got off and first person he talks to and says those things. And I hadn't seen him in a couple years and we just have this conversation and he's asking about me. It's not even about him, but seeing how humble he stayed. But like I remember and I booked his first show to his first ever show, which I didn't realize. He told me in an interview we were doing later on and being. I was like, ah, it's a little better attended. You know, you come a long way from your first show. It was called the MB Expo thing that we did. Just joking and sharing that memory and literally watching. I mean, I think it gets no better in a career. Like you're just not obviously not father, but like almost like a proud. I don't want to say Father. It's not the right word for that in any context, but like watching some. Literally a kid that you took, not that you know, a couple years older than him, not much older, but at the time, like, you know, the difference between 16 and 19 is drastic. And booking his first show and watching him literally be like people not giving him the time of day to being on the biggest stage and having the biggest performance of all time and having a front row view to both and watching him be the same person was. Is just, is just incredible to see. Right? And like those moments are, I mean it's, it's still a dream. Like it's, it's, it's obvious now, but like nobody knew who's there to watch. That whole journey and a lot of things along the way too is just, just wild. So it's. You never know what's going to happen and what life's going to take you.
- [32:45]
C
But you, you name two very different artists. But Prince is on my list of most talented. Like number. I mean he's really like number one for me. Like a lot of people, I think he's probably maybe become more known. But like, yeah, he could sing. Yeah, yeah. Purple. But playing the guitar, playing instruments, like the musical genius and ability and talent that was coming through that man is never been like. I don't think it's been duplicated ever.
- [33:21]
A
I don't think it ever will be. I mean when people ask me the most talented artist or musician, I mean there's not even a, like usually favorite album. I have to think about favorite artists. No, no question in the world. I'll fight anybody over that. Like seeing him every night, like touring becomes very boring with most artists because it's the same show, the same set, night after night. Right. Like, you know what's coming and sequenced. Prince every night in the tour that we did was two shows a night. House of Loose. So smaller style venues, a couple thousand people. Like he intentionally did them small, which is amazing. Every show he would come out different. One night he's rock Prince, the next night he's R B Prince, the next night, total different set list. Had no idea. And you couldn't turn away. It wasn't like usually first, second show, you're like, all right, I've seen it. You know what's happening. By the third show you're already done. Because it's, you know, Prince every night was, was absorbing and he's doing his own sound and mixing it. He fired a sound guy three times. Like crazy stories on that end. But like, he's.
- [34:19]
C
He's doing it like you're a genius and you're so talented. Like, nothing's good enough. Like, you know, like, you're like, what are you doing?
- [34:27]
A
I mean, like, look, we always see this. Like, the great ones are always crazy, right?
- [34:30]
C
Yeah. Michael Jackson, again, who. I'd put. It's a different category. In a way, it's music, but another level of understanding, like beats and tying things together that like, I consider myself creative but like. But that is just like such genius, like the way they can tie these together. But Prince was just. I mean, it's also. So what's sad that it does seem to almost break them, you know, like, because of their genius. Right.
- [34:59]
A
It's a shame what happened to him. Right? Like, and he was. The guy was so shocking to the way that he passed. Right. Because yeah, he didn't want anybody drinking around him. Like, I. I didn't believe it. It just shows like the power of, you know, like, you know, what can happen. He had bad surger, got addicted to pain pills. Right. Like, is. Is how it ended, which is just shows it can happen to anybody because he was so against drugs and drinking and those things, and he just needed it to survive and unfortunately became, you know, addicted to those things that led to the downfall but without question, the most. Most talented, you know, musical artist. And I mean, there won't be nobody.
- [35:33]
C
That'S the experiences that you've had, dude.
- [35:35]
A
Like, I mean, I'm living a dream. I don't even know are the dreams I've done it. Like, I'm very fortunate. Like, I. Every day, you know, I've lived, you know, 10 lives that, you know, I'd be honored to live those things every. Every day is a blessing to still.
- [35:49]
C
What's the biggest attribute? Like, I. I'm getting almost into my business show talk, but I have to because I'm just curious. But you got to be curious. Yeah, I know you're. I bet you, you're. You're insanely curious creature on some level. Most successful people are. But like, what's the. What's the one attribute? Two attributes. Like, what is it it's got put you in those rooms.
- [36:11]
A
I think it's like, you know, always providing value to others. Not looking for others to provide you value. Right? Like, there's always some value that you can provide.
- [36:19]
C
I tell people that one more time. I want everybody. I'm not. This isn't a motivational show. This is a trading card show. But we talked about it. But I want People to hear this.
- [36:26]
A
You know, I mean, like, provide. Like, you get hit up all the time, hey, Ryan, help me out, do this. It's like, you. You don't have enough hours in the day. Like, I'm sure you would love to. It's just not realistic. And I think, like, for me, like, my break when I was 16, I wrote a letter. I was flipping PlayStation twos. I was, you know, that's how I made my money, like, flipping stuff. And that's how I was working as a kid. I got connected to Steve Rifkin, the CEO of Loud Records. He needed one for his son for Christmas. Hooked him up and then just stayed close. And then I sent him an idea on what I thought he was doing wrong with his label when the Internet was disrupting it. I thought I'd get a Wu Tang Clan shirt and be the happiest kid in the world. And he offered me a job and moved to LA when I was 17. So that was the foundation for me of everything. If it wasn't for me providing that value, I would have never been able to have that conversation and ideas for him. And he listened from. It was there. So I think, like, providing value at some context. And again, my value was he. It was right before Christmas and, you know, for your kids, you will do anything and couldn't find a PlayStation. I was able to hook him up with that. So, like, small value in retrospect, something that many others could provide. I just happened to be at the right place at the right time. And then I think, you know, just following your passions and trying to find your lane. For me, it's always I'm. I'm not really interested by what's done. And that's why I think I'm really, well, obviously super deep in cards. I've really gravitated towards memorabilia because it feels kind of like just obvious. Going back to my point in the show, and I think that this is. Is a category that has a much bigger, even audience profile. It's not limited to just card collectors. I think everybody's a collector of something, whether it's music, film. We see the gladiator stuff behind us, sports, obviously. And I just think it's just an untapped realm and it brings so much joy to people. I've seen the joy that it brings to myself in my life, and I wanted to be there to provide that and have fun. So, yeah, that's my. That's my spiel.
- [38:14]
C
DJ Ski. He is a true one of one. I appreciate you, brother Ryan.
- [38:20]
A
Thank you for having me, man. Congrats on the success as always. It's always awesome to see good people doing good things and. Yeah. Hear anything that you need. Yeah, your stuff over. We'll get you some of the, the vinyl.
- [38:30]
C
I would love it, man. And I, let's, let's stay connected and I'd love to have you on the show periodically and I just love your energy, man.
- [38:38]
A
Vice versa, brother. I'm here. Thank you, guys. Thanks to everybody watching out there for the support and love. Like, we're here because of you guys and yeah, we're, we're buy some of.
- [38:47]
C
This stuff, learn about what it is. Give me some. Give. Let's hit some handles, websites, all that stuff.
- [38:52]
A
Everything that we sell is up on the realist.com. you'll see all of our big partners across the NFL, NBA, you know, MLS, you know, music, etc. You can find more on me at dj ski.com and at dj ski on socials and lots more to come. We're just getting warmed up, so we've got some crazy stuff coming.
- [39:07]
C
Thank you, brother. Appreciate you. Hey, guys. You never find us Collectibles Show. We'll, we'll have highlight clips, the full episode, links to YouTube, links to the realist.com, all the stuff. Go, go. Just read some of this stuff. He talked about some of those stories, but just go, go down the rabbit hole. He's worth it. It because you see how quality he is. You see what they're doing with the Realist and I can't wait to see some of that on the wall over here. Next show.
- [39:32]
A
Next show. Let's go.
- [39:33]
C
I know. Yeah, bro. We appreciate it. Hey, we appreciate everybody out there. We'll see you next time on tcc. Collectibles show is where you'll find all of the channels and learn more about what we're doing. And ultimately, hey, we want to hear from you. You do Case hits at collectibles show wants you to send in your favorite pulls of the week. And here's the difference. This isn't about just value. Hey, we want to see some $10,000 hits. Had a couple of those myself a few months back. But it's not just about the value. It's about what you're collecting, what means something to you. Share a story, share a video of you holding up the card that you hit last week that was your favorite player and you nailed it. So Case hitsollectables show, send in those videos. I want to know the stories. We're going to bring them to life here on the show. We're going to do a segment each week once we get rolling and get some videos in where we share that on the show with us. We want to feature you on Collectibles Show.
- [40:29]
B
Thanks for tuning in to the show. Don't forget to follow us on your favorite podcast platform and don't miss the full video version on YouTube. You can find us at www.collectibles.show or follow Ryan on Instagram at ryanolford. Now get out there and collect yours.