The Sports Card Show

On today's show we are joined by collector/seller @BaseballCard_JS. He has some great tips for people trying to make a little money selling items, and also tips on how to stick to a price when bidding on 100's of items at a time. He also talks about MLB prospects, and getting autographs & things to sell online at minor league baseball games. 

We also have Buy-Sell-Hold on some NFL draft prospects:

WR Sammy Watkins $20 - $80+ Buffalo Bills

QB Johnny Manziel $70 - $250++ Browns

LB Jadeveon Clowney $20 - $60+ Texans

WR Mike Evans $10 - $40+ Tampa Bay Bucs

OB Blake Bortles $20 - $60+ Jaguars

WR Odell Beckham Jr. $5 - $15+ NY Giants

WR Brandin Cooks $5 - $20 Saints

QB Teddy Bridgewater $20 - $60+ Vikings

RB Carlos Hyde $15 - $35+ SF 49ers

RB Bishop Sankey $5 - $20 Titans

RB Tre Mason $10 - $25 St. Louis Rams

RB Andre Williams $5 - $10 NY Giants

RB Ka'Deem Carey $5 - $10 Chicago Bears

RB Lache Seastrunk $5 - $10 Redskins

Wholesale Cards

Razzers get blacked out

I recap the 2014 Industry Summit in Las Vegas: http://sportscardradio.com/news/1673-2014-las-vegas-industry-summit-from-the-sofa

Panini Rewards

Panini's trying something new .... can't fault them for that! Personally, I see this as a brilliant business move if they stick to it. Long term, Panini now rids the obligation to get a particular player to sign a particular card.

Why is that so important for panini?

Panini (and other companies) go to great lengths to get players to sign cards. There are travel costs, logistic costs, customer service costs ... not to mention the actual manufacturing costs & what the athlete charges.

Now they can focus on the players & cards that are easier to obtain.

Additionally, top players like Adrian Peterson, Colin Kaepernick, LeBron James, Jordan .... ect sign deals with other companies that makes it difficult (if not impossible) to get guys to sign. Often times companies insert an autograph redemption in a product before they even know if AND when the player will sign.

Now panini just will give you points. They know a certain % will never be used - just like a redemption card for a player - but now they aren't on the hook for a particular card/set/player .... which should mean less headaches for Panini.

On today's show we are joined by @SportsCardNews from Las Vegas where we talk about the upcoming 2014 Industry Summit, Upper Deck's exclusive NHL Hockey license, Dealernet, and more. 

Before you listen to today's show - I strongly encourage you to check out a few folks I have been following the last month or so.

First: BallCardsRadio.com

One of the most entertaining sports cards podcasts to debut in a while. Hosted by @LittleKingRadio - this young guy has great knowledge and interesting guests on his show each week. We interview Ryan on today's show - The interview occurs around the 47:15 time mark.

Second: watchthebreaks YouTube - Here is a playlist of the video series: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLje6UXzEHq0UGIqJvv9yhTE-h2mQ5tt1N These are awesome! They look like they would take a while to produce - I encourage you all to watch them, and encourage him to do more these, I think they are very well done.

During the 1st half of the show I rant and rave a bit about if group breaking is legal, and DA Card World taking down illegal raffles.

On today's show we talk about how the actions of a few 'companies' in this hobby in recent weeks have showed how desperate they are for customers and/or profits. 

Industry Summit bans yours truly & Brian Gray from Leaf because of some things said at last years Industry Summit. You know you are getting desperate when you care about what is said to only a few hundred collectors (at most).

I've said this before - if all your customers are coming from Twitter or YouTube videos - you'll be broke in no time.

DA Card World is showing how desperate they are for customers by running illegal raffles, 7 months after I clowned on the idiots who were doing them last year.

One reason why people in this hobby are so sensitive recently might be because cards aren't selling. Here are the new wholesale prices for 2013 Panini Football boxes vs the original ones - OUCH!!

Absolute Football $75 vs $129
Limited $48 vs $80
Momentum $89 vs $159
Playbook $89 vs $160
Rookies & Stars $50 vs $76
Select $67 vs $112
Certified $60 vs $80

Finally, I talk about if companies should get rid of base cards - or if there is a way you as a seller could promote the purchase of them.

Finally I finish by telling you it's wise to save your money!

On today's show we interview @thatDanRoe who has recently gotten me involved in a series of conference calls with Topps about their MLS products. We also talk about hockey cards and more. In the beginning of the show I cover 2 topics that were sent to me via e-mail.

What show isn't just my opinion??? Well, most of them are, so I guess this is nothing new. On today's show, we talk about how Panini, Topps, Upper Deck ... ect all tend to blame 'ebay' or 'the internet' for some of the reasons why people don't collect cards today. Instead of blaming them - why didn't Topps or another company setup their own marketplace to sell/trade cards?? Why blame them when they could have joined them? We also talk about Leaf's recent tweets, Beckett's new services and DA Card Worlds Hit Parade packs.

On today's show we talk to @stevienixx76 about collecting cards in Canada. 

He gives some good advice to those trying to avoid paying the expensive shipping fees some eBay sellers charge. We get insight to why he got back into collecting, and what type of vintage cards are hard to find in good condition & what he's collecting today.

From now on (If I remember) every first time guest will have to answer 8 random questions similar to these:

8 Random Questions:

Athlete you'd trade places with?

The set you'd recommend someone else collect?

Favorite TV Shows

Do you collect anything other than cards?

Thing(s) you changs about the hobby?

Best place to vacation to?

What famoust girl do you have a crush on?

Who's going to win the Super Bowl & NBA Finals?

This week I had the pleasure of going to the COMC headquarters in Washington State. I saw some really cool stuff going on and if I needed a job, it might be a cool place to work. They are growing pretty rapidly and it's all coming from internal growth. I talk about some of the things I saw and how you can learn from some of the things they do in your own business.

As many accurately predicted, this years football and basketball look like big time wasters this year. I think you should wait a while before you buy this stuff, because they'll have promotions & sell-offs once next years juicy rookie crops come rolling in.