1909 Honus Wagner for a mere 5.2 million on a what PSA one yeah what do you think of that it seems like a lot of money to me sometimes we throw these numbers around and I think people get skewed like oh five million that's a lot of damn money for a card you think they make money on that investment yeah I think long term I think so if they don't you and I are doing the wrong things right because it would mean vintage is going down in the long term like 10 years 15 years and that would mean the whole industry probably isn't doing great it's always gonna be a debate who are the goats who's this but like i look at iconic differently iconic are like the cards that stood the test of time welcome to the collector nation podcast here on the collector nation network Whether you're chasing grails or calling bluffs, we take you inside the hobby. Here are your hosts, Ryan Alford and Brian Lutt. What's up, guys? Welcome to Collector Nation here on the Collector Nation Network. It is Friday, February 27th, 2026, our Friday edition. It's going to be a condensed edition today. We got a card show this weekend, folks. Brian, his voice is teetering in and out, but this is what CAOs do. They show up. They show up, but they don't feel good. They put in the effort. They rock it, and he is. Brian Ludden. What's up, Brian? How you doing, buddy? Thanks, sir. It's always good seeing you, and I apologize to the audience for my voice. I'll say less and think more. Luddex is more. There you go. We appreciate Brian for getting on. with the voice a little under the weather. I think he's even under the weather, but he's powering through, so you have to listen to yours truly maybe a little bit more than you want. Let's just be honest. I know how it is. My wife says the same thing. But I'll be honest and say this. I'm just happy to be here. We appreciate you for listening. We know you have options with your attention, and we're proud to be one of them. Hope you enjoyed Tuesday's episode. Our guest releases are on Tuesday. Brian and Ryan on Friday. Guest was just a little guest. I mean, maybe somebody you've heard of, Brian. I don't know. Ken Golden. Golden was on. They just sold the big cards there, right? I know. It was the first story of the day anyway, but topical. Like, we're tying this together, you know, the topical nature, and then it's all working together. Yeah, 1909 Honus Wagner. The Golden closed this past weekend for a mere $5.2 million on a, what, PSA 1? Yeah, what do you think of that? It seems like a lot of money to me. Sometimes we throw these numbers around, and I think people get, I don't know, skewed like, oh, $5 million. That's a lot of damn money for a card. Let's pop you for that. Yeah. One, two, zero. I don't know. You have to worry about scarcity on that one. you think they make money on that investment yeah i think long term i think so i mean i don't see if they don't you and i are doing the wrong things right because it would mean vintage is going down in the long term like 10 years 15 years and that would mean the whole industry probably isn't doing great and i mean that's sort of the shiny example of of vintage and scarcity right yeah i mean i I don't personally have a lot of interest in it other than just the news of it. I mean, I don't know. I don't say whether I could or couldn't afford that, but whether I could or not, it wouldn't be like on my list. Yeah, I mean, it's great for the industry. You know, anytime we get headline news like that, even with the Pokemon that whatever Paul sold, like that's the industry. It just is. It's going to bring more money. anyone holds cards they're gonna go up uh anyone's vintage it goes up anyone with pokemon it goes up so um i i love the headline riff the headline news um this industry needs more of it and it's getting a lot a lot a lot of clickbait for sure yeah mr wonderful's on every other i mean i flip i don't have time like now you know like i've had in the past where maybe i'm catching more of the news or watching, you know, a news show. But when I do flip it on, it seems like I randomly catch Mr. Wonderful talking about a card or a story or something. So we're definitely in the mainstream. And, you know, we had a call earlier, I won't name with who, and, you know, the media is catching on. And I think the brands are catching on and all that. And I think that's great for, I think, the visibility of the hobby overall, as well as projects that you and I are working on. And so we're thankful to be in it. Yeah, it's fun. It's a fun industry. We got these in today. These are fun. We ripped these in the store yesterday. V Friends Super Sticker Spectacular Series Hanger Packs. We have those at Collector Station. There's no shameless plugs on this show. It's just a plug. Oh, I'm getting it. Villa, our very active, very wonderful producer, handed me this. So there you have it. You've got two packs in the V-Friend Super Stickers, and they're a fun rip. They've got some numbered cards. They've got parallels. Gary's doing it right, man. I think they're spanning past just kids now. I mean, some of the cards, they're coming up with new names, different stuff. It's fun, though. Yeah, he does it right. We've talked about that. He's a genius. Only behind my buddy Ryan. Yes. Yeah, world-class marketers. Gary and Ryan. Newest agency. Ryan and Gary. I'm going to tell them I'm going to go first. Ryan and Gary. RNG. But I like them because they have positive messages. They're fun to open. And they lean into everything that's kind of fun about the new modern cards, parallels, numbers. like they grab your attention um we've got them sitting on the shelf and i'll say this we'll put some of this footage in if you're watching you get to see it that's why you gotta tune into the youtube they look good sitting on the shelf like i they were sitting over there we had them kind of as merchandising for the packs i was like that's really sharp in the shelf i think our wonderful executive producer bella is coming back in to actually have them in hand and you see the colors and the variations, lighting hopefully doing them justice. I mean, this shrewd shark reminded me of you, Brian. Look at that thing. The shrewd shark gets CEO. I'm Brian. I'm eating up all the competition. Oh, and then, oh, I forgot we had this. That's just my, you know, Gary signing my Chilch and Chilla card from, you know, the original series. No big deal. You know what else I like about it? the v friends is when you ask like a you know there's like there's curmudgeon people in every industry oh yeah get off my grass it's like yes it's the blowout forum if you want to like see a bunch of old guys with opinions like a million opinions like go to blowout forum and then just put like v friends in there and you just get they be rapping on it i sure that not collecting that sucks like that terrible And I like don be so offended by it What are you offended by that Why does that offend? That's Steph Curry on, on a V friend sticker. Yeah. You ever heard of him? Maybe you don't like Steph Curry too, but you know, like, come on. They don't get anything. Yeah, no, but that's, that is the curmudgeon crowd. And well, it's so funny you bring that up. We were at the National and walking around. And my buddy Gio, who does one of the best shows in the hobby, you know, sports card nonsense. We love Gio, Jeremy, all those guys. So walking around with Gio, and I noticed this too. Gary is on the floor early walking around doing deals. Dude's real. Dude's in the hobby. You can hate him because he's a great self-promoter and he's a great marketer. But the dude's real. He's in it. He knows the culture. He's studied it. He's been collecting a lot longer than most people that are busting on him. And sure enough, like what you're talking about, we were doing a little promo with Gary. And literally, guy behind me with a camera, my camera guy was there. We're filming Gary and one of our guys. this guy like he's probably like a 25 year old and he's like live blogging or something and all he's doing is ripping gary and i he's nobody know nowheresville you know like never heard of never seen him he's going yeah gary's slipping on these stickers still uh let's see where else like he's like live reporting like just trash talking and i'm like dude do you not have anything better to do like what is the problem people are the worst like i just don't get it like you just have to have something you have to have a foil you have to have something to hate that's how it is i mean that's how you know that's the way it is there's always a a hero and and then not an enemy or whatever they um i know yeah i i gary i've known gary a while and even before you know i knew him I'm following and learning of him through social, of course, like 10 years ago. But now personally knowing him, I don't know many people that are more real than Gary. Like, you know, like it's, it's, or is smart. Yeah, man. Mad respect. I mean, like he just, he does it. Like he does it. He says it. He does what he says. Like mad respect for him. I know. but I loved what you guys are. I think y'all are cooking things up together too with Ludex and different things here and there projects. I've, I've heard you dropping names. Yeah. We got some things spinning up. Yeah. Um, I know you were in Toronto. So, uh, is that right? Or Canada? Or where were you? You were somewhere for something important. Well, Ludex went international, went to the Toronto show. Um, I did not go up there because I was sick. Well, I say you, I mean, Ryan, Lud, LudX. Yeah. The community was there. The community. Dr. Collectible, shout out to him. He gave us some tons of love. My boy Tristan was up there running the booth. Steve Menzi does an awesome job at the Toronto show. If you guys have not been there, end of April, the Expo in Toronto, that's their national. and if it's anything like what they showed me it's probably I mean 70% hockey 20% Pokemon and 10% everything else so it's a show I mean it's like it is an untapped market out there for opportunities but Steve does a great job he's up to 10 shows all through the country so i love it yeah great so now we're yeah we went international canada can oh hey well we i'm sorry we had to beat you in hockey but we do love you you're a good ally i mean dude we had no right to beat them that was no no right are you kidding me it's like the hall of fame all-star team in their prime or close to it versus some decent American guys who I love and respect the hell out of, but let's just be calling what it is, right? They got outplayed in every aspect of the game, the U.S. And it was just the hot goalie. I guess you run into the same thing, run into a hot pitcher in the World Series. I guess I don't know hockey that well, but I didn't know that that could change the game that much. That's what happened. and they got a little nervous, but we had no right to win that. But, dang, was it exciting. Yeah, it was exciting. I mean, proud to be an American. Women's and men's for the first time since 80, right? I mean, in some ways, and I know the odds didn't seem, they were nowhere near as the miracle on ice, but in some ways versus that Canadian team, it feels like another miracle on ice. yeah i mean i thought the odds were even too close when when they came out and they played that way it was like it was like the ice was tilted wherever well yeah i mean the odds were i don't know on paper and again i'm like you and i are casual hockey guys like we're not i'm not a i'm learning and getting more into it i'm in the store and look at cards but i am i'm a life all basketball football baseball guy growing on the hockey side so i'm speaking from you know lack of knowledge on every part of the game. But on paper, that looked like a bigger mismatch than maybe the odds were. But I don't know. But who owns the jerseys? Like, I know Upper Deck is hockey, but who has the Olympic contract? Who has the Nike? I know they had Nike on there. Who has that? I don't know. I would imagine. I thought Upper Deck was, you know, had hockey pretty much cornered on every front. We ripped some Olympic stuff. Yeah. Like, during the Olympics, It was tops. But like, man, what an opportunity. That's insane. It'll be interesting to watch. What's the halo effect from this, right? So is it last past like this little buzz here? You've got Upper Deck actually releasing hockey blasters this week. So there's short prints around it. So smart. Jack Hughes is doing a tops now thing. You know, he scored the last point in the game. So they're only available actually through today. So there's a one-on-one auto. They should put pieces of his teeth in there. Yeah. Like the bat relic. It's the teeth relic. Tooth relic. That's an interesting, like a horror movie. The tooth relic. I got the one-on-one. Coming now from Topps now, we've got the tooth relic of Jack Hughes. but i think it i think it plays out very similar to world cup like it it gets people excited for a moment and it will get people excited the next time it happens and then baseball uh kicks opening day starts yeah i mean is it good for the industry yeah probably yeah but i don't think it's like gonna i mean we saw hockey scans pick up there's no question um over the weekend um and after that game but it still significantly lower than any other any other um it it right below magic for us We need some audience interaction here We been getting Hey if you're listening and you've been dropping comments, we love you. Keep doing it. I replied to as many as I get to. That is me, Ryan, replying to those almost every one of them, me or Bella. And so keep asking, keep asking questions. It shows us that you're listening. those have been picking up every week um we had someone brian asked hey he's trying to talk his parents into getting to the national and if he gets in he brought up the logo i said look he's in luddix lounge we'll at least for one night if he makes it there and mentions the show we'll get him in right yep 100 um and then uh but i want to get some feedback hockey are we into it are we buying more hockey cards are we getting into it love your feedback you know inform us entertain us do we have a hockey listening crowd or excuse me, hockey collecting crowd out there? And we'll, we'll take that feedback because you can also get feedback on this. I've got access to a Gordie Howe Jersey signed. This is where I was going, Brian to get your opinion. I think he's universally kind of like that. You got Gretzky. And then I think he's in that second tier, but close. I mean, he's one of the biggest names, hall of famer. I have access to that. It's unauthenticated, but supposedly would pass authentication with flying colors. So it's discounted, but I have access to buy it. What do you think? Who's it from? Yeah. Where did you get it from? Yeah. Providence and all that. Yeah. And the big thing is like, you know, the studies show technology can help. There's some companies out there that definitely help. Honestly, 40% of all of memorabilia is forged. And it's always going to be that way. There's some companies out there trying to, you know, stop that. But I personally don't buy any, you know, whatever, unauthorized. Yeah. Yeah. Because it just doesn't work. We had a Michael Jordan jersey come in to our office, which we're not even shocked. I was like, hey, can I bring this in? It's from one of Michael's games and blah, blah, blah. And so we took it. you know, we give it to, you know, Mike Baker and his, you know, his own partner, Damien. And they're like, this is crazy. They're like, the company matched the jersey to the game, but it's a fake autograph. So the guy basically, whoever. He had gay more, a real gay more jersey. And then diluted, diluted the value by putting, by doing a fake auto. Crazy. That's what an idiot. like you're not thinking i guess maybe thinking i got half of it so it'll get it'll fly it'll fly man yeah i wouldn't buy it i wouldn't buy it yeah all right what do you guys think out there yeah i know let me know what you're thinking what you'd pay or not pay i was quoted i was quoted 200 bucks and i and i looked it up and it looked like just and i don't again if i find out the jersey itself where it's from and all that i can and that has value like the upside there but like just a basic one was like get one for like 550 authenticated so i don't know well i think what you have to ask yourself are you will just wear it are you willing like that's pretty cheap for a jersey yeah i know i don't want to wear an autograph walking autograph i guess i'm i mean maybe it's a double xl i'll throw that if you make you get a hockey 200 bucks yeah true one way to think about it I mean I guess the unauthenticated doesn't matter if you're going to throw it up on your wall and it looks like it's real and you're a big fan of them to get it and to you know have it as a memorabilia knowing it's probably not going to increase in value necessarily because it's unauthenticated but it means something to you as a fan it's not a bad way to do it it's a piece of art at that point about the jersey at that point but you have to get it Like I would never sell it without getting authenticated, you know? Yeah. Yeah. No, I would, I would buy it to authenticate it, to resell it. But anyway, I'd wear it at pond hockey. Yeah. I'll wear it on trade nights or something. You know, I'll just get everybody that comes to sign it next to them. Be like, whoever they are, Jim Smith. They are. It was pretty cool. Yeah. But, um, Tops Ripped released 75 iconic baseball cards, and people are not happy. Basically, look, you know the answer, Brian. When you put out a list of the greatest, the best, the most interesting, you get way more blowback on, well, why'd you leave out that? Or who'd you do? Then you do, oh, yeah, that's definitely right. So the complaints are always louder than the praise, if you haven't figured that out. But here's what they were unhappy with. Paul Skeen's rookie, one of one, being number five as one of the most iconic baseball cards. Interesting. Would you have beef with that? Yeah. I mean, I wouldn't mind. I want to pull it. Yeah, you'd love to have it. So sell it. What about my list? No way. That's marketing. You know, they know what they're doing. Exactly. Exactly. Otani rookie being number 10, and it was like a random rookie card. It wasn't like what most people consider his better rookie cards. And Mike Trout was nowhere to be found on this 75 iconic baseball card list. So they were unhappy with those three things the most. I mean, what's their definition of iconic, I guess, is where we come down to. I know. It's like most valuable or most iconic. I mean, most popular, very popular. Yeah, those are all. I mean, if you went and did because modern media, the impressions that the Paul Skeens rookie one on one got because of modern media and the time that it happened. It probably is like chart busting because, you know, they did a tour and freaking dicks. they had it at the freaking Fanatics Fest, you know, at the Dick's, like, lounge area. They had it on display. So it did a whole, the card itself did, like, a media round. And then, you know, once it sold, the whole value of the media there is probably, so, like, the value of the impressions of the media is more like what this 75 Iconic is. Yeah. I mean, Dick's basically is like, oh, I didn't know Dick sold cards. I didn't know they were into cards and collecting. And now you do. So a million dollars is nothing to them. And so I think it was a smart move. But I mean, 75, anything you call iconic cards, like it's always going to be a debate. Well, who are the goats? Who's this? But like, I don't know. I look at iconic differently. It's like iconic are like the cards that, that has said that have tested time instead of the test of time. Yeah 52 I can name like five for me like 52 rookie The Bo Jackson card for me Shoulders baseball bat Michael Jordan rookie card. Ken Griffey Jr. upper deck rookie. I mean, it's just for me. I'm going to get hate-mailed now too, Brian, but that's okay. I can take it. For me, like my era growing up and others. Roger Clemens 1986 rookie card don't ask me why I know it probably wouldn't make many peoples but like when I was growing up that was like a badass iconic card like the greatest pitcher of the time right? you look like him that's why you like him that's not a bad thing I think Clemens is kind of a striking strong, manly, iconic figure. Yeah, handsome. I don't think I could throw a 100-mile-per-hour gas heater, though. You know? I mean, my arm's not bad, but it ain't that. I don't think that. Jeez. Dude, throw some nitro balls. But, yeah, I mean, those come to mind. There's others. Lists are always created to be debated. I like that, Brian. Created to be debated. it's called clickbait great that's why every blog ever made it's a little marking lesson for everyone whether you want it or not we'll blend in every article the five best cards you can see at the national this year we've got the ten greatest rookie cards of all time we've got the five most unappreciated pitchers from the New York Yankees every article they get you they hook you in hey yeah it's like number one hook did i hear there's a card show in uh south carolina in greenville g vegas yes baby oh yeah wilder mike wilder puts on a great show he does it here's the biggest show in the upstate that's about every three months haywood mall yours truly the collector station collector nation radical team will be there full effect promoting the store collector station as well as this show collector nation will be handing out t-shirts kissing babies smacking backs you know all kinds of stuff so bella are you going bella is going bella is going she is working in the background actually right now on some of our merchandising for the show. So Brian was asking, Bella, if you would be there. Yep, it's Baby's First Card Show. We'll see how overwhelmed I get. And maybe I'll learn some things. Probably we'll learn some things. It's pretty smelly. A lot of dudes. Oh, I already got the room spray ready to go. I'll just go up to people. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. The direction I'm walking, just, yeah. You'll smell my presence. You might be the only female there. Oh, it's not that bad. It's a lot of Pokemon, people. Yeah, Pokemon. Bella, you've got to report back. I'll just gaslight a bunch of men and try to convince them that I know what I'm talking about. How much mansplaining is Bella going to get? See, little do they know, I, Bellasplain, I've coined the term. Yeah, so don't you even worry. Well, have fun. It will be fun. Buy a card. Get some money from Ryan and buy a card. I'll give her an allowance to go walk around. One dollar. I'll give you more than that. I'll give you like $100 or something. You've got to go really get something good. And you'll get a better deal. So you, you, you, it's mentally like, oh, they'll give you like, it's my first card I've ever bought. And they're going to give you like a $200 card for my hundred. And I'm going to sell it and give you the hundred back and pocket the other hundred. All right, deal. I'm going to try next week and what she bought. Like what? Yes. Was it baseball, basketball, football? We're going to do this. Don't let us forget to do this. We're going to be busy, but we're going to do this. Okay. And we're going to film it. Callan's going to film it. I gave my daughter $100 at the National, and she came back with a SGC10 Taylor Swift card. Yep. I love it. Sounds about right. I bet you that thing's probably gone up in value. Probably. You know? Kind of like her bank account. You know? Yeah. Swiftly gone up. Hey, short episode today, a little tight, 26-ish minutes. Brian's voice is carried through, but probably doesn't have much left. He needs to get in bed. We've got to get back to work. We've got to get prepared for this show. If you're in the southeast and you want to make the trip to Greenville, Greenville's a great place to visit. Come to the show this weekend. We'll be there on Saturday from 10 to 4 at Haywood Mall. You won't be able to miss us. We're going to have a 10 by eight huge, 10 feet tall or 10 feet wide. I don't know, banner. We're going to be the people with the marketing presence at the card show. Three tables spread out. And we'd love to meet you. So if you are in the area or local listening, come say hello. And, you know, tell us what you think of the show. We appreciate you for listening. Any final thoughts, Brian? No, man, have fun. I think in your future, I think you're going to run partner with that guy and run the show and make it bigger. Yes. Those two domes. Don't give him any ideas. He already has too much going on. And for my mental sanity. That's why we can't talk too much because we just. Yeah. No. Oh, I love it. I love it. Brian, appreciate your brother. Go get better. Get that voice healed up. all right brother love you love you man hey guys the collector nation.com uh go check us out the app's out go to the collector nation app in the app store and while you're there don't forget l-u-d-e-x the best car scanning app right there on brian's shirt that's how you spell it l-u-d-e-x gorgeous merch my favorite hats that i wear every day are on the desk here i don't want to overpopulate it that's why i got our collector nation hat on he's got the luddick shirt on but l-u-d-e-x go in the app store let me tell you collection management i've saw some of the newest features today let me just tell you constant innovation happening with brian and his team helps you sell some cards on ebay quicker than anyone integration with other things coming planned and of course just that digital collection management so you know what you got how much it's worth all of those things l-u-d-e-x ludex proud to partner with them and for just i'm just on the team baby i'm just happy to be on the team. So we appreciate you for listening. Check us out on YouTube. We'll see you next week on The Collector Nation. Thanks for tuning into the show. Be sure to follow us on your go-to podcast platform and catch the full video episode over on YouTube. Visit us at collectornation.com and follow Ryan on Instagram at Ryan Alford. Now get out there and collect yours. Hey!
