Breaking Cardboard E2 w/ Josh Durham "Hobby Passion and Content"

All right, welcome to Breaking Cardboard, Episode two. Happy to be joined. I was gonna I was gonna do a whole different intro, and I screwed that up. But that's okay.

That's what happens when you don't do the show, uh for a while. But happy to be Jordan. He does his own contact. He's a funny guy.

I laugh at a lot of his stuff. You know. I don't like it when people are funnier than me. But you might have just did that.

But Josh Durham, welcome, Welcome to Breaking Cardboard. And I was gonna I was gonna bring you on and kind of uh, you know, play one of our sponsors, so we'll do it in reverse. I intro you and now we have two sponsors for the show. So let me play this one sound clip and then away here you go.

Quality, consistent and the quickest turnaround times in the grating and just we are proud to partner with SGC. Check them out at www dot go SGC dot com experience. All right, so with this episode, if you've seen it before, I try to have a different guest on each time and h let me put out the background. Don't mind, don't look it says live second Friday each month.

We go every other week, so we'll be back with episode three in two weeks. But we're on episode two, happy to be joined by by Josh here, and we're gonna open an right now. But we're gonna as always, as the name of the show entails, breaking cardboard, We're gonna we're gonna rip some wax. I got some, and I know Josh does to ninety ninety one hoops and then eighty seven tops a Selo pack.

So we'll always fun, always fun to rip, especially that unk wax and and and vintage errors stuff. It's always fun to do. So enough of me, uh jibber jever, Josh, welcome, Welcome to the show. Thanks John, appreciate it, appreciate it.

Thanks for having me on. This is uh, this is new to me. I don't really get on live uh feeds and and and YouTube very often, so I'm happy to to oblige and hang out with you for a little bit. Well, I I appreciate you, and I know we've talked before, but this is the first time.

You know, I know where Pats. We just missed each other when I came to Dallas for the Dallas card show. We'll have to officially meet, uh and and that sort of thing. But I think we all know the same groups of people.

Yeah, yeah, it's one big It's listen, it's one big fraternity, right, I mean that what the really, uh the hobby is. So we're both sports fans. You're a Yankees guy, I'm a Mets guy. So we're you know, sandbox.

Yeah, yeah, say listen, it's one al and n Now. So if we're gonna play each other in the postseason, it's in the World Series. I'll sign up for that. You tell me the bets that are in the world five years later, we'll do it.

Yeah, yeah, we'll take it. But you know, some of the talking baseball right now is this right here that the torpedo batcher versus I'm calling you. You got one of those torpedo bets as well as. John I were talking earlier.

I just got my new torpedo bat in the mail, and you know, I've been checking it out. You know, it's efficacy seems to be good as there you. Got red ones and you got blue ones, right, I got It's almost it's almost like politics, right and red versus glue. But listen what I'll let you know.

You're the guests. I'll acquies tu as a baseball fan. You know what uh what uh? What are your thoughts with torpedoes? Obviously that graphic is is is a funny thing that they don't look like that have saw. It over the board with you know, I kind of heard some rumblings of this, you know, sometime last season about these new bats coming out, you know, and from everything that I've read about them, they do fall within the rules and the specifications that are lined out.

I do think those may have been the margin's been stretched on them a little bit. It's tough because the game has changed, uh so much with the rules and what we're doing over the past I would say decade, the entry into the market, I would guess you say, as a major League Baseball player, if you were a you know, say a veteran of ten years, it has changed so much, so so much so that I think people are having to relearn the game or turn the dial on what they do. You know. And you know, many people be like, well, I that's an unfair advantage, and my response would be, well, you still have to pitch to the guy, learn how to pitch because you know, there's been this very heavy emphasis for probably around eight to ten years of just guys that just chuck the ball as fast as they can and urnning in nine to ten pitchers a game.

When you got a guy like Greg Max, who won three hundred and fifty four games, and you know, he wore glasses and spectacles and and you know, look like a school teacher, and he hit his corners. And you know, if you putch a game under one hundred pitches, now it's a complete game. They call it a mannex. The guy was just a master at what he did.

And you know, my response to be with people about the bats, like learn how to pitch, how to hitch your corners, learn how to change speeds. So it's it's different. You know, you are having guys that you know what, you know what everything I read about Anthony Volpi is like three of his home runs he's hit out of his four. It's like those are balls that he would have got jammed on last year because he was just not getting ahead of the bat out quick enough.

So I don't know, it's it's interesting. You know, of course, you know, home runs sell, you know, slug cells balls to the gap cell. So I mean like baseball is going to do whatever it can to increase that. But you know, with every action is an equal and opposite reaction, whether it's from us, the fans, or how people interact with the games.

It'll be interesting to see. I don't know if I how I feel about it just yet. I agree with you. I'll touch on some of the stuff.

I'll start off by saying this, and I think you mentioned this too in there, Josh. These mats are actually we're you know, we're really hearing about it now because of that recent game where the Yankees hit nine home runs. Three of those home runs were hit by a by Aaron Judge and ex doesn't who doesn't use that isn't are using them, and and and more people are noticing them. I think that trying to continues.

Major League Baseball at this point has signed off on the use of them. They're obviously allowing it, otherwise we'd be hearing about it more so. I had this conversation with my son, who's twenty five years old, earlier tonight, and we you know, and I told him his name is Jordan. I said, Jordan, I know they're legal, and the league's allowing it.

The Yankees aren't the only team using other players from other teams, including the Mets with Lindor and others. But my fear is if it really is an advantage and we start seeing games that are like fourteen to twelve like constantly. Like you said, though, I think people like that. Some people like scoring and home runs, right, I'm sort of an old school baseball purist.

I don't I don't mind, obviously, I like a nice home run when they're hit. But if I feel like these bats are making sort of a travesty of scoring home runs and threatening maybe records and making games more video game like in fourteen to twelve, then I think baseball really has to sort of look at that and determine, you know, is this good or should they maybe amend the rule that allows these bats to stay and play, which is how it today. So I'm sort of a let's table it, see how this plays out for this year, uh, and that sort of thing. But we're seeing scoring something, you know, yeah, yeah, And again, I know the Yankees are the poster boy for these torpedo bats, but they're they're not.

I would I without knowing what one hundred percent certainty. I get. I bet you there's at least one player from every team that's that has one of these, and that if not yet, that will be soon because they're starting. Players are starting to order these things customized and that sort of thing.

So like the Texas Rangers series, they just played Cincinnati. First game, they lost fourteen to three. I let the Cruz had two home runs, seven RBIs using a torpedo bat. Next two games, Reds lost one nothing in each of those games and had seven.

Three straight, three straight games. They lost one nothing first time since nineteen sixty. A couple comments here. Ruben says it's not the bats.

The Brewers had crappy pitching that game, and he also mentioned, yeah, it's a little bit of a bandbox in the new Yankee Stadium, so I wouldn't disagree. Yeah, but nine home runs and warren ants here absurd, right, that's again that's where the video game comes. But we see these right, abnominalies. It happened every once in a while.

Look, the Reds just got shut out three straight times, one nothing. If you would if you would have told me, my, you know, the Mets would give up one run in three games each one run in each of the three games in a row and would lose all three, I would think you're crazy, but that's exactly what happened to the Reds first time since nineteen sixty. So as much as the scoring is up in some cases, you know, in three games, three runs and no team won one nothing. So that's why I say, let's see how this plays out a little bit before we kind of jump to rash decisions.

But if at the end of the year we're saying like way too you know, if the home runs are way way more than the previous year, we're seeing, you know, whatever the league average year array is, like, you know, increase by a whole run of game or more than it. Maybe, you know, Major League Baseball and Rob Manfred will have to look at it. But for people who probably like home runs and scoring, they're gonna probably like the to Beedo torpedo bats what they do in the short cliff notes version. It just enlarges that sweet spot.

So you've made a great point with vopee. Where last year maybe wasn't getting the bad head around quick enough. This year that's a little bit forgiven because that bad head is a little bit bigger so it's it'll be in the zone a little bit longer for for what that's with. So we'll see, you know, we'll see I'm I'm I'm gonna table it in my mind and we'll see what what what happens the rest of the way, and then you know, we'll see what basically.

At the home run numbers, then we'll have to start. Yeah, and listen, you make a great point, right, Pictures got to make better pitches too, you know what I mean. And you know they throw hard enough, but I mean sixty I think the number sixty four different pictures hit one hundred miles an hour on the radar gun layers. So people bringing the cheese, it's just like you said, you can't throw it right down the park because these guys are professional ball player, they're gonna hit.

You're gonna have to mix your pitches up. Learn to be a pitcher, not a thrower, right. You know, as a former I'm not a major league player, played high school. Literally, you know, we always used to have a scene or you're a pitch sure or a thrower.

The thrower just throws the ball without any kind of game playing or thought process. A picture will try to keep a hitter off balanced location. That a sort of thing. I definitely didn't throw one hundred miles an hours.

I had to be a pitcher and develop a curveball and off to get guys out. So you know that that was me. But uh, and I did make Ruber makes a point here. I don't know if you knew about this.

I'm not gonna I met. You know. I was one win away. Our team was one win away from going to Williamsport in the Little League World Series.

Oh wow, we played We played Jason Vera tacks team before he was the Jason Vera tech we know today. And uh, he had a ball and I think still going matter of fact, off you, I didn't off of me the game. It was the only game I lost on the mound that year, and not my best performance either man. That's worth that was worth me getting on the nights.

And you made Jason techa star and little. I didn't even look like it was such a no doubt or gosh, I didn't even like turn around. I just held my glove up for the umpire to give my catcher the next the ball and throw it to me. And uh, after the Indian was over, I went in, I went in the dugout.

My teammates were like, new Man's you see where that thing landed? And I'm like no, And I'm like, who are you? Like? Whose team are you on? Man? You're like excited about a home run? Just hit off me? Like, you know, I probably said a bad word in there to it, and I won't I won't repeat it on here. But so, uh, you know, it's it's more I can laugh at it now more than I was. I'm still a competitive guy, don't play many competitive softball, but I wasn't real happy about it then. And I apparently, you know, I didn't know it was Jason Veritech.

I mean I knew it was Jason VerTech, but this is before the Georgia Tech in Red Sox years. Obviously it's little league, So you know it's it's uh, there's a I guess there's my fifteen minutes. So a couple hellos. We got Warre and Rubin.

Orlando's in the house. Mark Coyle, mister Red Sox So. We're joined by Josh Durham today Breaking Cardboard Episode two, So a little bit talk about your content. You do an everyday dad thing you do kind of a baseball card tour.

I'll let you. I'll let you kind of speak to your content. You got a new gig that you started as well, so go ahead. And for those that may be familiar with yeah, go ahead.

I've been in the entertainment industry about twenty years. I've been a card collector since the mid eighties. And I guess about six months ago, after I got tired of making content for companies and not getting to use it for my own social media, I started saying, you know what, I've got all this content that I've gone to events, going to games, interviewed sports players and everything. I'm gonna start editing it and putting it up on a social media page.

I created a new social media and started posting it. I also, I'm a father, so I learned all these new dad hacks and dad tricks, and you know what, I wanted to start filming all that. About two years ago, I started filming all that too, you know, towards the end of COVID, and I'm like, I gotta start posting that too, so edited it. Started posting all that stuff on two separate pages about I guess about six to eight weeks ago, A someone in the industry saw one of my videos and reached out to me and wanted to know if I would be interested in working for their organization.

And like any good businessman, I always say yes to a conversation, so I did and they hired me. So that's my new company. It's called Dallas Wax. Wax Sports Cards stores our stores across the nation.

We also have some other brand's Triple car Cards. We have two comic book shops, but we are opening eight more locations across the USA and one internationally. And I am super excited on the head of content creation. So they saw one of my videos.

It was for tops Rip Night and one of their stores, Tom Brady, came to and I happened to be there and started filming and cut up a video, put some cool music to it and threw it on my social media and they reached out to me. So I couldn't be more you just excited. I started about two and a half weeks ago. We just got back from our store in Denver.

This past week. We had a in store signing with Jamal Murray and cut up a video. It's online right now and I worked on another one today. So yeah, we have shops all over.

We have one opening in Miami soon, Austin Houston. We got two more in Fort Worth. Our operations are based out of Dallas, tex Is. So I'm super excited to do that.

Man, getting to put two things I love together, content creation and baseball cards. I mean, I work around baseball cards every day. I get up from my desk and I'm like, Wow, this is great. Yeah, not a bad gig.

Not a bad gig. G If you can get it now, you're gonna have to is your travel I can ay gonna be bumped up? Or will it will for the foreseeable future. You know it'll be quick trips. You know.

My job is to go in there and just you know, have that creative IY just go in and film. We're really excited hopefully Jamal he seemed to open to a social media collaboration because I'm about growing the brand as in our social media channels. I have at this point close to twenty social media channels that I help manage, so we want to grow those. And Jamal seems super open to collaborating with us, which that's a huge deal when somebody has a million followers.

So I hope that he does from a from a content creator standpoint, You're all always like, wow, you know, you want your stuff to get seen. So yeah, I love what I do. I'm still kind of getting my feel for for everything. But uh, you know, I always you know, at any time people at any job, I think good imposter syndrome, you know, they think, can I actually do this? But I'm like, you know what, somebody liked what I did.

And I always taking this piece of advice that I heard early in my days as a as an on camera talent, is if you sell apples, keep selling apples. I'm gonna keep selling apples and do what I do well, tell stories and you know, meet people. And I've met so many you know this is it's just been so wonderful working in this in in the industry, and you know, being a friend of the industry, I've met so many good people. And you know I met I've met you because we all know the same people.

I mean, you know, everybody that I know in Dallas and the card industry, I think you've met and we're kind of the. Probably right either either in person or much like we did. Yeah as well, Josh too. So if you're there, man, well, I was not sure I was going, but I am going now, so uh well maybe a work trip for yeah, there you go a work.

Yeah, it's work when you when you were having fun, man, and it's worked together. It's all. It's always. Yeah.

Well let's get to some comments, because uh uh, this is Orlando says I've been to every card store in South Florida. Will be that will be open in Miami in about less than two months, maybe two months. Because your buddy and my Your buddy and my buddy Rich Josh and skills using his skills and doing more the hobby on the Triple Cards Family Cards have every helped for his dot shover and shows. So yeah, yeah, yeah, Riches smash of like buttoning's up, thank you.

Rich. Ziggy's asking how long have you been running the stores? It's the content. Yeah, this is my second this is my second week full of running the content. I don't run the stores.

I help manage the content for the stores and run their help run their social media pages, and work with the marketing department. So I'll be going to events. We have an event at one of our stores every week, like tomorrow we have a trade night. Tomorrow's National Hockey Card Day, So we have a big thing going on for that, So something every week at one of our stores, and I'm constantly, you know, going out to a store, whether it's locally, if we have a huge event, like it's a this past weekend, I'll go to those stores.

But it's a lot of fun, man. I didn't think that, you know, in my mid forties, I'd get something a gig like this, you know, working freelance for song, and you'd wake up and like your mind's running at five forty five in the morning when you know when you're ready to go for the day. And I don't have to really drink coffee as much as I did, and. Because you just get excited, you know, no doubt, no doubt breaking news here for sports.

Yeah, that must that's a hat trick because I think he was three. Wow. Yeah, great hockey Card Day because we're giving Gretzky stick tomorrow. Yeah, Gretzky is in attendance that I know, attendance at the game.

Ziggy Michael is asking do you break at these stores too, I'm a venturer, probably yes. Or we actually have our own break channel, Waxed. If you go waxed with two xes waxed Breaks. That's our is our break channel.

It's it's quite popular. The break guys are are super cool, so yeah, go check them out as well. Yeah, hey, I want to be there in Miami, oh for the open. Here about it.

Trust me because I'll make sure everybody knows that. Yeah, ziggy hobby is growing and providing lots of no doubt. That's in coour words, uh tour words. Nuts can't be spoken.

So all right, let's get We'll get Riches going crazy in the chat room. We both love Rich. I can't keep up. That's that's mad.

When I can't keep up, Rich, what's open? If you I'll let you go first. You want to open one of your packs, and then I'll open one of mine. Will take kind of an let's go, let's go. Yeah, all right, i'magine John Well, I think I mean, obviously, Michael Jordan.

There's no huge rook I think Gary Payton rookies in there. You got the I hate to say it, but you got the Menendez Brothers, Mark Jacks. Yeah, I think it's this year. Yeah for yourself.

Let's see. I'll let you go first and I'll open the same pack when you're done. Okay, so we got Winston Garland Golden State Warrior. Not too familiar with him, but he did have a good year.

Sam Vincent, Yeah, oh, we got a Hall of Famer here, Adrian Dantley. Yeah, actually I think we have different packs. That's okay, that's uh, that's the year before. Okay, the Mark Jackson here gotcha? Yeah, yeah yeah, John Will you got the eighty nine ninety, which is Jordan's the Jordan's the big one.

David Robinson, David Robinson. Right, Brooklyn's own. Chris Mullen, that's my dude. That's my dude.

Is he He's a Hall of Famer? Correct? I think so? Yeah, that's all he played toge Man. Never could get that ring though, Man. Jordan's moden down straight years. Yeah, and then Carmelone tried to go to the Lakers and get one and work.

Him n g P. Yeah. Steve Stipanovich, I don't know him. Yeah, yeah, I don't remember.

I don't. I don't think he had a long career. I don't remember him. But here he's got meat.

There you go. I'm in man. Man. He had some about three years.

Known for the dunks, you know, but he was like he was a great player, like besides pret. Decent mid range jumper. From what I remember, I mean, everybody in the eighties to be successful, you had to ruins. Are are a pun guy, so pun intended.

Yes, we enjoy puns here, Mark Geary. Oh you see are some my company's names. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, Benjamin he's from my hometown. Yeah yeah, Louisiana.

Yeah, that's awesome to my brothers, Michael Adams, Randy Brewer, Bill cart Right. Man, he had the ugliest jumper, didn't he. He was a well that's it he was. He was a big like he was a center, like power forward center.

So he wasn't too many jumpers. He was pretty close to the past. And he had a really solid career for yeah, the Knicks. Yeah he's a borderline.

I don't think he's in the hall, but he's probably on that right on the outside looking and yeah. I mean he had a really solid career for the Knicks. Yeah, that was my path. All right, let me let me go and then we'll get back.

Beat. Man, I don't know, I'm gonna move. I'm gonna move my camera. Plus it gets the camera off my face for a minute, which I think gives everyone a little bit of a reprieve.

I'm not mistaken. Yeah, that's say it's gonna be the year after that. So this will be kind of what we were talking about. So I'll try to I'll try to do this.

Bob Dorton, if I turn him around on John Bagley, Uh, Stacy King, he's a rookie, the Bulls, Roddie dvac rookie. You know it has claimed defend traded Uh for Kobe. That's right. He's the GM for the Sacramento now right.

I think so he's in basketball, either that or he works for the league. I'm not sure. Jared Wilkins of the NICKT not Kobe Bryant. This is before Kobe, but Mark Bryant, and overly Michael Adams, Lenny Wilkins, a Hall of Famer and coach Greg Dryling, Jerry Reynolds.

I'll move through these quick guys. Otis Smith. Uh, here we go. We got a Jordan and Magic car.

Nice jack Sigma Jackson. Oh, look at us talking about it. Nice. They're they're in there, they're they're man.

I think he just made your money back on that pack. Yeah, that's how it's kind of unfortunately it's the mccar, the macar part of the hobby and then Mike finishing up with with a Mike U Mike dunleavy. So there you go. Mark Jackson pulled live on Breaking Cardboard with the Menanda didn't think.

I didn't think the Menanda's brothers would be part of the program, but you know, they may be. They may be getting out soon if you find. A whole other episode, right, yeah, that is that is a whole. Other and Ruben Rubin does not disappoint Johnna's doing a shot can open and uh, Mike Petty said this is the best way to break open your own packs.

Yeah, crazy wasn't sure we're going to see that, but you know it's part of that. It's part of that release from from that that year. So listen, I'm a big You have a young son. You know, my son was young.

He's now twenty five, he's a kid anymore. He still collects a little bit, but you know, kids in the hobby for me, Josh is a big platform on mine. And I know I've had debates with people like it's not necessarily necessary. I'm a little selfish because I started when I was seven years old.

Yeah, and I think you don't have to start as a kid to be in a hobby and come in as an adult. There's no rule, I get it. But I think I've often said this. I think if you start in the hobby as a kid, you're more likely to be in it for the long haul, where I think you kind of start as an adult.

Note wrong with that, but I think you're more likely to get out. Not that you will, but I think the percentages would show you're more likely to get out if you start an adult. Had I started when I was when I did because I didn't care about values. It wasn't about that at the time.

For me in nineteen seventy nine, I was a Yankee fan as a younger New York City resident, Steinbrener ruined that. For me, that's a whole other show that many of people pilots. Yeah, and so I kind of switched over about eighty four eighty five as a twelve kid, and yeah, yeah, yeah, they were. They still weren't good yet.

And it's just Steinbrender was ruining things for me as a kid. I was just tired of seeing him talking at press conferences rather than the player and that sort of thing. But you know, I started as a kid and I did it just for the pure love of trading. Collecting the guys I love Derman Munson was how I learned about death quite frankly, and my first favorite active player, you know, and learned to go back.

And obviously being from Brooklyn, Jackie Robinson will always be my guy and my dad lived at Ebansfield. But you know, I think kids are important to the hobby. Let's listen. We don't like to always think about it, right, but we're not going to be here forever, right, someone else has to come up.

Much like we came up behind others before us, someone else is going to have to come up behind us and carry the baton forward. So whenever I'm at a show, whether it be as a dealer Josh where it's just behind the other side of the tables, as a consumer, I love seeing the kids in the hobby. Now it's different, you know, I've heard people say and I've seen it like, it's not a you know, some of these kids are carrying Zion cases with thirty K and cards. It's different than I yeah, you know, But that being said, I still love seeing kids.

You know, active in the hobby. I think it's important whether it's a kid with thirty thousand dollars worth of cards or more is case, or a kid with five hundred dollars or less. Well, what doesn't matter. Doesn't matter the dollar amount, right does kids? We need those younger folks to the hobby to continue to thrive.

You know, I'm fifty two now, but I was seven when I started, and and we're gonna need that next, you know, group of young people. You know, no one's here forever. So I'm a big kids in the hobby. I've had debates with people, friendly ones.

You know. It doesn't get that. You know, hey, John, we like kids in the hobby are great. I don't have anything against them, but I disagree with you when you say, like it's a necessity.

Really isn't necessary just as long as we have people in the hobby. And I just maybe maybe it is a selfish point of view, but I just enjoy seeing kids, boys, girls. It doesn't matter enjoying the hobby. It you know, maybe it's maybe it's as simple as it brings me back to when I was seven, and that nostalgia aspect of the hobby that takes many shapes and form.

So I know what your son, you know, I'll let you speak to that. How does he like the hobby? You know, is it something you hope to you know as he gets older. I know he's young that you you know, you hope to see more of and just the topic in general, Go ahead, yeah. Just And I think I always kind of when I think about the hobby and kids, I always think about that monologue from Field of Dreams, where you know it talks about baseball being like a thing that brings us together.

It's been broken down and built up and torn down again, but there's something about it, and there's something about this hobby. It keeps bringing people back together through the generation, whether i'm you know, I have dealer friends that I go to shows and see that are you know, in their mid eighties, and they're still and they still have that same twinkle and sparkle in their eye that the seven or eight year old kid does come into the show. And some of those seven or eight year old kids probably have a house payment they're carrying around, a mortgage payment they're carrying around, and there's ion cases. It's a whole different kind of collector there seems to be a consistent twinkle and spark in people's eyes if they are there there with with purpose and direction, with with what they have and what they do.

With my child, we just concentrate on small things. It's just like about being together and and and having that special time together with with with the collection stuff. I mean, like a lot of my stuff is like I have lots of junk wax boxes that I've just unopened stuff that I collected, and I'm like, one day I want to just build sets. And I've got some valuable stuff in there too, but I have a lot of it just sitting waiting to just open one by one or in large gruice.

Me personally, I'm more of a signed card a memorabilia guy, and I that's something that I wanted to pass down to my children one day. And but just something about the hobby, you know. I mean the trade nights are massive now with kids. If you go to a trade night, it's like it's like fifteen birthday parties on.

It's something about that that is just wonderful that I love seeing and loving being part of. I mean, we have at our stores, we have we have at least three trade nights a month. We have one tomorrow at one of our stores, and you know, they're always well attended, and we try to make it fun and enjoyable and open to all. And you know, this may be somebody's first time coming to a card shop or coming to the hobby.

And there's something else about the whole card world now that I don't know if you're aware of it, but Pokemon and teach TCG is absolutely white hot right now. Yeah, I don't know, I know it is. I'm not a Pokemon guy, but yeah, me either. But I love being around those people.

And you know, there have been a couple of shows here locally where they had to stagger entry because the fire marshal was about to shut them down. And I'm like, wow, a comment here too, I want to get your take, you know. And there was some I put some earlier comments up from Michael here too, you know, and he talks about Pokemon here. He said, as soon as kids understand money, the Twinkles, money, don't follow yourself.

I watch kids open and immediately go cash out with parents. And he's worried about the gambling aspect, and I get that. I'm not here to necessarily argue the point, but I hate to say it, right, but we're seeing there's not only the hobby, but we're seeing the sports themselves embrace gambling. Right.

For how many years did the NFL wanted like distance themselves? Obviously major League Baseball we all know about the Pete Rose stuff in the sixties, man on others got in trouble for promoting a casino and that sort of thing. So for many moons these sports didn't want that association gambling, right, Yeah, And now we're seeing commercials during the games. We're seeing in some cases, we're seeing ads on the uniforms themselves. When I'm a big New York Rangers and Mets fan, and I can tell you during both of those broadcasts, at some point and then multiple times, the staff from the station itself, it's not even a commercial for Draft Kings or FanDuel, but it's it's the staff of the station are talking about the game that's on and a bet you can place with what's going on in the current game with the Rangers and the Mets.

So I agree with Mike, go with the hobby. But the kids are getting it from from every angle too, So it's what do you do Like it's like you can't. I don't think you can put the horse back into the barn. Right.

I'm not saying I agree with it. I I'm not saying I agree with it. I'm just saying that's where we are. Like, what do you I think it's too late and it's you know, I guess you could say it's unfortunate.

Yeah, just a purpose and values on a family level more than anything. But you know, some people, you know, they have they're gray areas, maybe wider or smaller than others. Of course, you know, my money that I that I make is too hard earned. Like I think the only thing like in the sports card, you know, working in the industry, buying a box is gambling enough because you're hoping that like, well, at least want to make my money back, but my which usually.

Less than most of the time. Let's be real, it doesn't always happen, right, Yeah, you know, like that's that's why when you hit something that's such a big deal. If everyone was getting their box returned every time, you know that that would be reflected in the prices. You know, it's I always just say, like, I don't know what you can do now, it's it's yeah, and it's too far.

I just hope the majority of kids like that that if they, you know, like you said, gamble responsibly, you know, and during these ads, you know there's small print or real quick they'll say, you know, don't gamble more than you can afford to do, that sort of disclaimer. But I agree, I'm not a fan of it, you know. But for me, I do a little sports gambling, but I'm not gambling money, Josh. You know, I rather, for me, I rather gamble on sports than go to casino because I feel with like sports, as a sports fan, I at least have that competitive advantage.

Then go in and playing blackjack, where you know you're at the the you're at the disadvantage. At least I feel like, hey, this person's injured, I think how this game is gonna go, or he's on the mound or you know, doesn't mean I win every bet, and I'm not betting like insane amounts where I'm not paying my house payment or mortgage either, or where I have to be embarrassed and tell my wife, like, hey, my paycheck this week is went up and flams. It's not on anywhere here that level. But some listen, some people do play at that level and they don't always win, and then it becomes an issue, and listen, Gambling is an addiction, like a lot of other addictions.

Thankfully, I just know my limits. I think with sports, I probably win a lot, honestly, not to be you know, more than I lose. But you know, it depends that every week is different. I don't like you know that.

Maybe it's in kids' faces constantly, but listen, I think cards itself, the hobby has become a mild or form of gambling or in some cases if somebody's ripping cases of stuff. It's just as expensive as real gambling can can be. So wantus our stores too, but we wanted to keep coming back. So you know, yeah, I get some of it too.

It's got to fall on the parents, right. You know. I've had conversations about my son about a lot of things in life, right, birds and bees, gambling, you know, be responsible with your money, val the dollar, like you sure know what I mean. I think you have to have those conversations and and now I guess you can add gambling to you know everything else that as a mom or dad, you have to sit your son or daughter and have that those tough discussion.

And yeah, I mean, and it's tough. It's tough when you you know, as a as a player in all these leagues they're seeing they're the ones that see you know, going out to the outfield or you know, warming up in the bullpen or you know, coming out of the locker room and playing football. They see ads for all this sports all over the place, and they're like, why, why why are these leagues? Why is our league taking money? Is yet putting a morality clause on us as players? I mean, I can understand not betting on your own sport, but like what if I want to bet on soccer and I play this? So there's I don't know, there's some there's some wiggly gray area with it that I can kind of see why people say, you know, but you know, once once the genies out of the bottle and Pandora's box open, how do you close that? You know? Yeah, I think it's it's tough. I think, Denn it falls on the individual, whether that be a kid, young adult adult to you know, use their nogg and be smart.

If it's a kid or young a dot, a parent, hopefully's there to sort of provide some guidance and like, hey, be careful here, it can happen quick. Be smart, you know, try not to do it period if you can avoid it. Right. Funny comment, Rubin, uh uh, we gamble here.

We watch John mcbeth's if he says certain words during the show, Brooklyn, Jackie, Thurman, Metz Softball, he's up ten k. I hit all of those today, Josh. So if you're doing the the Newman Big Old card, I think everyone. I think everyone over under.

You know, some some episodes, I probably be under, but probably the safer bets the over. But here's my thing. I I don't want to see kids not being the hobby because of the gambling aspect. I just hope they do it for the right reasons.

They're smart. I know whenever someone, you know, a kid opens a package and right, one of the first questions you're gonna hear is, hey, how much is this where? Heck, it's not even a kid thing, right, we see grown ups do that too. I think it's just a hobby thing. And you know, and I've seen people say I don't collect for the monetary value, and then you see them hit something or open something, and the first question asks, hey, what's this go for? Or hey I got a great deal on this card, It normally goes for this.

So unfortunately, the value is always going to be part of the hobby. Whether it's why you collect or not why you collect, that's that's up to the individual. But I think you know it's it's going to be part of the hobby. Uh, you know, and everyone's gonna have their real whatever the reasons for collecting, right.

Uh, somebody like for me, as a dealer and a collector, I collect inventory for for personal collection. You see stuff behind me that will you'll never see at my table at a show, and and I have a show inventory that is stuff I'm selling. And and you know, I know there's a thing sometimes we try to make people feel guilty for selling cards. But where if I sell cards generally, where does that money go back into the hobby to buy new cards? Right? So it's just a cycle, right, And so I don't see the big deal, But you know, everyone has different opinion about things.

I want to see kids in the hobby. I just hope that the hobby doesn't become a negative experience or lead to or lead or be a gateway to a negative experience down the line. But we can't. We really can't control that.

That's up to uh, the individual, right. I think the most wonderful thing about the hobby is, like what you say, the hobby is the people you know? Yeah, you know, the people you meet you know, and the connections take and like when I go to shows, man, I go to the same people, and I'm like, I end up just talking and hanging out with friends basically most of the time, and look through a little bit by a couple of things, but I'm like, man, I just spent three hours just hanging out with buddies. Yep. That's a great point too, right.

You hope you have enough people in your service that you can talk to that if you are sort of getting off the rails or maybe going down the wrong path, or that you have someone close enough to you to say, hey, man, are you sure about that? Or be careful or what are you doing? And little accountability never hurt anybody. Yeah, yeah, no doubt. All right, So let's uh, well, let's open our last packs here. I'll go first this time.

Yeah, I'm going This's ah, this is a lot of people's favorite design set. We're talking eighty seven tops. Not my personal favorite. It's grown on me over the years.

It's still not up there for me. But for some people this was like, this is the set. There is guming here. No, I will not be it's not chewable.

Let me get rid of it. I don't. That's like I think that will survive a nuclear war right off the bat. Jack Morris Hall of Famer.

Some will argue, Some will argue that, Lance Parrish, I'm trying to read it backwards. Gary Rennicky, what do we got? Keith Morland check list not written on? Mark Bailey, chet Lemon, Yeah, Mike Flan again, what do we got? Ruben Sierra card yeap, Bernie Williams, Tom Kelly manager, Oh you got no One? Dennis Rasmussen, Henricatto, uha, Juan Benicas and the spring Train contest card, Mike Smithson, Jay Howell, wrong a's and we're kind of hoping for McQuire uh. Darryl Boston, who played for the didn't play for the Red Sox. He played for the White Sox.

John Russell, Ben Hurdle wind up managing the Rockies for a bit. Lance McCullers Hall of famer Borderline one, but he's in Ted Simmons, Yeah, Omar Marino no more for his pirate days. Another manager or later manager, Mike Mark Davis. Oh, here's your dude, the Chicken Many Yeah, Wade Box.

Josh is a big Wade Box fan. So there you go. We got Mike Mason, Alan Ashby, another manager player turn manager, Ron Washington, Yeah, Floyd humans in the last card, Larry Larry McWilliams, so worst for those. Pats beat you.

There you go. You gotta have less cards to do it, but it only takes one. I have about eight boxes. I want to build a set with my son.

If anyone wants this guy that's in three pieces. Now, I'll put your address in the yeah us, I will not be to listen. I'm trying to stay healthy. It's harder to do a piece to There you go, yours.

Skin attack p s A ten Jim meant right here? All right? What we got? Let's see? Did I get the same package you Larry McWilliams. Same car. That's funny. Seen If we got the same sequence, that's gonna be hilarious.

Ron Rinnicky, here we go. I got Gary Rosco, got that last out in eighty six. Right, yep, that's right. Yeah.

Mark Carr has been the. Randy Neeman, Charlie Kirfield, Mike Laga, Mike Moore. Here we go, r I p Ricky and I'm this guy man. He totally.

I asked him I wanted him to sign my hat, and I said, I want to get the Man of Steel to sign my hat. And he looked at me and he said, but is Ricky still the greatest of all time? Face? And this started laughing at me. He's of course, I'll sign the hat. He talked about himself the third person as much as he could, Mark Thurmand, Borderline, Hall of Famer, Fred Lynn, Ernie Ryles, Calvin Schiraldi.

I think he beat me. Steve Jeltz Mario, Oh that's Tony. That's Tony de Marzio's guy, Steve Jeltzer. Some I got the humans too.

So there was a couple a couple of some same cards and both of those packed. And speaking of yeah, go ahead, speaking. Of favorite sets, I mean eighty seven tops is probably my favorite because I like it. Yeah, I like this design.

It's it's kind of got that vintage wood wood background. There's a lot of solid cards and rookies. I mean, people love rookies. People love people love the eighty seven top set.

I know I've had this. I'm not a big I don't it's grown on me. I think I disliked it more. I think I dislike it less.

But still it's still not one of my would you say in the junk Wax era, it's your favorite set? Oh, for sure, favorite set of like junk wax. I consider it probably a little more valuable. Some people say junk Wax begins eighty five eighty six. I think it begins like eighty seven's really really starts to get kind of junk wax, because I still think that eighty six top set holds a little more value.

Well of this, man, I'm out of number. And Orlando agrees, and he's got the Tiffany version, Mike Petty his two. I just I don't know. It just didn't.

You know. Maybe it's because I'm older and I saw a lot of the sixty eight and I know it's not exactly the same. Yeah, sixty two, and I just felt like Tops just went back, and this is before herodage Be when they did the Heritage releases. I just thought like hop Tops just took something from the past and changed it a little bit.

And it's grown on me a little bit, I'll admit that, but it's still I don't like it as much as most others do, and it just didn't move my meter. I'm sure I love pulling the McGuire and you know, at the time Palmeiro and all those other guys bonds, but I didn't like the design. The design did didn't. I opened plenty of it, I mean it didn't stop open, but not a big fan for me.

It's a few years before that, but this was my set. Gosh, this made me broke. Not the greatest picture the little book eighty four Donors. Now, when you think about the Donors, the prior, like I'm a Tops kid growing up in Brooklyn, Tops is in my back.

The first time I really even can ed another brand was eighty two Donors when the Diamond Kings and Dick Perez, that was something totally different. It made me turn my head. Right, the regular cards in eighty two Donors were were terrible to be real, right, But it was the Diamond Kings that I was interested in, right, But eighty four eighty four Donors was the first time where I said, you know what, this is a better design than Topsy, and this is where a lot of my money went. And to this day, I still try to pick up eighty four Donors cards for my PC.

To this day, that Tony gwyn card that you see there, the Manly Rookie, the Manly Rookie made me go bro cutting that I was just sort of changing my allegiance to the Mets, but I was still don Manly was still one of my favorite players, even though it wasn't become I was kind of moving away from the Yankee. But that Gwynn card, the Strawberry is becoming a Mets fan, you know, just close ups, getting to kind of see them up close and personal, unlike you did really when you watch them on TV with a with a helmet and from a distance, and just the design of that card with the wave, it's really to me. You know, you're talking about forty one years later here, Josh, that card still moves like I still, you know, loved the eighty four Donor. So it was ahead of its time for for that and even today, like if that card came out today, it's still pretty sharp.

Even if they you know, and I know Donors did some of the retros and redid some of it, added some foil to it, but eighty four donors made me broke. And I'm making a rich kind sense. I'm disappointed. And you started as a belove Yankee fan and transfer Rich, Well, listen, Rich, it's not the players.

It was Steinbrenner. And I'm sure Rich has heard. He probably tell us, oh, there were some pre wretched team. So I don't I kind of don't blame you.

They had to win. I don't hate the Yankees. I don't hate the Yankees. I just George Steinbrenner ruined it for me.

Like after every game, it was him at the podium. He was trading dudes left and right. He was speaking before the players. He was firing Billy Martin eighteen times and rehiring them.

It just became like, uh, you know, a comedy show. Even though they did win some you know, I just was like, oh, man, I can't, this guy's ruining it for me. So I didn't necessarily hate him. I just switched over to the Mets different leagues.

I wasn't really rooting against the Mets over the Yankees unless they met in the World Series. So you know, now we still have the Steinbrenners. It's just, you know, it's funny. The Steinbrenner kids are the exact opposite of their dad.

They don't seek the limelight. You rarely hear from moments. If George would have been a little bit more like that, I probably maybe would still be a Yankee today. And I went to listen.

Durhunson was my guy. Uh it still is, you know as far as playing days, you know, Jackie Robinson, Thurman Monthson and I went to plenty of Yankee games. I went to bride more Yankee games as a kid than than Mets games. No doubts, but uh, you know, just Steinbeancker kind of roomed it for various you know, it is what it.

But then going back to that eighty four set for me, that was that was the set and of that of that time period. You know, we go back even further. You get fifty three Tops is a favorite of mine, sixty five Tops with the pennant, uh you know it's fifty seven tops, uh six eighty. It was a good It was a good set for me.

I mean I had that knowing Ryan Rookie in it, and that was many, Yeah it was Mantel sixty nine Yeah, yeah, sixty nine was six mantle yeah. Yeah, yeah, you know, and again listen, you just like certain sets better than others. And listen, like I said, I wasn't a fan of the eighties seven Tops. I opened plenty of it.

That didn't stop me from from open and you know, so it is what it is. We just like certain design. But even to this day, I'll seek out some eighty four singles and pick them up, just keep them in my PC. And and you know, I've got I don't know how many it's gwinns.

I've got a couple of demands. But uh, you know that was that was my eighties. So uh Rich Klein, who who forgot forgot more hobby than both of us know together, right, sixty eighties props the easiest one out there. But he gives me.

He comes back here and says, eighty four donners, Thank you, Rich, you know, and. Definitely for when I need when I need it, I need somebody to yeh. Yeah. And when you think about some of the other sets in the eighties, right even in the year eighty four, the eighty four Tops with the Sideways team name and a little square picture and eighty four flear which white, which is kind of the blue the blue stripe.

Dating four diners was like, you know, if there, if there was an Academy Awards for cards, that would have won best Picture, you know what I mean? So yeah, sure that's how I'll say it. So uh but listen, man, this was a lot of fun. When we ran, we call probably do three hours. I got to hit one more, one more sponsor before Penny Sleeper dot com.

I'm Isasa Cowper, a longtime cardco and the co founder of the Pennies. My wife and I started the Penny Sleeper with a simple premise in mind to offer collectors top quality supplies at fair We offer a full range of hobbies and we'll get them to the fast, whether they're looking for a two hundred diagnetic for that oversized or slew semi reads admission. The Penny Sleeper has shop now at the Pennysleeverer dot com and use the promo code sc nation to get ten percent off. That's sc for ten percent off at the Penny Sleeper dot com.

All right, I think doing a great job and his wife a great products, a little cheaper than some of your bigger name brands with the qualities just as good. And they have even the vintage size. You know, we always have trouble sometimes with the oversized cards they got. They got you covered there snod But Josh man, I had a blast.

Uh, I could do We can probably do another show, but uh, you know, I don't know if everyone else would would want to stay up that late. But again, thank you for coming on. Nice to meet you, at least uh in visual rather than just and talking. I'm gonna I'm going in the nationale.

So let's make a plan absolutely. Meet up with so you're you're getting on there. Yeah you'll see I'm I'm I'm even Uh. Commercials do suck bib ball, but they pay some of the bills sometimes.

So Mark says, hey, I'll see Isaac this Sunday. I'm assuming that a show in the mass area there and uh so there you go. But uh kind of last word, where people can find the content that you're making, whether it's your personal stuff or your new gig give out, give out both of them. Yeah, you can find me online, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, x whatever you want to call it.

At the Josh Durham, you can also go see my content in any of our pages with my work at Wax Sports Cards for any of our locations Triple Sports Cards. They also have two other shops Wonderwater in clear Water. You can find them on Instagram and Facebook and Boomerang Comic Books, So any of those cards. You've got a lot of places to see all of our great content, all the wonderful things that are doing, having a lot of fun, and come check us out man and hopefully you know, all you guys out there in the online universe will meet one day and yeah, all about the collaboration and the hobby.

It's growing. It's a wonderful time to be in the hobby and to meet new people. Well, Josh continued success, congratulations on the new gig. Well, thank you everyone in the chat room.

You never.