Card Mensches E34 Is Social Media good or bad for the hobby?

SPEAKER 1: Hey, everyone. John Newman here. Thank you for downloading this episode of Card Mensches myself and Danny Black of Hobby News Daily would like to remind you this is a live show every other Friday at 9 p.m. Eastern.

SPEAKER 1: It can be found on most of our social medias. Danny's at Sports Ball and Hobby News Daily. I am Sports Car Nation Podcast and it can be found on our YouTube channels, at Hobby News Daily, Sports Carnation Podcast at Sports Bult and at card matches.

SPEAKER 1: So with that being said, we hope to see you very soon on a Friday night in our very active chat room. Now, let's start the show.

SPEAKER 2: Experience quality consistency, the quickest turnaround times in the grading industry. We are proud to partner with SGC grading. Check them out at www dot go SGC.com.

SPEAKER 3: Hey, I'm Danny Black and I'm John Newman.

SPEAKER 4: Welcome to card matches.

SPEAKER 4: Hello, welcome back to card matches. Episode number 347. I'm Danny. That's John. And, we got a great topic tonight.

SPEAKER 4: Is Social Media good for the hobby. So we're gonna talk about that.

SPEAKER 4: But before we get started, I just want to give a shout out to one of our sponsors Stadium Insurance.

SPEAKER 4: And as a collector and a dealer, I cannot preach enough and I've had my collection stolen so Stadium Insurance dot com. I definitely wanna give them a shout out. What's going on, John, how you doing?

SPEAKER 3: Yeah, man. You know that just to piggyback off that like you have to have like if you're sending anything up to, they are receiving anything of significance, hobby wise. You really need, insurance.

SPEAKER 3: You know, and I know people like get the insurance from the United States Postal Service. They like to fight it. They don't want to cover everything. You really gotta have your own insurance and like any insurance, right? You never want to use it. That's not a good thing, you know, you never want to use your homeowners. That means something bad happened, but you really do need it. It's actually very affordable.

SPEAKER 3: As someone who bulk subs with sec, that's a must, for me when you're sending maybe $50,000 worth of cards, through the mail in one box, literally one box. And, and I, I've had a couple of orders probably six figures, in a box and, it's nervous.

SPEAKER 3: I tell you what, it, it, I used to bite my ma nails a lot more, but since I have collectors insurance, I buy them a lot less, but it still makes you a little nervous sending that kind of stuff in the mail. But II I important.

SPEAKER 4: Absolutely. All right. So, what we're gonna talk about tonight is social, is Social Media. Good for the hobby. Now, I know you have absolutely no opinion on this.

SPEAKER 3: I had to, everybody.

SPEAKER 4: Right. I had to twist your arm to talk about this.

SPEAKER 4: So why don't you start talking? Why don't we start off by talking about, like, what do we mean by a hobby? Social Media.

SPEAKER 3: Well, first off, I'm glad you got the memo that we were wearing blue polos today looking sharp.

SPEAKER 3: So, so first off, you can't wear blue polos if you're in Social Media and the hobby. No, I'm just kidding.

SPEAKER 3: But let me answer the question right off the bat. Right. We, we're part of it, right. So, for me to sit here and say it's, it's bad, is sort of disingenuous, disingenuous. It's good and bad and I think that's what we're gonna really touch on.

SPEAKER 3: Tonight is the good and, and bad of it.

SPEAKER 3: It's a double sided coin, right? And, you know, I like to think, you know, I'm, I'm, I, I fall more on the good side of it more often than not. No one's perfect. But, it can be bad too. We're gonna talk about that and, and, and maybe ways to sort of avoid that sort of stuff.

SPEAKER 4: Absolutely.

SPEAKER 4: Warren says that we look like umpires.

SPEAKER 3: We do after he said that like I it took that comment and now I can't, I cannot see it. You're out of here.

SPEAKER 4: John, looking the home run Ruben's giving you a compliment.

SPEAKER 3: You're looking, looking felt without the sweatshirt, look over there, I can put it on, but, this is what I wore to school today, so I kept it on.

SPEAKER 4: Mookie says, am I a Social Media? Yes, Mookie, you're a Social Media.

SPEAKER 3: You know what is the definition? Let's, let's start with the baseline. What you know, this is your topic. Let's give credit.

SPEAKER 4: I think, I think it includes Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, YouTube Podcast and anybody who comments or can comment because that's the Social Media portion of it. It is that there is a social aspect to it without that. It's just a one way, one way information.

SPEAKER 3: Yeah. So I, I'Ll answer it like this man, Social Media and, and, and I agree with how you assess that anyone that creates any sort of content, whether it's a response, whether it's a video podcast, an audio podcast. A real, a short that's all Social Media, that's all content and much of it and a good percentage. It is probably more good than bad.

SPEAKER 3: Let's let's, you know, start out by saying that but there's the, there's different forms, right? And it's like anything else there's, there's good and bad, in, in everything and if you use your Social Media or your content in a positive way, right? To promote the hobby, you know, paint it in as much of a positive light, as you can.

SPEAKER 3: I think that's, that's good. I, I wanna talk about something recent, you know, collectible media, which is, which is Ray Schultes offshoot, Social Media of the National does a great job. Would it raise a great guy? And a friend of mine, he posted, recently did a post and he had like five or pictures of five or six of the more well known Social Media people, in the hobby.

SPEAKER 3: And then he, he, he asked the question, right? Or the account asked the question. I don't know what, you know, I'Ll say the account because I'm not sure I'm assuming it was right. But I, I don't know that he asked the question was asked, who are your favorite Social Media or who are your favorite hobby?

SPEAKER 3: Influencers? And I'm not a big fan of the word influencers. II, I get that we have an influence and, and hopefully it's a positive influence but, you know, influencer in the hobby for me has sort of a negative, connotation.

SPEAKER 3: And so I responded that, you know, I, I'm not looking for hobby influences as, as someone who loves a hobby, I'm looking for hobby ambassadors and advocates. People who put the hobby ahead of themselves. Right. The hobby is bigger than any one person. The hobby was here before us most. Yeah. No doubt. And it's gonna be here after us. And so I didn't like that.

SPEAKER 3: I didn't like the influencer connotation and that, that response actually garnered a lot of likes. Not that, that is, that's all about that. But that, that kind of told me sort of, other people are thinking very, similar to, to my comment. So that's kind of my stance, right? Even with my own content, am I 100%? Probably not.

SPEAKER 3: But I do try to put, you know, we're here because we have a passion for trading cards, right? Whether it be sports, no sports, you know, memorabilia, whatever is your thing or a combination of all those things. And, you know, II I always have a problem with someone who tries to, that kind of makes themselves bigger than the reason we're here, for in the first place.

SPEAKER 3: And I think there's a little bit of that going on. Maybe some of the people in that post from collectible media, media, qualify for that assessment. And so that's a little bit of where I'm, I'm, I'm coming from and that's where it could be bad when it's all about me and not the, not the hobby that we all have a passion for and love.

SPEAKER 4: I just typed in there that this is why Twitter only allows 280 characters.

SPEAKER 4: Co couple of, couple of comments on here.

SPEAKER 4: M Mike Petty, said he quoted, Newman the other day, the hobby of the people. He says I'm antisocial, unfortunately, the benches influenced me and I think he's given us some sort of sideways court up there. So thank you very much Mike that, that, that if we even make you smile once on a Friday, we'll take it.

SPEAKER 4: Mookie. You are now officially part of Social Media because you commented, adult drink John is under the influence.

SPEAKER 3: Or it was, you know, the, the older I get, I, I have a few more pounds, it takes a little bit longer. So I'm not there yet. Probably good for every buddy myself, myself included and someone, you know, with the tagline of Sports Carnation being the hobbies of people. Some, some will say, well, John, how do you say, like, you know, you put in, people put themselves in front of the hobby, but that's your, your tagline.

SPEAKER 3: You know, the, the crux of that is we're all the hobby together, right? It's not about one person. If we weren't in the hobby together, there'd be no hobby, no one was collecting cards. And my issue is when someone puts themselves as bigger than larger than life or larger than the hobby.

SPEAKER 3: And that's where, that's where I draw that distinction. So, for those who are wondering the tagline and kind of my stance. Do they kinda, do they, do they mesh with each other? That's, that's to explain that. If, if I need, you know, not that anyone necessarily asked, but that's, I wanted to put that out there and kind of an answer the question before it actually was even asked.

SPEAKER 4: All right. Well, I'm gonna steal the mic for a minute here. Mookie says, don't trade your passion for glory. I have the Tiger.

SPEAKER 3: Great R I hear now. Earworm, I'm gonna hear that song probably I in the background.

SPEAKER 4: Bobby baseball. Then this is what we want to get into. Instagram has been a fun way to share my collection and look at other collections a few minutes a day, flipping scrolling through Carpo is fun. Absolutely. Could, could not disagree. You could not agree more with that.

SPEAKER 4: Sometimes the feed stinks. I can't see all the comments, not your guys' fault. Of course, just technology part of Social Media, Warren. Sorry about that. We have a couple of different feeds and sometimes that plays into it but we see them all. So if you type to us, we see it, we see them all.

SPEAKER 3: And self critical Danny. One of the things I need to get better at is post. See more card stuff. I do. I don't wanna make it sound like I don't, I need to post more. A lot of my posts are, you know, maybe, like, obviously promoting the episode coming up on Friday.

SPEAKER 3: The one coming up on Monday, I do some of my mantras which are I am me are a little preachy, but a lot of them are just reminders to think about things in a, in a certain way.

SPEAKER 3: I do a card of the day. Maybe I need to do, you know, more than one or two a week or whatever. Sometimes I don't even get to them.

SPEAKER 3: And I'm a little, I like, I'm, I'm, this sounds weird but sometimes I feel funny posting a lot of my inventory because I, I don't wanna like, be braggadocious or if I, you know, that sort of thing. But I, I do get people saying, man, show more but what you have. Right. And so it's, it's a fine line, right? What's, it's too much and what's not enough.

SPEAKER 3: And I'm, I'm trying to navigate even after being in this hobby so long, I'm still trying to navigate, you know, that fine line of showing too much stuff. And, you know, even when I talk about how I did as a dealer at a card show, I never mentioned figures because I, I don't, you know, want someone to hear something and say, oh, man, he's a, you know, that's all he cares about with because it's not true.

SPEAKER 3: And so I'm very, I'm very cognizant of the content. I try to put out there, like I said, I'm not perfect. I'm sure I've done stuff that, you know, maybe rubbed somebody the wrong way or they didn't appreciate. But I tried to, I tried to do the old, put yourself in their shoes.

SPEAKER 3: If you heard someone, if you heard yourself say that, what would, how would you feel, kind of a deal? And so I, I try to play, by that rule but, you know, there's, there's everyone comes in different shapes and sizes and different styles and, you know, to, to each their own, so to speak.

SPEAKER 4: Except for us who dress alike. And I just think we look adorable tonight.

SPEAKER 4: I say for people in the chat room, do we or do we not look adorable? I mean, like Pincher Che.

SPEAKER 3: I don't know if you adorable. No, I, I'm, I'm trying to think the last time I was called Adorable. I think the last time I was called Adorable. I didn't actually know that what the definition of adorable was.

SPEAKER 3: I was probably like two years old, in like, you know, in a, in a carriage and someone you know, said, oh, he's adorable and I didn't understand it yet. So, I'Ll take it. If someone will second that I won't argue with you, we did not coordinate the outfits contrary to what it looks like right now.

SPEAKER 4: Or Orlando, I'm a little bit hurt here. I gotta be honest. I'm a sensitive guy.

SPEAKER 4: And he's here for you, John.

SPEAKER 3: Well, I think he, I think Orlando likes to do. We would be here. There's plenty, there's plenty of stuff with just me. So he wouldn't be here.

SPEAKER 4: We look like adorable.

SPEAKER 3: Smurfs.

SPEAKER 3: Now, I have been, that's another, I, I've probably been called the Smurf. It when I was little. I was kind of shorten.

SPEAKER 4: Says that, that we, we can't be called adorable.

SPEAKER 3: I know it's been, it's been a lot. I don't, my wife probably wouldn't even call me adorable. He said we were like, I don't blame anyone and now we're not using that term.

SPEAKER 4: Mookie says that we look like we should take the keys at the valet stand. That's adorable. That's funny. All right, we look like.

SPEAKER 3: Alternate umpires like we're in the front row. If an umpire gets hurt or, or something, you know, then we come in, we're the spring treading fill-ins umpires.

SPEAKER 4: I feel strongly about some stuff on Social Media and I want to talk about it. I think Social Media is a great place for community. I think that community is what the hobby is about and Social Media is just another way of expressing community. We can't go to card shows all the time.

SPEAKER 4: But, you know, you can always go on show, talk on shows like this. You can use Twitter, you can use it Instagram. You can listen to podcast and you can come and make relationships and I just think that's hugely important, friendship, making those friendships. I mean, John, you and I became friends or, you know, at a, at a Social Media.

SPEAKER 4: And that's, you know, something where I have, I'm meeting somebody tomorrow at a card shop who I met through Social Media. And I just think that's huge learning about the hobby. I have learned more about the hobby since I've been involved in hobby, Social Media.

SPEAKER 4: That the, than I probably did in the 10 years before that, the resources that are out there, the knowledge of the people, the knowledge of the people in this chat room is unbelievable. Mu, much less what you can pick up elsewhere. So, I think that's important. Entertainment. Absolutely. Entertainment should be part of the hobby. If you're not having fun, there's no reason to do this. It's absolutely.

SPEAKER 3: I gotta say that that's a, a great, you know, it's one of the mantras. Right? If you're not what? This is an outlet, right? The hobby is an outlet. Like, my dad doesn't collect cards anymore. He has cards from, you know, when he did still, he didn't get rid of his, collection.

SPEAKER 3: Other than what he gave me or that I stole. I'm just kidding.

SPEAKER 3: But my dad's a drummer. My dad's 86 years old and still plays in three bands. I don't ask me how, but drumming is his outlet. Right. For the hobby. For a lot of people, it's their outlet. Right. Or one of them don't be your only outlet or just to be a part of it. Right. It's supposed to be fun. It's supposed to be a release from the everyday mundanes o of life.

SPEAKER 3: So, if you're, if you're happy and, and it's not fun, like, I'm not telling you to get out at one of my mind because it's like, try a different way to hobby and see if it reignites that passion. But if you've tried different things and you're not having fun in the hobby, then you really got to reassess if maybe the hobby is for you and I don't want anyone to leave, don't get me wrong.

SPEAKER 3: But if this is supposed to be fun, right? If you're not having fun, you really got to take a step back and say, hey, how can I make this fun or maybe it's just not my, my, my thing. Right. And I hope, I hope it's the first part. Not, not the latter, but, that, that's up to the individual.

SPEAKER 3: So, yeah, and, and you, you know, great points by you, right? That is inform, it's informative.

SPEAKER 3: I learned stuff I've been doing this a long time and I learned stuff every day and some of it definitely comes from Social Media. It's a great way to make the, the world which is a big place, a smaller one.

SPEAKER 3: And you know, open those lines of communication that camaraderie, you know, completely set or making deals or, or trades or, or just even, you know, the one of my favorite things to do, right. Sending a rack to somebody just, hey, I know you appreciate these. No, no strings attached, right?

SPEAKER 3: And Social Media makes that possible or a good percentage of that. So, again, like I started off the top of the show, right. There's more good Social Media stories than bad, but Social Media can have some prat falls too. And I don't know how much you want to get into that, like pet peeves if you will or things I don't like.

SPEAKER 4: Well, one of the questions I asked in the chat room is do people prefer to show their cards on Social Media or look at other cards on Social Media?

SPEAKER 4: And I think there's pl, you know, advantages and disadvantages to both.

SPEAKER 4: I like to share something if it's a significant story to me, it's not about the dollar value of the card. But if it's something, you know, I showed you earlier, I'm collecting multi sport athletes right now. I picked up two cheap cards and I like to show these, you know, I, I hope that this is a PC that, you know, people find fun, you know, and, and it's something that people like.

SPEAKER 4: Well, I look at other people's cards. Yeah, if it's on, if it's on my, feed. But I don't know that I, that I go out of my way as much to look at other people's cards. How about you?

SPEAKER 3: I love, listen, I love cards, man. They started when I was seven years old, pulling a Reggie Jackson. If the story is at Nauseam. Right. And that's what started me on this journey right. Here we are. That was 1979. Here we are. It's 2024. And I'm still, I'm still here on, on, you know, alive and still in the hobby. And, you know, like Doctor Jim says, like, Doctor James Beckett says, the greatest hobby in the world.

SPEAKER 3: And sure, that's a, a biased statement. But for those of us in the hobby, I think we'd all probably give a thumbs up and, and agree to that. And so that's, you know, I grew, you know, we both grew up dating. Here's an interesting question for, for even people in the chat room. We both and I, and I got a feeling a lot of people in chat room too. Right. We both grew up in an era before Social Media existed.

SPEAKER 3: I was before Facebook and X or Twitter or whatever it's called, this week.

SPEAKER 4: And I, I believe, I believe if you divorce it, it becomes your ex Twitter, Twitter, ex Twitter.

SPEAKER 3: Right. Ex Twitter.

SPEAKER 3: So I was, I was around before cell phones and Social Media and I, I'm glad I was, I'm glad I've lived through both of those eras if you will. Right. The, the before Social Media and now, because I kind of appreciate, or at least I think I do what Social Media really is, is about, but to a younger group, right.

SPEAKER 3: They only know Social Media. They, they don't know a time before s Social Media. You know, I remember growing up and, you know, we knew where our friends were. All the bikes were in somebody's front lawn. That's where we knew all of our buddies were.

SPEAKER 3: Right. We didn't have a cellphone, the type, you know, wy, a where you at, right. We just look for bikes and like that's where everyone is. I, I'm peddling over there and knocking on the door. So I'm glad I grew up. Well, I wish I was probably 20 years younger.

SPEAKER 3: I'm glad I grew up in that era before what we know now. But at the same time, I'm appreciative of what we have now because it's made the hobby community, a tighter one, larger and smaller at the same time, right? We can have relationships with someone on a different continent, forget a different state.

SPEAKER 3: We on a different continent. And, you know, even with, even with the podcast to see some of the numbers and people who listen to it in Britain and Australia and New Guinea. Like some of the countries on, on my demographics report. It, it makes me feel good. Not so much that they're listening to my show in those countries which is, don't get me wrong.

SPEAKER 3: I'm appreciative of that. But the fact that the hobby is in those countries too, and, and that makes that warms my heart makes me feel good. And this, you know, you know, talk about hobby influences. Right? When you see Clickbait, the hobby is dead or dying.

SPEAKER 3: It's so far from the truth, it's different. It's kind of settled down and, and calm down. But the hobby's been around for over 100 years and it's gonna be around when we're all gone as well. That's, that's, that's a positive, thing.

SPEAKER 4: I, I, the chat room is fantastic right now, Orlando made a comment and I think this kind of sums up a lot of what you and I are saying, collecting alone was not as fun.

SPEAKER 4: A, a AAA as, and, and that's just really, I think what it boils down to is, you know, you, you get something you wanna share, you wanna see your friends call, you wanna, you know, one of the biggest things, you know, we haven't even talked about is by selling and trading online. You know, I, in Facebook groups with your friends, you know, you and I have, you know, sent cards and done deals.

SPEAKER 4: And, and that's all, you know, a part of Social Media and there's people who make their living selling on Social Media and, and I wanna acknowledge that that's a huge part for a lot of people.

SPEAKER 4: Ruben asked the question earlier, can you be a dealer in today's world without a Social Media presence?

SPEAKER 4: And I'm just gonna say it makes it a little bit harder. But you're smirking.

SPEAKER 3: So I'm reading but I'm smirking because Mookie never fails to disappoint with the comment. I'm reading the comment. These umpires are not enforcing the p Yeah.

SPEAKER 4: Wait Murkey be be honest on, on, on, on who who?

SPEAKER 3: That's a lot to make me laugh out loud like that. That one was funny.

SPEAKER 4: Now, be honest on who the violator is.

SPEAKER 4: We say so me too move but I draw the line at cousin Tony.

SPEAKER 4: Cousins are awesome guys. Completely agree. Yeah, completely agree. Good eggs. They are.

SPEAKER 3: Yeah, that's the beauty, right? That's the beauty of Social Media, right? It, it it there's more content is, is good than, than bad. Again, I know it's probably the third time I said that. But but at the same time it's not, it's not all good either, right? You got people who will tell you what to buy or you know, the the some people hate the I word, right?

SPEAKER 3: Invest in or investment and you know, I'm a firm believer that cards can be investment. If that's the alley you choose to go down. That's not, you know, I started at seven years old and I got a, at the time, probably two dollar Reggie Jackson and I thought I was on top of the world. Right. It's never been about investment to me.

SPEAKER 3: It's been about enjoyment now, dude, you know, I'm not gonna sit here and tell you that I'm, I'm disappointed when a card I might have in my PC goes up in value. I, I don't think anyone would, would be, sad about that, but it's not why I'm in the hobby. But even as a dealer I just enjoy where does a lot of the money I make at a show go and buying more cards that I'm not gonna sell.

SPEAKER 3: So, you know, so you may not do it for investment but to say that it's not an investment and that's a whole another show. We could go down a AAA rabbit hole there. But, you know, there's good and bad. I, I, you know, I, I, even when I give my opinion, I, I always try to use, like, I think not, I know. Right. I can't care.

SPEAKER 3: I went on Sports Car Nation before the pandemic hit, hit the, the States and said, hey, when it hits here and it's coming, unfortunately, cards are gonna be on the back burner and they're gonna take a back seat and I was wrong. Right. I was wrong. Cards took, we had the COV COVID crescendo and cards made major moves and then that's good.

SPEAKER 3: But, you know, so I was, you know, I, I just, when you think, you know everything right, you don't, like I said, I learn something every day. The minute I stop learning in the hobby, that means I've either given up or stopped paying attention. And if I do that it's probably, I'm probably done anyway. So I was watching the pitch count there. Mookie. It was close. I went right up against it.

SPEAKER 4: Orlando says I just don't like the channels that repeat each other's news.

SPEAKER 3: Well, it's tough. That's tough. That's a good point. And, but the news cycle has kind of quieted down. I think we can all agree. Right. We're not getting all that breaking news during, you know, the heyday. So, it's hard. I mean, and hobby's been around so long. It's, it's hard to come up with a new topic.

SPEAKER 3: I'm sure we're not the first ones to talk about Social Media and the hobby. Right. Someone else has covered this. But, you know, we just felt it was kind of pertinent, with, you know, that post, for me, it really hit a nerve with, with the post that I, I mentioned with collectible media and, and who's your favorite hobby? Influencer?

SPEAKER 3: And I don't, I really you know, I, I know a couple of people, people on that post men Sports Carnation Podcast as their favorite. And I appreciate, I appreciate that fact from the bottom of my heart, but I don't really want to be a hobby influencer. I just want to be an ambassador and an advocate. I rather someone say jos is a good hobby guy or just a good guy.

SPEAKER 3: Just I learned or I learned or I learned something or he made me think about something in a different sort of, of way. I don't wanna be, I don't, I don't know, maybe it's, maybe I'm, I'm nitpicking. I don't like inf influence in influencer.

SPEAKER 3: Sounds like, like a political term, like a lobbyist that goes to Washington and tries to get their agenda passed or legis, you know, I don't wanna be like, I wanna be a positive influence but I don't wanna be necessarily an influencer and I don't know some people that might make sense too, but that's just my take on it.

SPEAKER 3: I ju, I just, you know, I, if, when I'm not here anymore, I hope people say, like, John was a, a great advocate and ambassador for the hobby. He, he highlighted some of the, the better things of the hobby and made me enjoy the hobby slightly more than I already was. I, I hope, I hope that's what people take away and, and, you know, I don't wanna be voted a a hobby influencer.

SPEAKER 3: I just wanna be, I'm one guy out of millions of people who are all doing the same thing. Right. I put my pants on one leg at a time. Sometimes I try to put it on twice or both legs at the same time and I do a face plant and then when you get in your fifties and you're doing face plant, it's harder to get up.

SPEAKER 3: So, you know, I know that sounds a little hokey. But II, I just wanna be, you know, I just wanna promote the hobby and, and hopefully everyone's enjoying it in, in a similar way than I am. And if I can, if I can aid in that, that's, that's the best compliment that I can ever be paid.

SPEAKER 4: Well. Very nice sentiment and it's hard to transition out of that. But I'm, I'm gonna go to Orlando who said that you guys spoke for 2.5 hours with no pitch clock, Orlando. What was the time of possessions? Iii I wanna know time of possession.

SPEAKER 3: I know and listen, I land and I love it. This is the part Orlando. I think the 1st 17 minutes were just Orlando and I'm, and I'm very thankful for that and I think it made for better, better, speaking of content, it made for, better, better content.

SPEAKER 3: So, and Orlando is another guy, longtime hobbyist, knows his stuff, loves the hobby. It comes out his pores and that stuff's contagious. Right. You can tell. At least I can. I'Ll, I'Ll brag this much. I'm pretty good at telling when somebody really loves the hobby or someone's putting on a little bit of a dog and pony or, or, or show.

SPEAKER 3: Right. I, I think I've been in it long enough to kind of smell the smell test. Right. I smell the difference. And so Orlando is one of those guys, like you watch his stuff, you know, that it's, it's real, it's genuine. He loves a hobby, sharing that, that love and passion with the rest of us. I tried to do the same thing.

SPEAKER 3: You know, if I do 75% of the job Orlando does, I'm, I'm, I'm content, with that because he does such a great job and, you know, there's a lot of great people, right?

SPEAKER 3: That, love the hobby and share their love and passion and the more there is, right, the better the hobby the hobby is, you know, the, the, where you get in trouble is again, the people that put themselves sort of in front of the cards and that's, you know, that's one of my pet peeves, right?

SPEAKER 3: Or, you know, someone to post pictures and I'm, I'm not gonna sit here and say I haven't post pictures, you know, when we go to the National, right? We pose with our friends and then we we post the pictures on Social Media.

SPEAKER 3: I'm talking about people just that, that just tag people incessantly or post pictures with someone they met for like, 10 seconds because of how it makes them look and, and that sort of thing and, you know, that sort of stuff, sort of, I would say.

SPEAKER 3: Yeah, it does, it does bother me like, it becomes more about, look at me rather than, hey, look at the, the hobby. Right? And, when it's more about, look at, then look at the hobby. That's, that's kind of the exit. I'Ll get off about, you know, I, I don't, I, that's not the content that I appreciate.

SPEAKER 3: And, you know, but to each their own, some people would argue probably against me and say, hey, I like that kind of stuff. You know, it's, it's why award shows are so popular, right? The red carpet.

SPEAKER 4: That's why they also play music and pull people off stage.

SPEAKER 4: Just, vintage oddball cards says, just don't tell people how to collect or what to collect. And I would say you and I agree on a couple of things not to do. That would be one of them.

SPEAKER 4: Just show respect even if you don't agree with people.

SPEAKER 4: You know, and don't, you don't have.

SPEAKER 3: To, there's another big thing with me, Danny and you, you, you listen to everything I've, I've done, which is a lot of stuff now you, so you'll hear me say on, on podcasts or even as a guest on someone else's podcast or show, you'll hear me say, I don't know. It's ok to say, I don't know, we don't know everything. Right.

SPEAKER 3: It always gets me my favorite line and I, I'm sorry, I'm gonna say it right. My favorite line from a content creator is when they say the three years I've been in the hobby. I got this all figured out. Like, are you kidding me? I've been doing this 40 years. I don't, I don't have it. Probably 70% figured out. Right. It's ok.

SPEAKER 4: I've been 20 years. I got none of it figured out.

SPEAKER 3: So it's ok not to know everything. And it's very refreshing to me. I'Ll speak for myself here. I don't know how anyone else else be.

SPEAKER 3: It's very refreshing to hear someone say, I don't know. I'm not sure. What do you mean to say? I think it's this, but I'm not 100% positive. Right. But you got a lot of people who just can't, whatever that, that inner voice, they just can't do that. Right.

SPEAKER 3: And so they'll make something up or fake their way through a conversation and then be kind of factually incorrect later on. Right. And sometimes it's anonymous mistake. I'm sure I've said something, you know, where maybe I was off by a number or something like that. But I also will say I don't know if someone asked me something, I'Ll say, hey, I'm not, I'm not sure.

SPEAKER 3: Or that's not my cup of tea to, to give you a definitive answer. And II, I think people, I've, I've had people tell me, you know, when you said that, I heard you say that it's refreshing because I heard five other guys chime in on that and be wrong when they didn't know what the hell they were talking about.

SPEAKER 3: So, when hearing you say that's just, that's just me. I, I don't know, maybe I, I'm the odd bird there but I, I don't have a problem saying, I don't know. And I appreciate what other people say. Hey, I don't know. I know this but I don't know that. Right. And, it's ok.

SPEAKER 4: Well, I do know that Bobby, baseball's been making some great comments tonight says Social Media can magnify positivity or negativity. I said, let's keep magnifying positivity via her hobby and love the cards. I, I could not agree more with you there.

SPEAKER 4: I think that, you know, one of the things in Hammer 44 Good Friday evening all, I think one of the things that, you know, we talk about is being positive and that, that is appreciating each other the, the respect, chat room for, you know, each other's channels and each other's feeds.

SPEAKER 4: And, and it's a mutual respect club and that, that's friendship and that's getting along and when people ask me, you know, when you, why do you do you know Social Media and why do you go on shows and, and just talk about these topics? It's because I do want to talk about them in a positive light.

SPEAKER 4: This is what I can do. Can I go around to everybody and, and, and convince them, you know, one by one? No, I can't. But what I can do is do these shows and try to get the positivity out there. I try to be a positive person on the shows. I think I generally am.

SPEAKER 4: And that's important to me and then that's how I like to enjoy my Social Media. I mute people. Absolutely have no problem muting people in my feed. I, you know, that have negativity and stuff like that. And you know, I, I just think you control, you know what you wanna hear and, and if you want it to be positive and if you wanna enjoy it then then it can be done.

SPEAKER 3: Yes. Speaking of negativity, like there is a place for that. Like I will talk about bad stuff that's going on, right? But you gotta be balanced, right? You can't, there are accounts we know who they are that they're only gonna talk about the bad stuff constantly.

SPEAKER 3: That's it. If there was no bad stuff going on, they'd have no content they would be producing. I don't like those accounts, you know, whatever you wanna call them watchdogs or, or whatnot. I like people who talk about both sides of the coin. Right.

SPEAKER 3: And frankly, you know, there's more, just like in contact creation, there's more good than bad. There's more good stories in the hobby than bad ones. And that's why the hobby is so great. I will talk about some of the bad stuff sometimes just to, to give context, to the hobby. But I'm not doing in every episode I do is not always going to be about the dark side or the bad side or the bad people that are active in the hobby.

SPEAKER 3: I just not going to do that exclusively because it, it'll wear on you. Right. If all you do is talk about negative stuff and that's it, then it's gonna put you in a bad mood and that's not what the hobby to do. But at the same time, you know, if maybe reporting or talking about something that's going on that's not good. Maybe it helps someone avoid that platform.

SPEAKER 3: That's, that's kind of why I'Ll, I'Ll do it right. And, and when I do it so I just don't, Social Media accounts that all they do is report bad stuff constantly and, and 100% I'm, I'm usually don't follow them because I just, number one, they're usually not breaking much news to me. I, I found out through another account that's more fair and balanced. And, and I rather follow hobby, hobby news. Daily.com.

SPEAKER 3: There you go. Nice plug, checks in the mail.

SPEAKER 3: But, you know, so, but to each again it's their channels, they can do what they want. I, I can't tell someone but, but we have a choice to follow, listen or, or like whatever we like. And so that's just kind of my take, on it. You know what I mean? And, again the hobby, this is supposed to be fun, man. We, you know, we, we got the National now, four or five months away.

SPEAKER 3: I called the Super Bowl a hobby. You know, we talk about that camaraderie. Right. We, for, for a lot of us, it's the week we, we get to see everyone in person, and, and do stuff after the show besides during the show, whether it be a dinner or a ball game. Right? And make memories and stories.

SPEAKER 3: And, that's, that's, that's kind of the hobby that I like to, to cover rather than someone robbing somebody or ripping someone off or, you know, we have to talk about it but that it's not all I'm gonna be talking. Otherwise it, I'd be in a, in a grumpy mood a lot more than I already am. I'm married 25 years. I don't need any additional, you know, help in that department.

SPEAKER 3: I do wanna comment real quick, Tony. You know, the Kenny Pickett Trade, a lot of people know I'm a Steeler fan. A lot of people also know I'm not a Kenny Pickett fan. I am feeling very good about not having him on the roster and so he's the Eagles problem at the moment. Although I will say this, Tony did comment John, what's that?

SPEAKER 4: Tony said after seeing Kenny P had tried it today, I took to Social Media event, my apologies to the guys pumping unproven players.

SPEAKER 3: Listen, I've been in about Kenny Pickett for two years. I didn't like to pick that much when they made it.

SPEAKER 3: It's kind of reared its ugly head, you know, he was 1/4 round grade. They picked him at number 20.

SPEAKER 3: He's proven to be if you believe the reports, which I tend to believe because they're coming from multiple sources, not a great teammate, kind of a so in a powder something tells me the Eagles are gonna trade him. They got him to use as a another trade chip.

SPEAKER 3: So I don't know how long he'll be in Philadelphia, but I will say this, I'm not rooting against Kenny Pickett the individual, but I'm just glad that we've sort of moved on from the player.

SPEAKER 3: That's all I'Ll leave it at that not to make it a football show, but I'm in a better mood today when you broke the news to me, by the way, I think it, I think it does stink. I mean, listen, I'm, I'm, I'm gonna keep it real guy. Right. Pick it, pick, it does stink, but I'm glad he doesn't stink for the Steelers.

SPEAKER 4: Well, I will say I'm not sure Russell Wilson's gonna have that much better of a year.

SPEAKER 3: But listen, I, I, I'm not here to tell you that. Russell Wilson the next quarterback for the five years for the Steelers, but he's gonna, we're gonna have to, he's gonna have to make do this year and I think he's got a little bit if you're asking me, do I want a 35 year old Russell Wilson or a 26 year old Kenny Pickett. I'm taking Russell Wilson for a year. I'Ll take Russell.

SPEAKER 4: Wilson on Social Media. Russell Wilson strikes me as somebody who use hearts and Kenny Pickett does not.

SPEAKER 3: Yeah, I like Russell Wilson, the player better than Kenny.

SPEAKER 4: Mike Petty.

SPEAKER 4: I know this is a big part of his collection.

SPEAKER 4: Is PS A 10, 1 of one Kumi.

SPEAKER 4: So he, he's looking that they all stink otherwise.

SPEAKER 4: That's hilarious.

SPEAKER 4: We're, we're, we're winding down on the last day.

SPEAKER 3: That was, that was probably the only football moment. I just, you know, it's a nice day for me because the horror known as Kenny Pickett is moving on and that's thank you.

SPEAKER 4: Thank you, Dylan. I'm, I'm moving on also as.

SPEAKER 3: As far as Gump would say that's all I got to say about that.

SPEAKER 4: But I do, I did ask in the chat on, on, we never really talked about what Social Media platforms do people really use? What do you use for the hobby? I use Instagram, Twitter, YouTube. And I'Ll admit I do not use Facebook as much as I should.

SPEAKER 3: Yeah, I, I try to use a little of everything. I dabbled with TikTok early on. It wasn't my thing. So, I'm, I have a Tik Tok account. I probably last posted there 56 months ago. It's, it's in the process of potentially getting banned in the United States. So I'm probably not gonna start up. Now, again, I try to limit my Social Media time.

SPEAKER 3: I, I've talked about this on my other shows, Danny. I really, and I, I was bad at one point. Right. We all go to that rabbit hole in three or four hours later. Right. We're like, holy crap. It's three or four hours later and you can't get that time back. So I kinda like, I compare it to a burning building.

SPEAKER 3: I try to get in and get out and, and as fast as I can and take in as much as I can in, in that, in that process, I use them all. Twitter is prop for me to answer that question. Twitter is sort of my home base and then, or X or whatever it is again, that's my home base and I'd say Instagram is my home away from home or second home. Yes.

SPEAKER 4: And Dylan, who is the whatnot king is the Hawaiian king?

SPEAKER 4: Orlando says YouTube and Net 54 only. And actually Mike Petty made a comment that the deals on Net 54 have not been there lately. So I'm curious if anybody else has seen that also.

SPEAKER 4: You know, just, just interesting because.

SPEAKER 3: You can use Ruben and Ruben's quote in DMX. You like that X gonna give it to you. That's it. That's my DMX. I can only do.

SPEAKER 3: I'm so listen, if you ever heard that in your car and you didn't sing one or two lines from that, you know, we all done it. We've all guilty as charged.

SPEAKER 4: James says sales on Ebay have taken a dive.

SPEAKER 3: You have settled down which, you know, it's a great opportunity to buy some cards, right? Like Ebay, Social Media. It's become like Ebay because they, they, they have a, so they have a car, a sports car division now. It's not new. It's a couple years old. I, you know, I I they're, they're buying entities, right?

SPEAKER 3: They partnered with Com C Yeah, I think they're part of Social Media. They post, right? They Ebay has Social Media accounts where they post card content and, and they set up at the National, they have a corporate booth at the National. So they have a Social Media presence for Sure.

SPEAKER 4: Bobby says that they need a Social Media strategy. Yeah, they might be out there. Maybe not with a good plan.

SPEAKER 3: They have a department though. They had, I had a friend, I won't mention his name that worked and he doesn't anymore. He moved on, but they have a sports card and slash content department. Now, what we could argue whether they're doing a good job with it, but that department actually exists.

SPEAKER 4: I gotta be honest. I, I don't, I, I don't, maybe I'm missing something. I don't remember seeing them doing a ton of marketing for their sports car division other than people using affiliate ads for them, which I.

SPEAKER 3: Know is they post, they do post if you look there, they post, I mean, you might not be following them. Maybe that's why, but they do post the card content.

SPEAKER 4: So Dylan says Ebay is not Social Media.

SPEAKER 4: Mookie says, I don't think Ebay's Social Media is pure marketplace.

SPEAKER 3: Fair point. Yeah, but they've had, they've had breakers, come on and done like live breaking and shows. That is a live break content. There's a live break content. I guess that's the, you know, the, the half million dollar question here.

SPEAKER 4: And we got some new faces.

SPEAKER 3: So I think a lot of people in, in chat today and, and live and so I was gonna say I'Ll keep it short and sweet. We don't, we're not here without you folks, even though me and Danny would talk to each other with no one listening. It's more fun, with everyone else, as well. All right, we talked about that. That's part of what makes the hobby, so great. So, shout out to everyone watching, and in the chat room, as well.

SPEAKER 4: Everyone has UB At Pino. Ok.

SPEAKER 4: What not? Are we calling that Social Media? Because there's a chat element there? I know.

SPEAKER 3: I mean, any time you can communicate with someone, right? Isn't that Dylan?

SPEAKER 4: What do you think? I'm curious as a seller. But yeah, I think it's Social Media. Hello? One of one from Australia.

SPEAKER 3: That he's been on the show. He does some great custom cards, by the way. Shout out to the, to him, Ruben.

SPEAKER 4: I gotta see if that Friday is a Mensch Friday.

SPEAKER 4: But I'Ll probably, if, if, if it is, I'Ll be, I'Ll be recording. Maybe we can have some people join me. There you go. Yeah.

SPEAKER 4: And if I don't make it to Strong Villages because I'm trying to stay married the full 20 years.

SPEAKER 4: What Dylan says for what not. Yes, it's a big chat thing like YouTube love.

SPEAKER 3: He said that's my thing. That's my thing that you can chat. I don't do a ton of whatnot, full disclosure, but you can communicate with whoever is running the room like that's to me that's content.

SPEAKER 4: Father, son vintage cars is what not. Has a great VT community. I know they've worked hard to build their vintage up. They work.

SPEAKER 3: I will say that this is, it's growing. One thing that bothers me about whatnot is people who label their room vintage. And then you go in there and then it's really not. It's sort of like Clickbait that I wanna do.

SPEAKER 4: A vintage room that had an NBA prison break going on.

SPEAKER 3: That's what I mean, I've had the same, similar circumstances, right? It's advertised, it's vintage and you know, they're pulling wem bes out like he's vintage already. I mean, if, if he's, if he's.

SPEAKER 4: Vintage, then the, then, then I'm like, you know, the, the, the creation of man.

SPEAKER 3: Yeah, I'm Adam. If that's vintage, I'm Adam.

SPEAKER 4: Yeah, I'm not, I'm not gonna finish that sentence.

SPEAKER 4: Mike Petty says that Dylan has the best one that channel. In his opinion, he's a great auctioneer and graces cards. Better than the big three. Nothing is centered though.

SPEAKER 4: Dylan.

SPEAKER 3: You feel the love?

SPEAKER 3: This is John Line. I'm gonna throw that.

SPEAKER 4: Well, this is Social Media. I got, I got to hear what Dylan it says, you know, in reply.

SPEAKER 3: They're finally on now.

SPEAKER 4: Oh, that's hysterical. Dylan. Dylan's getting a bad rep for his cards cut short. Did did he say short or did I say that's my bad.

SPEAKER 3: Let's bring in Evan Mathis and get his take.

SPEAKER 4: This is such AAA petty comment.

SPEAKER 3: I, I, I'm biased and I know I say this probably two out of every three episodes. This is the best cat room.

SPEAKER 3: Like I said, I'm biased but I firmly believe that's not touch.

SPEAKER 4: The, the hobby.

SPEAKER 3: So I don't laugh out loud at a lot of stuff. But this cat room gets me, like laughing out loud. Even when I'm trying not to, I'Ll just read something and it just hit me and I, I just laugh. That's great.

SPEAKER 4: Dylan says I saw all off South Cars on my channel.

SPEAKER 3: Hey, you gotta move them out the back door somehow.

SPEAKER 4: Is it better to have a wide or short card? I don't know. I guess, I guess that comes down to which, which, who you're talking about, you know, centered cards are overrated. There you go, Dylan, there you got a tag line for, for whatnot, who needs.

SPEAKER 3: Who needs that appeal.

SPEAKER 4: And Warren, Warren going out to get diapers.

SPEAKER 4: Always good to see.

SPEAKER 3: When we can get. Depends this back to the show, this segment of the show brought to you by.

SPEAKER 4: Depends. Well, I asked them if they would sponsor and they said depends.

SPEAKER 4: Yeah.

SPEAKER 4: Dylan says I did four straight hours of selling on Wednesday. Felt like one hour. Well, it's like dog years. I think when you, when you're dealing with cards, you know, we have too much fun. All right, I'm, I'm gonna get us going on the home stretch here. Finish your thoughts on Social Media.

SPEAKER 4: Because one of the things we talk about and I just want, you know, not, not to go negative at all, but there are some people who use Social Media to try to take advantage and, and, and maybe put themselves ahead of others in certain ways. And I just don't like to see people do that and, and, and try to climb up the Social Media ladder as they say, or.

SPEAKER 3: Climb for me, for me, Danny. And, and, and everyone else watching listening, I just don't like when somebody, it's more about them than, than the hobby. Right.

SPEAKER 3: You know, I, yes, I promo Sports Carnation, right? Which is a guest show. My promos are, are highlighting someone else. Hey, join me Friday when my guest is so, and so. Right. And we're gonna talk about the hobby that we all love, including us both.

SPEAKER 3: Right. It's when someone kind of props themselves up ahead of the cards, that's my content that I sort of shy away from or avoid. Be careful. Right. There's, there's more good than bad.

SPEAKER 3: And, you know, that's a good thing and there's a lot of people producing great content, a lot of great people, many in this room right now, that I enjoy, as well and so seek those out.

SPEAKER 3: You know, gravitate to people who make you love the be, even if it's a little bit more, you know what I mean? That's, that's the thing.

SPEAKER 3: You know, again, collect what you, I know it's cliche. Right. Collect what you love, collect what you like. But it's cliche because it's true. Right. You are the ultimate CEO of your hobby. You can collect, whatever you want to whenever you want to, you can change, and pivot and, you know, that's, that's the, that's the beauty of the hobby is you can.

SPEAKER 3: In the last few years, I've started to collect more non sports than I've ever have previously. I've added more boxing, to my PC than ever previously. That's tickets. I've added tickets, as part of, some of my PC and that's the beauty of the hobby and, and I got some, you know, those are not areas of my expertise. I had to lean on other content creators. That, that was more their, their lane. Right.

SPEAKER 3: And that's the beauty of content creators. There's people that we'll know a little bit more about something than you are that can be very helpful. And I think, I, I'Ll say this, you know, it's hard to put a percentage. I think 80% of content creators and creation are, comes from people who love the hobby and will help you out. There's another 20% maybe a little bit lower.

SPEAKER 3: Not so much. Right. And it's all about maybe pulling a fast one or making a quick buck, and, and exiting stage left and I, you know, I'm not gonna say, and tell you who's, who you gotta kind of navigate that terrain and, and, and you'll, you'll figure it out.

SPEAKER 3: Usually someone rears kind of their, their ugly head and, and you can kind of tell but, you know, seek out that positive, good stuff that, that makes your hobby more enjoyable and there's plenty of it, there's plenty of it.

SPEAKER 3: There's no shortage and there's more people doing it every day and a, a lot of the new stuff is great, as well.

SPEAKER 4: I, I think that, you and I agree on a lot of the sentiments on how to, how to handle it and the positives of the hobby and, you know, where, where we fall on that.

SPEAKER 4: I mean, we're, we're, we're talking about, you know, people on cardboard and, you know, how bluster we, I mean, the talk, talk about the stuff that we, that we get upset about is so minute in the grand scheme of the world that we're just so lucky to, to, to, to hang out and play with cards and, you know, II, I really hope that everybody in this room pulls out some cards tonight.

SPEAKER 4: I hope you got through your cards tonight. If you got, I hope you.

SPEAKER 3: Don't have to pull them out. Danny. I'm gonna stab you right now. I hope they don't, they're around you, like they're around you. You don't have to pull them out. They should be, they should be around you if you're in your, your card room or, or where you do have your cards. Right.

SPEAKER 3: Yeah, it's a Social Media isn't a enhancer. Right. It, it should enhance your enjoyment. It should enhance your hobby. And, that's what it, that's what it should be about. And the same thing, you can always change your mind on Social Media, right?

SPEAKER 3: Maybe, you know, someone listens to the show and says, I don't like these two knuckleheads and that's the end of the list. And, you know, maybe someone listens and says, hey, I like these two knuckleheads, right?

SPEAKER 3: That's, you have the power of the use and, and so use it, wisely and, have fun right at the end of the day, one of the things when we came up with this show, right, Danny is, we said, listen, we're gonna have fun with it.

SPEAKER 3: One of the fir we didn't have a whole set of rules other than we're gonna have fun with it. And I think, I think I, I could speak for you and say, I think we're doing that, you know, hopefully some others are caught in the fun web, as well.

SPEAKER 4: I, couldn't agree more buddy, when we started this and we, what do we say? Went to our third calendar year.

SPEAKER 3: It doesn't feel like it. I'm not gonna lie. Like when you said that I didn't even realize it until you, you said it. I'm like, I had to think about it. I'm like, holy crap. He's right. We started, where is the time though, man?

SPEAKER 4: Yeah, it started at the end of 2022 when I was skinny, young and good looking. Yeah.

SPEAKER 3: So I, I wasn't even 50 yet.

SPEAKER 4: Well, that's the way it works, John.

SPEAKER 4: All right to everybody in the chat room. Well, I'm I'm I'm gonna say thank you a million times over. You, you guys have no idea what this does to us. This is our oxygen and I say that every week and, and it really does keep us going, you know, we we have jobs and long weeks and, and, and stuff, you know, and lives just like all of you and this is so much fun for me and I know that John the same way.

SPEAKER 3: I'm laughing at wire and good night. No, go ahead.

SPEAKER 3: You know, and, and, and I I'Ll keep it short and sweet, right. I've already said it.

SPEAKER 3: Greatest chat room. I have as much fun reading the comments if you're having half as much fun listening to us to knuckleheads as some of the comments and, and you know, even to those that don't comment if you listening, whether you're listening live or, or downloading the audio on a Monday or, or after that, we appreciate that. Right.

SPEAKER 3: You know, there's other things you could be doing, there's other things you could be listening to. You're spending Friday night or, or every other Friday night, with us and, that doesn't get lost, on me and I know it doesn't get lost on Dan. So, you know, from the bottom of my heart, we appreciate you. You make this, you make, this is already fun. You just make it even that much more fun.

SPEAKER 4: And I think we're gonna end on this. Mookie says fun. As always you earned your paychecks.

SPEAKER 3: So, I'm doubling your salary.

SPEAKER 4: Exactly. All right, on that note. Say good night John.

SPEAKER 3: Good night Jed.