Why Nostalgia Is the Most Powerful Asset in the Hobby: Media insider explains the power of a story

I think as far as even what I put in my showcase and what I collect, it can be an expression of your sports style. But there's only 35 ever that I know of at least, inscription, Larry Brudotagrest. And this one right here, this Panini Hall of Fame 2010 set, so there's only 10 of these and 25 of the notable nicknames. That's numbered out of 10 and I traded 12 cards and another 2500 or 3000 of cash to a guy in New Zealand to get that. Welcome to the Collector Nation podcast on the Radcast Network. From chasing Grails to Colin Bluffs, we're going inside the hobby. Are you ready to collect? Let's get at it. Here's your host, Ryan Alford. Hello and welcome to Collector Nation here in 2026. I say that out loud at strength. It feels like when I was a kid, I remember thinking 2025 or 2026 would have been like spacing. I don't even know. I thought we'd be in flying cars and we aren't there yet, but you know what we are in. We are in the Collector Universe that we are in. We've got Carmine, Jamey. He is sports director at Fox Carolina. What's up, brother? What's going on, Ryan? Thanks for having me and honored because your star producer, Bella told me this is the first live broadcast within your new space, so it's really cool really coming together just like a man cave that you want it. I know. I appreciate that. I did want honest feedback of it was starting to feel that way because that was the goal. Yes. It looks good. It feels comfortable. I want to be homey, but innovative, cool, a little retro with the cords and the cases, but I like to blend all worlds here. Yes. Buzzy ball behind you, you know, my gold basketball, I call that Buzzy ball. Oh, okay. Yeah, chain link. The gold chain. I have to move it. I put it there before I put my desk there, but I didn't know my desk was going to go there. Yeah. And so it's a bad spot right now because we might break the iMac pro and somebody hits a shot. You're going to know about it right on the head. Well, that too. And I can take the, the, the, the, the, the sponge on the head. Okay. It's more the $5,000 iMac. Yeah. Yeah. So no, it's, it's fun, man. I'm excited to bring the store to life. I'm excited to have guests in studio like yourself. You know, for, for our listeners, let's at least set the table. Mm-hmm. Sports director, Fox, I mean, you know, how to, obviously we're going to talk cards in your collecting. Yeah. So obviously sports guy. Yeah. Yeah. So I can get through the journey pretty quickly. I went to the University of Scranton, small division three school in Northeast Pennsylvania. I grew up about two hours away just north of New York City, Westchester County, New York in a town called Austin, a home of sing, sing prison, which is a pretty well known maximum security prison. I have heard of that. No run-ins. So far. I never get there. Yes. Don't ever want to do a tour. No, no, no. So then I went to ESPN. I worked at ESPN for about two years behind the scenes, cutting highlights, became the golf guy, cutting a lot of golf highlights. If you see the masters. I did. And then I cut the masters highlight. And then full circle of journey I was covering the masters last year here at Fox Carolina in person. So that was kind of cool. But before that, I moved out to Casper, Wyoming to start my on camera journey, which was actually unbelievable, Casper, Wyoming, home of the college national finals rodeo. So if you win there, you're the national champion of college, the March madness of rodeo. So then I went to Medford, Oregon. It was an evening news anchor and the sports director there for high school football and basketball on Fridays. And then I came to Fox Carolina for two years as a sports reporter and then just got promoted to the sports director role about six months ago. So it's on the promotion. Yeah. Thanks, Ryan. So this last fall, I was, you know, one-on-one with Davos Sweeney, the Clemson football head coach, two-time national champ, obviously, after every single game breaking down the highlights and I have to pinch myself of what we're doing here. But as you know, building your brand that you've had over a decade now with podcasting, it's just a day-by-day process and you knock off everything off the list and try to enjoy it as much as you can while you're on this pursuit of a dream. And then you look back five years later and you're like, oh my gosh, you know, six years ago, I was in Casper, Wyoming covering, you know, going out there and covering YMCA youth basketball practice to get a story that had a human element between a father coaching his daughter or, you know, things like that and making stories happen. Yeah. And now we're covering a story of a multi-generational Clemson Tigers mascot situation where you have a father and a son who have both worn the Tigers mascot suit and just a quick example, but just to show you of, you know, that day-by-day process as you will know and same with collecting and you look back on your collection, you're like, oh my gosh, look what I've done. It's crazy, man. And I, you know, and again, don't want to make light of like gradually, I mean, that's a nice journey. Oh, thanks. I mean, and I probably being in around media even before podcasting know how unsexy some of that journey was. Oh, yeah. So like, and, but stacking the winds and stacking the work and, you know, building your brand so to speak in not only experienced expertise and knowledge, but, you know, working, I mean, laddering up, that's a, it's not easy. And a lot of people want the fruits before they put in the labor and you've been kind of stacking it. Yeah, thank you. And a lot of other people and mentors in there that, you know, kind of like in a similar space with you like Gary Vee or somebody who's, you know, been on the podcast and has taught you some of the tricks of the trade or even local shop owners now that you're trying to open your shop are like, hey, you know, just because we have this IP, this intellectual property, so many people who are on a similar journey will be so willing to offer it because they know the grit and the grace combination that it takes to make it in a certain, and definitely not a finished product yet. There's much more to come. Yeah. Like you're a guy and already Smith. Yeah. Exactly. Marty was great. I've been blessed. Have a lot of great guests on right about now my business show and he's a standout just, he's there, you know, I love having real authentic conversations and what's so funny about me, my wife almost, I think jokes or things, you know, some of the, the strangeness to like of the dichotomy of this thing is that I'm a bit ADD, attention span. Go figure. Yeah. Those entrepreneurs are. But I'm a, when I get in this setting, when I can lock in with someone, active listening, headphones in, I'm an extremely good active listener and love it because it takes me away from the world because I, right, for good, better and different than I lock in. Yeah. And so having gotten to talk to so many, you know, big names, small names, whatever. Marty stands out because man, it was like talking with a, you know, he's everything you kind of see on TV, endearing and warm and all that and it's, right, it's not salesy, but, but he's got his flair, right? And so I love the medium, you know, and I love media and media is changing. Oh, yeah. Wouldn't mind getting a, this is a collectible show, but it might get a little perspective from you on what you're seeing as, you know, sports director on that regard. Oh, yeah. But it's a, it's a wonderful thing, the storytelling and the ability we have now with the democratization of content and being able to get these stories out there, whether it's 100 people or 100 million. Yeah. It's a, it's a good time to be alive in media if you can kind of roll with the punches and adapt. Right. And I, I'm sure for you, I'm staring at some Larry Bird cards that are grabbing my attention people. So if you're listening, just bear with, you know, bear with your host just for a minute while we go down a little bit of the media fighting the ADD and want to lock in with the community. I can't, but that's part of the conversation. I know. I know. I know. And I just love Larry Bird. Yeah. But Larry Legend. Right. Yeah. But talk to me about what, you know, the, what does the director do in Fox Sports? It's like, what's the need up? And what are you seeing in this media space that we're in now? Well, the great thing with us is a lot of local news agencies, especially for sports are shrinking the sports departments. How much can we get out of the fewest people? Yeah. And that's the case, you know, all the time with budgets and, you know, and, and, and just the nature of trying to make a profitable business. Yeah. But with us, we're expanding our sports department. And so when I started just two and a half years ago, it was just me and my boss. Yeah. And we had Bella, your producer, her classmate Ella Grogon was an intern. She came on from Furman University and now she's full time at our station. And she proved herself so well during her internship and part time work. So now we, we went from two people two years ago. Now we have six people, including me, four full time and two interns. So our station's investment in sports and we're partners with Clemson, partners with the Panthers, the Greenville Triumph, so many different teams locally in the area. Clemson's our number one. Yeah. And I think as far as directly to your question, what's changing with sports media, I can really speak to the news side of it is you can get your highlights instantly on your phone from Clemson football, let's say, what you can't get and what we can give you that you can't get anywhere else. Not just this isn't it. This is a sports card collector, you know, I'll share that and not this advertisement for Fox Carolina. But we'll do stories where because we're traveling with the team to film the coach cast, like I mentioned with dabbo after every show or after every game we film our show. We'll give you stories like Shane Hanuffin and Ronan Hanuffin, a Clemson football player is Ronan Hanuffin and Shane Hanuffins at Boston College, but they're both from the Boston area. So when we go up and travel with Boston College, we'll bring you a story of the whole Hanuffin 200 family reunion with the dad, with the grandmother and everybody coming together and making custom hats, t-shirts and celebrating both of their kids success at the same time, you know, their rivals now when they were high school teammates. That's cool. So we'll show you stories that are sports adjacent. Sports is like the, you know, flashy, big, flawless one of one card, but then we'll show you really a human story behind that that is under the glitz and glam of, look at us, it's sports, it's sports, but it's a vehicle to tell a story of human connection or the human condition and the emotion side of it. Yeah. I love that and it's true. I mean, they can't, these national highlights and everything like that. That's just cut up from the game and everybody can have an opinion on it, but the local aspect to be able to get to do those people, you know, efficiently because you're in the market. Yeah. And you know what's going on. Yeah. So you should be able to tell those behind the scenes stories that somebody might have heard an inkling of and you expose the whole thing. Of course, we have to tell the big game stories too, but to me, that's what sets us apart is the extra story that you might not really know about unless you're all even collect. Well, I started as a kid and like a lot of people got back into it during COVID, but it really wasn't because of COVID. It was because I went home. My mom got hip replacement surgery. She was like, I really need you to take care of me for like three weeks. You know, she's just sitting there. She's way better now. Well, it's like 30 pounds, new lease on life for that mobility. But while I was there for the three weeks, I'm just waiting for her to need cooking, cleaning, whatever else she needed. I'm like, oh my gosh, I'm so bored. You know, and so I'm going through my collection and I'm looking through and I'm like, wow, I was, you know, I had a Kobe autographs, Steve Nash, Larry Bird, which I have right here, which we'll talk about, but some really, you know, stuff that appreciates a LeBron autograph that I bought with my dad like 20 years ago that I bought for like 250 with him, sold for like three grand, and we split the profits, which we made the handshake agreement at the time. I'm glad he honored that, you know, like 20 years later. But so I would, and I was just interested in anything, no interest. I could have gotten him on depreciation, I should have said that really should be worth more. You know, but, you know, I have to go shit with that. There you go. No, it was great. So I was going through the old collection and so I've been back into it and then I joined Facebook groups, made an Instagram page, Carmine's cards and built that up in a podcast cross-town cardboard that I did with a co-host Craig, New York City sports cards on Instagram that we both now have 4,000 followers and he's got more than me, like 7 or 8,000 followers on Instagram and Instagram, 500 podcasts or YouTube views per episode, which is great. You did it once a week. Yeah. So I was like, you know, we weren't making money off of it. Not that that was our goal, but you didn't call it a person. No, right. I should have called you. I should have joined. But, but no, it was great. It was kind of like what we talked about, those few steps, little by little, you know, get back into the hobby, join the Facebook, Instagram and then create a podcast and then set up a shows and collect and flip and stuff like that. So I was going to be cool. Do you feel like it was, I mean, you're not that old. 31. 31. Yeah. I was saying 30. I was going to guess 30. So nostalgia feels like the wrong word. Even though I know even 31 year olds can have nostalgia. Yeah. Like you got to be 40 plus to be in the styles of world. Yeah. I'm just. No, I get it myself. Yeah. But what is it about collecting? Is it, I always try to get into this a little bit with the right guess, you know, where I feel like we can have this kind of conversation. Yeah. Like part of me, I believe every like as human beings, especially US consumer human beings, you know, we're collectors at heart. But for you, it sounds to me like it's a mixture of the of the entrepreneurial, yeah. It's cards. Yeah. Some of it tells me not that you're not into the cards, but it can be always anything because I think you just, you have a little bit of that tick and that gene to kind of entrepreneurly grow something, flip things. That's just my hunch. Yeah. It might would be something else if it wasn't cards. Yeah. It definitely could be. I used to. I used to buy and sell shoes, sneakers, whether it was SB Dunks or Jordans in high school. Yeah. And my dad is a big hustler, all different types of businesses, houses, cars. There's the word I was looking for, like you're a little bit of a hustler in the good sense, not the bad sense. Yeah. There's like a lot of ways to take that. But in the good sense, yeah, I don't know when hustling and hustler became a bad thing. Just don't give me started. Maybe the magazine. Yeah. Oh. That could have been it. Yeah. But I kind of meant the other side of it, like taking my money, you know, I can't give that scrantan accent, you know, being a South Carolina kid, but you know what I'm saying. Right. Yeah. No, I think the hustling gene in the good way, like you said, is always there for my dad. And also sports cards gives you something. If you have a little downtime, oh, now I can look and buy and sell and trade on Instagram or Facebook. You have something to occupy your time. It's not doom scrolling on TikTok or Instagram, that's wasting time. So I like that aspect of it, that it's kind of a positive use of your time. You know, you don't want to blow your entire, you know, life savings on it, but, but also I think for me, the money part is an important part and the collecting side, like even in my inventory that I'm setting up at the Haywood mall show and the local shows around here, boiling springs, sports cards at the fair grounds and, and George is popping up with a lot of shows with fifth quarter shows and stuff like that. I think clearly not married with kids. Okay. No, yeah. Right, right. So my girlfriend and dog and cat give me enough time to go and go on weekends. But I think as far as even when I put in my showcase and what I collect, it can be an expression of your sports style, in my opinion, like not just the people who you collect and the cards you collect, but the types of cards. Like I would much prefer early 2000s exquisite or also flawless. And that kind of thing, of course, every, you know, high dollar type of cards or something that you have a really close connection with, like I have my sports broadcaster type of cards or you have Griffey, Bo Jackson, that can be some type of nostalgia also in your sports style of these are the people who I, who I can get behind and the time period I like or the moment that I like or, you know, things like that. So I think the sports style, it's a way to honor the teams, players and people who you care about and want to support. And it's almost like a wardrobe to me of your collection, but just in your, in a sports card direction. That is a great. I'm going to, we're going to like circle that once somebody goes, all right, what does collecting really mean? Like we're going to come back to Carmine's definition right there. Yeah. Now I put that in the websters of collector nation. There you go. Yeah. I like that. It's very thoughtful. But it's funny. What's more iconic than that? I know. I mean, number one, what football, and we're pointing it, if you're watching, if you're listening, you should be watching. If you're watching, don't forget to listen and just, we need the ratings, folks. Right. Um, the, uh, but look, who has been an all star in two professional sports, like football and baseball ever, only one guy, yeah, that I'm aware of, all star club, they've been, they've played both very few, but he was an all star baseball and an all star, are NFL all pro, Bo Jackson, and that iconic, I mean, that's a cool, I love that. And the iconic nature and, and the people who transcend sports to is such a big, even just doing that. Yeah. Bo. You know, I mean, you know, Bo, some people don't know. Yeah. I know, Bo. Yes. And watch them. Yeah. Well, you know, collecting his cards and, but back to like what you're talking about, that, you know, whether it's nostalgia, interest, how we document our, what we care about, yeah. And it fascinates us or, I don't know, takes us, you know, I think it, again, back to sort of this ecology of collecting, it's like, no, we all work. We all have the ups and downs of life and it's past time, you know, it's, it's, uh, hobby, I guess is what it is, but it's, you know, it takes you, we all have to deal shit every day. So it's like, it's like, it's a good escape. It's escape. Be a kid, again, also that kid, that childlike joy, like look at Steph Curry when he plays basketball. He has that childlike joy that a lot of us and a lot of your viewers and listeners get from collecting that a lot of times you don't get anywhere else. Where can you experience, oh my gosh, Bo Jackson, he was so awesome, tech mobile. Look at that photo. And you remember and you get those feelings like when you were just, hang on, I can play you a tech mobile right now. You would not be able to beat me if I'm sure I would have raiders. It was slightly before me time that turn around the corner with Bo Jackson, you will not stop that play. I'm sure my guy was Michael Vick and like the early Madden's when you run all the way back to the in zone. Yeah. And somehow score. Yeah. Yeah. There was that trick. Bo would just, you get it to the outside of a certain angle. See you later. I played and was close second, but sweetness, the rest in peace, one of my favorite players ever. Right. It's somebody's, it's just, it brings the memories, you know, and I guess it is nostalgia. I just hate cliche words that, you know, if they don't fit, but I guess it is, that's what it is. It does. And Ryan, if you want, I can show a couple of times, because you also brought up a few nicknames. Ah, yeah. And you brought up sweetness. You brought up Larry Legend. Yeah. I have my, in addition to Larry Bird, one of the avenues that I really like collecting, because for, for the business reason, it cuts down on the supply when you have inscriptions, because you have, you know, millions maybe or definitely tens of thousands, if not hundred, that of thousands of Larry Bird autographs, but there's only 35 ever that I know of at least inscription Larry Bird autographs. He doesn't sign Larry Legend at any signings and there's only been two sets where he signed Larry Legend, one notable nicknames set of national treasures. And this one right here, this Panini Hall of Fame 2010 set, so there's only 10 of these and 25 of the notable nicknames. Yeah. So there's only 35 total that I know of, maybe your viewers and listeners can comment and fully inform me, but that's numbered out of 10 and I traded 12 cards, valued around 2,500 and another 2,500 or 3,000 of cash to a guy in New Zealand off of Instagram, off an Instagram connection to get that Larry Legend inscription. So what, what, what was the total value you have in around 5,000 or 5,500, but I'm probably into it for 45 because I was into the trade. What do you think it's worth? There was one that sold with a non-auto, with a non-card grade, with a 10-auto grade, I think for about 2,500 a few years ago, that's the only sale in the last five years. So with this being a PSA 9 with a 10-auto, when the other one was just an authentic card grade, and with it only selling once in the last five years, I think you could make the claim that it could be a $10,000 card on the rarity. Yeah, but you could also say, well, 5,000 is a lot because that's double what the last one sold for even though you're going to conversion. Yeah, yeah, so, but yeah, so this is one of my, I think to the right person, it's easily 10. I was like, yeah, I was going back and forth, I'm like, this is very, is it for sale? Oh, no, no, no, no, this is it, so someone pulled out, I'm not saying I'm going to buy it, but they said 10,000, I'd have to strongly consider it because I'm into it for five. Okay. Yeah. So that does the air, it's air these are sale then for a certain price, for sure. I think if anybody, I mean, no offense to anybody listening, but if you get a certain price, you might be, have to look yourself in the mirror and say, is this actually my full collect, if I get double this for me? You might find another one. Yeah. I mean, the rare. But this one, so that's the main factor that I think, and people probably know, or think about that with their, with their own collection, can I possibly get this back? And with something like this, where there's only two sets, 35 total cards with the Larry Legend inscription, and one has sold in the last five years. If I'm really a Larry Bird collector and I don't need the money and I sell this, then I'm probably not going to get it back. No, you're not. Because of what I had to do to go through this, I got, there was so many luck elements and then the fact that it was able to have a great story. So here's one for Clemson, yeah, with our, with our partners of the Clemson Tigers. This is Brian Dawkins, weapon X, description. I know Brian Dawkins, one of the, me, was all pro safety, I feel the dose of the Eagles. That's right. You know, started a Clemson, Ronnie Coleman, eight time, Mr. O, these are all just the inscription part of the collection, Willis Reed, the captain, first year of notable nicknames 2010. So that contributes to it as well. George Gervin, the Iceman, all the Iceman, obviously. So this gives you another also a different level of nostalgia too for your collection because it, you know, you mentioned just off the top of your head, the nicknames, and it brings you back to, you know, wow, what was really at the essence of who this player was because they should get back to this because I had post, I had, I had Iceman poster and they literally had to have things to roll. Yeah. And they had ice all around it. Like, they let the posters, like out of all of them, I had Moses Malone and he was in the robe. Like, they leaned into these nicknames and they need to get back to that. Like, they're seemingly brand, you know, that's typically brands, their players better. But like, I love the nicknames. That's awesome. George Gervin. Yeah. I would get back to if people can make more nicknames. I think it starts with people like us, the sports broadcasters too. I think we do. I make, I make nicknames for most of my guests and I've already got yours. Oh, okay. Classic Carmine. Oh, wow. You're just kind of like a, like, like, that's, that's where I went. It just came. Like, I almost called you like 30 seconds in. That's great. This is classic Carmine. Thank you. Yeah, that's cool. And it's funny because I think it reflects on my parents because really they skipped the generation. My dad was 47, my mom was 44 when they had me. So we spent Christmas with my mom and my girlfriends in Texas. And she was the same age as my girlfriend's grandparents. Yeah. So I think that classic, maybe that comes from the old school, you know, I get this, in my oldest son Clayton is the same way. He's 16 going on 67. Yeah. Yeah. He's an old soul, right? Right. Right. But not in a negative way. No, no. I mean, it's more just classic, you know, like, yeah, yeah. I appreciate that. That's great. Classic Carmine. And there's a great restaurant in Carmine's. Yeah. I went there when I went to the national a couple of years ago. Yeah. We didn't go to Carmine's, but we were at the national with all the boys this year. I'll be there with collector nation, who was moving going forward. There you go. Their end fanatic fest. That's great. A little different. Yeah. I have not been to fanatic fest. A little more different experience. More experiential. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. One time soon. So here's a couple, just the rattle. Get Fox Carolina to get a cover it, you know, like I said, you probably could make your claim. Dude, if the high dog ends is there or somebody, you know, with a Clemson connection or Carolina Panthers, here's your own collector station, collector nation, the ESPN of the hobby being built in easy South Carolina. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Yeah. Yeah. We have done stories on. All right. I think you're back to the other. Because we can now return the favor both directions. Yeah. I definitely think that's something like it would also get so inscriptions. So so inscriptions. So we have Michael Buffer here. Let's get ready to roll. Bruce Buffer, his brother's buffer, it's time. That would be a great pairing with the UFC and boxing. Bruce has been on the show. I have him. Okay. And we have if we had to say I'll play it for you after the show. It's time. Yeah. The red cast was Brian Oh, food. Wow. I have that. That's got the juice though. Dude, he does it. We've we used it as the intro on the show for a while. Then we changed the name of our business show. I might have changed it back just to use that again or recall him up and say, Bruce, we got you. I could message him on Insta. He'd he'd do it. He's a wow. Awesome. That's awesome. Yeah. Yeah. Michael Buffer. Let's get ready to rumble. Yeah. Yeah. If you're into bowling, but this is really Pete Weber's iconic line getting pumped up and now getting a second win because of social media and the meme culture and everything. Name culture. All these could be meme culture. Have you posted all of these? I've posted a lot of them on Carmine's cards on my Instagram. And then also the football quarterbacks, Broadway, Joe, Nameth. Oh, yeah. And this is the first notable nickname said he was in numbered only out of 10 in the BGS 95. That's cool. Like a gem. Joe cool. Joe Montana. He has very few inscriptions. Wow. So this is cool. And then the sheriff, Peyton Manning. He's in three notable nicknames sets, 75 of these total. The sheriff. But just in that Tennessee Heisman, he's not painted. Did he sign it Peyton Manning? He did not. But he might start doing that. I want that one. The advertisements also with the insurance. Great. A great campaign. Yeah. One of the few now. Right. Yeah. Love the man and cast though. Yeah. That's pretty much. It is. Him and they do a good job. Like, I didn't know what to expect. But both those guys are good on camera and I living and, you know, it's almost like a podcast too. It is. It's kind of a poor podcast. Yeah. And then they teach you a lot too. They do break down. Yeah. Yeah. Patents. Surprisingly funny. Yeah. That speaks to also like guys who are still relevant after they are done playing. Yep. And they're still in the media. Like guys like the mannings, Martian Lynch is everywhere. Yep. You know, I just got a one of one Nike logo of Martian Lynch from the Charleston card shop. So yeah. So I got some other things. But I just thought those would speak to the nostalgia and sports car. I need to see a Megatron. Collective. Have you ever seen that? Megatron. That would be a great one too. Yeah. That would be good. Man. So many opportunities. I like the description. Is it? I hadn't thought of them. That's kind of. I didn't need another angle. Sorry. That's another one. I got a collection of Clemson guys like a box full of Clemson card, you know, some of them worked a lot. Some of them obscure guys, but collect all the Clemson guys and got probably I'm going to go out on limb top five Trevor collection probably. Wow. I really didn't close. I have some good Trevor's. Yeah. I got a lot. We've got. I mean, the guy, you know, 2021, right in the epicenter of when they started making all these parallels. The guy probably has 40,000 cards. Yeah. Yeah. For good, better and different. Right. That's true. I collect just about any of them now that are a little least bit obscure. Yeah. You know, and if it's a PSA 10 or something, even if it's lower level or they made a million of them, I would grab it just to have great to see how well he's playing out with the jacks going to play out there. It's too talented to not like that talent didn't go away. That aren't didn't go away. Right. I mean, he made some boneheaded decisions last couple of years. I couldn't quite understand like even with the bad coaching, like some of the bad coaching, but I think maybe it did just come down to structure of, you know, he got the right guy and now and Jacobi Myers. And look, he was having a baby lash. Right. All the coaching factors. There's a lot of life factors, coaching factors. Different offenses. But his talent didn't go away. You know, some of these guys come to league that kind of fizzle out. Yeah. They never, when you really look at it, you go, they didn't really ever have the talent. You know, like to the like all pro level. Yeah. Yeah. Forever. So in a row. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. All the intangible on the niable 29 wins in a row. I think it's a Trent. Yeah. Yeah. And it's got all the intent can make him Josh Allen, and freaking my homes can make throws that no one else on the planet can. I maybe I'd put a burro. Burrow. Burro I hope he gets a lot of. Burro just good. You know, maybe, maybe the Rams quarterback, Matthew Stafford, probably putting that, he can sleep. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, just you kind of jaw drop, but Trevor will even do some things and look, I'm torn man. Josh Allen and Trevor play this weekend. I don't know when it would be airing, I think, after the fact so they would already happen. But it's a tough weekend because I'm a, like diehard Josh Allen Buffalo fan, but I'm a Jaguar fan because all my kids love them and clumped a lot of clips and guys, EGN and Trevor. Right. So in some ways, well, you can't lose. Yeah, but I can, you know, it's like part of me will be really happy and part of me really sad. Right. I wish they could have played later in the playoffs. Yeah. I guess we'll know by the time this comes out of it, but you'll be happy in one respect at least. I will be. I think the Jaguars are really, it's 50, 50 is toss up, but I think the home and I think they're just, I think they're white hot to their white hot. And I think the Buffalo Stevens is just shady enough that I, yeah, I think, I don't know. Josh can put him on their, on his shoulders and anything and have another surprise maybe we'll see. But I do love collecting both those guys because maybe ridiculous ones. The Josh is, is a little slower. I got the, the really good high end, like the ones you'd want with Josh, yeah, but not the, maybe the, all the obscure ones. Well, that seems like if you got the higher end with Josh and the obscure with Trevor, you could have two different. Yeah. Well, I got, I got the high end in a little trial. Oh, okay. Okay. Just run the whole thing. Josh is more just the high end. I was, you know, I can only do one at a time on that. That's because the, the kid, I get to look at the, the kids care about those. So that's tough. We pull out of the boys. Yeah. Tom of the kids where I can get their attention for 30 minutes. It's worth it. That's kind of why we got back into cards is, yeah, just ripping with them and I want to hang out with dad. And though my kid, I coached the teams and I, I don't think I'm the dad that the kids don't want to hang out with anyway, but it got a lot easier when we're ripping packs hanging out. I mean, there's no telling how much money I spent just ripping packs. And I'm not even the gambling type with that. So it wasn't for me, for me, it was just, yeah, you get into that, but it was more just time with the kids and having four boys, you know, like that's, that's the dream. Like if you, yeah, if you're blessed to have four boys as a man, it just happened that way. Yeah. I've been a good, you know, daddy's girl guy, you know, but I didn't have to go there. I got four dudes. Yeah. Yeah. What you're in the cards? Daddy was in the car. Okay. Let's rip some packs and boom. Next thing I know, got a podcast in the store. Yeah. What happened? That's great. Yeah. There's so many different elements that are such great positives. Well, I'll say this, you know, what's been interesting? I love your take car. I'm like, as an investment vehicle, yes. I'm like, I think some people hear that. They roll the rise and some people go, it's a bubble. Damn. It's a bubble. It's been going a long time. Yeah. Well, it did fall. And like you said, it burst when COVID came and there was that huge bubble, then it burst. But now you're seeing a steady, healthy growth, I think, that is more sustainable. You're seeing the unique stuff stick out, but haven't stocks done that same thing? Oh, yeah. You've had those moments with stocks and real estate and everything else, right? Yeah. Those are natural peaks and valleys, but I think that the floor gets increased. Yeah. Now, all those people who came in with during COVID, what a 50% of them left. I'm sure there's actual numbers that can prove something like that, but 50% stayed. Yeah. And you gain so many more new people and new money and new interest. But I've looked at some of the data. If you hold up, you know, the vintage cards from say, 1900s to 1980 or something like the truly outstanding Hall of Famers, high-conditioned cards, they hold up to any stock. It's ever existed. That's the growth. Yeah. You know, that steady growth. And it only gets, they only get more rare in some ways. More people, more people in the hobby, so more demand, you know, printing anymore, you know, bay brews and Mickey mails or even autographs or autographs, or I don't know. I mean, where do you follow in that pendulum? Well, I, you know, kind of like one of the reasons I collect Larry Bird also because I identified with him growing up as one of the few outstanding white guys who was a star, even though he was before my time. Yeah. But everybody identifies with people who either look like them, play like them, have qualities like them. Yeah. In whatever it is, you know, just the truth, everybody knows that if they look in the mirror. Yeah, the pale white guy that actually was ridiculously good at basketball. Right. And so I had him and Steve Nash, as my two main guys, Larry Bird was the vintage and Steve Nash was the current guy who was playing when I was growing up. Yeah. But another reason why I've chosen to get, you know, collecting with him in addition to the factor of he's one of my favorite players is he's done playing. Yeah. He's not risky. Yeah. He's risky as the overall sports market. That's right. But like you said, he's not going to get injured. So to me, I would much rather have a blue chip stock. If you're going to look at it like that, an apple or I guess now, like Navidia or things like that that are slow growers, rather than a penny stock or a John Morant, somebody like that who's good for one or two years. Oh my gosh, they're amazing. They get hurt running with the law or whatever can happen with a current player. And now you're here and my investments one tenth of what it was, you know, back then. So it's the I like to go down the rabbit hole. So I'm going to give away a little bit of my approach right now. I'm a, I, what's made me successful in life is that I go further than most people. Okay. I go down the rabbit hole. Yeah. For good, better and different. It's both my greatest strength and my greatest weakness is probably I go down the rabbit hole. I read all the reviews on the trips before we take them like I, like, and so I kind of know the sports the same thing. And I think I'm pretty good at knowing when a rebound is coming for players, like I knew Trevor was going to rebound. That's why I bought the crap out of his cars last year. I was like, this is too talented. Could he have gotten hurt? Could have he have lost it mentally? Of course. Yeah. But I watched him play. I uniquely had a vision of that and no knew that the. In my mind and my doing my charts, there's an 80% chance this guy goes off again and the prices were so cheap. They were cheap. Makes sense with the rebound potential. Every one of those cards that I bought last year are at least doubled. That's great. And so same thing goes with other players that aren't clumps and guys necessarily. I think I'm pretty good at like kind of seeing what's kind of happening and I, again, I read the news and like I read the stories like that you guys write the, the, the human interest stories that might actually tell you something insightful about or turn around they might be have it or an insight that, yeah, if you're just watching the highlights, you don't know that Sam Bradford, you know, or whoever, you know, like insert name is going to, you know, turn the corner. Yeah. What coach is he getting with? What? Okay. Like that's going to be the percentage chance of that. Mac Jones showing out like he did for a little while. Yeah. Probably going to get a contract. I'd be buying Mac Jones cars. He looked real good. Yeah. He's certainly with with party out with, with, with party out, that'll be interesting to watch. Party's playing pretty, produce, party's playing pretty ridiculous. But I think Mac Jones bought himself another contract with what he did. Yeah. And if he goes to the right team, so again, he's probably now come back down his cars because he's not starting. Yeah. Things like that. Yeah. I kind of watched the little lover. So I like watching, you know, buying the dip, so to speak, on guys that I think, yeah, it's not a guarantee, but they've shown they've got the goods. Yeah. And if they get with the right, there's a higher percentage chance of that happening. Then just going, oh, the newest draft pick, who was number one, he's guaranteed, like, Anthony Richardson. Anthony Richardson. Exactly. Yeah. Well, just because he's the number one draft pick, well, his cars are gonna be worth thousands in two years. Well, not necessarily. But I think those calculated risks, like you said, like I'll tell you a quick Mac Jones story when I was getting back in. I'm sure you'll recall when Mac Jones took over at the Patriots, Brady had left, of course, and they went on that eight game winning streak, either in his first or second year, very early on. And it's like, this guy's the next Tom Brady. Oh my gosh, he's executing the system. They'll be able to check the still there. The Patriots defense, the Patriots way, the culture, they're going to be right back. Yeah. So I noticed at the beginning, Mac Jones, okay, he looks good and they're winning, which is the most important thing is the winning, you know, and going toward championships. Because then that's the hype where, wow, this person can be a super bowl champ and how many could they win? Oh my gosh. So Mac Jones, when he was, when they had won, I think three or four in a row, I bought this Mac Jones. I think it was an absolute RPA. So, you know, lower brand, it's probably a $50 card right now. Yeah. I bought it for $400 or $450 at the time when they had won four in a row. Yeah. Then I scheduled an e-baylet. This is one of the rare big swings that I take because I'm mostly safe. But like you said, the calculated risk can be good. Yeah. I listed it to end on e-bay the day after their Monday night game against the Buffalo Bills at Buffalo when it was snowing. He threw three passes, attempted three passes, but they won for their eighth win in a row. And that card was perfectly timed and I got lucky and it sold for $2,400. And you paid $450? And I paid $450. After fees, it was, maybe it was $2,250, but I remember taking back $1,900 after e-bay fees. So I made $1,500 off of Mac Jones in about five weeks. But that was one of the rare, because you brought up Mac Jones, that's my biggest swing again if he gets to the right team. Yeah. But that was also, it was going to be $2,400. No, because he was also so young and it's like his rookie year. The rookie year helps in that territory. Yeah. And last year, Jayden is good by right now with the injury. I mean, his cards haven't flattened out because he's so popular that he isn't like the bottom has completely fallen out, but he's obviously probably the lowest he's ever going to be if he comes back. The only thing with him is just, you know, I predicted is like, he's going to be an all pro if he doesn't get hurt. So as we sort of kind of get to the final chapter of this episode, you're going to come back to this regularly, right? I hope so. Yeah. Class of car mine is going to have, you know, I would love to run. I really enjoyed this. And then plus we got to return the favor and do a story on you because no, because we've done stories on sports car trade nights and car shops opening and that would be great with your connection. I'd love to do it with maybe a like our grand opening. Yeah. You're going to do that probably mid to late February. Okay. So we're going to have a soft opening, but yeah, that'd be sweet. That sounds great. You know, if it suits, you know, and it's whatever, I know the story to use itself. So like whatever you think would be a good story, but I think it's already, I think it'd be great. The, um, let's talk Larry legend as we come close out. Yeah. I mean, I mean, obviously relatable. You got some big, those cards, um, did it just become the guy or were you a Celtics fan? No, I wasn't a Celtics fan. I love the Celtics tradition and the winning, um, but being from just north of New York city, I'm a Nick's fan. Yeah. That's a tough existence until lately. Yeah. Bronson back game. I get right. Pretty good. Right. Yeah. Except for the luckiest shot of all time. The Indiana Pacers and Game 1, the Hall of Burton up to the ceiling and back of the back. So anyways, that was, I've never seen that type of shot fall. That was excruciating. He was on a heater. I guess. Yeah. But I think the combination. Do you have a rookie card over there? Because I have one coming in. I have one at home. It's in a seven. It's not. Is it the three magic? Oh, I'll show you. Yeah, speaking of that, let me pull that out. So I got this with all three autographs, the, uh, which is so great. The 1980 tops. This is in my top three of favorite cards. The 1980 tops with bird, magic, Dr. J, all three autographs, PSA five with a 10 auto. And I have this card coming in the mail today. Oh, yeah. As a seven or eight. I know there's a big difference, but seven or eight, uh, not autoed, but seven or eight still really cool. And, uh, I just, I was like, that's got to be on the shelf. You know, like, I'm not, I'm about to go to the shelf, but it's just, that's a classic card. Yeah. Yeah. So it matches my unique name. I love this. I don't know. But yeah. So that's probably like a 3500 or so dollar card, but also Ryan too, you know, as far as the ease to, as far as the supply of those, it's so difficult to get all three autographs in person. Because you have to transport it wherever or send it off to each person and the cost that they charge now for that card specifically to be autographed is like $1,800 for all three guys because you know, they search charge it knowing that's a rookie card and it's high in demand. So, you know, let alone. When did this get done? You know, I'm not sure when the autographs were actually, we're actually done. I guess like going off the serial number you could tell, but I traded a father and son at the national in Rosemont that we were talking about in the Chicago area for that. So that's one of my, I love this card and I mean, three of the greatest players all time. Yeah. Right. And the first card that magic and bird were on is pros with together with the scoring leader, Dr. Jay. Exactly. 1980 tops. Yep. Yes. I'm just the signatures and I funny story actually from this week, the, this bird ever sign bird where it looks like bird because you know, it doesn't really look like bird when you write it. I know what you're saying because here's why I'm asking this is the R and the D. I guess yeah. So he's got the big B. But I, there's got to have a basketball, a vintage basketball for sale with an holographic. It wasn't authenticated. So no, it's kind of a scary, no, no, but he and I was like, I asked him, you have authentication. And it's, his Larry looks exactly like Larry signs. Yeah. And again, I know none of the securities, but I might buy it and then send it for certification. Right. But birds is spelled where the B, the I and the R and the D look like cursive B, I, R and D. And I couldn't, I haven't yet to see a Larry bird signature where the B, I, R, and D really look like the B. Right. And so I'm like, is this real? Yeah. It is. Did he ever sign where it actually looks like it? I think you're right. I don't think so. I don't. I all kind of look funky on the I.R.D. Yeah. So I hope you didn't pull a trigger. I did not. Okay. I could have gotten really cheap. I like 25 bucks. Yeah. Which is nothing. And I would put it in my head. I had a Larry Brad. Yeah. Doesn't matter what it turned into. But here's the funny thing. My dad and uncle did this growing up and I told the guy, well, he had a conversation. He was honest about it. He's like, well, I don't have it. You know, I think it's real, but I don't know. And he's like, my dad used to sign jokingly. My basketballs as famous people as a joke that I would be shooting with any sign. He had albums on the wall. Like he had Michael Jackson, although, like, true LP album out. And my uncle and him have very dry humor. And like they would pull tricks on each other. And like, literally, my uncle wrote on this classic album, it was the Eagles. And I forget the lead singer, the Eagles. He went on. So I feel bad even. I should know this. My uncle signed, he said, and he, they were in a band together and he wrote, Steve, best of look with the band. I'll always remember how great you guys sounded this name. And he has very good handwriting. I have no idea what that up, but you're reminding me to be looking at that basketball. Like somebody's dad signed that basketball. Yeah, it says Larry Bird. You had the experience to know. So here's another one, Bird and Magic. So then I, not only the bird stuff, but also Bird, I mean, you can't really have Bird without Magic. So I had to start going off into other guys who, you know, we're also influential in his career. Is this numbered? That's out of 25. Yeah, that's a ultimate collection. Okay. 13 0506. Yeah. The hard court. Yeah. What's the value on that? I think that's probably, it's between two and three thousand. Yeah. It's harder to tell with the, I was smelling a couple grand. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. My meter, like typically now I can look at stuff. Even if it's stuff, I don't even know. Yeah. And I kind of know when we're in the thousands, it felt in the thousands. Yeah. And I have one in a PSA nine with a 10 auto that I actually like more. I really do applicator the same. Yeah. Yeah. I like it too. So here's, here's, I'll, I know we're kind of coming to the end. So I'll pull out some of the bigger ones. There's a nice flawless with the dual vertical patches. Oh, BGS 95. Okay. Value, value roughly. I guess, um, maybe around again in the two and three range. Yeah. Here's a one of one really nice patch. Immaculate patch. Yeah. I have, I recently had it in the showcase and I took it back out. I said, I like this too much. One of one. Yeah. What year? Um, I'm not sure. Here's, here's, here's, you know, it is game worn too. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. All those are going to be game worn, which is great. Here's a, here's, maybe my most value. That was a very legend. That's my asking price, but that, I think that was a little low. And I took it out. Oh, okay. I might would let you. Yeah. Well, we'll keep it going. We'll see. But if you're talking one of one, here's, here's another one you're going to want to see flawless one of one patch auto. Ooh. That is nice. So that's a cool one. I like that. And then we got some more dual autographs. What you're feeling on grading one of ones. Well, it depends on, especially if it has a patch window. I think it really doesn't make that much sense because a lot of times with the, as you know, with the inner edges, they're going to, they're going to get you on some of that grading. But, um, but like mine, mine are both raw, so yeah, that bird for value, it never looks like bird. Right. But if you get a 10, I mean, yeah, but I just think it's a really difficult and, but if it's one on one, I, it almost doesn't matter. Like, because that's why I'm like, it's not like someone's going to get one grade at higher than you. So it doesn't really matter if it's 7, 8, 9 or 10. But to know what it is, yeah, I think that's sort of the, I don't, I don't know where I've fallen that, but that's, yeah, I think it depends on, yeah, it depends on the card. And if it has a patch window, that's going to make it tough. You know, it's, you get number, it's going to be a seven or eight or probably because there's corners on the freaking thick cards. It's so hard to keep. Right. And then here's a bird and Karim. That's a chronology. So that's a cool, cool set. That's when I really liked because it honors the 1979 national championship for birds in the Anastasia, Sycamores and magics, Michigan State Spartans. And I don't think there have been any sales on this one, Magic and Bird from the 79 championship or court where it all started. So I figured I needed something college to honor the beginning of the rivalry. That's a unique card. I've never seen that card. Yeah. So that's pretty cool. I've seen almost all of these, but I've never seen this one. Here's a unique one with bird on the front and magic on the back. Speaking of classic, my new nickname, this is classics, the set, but it's got bird on the, on the one side with a patch, auto, magic on the back. What year was that? I think it was 10-11. Okay. So that's a, that's a unique one because I don't have any other stuff like that. Leaf classic, like, I really like leaf. Yeah. Not for like long-term value, though, okay. But for like, they do a lot of cool cards, I know that long-term value, yeah, long-term value. As far as like in my collection, I wouldn't have any birds because there's so many other really cool birds out there that'll be more valuable, stay in the test of time and more investable. But as far as the inscriptions with like Buffer and Pete Weber, a lot of other card companies don't make as unique stuff as leaf. So if you're going for the oddball stuff, it's awesome. And then just a couple more here, Ryan, I got an exquisite bird and magic, both dual-on-card auto. This is just magic, chronology, but it's got his junior, junior sky hook over the Celtics and the finals. We have to get some stuff at, you have to confine some stuff from here, don't mind. I almost put this stuff on the shelf, you know, I hope you get some deals going. So that's game four of the 87 finals, the junior, junior sky hook, in the game winning season. I watched that game live as a kid. I was seven years before I was born, unfortunately, but I love basketball history. Yep. I watched, I get to watch all these great 80s, early 90 games like the sky hook. Yeah. I could do a little sky hook myself back in the day, a cream or a magic version, probably more magic. Yeah. A little half sky hook kind of, I don't know, I couldn't, couldn't even with the hole. Oh, yeah, he had to wind up in the library, he had to wind up in the pitch, but this is the last one. And maybe fittingly because it's bird and bill Russell, immaculate dual-on-card auto, numbered out of 25, so we got the two main pillars of the Celtics, that's them there, so that's them. I mean, I would keep, I would probably have the chief in there, but you know, Robert Parrish, and Kevin McCale. Yeah. They have a nice dual auto, I think, from that set also. Yeah. And Bill Russell's more of, right, but Meyer, but the next tier down, they're right up there. Yeah. Dr. Rivers was playing at that time, he had Dr. Rivers, you had Angie Ainge, oh, Danny Ainge, sorry, Danny Ainge, Dennis Johnson, Dennis Johnson, I would put Bob Kuzzy as far as pillars of the Celtics and Paul Pierce for, you know, if you want to go with this big three with Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett, but John Hablett-Check, yeah, there's so much history there, even though you're a nix, I'm a nix fan, it's like, you got to pay respect to the history. I like that, dude, those are some beautiful cards, just cool, just cool, over like five years. Yeah, man. And then you look back and you're, it's a personal accomplishment too, along with your expression. One of the case with the shows, none, just my collection, but I have a lot of other inventory enough to fill up three or four showcases. Yeah. But that stuff is also a lot of unique things that if I collected that player or that team, if that was a Larry Bird version of that card, then I would be game to put into my collection. So I try to get in the mind of somebody who would want a collection piece of their, you know, guy that pertains to them. Or woman also, I got women cards too, Katie Ladecki, Simone Biles, you know, people who transcend their own whole top, don't I mean, WMBA's filing, having their own a little bit. Cameron Brink, Caitlin Clark, I got, yeah, so I got a lot of big cards, we've got some huge cards, I mean, like, ridiculous, like, million, I know, so that stuff's crazy. We'll do it again, man. We're here by learn and keep up with what you're doing. You've mentioned a couple of times. Let's drop it one more. Yeah, you can find me on Instagram, Carmine's cards, C-A-R-M-I-N-E-S cards. And then if you want to follow along on foxcarolina.com slash sports, that's the personal side for the Instagram and the professional for some of the great sports stories in the area of South Carolina here. I really appreciate you coming on. Yeah. Thanks. Yeah. Sounds great. Classic, Carmine, we appreciate him for coming on. He will forever hold that name at least here on this show. It's fun talking and doing these things, blessed to do it. We appreciate you for listening. You know where to find us, collectibles.show. It is moving over to thecollectorNation.com. Shortly, we'll have the links forwarding, so we'll either destination, we're building the new site just for you. All the content will be on thecollectorNation app here in the next 30 days, telling you, I have to say that because then it makes me get it done by then. I kind of built that as it is. We appreciate classic Carmine, we appreciate you for listening, we'll see you next time on thecollectorNation. Thanks for tuning into the show. Don't forget to follow us on your favorite podcast platform and don't miss the full video version on YouTube. You can find us atcollectorNation.com or follow Ryan on Instagram at RyanAlfred. Now get out there and collect yours.