Card Mensches E53 "Hobby Starts with Family" with Robert and Ezra Levine

Transcript

hey everyone John Newman here thank you for downloading this episode of card Menches myself and Danny black of hobby

News Daily would like to remind you this is a live show every other Friday at 900

p.m Eastern it can be found on most of our social medias uh Danny's at

sportsball and hobby News Daily I am Sports guard Nation Podcast and it can

be found on our YouTube channels uh at Hobby News Daily sport card Nation

Podcast at sportsball and at card menes 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

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hi I'm Danny BL and I'm John Newman welcome to card manes what is up good

evening I'm John Newman still and I believe that's still Danny black to the left of me on screen good evening I'm

one of the directions all right East you're West you're West in real life

you're east of me on screen you're west of me so figure that one out but uh it

has something to do with the tital waves in the earthquake in California I'm not sure and the

magnetic resonance or something yeah I knew you I knew you would get it all

right hey to today we're gonna you know on this episode we're going to do something that you know we've had guests

on this program this is episode 53 if you're scoring uh at home uh and uh

we've had guests on this show we've had pinch hitting Menches but today we're going to do something uh for the first

time we're going to have guest matches but you know full disclosure we're going to have two of them and um just for

obvious reasons that we can we can talk about um we had to re like pre-record uh

that conversation but it's still still a fun conversation still interesting uh

just the same it's going to be uh 30 minute about 30 minutes long so we're going to talk here at the front Danny

you and I about kind of you know we all have a a hobby origin story like how did

this all start why are why why are we here it's got to start somewhere regardless of where we are now or what

our collections look like now um there was always that first card that first person that you know got us into the

Hobby and um I I'll I'll tell mine as quick as I can I I I'll give you the

clip notes for it's a story I've told on other sh go ahead go ahead well I was going to say you know

I think it's this time of year this season you know a lot of people are spending with family a lot of times

family is an influence and so we just really I think wanted to share stories

of family and and people who got us into cards um and and so you know after the

interview I know if you got if you have a story about somebody cool who got you into cards yeah you want to save it you

want to save it for you want to tease it and save it for post interview well you

can do yours no no I think we should do ours first okay well for me and I again

I've told this story so I apologize if you heard it I'm not gonna I'm not going to make it any longer than it has to be

I mean my first introduction to trading cards was when the Jaws movie came out

Tops made those jaws cards and I honestly I can't remember it was a friend of mine I just remember a friend

of mine giving them to me I didn't open any packs um the you know cards were

kind of handed to me they became in my possession and that was the first time I

realized like they make these two and a half by three and a half cards um you

know it was the first movie uh you know that I saw in the theaters as crazy as

that might sound at like what five six years old uh and uh well didn't take a

bath for like four years uh because of that movie and they wouldn't want to go anywhere near

then I got the cards and then it was that like I said that 1979 I'm seven

years old my grandfather went to the corner store Brooklyn New York we were walking to the counter whatever whatever

he was purchasing and I saw that box in 1979 Topps baseball and remembering the

draws cards I knew that these were baseball cards now I was a baseball fan and the Yankee kid at that point but I

didn't know about baseball cards yet uh and that I put two and two together that

these were baseball cards in that box and I asked my grandfather hey are are

those baseball cards and he said yes would you like a couple packs Johnny of course you know no seven-year-old kid's

gonna say no to that and I got I don't know two or three packs I opened the one

pack Danny before we even got out of the store and like the fourth or fifth card in was that n uh was that Reggie Jackson

um and at that time he was the coast of of New York City and in Mr October and

the rest is history I just started acquiring as many of these things as I could and my grandfather didn't collect

but he definitely you know bought me cards and packs and and and things like that he wound up passing away uh five

years later in 1984 I'm now 12 years old and I was raised by my grandparents but

I you know I did see my mom and dad I really saw my dad quite a bit for not

living with him and so when my grandfather passed away uh you know in

1984 uh you know I started I was already collecting and I got my dad actually

back in collecting he collected as a kid who grew up and lived in ebbit field and

he said man I I want to do this again and so we started collecting uh together I remember the 86 top set was like a big

thing for for both of us uh like I said I had already been collected but that's

the first really set I remember remember like we both kind of you know did sort

of together and uh you know I started my first show at 15 I he had to get me

there because uh uh I wasn't driving at at age 15 and so that's really you know

how it all kind of started and uh you know here we are you know you know all

these years later and uh so I spent a lot more money than those

quarter uh 1979 uh packs well now you buy the 1979

packs but they're in a PSA slab and because I know I know you like the uh

unopened packs so I think you're still buying 79s my audio cut out so I I

missed some of that i' love to buy some 79 packs at a quarter still but those

days are those days that's what I'm saying I I know you like to buy them unopened you can still buy your 79s just

now get them PSA slept yeah I you know I've had I've have been close to purchasing that pack I do have it's not

the actual Reggie that I pulled in the corner store but I do have that Reggie on the wall over there that that card

it's a PSA 8 my actual card would probably grade a PSA 2 because I the

actual one which I have no clue if it even exists no more or it's in the landfill um but I got that card in the

PSA 8 over there as to look at it and remind me kind of that's what started

this whole crazy uh thing and uh real real quick shout out you know I mentioned my dad kind of we started

doing it together in ' 86 uh after my grandfather passed well my dad got home from the hospital today had a little uh

uh heart related uh incident he yeah I won't spend a lot got

a new medication and uh spent spent three or four days in the hospital but

uh was released today so kind of tie that in there uh as well well uh

continued Health to him and maybe we should just get our fathers to be

roommates they we should have we should have I don't know who goes first but we should have like matches like matches

after hours I don't know who takes the

spot my dad can't hear so it'll be a very loud

show well my dad could talk loud like myself so uh either they the opening act

or the closer but that would be funny for sure that's funny so my story is is

not quite as Spielberg esque um as mooki

said uh my dad die hard sports fan um I remember we were on a on a road trip and

we got into an argument over Trish speaker's lifetime batting average um I believe it's 3:45 I don't think I'll

forget that um but he taught me to love the sport and then he used baseball

cards to teach me about the Contemporary Stars so this was probably

84 is um 85 is um when he was pulling

cards and you know talking to me about Gwen and madingley and bogs and um Ricky

Henderson and and using the back of the cards I mean I'll be honest Julio Franco

and Ruben Sierra I mean you know at the time I mean moving in into the mid and late 80s it

was just it was really just uh the Love of the Game and the sport and he used

the cards to show me and I I fell in love with the cards so yeah I mean it

it's crazy and um you know and and with my dad too we a lot of Brooklyn Dodgers

stories right he loved the [ __ ] I mean I had him on sports car Nation twice to talk about that but I heard those

stories you know as a young kid and uh you know he gets emotional he got emotional on the podcast uh talking

about it because you know I asked him why why did you get why do you get so emotional talking about like fun times

and you know he basically said like he he enjoyed every minute of it but it's sad when he thinks about it you can't do

it again you know it's over and that that's what gets him a little emotional

so I I never you know you don't think about it sometimes like that until someone else explains it to you and uh

loves to talk about it when when I when I see him we still talk about Brooklyn Dodgers he's not you know at 86 now he's

not really following today's game um but uh he can definitely he you know he

can't remember stuff from two two days ago but he can remember stuff from Brooklyn Dodger games you know uh you

know 75 years ago that's I always I always get a kick out of that like you say what did you eat for dinner

yesterday and he's like I don't know but let me tell you about this game uh 19

1952 I was at ebans field and like I always I always laugh about that because

that's just uncanny like you can remember certain things and and and not others and U you know it's why the

Dodgers obviously were long gone out of Brooklyn uh when I came along but hearing those stories from him and and

other people in Brooklyn that you know that's my attachment to that team

obviously my being a HomeTown team even though it G and and Jackie Robins so um

great chat room tonight good to see a bunch of familiar faces I I haven't been giving all the shout outs but uh give a

group shout out to everybody um I think it was TJ said uh great group and and

great host so thank you yeah was TJ appreciate you um all Warren has made it

so we can begin the main feature we we're waiting for you Warren um yeah and

real quick I one comment you know Rob Manfred is is the worst commissioner I

don't know how you feel about this Danny or the chat room this guy is the worst commissioner in in the four major sports

uh this golden at bat when I heard this golden at bat deal I thought it was like like a like a joke like a a meme just

someone poking fun and then when I found out it was like legit for consideration like I wanted to pull my

hair out this is this is like horrible I don't know if anyone else likes it and I'm I'm on the I don't think that'll

ever happened and it it it's terrible for records right you you got you can

have your best player or what you perceive as your best player just taking it bad and like that that just distorts

records as well it's a disservice to players that didn't have that opportunity you don't you don't think

the Yankee would have had Mickey Manel uh batore and you know and and every

team with whoever their Superstar is at the time this is like the fact that this

even came out publicly to me is even in bad like I I hope this isn't never

happens but the fact that it's even being discussed and you know owners are

not like you're insane you know keep your mouth shut and we're paying you and stop coming up with like comic book

ideas like I I just think that's that's that's ridiculous this subbox brought to

you by Dove 99% and by the way speaking of Dove I've

tried the soap and I've tried the chocolate the chocolate tastes a lot

better oh way it go

um too funny too funny um okay well do we want to try to pull this off uh chat

room we're going to show a uh an interview we did earlier uh what was it

last week yeah last week last week with h Ezra LaVine and his father Rabbi

Robert uh LaVine and uh they were nice enough to take some time out and talk

about uh passing down collecting from father to son in this case uh the father

is very much a collector um and and probably the bigger collector of the two

Ezra runs uh mascot if you're familiar with that um anything else to say I just

want to say like we we got the the first time I met uh you know the the Elder LaVine Rabbi Robert was at this at this

national uh Ezra introduced him to to us that was the first time I met him and

obviously we we talked to him but you know briefly and and the national is a busy place and we kind of that's where

we got to ball rolling but hey let's have you on and we'll talk about collecting and you know I don't I I

think a lot of people know Ezra I don't know I think less people obviously know

uh Mr Robert leine Rabbi Robert so I think even if you know Ezra it dis you

know and and Ezra's a great guy too I don't want to make it so but it it's cool getting to know his dad and seeing

how it all started in between you know the dynamic uh between them so and and I

don't know if they've ever done an interview it might be an I don't know if they've ever done an interview at the same time so that's kind of cool yeah

and I I learned a lot especially uh that that Dad has been to a lot more Nationals than I have been yeah yeah I

was surprised by that too all right well guys we're going to be in the chat room but we're going to let this play it goes

about half an hour and then we'll pick up the final uh final 15 minutes of our show tonight we'll see if this works

enjoy the intro all over again

hi I'm Danny black and I'm John Newman welcome to card menes well welcome to

card menes as you can see we've got an extra window today uh because we're joined by two extra Menches uh let me

first say hi to uh my my regular co mench uh what's what's going on John uh how how's yeah we're we're not doing

this live uh that's the only difference but we got two great people uh joining

us so that's the tradeoff uh you know and I'm willing I'm willing to make that trade eight days a week so well and any

anytime it's not just you I'm appreciative uh Esra Robert the LaVine

family thank you for joining us on card Menches how are you we're good we're good we are we're today actually

together which is Ni uh my my dad and I live pretty close and so every Thursday I solicit him for

child care duty of pleasure with our grandchildren fig absolutely I can't think of a better way for him to spend

his Thursday after being stuck on Child Care duty all day than to talk to you fine gentlemen I I I hope you're paying them

double it's almost the same thing R almost very

similar especially with me I like read I like reading your stuff

every weekd I appreciate it uh check out hobby News Daily little Shameless plug

uh for D John everywhere I it's a it's a family show

so I'll just be nice and we'll leave it at all right Ezra we know you we we've

talked to you I know you're fandom I know uh how you were raised and you've

often talked about your father's influence so one of the cool things about card Menches is talking about why

we love baseball or why we love sports why we love collecting and getting that

passed down so I guess you know if you don't mind Ezra I want to start with your father I'd love to know Mr livine

your story H how did you get into sports and and interest in collecting well

Sports um my my father was a big fan he grew up in New York uh he went to he was

at Don larsson's perfect game and they moved up to uh to Massachusetts where

eventually he became a Red Sox fan but um he he he he was a major influence in

my in my love of sports um and I remember he had um he had his ticket

stub from that game so I I was well before I was a collector I thought that was that was just unbelievably cool that

he saved that because obviously for him it wasn't a collectible but he was at the games so that was it was a great

thing and um I I would say one great influence he he was a grosser and uh he

would bring home boxes of Topps cards uh and my parents would give us um if we

were not punished for something we did that day we we got a pack a night and uh

and this began I would say probably you know 1958 or so

uh I remember um collecting complete sets I'm a very very firm memory and not

I had virtually the entire 61 top set I needed Mike

delose and everyone knew I needed Mike delose so no matter what I offer they

weren't giving me Mike delose so obviously these things you know this was not monetary value and I'm sure the

cards were [ __ ] but um you know family show Dad come on yeah that's right we

let that that one's not on I don't think that's one of the seven words so I think you're you're good yeah but you know so

so and of course when you think about the fact that there were all these boxes

of of unopened cards and are my father paid I think two cents a pack so

probably 48 cents for the box right um and when he closed the store of course I

D bombed into the basement of his store to see if there were any car he had

everything but cards left and when they think of what because one of the things

I love is unopened and when I think about what I have paid for packs and

boxes versus you know what he paid for his boxes you know it's it's a crime

it's a crime gentlemen um real real quick before I

let John in here uh did you your sports fandom with what who you wanted to

collect were you collecting your favorite players or was it more just puttings together um no I mean you know

I I do have a lot of Yankee stuff because I am I am a big Yankee fan so that is true but um no when I when I

when I got got into the the collecting hob and we're going to a hobby shop and

uh the first cards I bought were um a 48 Bowman musel and a

uh I think it was a 50 Ted Williams so it was just cards that I thought were cool now like many co-actors um I I met

unsavory elements in the hobby uh I was taken a number of times um and so I

remember seeing an ad for PSA graded cards in the

mid90s and I didn't really know what PSA was but I said wow you know I I can buy

where somebody in Authority has looked over this card and I'm not going to get slimed again you know I don't know if

you want to mention names but you know I I I met a lot of them a lot of the

infamous uh early Pioneers in our hobby yeah I think all all all of us came

across me I I I got into you know graded stuff pretty early and was really happy

to discover it uh just piggy backing off that uh Rabbi Le you you mentioned un

you like unopen stuff yeah expand just slightly further on that like to this

day like do you still like do you have sealed wax or or packs of uh I I I so

you know during the pandemic um my wife and I were planning to to buy a uh house out of the city so

we could get away we never did but I ended up selling my boxes but not my

packs so I have I have I still have a small but wonderful

collection of packs uh several examples of which are the only ones PSA has ever

graded to show you how I mean this stuff is really difficult and and rare and I

do I do love unopen still I I'll I'll speak for John since he's shy about it

he loves unopened wax and unopened packs uh that's one of his favorite things to

collect well I I I think the rabbi summed it up you can't it's hard to find that stuff I mean and a lot of during

that era right no one was thinking really long term they were just ripping that open looking for Manel and Ma and

errands and and little did we know like you know the sealed Market was going to

be uh what it is uh you know to today I want to get Ezra uh you know in in the

conversation here you know talk about kind of your introduction uh to the Hobby and was your your dad's influence

uence there or or even Grand you know who who got you kind of introduced and

and you know similar question like your dad but with you yeah I've probably I've

probably told the story a couple times both on each of your pods but yeah I I always give my dad all the credit

because you know he really is the person who uh who who got me into this industry

into this hobby I remember you know some of the best business Arrangements I've ever had were when my dad would buy us a

box of cards uh for for both I and my brother we would essentially open up the

boxes of cards in our childhood bedroom we shared a bedroom growing up and we'd set up a little mini hobby shop in our

bedroom and the person who bought the cards then became the customer so we had essentially a zero cost of capital

business model and we can resell everything at a profit our cost was zero on it even even when I went to summer

camp Which is popular here in the Northeast you know instead of uh you know my friends who would get boxes of

candy or food from their parents my dad would always send up boxes of cards by the way may interject my father bought

you a lot of cards that's true he did so it went it went from Grandfather to he

he he loved buying he didn't he didn't exactly know what he was buying but he bought in bulk shall we say and and he

had a great pleasure giving Ezra and his brother you know hundreds of cards at a

time that's true and I have memories when we used to go visit uh his father my grandpa we used to there was a hobby

shop up in Massachusetts close to Springfield massachus we used to go there all the time each visit when we

went to visit my grandpa and my grandmother always involved some degree of hobby shop visits within it it was it

was a big part of our childhood it was a big part of our childhood we you know we still have all of our cards to this day

uh when I moved recently my mother said you know what you have closets full of cards you should probably go through them and uh having a little bit of

background in this now in this category uh having having done this for a couple years now I said I I know that my cards

are worthless unless I find you know like you know some some green PMG odds

are my thousands and thousands of cards from the early and mid 90s are probably not gonna be worth much I did and sure

enough they weren't worth much but it it was a it was a fun trip that memory lane I mean you never know I just saw I just

saw a Frank Thomas 1990 no name in a 10 go for a lot of money so you know I mean

it's possible it's possible to go into those sets and come up with something good that's true that's true

yeah like to grow some more hair but we don't you know we don't take those odds

there's a limit there's a limit to everything some of those 90s uh inserts and parallels too that we you know

sometimes we forget about but they've sort of uh you know gotten a second life when people realize how scarce they they

actually are especially you know on the basketball side but baseball uh and other sports Sports uh uh as well when

you refound your card D did you did you once again try to sell them to your

dad he's he's smarting up the age of 12 I think some of those

uh you know sort of things go by the wayside but no in seriousness I mean I really would not be in this industry I

would have no interest in this as a collector I would have no interest in building businesses in this category if not for my dad and and and the dad

celling you like the word celling yes I mean the dad is celling over his son I

mean who who ever thought he'd have a son going into the the hobby business I

never dreamed so who's the bigger collector now yeah I still I mean I you know my collecting just I mean frankly I

love everything but I have I have great taste and you know somewhat limited

budget so I have I always have to sell to to buy and the list of things I once

owned you know you know I I I would I would retire with no money

whatsoever it's just I I could make you list that would be uh you know drool

worthy yeah he he's always had great taste he's always been you know one thing that I if you guys have read the article there's a an article probably

from almost 30 years ago at this point where PSA actually wrote a article in

their magazine about his collecting this is probably what was this early 90s what you say yeah probably I think that that

was focused on tickets I think at the time tickets but and I don't collect tickets anymore but you know I drift in

and out of things the the theme of the article was about how uh he was always a Pioneer into early emerging categories

whether it's type one photographs like those tickets you know Wax Seal Pro like

anything that was emerging where you know perhaps it wasn't as picked over as liquid yet as cards he he was always an

early entrant and really had good taste and and Surround himself with really good advisers and people who who knew

that particular Niche intimately and and he he's done he's done quite well I very much admire uh his collecting style he's

certainly quality over quantity he loves you know great items he appreciates

great items and then he you know ultimately moves it to find something else that he loves and appreciates and

you know so I've learned a lot from his style and what I'll also say is that you know his uh involvement when when I

first started to do this professionally his name his reputation his relationships were of real significant

value to me and you know that's that's as much as a son could ask for right as the well thank you son yeah but it's

true it's true and so I've been I've been fortunate to kind of you know to to walk in his shadow and his shoes and

he's definitely opened up a lot of doors for me and I do you know and I think his company for example I mean you know

we've all been to shows for many years and you know the think you know you're and you have no idea what to look for

and you know it it was it was 30 years behind the times and companies like ezor

allowing people to you know to sell quickly but to to know where things are

I mean it's a great idea right but who you know you have to have people with a vision to you know bring technology into

the hobby so so Rabbi that you're saying that was your idea you just let Ezra run

with it that's what that I've ever had is his any bad idea that I've ever had

is any idea that involves Technology Credit involves technology I didn't have the

idea that's answer you you mentioned tickets we've seen that market really

the last couple years uh kind of take off like there was always a market for

it but the last couple years the trajectory has went even higher I've gotten involved and dabbled in a little

bit you mentioned um uh your father Rabbi with the Don Larsson uh perfect

game in the World Series and having that ticket do you is that still in the family collection or or where is what

happened to that day you know um I'm not sure we still have it there there a

couple moves involved I'm not sure we do but um you know it's it's it's a great

memory of mine I know Ezra obviously with with on Matt Scott you're you're

you're you're at a lot of shows do you get to I know the national obviously the Super Bowl uh of of card shows right uh

to me it's a if you're into the hob love the hobby it's sort of a a must attend or or try to get there uh type of event

do you get to a lot of shows together I know you you you said you guys live

close do you get to a lot of other shows like local or Regional do you still get

to do those he's been he's mentioned National you've been to the National how many times have you said you've been oh

30 30 something times I I would think so I I would think about 30 years gone I

don't except for the pandemic year I don't think I missed the national you know so we don't go together because he

goes earlier and he's you know he's working it so but I I love to watch him in action and as you guys I mean he

knows everybody you know as he's like compar I mean he knows 15 times more people than I do and it's fun walking

around and he introduces me I introduced him to you know to to some oldtimers and

I get a great kick out of it asra now that there's another generation uh tell

tell the story of where you want to see uh kind of your role uh as the tradition

passes on you know it's funny I do go to a lot of shows obviously mascot I was at the Dallas card show um I was at the

Long Island show uh about two weekends ago I'm going to Chicago sport spectacular next weekend I'm at I'm at a

lot of shows when I I always try to bring something back I've have three kids I've five-year-old boy

three-year-old boy and about 11-month-old daughter uh the girl is not quite into it just yet my 5-year-old has

actually become fairly Sports obsess and he has a couple very obscure favorite players some some are well known like

Aaron judge and stto on the Yankees and Brunson on the Knicks but for now for now Soto's on the Yankees for now soo

soo seems to be on the Red Sox of the Mets of course but uh but he has these he watches I don't

know if other other parents and kids who are watching this have the same thing my son will go on his iPad on YouTube kids

and if you click any sports highlight a lot of times they're Olympic sports highlights so he's become obsessed with

uh the backup point guard on the new on the New Orleans Pelicans Jose Alvarado and become a huge Jose Alvarado fan so

I've been buying him Jos Alvarado cards he also went through a wemi craze as I'm sure a lot of people go through wemi

craze um so I try to get cards of players that he loves he also his favorite movie is

Space Jam so I recently bought a Space Jam movie ticket for him so I'm I'm

passing the bug on slowly I'm not sure he fully understands cards just yet but he loves sports and that's that's how I

started I love sports and then you know kind of through his involvement through his interest he brought me kind of uh

into the Hobby and and to get that collecting Gene but he'll he'll watch whole games and study the moves of

players and and try to emulate them it's very cool for a 5-year-old to do that so

so you you know you know he's going to follow in his in his Father's Footsteps and when his father was five you know

there there was not one umpire call he ever agreed with and now my old grandon

he same thing you know he he erupts whenever there's a call know like father like son it's a

pleasure for grandfather to watch it go like that well let me ask you a question as a grandfather what what do you want

your grandkids to know about the hobby um yeah it's you know the hobby for them

of course like just like it's it's a different hobby that I entered much different hobby that he had it'll be a

much different hobby that answer but I I think you know some of the some of the principles will still be intact you know

PE people are always going to correct collect Ruth and garri and Manel and Jordan I mean I think that'll that'll go

on through the generation so um it'll be great for me to be able to leave some of

my stuff you know for for them so that it's part of my legacy part of what

they'll remember you know about me not just that I was a father grandfather and

a rabbi but that you know also I this was also a part of my life and um so I'm

really looking forward to to that and I think every every great thing that we

collect today I think we still you know you don't know it'll be hot but you know that they'll have enduring value John I

mean you know you think of 48 Leaf pack and an eight is is ever gonna go out of

you're not gonna you're not gonna find another one so it'll always have value yeah it's it's crazy how you said it uh

eloquently you know it's it's always going to be a different Hobby in different eras it's it's you know I

started in 1979 as a as a seven-year-old kid and and to look back you know at pxs

for a quarter and where we are today and obviously technology is is uh we have

technology that didn't exist let alone have it uh at that time so it's it's

ever changing does does anything surprise and this is kind of a question for both is anything surprise you hobby

wise what about you um well I would say the explosion of modern cards and how

they're like you know look at these auctions I don't get any of it I when I say any of it I don't get any of it you

know I look I look at these cards that are produced today that have you know

LeBron's autograph and next year there'll be more of those and they're selling for two three four hundred

thousand of dollars I don't get it I mean I don't I I really don't understand

it and cannot imagine that with rare exception the stuff's going to hold any

value so so I would say that you know that that departure from the rare and

vintage uh into areas that you know that seem to to to be of great value to

collectors uh amazes me I would say I mean I'm always it's a good surprise I'm

always pleasant surprise and again I travel to a lot of shows and in various different regions across the country in

the four or five years I've been doing this professionally every single show I've attended has been packed absolutely

jam-packed now granted I'm not going to the small Regional Hotel shows I'm going to you know the bur Banks and the Dallas

card shows and the Nationals and but every show I've gone to has been absolutely jam-packed uh every not every

dealer but most dealers I speak to are having good shows the trade floor is liquid there's a lot of you know people

ranging in you know young kids with their their dads to people who are older

um there's I've also been you know and I probably have a good vantage point from mascot we see a lot of different items

and price points and some obscure and others more liquid everything has a

market almost absolutely everything has a market there is a collector for everything there's an end consumer for

everything the caveat being sometimes there's not an end consumer at a certain price point but there's always demand

for uh for for Collectibles for trading cards and so that that to me I think is a really good sign a good healthy sign

of the industry another great Trend I've seen recently is a lot a lot more women I know you guys have both been very

active in promoting women in the Hobby and um you know kind of fostering a community that can really support you

know more more diversity in the hobby you know as of the last couple shows I've been to I see a lot more female

dealers I see a lot more women who are behind the counter not in front of the counter I see you know the exchanges you

have with these women or the women have with other people there's there's a lot more respect uh being being garnered and

so I think those are things that um not necessarily surprise me but are just great interesting trends that I've

noticed over the last couple years I love some of these shows watching these 10-year-old kids step up you know and

they they've been through vcp I mean they you know they they know exactly what the price point should be they're

in their negotiating based on you know real hobby knowledge you know these

aren't aren't kids you know just wideeye looking around I mean they're they're real business people by the way Danny

Danny's son at the national is making Danny my son my son uh made more

on taxes last year than I did um and and and they walk around with bills too yeah

well that's cause you probably didn't tell them everything that's that might be that conversation um so what I want

to know and as we're you actually both of you guys touched on this is the changing Dem demographic of the hobby um

and you know Ezra I wonder from the dealer standpoint are you seeing a lot of change in dealers in in the older

dealers retiring and bringing in the younger dealers or you seeing pretty much the same group um for the last

couple years we definitely noticed that the the dealer Community is getting skewing a little bit uh younger for sure

I mean you still you know and again it's it's all it's regionalized and you know certain dealers go to certain shows for

instance you go to Shriners right up in Boston that that tends to cater to a slightly older deal demographic the

Philly show and the shantell show those are you know slightly older deal demographics go to a Dallas card show or

Burbank for instance those tend to be uh younger but I I am on the whole seeing

that um the vendor Community uh probably because of you know the onset of breaking and live streaming and

repacking and all all those do tend to be more digital Innovations and sort of digitally enabled ways to sell a product

those definitely skew younger but it's a it's a good it's a good healthy mix and um you know I do think you know there's

a community right for for each sort of demographic and those demographics tend to kind of stay within that Community

awesome I gotta ask I'll put you both a little bit on the spot here uh as as

collectors is there you know we'll start with with Rabbi living is there card or

or set or is there an item that sort of at the top of your want list like if you're going to H um well you know I I I

I I maybe another way like when you go to a show you mentioned you sort of go in there open-minded like but is is

there something you sort of gravitate uh towards or look for one thing I'm thinking of is um uh you know because I

because I'm a type one photo collector now too I and and Ruth Red Sox stuff is

very hot and and I I have I have four wonderful photos of of Ruth p ing once

for the Red Sox and ironically three times for the Yankees and and I have photos of those which I think is

incredible so I'm I'm looking for um Ruth batting as a Red Sox it's very hard

to find very hard to find Ruth with a bat in his hand or you know so so that

that that's a very specific thing but you know you look for you know when when

you get into a class of things and you realize how difficult it is to find certain you're always on on the search

for those and you know and you realize that as as a got like photos get hotter

and hotter how how how much how pricey they get really fast well I've got an

invite out if you come to Baltimore I'll take you to the bab Ruth Museum yes okay

good yes I I tell everybody it's the biggest secret in Baltimore um and it's

SP going it's a great place and that whole complex right next to Camden Yards it's you know it's it's really it's

really quite wonderful um my my older guy was a was an or tell you a collecting story um um we were Camden

Yards and and um I forget exactly why but somebody we knew was knew the owner

so we we had we had seats right next to the Dugout and um Judah you know who

always wore Oreo orange you know growing up and he he always was looking through over the the Oreo Dugout and Sam horn is

that a name that's Sam Horn home runs on opening day and he and he put a bat into

my son's hand I thought you know he had just won the lottery he was he was

thrilled Beyond so now that that was a very early collecting story of my other

son probably a big it was probably a big bat Sam Horn was about 300 yeah yeah it

was it was a probably a 42 oun or something like that as a father he's he's done a lot right but he he did one

thing really wrong he made my older brother he converted my older brother Judah from a Yankee fan in into an orial

fan he was we were playing baseball one day he was a want he was playing shortstop he asked him which Short Stop

he should emulate he said cover upin which is not which is not a bad answer it's a fair answer I said correct answer

watch Cal Ripken watch Cal Ripken from that comment from that moment my older brother who used to be Die Hard Dany fan

went gung-ho absolutely gung-ho Orioles he even painted his childhood bedroom orange and black you I don't know how he

how he allow that how he convinced his mother one half was black one half was orange I hideous I don't know how he

convinced it he's always been my favorite

son if it wasn't if it wasn't gonna be Ripken that you know Kevin ster was the the next man up and he could have been a

Mets a Mets kid too all right well I wanted to thank you guys um this was u a

she moved to appearer and uh we we we genuinely have fun and Ezra always love

talking to you Rabbi thank you so much I'd say I love you guys work and I'm very proud of him and uh it he does such

wonderful work and and as a father it it does my heart good to you know to see

him fall in love with a hobby and do great things in it that's great and Ezra you got to live up to that yeah I was

gonna say no pressure up got large shoes to fill so I will do my best to uh guys

always always a pleasure thank you for having us on this is gonna be a fun memory that we can cherish we can pass

along to the grandkids as well absolutely stay well guys absolutely you as well and as I always say say goodbye

John goodbye John and just like that we're back hello hello Newman

hello uh they were fantastic I enjoyed I enjoyed seeing that again and I

enjoy everybody for staying with us yeah that that was that was cool I I you know

that went I I I'll speak and I think you'll agree Danny and hopefully the chat room like that was better than I

thought it was going to be and um you know it's great well many of these like

how we started in hobby store is kind of similar they're not always exactly the same and it's it's always cool to you

know see how it all kind of inter inter Tangles and and and that it's was funny to hear you know Rabbi LaVine talk about

his older son Judah be you know and how he became a an Oriol fan and uh you know

Ezra taking a a funny shot at him and and his dad with that right and uh and

it it it was funny and and you know I never realized like e Ezra's dad was

that into the hobby to that to that extent 30 years 30 years at the national

yeah so you know and probably the only one that can trump it was Dr Jim you know at this point or so um yeah and

they were both great and uh hopefully folks uh enjoyed it that would have been great to be closer to Father's day but

like you said in the intro Danny too getting around Christmas time Hanukkah family you know uh that sort of thing so

um you know it's it's it's it's it was it was fun having them and you know it would have been nice live but for not

being live that I thought that went really well um tell the uh chat room is on something

tonight uh I feel like letting Hanukkah candles uh Ruben who who is now speaking

up for Jews even though he's not uh it is the same day as Christmas uh I'm so

proud you know that Ruben Ruben you you win a prize um it's a fruit cake don't

get excited it's a it's a fruit cake uh too much cat

and how about like and I I know Ruben said it I said it when after we were done done with the interview like his

dad is like a dead ringer for how Lyon from the Barney Miller Show like I just

love the fact that his dad seems to be the coolest guy I want to sit and talk hards with Rabbi Robert yeah yeah I just

want to ask him what it was like filming Barney Miller where's the where's the Hat

and yeah that that was fun that was fun TJ says it still enjoys watching baring

Mill that's a great show you don't see it like even in in syndication you don't

I don't know if they're putting it on later at night but you don't I don't run into it because I I watch it as a kid I

probably didn't get every joke uh as a kid but that was a great great show uh also I I posted in the chat room I kid

you not uh he died before I was born but my my grandfather on my dad's side whose

name was Max Newman um looked like was a dead ringer for uh aota like if I showed

you a picture of them you would say why do you have an old photo of a Voda and it's actually Max Newman so there's a

little useless information there'll be no quiz on that just uh fou that under

TMI uh real quick while we're talking about TV shows from that era uh Mash

would be number one the funniest scene is the Thanksgiving turkey drop on WKRP

Cincinnati um just want to clarify for the rankings out there um if you move

into the 80s yes yes 18 Night Rider and then we move into Quantum Leap but that's a separate story yeah 18 te I

never like I watched a little bit of w krp I never was a day W krp guy the

turkey drop just I have never seen it so I maybe I need to watch it we're g to YouTube this after the show this we got

to call up the Google machine all right usually it's me usually it's me like

show when you stuff you miss this is a turn of I know uh we got Hawaii

5 5 was good right M do do you remember Hawaii 5 I wasn't a fan to be honest

with you book him Dan yeah I trust me I've hurt every that works that works because

you're Dano in right exactly uh all right I don't want to ruin this

uh John's never seen it so I'm gonna make him watch this after the show um

this is a true fact Mike Petty thank you yeah I grew up on the on the students a

lot of people did but they were observers of the uh Hanukkah they did

you Z Ziggy brings up a point he looked like how Lind did but he did sound a

little like Jeff gold Blum there's you know he could do apartments.com commercial he could definitely be an

actor he could be an actor without a doubt yeah he was very poised and uh you

know he was funny he was funny how about he dropped the uh the [ __ ] word on on on the men's

show John I think if they can spell it then they can probably hear

it I don't I don't like the older I get the less I swear I figure that one out

yeah this is true so Tom S is a huge Detroit Tigers fan um and if you notice

he's done a bunch of baseball movies and did almost every celebrity baseball game

for 10 years and uh did some batting practice he hit it out of some major league Parts I know he played uh forget

to what level but he's a legit baseball fan yeah a segue there my friend Chad

who I set up with at at most of my shows that I do including one tomorrow is a

huge Tigers fan and a huge Alan traml and sweet Lou Whitaker fan there there

we go the seven degrees of my friend Chad Merritt there you go um I'm gonna

say probably not Larry but I've never

been that would be interesting to work that into a a sermon I have not seen the

new Magnum I'm not looking to but evidently Christian yeled was on there maybe that's how he hurt his back

and I was I was Mr T not with the gold chains or big muscles but I was scared

to fly for a long time uh when I was younger Ziggy we used to call security

guards two fivs because that was half of 50 they weren't real

cops I never heard that one so that one's new to me yeah that might be a Baltimore thing oh no we probably um all

well this was a success I I I hope you know people have a happy holiday uh have

we even looked at the holiday schedule yet uh no not you know I'm just trying

one day at a time here man I'm like it's uh this time of year is is is is as you

know is is crazy so it looks it looks like the 20th uh so we'll be back before

the holiday so get your list ready maybe we'll need a list we'll do a NAU or nice

list for cards there you go something out it'll we'll figure something out it'll probably be

Danny's idea and I don't even know what that means all your nice cards so Ben

Warmers uh we can keep going but we yeah guys I'm reading the chat room you

have me distracted uh best chat room in the

business yes Ruben you will be on the naughty list uh didn't 5 come from

Hawaii 50 don't know that's a it makes sense that's a good that's a that's a

question for the Google machine as they say y do like the Google machine all

right anything else for you my friend no this this was fun I think this is uh the

least amount of live talking I've done on this program so there we set we set a

record there so marked his date in men's history it could be any

program yeah well we'll we'll keep it to menes the December December 6 the least

amount of talking and and that was a good thing and like you said um it's just great hearing other people's

connections to the Hobby Father and Son stuff and um you know with me I was you

know fortunate my grandfather then my dad and um you know my son does have

cards so that kind of that that thread kind of continues your two boys um as

well and uh uh I I think you know I think not every story is the same but I

think most of most of collecting you know a high percentage is a dad or a

grandfather that introduces you and then it continues from there well on that

note say good night John good night John [Music]

Card Mensches E53 "Hobby Starts with Family" with Robert and Ezra Levine

Ezra Levine

Robert Levine

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