Ep.264 w/ Orlando of "A Collectors Dream"

SPEAKER 1: What is up everybody? Welcome to episode 264 Sports Car Nation podcast. Glad to be back. Hope all is. Well as we approach 2024 how crazy is that? Because time is time is flying. Hope your 2023 was a good year. No complaints here had a couple bounce with some illnesses as you get, as I get older in age. But you know, doing OK and, and glad to be back this week, I had a great guest.

SPEAKER 1: I know I say that every week but I really feel that way all the time. Cause then anyone I have on the show I appreciate and, and most likely fond of this gentleman, fits those bills. You know, I use the two way words a lot ambassador and advocates and, today's guest, checks both of those boxes.

SPEAKER 1: Orlando from a collector's dream. I got to meet him in person at this year's National in Chicago. Got a great YouTube channel, great collection and love about him. He shares some life stuff in with his hobby stuff and that's something I try to do here and there as well.

SPEAKER 1: So whether it's him taking a page from my book or me taking a page from him, his book, I appreciate that he does that he's one of the good, you know, gentlemen, good guys of the hobby and, probably should have had him on, sooner but, on today and, glad to chop up kind of what he does chop up some Harvey. I think you'll, you'll enjoy the conversation with Orlando. So with that being said, let's get this episode started.

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SPEAKER 1: All right. Generally excited to talk to the next guest. Honey, sports car shop guest slide here on Sports Car Nation. Met him, in person for the first time at the recent National in Chicago. He's a content creator in his own, right?

SPEAKER 1: And he's got one heck of a collection. We're definitely gonna be talking about that. But the, the more I talk, the longer it takes to, to get him on here and, and go. So Orlando from a collector's dream. Welcome. Welcome to the show.

SPEAKER 4: Hi John. Thank you for very, very much for having me. I've been listening to you and watching you on YouTube for a long time and it was awesome meeting you at the National.

SPEAKER 1: Likewise. No, no doubt. And, you know, I talk, I, I like to throw the two word, the two A words out. A lot. Not the bad a word but the two good ones. Ambassador and advocate, right of, of the hobby. And you personify both of those words.

SPEAKER 1: You do a great job. You, you, you have a passion, for this hobby for the cards. And, you know, I not many people, I'd put ahead if, if any, when it comes to, you know, that category and a great collection, like I said, a as well, joy seeing it when you share it on Social Media on, on your YouTube channel, it's kind of, you know, this is your first time on, on the podcast.

SPEAKER 1: It's kind of the, the, the boring, you know, starter question if you will. But, you know, take us back to where it all started for you. How did you get your start in the hobby itself?

SPEAKER 4: Well, it goes way, way back.

SPEAKER 4: You know, I was born in Cuba and, baseball was big in, in Cuba.

SPEAKER 4: It was just, probably as big or to me it seemed the biggest thing, back then when I was a little, little kid and, you know, unfortunately we were forced to come to this country, due to the, communist, state and, we ended up here in Miami and, ended up going to, to school here and, meeting some great kids and, you know, played Little League and, and, you know, just a big baseball fan and little kid playing baseball and then met up with kids that had baseball cards.

SPEAKER 4: So I started getting into that and, just, there were four kids that collected cards at the time and, and this was in the late sixties. So they had cards probably from 67 to 6869.

SPEAKER 4: And I remember starting opening packs around, around that era and, putting my first sets together in, 1970 I put my first set together from pacs and I went on to do that every year from 70 to 75.

SPEAKER 4: And then II, I kind of left the hobby at that time, you know, high school college came back probably 8, 10 years later, I was in my mid twenties and, just, you know, had moved and my, mom called me and said that my, dad had found my cards and to, you know, come and get them.

SPEAKER 4: So I, I was living in Tampa, drove back to Miami, picked them up and then I had, just had kids, was married and, started getting back into cards and when I looked at all the cards I had, I mean, I had, you know, literally shoe boxes full of cards all the way from 1968 all the way through 1975.

SPEAKER 4: I was able to build all the sets from 70 to 75 and, and I started just kind of, going to the, they had little mall shows at the time, you know, that's basically the only shows that were available and I don't remember what it was. Maybe $30 to get a table. So I got all my doubles together because I was a set builder at that time.

SPEAKER 4: That's pretty much what we started doing. Got all my doubles together. I ended up that I had two Nolan Ryan rookies in there and a bunch of other cards, great cards and kind of put them out just on the table and started selling a little bit and buying a little bit because, you know, I was a Mickey Mantle fan.

SPEAKER 4: So I, I, you know, I wanted to get some more manal. That was the time when I kinda was at the end of his career was when I really got into baseball and when it really, it was just the biggest guy at the time.

SPEAKER 4: So, and I, and I went on from there, I was a part time dealer for many years, bought and sold a bunch of stuff and started, you know, really as a collector. So I was selling stuff, buy cards that I really wanted. And I went back to collect some of those Mantle cards that I always wanted.

SPEAKER 4: Eventually I built my the Mantle run and, you know, I did have them all, all graded almost every one of them was raw at the time. And I did that and continued on just collecting sets from then on, you know, just as a regular collector and part-time dealer did a little more shows.

SPEAKER 4: I did go to the National in Atlanta in 1992 and I did a lot of stuff there. I took a lot of cars and I did a lot of buying, selling over there and I got to meet a lot of people like, you know, Alan Rosen Mr Mint and a few of the guys, Alan Hager and people at that time that were into a lot of the vintage and pre-war type stuff.

SPEAKER 4: And I, I just began to, to study more and learn more about the history of not just baseball but baseball cards.

SPEAKER 4: And II, I got into that and, you know, it just, the, the, the, the, the fire was fueled because here locally in, in Miami we had, a couple of teams that played here and, in Fort Lauderdale was the Yankees, which I would go see spring training. Of course, I was, the team that I liked and the Orioles played in, in Miami. And, so those kind of became my two favorite, favorite teams that I would go see.

SPEAKER 4: And my grandfather with my dad, you know, he unfortunately had to work two jobs because we got here, we didn't have any, any money and my mom worked two jobs.

SPEAKER 4: So my grandfather and grandmother kinda took care of us for the most part and my friends that his father was a little league coach, he, I hung out with them a lot of Times, you know, I went to practice and did all that kind of stuff.

SPEAKER 4: But, you know, so eventually II I started, I, I built AAA good collection and, you know, in those days you, you kind of collected by yourself, you know, basically that's kind of what it was, you know, and just kind of learning more about the history, took me back. But I was saying that when I went to spring training, I guess my biggest thing that really gave me the biggest boost was when I met, Brooks Robinson there.

SPEAKER 4: And, Brooks Robinson literally took me, you know, as a kid into, into the dugout after the game because in those days of spring training, I mean, you could kind of go right up there right by the fence there and talk to the players right after the games were, were over.

SPEAKER 4: And what happened was that my grandfather knew, one of the pitchers for the Orioles at the time, Orlando Pena. And he, my, my grandfather sponsored a, baseball team.

SPEAKER 4: He owned two small local supermarkets in a, in a small town and he sponsored a, a local team in Cuba and one of the players was Orlando Pena. So when he came here, you know, he remained in contact with him and, we would go see the Orioles and one day we got, got a foul ball, my grandfather caught the foul ball after the game, we went down or Orlando Pena, you know, signed the ball and he said, who's your favorite player?

SPEAKER 4: And I said, Brooks Robinson, so he called Brooks over and Brooks took me and my grandfather into the dugout and had other players there, sign the ball, Jim Palmer, Al Bambury, Paul Blair Boot Powell and a bunch of the other, Oriole players that were there at the time.

SPEAKER 4: And you know, that really just talking to the players in person and just being with them in a, in a dugout when you're, you know, just a kid. I was probably, you know, 1214 years old at the time.

SPEAKER 4: It was just a, a thrill and that really just kind of fueled my collecting in it and I've been collecting ever since, you know, I've been collecting literally now, over 50 years, I'm retired now, over 65 and I stopped being a dealer probably about 20 maybe 30 years ago at this time.

SPEAKER 4: Yeah, when, when it really in the mid nineties, 19 nineties, when things got crazy with all the products and everything started getting a little, you know, it was just the junk wax and then it was just a bunch of, you know, it was just went crazy and prices went crazy, kinda like we, we just faced, you know, this past COVID era, you know, the era, I call it the COVID era.

SPEAKER 4: You know, it's the same, kinda similar as the junk wax era. So I kinda stopped being a dealer at the time and focused on my collection.

SPEAKER 4: And because II, I love the history of the sport and the and the cards themselves, I went all the way back to pre-war and I started collecting pre-war cards at the time, went all the way back to cards from the 18 hundreds.

SPEAKER 4: And I just found those to be just such, you know, beautiful cards and just such stuff that I didn't even know that something like that, you know, could last, you know, 100 30 100 40 years and it still survived and they weren't made to be collectibles.

SPEAKER 4: They were made for just, kids to have them and not really kids. They're actually for adults because they came in, in cigarette packs, they were made to, to be, to, it was a marketing scheme to be, so people would smoke more cigarettes. They put those nice little cards in there.

SPEAKER 4: And, you know, they also to stiffen up the pack of cigarettes so they wouldn't bend and, you know, whoever thought that they were gonna be collected and that's they collected because they're rare and anytime you see stuff that says, you know, it's, it's a collectible, it's not a collectible, you know, people collected it, but some stuff like this and, you know, I just interesting and then going back to, to the old judge and then the, the set that really fascinated me the most was the, 1888 Goodwin Champion set.

SPEAKER 4: It's such a beautiful set that, you know, they, they, they still bring back Goodwin Champion cards today.

SPEAKER 4: You know, because it was one of those cards that were, in an exact, I know you can't see it on the radio, but this is the card of King Kelly that I'm showing. And it's a beautiful, full color artwork type card that something that in the 18 hundreds you wouldn't think would be produced.

SPEAKER 4: And, and it literally, it was full color artwork that was done by hand. And you know, in those days they were craftsmen, craftsmen and it took them, you know, weeks to create a car like that.

SPEAKER 4: And, and, and those are the things that just fascinated me, you know, and then the, the tt 20 sixes and the T 205 with the beautiful gold borders on those cards and, you know, just beautiful cars, beautiful quality stuff. And, you know, it, it got to a point, John and I know I'm, I'm talking a lot.

SPEAKER 1: But no, no, go ahead. I'm, I'm, I'm enamored. But yeah, go ahead. Go ahead.

SPEAKER 4: Yeah. So I, I got to a point that once I, you know, like I said earlier, I was a set collector. And once you build sets from the sixties and a lot of the fifties sets cause I had this, I built the 1953 Bowman set, the 54 Bowman set, the, almost complete the 56 and then the whole 57 tops, 58 tops, 59 tops and so on.

SPEAKER 4: And I had most of the sixties sets built and once you attend a lot of shows and you see a lot of stuff out there, you realize that a lot of the cards from the fifties and sixties, you know, they're, they're around, I mean, they're not rare, you know what I mean?

SPEAKER 4: You see them, the, the rarity comes when you find high grade cards of those years because they just didn't survive the, the, you know, we didn't have sleeves top loaders, anything like that in those days. So, you know, a lot of those were in the bike books and they're in bad condition. So, you know, find, you know, my cards of those years, that's the, those are the rarities.

SPEAKER 4: But really, you know, if you wanna find, you know, let's say a 59 Clemente, you go to any show and you'll probably find one in the table, you know, maybe a few in the table, you go to ebay and you'll find, you know, a bunch of them, take your pick.

SPEAKER 4: So, you know, for, for many years of, you know, being out there and being a collector and being a hobby for so long, you see all those cards and, you know, I got to a point that there was cards that I needed, I couldn't get, I could never afford. And I had to sell some of those cards and, and that's kind of what I did. So I ended up selling a lot of my, my cards and my sets and things like that.

SPEAKER 4: Of course, I, I kept the mantles and a few of the, of the other stuff, but that's how I was able to get some of the cards from the 18 hundreds and, and some of the cards that I really always wanted in my collection, you know, I've always wanted a card of Babe Ruth and I was never able to afford one but, you know, through, you know, selling and consolidating and upgrading your, your, your collection.

SPEAKER 4: You know, that's kind of the way that I had to go about doing it. You know, I felt, you know, if I ever want to go back and get a 59 Clemente, yeah, I can always buy one, you know, but if I wanna buy a 1928 Harrington's Bay Ruth, you know, it's not that available.

SPEAKER 4: So I took that route and, you know, and, and I do have, you know, three Babe Ruth cards. I don't have the Gowdy Rose, but I do have the American Caramel and, you know, a couple of others.

SPEAKER 4: And, and that's the kind of, that's where my collection kind of went towards that direction from having a lot of sets, a lot of stuff in the fifties, sixties, seventies to selling the majority of that and, and moving pre-war, you know, and picking up a 34 Gowdy Luke Eric card that I've always wanted and picking up a, a 49 Leaf Joe DiMaggio, you know, and, and something like that versus, you know, your regular 1965 Bob Gibson.

SPEAKER 1: Yeah, a couple of things to, to, to unpack the, you know, you, you told the Brooks Robinson in Orlando pay you story. It, it just a great time in baseball, right? The players were more approachable personable like you said, brought you in the locker room.

SPEAKER 1: Not as much of that. Today, I'm not saying it doesn't happen but it's, it's a, you know, players are sort of different.

SPEAKER 1: And, you know, my dad, on this very show, talked about growing up in Brooklyn and Ebbets field and meeting the Jackie Robinsons and Duke Schneider and Roy Campanella and Pry Rees and they, you know, they shake his hand and as a kid and say, hey, are you doing good in school?

SPEAKER 1: Are you doing your work? Are you studying and that sort of stuff? It's, it's, I love those stories because it just shows you, you know, the fabric of oo of baseball and how personable players were.

SPEAKER 1: And I'm not saying that they, they still aren't, it's just not to that level and anymore just with, with time constraints and, and more of the, the money side and agents and, and commitments and exclusive signing deals as, as, as you know, it's a, it's a kind of a different, a different era with, with players and I'm not blaming them so, so much.

SPEAKER 1: It's just the, the, the sign of the Times, so to speak. And so that story for a 12 to 1314 year old Orlando really shaped how you felt about baseball and collecting and sort of open that door.

SPEAKER 1: And here we are, you know, like you said, you've been doing this, 50 years. And, I, I'm, I'm in the 40 years of, of, of collecting and I appreciate hearing you talk about, you know, the, what I call the COVID crescendo, right? For me and you and others who have been in the hobby a long time, I think we probably were surprised, but we also knew just from our time, kind of served in things we've seen over all these years.

SPEAKER 1: We knew the music would kind of stop too, a little bit or slow down, that's stops. Probably not the word like, you know, things are gonna settle down and we weren't gonna get caught off guard by that when it happened, which we're in the midst of certain other people who don't have all that, that history to, to refer to.

SPEAKER 1: Probably caught them, maybe a little more off guard and maybe affected their perception of the hobby. Maybe some aren't here or partaking in the hobby anymore. Me and you were in it? II, I think it's safe to say, for the long haul. Right. We've already been, we're not, you know, we, we're, we're, it's too late now, no return.

SPEAKER 1: But I appreciate that, that perspective. Or, or on the other thing I, I appreciate is, you know, talking about your YouTube channel.

SPEAKER 1: And your perspective, one thing I love about you is a few things. Number one, you make it a lot about your cards but the other thing I like to you, you put some life in there too. You, you share, hey, look at this scene or, you know, so, man, I like it's, it's, it's cards but it's not just about that, right? There's other life in general, right?

SPEAKER 1: And while we may share that common thread of being collectors, there's also beauty in everyday parts of life and you do a good job of sort of sharing that I get jealous when I see. So, you know, here in Syracuse New York and I, you know, it's December here and, you know, in the twenties and thirties and we get some white stuff called Snow and, I kinda live vicariously through you.

SPEAKER 1: I did live in Fort Lauderdale actually for 2 to 3 years. So familiar with the, the complex there for the, for the Yankees Minor League, park. I've been to the, the stadium, in Miami too for, for, for them.

SPEAKER 1: And, you know, but you get to see, you know, we don't have spring training. We do have the AAA Mets and I'm a Mets fan. So, so I'm not, it's not all bad but, sort of live like Carey through you.

SPEAKER 1: But, love how you're, you know, you may, you know, the tagline for the show and a knows the hobbies to people. I think you agree with that but you also, you, you keep the focus, a lot on the cards, which I, I think says a lot about, you as well.

SPEAKER 1: And, and those experiences that you share. Right. That, that why you're here 50 years and what you've learned and we're still learning. Right. I don't care how long you, you stay in the hobby, been in the hobby, we learn stuff, every day.

SPEAKER 1: You know, I always tell people the minute I don't learn, I'm not paying attention or I'm not doing my homework and, you know, I think that's, I, in important and, another thing you care about the history, of the game and, and, you know, even going back to that Prew war stuff, I mean, neither one of us were obviously around, back then but those, I always say it on this show, those players bridged, to, to, to the twenties and the thirties and those players bridge to the fifties and sixties and those players got us to the eighties and nineties and those players got us to where we are now and the history of the game.

SPEAKER 1: And I think baseball, of all the sports really appreciates and the fans and the players themselves, I think, appreciate that, that history. I think it's, I think it's important to everything but I think for, for baseball, even more so and, you care about that, you share that.

SPEAKER 1: I, yeah, go ahead.

SPEAKER 4: I mean, really one of the things about baseball to be on a baseball card, I mean, you did something, you were an important person back then even just to be, you know, in baseball today, you know, I mean, it takes a lot but back in those days, you know, every single one of those players have a history, you know, and, and I like to share some of the history of some of those players because there's a lot of people that really, people have forgotten about, you know, I mean, important players in the history of baseball players, like, you know, even recently, Kurt Flood.

SPEAKER 4: People don't talk about curt flood and the accomplishment that he did and the, and how he.

SPEAKER 1: Opened the, he and basically, he, he opened the door for free agency. And we know today in today's game, how important free agency is. There is no, there is no off season in baseball.

SPEAKER 1: There's the, there's when the games are being played and what we're in right now where teams are, are trying to build their future with signing and, and trading and shaping their team and like a great point too there, Orlando Curt Flood, you know, may not be in the hall of fame. Some will argue he probably should be based on his contributions, you know, even besides on the field, but to, to free agency as, as you pointed out.

SPEAKER 4: You know, and as I, as I go back in history and it's, it's funny because one of the players that, you know, II I like to collect Cuban players or, or cards from Cuba and, and those, those cards, you know, a lot of them are difficult and a lot of those players are difficult to find because most of them played only in the Negro Leagues for the most part.

SPEAKER 4: But there, there were some that did play in, in the II I in, you know, in the, in the, in the National league here. And one of them was Armando Marans.

SPEAKER 4: And the thing that people don't realize about Mars are Marans. That in 19, he came in 1909, he started playing, he played with the Cincinnati Reds. He played eight years in the league and then he in 1914, he wanted to go and move to the Federal League and you know, it was different in Cuba than it was here in the States even back in those days.

SPEAKER 4: I mean, you're talking the early 19 hundreds, 19 tens era back in I I it blacks and whites played together in Cuba basically in that era, you know, all the, the blacks that could not play here in the United States, they went to play in Cuba.

SPEAKER 4: That's where they had to play because there was no other play that they could play professional ball. And then, you know, they came here, played in New York Cubans and things like that.

SPEAKER 4: So Armando Marans was one of the, you know, white players that came here along with Rafael Almeda and later on Adolfo Adolph Luque. So he came here and he wanted to move to the Federal League but he couldn't because of the contracts and the things, the way that it was set up here and, and the Reds and the management and, and, and stuff like that.

SPEAKER 4: So he was kind of blackballed, he had to go through court. So the first major fight court, fight for free agency was in 1914 and it was the called the, the Marans case and it was for him on the Marsans.

SPEAKER 4: And that year he had to play for three different teams. Eventually, he ended up winning his case, which kind of opened the door for other cases in the future. And then, of course, then later came the curt flood and that opens the, the gates wide open.

SPEAKER 1: Yeah, no doubt. And then for the modern game in, in, in major league baseball, and it's those stories right there, Orlando, right, man, you know, many people don't know that and now they do if they're listening to this and, and important, right? Not a home run, it's not a, you know, a game winning World Series hit, but it's equally as important to the fabric and history of, of the game.

SPEAKER 1: And what comes after those kind of things to, to opens the door for other players. They can point to Marans as you pointed out as, hey, now I can do something that maybe before wouldn't have been possible and those, those kind of stuff and, and the fact that you care about it and share it, I think again, speaks volumes about your life of the game and the history.

SPEAKER 1: And I think it's important, I think that stuff like that is contagious. I think people, certain people can gravitate towards that and share it and that's how you know, those guys are not here with us anymore, but their stories and their legends live on through the sharing of, of history.

SPEAKER 1: Right. And, and that's, that's not just baseball, that's just life. And I think it's, it's, I think it's important for those of us that do it to, to do it as much as we can.

SPEAKER 1: Because, that's how, that's how, that's how people learn and, and then they tell the next generation of fans and, and people and, and, and it continues to, to, and it's important besides being a story, it's an important story. And I, I definitely appreciate that about you and, and, and your content. Like I said, you, you're sort of put the focus on, on the right things you mentioned. I mean, you know, yeah, go ahead.

SPEAKER 4: I was just gonna say, you know, just to tie on the, the reason I started my channel is, you know, many people like, like me collected a loan for a lifetime and I never shared my collection. Even my family really, they knew I collected, but they didn't have an idea exactly of what I had, you know, and I thought that, you know, and, and my dad passed away a couple of years ago. He was the one I shared most of my collection with.

SPEAKER 4: And, you know, I said, you know, you know, life hits you, you know, and you say, Oh, you know, my dad passed away. So I said, you know, I, I thought about it. I talked to my daughter and my daughter is someone that's technically, can do all that stuff.

SPEAKER 4: So she is set up my, YouTube account and I didn't really to document my collection to let her and the rest of my, my other son and my family know what cards I had, you know, and just kind of share that and talk a little bit about the card. So they would understand, you know, what, what I collected and why I collected it and explaining the, the card itself.

SPEAKER 4: I mean, I don't talk about prices in my videos at all. I really don't even show my face in my videos. It, it's all focused on, you know, the card and the player and, and what he has contributed or, or to the to the history or whatever I can share about that player.

SPEAKER 4: That card is what I, what I tried to do, you know, and that's kind of how I started my channel and it just kind of, you know, just, I don't know, it's just incredible that, you know, I'm just showing cards and talking about cards and people are subscribing and I get, got a lot of shout outs from a lot of guys.

SPEAKER 4: And when I went to my, my the National in Atlantic City, I met so many people and then I got so much shout out and all of a sudden, you know, make a long story short. I got over 2000 subscribers.

SPEAKER 1: Well, that's, that's a testament to you, Orlando. I know you're not gonna so much give the credit to yourself, but I think it's what we talked about. It's your passion, your care and about the history. I think like-minded people sort of gravitate to that, appreciate that even people who may not be like-minded, at least initially, right?

SPEAKER 1: You open that door up for them and like, hey, this is important. I didn't until I heard Orlando say that I had no idea who that person was or what he did and, and why it's important, even though it's 100 23 years ago, you know, or under and why it's important now, set the groundwork for what we have today that we sort of take for granted.

SPEAKER 1: It's just when we wake up and like, hey, who signed here or who got traded here or who's, who went to Japan, and is playing there. Now, they left me, you know, It's those folks that did it way back when that you're, you're highlighting that that, that happens today because of that time for a quick break, but we'll be right back for more than 30 years.

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SPEAKER 5: Sports Car Nation has returned.

SPEAKER 1: And there's a Sandy Koufax.

SPEAKER 4: I, I'll, I'll, you know, I look at some, something like a Sandy Koufax rookie who's already accomplished, already established. You know, and, you know, those are the people that I really wanna focus on because it's just, you know, who knows what's gonna happen.

SPEAKER 4: I mean, you know, look, if you really take a look at some of the, the, the, the new blood that came into the hobby, you know, it's great and it's not so great because, because there's a lot of young people that came in it really for the money and for the flipping of the cards.

SPEAKER 4: And that really was what, really attracted so many. But if you start looking at now, at some of those, YouTube videos, where are those flippers now? You know, the guys that would come in and, you know, I just bought $10,000 15,000 dollars worth of cards and flip them tomorrow and I don't want to name names and stuff.

SPEAKER 4: We all know who they are and they were all over YouTube. You know, they're gone and I, I think, you know, it's, it, it's good and bad, you know, you don't wanna see people not be successful in the hobby.

SPEAKER 4: But, I think it's great for the collectors because what I've noticed is that a lot of those guys even, vintage, a lot of those, you had some vintage cars but they really were not collectors. They were, they had the cards and they were just had it holding it until they were ready to sell.

SPEAKER 4: And I think what's happening now is, a lot of those, the modern flippers, they are, you know, they, they can't make it and that's why you've got all the rest of the repacking, all that issues going on. But, you know, the cards took a little bit even vintage because a lot of people are kind, have kind of soured on the hobby as far as investment, as far as an investment.

SPEAKER 4: They kind of soured on the hobby when Bobby was never about investment in the first place. But, you know, that's what they, they made it for, for clicks or whatever, you know. So they soured on that end of it.

SPEAKER 4: And John, this is the best time for a collector. You know, the, the prices have come down, they're stabilized, you know, even cards, you know, and one of, I don't regret selling cards because I really, you know, I can't look back and say, oh God, I wish I would have kept this card because I looked at what I got when I, when I sold it and I got another card that I really wanted more, you know.

SPEAKER 4: So, but as far as regret, yeah, I, I, I'll say that I, I sold all my Jackie Robinson cards, you know, and I intend on getting some back.

SPEAKER 1: But listen, I'm gonna, I'm, I'm, I'm gonna make you feel a little bit a little bit better here hearing you say that a as you probably know, I'm a Jackie Robinson guy. Myself, collected, I've always collected them.

SPEAKER 1: You know, I've, I've told the story at Nauseam that I never acquired a leaf very early on. I was dumb on my part.

SPEAKER 1: No one else to blame but myself had numerous opportunities and just always thought, well, I'll get it next time, I'll get it next month and, you know, it was always, I'll get it another time and I kept kind of kicking that can down the road and then that, that, that rise happened with what we saw with a lot of vintage cars and specifically, even that one a as you know, eventually got it. It's, it's over my shoulder cost me.

SPEAKER 1: Oh, not that it's about dollars but it, you know, my dumbness, it cost me more, out of my bank account and it would have had, I just been smarter and bought it, I, in earlier Times and so those are, you know, the, the, the lessons we know, but I've sold some Jackie too. I don't have, you know, everyone thinks I have every ja, like I have the run. I actually don't, I have a percentage, of it.

SPEAKER 1: There's others I don't have, I don't have a, a bond bread. Jackie Robinson.

SPEAKER 1: I don't have certain other ones like you. It's on my list to sort of fill in those blanks. Hopefully someday, you know, I have enough time, to do it. And, but so don't feel like you're talking to a Jackie guy who, who's done the same thing, right?

SPEAKER 1: So, we, we do, you know, as a dealer myself, I still do shows, right? You, you mentioned flippers, I wanna kind of talk about, you know, I've always said hobby you're way. Well, I'm not a flipper and I may not do that and it's not my thing. The transactions they were doing are important for the hobby.

SPEAKER 1: You know, I think it's better to have some, I think you'll agree with this to Orlando. I think it's better to have someone come into the hobby and stay for the long haul. Like me and you, have here just speaking with, with us cause we're on screen. But a lot, a lot of others too.

SPEAKER 1: I think, I think that's more healthier if I may be so bold but, you know, people, anytime there's money involved it doesn't, it's not just cars, it could be stocks, it could be sneakers, it could be beanie babies back in the day whenever there's a hobby or a collectible or an industry. Not even that a quick buck can be made you better believe. People are gonna do it. It's not my thing. It's not your thing.

SPEAKER 1: But I also, those transactions are important, for the, the, the health of the hobby. I think it's healthier if those people stay for, for the long haul rather than get in quick, get out quick. But to, to each their own, I, I definitely understand, what, what you're saying there.

SPEAKER 1: But, you know, I knew early on as a seven year old kid opening that first pack in 1979, tops baseball and pulling a, a Reggie as the, like the third or fourth card in. I didn't know what I'd be doing today, whether it'd be a dealer or do you know, podcast wasn't even a thought even at that time.

SPEAKER 1: But I knew as a seven year old kid Orlando that I was going to collect cards probably for the rest of my life in some form or fashion, you know, and then I, at 13, I was at a car store every day and the owner Rudy said, hey, you're here every day, John, I need help. Why don't you just work here?

SPEAKER 1: You're already here anyway, might as well just make it, official. And so I got to see sort of the, you know, the business side of things if you will. I wasn't, I was already in it, not for the business side, but that experience helped me, you know, where I built up a nice collection.

SPEAKER 1: And my friend said, why don't you set up it and do a show yourself? And I, I kind of resisted at first and then I kind of succumbed to peer and you make a good point, right? We sell things so we can buy new inventory. Those transactions are important. Sometimes there's a negative connotation on people who sell cards.

SPEAKER 1: I don't understand that because we have, you know, if you buy cards, someone has to sell them to you, they, you just don't, it's not a machine with no one behind it, it's, it's a, it's a person. So I don't always get that. But it's those transactions that allow us to buy new inventory in your case.

SPEAKER 1: You know, some Babe Ruth you finally could acquire by moving some other stuff. Maybe you were a little less fond of, you enjoyed them. You, you know, but you, you kind of like you say you leveled, you level up. There is no bad Babe Ruth cards by the way.

SPEAKER 1: So, but, you know, so all those stuff is, is important, you know, but I think the long term, if the more people stay in the hobby for the long term, I think the healthier, the hobby definitely.

SPEAKER 4: Definitely, you know, a lot of new people came into the hobby and are still coming to the hobby and that's exactly what we want, you know? But we want to develop those, those new people coming in and, and get them to become collectors because ultimately, every car that is printed by, you know, tops paninis, whatever fanatics is gonna end up in a collector's hand.

SPEAKER 4: It's just how many hands does I have to go through those type of issues. So, really, if the more collectors, that's how you expand the hobby, more collectors. And, you know, for me, for example, I would like to see people say to, to kids, you know, here I'll give you $20. But with that $20 you cannot buy a pack of cards.

SPEAKER 4: You've got to go through those dollar boxes and pick out cards that you like from the dollar boxes. That way they get to see cards for different years, different players, different things and not really try to, you know, oh, I didn't get to hit, dump them the cards and they trash them when they don't want them. And, you know, how many of these breakers you see dumping all these commons everywhere nowadays.

SPEAKER 1: Well, heck I'm, I'm sure you've seen it. You walk around the National look in the garbage bin. I'm not saying you be, but sitting right on top is gonna be a bunch of cards that people just tossed away. And like I always cringe when I see that and I, I'm like, you know, as a kid, I would, I would, you know, II I got most of my cards cause my friends, I wanted my gum and I wanted their cards.

SPEAKER 1: So I gave them my gum and got more cards and that's how I masked the collection. I did. Now I still got cavities. I just got them. I got cavities from drinking soda rather than, than chewing the gum.

SPEAKER 1: So we all wound up at dentist office anyway, just different paths to, to get there. But whenever I see that, I'm sure you've seen that in, in your travels may whether it be the National or even other shows, right? You see those cards just kind of tossed away because they're like you said, they're not that big hit, they're not the chase card.

SPEAKER 1: And I just, I, I always, I always find it sad because I think back to seven year old me, I, I would, I would not want to see any cards thrown away like if someone was thrown away the cards and I knew, hey, I'll take them, give them to me.

SPEAKER 4: No, it, it's Yeah, go ahead. It's crazy. I, I, I see it all the time and, you know, on, on my channel, one of the things that I do is I, I visited a, all of the, local card shops. I, I, in the counties within, really a four hour drive of, of me.

SPEAKER 4: You know, I visit all of those and I've also attended, almost all of the card shows and I do go to at least one card show every month and, and you see these kids, you know, I see a lot of them with the pelican cases walking around and, and stuff. But what you see them doing is trying to sell, you know, cards nowadays.

SPEAKER 4: And it's just to me, I don't see that as, as, as the hobby and, and you see a lot of, you know, right there, it's an open table, you'll see, or young collectors go and lay down a box and start ripping wax right there, you know, at, right at the card shows and, and, yeah, you're right.

SPEAKER 4: They just leave them there and, you know, it, it's crazy because that's just not what I would do. You know, we used to try to build the set with the commas. We used to trade, I remember back in the day I traded, good players for common players because I, I need to fill, finish that set.

SPEAKER 4: You know, that's the way we, we collected and you're never gonna go back to that. People have kind of, you know, you moved on further and stuff like that, even myself, I'm not set collector anymore and people it's too difficult to build a set a set even nowadays to, to parallel so whatever, you know.

SPEAKER 4: So you know, my my my theory, I mean, the way I, I built my collection, basically John is just patience and focus and with all of the noise that you get from around you, you know, collect this, do this follow that the new product, everything's coming out.

SPEAKER 4: I've been still focused, you know, over all these years as to where I'm going the direction of my collection and, you know, you know, it's been, you know, I changed my direction a little bit and changed my focus some but, you know, I, I'll focus on, of course, it's, you know, it's a pre war and pre war Hall Of Famers and things like that at this point in, in, in my collection.

SPEAKER 4: And I stick to that, you know, and the problem with most collectors is that they just open too much and go into too many different rabbit holes.

SPEAKER 4: And then later they realized, you know, I don't really want this, I don't want that and, and they buy too much stuff, too many things they really didn't want. And sometimes you miss out on what you really wanted because you spend your money on something else and didn't get a chance to get to that.

SPEAKER 4: So, patience is the key. I mean, I don't buy a lot of cards during the year. I, I, I purchase wise, I think I bought, you know, four pretty big cards and the rest is in has, has been fairly small, but I have picked up some good cards trading with people.

SPEAKER 4: And that's one of the things that I found, not just, you know, at the National, but with other youtubers and, and that's one of the things that helps out, you know, trading with just people that know what you like. And I know what they like and we end up doing, doing some trades and it's helped out a lot. But as far as collecting, you really got to be focused and stay focused as far as where your collection is gonna go.

SPEAKER 4: And if you're looking for a particular card and it's a card that is pretty available, let's say that you can probably find them on ebay. Take your time, find the right card for you. If you like registration in the card, find one that's really well registered. If you like centering, make sure it's the one that's gonna be centered the way you want it.

SPEAKER 4: If you like the sharp corner, whatever it is that you're looking for in that card. If you, you're gonna buy one and I'll tell you I'm gonna be looking for Jackie Robinson at this National coming up and and at Strongsville too, by the way, and, you know, II, I sold mine, the prices went way up. II, I was able to pick up something and sold them.

SPEAKER 4: Thank God at the right time. But now they've come down a little bit and I think that I'm, I'm gonna see if we work out something but, you know, going back to, to what I was saying, it's just, you know, find the right card for you. Don't just jump on ebay and I'm gonna get one today and this is the one I want and whatever take your time, you know, you'll find the right one.

SPEAKER 4: I was looking for a 52 tops M minos for probably two years and I finally found one that was nicely centered because the 50 twos are tough to get centered, nicely centered, nice color, great registration and it was graded a five, but it looked like a six or a seven. And that's the one I ended up getting because when you talk with vintage, it's all about the I appeal and don't focus only on the grade.

SPEAKER 4: Really take a good, good look at that card. And what can you live with? You know, vintage cars are all gonna have a flaw or a couple of flaws. What can you live with and what can you not live with? Because if you buy a car that you can't live with eventually, you're gonna say God, I, I really shouldn't have bought that.

SPEAKER 4: It has that crease there that it just cut. I keep looking at that crease, you know. So, that, that's really my focus. You know, that's my advice to everybody is take your time. Once you decide the card you want, take your time, don't rush into it, don't jump, take, find the right one for you. That's gonna make you happy with whatever criteria you, decide is, is what you want.

SPEAKER 1: Those are all great points. Elano, I just wanna kinda like kind of unpack some of that, right? I, you see this myself, right? One of my early mistakes with collecting Jackie Robinson is I wasn't focused. I was sort of scatterbrained or not locking in to just, hey, buy this now, you have that by the next one, you know, especially when prices like you said, were a lot lower.

SPEAKER 1: And, and then they crescendo. They have come back now, which is a great opportunity, right? I talk about this all the time on the show, you know. Yeah, I it's a double edged sword as a dealer when I'm copping some of my stuff to put out my showcases and I gotta take out that price gun and lower some stuff. It is what it is. I don't complain too much about it. It's I've done this long enough. I've seen it time again.

SPEAKER 1: So I'm used to it. Maybe someone who's new as a dealer will, will have more growing pain with that. It's sort of old hat for me, but as a, as a collector, it's a great opportunity to acquire some cards that before were out of your grass.

SPEAKER 1: And now they've kind of come back into into budget restraints and it's a great opportunity for me even to pick up a couple of those Jackie that I don't have as of yet, like you mentioned, it's a great opportunity to do it now, you know. So I, I'm sure you get, as I get a, is, is the hobby ever gonna rise up, again, like it was, it's gonna, it, it's maybe not to that level.

SPEAKER 1: I think that was sort of an abnormally with COVID and people being home and some surplus income and, and some help with the government giving stimulus checks. And so it was all those ingredients, you know, and that led to the hobby sort of booming.

SPEAKER 1: It's going to rise again, maybe not to that level, but higher than it is now. Right?

SPEAKER 1: It's a, you know, timing is so, you know, this, more than anyone, timing is so important, like, you know, I hate to say it like this, but when it does rise again, sell some stuff, you're not super attached to, you know, and then when stuff sort of settles down, use that profit, if you will to buy stuff, you're, you're more looking for more, attached to and kind of, you know, that, that timing is so, key for me, it cost me more money cause you know, when I should have bought the Jackie Leaf Rookie, I just kept po po in it and putting, kicking the can down.

SPEAKER 1: I was just thinking, ah, I get it next week, next month, three months from now, it'll always be there when I'm ready to make that purchase. And, found out the hard way that's not always going to be the case with every card.

SPEAKER 1: Maybe some cards fit that classification but not all of them. You can't paint the whole hobby with the same brush. So, you know, you learn from mistakes, I make them, I'm sure you've made them. That was one of mine.

SPEAKER 1: And you learn and the older you get, hopefully you, you get more knowledgeable. You figure, you know, things start to slow down and you figure things out a little more than maybe the younger version, of you did when you think, you know it all. And then the older version says you never did, you know, you thought you did, but you did. And I still don't, even, even in my, advanced stage.

SPEAKER 1: So those are all important, right? And, and, and you make another point, right? Find a AAA version or a copy of a card you're looking for that you're gonna be happy with even if it means, you know, you're at a show and you're looking at the card and it just doesn't move your me enough. You know, don't be scared to walk away and not buy it at that moment.

SPEAKER 1: You know, I talk about the opposite of that when I should have bought the Jackie didn't, there's, you know, there's two sides of the coin. Sometimes, you know, the purchase you don't make at the time pays off in the long run cause you find a copy you're truly happy with and maybe not one where you have buyer's remorse.

SPEAKER 1: Like you said, maybe there's a defect, it's not centered, you keep looking at it and it just kind of gets to you and, and whatnot. So be selective, right?

SPEAKER 1: And you know, like you said it, unless it's AAA vintage card in an 89 or 10, there's, there's, they're out there, they're not, you know, unless it's a super rare card which we all know exists. But unless it's something along those lines, you're gonna have opportunities to make purchases at various Times.

SPEAKER 1: You know, be, be focused, know what you're kind of looking for. Like you said, I, I, I love the, the word you use, right? What you can live with and, and what you can't know knowing yourself and what what works for you or doesn't work for you is key and you know, you gotta you know, at the end of the day, right.

SPEAKER 1: You have to collect for yourself and what you like. You can't, you can ask some other people's opinion. Hey, what do you think of this car? What do you think of when you look at it? What do you think? But at the end of the day it's your money, it's your purchase. You have to be, happy with it. I think that's a great point. There's a lot to, to learn there.

SPEAKER 4: I, you know, at the end you have, you have at the end. Yeah, you, you're the one that has to live with it and, and of course I get opinion. I mean, you, you want others opinions and you want, what do they think? Because some of the people know better or no more or maybe they see something that I don't see or know something I don't know about that card.

SPEAKER 4: But, you know, the bottom line is I'll even pay over comps on some cards if I think that's really the one that I want because overall John, I mean, you know, forget the last three years, 23 years.

SPEAKER 4: If you look back over three years ago, these cars are, are more expensive today than they were back in 2000 19, 2020. You know, if you look investment wise, there's still good investments and they will keep going up from what I've seen. And what you've seen over the years slowly, you know, and you make it safe.

SPEAKER 1: It's the, it's the safest when it comes to the hobby vintage is, is the safest play.

SPEAKER 1: The pre the presses have stopped running. A as we both know, they're not overproducing them.

SPEAKER 1: You know, that every year there's less of them as, as maybe some get destroyed or, you know, that sort of thing.

SPEAKER 1: So, I've really, probably in the last 5 to 7, I've always collected vintage. I don't wanna miss make it like a, but I've really, really focused to that side of the hobby in the last 5 to 7 years.

SPEAKER 1: I don't wanna say exclusively, but probably 90% of the purchases I make to the point now, even people come up to a table if I'm set up at a show and they'll say you buy and, and one of my first questions is the, you know, do you have vintage?

SPEAKER 1: And, and if they kind of say it depends, I, I don't know, you know, if they say no, sometimes I'll still look, but a lot of Times I'd be like, I'm just kind of in vintage mode, today. So I, sometimes I won't even look and, you know, it could have been a deal to be had, but it's just, that's where 90% of my focus is. So, a lot of it's, you know, how's the show going, how we're doing?

SPEAKER 1: Too. That's a factor. But, you know, and I like to sell, I'm, I'm gonna be very honest. I like to sell that modern stuff and ultra modern stuff to buy vintage. I, it's just something I've, I've done in the last probably 7 to 9 years more than ever before and, and that's just where I'm going.

SPEAKER 1: I, for obvious reasons that we've all already, talked about, I think, for me, for you, for many others, I think that writing sort of, on the wall to when you look at sort of where the hobby is, today.

SPEAKER 1: Yeah. You know, I know you have the whole man will run. I, I, you know, I'm sure you enjoy every, every one of those cards. But which one's your favorite? It's probably like asking you to, you know, a parent to pick out their favorite child if they have mo, for me, it's easy. I only have one son. So I get the, it's an easy answer but, you know, which one, which card does it for you the most? Like, maybe that's a better way to.

SPEAKER 4: Answer for me. It's, it's my, the 53 tops. I just love the, the look of Bantle and how that, portrait is, is drawn there.

SPEAKER 4: I just think that that 53 top set is, is beautiful and, you know, that, that Mantle to me, it also has, well, my, the Mantle, I have has meaning because that's kind of the first big Mantle card that I bought because I had some cards from the sixties. But that was the first card I ever bought from the fifties of Mantle. And I got that card raw.

SPEAKER 4: And, you know, it was, to me it was like, wow, I couldn't believe I had a car that old and, and I had a Mantle that beautiful and, you know, it took me a couple more years before I got another fifties Mantle. And that one, I just stared at it for so long. And then I eventually I did get it graded with PS A and it came out of PS A Six and it's still one of the, the most favorite cards in my, in my entire collection.

SPEAKER 1: Yeah, I can't argue 53 tops just as a set. And the design is one of my, when people ask me like favorite sets or favorite designs or look at the car, it's one of the first sets I I mentioned is that 53 tops that it just even today, it kind, it kind of bridges cards we have today and the vintage cards of the past, it sort of melds both of those worlds with some artwork and close up photos.

SPEAKER 1: And that sort of thing, which I'm a big fan of seeing, seeing that player.

SPEAKER 1: Two things you've, you've, you've collected, I've gotten into especially in recent years is boxing cards and tickets.

SPEAKER 1: I'm trying to get more into tickets but man, that, that, it, it's getting harder to, as prices and I'm always bidding but I never seem, to win them. I do have a few.

SPEAKER 1: I always, I, you know, I did a show about tickets, on Hobby Quick Hits, Orlando and I think it's, it's, people don't realize, you know, we talk about scarcity, think about tickets, right? They were just a vessel to get into a stadium, arena to watch the game. You crumpled it, put it in your pocket many Times.

SPEAKER 1: It wound up in the garbage after you got home and the game was over, you, you know, I got, I saw the game and many of those tickets didn't survive, right? Or didn't survive in, in, in great shape and it, you know, we talk about the history of sports, right?

SPEAKER 1: That ticket is part of that history. Hey, that's the game. So, and so did this, that's the game, you know, Aaron hit number seven f, you know, a significant home run, you know, there's so many things that be, it, it may even be, something personal. Hey, that's the first Yankee game I ever went.

SPEAKER 4: I, I, it's, it's funny because I really wasn't into tickets but, you know, I'm a, I'm a huge fan of sports so I went to tons of sporting events and, and everything and then when the Marlins were in town, I, you know, I was season ticket holders for, for years and I went to, yy, you name it?

SPEAKER 4: II, I, any time I went somewhere and there was an event, a game, football, baseball, even hockey, I'd go, basketball, I'd go, you know, and I always kept my tickets. But how I got started really into the tickets was that, I, I had a whole bunch of Marlin tickets and I went to the World Series with my whole family.

SPEAKER 4: I had like six tickets for everybody, you know, and like four of them. Like my dad, my mom and my, my wife, I, I get those, the other people that went, my sister, I think her has her, but I kinda shared that with, with a friend of mine and he said, do you have game four of the 2003 World Series?

SPEAKER 4: And I'm like, yeah, sure, I was there with the whole family. I got a bunch of those tickets. That's the game that Cabrera Miguel Cabrera has hit his first home run against, in the World Series against Roger Clemens, you know, and the Yankees, it was that and I said, yeah, I have those tickets as well.

SPEAKER 4: Those tickets are worth some money, you know, and I'm like, you know, I, you know, you, I realize that I go back to check and I found some no hitters that were pitched against the Marlins or, or the, the Marlins pitch and I had tickets to those games.

SPEAKER 4: And so these are games that I personally I attended, but they were important, things happened and, and I remember the event but I didn't realize the ticket would be worth money. And that's kind of how I got into the little bit of the ticket collection stuff. You know, it was just, one of those things you never know it and it happened through YouTube.

SPEAKER 1: Yeah. And, and you know, if we talk about cards, right, cards are viewed as collectibles. Hey, I'm gonna keep this, I'm gonna put it, especially today, I'm gonna put it in a binder. I'm gonna put it in the top loader.

SPEAKER 1: Tickets were never really viewed like that. They're just were a lot of Times they don't even give them out. Now everything's digital. You can request a hard copy ticket from the box office if something does occur during the game and you want a momentum, a meo of, of the event, but generally tickets don't even exist in the way we used to know them when we were younger and most people myself included.

SPEAKER 1: You don't even think you just, hey, game's over. You know, it's in my pocket. You, you, you know, you throw your clothes in the hamper, you empty your pockets, you know, you keep your couple of singles that you, you know your dollar bills, you, you put that in your wallet and then the ticket finds its way into the, the recycling, you know, the garbage and people didn't keep them.

SPEAKER 1: Like I just, I got in the game, the game is over and I don't need this anymore. So II I talk about sort of that. But now it's sort of catching up to me because as I try to acquire some of these tickets, especially on the Jackie Robinson side, forget.

SPEAKER 4: It, Jackie Robinson. Any, anything with Jackie nowadays just gotten out of control and especially game important games, I mean, and not just Jackie, but any, any player Mantle or, or, or really, you think about any big name player in any, any event that they made that they hit a big home run or, or a World Series game or, you know, Don Larson pitched a perfect game, any of that stuff.

SPEAKER 4: It's just, you know, people realize now that, you know, it's very limited and they're not gonna be producing tickets anymore, you know, that's really the future.

SPEAKER 4: Everything is so digital right now that I just can't see that, you know, I went to the, one of the Miami Heat games, one of the playoff games and we had to print out our tickets on the printer. That's all I had. I didn't even have any, it was either on your phone or you can print it on your printer at home. Well, what good, what good is that, what kind of ticket is that.

SPEAKER 1: Y or season ticket holders will even just get like a Lanyard that gets scanned for each game, one tip or word of advice. I, I kind of mentioned it already but if you are, are at a game with something of significance or I mean, you just, hey, I want, I want an actual ticket so I can show, hey, I was at this game.

SPEAKER 1: You can go to the box office, and, and get that printed. They won't do it for you without you asking.

SPEAKER 1: But they, they can do it by request. So if that's something you do want your first game, it may not be like a no hitter or, hey, this is my first game ever, or my son's first game or my daughter, you can get request that, that hard copy ticket. They'll, they'll print it for you.

SPEAKER 1: It'll look like, the tickets, you, you kind of accustom, they just don't do them.

SPEAKER 1: Just normally you have to actually request it but you can still get them, but they're not gonna give them to you just for the sake of special order. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So just for, for those that, wonder, I, how can I get one? You have to go to the box office, after the game or contact the team.

SPEAKER 1: And, they'll, they'll get that to you. Well, Orlando, man, I was, I had fun, chopping up, some hobby which I, I hope to have you back, for, a future episode. But as always I give the guest kind of the, the final word where people can find, your YouTube channel, anything, Social Media, anything you want to share.

SPEAKER 1: And like I said, if you haven't seen Orlando's stuff, many have with Tuta. But, the way you do it is just great and like I said, probably no better ambassador or advocate for a hobby and sports in general. So share all that information for those listening.

SPEAKER 4: Thank you, John. First of all, thank you so much for having me on. I, I truly appreciate everything that you've done for the hobby, you know, writing the articles that you do the podcast that you do, you know, just, you know, maintaining Jefferson Burdick's gravy site and you know, you even bought a piece of Mickey Mantle's house, so that's great to hear.

SPEAKER 1: So that's the least out of all those things. That's probably the Melissa.

SPEAKER 4: As a man, as a Mantle fan. I had to mention that one.

SPEAKER 1: No, no, it, it is cool. I'm not gonna lie, but it is a pretty cool thing. I coming from you Orlando II, I appreciate that. It means it means all the more to me, because I think you epitomize what's, what's great with the hobby.

SPEAKER 1: And so getting your sort of stamp of approval, all the more better. But this is about you. So give out, yeah, give out your social.

SPEAKER 4: The only place you're gonna find me is on YouTube. A collector's dream. And if you wanna reach me, you could send me an email and it's a collector's dream co at gmail.com. But check me out at a collector's dream, it's a collector's dream.

SPEAKER 4: That's it on YouTube. And in the description, you'll see my email and contact information if you need to reach me.

SPEAKER 1: Well, Orlando, you don't need me to tell you this man. Keep up the great content. You, you're, you're educating as, as much as anyone in the hobby, I think education in the hobby is, is like we discussed. I think there's not enough of it.

SPEAKER 1: I think there needs to be more and you're, you're leading sort of by example, I've tried to do a little bit as much as I can but you do, I think you do a better job yourself and so very important and then, and keep up, keep up that great work.

SPEAKER 4: Thank you John. I appreciate it.

SPEAKER 1: And we, well, I love to have you back on that. We could have probably did another. Well, we, me and you get together, we probably could do done a three hour show.

SPEAKER 4: Anytime you just let me know, be a player. All right, great.

SPEAKER 1: Catching up with Orlando kind of admired him and his content from afar. I got to meet him in Chicago at the National, like I said, and said, hey, man, gotta have, you gotta have you on and, and there it was and you know, we talked off the air, we could have did a three hour show. So we'll, definitely get him back on and catch up.

SPEAKER 1: I had a few more things, on my list that we didn't even get to. So, look for him, hopefully in a future sports carnation episode. But, thanks again, for him, for, for, for coming on. We're gonna get our hobby as the people announcer and some closing thoughts and we'll wrap up this episode.

SPEAKER 5: Time for our hobby is the people announcer of the week.

SPEAKER 7: Hey, there, this is John Keating from that seventies card show with a friendly reminder that the hobby.

SPEAKER 4: Is the people.

SPEAKER 5: If you'd like to be the hobby is the people announcer of the week, do a WAV or MP3 file and send it to Sports Card Nation PC at gmail.com.

SPEAKER 8: That's a wrap for this week. Huge thanks to you, the listeners out there because without you, there is no ice.

SPEAKER 8: If you like the show, we truly appreciate positive reviews. Big ups to our great guests who drive the show and our awesome sponsors who make it all possible. Sports Card Nation will be back next week but don't forget to catch either Hobby Quick Hits or cod mentions coming up on Monday.

SPEAKER 8: I'll leave you with this.

SPEAKER 8: How do we change the world?

SPEAKER 8: One random act of kindness at a time.

SPEAKER 8: Remember the hobby is the people for nearly 50 years.

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