Is Topps Taking Over the Hobby? FIFA, WNBA, and What’s Next

Summary

Collector Nation Podcast

Episode: Is Topps Taking Over the Hobby? FIFA, WNBA, and What’s Next

Date: May 8, 2026
Hosts: Ryan Alford, Brian Ludden
Guest/Contributor: Bella (store manager or staff)

Episode Overview

This week's episode dives deeply into the evolving landscape of the sports and collectibles hobby, with a focus on Topps/Fanatics' aggressive expansion (including new FIFA and WNBA deals), the potential Panini acquisition, and broader impacts on the market. The hosts also cover happenings within the Collector Nation store, recent hobby shows, the remarkable surge of live selling, and key trends in grading. Special guest Leonard checks in to give an update on the collegiate trading card front. Throughout, the conversation is candid, sometimes irreverent, and loaded with on-the-ground hobby insight.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Toronto National Recap & Canadian Hobby Scene

(02:08 - 05:27)

• Brian’s Visit: Brian shares impressions from the Toronto National, surprised by the diversity beyond just hockey—lots of football, basketball, and non-sport cards as well.
• Market Dynamics: Canadian shows price in CAD, often offering deals for US buyers because of currency conversion.
• Upper Deck Presence: Upper Deck had the biggest show footprint; eBay and Whatnot are also highly visible.
• Canadian Hobby Culture:
  “That Collector Nation up there is freaking insane... was so happy that it was more broad than I thought it would be.” – Brian (02:16)
• Steve Menzies is praised for advocating for show diversity, ensuring events aren’t pigeonholed into just hockey or Pokémon.

2. Topps/Fanatics, WNBA, FIFA and the Fall of Panini

(12:00 - 14:44)

• Major Announcements:
  • Fanatics secures the WNBA and FIFA licenses (starting 2031).
  • This continues a trend of Fanatics/Topps scooping up major rights from Panini.
• Panini’s Future:
  • Speculation that Panini is being “peeled like an onion.”
  • Discuss remaining IP: DC, Marvel, soccer stickers, some music brands.
  • Question if Topps would retain Panini branding if acquired, or “bury” it.
  • Brian’s Business Perspective:
    “You buy companies for three reasons: to bury it and have it out of the ecosystem, to partner with it, or to grow with it.” (13:29)
• Monopoly Concerns:
  • There’s speculation Fanatics/Topps might keep Panini as a zombie competitor to avoid antitrust trouble.
  • “Maybe they can buy it really cheap just to keep them out of court and save that money.” – Brian (14:12)
• Nostalgia:
  • The hosts posit last-year Panini wax could become highly collectible and nostalgic (e.g., Donruss, Prizm).

3. Store Stories & The Thrill (and Agony) of Ripping

(15:10 - 23:01)

• Topps Chrome Football:
  • Secondary market boxes selling for up to $2k—4x initial price.
  • Bella shares her heartbreak after spending $120 on packs and coming up empty.
  • “It’s entertainment, not investment.” – Brian (15:22)
• The Pulls That Got Away:
  • A young customer pulls an $800 Cam Skattebo autograph after Bella’s unsuccessful attempts, bringing joy all around.
  • Suggestion to set up a live store cam to capture future hits.

4. The Resale, Retail & Grading Landscape

(16:17 - 27:30)

• GameStop/Collectors Industry Speculation:
  • Rumors swirl about GameStop (of meme stock fame) trying to buy eBay; hosts are skeptical of the economics.
  • “There's no way. eBay's market cap is larger than GameStop.” – Brian (16:28)
  • Reflection on physical retail and collectible cards as an enduring “in” even as video game sales move digital.
• Live Selling’s Rise:
  • Whatnot’s live selling model is changing the game, enabling sellers to move more product and build repeat relationships.
  • Sellers can now more easily turn their hobby into a full-time business.
• Grading Trends & PSA Stats:
  • New TCG juggernauts: One Piece is now PSA’s second-highest submission after Pokémon.
  • PSA graded 2M cards in one month; Pokémon was over 1M, and One Piece at ~200K in April.
  • “No slowdown on the PSA grading.” – Brian (26:09)
• Store Operations:
  • Discuss inventory strategy and the resourcefulness required for a non-allocated shop to stay stocked.
  • Highlights on rare pulls, the recurring luck of certain customers, and the challenge of capturing epic moments on video.

5. Community & Events

(23:23 - 24:56 ; 32:32 - 34:14)

• Collector Nation Store:
  • Recap of a successful first trade night despite torrential rain: “It was a very comfortable, good... first trade.” – Brian (23:30)
  • Second trade night on the horizon.
• National plans:
  • Hosts discuss housing for the National, past travel mishaps, and the “Chicago connection.”
  • Jokes about using family police connections as security.

6. Collegiate Hobby Update: OnIt Athlete Segment

(34:31 - 42:14)

• College Card Market:
  • Leonard (OnIt Athlete) jumps in for an update:
    • NCAA baseball/softball postseason in full swing.
    • Upcoming releases for team sets, new innovations, and all on-card autographs.
    • Recruiting, printing, and signing for 2026 product has already started.
  • Leonard highlights the passionate regional fanbases and emphasizes the excitement of the college softball regionals:
    “The atmosphere at some of these softball regionals is off the charts… even if you don't have a vested interest, just to kind of get behind either the underdog or the home team with all the crowd support that they have.” (36:32)
  • Hints at big new releases coming soon.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Fanatics/Topps and Panini Monopoly:
  “Maybe they can buy it really cheap just to keep them out of court and save that money.” – Brian (14:12)
• Hobby Philosophy:
  “It’s entertainment, not investment.” – Brian (15:22)
• On The Emotion of Collecting:
  “Out of the three of us, I made it out the best, but it was the best of the worst.” – Bella (20:17)
• Grading Boom:
  “PSA graded 2 million cards in the last month.” – Brian (26:25)
• On The Shift in Retail:
  "Video games is what [GameStop] were. They went away, they're all downloaded now... They have these retail locations. Physical cards are still a thing..." – Brian (18:03)
• On Store Luck:
  “We have a customer... that pulls more heat out of here, like, every single time. He’s the luckiest person I’ve ever seen that rips packs.” – Brian (29:44)
• On Softball Postseason:
  “I think the softball regionals are the most entertaining spring sport... The atmosphere... is off the charts.” – Leonard (36:32)
• On Store Operations:
  “You're losing 50% 100% of the time some of the product.” – Brian (24:51)

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Important Timestamps

| Segment | Time | |--------------------------------------------|-------------| | Toronto National Recap | 02:08–05:27 | | Fanatics/Topps, WNBA/FIFA, Panini | 12:00–14:44 | | The Value of Last-Year Panini | 14:45–15:10 | | Ripping Stories & Collecting Agony | 15:10–23:01 | | GameStop/eBay Takeover Speculation | 16:17–18:45 | | Rise of Live Selling (Whatnot) | 21:38–22:47 | | PSA Grading Numbers, One Piece Surge | 25:46–26:25 | | Store Stories: The Customer With “Heat” | 29:44–30:24 | | Collegiate Hobby Segment (OnIt Athlete) | 34:31–42:14 |

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Tone & Style Notes

• Enthusiastic, conversational, and candid.
• Blends inside baseball hobby talk with playful banter and in-the-trenches retail experience.
• Mix of business, nostalgia, and community—“more than cardboard,” reflecting hobby-as-culture.

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Final Thoughts

This episode captures a tipping point in the hobby—with Fanatics/Topps’s ongoing dominance, nostalgia for fading brands, and a high-velocity, tech-inflected retail environment. Whether you’re a shop owner, collector, or industry watcher, there’s insight into every level: licensing wars, grading trends, market mechanics, and why the chase never gets old.

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Transcript

[A]

I'm curious if Topps would like if they bought Panini, if they would keep the Panini brand alive or if they would just rebrand all of the like documents in prison.

[B]

I think the only way it happens is it just dies. Probably Topps Chrome football, the first football fully licensed by Tops in a while. Their jumbo boxers selling for 2k on the secondary market. 4x what they came out at. So yeah, all good. GameStop trying to buy ebay. When I first heard that, I thought it was like a joke. Are they in position to buy ebay?

[A]

It could be be card stop by GameStop. I would not be surprised if they rebranded.

[C]

Maybe that would be hilarious.

[B]

I'm gonna call it Hard Stop. Welcome to the Collector Nation podcast. Here on the Collector Nation Network. Whether you're chasing grails or calling bluffs, we take you inside the hobby. Here are your hosts, Ryan Alford and Brian Lutt. Foreign. What's up guys? Welcome to Collector Nation. Ryan, Brian and Bella, right here we got the rbb brr. Brb. It's a brb. Brb. Back in town. Brian's in Dallas. Getting the hell out of there. Headed back to Chi town. I hope he's been on the road a lot, so, you know, if he sounds like he's traveling, it's because he is. The man's a busy CEO and we're just glad to have him. What's up, brother?

[C]

Not my. Not much. My man. Thank you so much for. For having me on the show again every week. Yeah, you know, I'm waiting for that call.

[B]

I think you're in now. Your logo and your face and your life, your likeness is on our. On our art. Yeah, you're stuck with me.

[C]

You know, I have. I have an in for sure.

[A]

You brighten up our week.

[C]

Oh, yeah. Thank you. And the same to you guys. Yeah, you know, I was in Canada at the Toronto National. That was really cool.

[B]

Yeah, we did at least just start with a recap of that. What, what's the hobby like up there? I mean, I know it's hockey, but what was it really like?

[C]

It was. Dude, I'm telling you, it was like so less hockey than I thought. I mean, it was predominantly hockey, but I mean that. That Collector Nation up there is freaking insane. Like there's a lot of football, a lot of basketball, a lot of non sport. Like Steve Menzies does an unbelievable job and I was able and lucky enough to walk the floor with him on the first day of the show. And I think there was probably, you Know, probably spent two hours with him, but, man, I was so happy that it was, like, more broad than I thought it would be.

[B]

That's great. So it almost felt like the same kind of energy, Almost like it's a show. Here

[C]

was very similar, except if you take vintage baseball and make it hockey. Vintage hockey.

[B]

Yeah, that was it. Trade out Mickey Mantle for Brett Hole or something. Yeah. One's a little older than the other, but you know what I'm saying?

[C]

Yeah, the Bobby. Yeah, dude, it was. It was. It was cool, man.

[B]

Bobby Hole, Brent Hole, whoever his name is. B Hole.

[C]

B Halls.

[B]

Yeah, the B Halls. B Hole.

[C]

Yeah. I mean, I. I think if you have a chance to go up there, I would do it. It's fun. There's only our flight.

[A]

How many tables were there?

[C]

It's a little bit, like, segmented. I would say probably like 500.

[B]

Okay. Nice size. Maybe.

[C]

Maybe 400.

[B]

But, yeah, like, ebay.

[C]

The biggest footprint was Upper Deck.

[B]

Yep.

[C]

I got to meet. I got to spend some time with Jason Masara.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

CEO of Upper Deck.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

He was super. He was super nice. Ebay live is big up there, dude. Whatnot. You know, the national whatnot blow everything up.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

They had, like, eight feet of a table with what not behind.

[B]

That's interesting. Yeah.

[C]

I mean, no one's up there right now. And. And Steve went from. I. I don't know where he started, but maybe like, 200,000 square feet or 100,000 square feet. Added 25, added 50, added 70. And so it's getting big, man. But it's not the best place to have a show because it is segmented.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

And each time you walk into a different area, it has to feel about it. But, okay, he has nine. He has 10 shows right now, I think, in Canada. But it's super cool. I mean, and the deals are freaking amazing. Right. They freaking price these things in Canadian dollars.

[B]

Ah, so you get the. You get the price advantage there. Yeah.

[C]

And, I mean, they're a little higher.

[B]

Yeah, but not us. But not exactly the. The trade off of whatever the dollar currency is.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

The exchange. Exchange rate is probably 30%, and they're probably doing 15.

[A]

That's awesome.

[B]

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[A]

Hey. And the Canadians are always nicer, so they probably give you some good deals.

[C]

Yeah. Yes. They're not, like, really nice people. It was a great event, so it was fun.

[B]

We'll have to go to the next one I know.

[C]

In November.

[B]

Oh, man. It might be too cold for my blood. Yeah. But I'll put a jack. I'll put, like, a sweatshirt on or something. Yeah.

[A]

This easily, boy.

[C]

Put a hoodie on.

[B]

I'll put a hoodie on. I'll get back.

[C]

If you ask me, I'll make sure you don't freeze to death.

[B]

Yeah, exactly. You. You live in Chicago. You got that. This might as well be Canada there. That wind off the. Coming off the river. Dude, I lived in Chicago for, like, eight months. I know. Like. Oh, I've never been so cold, but that's cool. So Canadian or. Canadian card extravaganza for Brian Ludden and the Ludox team. They're. Brian's just dying to get home at this point. I don't know. It's grueling.

[C]

Yeah, that'd be nice.

[B]

I know the. Did you buy any hockey cards?

[C]

No, I bought some Jordan.

[B]

Okay.

[C]

Jordan.

[B]

That's pretty nice. Nice.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

What year?

[B]

Cool. Like, 90s.

[C]

I mean. Yeah. Early 90s. Like, maybe they were worth, in the US 100 bucks. I probably got them for, like, 80, 75, but the comps were 100. You know, it's not like. Yeah. And they wanted to move them, too. And Steve Menzies runs a great show, and he's. He's more of a sports card collector, and he saw it going a little, too, towards hockey and Pokemon.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

And he's like, I'm kind of gonna ruin the diversity of the people that come here if I continue on this path. So I was pleasantly surprised. Nice.

[B]

Well, if you didn't catch it, we had a nice little write up from Sports Collectors Digest. There we go.

[C]

Yep.

[B]

It's a mouthful. Yeah.

[C]

Yeah. That was with Greg.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

He reached out to me.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

Greg is. Greg is awesome. I would say the only thing I don't like about Greg is he's a Green Bay Packer fan.

[B]

Yeah. But beyond that, as a. As growing up as a WGN Chicago Bears fan, I. I wouldn't like that about him either.

[C]

Awesome, dude.

[B]

Yeah, awesome.

[C]

Dude.

[B]

Yeah, it was nice. It was really nice. Write up had some good photos, so check that out. Sports Collector's Digest. We need to link that in the show notes and learn about what we're doing at the store. We talk about it on here, but he did a good job.

[A]

And the photos were by yours truly. Yeah, they're not good.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Don't tell me

[B]

if you love them, just let me know. If you hate them. Let Bella know I was kidding.

[C]

No, he's a great guy. Awesome guy.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

For a while. Yeah.

[B]

Good writer.

[C]

Great writer. Yep.

[B]

The lot of news. It's been a skinny minute, Brian. It's been a couple weeks footing. We didn't have Brian last week, did we? It's like, why does it feel like it's been so long? Oh, my God. Fanatics Take is continuing their world takeover. They now have WNBA and FIFA. FIFA starting in 2031.

[A]

And that was announced this morning.

[B]

Yeah. If this was an onion that we're peeling off a lot from that Panini

[A]

shell, I mean, what do they have left?

[C]

Dc?

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

Marvel.

[B]

Marvel.

[C]

I don't even know if they have Marvel. They got soccer stickers in Europe.

[B]

They have. They have Guns N Roses and the. What's the other band?

[C]

Yeah. In G.I. joe.

[B]

Yeah. What's Mick Jagger? Was he with Rolling Stones? They got Rolling Stones still signed. I don't know what the hell's going on, but if they could just. All I care about is let's not. Let's. Let's not bury the, you know, Don Rose prism and. And, you know, all the great IP that's there. Let's. If we're going to buy it, let's just buy that.

[A]

You know, I'm curious if Tops would, like, if they bought Panini, if they would keep the Panini brand alive or if they would just rebrand all of the, like in prison.

[B]

I think the only way it happens, if it just dies, probably they.

[C]

I think they. You always buy. You. You buy companies for three reasons. To bury it, like, and have it out of the ecosystem. To partner with it or to grow with it.

[B]

Yeah. To become it. Like to take on its name and everything. If it's like, you know, the better brand or something, but not the case.

[C]

I think this is a Berry they're burying.

[B]

Indirect burial.

[C]

But here's the thing, though. They might be smart enough. Tops. And they are smart.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

Is to buy them and keep them in competition so you don't run into a lawsuit about Monopoly. And.

[B]

Yeah. What PSA is eventually going to run into Which.

[C]

Yeah, yeah. I mean, it's sniffing around. People are talking about it, so you definitely don't want that. But so maybe they can buy it really cheap just to keep them out of court and save that money. But we'll see.

[A]

Yeah, that'll be interesting. And I'm curious as to how, if that does happen, how Panini's secondary market will go, because I feel like it would make the cards more valuable at least.

[C]

Yeah, I think so.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

I think if you can get boxes of the last year Panini, at least for the time that our sons turn 30. 30, 40, whatever. They're always going to remember that as the nostalgia brand.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

It's like us, me collecting flare or product baseball. Bella, you should invest all your money in it.

[A]

Okay. I've tapped myself out. I opened two packs of Top Scrum Football and I got nothing. And the itch is gone. The itch is completely gone.

[C]

You're good?

[A]

I'm good.

[B]

She didn't like writing that check. And then, you know, like, she felt whatever. All of us feel like 80 of the time, you rip a box. It's entertainment, not investment.

[A]

Yeah, but I need the hobby to fund the hobby. And until it funds the hobby, I can't. I can't.

[B]

They buy singles, but that the elite

[A]

lose the fun, you know?

[B]

Yeah. One day, you know, so this was surprising to me. And speaking of, like, the buying of the company thing and, like, why you do it and who would be buying who. GameStop trying to buy ebay. Yeah. I was like. When I first heard that, I thought it was, like a joke then, because, I mean, I know. I mean, GameStop's got retail stores, and I know they've. They had the meme stocks back in the day that, like, shot all their shares up artificially. But are they really. I mean, are they in position to buy ebay? Are they that big? Brian, that's. That's out of my league. Like, the economics.

[C]

There's no. There's no way. There's no way. Like, I would say this. If you have, like, I think they have 10 billion on their balance sheet. Cash.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

Then. Then you look at the fact that, like, eBay. EBay's market cap is larger than GameStop.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

I haven't seen many of those deals go through unless it's like, I don't even know, like, eBay.

[B]

125 per share. And then, so 50% cash, 50% GameStop common stock. So that's essentially like keeping 50% of yourself. Like. Yeah, that's a Weird.

[A]

Yeah, I mean, like they're selling their soul literally.

[C]

I mean, even that it's like, I mean, GameStop could have people behind them like PSA and Steve Cohen and Point72 and they can get to cash. The cash isn't the big deal. The big deal is that a publicly traded company that you have to go and buy the stock in order for it to happen. One, two, you have to get everyone to vote to make sure it happens. I just think it's a long, long journey. But here's the one thing that was, is interesting that just shows where GameStop wants to be in this industry in the next five year, five to 10 years. They see it, they got into it, they're like, this is freaking amazing. Let's do it. I just don't think. I, I'm not saying it's not gonna happen, but, you know, from what the numbers that we're privy to, I can't see it economically happening.

[B]

No, it does say, because look, video games is what they were. They went away. They're all downloaded now. So these, they have these retail locations. You know, I don't know what they're gonna do if they keep those, keep that aspect of it. But then, you know, which does kind of give an interesting footprint. They've got all these retail stores and physical cards are still a thing where video games are all downloaded now. So it's, it's out with one, in with the other.

[C]

I mean, if everyone could be Collector Nation, that'd be amazing. So if anyone from GameStop.

[B]

Yeah, they like to buy the IP. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[C]

Just make them collect our nation stations and we're good.

[B]

Exactly. The Collector Stop doesn't quite have the.

[A]

Doesn't have the ring to it.

[B]

The only word that applies there is stop stop game card Stop car.

[A]

It could be card stop by GameStop. I would not be surprised if they rebranded maybe.

[C]

That would be hilarious.

[B]

GameStop. I'm gonna call it Hard Stop as we turn the page on that one. Topps Chrome Football. So it's been out for a couple weeks. Sold pretty good here at the store. The first football fully licensed by TOPS in a while. Gotten a few hits myself. Fanatical cards, a few other things. And you know, their jumbo boxes are selling for 2k on the secondary market. 4x, what they came out at. So. Yeah, all good. Yeah.

[C]

Tell your story.

[B]

Yeah, Bill decided to get into the hobby.

[A]

Yeah, it just.

[B]

She's in it now. She's really in it.

[A]

Spent $120 on two packs and I Just wanted to cry myself to sleep by the end.

[B]

All right,

[A]

welcome to the hobby, in all fairness. So we had opened. We had, like, ripped one of the boxes, and we're selling the. The individual packs, and it was, like, a couple days before our first trade night. And, you know, I was sitting here with a couple of our regulars, and they were opening packs, and I was like, you know what? You've convinced me. You've convinced me. I'm gonna do it. So I opened it, and the two of them that were sitting there had both gotten, like, you know, base packs pretty much, like, they had just nothing in it. And I did get a numbered card. It was probably the worst numbered card I could have gotten. It was worth, like, $5. So out of the three of us, I made it out the best, but, you know, it was the best of the worst. And then we had a kid and his dad who come in pretty regularly. There was, like, five or six packs left in the. In the box, and the auto hadn't been pulled yet. And the kid pulled the auto, and it ended up being like, an $800. $800. I think it was Cam Scatter Boo Otto.

[B]

Yeah, I remember correctly, it was blue color match. Yeah, Kamloo. And that was a cool card. And I just had an idea. I'll just say it while we're on the recording here. That should be a store cam, like, right over there next to, like, literally, maybe get a longer one of those wires, and then we plug it in over there, and then it be on, like, the pack bar. And, like, while we're talking, we've got the store cam that if we want to cut away to see what's happening in live action in the store.

[A]

Yeah, that'd be cool.

[C]

That'd be cool.

[A]

I'll make a.

[B]

So, guys, you've probably seen this already, but if you haven't, live selling or whatnot is kind of blowing up right now. Instead of just listing something online and hoping someone finds it, you go live and sell directly to people in real time. They can see the product, ask questions, interact with you. It's way more like shopping in person than posting a listing. And the audience is there. Buyers are spending over an hour a day in the app. They're not just scrolling. They're actually buying and coming back. That's why sellers on whatnot are moving way more product than on traditional marketplaces. You're not just selling. You're building relationships with people who keep showing up to your streams. And we've seen it in collectibles especially people turning this into full time businesses. And for a limited time, Whatnot will match your first $150 sold in the first month. Visit whatnot.com sell to start selling. That's whatnot.com sell whatnot.com sell no to that.

[C]

The Cam Skedaroo Cam by.

[B]

Yeah, the Cam Cam Y.

[C]

Because it was the car that got away from Bella in the beginning.

[A]

Yeah. But I like, you know, a kid deserved it more than I did.

[B]

Yeah, you know, that's true.

[A]

And it was just like the pure joy that he had when he got it. So I, I'm glad that he pulled it compared to me because I wouldn't have appreciated it as much as he did.

[B]

It's been a hot store though. We've had a lot of hits out of here lately.

[A]

There's.

[B]

How's it going?

[C]

How was trade night too?

[B]

Great. I mean, great turnout. Very, very manageable turnout.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And I don't mean that in a bad way, but like full sales were brisk and everybody had a good time.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

But it wasn't like, oh my God, we don't have enough room or like, it was a very comfortable, good. I don't know. First trade.

[A]

It was also downpouring.

[B]

Yeah. Rain. And it was still that way.

[A]

Completely torrentially downpouring.

[B]

And people still poured in in droves.

[A]

Yeah. So we have our second trade night coming up in June and I'm not going to be here, so I'm leaving.

[B]

Oh, we lost Brian.

[C]

All right, well, I'm in a hotel room. I should be checking out right now. But they said they would send it. This is my life right now. There I am.

[A]

All right, there we go.

[B]

What else we got on the news here, Bella?

[A]

I mean, there's like a new Brazilian, new releases.

[B]

I was just going through this with like store inventory. Yeah.

[A]

It's crazy, dude.

[B]

It's like we do. We have to get all these, like, what? I don't know, like do store mix buying is a thing. It's like, you know, store wants.

[C]

But it's like you are absolutely losing on 50% of the product. Like, you're losing 50% 100% of the time some of the product.

[B]

Well, luckily I don't have allocation, so I'm just scrapping it with all connections, which is going pretty well, actually. Say I'm resourceful enough to do that and you know.

[C]

Well, you're not. You're not there being, oh, feed me, feed me.

[B]

Exactly. No, I'm scrapping and making it happen. I got people Walking in my back door, my front door, the side door, secret door.

[A]

You know, we're like the only store in the upstate that has any one piece.

[B]

Yeah, I mean, it's huge. Yeah, I know the guy, I know the guys. You know, it's just. You got to piece it together. It's not easy, but it was easy. Everybody do it.

[A]

Speaking of one piece, PSA released that one piece has been their second. In April was their second highest submitted item, type of card. And Pokemon was like a million plus. And one piece was at like 200,000. But they are. They are creeping up in the world.

[B]

No slowdown on the PSA grading. I saw that number on, like, gym rate.

[C]

Is that CBC or PSA that Pokemon's a million a month?

[A]

It was on psa. It was like over a million.

[B]

And then they did 2 million cards in the last month. Yeah, one month graded 2 million cars, Brian.

[C]

Insane. I could. I could not do.

[A]

And yet we still haven't gotten ours back.

[B]

No, we got more to send that we need to send. Like this week. I've said that, like three weeks in a row, and they're still sitting in a drawer somewhere.

[C]

But come on. That.

[B]

We'll. We'll keep those operational challenges to ourselves.

[C]

You have some. You have an operational challenge, huh?

[B]

Oh, you know, they're minor, but never things. You know is as the owner, that probably shouldn't annoy you. That annoy you. You know, it's. It's the plight of being of ownership that, like, it's never perfect, and you don't want it to be perfect, but there's, like, little things that are probably, like, big things that I don't make a big deal out of it. And there's little things that I do. It's, you know, I don't know.

[C]

You're so.

[A]

Things that nag away.

[C]

Yeah. You're super chill guys. So it probably doesn't bother you as much as it would others, but it still matters.

[B]

But probably. But you can ask Bill. She feels my wrath. Am I always chill?

[A]

I'm gonna say yes to no, actually.

[C]

No.

[B]

I'm actually leading the witness.

[A]

But I mean, in all fairness, like, you are very lenient, and you give grace when grace is given, but then, you know, you have your moments. But that's okay.

[B]

I mean, I do have expectations. Like, it's just like you either meet them and everything's good, or you get the. The lashings. I'm just kidding.

[C]

And you. Yeah, you're a human being also, so that matters. Yeah.

[B]

Everyone has a Yes, I know. It's more like. I think. I don't know. I think I get disappointed more than

[A]

mad, which is arguably worse. I'm not dis. I mean, I'm not angry.

[B]

I'm just disappointed. Psychological warfare.

[C]

That's a dad. That's a bad. I'm just rude.

[B]

I know. Oh, God.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Yeah. Lots of releases, Bo. I mean, Tops Basketball, Bowman Basketball. We got some Bowman. Bowman Basketball is a fun rip open. So a lot of that. That's fun. They got hoops coming out. We got signature football. I mean, tops Finest football still rolling, like, are coming in. That's their newest. The finest is, I think, the newest football. Next release, I've got some. We got all that. All the football, basketball, we got covered. Bowen Baseball, we got coming in.

[A]

We had a. We have Topps Chrome Black. And yesterday, somebody pulled a $450 card from one pack and a $200 card from the other. And I told Cole before I left, I was like, for the love of God, please record.

[B]

Remember who the 400 card was.

[A]

Guess. I will give you one guess.

[B]

Shohei.

[A]

Oh. Oh, what player? I thought you were.

[B]

Oh, no. Was it literally.

[A]

It was Tyler. Yeah.

[B]

Out of the.

[A]

So, Tyler, if you're listening to this,

[B]

out of the baseball product. Yeah, he opened. He opened the Tops Chrome and got the freaking, like, some legends cards. It's like a.

[A]

He also got the Drake May.

[B]

We have a customer. Let's tell Brian real fast. And you hold that. We have a customer, Brian, that pulls more heat out of here, like, every single time. He's the luckiest person I've ever seen. That rips packs. I mean, he hits a case. Hit every other box he opens.

[A]

Literally, like. And I've seen it. I've seen it happen every single time.

[B]

It doesn't matter if it's a blaster. It doesn't matter if it's a hobby box. It doesn't matter if it's a hanger.

[A]

It's like every single time I watched him open a Drake May redemption card to get an auto, and he just got it in. He sent me a picture of it yesterday, and I was like, I just. Your luck is, like, ridiculous.

[B]

Yeah. I had that box that he opened sitting around for I don't know how long and never opened it and put it in the case because it's like, well, let's sell it. Just walking around with a Drake Mayata. No big deal. Yes.

[A]

Let's cry later about it.

[C]

It's funny, but it's not funny.

[B]

Yeah, it's not well. It's fine. I'm happy. Look, I love it. It's good for the store. More heat pulled out of the store. More we post about it. If we post about it, when we post about it, the more it helps us.

[A]

Yeah. The other day, Cole was gonna open a Pokemon pack, and he decided to. To open a different. Different type. And the next customer that came in opened the pack that he was going to open, and it was a God pack.

[B]

Literally every pack, Every. It was $2,300, 30, 30, 100 worth of cards out of one pack sitting in the pack bar. Brian. That's the kind of heat that happens at collector station.

[C]

That's.

[B]

That's the second God pack in, like, the last 30 days, too. That's amazing. Telling you, hot store got mangas and

[A]

it's never on video. It's gonna drive me to pull my hair up. I know. Every every time, without fail, I pull out the camera. It's nothing. It is a base pack every single time. Every single time. So now the customers that I make, like, open on video, they're like, I'm not gonna open on video anymore because I get smoked every time.

[B]

So we had a great episode with the national that released. Was that Tuesday or last week? I think it was last Friday, but last Friday. It released last Friday.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

What's our buddy?

[B]

That was a great episode. I enjoyed that. I enjoyed having Shane. That was a good episode.

[C]

Very.

[B]

I mean, I'll tell you what, if you want, like, the. Why you should go to the national. The. The feeling of the national. Everything's happening new. I mean, that was a great info commercial for the national, but it's sort of the event, and we were happy to do it.

[C]

Yeah, it was fun.

[B]

Did. Have you talked to Shane since.

[C]

Yes, thank. Thanked us for having on the show. Looking forward to seeing this at the national. Uh, just. He. He's just a good guy. He's Chicago guy, too, so. Yeah.

[B]

Oh, nice.

[C]

Very, very.

[B]

Well, we're locked in. We got the. For the national, Brian. We just. I made this strategic decision of just getting the Airbnb house, like, eight, ten minutes from. From the national. So the RV is staying home.

[C]

All right. Where are you? Where are you? What's it called?

[B]

The rv. I just meant the RV Staying home. We're staying in an rv. Airbnb. Airbnb house.

[C]

Send me the address because I just got to check it for you. Want to make sure you're safe.

[B]

Great. Well, is it really, like, eight, ten minutes away? You can get. I Think I drove through that area last year. The hotel we stayed at, it was a little shisty, but it was. I think this one looks pretty good. We'll see. Send it to Brian. He'll know.

[A]

Ryan will be my bodyguard.

[B]

Yeah, I'll take. Yeah, they don't, they don't want to miss the South Carolina kid. I. I got 13 from the south side of Chicago here on vacation.

[C]

I got 13 cousins who are cops, so they'll help you.

[B]

Oh, yeah, I could see that.

[A]

Oh, so we can have private security is what I'm hearing.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Yes.

[C]

Always for hire.

[B]

So you gotta get to National.

[A]

Or we could stay at a penthouse a la Brian.

[C]

Yeah, yeah, that. That would.

[B]

Brian would stay at the hotel too.

[C]

Five people. Was there a lot.

[B]

Hey, what's up, guys? Here with our on it athlete segment of the week on it athlete book. Get out there, support this brand. We are. And guess what? I opened a few packs this week. Actually had a good time just telling you. The Clemson baseball guys. I keep opening the. From I don't know if it's last year or if it's this 20.

[A]

24.

[B]

The 24. Yeah. I get like. I get like reminiscing on these Clemson guys. Clemson's kind of had a shot a year. I think it's because they didn't resign or something. That must be what it is, Leonard. So I'm going to go over there and petition the Clemson to get back on the winning train because that's what. Look, if you sign with on it, your. Your school wins. It seems to be correlated. What's up, Leonard?

[D]

Yeah. Hey, man, how are you doing? I. I did see you opening those under your story. I was going to ask about how it went for you.

[B]

Hey, it went good. Let's talk about what's really happening. We've got softball going on. We've got baseball going on. We won't talk about the losing Tigers right now. They did finally beat up, win a series, but it's not been a great few weeks in Tigertown. But it's been pretty good everywhere else on it, that's for sure. What's cooking?

[D]

Yeah, lots going on. I mean, baseball wise, you know, we're kind of into the. The final home stretch here getting, getting to the wire. There's a big series. Got a big series in the Big 12 this weekend. West Virginia heading to Kansas, taking on top 10 Kansas team that had never been ranked inside the top 10 until this year. So West Virginia's trying to get back on track. You might have seen they Got slaughtered at home against Pitt in the backyard, 23 to 1.

[B]

Yeah, I thought that was a type. I totally. I was like, what was that? I did. I thought.

[A]

Impressive numbers.

[B]

Yeah, that's a football score. Other than the one.

[A]

Don't they do like a mercy. Isn't there a mercy rule?

[B]

I think there is like six.

[D]

That's the sad part.

[B]

Six inning or like. Yeah, they must have scored like 30, 23 in a one inning or something.

[D]

Well, they had 11 through. I think they put up 11 just in the fourth inning alone. So it was rough, but. So they're trying to get back on track. UCLA is trying to run through the Big Ten undefeated. They need two more weekends to do that. So a lot of good stuff on the baseball side. Auburn just won a big series against Texas A and M too. Auburn's really streaking right now. They've got the chance to host a regional. So a lot of good stuff on baseball. But I mean, what I'm really interested in this week is conference tournaments for softball. They're into their postseason already. Selection shows on Sunday. Regionals start the 15th. So this is to me one of the best times of the year because I think the softball regionals are the most entertaining spring sport. You know, the home team. The home team's hosting when they get upset, you know, the crowds are so into it. So if the home team loses a game, like it just, it puts a lot of pressure on them and then the crowds really try to show out, make that home field advantage known. So I feel like that just the atmosphere at some of these softball regionals is off the charts. And I kind of like it even more than. I know we talked a lot about March Madness and like, I think the home sites make such a big difference compared to the neutral sites that you see in March Madness. Just because you have those passionate fans in places like Oklahoma, Alabama, you know, all across the country, Texas, like there are just a lot of die hard softball fans and it makes it so entertaining. Even if you don't have a vested interest in any of the teams just to kind of get behind either the underdog or get behind the home team with all the crowd support that they have. Yeah, we've got. We're still rolling out baseball and softball releases, so those will keep coming. I do think we have something in the works for a potential baseball or softball release coming here shortly as well that's going to be a little bit separate from the team sets. Not sure how much of that is I can talk about. So I'll Just leave it at that. But I would just.

[B]

We'll break it as soon as we can.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Yes.

[D]

I'll keep your, Keep your eyes open for potential announcement on that. And then really we're in the football season collecting autographs. As you know, all of our autographs are on card. That means we have to start a lot earlier than everybody else. So over the next couple months, we are going to be going out to colleges across the country who are with us for 2026 football product. We're going to be printing cards, getting them signed, bringing them back to Boise, getting Those cards printed QC'd and then put into packs to hopefully have our football releases out sometime in August. So it's going to be a bit of a. A bit of a lull here, but it's mostly because we're working in the shadows to bring you the next batch of, you know, potential NFL future NFL draft picks.

[B]

Yeah, for sure. Is there. When will we. When do you guys start to, like, announce like the team lineups and things like that? I know you, you know, you've got some carryover probably some come on, some fall off. Like, when do y' all fully announce all that?

[D]

That'll be probably around the end of like July. Ish. Just once we have everything maybe like

[B]

a month before, just.

[D]

Yeah, yeah. So like to give you, give you an example this year, like Indiana, we had been working with them for a while to get all the licensing pieces to fall into place because there are a lot of, like I said, we've got to work with photo, we got to work with schools, the athletes in the photography. So it takes a little bit of time. Like Indiana, we were working on them in the summer and that product didn't even come out until, you know, December. So Worked out pretty good though. Sometimes we know. Yeah, sometimes we know and we can give like a, a good, a good idea of a list to people and say like, here's what you can expect. And then sometimes, you know, Indiana, we told people like, hey, we're thinking this is going to happen. So really I would just say to check the website, you know, because we post our updates there. You can always find out what teams are being released if you search by your specific sport. Like, if you're only into football, you can just sort straight by football and you can sort by new releases so you can see exactly what's been coming out. But I'm sure we'll have some announcements. We're hoping to do some big things this year in football. We did some big things this year with gravity and Black. So it should be a really fun time. And I'm looking forward to. I mean, there were a lot of transfers this year, so we're gonna have a lot of new faces and new places signing some new autographs.

[B]

Exactly. Oh, we gotta strike through this. When he transferred, like, I mean, it's a tool. It's an interesting game. It got some free agents. Now it's free agency. Right. In football, you know, in college football, who.

[A]

I mean, it's crazy world.

[B]

Fascinating change as things have. But look, the one thing I do know is the athletes get taken care of with those ni Deal. Nil deals. Look, you got their name, image, likeness. They're out there, they're doing all this stuff. They're using their. Again, their image. And on it, Athlete is there to support them and to support you as fans. So go to onitathlete.com, use that code, collector nation. You'll get 15% off your first order. And if you want to come and sign the petition for a certain school down the road to get their act together and to get back to the negotiating table, then I'll be on board for that. But that's just me. There's so many great athletes and so many good teams on it. Knows how to pick winners because they're a winner. Get on with them. We appreciate it, Leonard. It's been fun.

[D]

Of course. Thanks for having me, as always. I always look forward to coming on here and talking to ball with you, Ryan.

[B]

Yeah, man. And look, I had my on it like colors on today. Even if it was a different player. I had the colors. I was on it. You got to get on it on athlete.com. we appreciate this partnership and we appreciate you.

[A]

Anything else?

[B]

I don't think so. I think lots happening out there. Rip. Rip away.

[A]

No, I'm cut off.

[B]

I'm cut off more for everyone else.

[A]

I will only rip for content purposes.

[B]

Okay. Yeah. That means on the company dime. Okay? Just keep ripping L U D E X Ludx at the app Store. Go download it. You'll thank me later. They've got the best scanning, app values, ebay integration, all the stuff, collection, management, all there in the app Store. Brian's baby. And we love them, Brian. Have a safe trip home, brother. And we appreciate everyone out there for listening. The CollectorNation.com that's where all the highlights, the full episode, podcast, everything. And lots of links to Ludox and all of our partnerships. We appreciate you for listening. We appreciate Bella for producing. We'll see you next time. Thanks for tuning in to the show. Be sure to follow us on your go to podcast platform and catch the full video episode over on YouTube. Visit us at collectornation. Com and follow Ryan on Instagram at Ryan Alford now get out there and collect yours.