Sports Cards Live

Special podcast episode of The Hangover from the Sports Card Clubhouse platform.

Are sports cards investments? According to Jeremy, the answer depends on the collector. But if you insist they absolutely cannot be investments under any circumstances...well, he has a word for you.

Jeremy and David get into the debate over collecting versus investing, why nobody else gets to define how you approach your cards, and what happens when real money, long-term value and eventual exit plans become part of collecting.

Plus, Jeremy comes home from the Saskatchewan Card & Collector Experience with three raw Gretzky rookies, a realization that he may be a terrible flipper, and some lessons from buying cards on the show floor. David gives an update on his massive consolidation into a grail, including what it feels like watching beloved cards disappear at auction, and the guys look at some potentially interesting movement happening across parts of the hobby market.

It's collecting, buying, selling, investing, arguing and probably offending a few people along the way.

Welcome to The Hangover.

Check out The Hobby Spectrum and discover what kind of collector you are at thehobbyspectrum.com.

Follow Sports Cards Live and Sports Card Clubhouse for more hobby conversations, interviews and commentary.

And as always, collect what you love, however you choose to collect it.

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What would it actually take for another grading company to seriously challenge PSA?

Grai Miller, David Chase, Joshua Adams and I close out the show by digging into one of the hobby’s biggest competitive questions.

Is a recognizable name enough? Does it have to be a trusted hobby brand? Could a company like Fanatics enter the space and immediately become a legitimate player? Or would the real threat to PSA have to come from something completely different?

We look back at why Beckett was once able to become a major competitor so quickly, why so many grading companies have failed to seriously threaten PSA since, and whether the next major disruption will even resemble the grading model we know today.

Technology, consistency, population reports, set registries, grading guarantees and the power of the PSA brand all enter the conversation.

And because apparently no serious discussion about grading can happen anymore without it, SPA Grading returns with more details about its revolutionary approach to the hobby, its highly questionable population reports and the continued miracle that is Hart’s Hog Care Sports Card Formula.

We also wrap up Graig Miller’s debut as the first Sports Cards Live guest co-host.

Subscribe to Sports Cards Live on YouTube and wherever you listen to podcasts.

Discover where you fit in the hobby at thehobbyspectrum.com.

Search auctions across the hobby at AuctionWire.ai and use promo code SCL for 45% off your first year.

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Some collectibles can be replaced. Others take a piece of their story with them when they're gone.

We continue our conversation about hobby regrets with an incredible Jesse Owens Olympic story that raises a much bigger question: what actually makes something irreplaceable? Is it rarity, value, provenance, the story attached to it, or simply the memories you made while owning it?

That leads us into whether owning a card once can sometimes be enough, why certain cards immediately go back onto the want list while others don't, and how sharing our collections may change the experience of ownership itself.

Then David Chase reveals that he's in the middle of a massive collection consolidation. More than 60 cards are on the way out as he works toward something much bigger, but he's not ready to tell us what it is yet.

And finally, we turn back to grading. We complain about PSA constantly, yet the hobby continues to reward it. So what would another grading company actually have to do to become a legitimate threat?

Subscribe to Sports Cards Live on YouTube and wherever you listen to podcasts.

Discover where you fit in the hobby at thehobbyspectrum.com.

Search auctions across the hobby at AuctionWire.ai and use promo code SCL for 45% off your first year.

Check out Pops & Comps on Amazon.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What made you start collecting in the first place, and is it still the same reason you collect today?

Joshua Adams joins Graig Miller and David Chase as we wrap up our conversation with Phil Kronakis and then turn the focus inward.

We go back to our earliest memories as collectors, the cards and sets that first grabbed our attention, and how our motivations have evolved over decades in the hobby. From completing sets and chasing favorite players to nostalgia, vintage, rookie cards and finally being able to own some of the things that seemed completely out of reach when we were kids.

Then Greg asks a dangerous question: what’s the hobby decision you still regret?

That opens up some stories about cards we sold too early, cards we passed on, money we wish we had spent differently and decisions that look very different with the benefit of hindsight.

Are the mistakes simply part of the collecting journey? And would the wins mean as much without a few painful losses along the way?

Subscribe to Sports Cards Live on YouTube and wherever you listen to podcasts.

Discover where you fit in the hobby at thehobbyspectrum.com.

Search auctions across the hobby at AuctionWire.ai and use promo code SCL for 45% off your first year.

Check out Pops & Comps on Amazon.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When did sports become so intertwined with gambling, and what did that do to the sports card hobby?

Phil Chronakis remains with us as Greaig Miller of Midlife Cards joins the panel as the first-ever Sports Cards Live guest co-host.

We dig into a major shift that happened years before the COVID hobby boom and ask whether the legalization and normalization of sports betting helped create the environment that transformed sports cards as well.

That leads us straight into one of the hobby’s most contentious questions: is opening wax gambling?

Collecting, breaking, ripping, chasing, compulsive spending and the psychology behind all of it come into the discussion, with some very different perspectives around the table. We also hear from Collectors MD about what they are seeing firsthand from collectors struggling with these behaviours.

Finally, we look ahead. Does a hobby with this much money flowing through it eventually face greater scrutiny? And if some form of regulation is coming, is the better answer government intervention or a hobby that learns how to govern itself?

Subscribe to Sports Cards Live on YouTube and wherever you listen to podcasts.

Discover where you fit in the hobby at thehobbyspectrum.com.

Search auctions across the hobby at AuctionWire.ai and use promo code SCL for 45% off your first year.

Check out Pops & Comps on Amazon.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices