Episodes

Sept. 29, 2021

572 - 1976 and 1977 Topps Baseball, with Rich Klein

Rich and I discuss our experiences and understandings of the 1976 and 1977 Topps baseball sets, when Topps was the only (baseball) game in town.

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Sept. 28, 2021

571 - Hobby Hiatus with Brad Bethune and Rich Klein

How hiatus is defined matters as Rich, Brad, and I discovered.  Thinking of gears like a car, hiatus does not have to mean being in reverse or neutral, but could mean downshifting to first gear.

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Sept. 27, 2021

570 - Basketball Dueling Questions 2.0 with Adam Gray, Basketball Car…

Adam and I could not fit our competing questions within 15 minutes, so here is the rest of our interchange - thanks Adam for your questions.

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Sept. 25, 2021

569B - Seven Listener Questions 2.0

Seven more questions about our great hobby of collecting sports cards - it seems they are picking up - which is fine - I want to talk about things you want to hear, so I sincerely appreciate your questions and comments - thanks.

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Sept. 25, 2021

569A - Out-Takes on Co-Op LCS from Hobby Hotline 091821

I co-hosted Hobby Hotline last Saturday along with Drew Herndon and Sam Shuford - toward the end of the show we discussed the interesting implications of a co-op arrangement for a local card shop.

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Sept. 24, 2021

569 - Out-Takes on Education from Wax Museum Kyle

Kyle asked me to be on his Wax Museum show, and the theme of his questions and our discussion was education, inside and outside the hobby.  Thanks Kyle.

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Sept. 23, 2021

568 - Fernando Valenzuela, with Victor Roman Sr.

Fernando Mania was a huge in 1981 and the early 1980's - Victor, the Rookie Card Specialist, and I experienced it (differently) - however Fernando's RC situation is not as straight-forward as you might imagine.

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Sept. 22, 2021

567 - Bulk Buying and Selling with Tanner Jones

Not everyone likes to buy a pig in a poke - a large unsorted diverse collection - could be many different sports and span many different years or even eras, but Tanner and I enjoy the thrill of discovery.

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Sept. 21, 2021

566 - Interview: Kyle Johnson, COMC Marketing Manager

Kyle Johnson discusses his on-boarding as a remote employee of COMC and how he is looking forward to the resumption of show travel for his marketing effectiveness for COMC.

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Sept. 20, 2021

565 - Dueling Questions 2, with Steve Grad, Pawn Stars and Beckett Au…

Steve Grad and I go a second round of Dueling Questions - mine more about his specialty and his about my reminiscences and possible regrets.  If you have suggestions for who I should "duel" with in the future, just let me know.  Thanks.

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Sept. 18, 2021

564B - Seven Listener Questions

Seven hobby and sports card questions have arrived and are dealt with briefly - send your questions to doctorjamesbeckett@gmail.com and thank you for listening.

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Sept. 18, 2021

564A - 2020-21 Upper Deck Hockey Box Battle

Four interesting products - which would you chose if you had $100 to spend?  Alexis LaFreniere, Star Rookies, UD Extended, or Trilogy? I am a law-abiding rule-breaker.

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Sept. 17, 2021

564 - Rookie Card Dueling Questions with Victor Roman Sr.

Victor, the Rookie Card Specialist and All-Time Greats blogger, and I trade questions back and forth exclusively about rookie cards, especially their history.

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Sept. 16, 2021

563 - Executive Proofs with Tanner Jones

Tanner and I share our understanding of these elusive collectible cards - their origin, distribution, and rarity - definitely not pack-pulled.

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Sept. 15, 2021

562 - Out-Takes on Economics from About The Cards

Stefan and Angela Loeffler and Ben Wilson asked me to guest for an hour on their weekly show, About The Cards.  Ben Wilson had apparently been saving up some questions and comments for me on Economics, which I enjoyed.

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Sept. 14, 2021

561 - Smaller Card Shows, with Brad Bethune and Rich Klein

Brad had just returned from setting up at a much smaller card show and related his experiences with Rich and me (who have set up and promoted smaller shows, Rich recently, and me long ago).

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Sept. 13, 2021

560 - Recap: Podcast Episodes 539-558

A brief recap of the past four weeks of daily episodes in case you need a refresher.  Send your episode ideas to doctorjamesbeckett@gmail.com and thanks for listening!

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Sept. 11, 2021

559B - Seven Existential Hobby Threats

Collectors are frequently asking me about investment risk with sports cards - here today on the exact 20th anniversary of 9/11 are seven macro (potentially apochalytic) trends that could significantly affect our hobby (at least the way we have always kno...

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Sept. 11, 2021

559A - Out-Takes from Dallas Sports Commission Mic Drop

Kevin Sullivan and Monica Paul had me as a guest on their weekly Mic Drop podcast from the Dallas Sports Commission - here are the portions that dealt with our hobby and sports card insights.

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Sept. 10, 2021

559 - Tribute: Ben Ecklar

Ben Ecklar came to Beckett Publications in 1994, probably his first full-time job, and continuously helped build our hobby to what it is today, having been at Panini for the past many years, after leaving our company.  He will be missed not just for his ...

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Sept. 9, 2021

558 - Notable Non-Rookie Cards of the Fifties, with Rich Klein

Listener Corey Barnes suggested Rich and I discuss notable non-rookie cards over the decades - we start with 1952 Topps and work our way up - more to come.

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Sept. 8, 2021

557 - Content Convo 2: Investment Semantics

Do pure collectors recoil at the word investment - is there a stigma - most, but not all, hobbyists consider sports cards and memorabilia an alternative investment.

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Sept. 7, 2021

556 - Content Convo 2: Base and Parallel Rookie Cards

Many think there are too many parallels these days.  Victor Roman, Rookie Card Specialist, asked the group to re-consider whether the parallels of the base RC should also be considered RC's or as merely rookie year cards, like inserts.

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Sept. 6, 2021

555 - Content Convo 2: Future of Marketplaces

The big Fanatics news and shake-up in the sports cards category will certainly affect the existing marketplaces where cards are bought and sold.

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