Episodes

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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).

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!

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...

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.

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 ...

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.

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.

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.

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

Listeners do not run out questions - some interesting and eclectic ones this time - send yours to doctorjamesbeckett@gmail.com and thanks!

Andy and I continued our wide-ranging conversation, about the hobby and other tangential considerations that might surprise you.  Thanks again, Andy, for sharing your story!

Andy (accomplished artist, writer, musician) describes the artistic freedom given him by Topps in approaching and executing his 70-year retrospective of the graphic imagery of Topps through the years - thanks Andy!

Our group of hobby content creators discussed the future of card manufacturers and how we think the recent Fanatics news might affect them and others in the hobby ecosystem.

The hobby content creators dinner at the Watters Creek show on Saturday Aug 28th immediately after the show - here are the self intros of the attendees and as well as their take on stickiness as it applies to their hobby content.  Thanks to all!

Basketball questions only for this dueling questions battle with Adam Gray.  Any ideas you have for episode topics - send to doctorjamesbeckett@gmail.com and thanks!