Stacking Slabs

Topps Chrome Football is back.

But this time it stands alone.

No competing brand. No second option. No alternative lane.

That changes how you collect.

In this episode, I’m not breaking down the checklist or the hits. You can find that anywhere.

I’m focused on what this moment reveals about you as a collector.

For years, your decisions were shaped by comparison.

The question shifts from what do you like more to do you participate at all.

T...

Ryan Johnson didn’t set out to build a 35-person company.

He wanted to open cards.
Share what he was buying.
Be the resource he never had.

Then the business grew.

In this conversation, Ryan walks through the shift from collector and content creator to operator responsible for people, systems, and outcomes.

We talk about:

Katelyn sits down with Ryan (@reservoirsportscards), a UConn collector who went all in on Paige Bueckers before the market caught up.

This is a conversation about conviction.

Ryan didn’t start as a collector. He started flipping cards. Watching markets. Chasing value.

Then Paige changed everything.

What started as an idea turned into a strategy.
Then a PC.
Then an obsession.

We get into:

This is one of the biggest weeks wrestling cards has seen in years.

Adam and Ryan break down everything happening right now.

Topps Chrome WWE is live. Prices are high. Demand is higher. The product feels like a turning point.

Ryan shares what he saw firsthand at the Topps Industry Conference. What matters. What doesn’t. And what collectors should be paying attention to.

They get into:

• Why Chrome feels different this year
• What the future of Fanatics’ ecosystem looks like
• How premium products like Royal...

Topps Chrome Football returns and the hobby is already moving fast.

In this episode, we break down what this release really means for collectors.

Where the hype is coming from.
Why positioning matters more than ever.
And how to avoid getting caught chasing the wrong things.

We also get into:

• The reality of breakers dominating early supply
• Why “first year” narratives need to be questioned
• How to think about parallels when nothing has history yet
• The tension between chasing new vs staying focused on your lane

The hobby isn’t one market. It’s many.

But we still act like everything should live under one roof.

In this episode, I push on a simple idea. The hobby gets stronger when we get more focused. Not bigger. Narrower.

When everything sits in one place, collectors get lost. They default to the loudest voices and the most visible cards. 

Depth disappears.

When you shrink the sea, something changes.

Collectors find their lane.
They find people who collect like them.
They build...

There is more money, more cards, and more noise in the hobby than ever before.
Over $605M in monthly sales. 

Every platform is built to keep you moving.
Scrolling. Watching. Bidding. Buying.

So where does patience fit?

In this episode, I slow things down and challenge a hard question.

Can patience survive in a system designed to push you to act fast?

I break down the forces working against you.
Why urgency feels real.
Why auctions pull you in.
Why losing a...

Brett and Tory break down a record-setting moment in the hobby.

Card Ladder reports $605M in monthly sales.
dcsports87 hits its biggest month ever.
And a Shohei Ohtani All Aces PSA 10 sells for over $15K.

This conversation goes deeper than headlines.

You’ll hear what happens when content drives brand growth.
Why niche categories like wrestling and TCG are heating up.
How scarcity, demand, and perception collide in today’s market.
And what Ohtani is doing to rewrite the rules collectors have followed for years.

What happens when a single moment turns into a career?

Ethan from Tombstone Collectibles joins Passion to Profession to break down how one pull opened the door… and what it actually takes to build a modern hobby business at scale.

This is not a conversation about ripping packs.

This is about building infrastructure, managing talent, and operating in a market that moves fast.

We get into:

Adam and Ryan are back and the timing couldn’t be bigger.

With Topps Chrome around the corner, the wrestling card calendar is about to hit hard. Exalted is here. Chrome is next. Then more follows.

The question isn’t what’s coming.
It’s how you’re going to handle it.

In this episode, they break down:

You feel it every time you log in.

Everything is moving fast.
Listings. Prices. Decisions.

The hobby wants you to act now.

In this episode, Brett and Pack slow it down and ask a harder question:

Can you stay patient when everything around you pushes speed?

They get into:

What does it look like to go all in on cards and make it work?

In this conversation, Brett sits down with Max (@Cardsmax), a full-time dealer who has built his business in the open. He shares how he went from ripping packs as a kid to running a national buying and selling operation driven by shows, eBay, and content.

Max breaks down the reality of life as a dealer. The travel. The shipping pressure. The constant decisions around where to deploy capital. He explains why understanding your buyer matters more than chasing the next...

Discovery doesn’t end when you find the card.

That’s where most collectors stop. That’s where most collectors miss.

In this flagship episode, I take the next step from last week and break down what really drives better collecting. It’s not being early. It’s not guessing right.

It’s finding the people who already know what you’re chasing.

I share a message that stopped me in my tracks and forced me to rethink discovery. Then we get into how community shapes your edge.

You’ll hear:<...

The market is running. Prices are climbing. Headlines are everywhere.

And yet… the smartest collectors aren’t chasing.

In this episode of Card Ladder Confidential, I sit down with Card Ladder team members Chris McGill and Josh Johnson to break down what’s really happening right now.

We start with the data.
February recorded $481M in online card sales. An all-time high. 

But numbers don’t tell the full story.

We get into:

On this episode of Passion to Profession, Brett sits down with Bryan Thiessenhusen, CEO of Black Gold 
Sports Cards.

Bryan didn’t start with an advantage. He started with tubs of cards, a full-time accounting job, and a willingness to take risk.

What followed was a fast build.

He turned grading prep into revenue.
Turned live streaming into scale.
Turned a side hustle into a 30+ person operation.

In this conversation, Bryan breaks down:

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With Ryan out this week, Adam Gellman is joined by Jamison Long of Port City Sports Collectibles to talk wrestling cards from a different angle.

Jamison has built one of the fastest growing card shops in the country. He also collects at a high level. That combination creates a different lens on the hobby.

They cover:

• What changes when you go from collector to shop owner
• Why most collectors misunderstand wax pricing
• The importance of community inside a card shop
• WWE Chrome debut patches and why they matter
• Big...

Pack and Brett open Episode 40 with a real-time hobby mystery.

A stolen 2025 Prizm Gold Lance Briggs resurfaces across state lines. The hunt is on. Questions start stacking. How many cards disappear before they ever hit public data?

From there, the conversation shifts to what collectors are feeling right now.

The pressure.
The speed.
The constant sense of missing out.

They break down why the hobby feels like a sprint even when everyone says it’s a marathon.

The episode also covers:

• The...

Collectors think in comps.

Operators think in systems.

That gap is where mistakes happen.

In this episode, I break down what I learned from 12 hobby operators and how it applies to your decisions as a collector.

We cover:

• Why trust is the product
• Why reacting leads to regret
• How operators actually view comps
• The role of systems and communication

The hobby is growing.

But the rules are not evenly distributed.

If you understand how operators think, you put...

When was the last time you found a card before the hobby told you it mattered?

Not after the sale.
Not after the post.
Not after everyone started chasing it.

Before.

This episode is about discovery and why it is one of the most powerful advantages you can build as a collector.

We are living in a headline-driven hobby.
Attention dictates demand.
Most collectors are choosing from the same small list of cards.

That creates competition.
It creates pressure.<...

Opening Day is here.

Energy is high. Attention is shifting. And the hobby is reacting in real time.

Tory and I dig into what just happened with the World Baseball Classic and what it actually means for you as a collector. Not the surface-level hype. The real takeaway.

We talk about:

What happens when you walk away from stability to bet on cards?

Michael and Mikaela did it.

Both were CPAs. Both were on a clear path. Then COVID hit. Breaking started. Demand showed up fast. And within months, everything changed.

They built Rated Rips from late-night breaks into a full-scale consignment business.

They hired 15 people in a year.

They shifted from taking money out of the hobby to putting money back into collectors’ hands.

In this conversation, we get into what it really looks like to bu...

This episode is about a moment that changed everything.

Katelyn sits down with Kyle (@kyle_collects) to break down the shift from 2019 Donruss to 2020 Prizm and why that stretch still shapes how collectors approach WNBA cards today.

They talk through what it felt like to discover WNBA cards before the spotlight. Ripping boxes no one wanted. Finding cards that never made it to showcases. Learning the players one card at a time.

Then everything changed.

Prizm arrived. Sabrina entered the hobby. The world shut down. People started paying attention.

...

Adam and Ryan sit down with Steve(@s.a.m_wwe) , one of the most focused Rhea Ripley collectors in the hobby.

The conversation starts with a simple moment. A blaster box in 2022. That moment turns into chasing rainbows, building sets, and eventually acquiring 1/1 cards.

This episode is about how that happens.

Steve shares how he built his collection from scratch. Why he chose Rhea Ripley. And how relationships helped him land cards most collectors never even see.

They also break down what’s happening right now in wrestling ca...

Pack and Brett  open the episode by unpacking the reaction to a viral take about football collectors and why people struggle when opinions get stated in absolutes.

They explore a bigger question beneath the noise.
Who is actually collecting versus who is investing?

The conversation moves into how money enters the hobby.
Million dollar sales.
Investor behavior.
And why volume of collectors matters more than headline prices.

From there, they dig into:

Most collectors spend their time watching big sales. Few spend time learning how to find great cards.

That gap matters.

In this conversation with Max (@putnamcards), creator of Hoops Collectors, we talk about what actually creates an edge in the hobby.

Not headlines.
Not hype.
Not million dollar cards.

We get into:

In this flagship episode of Stacking Slabs, Brett shares a tough experience that every collector fears. A highly anticipated card arrives… but the package is empty.

Instead of sitting in frustration, Brett breaks down what happened, what he learned, and what he would do differently moving forward. From shipping decisions to platform protection, this episode focuses on how collectors can reduce risk in a hobby where more value is moving through the mail than ever before.

This conversation goes beyond one missing card. It’s about trust, responsibility, and how collectors can protect what...

Over the past 18 months, Brett has spent time talking with owners, builders, and operators across the sports card industry.

More than 60 conversations.

Shop owners.
Tech founders.
Marketplace operators.
Auction leaders.

A pattern kept showing up.

The hobby is growing fast. Online card sales tracked by Card Ladder reached $481M in a single month.

Companies are expanding.
Infrastructure is growing.
New businesses are launching.

But the knowledge required to build a business in this space remains scattered.

Many collectors think running a card business starts with inventory.

Matt from 941 Sports Cards will tell you it starts with people.

In this episode of Passion to Profession, Brett sits down with Matt to talk about how a hobby side project turned into a growing sports card operation built on live breaking, community, and relationships.

Matt shares how he moved from ripping boxes in a small room at home to running multiple streaming channels and building a storefront designed to bring collectors together.

Along the way he talks...

What does it mean to collect a franchise player?

In this episode of The WNBA Card Podcast, Katelyn sits down with Mike (@mikeksportscards) to talk about building a collection around greatness.

The conversation centers on A’ja Wilson and Breanna Stewart. Two players who define the present era of the WNBA. Two players whose dominance shapes how collectors think about cards.

Mike shares how he began collecting A’ja Wilson after watching the league in 2021. What started as curiosity turned into conviction. He walks through the mindset behind building a focused player collection and...

Adam and Ryan open Episode 10 with a week that flipped expectations heading into WrestleMania.

Cody Rhodes walks away with the championship after a result that few fans expected. The hosts break down the booking decision and what it means for collectors who track championship momentum and long term hobby demand tied to top WWE stars. 

The conversation then shifts to one of the biggest hobby announcements of the week. Topps revealed that the first ever WWE Topps Chrome First Day Issue release will be sold through a Dutch auction. Adam and Ryan talk t...

Free agency opened the floodgates across the NFL and collectors felt it immediately.

On Episode 38 of The Football Card Podcast, Pack and Brett break down how roster moves ripple through the football card market. From Travis Kelce returning to Kansas City to quarterback movement across the league, they explore what actually moves collector demand and why hype often follows opportunity.

They also tackle a debate circulating across the hobby.

No football card has crossed the one-million-dollar mark since the Tom Brady Contenders Championship Ticket sale in 2023. Does that mean collectors have...

Card Ladder tracked $481 million in online card sales in one month.

Most collectors see the cards.

This episode looks at the system behind the number.

Brett reverse engineers the $481M month by examining the infrastructure that allows collectors to transact at scale. Marketplaces, pricing data, grading, and vaults all play a role in building the trust required for buyers and sellers to complete transactions online.

Collectors chase cards.

Operators build the rails.

Both rely on trust.

This episode explores the infrastructure...

Every collector has a card that got away.

In this episode, Brett shares the story of a card that came back around. Earlier this year he lost the 2020 Crown Royale Crystal Platinum Tyrese Haliburton 1/1 at auction after spending hours researching it and building conviction around the card.

Then the card appeared again.

A second chance.

Brett breaks down what happened next and explores the psychology behind second chances in collecting. Why missed grails stay with us, how auctions influence decision making, and how reference prices shape the way...

In Episode 20 of The Staging Area, Brett McGrath and Tory from dcsports87 discuss the current state of the consignment market.

The conversation starts with several notable sales across the hobby. A 1954 Bowman Mickey Mantle PSA 8 set an all-time high at $23,700. A 2013 BBM Shohei Ohtani promo PSA 9 jumped from $3,500 to nearly $20,000. An Aaron Judge Bowman Draft Chrome Auto PSA 10 sold for $7,500 as baseball season approaches.

The episode then shifts to a topic many collectors experience but rarely discuss openly.

Non-paying buyers.

Brett and Tory break down what happens when auctions end and...

Tommy Lasorda didn’t inherit a card business.

He got fired during the pandemic and decided to bet on himself.

In this episode of Passion to Profession, sponsored by eBay, Tommy shares how he went from working as a breaker in someone else’s shop to launching Lasorda’s Card House in March 2025

We talk about:

Season 4 reaches its midpoint with a solo episode from Katelyn (@coldlunchcards). 

The topic is nostalgia and how it shapes the way collectors approach WNBA cards.

Many collectors chase rookie cards. That is a bet on the future.

Many collectors chase early legends. That is a connection to the past.

But the WNBA sits in a different position than most leagues. The league began in 1997. Many collectors building WNBA collections today did not grow up watching those early seasons.

So what creates nostalgia when the memory is n...

WrestleMania season changes everything.

On this episode of Booked to Last, Adam and Ryan break down the full impact of Elimination Chamber and the release of 2025 WWE Universe.

They dig into:

This is not surface-level talk.

It is a real conversation about how moments on TV turn into momentum in the market.<...

On this episode of The Football Card Podcast, Pack and Brett open Season 4 with momentum.

Since their last recording, the hobby has seen 54 six-figure sales and two multi-million dollar sales. Only three were football cards. That gap sparks a bigger conversation.They break down massive 1997 Metal Universe PMG Green sales, including Brett Favre, Jerry Rice, and Dan Marino, and what those numbers mean for football long term.

They debate Topps Chrome Football and whether it will match Prizm in price and popularity. They discuss what basketball’s return to Chrome reveals about photography, sc...

What happens to your collection when your player goes down?

In this Collector Conversation, I sit down with Rodney (@enjoycards_ig) to talk about what it’s really like to collect Tyrese Haliburton during a lost season. We revisit the Game 7 injury. The shock. The numbness. The reality of a gap year.

Then we dig into the cards.

Does an injury change your conviction?
Do you slow down or lean in?
Are lower prices an opportunity or a warning sign?

We talk about market data. We talk ab...