The Future of Collectibles: Sports Cards, Non-Sports & the Hobby in 2025

Summary

Podcast Summary: The GaryVee Audio Experience

Episode Title: The Future of Collectibles: Sports Cards, Non-Sports & the Hobby in 2025
Host: Gary Vaynerchuk (GaryVee)
Date: August 23, 2025

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Overview

In this passionate, insightful episode, Gary Vaynerchuk sits down with a longtime hobbyist and fellow content creator (Host “A” / “Ry”) to dig deep into the future of the collectibles hobby. The conversation covers everything from Veefriends and their role in the current landscape, to the evolution and sustainability of collecting—from sports cards to non-sports cards. Gary shares lessons from decades in the business, addresses misconceptions about his involvement, and forecasts the trends shaping the market for 2025 and beyond.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Evolution of Veefriends & Lessons Learned

Timestamp: [01:13]–[07:40]

• Gary reflects on starting Veefriends four years ago, positioning it as the culmination of his lifelong experience as an entrepreneur, collector, and flipper.
• Lesson: Experience and wisdom are irreplaceable, even for those who are naturally gifted or start young:
  • “What I can tell that kid...is I've learned through this four-year process that experience and wisdom and gray hairs matter.” (Gary, [02:47])
• Gary shares stories from his early days flipping Spice Girl dolls and feeling the rise and fall of collectibles eras, demonstrating his long-term commitment and intuition for market cycles.
• Veefriends’ first Topps Chrome product is positioned as “forever Chrome 1.” Gary and Topps aimed for reasonable pricing, but he was surprised at the rapid price escalation in the secondary market.
• The direct-to-consumer comic book initiative is Gary’s “secret play”—building narrative before hype.

2. Mindset, Reputation, and Handling Criticism

Timestamp: [07:49]–[11:02]

• Gary addresses the cynicism around his involvement in the hobby, especially accusations of “pumping and dumping.”
  • “My greatest strength is I don't care what anyone thinks, but I value what everyone thinks.” (Gary, [07:49])
  • Despite rumors, he avoided public sales to keep his presence clean, especially with high-profile prospects like Zion.
• He credits humility as a key to happiness and being unfazed by both praise and hate:
  • “The most important thing in a man's life is humility. I don't have the audacity that Ricky Thompson…should spend an hour looking into me.” (Gary, [11:02])
• Highlights his devotion and the many unseen hours spent hunting for unique rookie cards of fictional characters.

3. State of the Hobby: Then and Now

Timestamp: [12:25]–[19:41]

• A brief historical overview: Gary describes the “junk wax era,” the baseball strike’s impact, and how info scarcity in the ‘80s/‘90s differs from today’s content-rich environment.
• The COVID boom led to speculation and price correction, but Gary sees this as a huge learning experience for the hobby—participants are savvier and more resilient than ever.
• Modern collecting is safer from "going to zero" due to diverse collecting and media attention.
• Non-sports cards (Pokemon, Magic, One Piece) are critical for hobby growth:
  • “The non-sports thing is gateway drugging for them [sports collectors].” (Gary, [17:25])
  • Gary predicts a surge as comic/toy/Funko collectors cross over into cards.
• Gary’s ambition: Onboard a million people to Veefriends, knowing many will later branch out to other properties—a rising tide for the hobby.

4. IP, Value, and the Future

Timestamp: [20:19]–[21:53]

• Gary emphasizes the growing value of intellectual property (IP) in an AI-driven world.
  • “In an AI world...most things will be commoditized except the intellectual property, the copyrights, the trademarks.” (Gary, [20:28])
• Surprising stat: Pokemon’s estimated value at $100–150 billion.

5. Veefriends Roadmap and Innovations

Timestamp: [22:00]–[28:18]

• Gary outlines plans for Veefriends, including:
  • Larger scale Chrome releases for 2026 (potential Sapphire, Multi-packs, Mega Box inserts).
  • Over 150 new characters to be introduced.
  • Greater integration of storytelling through comics, fostering deeper emotional connections.
  • Super Stickers are emerging as a hot new collectible, with PSA magazine distribution sparking demand.
  • Direct to consumer channels remain vital; considering a broader market push.
• Storytelling is central—fans change favorite characters based on the evolving comic narrative.
  • “That’s called storytelling. That’s called using your imagination. That’s a big fucking deal.” (Gary, [28:02])

6. Hobby Market Trends & Cutting-Edge Observations

Timestamp: [28:33]–[32:01]

• Gary flips the script to ask Ry about current trends:
  • Gary “really likes the case hit culture” as a market signal.
  • The transition of basketball licenses from Panini to Topps is expected to shake up the market.
  • Discussion of the “debut patch auto” as the ultimate modern card:
    • “You couldn't make a better card of a player than a debut patch auto.” (Ry, [30:42])
    • Gary agrees, calling it a “monster product.”
• Conversation on non-sports expansion—Panini/Prism moving into non-sports with properties like Minecraft, Rolling Stones; Minecraft cards setting high price points.

7. Advice to Young Entrepreneurs and Collectors

Timestamp: [32:10]–[End]

• Ry credits Gary’s content for changing his life, tees up for advice to younger listeners.
• Gary stresses authenticity and passion over profit-chasing:
  • “If you're chasing the dollars, you're gonna get caught. But if you do it about the thing you like you'll work the 15 hours a day. Cause you would do it for free.” (Gary, [32:56])
• The bigger you get, the more criticism will come; focus on real joy, not image or rumor.
• Gary publicly commits to focusing more intently on Veefriends as his legacy project, drawing a parallel to leaving Wine Library to build VaynerMedia.

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Notable Quotes

• "Experience and wisdom and gray hairs matter." (Gary, [02:47])
• “Chrome’s a fucking monster. Chrome’s Chrome, right?” (Gary, [04:14])
• "The non-sports thing is gateway drugging for them [sports collectors]." (Gary, [17:25])
• "My greatest strength is I don't care what anyone thinks, but I value what everyone thinks." (Gary, [07:49])
• "In an AI world...most things will be commoditized except the intellectual property, the copyrights, the trademarks." (Gary, [20:28])
• “If you're chasing the dollars, you're gonna get caught. But if you do it about the thing you like, you'll work the 15 hours a day. Cause you would do it for free.” (Gary, [32:56])

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Important Segments & Timestamps

• Veefriends & Wisdom from the Hobby: [01:13]–[07:40]
• Rumors, Reputation, and Handling Hate: [07:49]–[11:02]
• State of the Hobby & Market Cycle Lessons: [12:25]–[19:41]
• IP, AI, and the Value of Brands: [20:19]–[21:53]
• Veefriends Roadmap (2026+): [22:00]–[28:18]
• Hobby Trends: Case Hits, Debut Patch Auto, Non-sports Expansion: [28:33]–[32:01]
• Advice for the Next Generation: [32:10]–[End]

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Tone & Style

The conversation is conversational, passionate, and candid, laced with nostalgia, entrepreneurial wisdom, Gary’s signature directness, and optimism about the hobby’s direction. There’s plenty for seasoned collectors, newcomers, and young entrepreneurs alike.

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Takeaways

• The collectible hobby is more robust and promising than ever, thanks to diversification and digital transparency.
• Veefriends is a long-term brand play for GaryVee, leveraging his entire trajectory in business and collecting.
• The next decade will be driven by intellectual property, crossover audiences, and the blurring of lines between sports and entertainment collectibles.
• Humility, authenticity, and following genuine interests are the keys to lasting fulfillment and success—whether in collecting or in life.

Transcript

[A]

All right, well, this one doesn't need any introduction. I normally have some big, long introduction about, you know, who they are and what they're doing. But, you know, I sat here 10 years ago. We've got a post up. This is A. Almost 10 years ago. It was before that I started watching your content. March 20th of 2017. I sat at a computer screen. I had two screens up. One was data entry and one was Gary Vee's content. So to sit here now, eight years, like almost eight years, you know, eight years and two months to the day, and to have you on the pod, this is, this is cool.

[B]

So I'm humbled, brother. Thank you.

[A]

I'm very, very honored that you are here in town for a cool event to partner with us on this. You know, there's tons of great shops and I know you're going to visit many of them, but to have you here in, in the chat for this, this is, this is special. So first and foremost, thank you for, for being here, but obviously a lot to get into, a lot to talk about. Veefriends dropped this week and I'm just gonna start right off the rip with that. You know, you started this four years ago. What have you learned in four years about building a product that has gotten us to.

[B]

You know, it's funny, to your point, I started it four years ago. I'm, you know, 45 years old, so. And I've been doing business for 40 years at that point and really, really genuinely doing it in a meaningful way for 25 years. So you're always learning stuff. But I don't like bullshitting. Everything's not that everything's going according to plan, but I'm like trying to dig right now because I want to bring value to the audience. I've learned that the things I most believe in are true. Like good people around you, positivity, work ethic, these things matter. Experience. You know what, I can definitely tell you I learned and this is good for a lot of the hustler kids that are watching who are destined to be you and I. And in between and above and to the left and to the right. I definitely, definitely believe in the fact that I was a whiz kid in my business. I was a 24 year old kid running my dad's store for him, and it just completely exploded his business by betting the farm on something called the Internet. And I have full page ads, full page articles being written about me in New Jersey's premier newspaper, the Star Ledger, and then the Wall Street Journal. The New York Times. This is like it's happening fast. And I'm 23, 24, 25. But I've been thinking about it since I was 14 and I was studying the entire wine business. I went from Beckett to, to the Wine Spectator in high school. So. But it happened fast. And in the articles they're like wizkid, son of the owner, Wiz kid. Wiz kid. And I really enjoyed being like this kid. And what I can tell that kid, which is what I can tell you, even your kid. And definitely knowing there's so many 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20 year olds that look up to you, that are listening, that look up to me and others is I've learned through this four year process that experience and wisdom and gray hairs matter. Like if I told you I've always navigated through business confidently. You know how they talk about in sports, like if you think you're too slow and you can't be at the height, like coaches yelling or you're thinking, you gotta go fast, right? I've always been that in business. Cause I have intuition and I do have a lot of experience even at 25. Cause I've been doing cards and selling and stuff since I was 10. The ease that I am navigating through building this IP is bananas. It is so easy and natural for me to think about what am I gonna do on Roblox? What am I gonna do on animation? What am I gonna do in comic book? This is my life. This is my life. You know, I've been studying ebay sold comps since 1997. You know what I mean? What year were you born?

[A]

92.

[B]

You were five when I was literally actually meaningfully spending hours every night looking at ebay sold comps to understand what Spice Girl dolls were worth. So I could go to Toys R Us and buy them and flip. Like, this is my life. Veefriends is the culmination of my life journey. Who I am as an entrepreneur, who I am as a human being and what I want to put into the world and who I am as a collector and flipper and fuck, man. Like, you catch me at a really interesting time, Ry. You can maybe even see the emotions starting to kick in. Like I'm gonna do this. Like actually. And so like back to the hobby of it all. Like, Chrome's a fucking monster. Chrome's Chrome, right? Like Chrome's Chrome. And so this is forever Chrome 1. And it's been crazy. I pushed to Topps credit. We both really wanted to Price it well. So like the $99 SRP, that's well, right? What I didn't. What I didn't fully grasp. Cause I haven't. I'm not paying. I like knowing what I know, but in the macro, I know everything. Quote unquote. Obviously not. But I feel good in the micro. I don't know everything. I don't think I knew that secondary could move this. Like I was worried about secondary getting to these prices by the national. Now I'm petrified of the prices at the national while I'm calm. Cause we signed such a long term deal. And for everyone who's listening, who's gonna jump on board if it's price prohibitive? Already 26 is coming. I'm already fully deep in the 26 checklist. It seems like a year is a long time, but especially as you get older, it's like tomorrow. The other thing I am excited about is this might be a little in parallel to this audience. In 93, I felt the junk wax era hitting. I could feel it. And I was at a card show in Highbridge, New Jersey with Brandon Warnecke, and I literally decided to sell all my cards. I'm like, I think something bad's like. I'm like, this is not good. This isn't what I felt from 87 and 93. I could feel it in the show, literally. And I decided to sell all my cards on 60 to 80 cents on a dollar and go fully into comics and cards and toys. And I crushed. And in that 93 to 99 era, I was really deep into Migos and secret wars and superpowers by Kenner and Star wars figure. I went deep. And it's like, you know, like you feel like life might be destiny. Like, it's like there was nothing indicating before that show that I was gonna go into the comic con kind of toy nerd culture. Nothing other than I liked it when I was a kid. I liked Transformers. I liked wrestling. Maybe everything showed that I would, but nothing up to that point showed. And then ebay comes out and I can study, right in 96, I can study. Like, wait, he man toys are worth this much. There's a rare skeletor. There's a Cobra Commander, Mickey Mouse variant. Like, I know shit in a way that none of you fucking understand that I know shit. And so that is coming in handy. Cause I'll tell you right now, I tell my inner circle right now, I'm like, man, everyone's like, this is this week. Everyone's all on Chrome and the secret thing that's actually happening is I'm building out this direct to consumer comic book thing I'm doing right now, which is actually going to make people fucking care about these characters because the stories. Right. So I know that was a long winded answer to your question. What did I learn? Nothing and everything.

[A]

I wouldn't expect any different of an answer Three days in.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

City Year before this event.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

How are you feeling three days in about the product?

[B]

So far, so happy. So happy. Like, you know, my greatest strength is I don't care what anyone thinks, but I value what everyone thinks. So, you know, you know, I spend as much time reading the comments of people that are like, this is incredible. I underestimated GaryVee. This is a great product as I am. The people that are like, this is like bootleg $1 metazoo garbage. Fuck Gary Vee. I read it all and I would say that three days in, it's better than I'd hoped for. And so that gives me motivation. Like, it's exciting. I love this hobby. Like, I watch so much more of the content, the vlogs, the podcasts, the social media posts than people realize, as you know for sure. I have talked about it less because I didn't like what was happening when I was talking about it, because people were making up things for sure. And you were doing. You really knew the truth. Cause you were hanging with Lou and Tyler. The number one commitment I made when I got in in 1819 was like, don't sell anything so it doesn't create any weirdness. But then people, like, for example, I was most proud in my inner circles that I said, don't buy Zion. Remember that? I was very hot on Not Buying. I loved, by the way, on the record. I thought Zion was gonna be a beast, but I thought the production of that prism was gonna be so high, which it was. And I thought there was a chance that he would be injured, that I was like, I'm not gonna go Zion. Right? And then, like, I was at like, some show and some kid came up to me. He's like, yo, what the fuck are you buying and flipping all the Zion? I'm like, what? Like, just like, rumors started to, like, really bother me. I'm like, listen, I'm willing to, like, lose on the truth and I'll be accountable for my mistakes. And I'm a human. I'll make plenty of them. But fucking people fading you on fucking rumors is not fun. And I have a reputation that I care about. So I was like, cool, you don't want me posting about it, then I won't post about it.

[A]

That's one thing I have definitely seen with you in time, especially knowing Tyler, Leo and Jay. It's like early on 2018, I think it was the Rich Eisen show. You were on there. You're talking a lot about it, the sports card thing, and you were really boisterous about it. And then again, like, I think you deserve a lot of credit for the attention that got brought to the market. It was the perfect timing. There was. You talked about it then, but there was like the storm brewing. We had some big classes, some big names, and then you kind of like fizzled out on it in time as it was like you were also, you know, the online. It was also like, well, Gary Vee's pumping and dumping and. But I had known early that like, you weren't selling anything. That was, you know, Tyler and Lou had talked a lot about that, that like you were buying stuff, but actually there was no selling on it involved. And, you know, I think that's. You made another point in there where it's like, you know, you talk about a lot about the content and how much you're in the hobby. I think that's one of the other things that, you know, I would speak a lot to the audience about is like, I think there's a lot of cynicism around. You know, again, there's people that love this, love what you're doing, and then there's people like, again, they say those, those things online, but which is fine.

[B]

And I'm empathetic to it.

[A]

I don't think those people really understand, like, you know, you're really in the hobby. You're really a part of you. It's a big piece of who you are now.

[B]

Yeah. And by the way, I don't have the audacity to think they should. Ryan, the most important thing in a man's life is humility. I don't have the audacity that Ricky Thompson, who flips vintage baseball cards and thinks I'm a dick face, should spend an hour looking into me. That part. I also know that Ricky's wrong. So you could imagine how easy it is to sleep when you don't have the audacity to have expectations of others. And you know, the truth, it makes it easy. So look, a lot of people here, they've seen me grind at the national. They see my face light up. They've seen me in card stores in the Tri State area with my son. They like, do you understand how many hours me and Rips, my beloved Adam Rips, have spent building my fictional character rookie card collection in the last two years? We've spent thousands of hours in the last three years trying to buy Scooby Doo rookie cards and fucking Yogi Bear and fucking Betty Boop and Popeye. And that's because that became a thing. That's, like, the thing I think I'm most fascinated by right now. Like, I think the hobby is in an incredible place. I really do. Like, and I actually think it's in a better place than people realize.

[A]

That's what I was gonna ask you. Better, you know, you got it. You were big on in 2018. You get into it. You made a brief appearance at the Cleveland National 2018.

[B]

Yes. I was calling to go incognito.

[A]

I knew this.

[B]

Rips, like, texted his dad. He's like, find this man.

[A]

Yeah. We had met at that point, and I was like, people would say, gary's here. And I'm like, oh, that sucks. 2019. It sucks because I missed.

[B]

No, no. It sucks because he wasn't there. Sucks because I drock didn't have the context. Sucks.

[A]

Gary was there. 2019. You go to Chicago, by the way.

[B]

At that Cleveland show, I bought a bunch of poor Zingis rookies. I'm gonna burn those fuckers. Today's game three as we record this. I'm very, very nervous about today. I'm very, very nervous about this next Celtics season. Like, the Knicks fans are way over the top. I literally called AJ Two days ago. I'm like, we're losing six, aren't we? Like, I'm like, but go ahead. Sorry. That was like a PSA for the.

[A]

Game, but you got into it. You were bullish on it then. How do you feel today?

[B]

I've been bullish on it the whole way. Obviously, there was a needed price correction, but because the COVID obviously, I feel very good about what I did for the hobby and contributed to the hobby. The math is the math. The math is very clear. Everyone can go do max data analysis of card ladder very easily and see from the day I showed up to the day before COVID what happened in the market. And then obviously, Covid created another event, and obviously that created some really speculative pricing. When we all went back to real life and had other things to do besides being stuck in our home and being fully 100% digital, the demand curve changed. The supply curve went up. The speculation energy went through the roof. During that time, I've been saying this this week and I think it really captures how I feel. Jackson Dart is not going to be speculated in his upcoming product the way that Mac Jones was. And I think that's why I'm so confident in the hobby. Jackson Dart one of ones are still going to be expensive definitely by my standards of when like an $8 Greg Jeffries was a billion dollars in the 80s. But it's not going to be the prices. And I think what has happened is this has never happened in the hobby where it exploded, then had a real heavy price correction and then got hot again. All in such a small window that every person listening has learned so much that they know how to navigate tomorrow. That is amazing. That's 1, 2 content on content on content. This all the breakers content creators. It will be in the lexicon forever. In the 80s when this was exploding and the 90s, one news program might do a three minute segment on Cards are getting hot around the country. And that was it. The reason this won't ever be like the junk wax era and go to zero is the baseball. I don't know if the OGs tell you this. The baseball strike coinciding with the junk era was insanely bad for the hobby.

[A]

Really?

[B]

Yeah. Let me explain something. Most of you kids don't know, but the OGs definitely know. This is stuff I talk to with the 50 year old plus crowd at the national baseball cards. You might have noticed this. Tyler, you might have noticed I still call them baseball cards a lot. I slip up, right? I'll be like, I'll talk about a basketball card or something. I'll be like baseball card. Baseball was the entire market. I was buying 86, 87 fleer rookies cause I loved basketball for nothing. That was like the premium thing. Like everybody Even then knew 86, 87 Fleer was legit. It was all pre grading so it was raw. But it was like $40 for an Elijah one. I was like, you know, baseball was the whole market. Baseball cards, even though 91, 2, 3 you started to see basketball and football come. You have no idea. It was 90% of the market. So now it's 90% of the market. We have an influx of junk wax era. There's no media to support the momentum. It just happened organically. And now the baseball strike comes and everyone's like fuck baseball. People were dead. I especially cause I was a Yankees fan and we were good that year. I hadn't won a World Series yet. The Expos got fucked. It was terrible. Anyway, that was it. So that can't be replicated. The COVID thing, the momentum, the flippers, the sneaker flipper. But you have more collectors. This is why I actually think the non sports thing is huge for the hobby. Let me paint you a story of a kid that's in line in your store right now waiting for us. He's nine years old. He collects Pokemon, but his family are Browns fans. And he hasn't started collecting sports cards. Maybe a little bit. He's gonna be 13, and he's gonna be all in Pokemon. And then that's gonna lead him to start collecting sports cards. Cause he's a Browns fan. Or the Cavs are gonna have the number one pick and it's gonna be the next guy. I don't think people in the sports collecting realm understand that the non sports thing is gateway drugging for them.

[A]

Mm.

[B]

It's very big. And I actually see another phenomenon, which is why I've gone so deep into vintage fictional character cards. I've done Comic Con twice now for Be Friends. The price difference between Amazing Stories 15, Spider Man's first appearance, and the 66 Marvel first Spider Man Rookie card. The price values are like, right? But I'm seeing something every Comic Con. I also searched the bulletin boards, the social media content, and then the Chrome stuff with Marvel and Disney. I can feel the Comic Con crew getting seduced into our world. And when they show up, this is gonna get real good. I believe there's a huge influx of people that collect toys and comic books and Funko Pops that are about to get into cards that are non sports. And then that will be huge. And then that will get them into sports, and that will be super huge. And so I'm always fascinated when people fade. Like, you know, they're like, we don't do Pokemon or fuck that shit. That's garbage. Like, this thing is doing good for you. If you're speculating Prism football, rookie quarterbacks, or now, obviously Topps has all the light. Like, if you're going to be all about Chrome refractor, you know, super fractures of future NBA and NFL rookies, like, you should be thrilled what Pokemon's doing. You should be rooting for me to pull off this miracle I'm trying to pull off and everything else that's happening. Magic, the gathering in one piece. And I don't get how people think life is or this is all. And yeah, you know, I'm obviously doing my tour. I'm in some breaker stuff, popping in some of the hardest core Pokemon people are like, fuck this shit. I'M like, you don't get it. I'm like, I get it why they're like that. But I'm like, you don't get it. You want me to pull this off? Cause that's good for your Pokemon collection. Cause I'm gonna onboard a million people in the next decade to veefriends, and they're gonna leave and go. And that's what happened in NFTs. I onboarded everyone. They went to Bored Ape, they went to Pudgy Penguins, they went to Doodles. And that makes me happy.

[A]

Yeah, sure.

[B]

Cause I'm gonna get mine. No matter what anybody thinks. If they think I'm the best or I'm the worst, neither party is gonna stop me. I'm not gonna get too high on my supply. And I'm gonna stay humble on the people that say I'm the goat and the people that say I fucking suck. I'm gonna stick it to their fucking face, regardless.

[A]

Sure. No, I get it.

[B]

I mean, that's what's gonna happen.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

I could die and that would suck. I won't know the difference, but that would be bad. But other than that, if God willing, that doesn't happen, don't let me stick around for another 50 years and get to 99. Cause I am going to build this, this.

[A]

And by the jets.

[B]

Yeah. I mean, look, this. This is probably my clearest path to the jets. Do you know how much Pokemon's worth?

[A]

A boatload.

[B]

How much? Look, guess. I know. You don't know. Guess.

[A]

5,100,000,000.

[B]

Pokemon is worth $100 billion. Wow. It's an incredibly valuable IP and intellectual property in an AI world is going to go up in value even more because most things will be commoditized except the intellectual property, the copyrights, the trademarks. So, you know, people can underestimate. But I really hope you have a box of Chrome in your house right now.

[A]

We definitely have some. Definitely have to rip some today at the. At the event later.

[B]

But ChatGPT it.

[A]

Chat GPT. There we go. Chat GPT is a game changer, man. It's a game changer.

[B]

Yeah. As a side note, as a complete side note, every one of you needs to understand everything about AI because you're all probably very young in the scheme of Life on under 70, and you've got a lot to do with it.

[A]

Yeah. Chat GPT is. Is crazy. Crazy. All right. Looking it up now.

[B]

Yeah, I think it would be brand versus market, but nonetheless, go ahead.

[A]

What is. You hit it at a little bit. 150.

[B]

Yeah, it's going up by the nanosecond.

[A]

150 billion according to chat gbt. So you're light by 50 billion.

[B]

That might be the market though. Yes, market. Market. Lifetime revenue. Yeah. So I mean, it's worth 100 billion.

[A]

You talked a little bit about it earlier, but as we sit here today, like one year, five year, ten years. Yeah. What's. What's coming for.

[B]

For you and yeah, I mean, I think what's coming for me is I'm going to segue out of being the. I've been putting 15 hours a day into Vayner X the last two years. My marketing company. You know, that's the other thing that's funny about me. People are like, he's a motivational speaker. I'm like, I'm the CEO of a 2,800 person global advertising agency that has completely rocked Madison Avenue in the ad world that's doing $350 million a year in revenue. A year. That's what I do while I'm building veefriends, while I'm building the most aggressive, fastest growing sports agency in the world called vaynersports with my brother Sauce Garden agent Aidan Hutchinson, Boba Shet, Justin Miller was there.

[A]

We have a post about this.

[B]

Yes, yes.

[A]

We have a post about this from 20.

[B]

Yes. We got. Brax was our first. One of our first baguettes. I love Brax. Such a good dude. And so, you know, look, the reality is is that what's next is the following 2026. Chrome's gonna be a 2026 tops. Be Friends is gonna be interesting. I'm trying to give you some scoops. I'm trying to think what I can give you that it's allowed. Here's what I can give you. Rips and I have meaningful meetings coming up with Topps to talk about 26. What do I mean by that? I mean like a broad Sapphire release. I'd be shocked if we don't have that. I'd be shocked if we don't have multi packs. Like I'm really. I already have the Mega Box insert that I want to create for the mega boxes. So I'd like to see that in 26. I'd like to see a bigger production run, tops. Can someone clip this and send it to Mahan and Ruben? I'd like to see a bigger production run. Cause I don't want the run up on the price. I'm not trying to oversupply. Oversupply can only be oversupply. When it's way over the demand. The demand is real. Real. Like, people don't wait. I can't wait for people to understand how many people collect. Actually, I think three days in, the hobby is starting to realize how many people collect Veefriends. The ebay comps are bananas. And I think people think it's like, Rip said something to me about. I asked him about one of the Facebook groups. He's like, oh, the hobbies moved on. And I laughed. I'm like, we're not gonna allow them to move on. You know, I said that to myself. This is the first time Rips is hearing it anyway, so what's gonna happen? I think we're gonna make an incredible 26 product.

[A]

That's where some of those other characters are gonna.

[B]

Yeah, we have about 150 characters that are not in this set. A lot of the biggest ones. I've learned a lot about the inserts and what I want to do. I'd like to see if we expand into other Topps places. I take note, right. I walk into a hobby store, and I see X Men and finest. Right. And I'm like, hmm. You know, like, I'm thinking, right. I grew up obsessed with stadium club. I know that stadium club has not been a, you know.

[A]

Pokemon stadium.

[B]

Yeah. And ironically, being in the cartoons, if you have a kid under nine, please go to veefriends.com cartoons. The whole premise to that cartoon on YouTube kids is Veefriends battle each other in the V dome.

[A]

Yeah. Tyler was saying they got rivalries, they got stories.

[B]

Yeah. If you look at the back of. If you're listening right now, while you have some Veefriends cards in front of you from Chrome, turn the back around. The back's very important. It has my original art, but it also says, and pay attention. We do nothing by accident. Competitive advantage. End quote. So that's exciting. We have a super stickers product, Ryan, that we carved out of our top steel that we make that is very big in our world. Like, again, if somebody's listening right now with a computer or phone, which I assume they have. If you go to ebay right now and type in Veefriends super stickers, they're a head knot. At the national, we did that in fact, brother.

[A]

Crazy.

[B]

In fact. Thank you, brother. I always love when you do this, bro. This is my favorite part of what you do. Like, go to completed items and sold. The ones at the national have become very sought after. Somebody snagged the PSA mag Rips why do people do buy it now with new stuff? Just list it at a dollar and let the market cook for you. Anyway, this is new. We're on the COVID of PSA magazine.

[A]

It's hitting home with the PSA magazine.

[B]

Did you get those there? Literally as we're sitting here right now, as you can see, they're all new listings. PSA magazine is hitting homes in the last 24 hours, the fictional one. And Veefriends is the feature brand this month, which is huge for us. We wanted to hook those people up. So we put a pack of super stickers in there. As you're seeing on the screen right now, that is a very big deal in bfriend's world. So I think a bunch of people that randomly got this PSA magazine are getting stunned with what they're selling it for. But we do that and so we're thinking a lot about holding people over to 26 Chrome. We've always sold those direct to consumer on fanatics Live and psa, excuse me, and whatnot. I am actually thinking about bringing it a little more broad to the market. You may hear from us in a couple weeks, couple months. So super Stickers is gonna be a big part, but then comics, if you wanna put up that, like comics, this is something. I'm really excited. I think by the time 26 Chrome comes out, you're going to see a real, real universe of real demand for VFriends cards. Because I think people are going to fall in love with these characters through the comic book storytelling. In fact, that second on the image you were just looking. Now if you go back to it real quick, the top right, only 555 comics that was given to our NFT holders that hold giftgoat. That was J. Scott Campbell co If you know that world, huge get for us. That comic's red hot number two, which came in a blind bag that you're seeing on the screen to the left there, that's the origin story of the Fearless Fairy, which is one of our big characters. We've literally had people collecting veefriends for four years who have their favorite character locked in. Have literally spent four years collecting, spending money, caring, maxiing, and literally after reading the comic number two that just came out, or like I like Fearless Ferry more now. That's called storytelling. That's called using your imagination. That's a big fucking deal. And we're going to do a lot of that.

[A]

I love it. Well, obviously I would love to sit here and chat with you forever, but we do have a trade day to get to it.

[B]

How much time do we have? One more minute. How much time do we have left? Because I want to talk about one thing.

[A]

Six.

[B]

Six minutes. Let's talk about, like, thank you for that. But let's talk about general card hobby.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

What a. I'm gonna reverse it. Almost like you're on my podcast. What is most interesting for you right now? Like, a trend that is like on the cutting edge. Last two, three weeks, seven weeks max. Trend that is capturing your attention. Like, for me. I'll jump in while I give you a second to think. I really like the case hit culture. I think that's been really fun. It makes sense too, right? Supply and demand. I think a lot of people that are getting very focused on case hits are very smart.

[A]

Makes.

[B]

Makes a lot of sense. I like that. Your thoughts?

[A]

These guys sign so many cards. Like, Jaden Daniels doesn't have 50 signatures ever. Right. So, like, as you increase that number, like, the case hit thing has to matter.

[B]

I think that's right.

[A]

We talked about that earlier. Like, with Panini losing the licensing, Tops taking over, like the biggest case hit right now. Panini owns downtown's color blast kabooms. Like Topps is going to have like a time like introducing theirs to the market that are going to like, compete at. At that level. Those are. Those are the three.

[B]

It's just to nerd out a little bit. It's why I'm obsessed with super fractors. Like, they have real legacy y. They look remarkably good.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

They have incredible longevity of of comps. And it's so purely tops. And I think it's that that one's just going to continue to gain momentum.

[A]

Yeah, I would agree with all of that. I think, you know, I was at the Tops conference. Like we chatted there. Like, Topps intro to basketball here soon is going to be, I think, a huge piece of the market come October. You're going to get one. One of the biggest basketball prospects in the last couple decades.

[B]

And I don't know if you know this because I'm in the business. The prospects behind Cooper are better than Cooper.

[A]

Oh, that's A.J.

[B]

Debanza is an insanely big prospect. He would go one if he came out now over Cooper.

[A]

Interesting.

[B]

And Peterson's right on his heel. Next year's class is a one, two. That's gonna really matter.

[A]

Well, I just think with the transition to Topps getting the basketball license with Cooper, the debut patch auto, like we would expect that's coming.

[B]

Yeah, the debut patch Auto is a monster. That's such a good call.

[A]

Do you agree? I. I had this clip on here before. You couldn't make a better card of a player than a debut patch Auto. It's the greatest card you could ever make of one player.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Agree.

[B]

I think it. I agreed because you're blending a level of memorabilia. The cards look great. And it was uniquely Fanatics Inc. That could pull it off. Right. Because they have the licensing, like, it's a really good product.

[A]

I just don't think you could ever get a moment in time where you're like, this card is greater. Let's say they win a Super bowl, they go to the hall of Fame. The best card they would ever have is the debut patch from their first ever game on card hand signed one of one.

[B]

I think it's card that could ever. It's a monster. Monster product. It's a monster. Yeah. I mean, literally the only reason I'm not like going there, I'm like, that didn't exist five years ago and imagination matters and somebody might come up with like, I don't know, like their skins. I don't know. I don't want to get canceled. But like, there's gonna be something like. But yes. It's fucking insane.

[A]

Yeah. Huge.

[B]

It's a great card.

[A]

That's one thing that's. That's been on my mind again. Tops.

[B]

I'm curious what Prism's gonna do with non licensed product. Right. Cause Topps has been doing plenty of stuff that people have been buying that's going to be really interesting to watch in reverse. Yeah.

[A]

Some of those bigger brands.

[B]

I'm also expecting Prism to go heavy into non sports. Excuse me, Panini.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And Sir Heritage, by the way, with.

[A]

Like, you know, the Rolling Stones come. Has come out. Minecraft has come out.

[B]

Like, how's Minecraft done?

[A]

It's. It's not done bad, Brian. Our team studied it. Like, there's a $9,000 Minecraft sale.

[B]

Makes sense.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

So there's a Minecraft matters in culture.

[A]

The Minecraft sale, that was like the like 9,000 bucks. Yeah, right there.

[B]

Click that.

[A]

Chicken jockey.

[B]

Yeah, chicken jockey. Of course.

[A]

So young entrepreneur out there, you know, I have followed the content for so long, it changed the trajectory of my life. I'm very open about that. What would you say to somebody that's, you know, 15, 16, 17 years old, somebody that's like, hey, I want to do this. I want to be on that podcast. I want to talk to Gary one day. What advice would you give that Person to realize why.

[B]

Ry, I'm being dead serious. I'm giving you flowers right now to realize why. First of all, kudos for listening to this and following Ry, because he is definitely the blueprint of the kind of person you want to look up to by understanding who to look up to and who not to look up to. And by understanding that the bigger Ryan gets, the more he'll start living the life I live, which is people are gonna make up shit. People are gonna say shit. It comes with the territory. When you have a gift, there's a curse that comes along with it. And envy and jealousy is an incredibly negative energy in our society. But what I would say to them is spend time to be thoughtful of who you try to pattern yourself after and really try to figure out what makes you tick. I walked into this office right now and I said, I wish I could live here. That reinforced what I'm feeling right now. I'm 49 years old, and I'm trying to sell myself right now on living my full passion, which is to spend all my time on be friends. I've got responsibilities, I got obligations. I got a ton of shit going on. So I've got to pattern it out. But I felt this with wine library. There was a day that came that I said, you know what? I can't build this for my dad anymore. I've done my due. I paid my dues, I gave back to my parents. But I'm 34, and I built a humongous business for my dad. I don't own it. I haven't been paid shit. I gotta go on my own and build something for myself. And my brother's about to graduate college. This is the time, right? What you need to do is you need to know yourself. I'm in that same place right now. I'm putting this out publicly to put pressure on myself. I now know that veefriends has to be what I build. I just have a lot to still do with Vaynerx, Vaynersports, other things, Vayner, Watt, it goes on and on. But I'm pressuring myself to go full time on this. If you follow your passion and what makes you tick and not where you think the money is. If you're a 15 year old right now and be like, oh, it's crypto, oh, it's cannabis, oh, it's trading cards, oh, it's whatever's gonna pop next. If you're chasing the dollars, you're gonna get caught. But if you do it about the thing you like you'll work the 15 hours a day. Cause you would do it for free. I would be Gary Vee doing exactly what I'm doing If it paid 40,000 a year because I like it too much. And so for sure that.