Podcast Summary: Snype, PSA, Fanatics & More — Major Shifts In The Card Market

Trading Cards & Collectibles Podcast (Radcast Network)
Date: November 21, 2025
Host: Ryan Alford
Guest Co-Host: Brian Ludden

Episode Overview

In this engaging episode, Ryan Alford and Brian Ludden dive deep into the evolving landscape of the trading card and collectibles market. They unpack the challenges and opportunities behind card marketplaces, major industry moves by PSA, Fanatics, and newcomer Snipe, and sprinkle in fun updates about their own adventures in the hobby, including trading card shops, the week's biggest risers and fallers, and even pack-pulled nostalgia. The conversation is both insightful for hobby veterans and welcoming for newcomers.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Marketplaces: The Innovation Battle & Reality Check

• Complexity Over Commission

  • Brian points out that the biggest barrier for marketplaces isn’t commission rates, but critical mass and trust:
    • "All these marketplaces like, it's free. It's 1%. I'm like, no one gives a shit about 1% commission. There's a reason why I haven't even dabbled in a Marketplace. We have 3 million people, 325 million cards, and I'm still not confident that a marketplace would work. It just takes time." (00:00)
  • Ryan echoes the challenge of “chicken or egg”:
    • "You don't have the buyers and all sellers…like, it doesn't matter what the benefits are…"(26:34)

• The Importance of Competitors

  • Ryan believes competition is essential to market growth:
    • "You need competitors because they help raise the category overall…we need those players to come along." (00:32, restated at 29:00)

• Maturity of the Industry

  • Brian forecasts consolidation and M&A as signs of market maturation:
    • "We're predominantly VC right now in the industry, but moving towards…I'll make a prediction in the next year to 16 months, you'll start seeing M and A activity..." (27:38)

2. Trading Card Shop Dreams

• Destination Stores & Bucket List Ideas

  • Ryan shares his vision for a "destination" shop in South Carolina:
    • "I do want this to be a national destination store. If you come through South Carolina and you're a collectible trading card guy or girl…you don't want it to be something you…on your collectibles list." (03:29)
  • The co-hosts riff on creating collectible shop bucket lists, stickers, and possible brand partnerships, joking about advent calendars for shop visits:
    • "If there was like the, like a shop in each state that if you into you get a sticker from tops or something. And then if you get them all, you get like a..." (04:36)

• Behind the Scenes: Shop Builds

  • Both discuss the chaos and energy of building their businesses:
    • Brian: "We're just in build phase. We're getting stuff delivered…it's a mess, like, I feel like everywhere I go is a mess." (13:26)
    • Ryan commiserates, calling his own life "disheveled" until retail and studio plans progressed. (13:42)

3. Collector Stories & The "Case Hit Collectibles Show"

• Encouragement for listeners to share their favorite pulls, not just expensive hits, with a promise to highlight hobby stories—not just the money cards:
  • "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…" (08:23)

4. Market Data: Weekly Risers & Fallers

• Biggest Risers (Ludex Data):

  • Bryce Young: Up 141%, entering ranking at 64 (16:35)
  • Bo Nix: Up 68%, up to rank 21 (16:35)
  • Mac Jones (New England): Up 21% for a third straight week—wave of demand for rookie QB cards (17:16)

• Biggest Fallers:

  • Jamar Chase: Down 11% after the controversial 'spit incident' (19:28)
    • "He's down 11% and he went from 38 to 129." (19:28)
  • Jordan Addison Downtown: Down 7%, rank drop from 78 to 218 (19:28)
  • Calvin Ridley: Down 20%, now unranked (20:02)
    • "…both those guys are kind of. You're not hearing anything. The spitting with look, that just goes to show you that people just don't tolerate that…"(20:02)

5. Treasure Hunting: Vintage Discoveries

• Brian describes finding a complete 1971 Topps baseball set in a storage unit—a major nostalgia-fueled windfall:
  • "I pull it down, it's the whole 1971 set, top loaded. All the greats are in there…just by itself raw is like a fifteen hundred dollar nugget I found…” (14:30)

6. Chicago, Sports, and Community

• Lots of local pride and playful ribbing (North Carolina vs. South Carolina, Chicago North Side vs. South Side).

  • "It's like the north side of Chicago and South side, if you're in the north side, that's where you want to be. That's the attractive female in this case. And then the south side is not." (12:44)

• Upcoming Events:

  • Chicago Sports Spectacular: Ludex will be at Rosemont running the VIP experience and trade night (31:03)

7. Industry News: Snipe, PSA, Fanatics

• Snipe Marketplace Challenges

  • Brian discusses Rick Probstein's journey moving from eBay power seller to launching a logistic-driven marketplace, Snipe:
    • "He took on a marketplace…I love, I know how humbling tech is…and he was the biggest lister on ebay when he left." (22:36)
  • Both empathize about the trauma and reality checks of tech launches and scaling:
    • "There's a difference between being like raw and real and being hate. I'm not going to hate on anybody…But we're not going to sugarcoat anything." (24:42)

• Grading Boom

  • PSA continues to increase card grading volumes, reasserting dominance (“2.7 million cards graded in a single month, an all-time high.” — 27:38)

• Mergers, Acquisitions, & Future Moves

  • Brian predicts major M&A activity soon, especially from big players like Walmart and Fanatics looking to bite into eBay’s share (27:38)

8. Innovation Recognition

• Brian/Ludex up for a Mantle Collectibles Innovation Award
  • "…it goes from like best hobby shop to podcast. And we're nominated for innovation. So that's cool…" (21:48)

Notable Quotes & Moments

• On Marketplace Reality:

  • "No one gives a shit about 1% commission. There's a reason why I haven't even dabbled in a Marketplace. We have 3 million people, 325 million cards, and I'm still not confident that a marketplace would work." — Brian (00:00)

• On Competition:

  • "You need competitors because they help raise the category overall…we need those players to come along." — Ryan (00:32, 29:00)
  • "If you're not going against something…everybody needs their foil." — Ryan (30:15)

• On Card Shop Dreams:

  • "I do want this to be a national destination store…on your collectibles list." — Ryan (03:29)
  • "If you get them all, you get like a…" — Brian (04:36)

• On Vintage Finds:

  • "I pull it down, it's the whole 1971 set…raw is like a fifteen hundred dollar nugget I found…" — Brian (14:30)

• On Tech & Hype:

  • "…it's always something, always something. It's never nothing when you're dealing with tech. But Rick will figure it out…" — Brian on Probstein & Snipe (22:36)
  • "There's a difference between being like raw and real and being hate. I'm not going to hate on anybody…” — Ryan (24:42)

Important Timestamps

| Timestamp | Segment | Notes | |-----------|------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------| | 00:00 | Marketplace challenges, critical scale | Entry point—realities of running a marketplace | | 16:35 | Ludex Top Risers | Weekly card price movers | | 19:28 | Ludex Top Fallers | Notable fallers and reasons (behavior, performance) | | 22:36 | Snipe marketplace, Rick Probstein | Tech growing pains and lessons | | 27:38 | Industry maturity, predictions of M+A | Future of the collectibles business | | 31:03 | Chicago Sports Spectacular preview | Local community & upcoming event |

Episode Tone & Style

Ryan and Brian keep the conversation honest, irreverent, and fun. They mix real data and inside baseball with plenty of personal stories, nostalgia, and industry empathy—everything from storage unit treasure hunts to the unpredictability of tech startups, and from market stats to sports fandom and card traditions.

Summary Takeaways

• The trading card industry is at a pivotal point, balancing between surging growth, innovation, and the hard realities of scaling digital marketplaces.
• PSA and a few large competitors are setting record volumes, while M&A activity looms.
• Newcomers like Snipe face steep technical and adoption hurdles despite having major industry backing.
• Authentic collector stories, not just dollar signs, are core to the hobby’s thriving community.
• Both hosts are committed to building not just businesses but lasting experiences and connections in the hobby.

Recommended for: Collectors, investors, and anyone fascinated by the business, tech, and culture of trading cards and collectibles.