Sports Cards Live

Why is one Steph Curry rookie worth $60,000 while another rare rookie-year Curry card can be bought for a tiny fraction of that?

Jeremy, Chris McGill, David Chase, Joe Poirot and Joshua Adams continue their discussion about how collectors find value in a hobby where the established grails have become increasingly expensive.

Chris puts a real-world example on the screen. Steph Curry's 2009 Topps Chrome rookie, numbered to 999, has become one of his iconic cards and commands an enormous premium in a PSA 10. Meanwhile, Chris finds a 2009 Certified Fabric of the Game Curry, numbered to just 99 and containing memorabilia, available for dramatically less money.

So what exactly are collectors paying for?

The card itself? Scarcity? Eye appeal? History? Brand recognition? Or decades of hobby consensus telling us which cards we're supposed to want?

That leads into a larger conversation about how hobby grails are created, how influential collectors and content creators can shape demand, and whether social media simply reflects collecting trends or actually helps manufacture them.

The panel also debates changing perceptions around players including Shaquille O'Neal, Nolan Ryan, Jackie Robinson and Steph Curry. Can established hobby hierarchies change? Can overlooked players suddenly become hobby royalty? And when prices explode after decades of relative stability, is that organic discovery or something collectors should approach with caution?

Jeremy explains why he likes having multiple collecting lanes, from serious five-figure purchases where financial value matters to inexpensive cards he can buy simply because he loves them. When one lane gets too expensive, there is always somewhere else in the hobby to explore.

And that may be the biggest lesson for new collectors: don't automatically buy what everyone else has already decided is important.

Learn the hobby. Do your research. Think critically. Then find value where value makes sense to you.

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Take the Hobby Spectrum Assessment and discover where you fit in the hobby at thehobbyspectrum.com.

Search auctions across the hobby with AuctionWire.ai.

Research the market with Card Ladder. Use promo code SCL.

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Should the next generation of collectors want the same cards we do?

Chris McGill brings a fascinating question to the panel: when new collectors enter the hobby, should they buy into the hierarchy of cards, players and grails that previous generations have established, or should they use their fresh perspective to discover entirely new collecting lanes?

Jeremy, David Chase, Joe Poirot and Joshua Adams dig into what that means in a hobby where many of the cards longtime collectors grew up chasing have become extraordinarily expensive.

Are newcomers really best served spending huge amounts of money chasing the same Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Mickey Mantle and other established grails everyone already knows? Or are there overlooked players, sets, inserts, eras and cards sitting right in front of us simply because the existing hobby establishment hasn't decided they matter yet?

The panel discusses herd mentality, questioning conventional hobby wisdom, the importance of understanding why certain cards became iconic and the difference between teaching someone WHAT to collect and teaching them HOW to think about collecting.

Jeremy argues that your approach may ultimately depend on where you fall on the Hobby Spectrum. Someone primarily interested in making money may be better served understanding and participating in established markets, while a collector has considerably more freedom to explore, experiment and build something completely unique.

The conversation also explores whether the collecting experience many longtime hobbyists enjoyed growing up can even be recreated today. Packs are different. Prices are different. Information is everywhere. Market data is instantaneous. And newcomers arrive in a hobby with far more infrastructure, money and established narratives than previous generations ever encountered.

So maybe the goal isn't to recreate the old hobby.

Maybe it's helping the next generation find its own.

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

Take the Hobby Spectrum Assessment and discover where you fit in the hobby at thehobbyspectrum.com.

Search auctions across the hobby with AuctionWire.ai.

Research the market with Card Ladder. Use promo code SCL.

And check out Pops & Comps, available now on Amazon.
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How certain can anyone really be that an autograph is authentic?

Steve Grad joins Jeremy and David Chase for a fascinating deep dive into autograph authentication, beginning with one of the most controversial signed cards currently in the hobby: the 1952 Bowman Mickey Mantle that PSA has authenticated and Steve believes was NOT signed by Mickey Mantle.

Steve explains why he believes the signature is secretarial or clubhouse signed, walks through the exemplars and signing tendencies he uses to reach that conclusion, and discusses what it's like to publicly disagree with another major authenticator when hundreds of thousands of dollars may be at stake.

But how certain is an autograph authenticator? Steve explains when instinct enters the equation, when an authenticator should simply "punt" on an autograph, and even recalls reversing one of his own authentication decisions after going back and doing more research.

The conversation then turns to another potentially enormous issue: signed 1952 Topps Jackie Robinson cards. Of the nine known examples discussed on the show, Steve says he has seen five that he believes are not authentic.

They also discuss increasingly sophisticated forgery techniques, autopens, aging ink, whether autograph grades should have expiration dates and why an autograph sitting inside a slab can still change dramatically over time.

Then things get considerably more entertaining.

Years ago, David bought a collection of celebrity autographs on eBay, each accompanied by a letter of authenticity. He sends them to Steve for his verdict live on the show.

Michael Jackson. Aerosmith. The Sopranos. The Goonies. Michael J. Fox and more.

The verdict isn't pretty.

Meanwhile, Jeremy puts his own three vintage hockey autographs in front of Steve, including Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux and Steve Yzerman, with dramatically different results.

Finally, Steve explains why education remains a collector's greatest protection. Learn the signature. Learn the signing habits. Learn the known secretarial and clubhouse versions. And never assume that simply because an autograph is already inside a slab, the question has been settled.

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

Take the Hobby Spectrum Assessment and discover where you fit in the hobby at thehobbyspectrum.com.

Search auctions across the hobby with AuctionWire.ai.

Research the market with Card Ladder. Use promo code SCL.

And check out Pops & Comps, available now on Amazon.
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Sports card grading will never be the same.

Jeremy officially unveils SPA Grading, the hobby's first full-service card wellness experience, where every card deserves a little self-care.

From soaking away decades of unwanted memories to massaging out creases and wrinkles, manicuring those troublesome edges and applying a little makeup where necessary, SPA takes your card through the entire process before sending it to an entirely independent and conveniently uninformed grading department.

And don't forget the final touch: a genuine SPA eye appeal sticker.

From soak to sticker.

Leighton Sheldon and David Chase react to the revolutionary new service, its nine-second grading process, potential upcharges, crossovers, international expansion plans and what happens when demand inevitably overwhelms capacity.

Before the SPA opens its doors, Leighton also shares his latest Kobe Bryant pickup and explains why rare memorabilia sometimes requires throwing the comps aside and trusting your own instincts.

Then Steve Grad joins the show.

The longtime autograph authentication expert and Pawn Stars regular talks about his years running PSA/DNA, the early evolution of third-party autograph authentication and the massive surge in vintage non-sports collecting.

Steve discusses the explosion in 1977 Star Wars cards, the emergence of "rookie card" terminology in the non-sports world and watching cards he once owned reach extraordinary prices.

Then the conversation turns to a fascinating problem: secretarial autographs. From Luka Doncic to Shaquille O'Neal and Ewan McGregor, how can an autograph that wasn't actually signed by the celebrity or athlete make its way into the hobby? And what happens when the questionable autograph was inserted directly into a pack?

Plus, Steve shares stories from Pawn Stars, including what happens when someone really doesn't like being told their autograph isn't authentic.

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

Take the Hobby Spectrum Assessment and discover where you fit in the hobby at thehobbyspectrum.com.

Search auctions across the hobby with AuctionWire.ai.

Research the market with Card Ladder. Use promo code SCL.

And check out Pops & Comps, available now on Amazon.
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The hobby is changing. The question is whether everyone in it is willing to change with it.

Jeremy is joined by David Chase and Leighton Sheldon for a wide-ranging conversation about the evolution of the sports card hobby, beginning with news that Mark Wahlberg is getting further involved in the card business. Is celebrity involvement good for the hobby? Does it even matter? And should collectors care who's entering the space as long as they're doing honest business?

That leads into a bigger discussion about Fanatics, product allocation and the future of the traditional local card shop. What happens when longtime shops no longer fit the vision manufacturers have for the modern hobby? Is there something worth preserving about the dusty old-school LCS, or is adapting simply part of doing business?

Leighton also weighs in on the vintage card show circuit, including why the Philly Show may be one of the best places in the country to actually buy vintage, how it compares with Strongsville and the National, and what separates each show.

Plus, Mikey Singer joins Jeremy to preview the upcoming Sport Card Expo in Calgary, the continued expansion of the Expo across Canada, the growth of the Toronto show and what collectors can expect when the Expo arrives in Jeremy's backyard.

A conversation about change, nostalgia, business and finding your own way to enjoy the hobby, regardless of what happens around you.

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

Take the Hobby Spectrum Assessment and find out where you fit in the hobby at thehobbyspectrum.com.

Discover cards across the hobby's auction platforms with AuctionWire.ai.

Track the market and research your cards with Card Ladder. Use promo code SCL.

And check out Pops & Comps, available now on Amazon.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices