Podcast Summary: The Iced Coffee Hour

Episode: The Pokémon Expert: THIS Makes More Money Than Stocks, Crypto, & Real Estate – Combined!
Hosts: Graham Stephan & Jack Selby
Guest: Jeremy Padawer (Toy & Collectibles Entrepreneur)
Date: December 21, 2025

Overview

This episode features Jeremy Padawer—legendary entrepreneur and collector—whose expertise spans Pokémon, WWE, Squishmallows, NFTs, toys, and rare collectibles. The conversation dives deep into the insane returns of collectibles as an asset class (sometimes eclipsing stocks, crypto, and real estate), the psychology behind collecting, failures and fire losses, trends in the market, and the best business (and life) lessons learned on Jeremy’s wild ride from student loan hustler to C-suite of a Berkshire Hathaway company.

Key Discussion Points

1. The Value of Collectibles & What Drives Markets

• Scarcity is Everything:

  • “Scarcity is everything in collectibles. If you do not have scarcity, that is the death of a collectible.” — Jeremy [00:29]
  • Historical perspective: Baseball cards that went from $15,000 to $50 million. Other categories mirror this growth when the dynamics are right.

• Community & Hype:

  • Adult collectors are now the number one group, edging out kids—fandom and community drive market strength.

• Market Cycles:

  • The initial hype burns hot (Pokémon, Labubu, Beanie Babies). Savvy management and engaged communities can sustain value over time; poor management or waning interest kills it.

2. Jeremy’s Background: Student Loans to Pokémon Millions

• Humble Beginnings:

  • “I first started making money with student loans. It’s almost embarrassing to say. My timing was good though.” — Jeremy [10:22]
  • Bought act.com for $1,000 (on a message board) using student loan funds; sold to Symantec for $500,000.
  • He shares the negotiation, including the classic escalation from $300,000 to $500,000:
    • “...there’s a difference between when someone says $300,000 and half a million. But my brain just kicked right in, and I was like, yes.” [12:18]

• Domain Hustle:

  • Dozens of “absolute” Yahoo! listings brought in direct traffic—leveraged search algorithms to 'game' the early internet.
  • First domain humorously: schmuck.com for $30, sold to a German jewelry company for $30,000, not realizing “schmuck” means “jewels” in German. [16:39]

3. Biggest Misses and Lessons Learned

• Business vs. Collectible Flops:
  • Lost $60,000 investing in a Groupon clone:
    • “I lost $60,000, I think, in three weeks. It was the amount and the time...the amount of money that I actually had.” [01:29]
• Action is Impactful:
  • “It’s the things that you actually take an action towards, those are the things that in my mind are more impactful…” [02:40]

4. The Grails: Most Valuable Collectibles

• Top Owned:
  • Ishihara Pokémon Card (PSA 10): Only one perfect, bought at $100,000, now worth seven figures.
    • “I would say the rarest and most valuable item that I own right now is an Ishihara Pokémon card...This is the only perfect one. And I think it’s a seven-figure item.” [03:11]
• Harry Potter 1st Edition: Purchased for $200K, believes it will be worth $10 million+ [119:20]
• LeBron Rookie Cards: Multiple PSA 10s, only 130 exist.
• Hulk Hogan & Andre the Giant Rookie Cards: Only two/very few highest-grade known specimens.

5. Stories from the Collectibles Elite

Pokémon, Logan Paul, and Dubai

• Jeremy brokered deals for the legendary Pokémon Illustrator Card; facilitated a $5M+ deal for Logan Paul in Dubai.
  • “He invited me to come out with him. We flew to Dubai and did the deal. And everything about it is legitimate.” [05:23]
  • “Goat cards in other areas are $50 million...So to think that the highest valued card in Pokémon is 5, there may be some upside there.” [06:19]

Palisades Fire: Risk Management

• Lost ~$7–8m in collectibles to fire; insurance only covered so much due to growth in value not being updated.
  • “I had complete insurance, but the value had escalated. So with the value escalation, I didn’t do a good job keeping up with the latest values...I, I left millions of dollars on the table.” [08:32–09:24]
  • Jeremy’s actionable tip:
    • “Every Valentine’s Day...go look at all your collectible items, all of your insurance, and make sure that you have prepared them correctly.” [09:24]

Lessons from the WWE & Vince McMahon

• Pitched to move WWE toys from “kids only” to adult collectors—created the 'Classic Superstars' line featuring legends and alumni.
• “I sat down with Mr. McMahon and I said, hey...we have an opportunity to bring back this world of wrestling, but not for kids, for collectors.” [29:37]

6. Sourcing Trends Early

• Spotting Early Fads:
  • “I'm on a lifelong treasure hunt looking for the next big toy.” [00:00, 50:11]
  • Jeremy breaks down how to recognize emerging opportunities by analogies: Cards, magazines, electronics, LPs—the first appearances, community size, availability to be graded.
  • Gives a callout for upcoming grails: e.g. original iPhones (especially 3G as a value play), Oculus, electronic memorabilia, YouTube plaques and creator awards.
    • “Original iPhones, 50 to 100 grand...the 3G, the second one is only a few thousand.” [117:21]

7. What Makes or Breaks Value?

• Scarcity and Authenticity
  • “Scarcity is everything in collectibles...If you do not have scarcity...that is the death of a collectible.” [55:32]
  • Market manipulation: Must avoid overproduction (Beanie Babies, 80s baseball cards).
• Community:
  • Labubu, Squishmallows, Pokémon—communities and stories fuel sustained demand.

8. Navigating Fakes and Verification

• PSA registries and digital archives are crucial, but not perfect (e.g. counterfeiting PSA slabs).
  • “There’s a registry...If somebody else were to say, hey, I have that particular card...you as a collector should go to the registry and see if it matches.” [59:43]

9. Returns vs. Traditional Assets

• Collectibles have outperformed stocks in past decades due to being an unexplored asset class.
  • “Yes, because that category was so much less explored. Collectibles as an asset have exploded in value in the last 25 years.” [112:01]
• But Jeremy personally keeps exposure limited: “I’d say I’m more like five percent.” [65:55]

10. Statistics, Favorites, and Predictions

• Predicts things like original Apple I computers will be $100m assets within 30 years. [114:30]
• Identifies Harry Potter, Twilight, Hunger Games as next up for massive rises as their fans age into wealth. [113:56]
• Sees generational/fandom cycles as key in every emerging collecting category.

11. Life, Loss, and Motivation

• The Palisades fire and insurance journey reframed Jeremy’s perspective on what really matters.
• Motivation: Community, connection, and fun—not just “money for money’s sake.”
  • “Money makes me happy because...it allows me to explore the things that I’m passionate about...But the concept of money for money’s sake is less interesting.” [105:03]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On collecting as identity/purpose:

  • “The idea was collect over a lifetime that involves both my professional life and my personal life. Because a lot of those lines are blurred.” — Jeremy [07:12]
  • “You don’t have to be stinking rich to take some of those risks...but you don’t want to put all your eggs in one basket.” [69:16]

• On business wisdom:

  • “It doesn’t matter what you know. All that matters is, you know people that know stuff. Know how to leverage them, know how to leverage what they do best. And you’ll always be fine.” [33:39]

• On the NFT bust:

  • “The problem was within six months there were 10,000 communities...and so everything just crashed because the world of consumers could not keep up with the available product.” [94:04]

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Types of Value in Collecting: [00:26–01:11, 55:32]
• Domain Name Hustle & Early Wins: [10:22–16:46]
• Groupon Clone Loss (Big Miss): [01:29–02:10]
• Pokemon Illustrator & Logan Paul Dubai Story: [04:15–06:17]
• Insurance Lessons from Fire: [08:10–09:24]
• Adult Collectors Overtake Kids: [50:11]
• Squishmallows Origin Story: [36:12–43:36]
• Warren Buffett Email Stories: [44:53–49:09]
• Detecting Fakes/Registry: [58:20–60:32]
• How Much of Portfolio for Collectibles: [65:36–65:58]
• Buying Apple I, Investing in Emerging Grails: [114:30–117:08]
• Show-and-Tell: Harry Potter Book, LeBron Rookies: [119:20–124:59]
• Fan Letters Binder (Life Achievement): [126:18–133:04]

Conclusion & Actionable Takeaways

• Buy What You Love, Learn the Market:
  “Study and follow your passions so that you learn so much about a category that you can protect yourself from yourself.” — Jeremy [61:10]

• Diversify, Don’t Speculate Blindly:
  Jeremy keeps his own collectible exposure at 5%—even with extraordinary insight and “edge.”

• Grade, Certify, and Insure:
  The higher the grade, the rarer and more valuable; always individually insure prized possessions, update values regularly, and never ignore the risks.

• Watch the Community:
  The house party doesn’t last forever, but with strong community and good brand management, the enabling “hype” can transform into long-term value.

• Seek Analogies Across Markets:
  Early electronics, magazines, YouTube ephemera, and more are the new playing field. The biggest winners are often hiding in plain sight—where few are looking, and communities have not yet jelled.

Final Note:
This is an epic, candid journey into the lucrative—and deeply human—world of modern collecting. Jeremy Padawer’s story shows that curiosity, passion, and relentless learning can yield both financial rewards and lifelong meaning.

For listeners and would-be collectors: scroll through the timecodes for stories, wisdom, and actionable strategies—from million-dollar Pokémon cards to the art of insuring your investments to how fan communities drive modern markets.