Episodes

May 9, 2020

209B - The MVP Machine

The thesis of this baseball book is that great players are made, not necessarily born - they sometimes take a non-conformist path.

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May 9, 2020

209A - SMART Goals

Goals "should" be Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-Bound.  As a hobbyist that's not necessarily so.

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May 8, 2020

209 - Mother's Day Appreciation

How to show appreciation to your mother in the context of loving sports cards - you, not necessarily her.

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May 7, 2020

208 - Dueling Questions: Rich Klein

Rich and I go back and forth with questions in turn.

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May 6, 2020

207A - COVID-Safe Card Shows

What will the shows of the future look like - what safeguards and protections might be put in place?

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May 6, 2020

207 - COVID-Safe Card Shops (with Joe Davis)

Respected Georgia card shop owner Joe Davis discusses what the post-COVID environment might look like for his shop.

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May 5, 2020

206 - Tribute: Jefferson Burdick (American Card Catalog)

Jefferson Burdick (1900-1963), was one of truest and noblest pioneers of our great hobby, our initial cataloger.  His selfless contributions to our later growth cannot be overstated.

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May 4, 2020

205 - Confidence in Grading

How to think about the confidence sports card collectors should have in grading services in terms of variability and consistency.

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May 2, 2020

204B - Raw Vintage VG Cards

Listener Mark Zentkovich laments the challenge of filling out sets of off-condition vintage, where half-off is not a bargain for "good" condition cards.

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May 2, 2020

204A - Topps USFL Football Cards

A look back at Topps two iconic sets, 1984 and 1985, featuring the now-defunct USFL.

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May 1, 2020

204 - Player: Jose Canseco (with Tanner Jones)

Tanner Jones has super-collected Jose Canseco, even spending a day with the slugger.  More details in his excellent book, Confessions of a Baseball Card Addict, available on Amazon.

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April 30, 2020

203 - Origin: Buck Easley

Vintage collector Buck Easley shares his collecting origin story.

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April 29, 2020

202 - Set: 1968 Topps Baseball (with Rich Klein)

Rich and I discuss 1968 Topps baseball cards.  Rich remembers his first cards being third series of that year, an auspicious start indeed!

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April 28, 2020

201 - The 1970's: Early Card Shows (by Allan Muir)

Allan Muir asks about the early days of card shows before the advent of price guides.

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April 27, 2020

200 - Recap: Podcast Episodes 179-198

We briefly recap the past twenty episodes over the past four eventful weeks.  If you have questions or comments, please send them to doctorjamesbeckett@gmail.com so I can address them.

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April 25, 2020

199C - BCCG Question from Ryan

Listener Ryan inquired about BCCG in response to our earlier full episode.

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April 25, 2020

199B - Lou Brown Out-Takes

Lou and I had an interesting conversation before we recorded his origin episode that I thought was worth sharing.

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April 25, 2020

199A - Origin: Lou Brown (Legends Sports & Games)

Lou shares his multi-faceted journey through the sports card hobby from his successful LCS in Grand Rapids, MI.

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April 24, 2020

199 - Twins Collecting (with Stephan Loeffler)

Stephan and I discuss his love of the Twins baseball franchise.

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April 23, 2020

198 - Home Schooling? (with Rich Klein)

Rich and I discuss the use of sports cards in a home schooling curriculum.

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April 22, 2020

197 - Pre-Tribute: Carol Fowler on Administrative Professionals Day

Today is Administrative Professionals Day in the US - what better day than to honor my long-time Executive Assistant Carol Fowler, who is now happily retired.

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April 21, 2020

196 - Origin: Tanner Jones, author of Confessions of a Baseball Card …

Tanner engagingly shares his sports card hobby origin story.  More info on Tanner can be found in his excellent autobiographical book, Confessions of a Baseball Card Addict, which I highly recommend.

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April 20, 2020

195 - The 1970's: Buying Trips (by Allan Muir)

Allan Muir interviews me for a future edition of Beckett Vintage magazine with respect to my personal experience with buying trips back in the pre-price guide days.

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April 18, 2020

194C - Hating Plastic Sheets?

I don't hate plastic sheets or other kinds of popular sports card holders, but how I use them is my own personal preference.

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