Snype, PSA, Fanatics & More — Major Shifts In The Card Market

What this episode is about

The discussion focuses on the evolving landscape of the trading card market, emphasizing the need for competitive marketplaces to drive growth and engagement within the hobby. Key points include the record number of cards rated by PSA and the importance of establishing confidence in new marketplaces despite the current dominance of platforms like eBay and Fanatics.

Key takeaways

• 1% commission feels trivial until you realize it costs more than just pennies—it costs trust in a marketplace.
• With 3 million people and 325 million cards, confidence in marketplace success is as rare as a holographic Charizard.
• PSA dominates the market, but more competitors can elevate the entire trading card category—competition breeds innovation.
• Thanksgiving: the only holiday where you can be grateful for a full stomach without the pressure of gift giving.
• Imagine collecting stickers from trading card stores nationwide—your ultimate nostalgia trip just might spark more visits!

Who speaks in this episode?

• Ryan Alford (Host) · 11 min speaking
• Brian Leden (Guest) · 8 min speaking

What is discussed, and when

1. 0:00 – 3:00: Brian Leden, PSA, Fanatics
2. 3:00 – 6:00: Collectibles.show, Tops
3. 12:00 – 15:00: PSA, Snipe, Fanatics
4. 15:00 – 18:00: Collectibles.show, Chicago Sports Spectacular
5. 18:00 – 18:44: Collectibles.show

Notable quotes from "Snype, PSA, Fanatics & More — Major Shifts In The Card Market"

• It just takes time. And actually, last month there was 2.7 million cards rated, which is the all-time high. And PSA just keeps getting more and more of that in any of these…

  about PSA · at 0:15

• Network. Ryan and Ryan coming to you as always here on our Friday episode, the Friday before Thanksgiving week. I'm feeling thankful because my good friend Brian Leden's here. What's up, Brian?

  about Brian Leden · at 1:12

• The freaking Ranger Stadium. We got to go a little smaller here in South Carolina. I'm trying to I'm not trying to compete with the Lux trading card store at freaking Ranger…

  about Lux · at 2:30

• In the store and the train goes by, 10% off for everybody. Collectibles.show is where you'll find all of the channels and learn more about what we're doing. And ultimately, hey, we want to hear from you. You do case hits at.show.

  about Collectibles.show · at 4:02

• All right, Brian. Other news and I'm going to let you tee this one up as well. Snipe, which I think I had heard of them like which interestingly enough I think I had heard of…

  about Snipe · at 12:01

• Yeah, so there's a Chicago sports spectacular. It's in Rosemont, same building as the national they it's the upstairs probably 600 7 600 tables, let's say. Lex is there. We're.

  about Chicago Sports Spectacular · at 16:22

Who and what is mentioned in this episode?

People

• Brian Leden — Person · Main guest · 1 mention · first at 1:22
  He joins as the featured guest to discuss building a card shop, buying large storage units of cards, and weekly market movers using LEX data.

Companies & orgs

• PSA — Company · Business focus · 2 mentions · first at 0:20
  Discussed as a leading company in the card grading industry, setting records for cards graded.
• Snipe — Company · Case study · 1 mention · first at 12:06
  Discussed as a marketplace and logistics company in the collectibles industry, facing challenges.
• Fanatics — Company · Competitor · 2 mentions · first at 0:29
  Mentioned as part of the competitive landscape in the collectibles and trading cards industry.
  Whatnot eBay Fanatics PSA you need competitors because they help raise the category overall. It creates more business and more marketing and more dollars into elevating and creating.
• Tops — Company · Referenced business · 1 mention · first at 3:26
  Mentioned in the context of trading cards and collectibles, part of the industry discussion.
  Something and then if you get them all you get like a there's an idea for TOPS. We'll we'll share that if we get Mayhem on here.

Products & tech

• Lux — Product · Business focus · 2 mentions
  Mentioned as a trading card store and app, integral to the hosts' business in the collectibles industry.

Places & events

• Chicago Sports Spectacular — Event · Event focus · 1 mention · first at 16:22
  Upcoming collectibles event in Chicago where the hosts will be participating.

Sponsors

• Collectibles.show — Media · Sponsor · 4 mentions · first at 4:09
  The podcast's platform where listeners can find episodes, submit content, and engage with the show.

Full transcript with timestamps

0:00 all these marketplaces like it's free, it's 1%. I'm like, no one gives a about 1% commission. There's a reason why I haven't even dabbled in a marketplace. We have 3 million people, 325 million cards, and I'm still not confident that a marketplace would work. It just takes time. And actually, last month there was 2.7 million cards rated, which is the all-time high. And PSA just keeps getting more and more of that in any of these little industry spots. It's super important for them to figure out how they're going to do it.

0:29 whatnot eBay Fanatics PSA you need competitors because they help raise the category overall. It creates more business and more marketing and more dollars into elevating and creating demand of the category and so we need some those other players to come along. Welcome to the Trading Cards and Collectibles podcast on the Radcast Network. From Chasing Grails to Colin Bluffs, I'm going inside the hobby. Are you ready to collect? Let's get at it. Here is your host, Ryan Alford. Hello and welcome. Trading cards and collectibles here on the Radcast Network. Ryan and Ryan coming to you as always here on our Friday episode, the Friday before Thanksgiving week. I'm uh feeling thankful because my good friend Brian Leden's here. What's up, Brian?

1:26 My favorite holiday, by the way. Thank you. Yes, I love I love Thanksgiving. I like the You know what? It might be a sign of us getting older, Brian. I don't know. But I think I might like Thanksgiving better than any other holiday and better than Christmas, maybe. I don't know.

1:41 Yeah. First of all, you don't have to buy gifts there. So, there's no pressure. It's you get the family over, eat good food,

1:49 and it's like by the time you buy your wife Christmas, anniversary, sweetest day, Valentine's Day,

1:59 every other day, something, you know, it's a lot of pressure. You run out of things to buy. But Thanksgiving, you watch football and you eat. And it's my birthday weekend.

2:10 Ah, that's right. [snorts] Is your birthday next weekend? November 30th. Oh, it's been a busy few weeks uh here opening the store, getting well really getting the studio set up and then did get the retail license here and we do have a name. So, um we're going to we're trying to I also said Brian I know you're doing look you're in the freaking Ranger Stadium. We got to go a little smaller here in South Carolina. You know, I'm trying to I'm not trying to compete with the Lux trading card store at freaking Ranger Stadium. However, for us smallings collectible station here, I I do I did, you know, I had a couple calls today and I was like, I do want this to be a national destination store. Like, you know, if you come through South Carolina, you're a collectible trading card guy or girl or whatever, you don't want it to be something you, hey, on your bucket, not maybe not bucket list, but on your collectibles list or

3:03 something. Yeah. So, and I think we can do that here. So, I'm kind of pumped up about that. That'd be pretty cool if they did like um you know like when kids go to Major League Baseball parks they give them like a sticker for every park and yeah if there was like the like a shop in each state that if you went to you get um a sticker from Tops or something and then if you get them all you get like a

3:26 there's an idea for TOPS. We'll we'll share that uh if we get Mayhem on here. We're still working on those details and we'll go like that's it. The, you know, tops best Americana, you know, tops baseball trading card Americana store list or something and come out with a, hey, we all get our own cards. We'll have the Lux card shop on their most innovative like badass store. Then mine's more of like a tech meets studio meets small town, you know, train feel because every time that train goes by, we're going to do discounts. If you're in the store and the train goes by, 10% off for everybody.

4:09 Collectibles.show is where you'll find all of the channels and learn more about what we're doing. And ultimately, hey, we want to hear from you. You do case hits at.show. I want you to send in your favorite pulls of the week. And here's the difference. This isn't about just value. Hey, we want to see some $10,000 hits. Had a couple of those myself a few months back. But it's not just about the value. It's about what you're collecting. What means something to you? Share a story. Share a video of you holding up the card that you hit last week that was your favorite player and you nailed it. So, case hits at collectibles.show. Send in those videos. I want to know the stories.

4:45 We're going to bring them to life here on the show. We're going to do a segment each week once we get rolling and get some videos in where we share that on the show with us. We want to feature you on Collectibles show.

4:58 Any news on the trading card store for you? No, man. You know, we're just in build phase, right? I It's just like

5:03 Yeah, we're we're just building it. We're getting stuff delivered, you know, like it's just like it's a mess. It's a mess. Just like our office here in Chicago, we're moving in a month, is a mess. Like I feel like everywhere I go is a mess. That's how I felt for uh you know how I've been the last I'm you you sense the difference in me. You sense how I'm coming back to life. Like the Ryan that you know and love like it's cuz I was living I caught it in a uh I got I'd get in my car every morning. I go I'm just disheveled. Every part of my life is disheveled. I don't like being disheveled. Like that's how it feels.

5:38 Yeah. And that's how now you're you're on your up and I'm on my down. moving offices and building a store. Yeah.

5:47 Yeah. Amongst other things. Yeah. Yeah. You got nothing else going on. You got to tell people I think it would be cool cuz it was cool for me. I was like a little kid like listening. You went into the storage unit. Uh is it yesterday or or today?

6:02 Today. Yeah. Tell the story, Brian. So, I have a picture. I'll show you I'll show you a picture of and it's basically 20% of of the shop. Um, but I looked on the top of the and I've gone through 10% in these boxes. So I look and all a sudden I see it looks like 1991 tops full set. And I'm like whatever. I mean obviously he's got a thousand I have a thousand of those. I pull it down. It's the whole 1971 set top loaded. All the grates are in there. I'm like and well I was looking at them and like I think they're between sixes and sevens. Um, and which I think those that just by itself raw is like a $1,500 uh nugget I found. But, uh, it's fun going in there. I mean, I have a couple guys from the the company like on their off days go there and probably steal you know?

6:58 Yeah. [gasps] Half grab a Pete Rose or two. Yeah. That's what I'd be like. He's not gonna notice.

7:06 Yeah. 1 million cars. Is it? How many stores use it units is it or tractor trailers or whatever the hell they are?

7:13 It's three. It's three units. It's five million cars. So, again, if you're just listening for the first time, we've talked about this a bunch, but Brian bought uh three storage units, 5 million cards, and is still kind of going through them, finding treasures every day. Not 91, but 71 tops in actual sets.

7:34 Big difference. Big difference. Yeah. Junk wax. Not junk junk wax. Like couldn't be a bigger 100x value difference probably. And rarity.

7:46 Yeah. Exactly. [clears throat] It makes up for my 1961 set that got ruined by the water damage.

7:52 So, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You win some, you lose some. Yeah. I take the good with the bad. Um, speak of the speaking of the good, we've got some weekly movers with our LEX data of the week. Uh, got some cards. Who's popping Brian?

8:09 Um, we have a new a couple new guys this week and then we have one that's uh been on top of the charts for a while, but number one is uh Bryce Young. Um, he's up 141%. Um, he was unranked in our top 100 and now he's ranked 64.

8:29 The next one is Bo Nicks. He's up 68%. Interesting. He went from 62 to 21 and the third week in a row. I'll let you guess.

8:43 Quarterback. New England. New New England. Yeah. Rake May again. Third week in a row.

8:54 Uh number one. Number one. Um he's up 21% again. And I think his panini prisms uh silver PSA 10. I think when we started looking at this was like 600 bucks. Now it's

9:07 600. I think it's more than doubled. I think it was like four or something. You think it was in that it was in that bow nicks territory

9:14 and Okay. Yeah. That that baby's like quadrupled. I want to say like I want to say I want to say even like six months ago it was like three something. Like

9:26 that's crazy. Yeah. And let me just say for I think I've reiterated this a few time. I'm okay with all these quarterbacks from last year when the offs got back. We have treasure trove of these guys. If they all turn into all pros, the offers will retire well.

9:45 The boys can go to college. Yeah, the boys could actually go to college because we have a lot of them. And uh yes, so I'm okay with these guys just rocking and rolling and Caleb is doing all right, too. So uh

9:59 hey, it's good. None of them are tanking. I mean, I'll say that I thought some of them would tank. I mean, Jaden some of those some of them aren't increasing in value just because Jaden's been hurt, so he's dropped, but he's not he's not done bad. He's hadn't played because he's been injured, which is kind of my worry with him from the start. I told people that last year. like this kid's pretty thin,

10:19 very athletic, but I hope he can stay healthy. And then um JJ McCarthy is still coming around to be seen, but not a nightmare, you know, not a complete train wreck. He's just been a little injured and a little uneven. And Pennock's kind of a little bit of the same, but he's not been terrible. So, these guys are all been pretty decent. So, I'm uh I'm good with

10:40 Hold on. That was a the city of Chicago. Someone probably got shot, so you hear a siren. So saying hello,

10:48 saying hi. Exactly. You know, on the opposite side, we did something we looked into this week is the followers or the people, you know, who actually

10:58 have been, you know, who's been tanking? That have been Jaden. Well, Jamar Chase.

11:05 Oh, the spit incident. He's down 11%. And he went from 38 to 129. Interesting. Jaden Jordan Addison downtown which is interesting decreased 7%.

11:21 But he dropped from 78 to 218 and Kelvin Ridley is down 20% and went from 200 down to unranked. So I guess I don't know what our ranking goes to. I thought it was out of 100, but obviously these guys are well below 100.

11:37 Well below that. We're also up for an award on Mantle. They're doing collectibles awards and it's goes from like best hobby shop to podcast and we're nominated for innovation. So that's cool. We're doing some things around that.

11:52 And if you're listening, go vote on Manel for the innovation awards for LUX. Yeah. And every number it matters.

12:01 All right, Brian. Other news and I'm going to let you tee this one up as well. Snipe, which I think I had heard of them like which interestingly enough I think I had heard of them because of they do like eBay sniping op auctions like where you can drop in and get a value in but obviously they have a much bigger play than that. Uh what's going on with these guys

12:25 man? Um I love Rick Propstein. He's a he's a funny guy. He's a friend. He's uh always interesting to talk to.

12:34 He's run incredible business over there. Um, I was lucky enough to visit it and Ryan there's what they are is a massive logistics company and they're really good at it.

12:46 Um, so you know he took on he took on a marketplace and you know he's I know how humbling tech is and

12:58 you might think you know I got this a month let's go. Let's No, it's always something always something. is never nothing when you're dealing with tech. Uh but Rick will figure it out. I love the idea. I love what he's doing. Um you know, he he has a following. I think he was the biggest uh lister on eBay when he left eBay. So yeah, I mean he he'll figure it out. Um and uh I do like the concept though. What do you think?

13:25 Business is hard. You know, I and it's not easy no matter what it is. So, I don't ever want to be the judge on that, but stuff is not easy.

13:35 There's a reason why I haven't even dabbled in a marketplace. I mean, yeah, we have 3 million people, 325 million cards, and I'm still not confident that a marketplace would work. Um, it just takes time and, you know, it's about velocity, volume, and trust. And like when you swing and miss on it, you swing and miss on it. No one's cracked the code yet. my slabs,

13:58 you know, uh, whatever. Name anyone like Snipe so far, they'll figure it out. But them,

14:04 yeah, um, there's got baseball cards. There's like all these marketplaces like it's free, it's 1%. I'm like, no one gives a about 1% commission because that card will not trade ever, you know, and so marketplaces are so hard, man. So hard.

14:19 They are. It's And you know what? It shows um, a maturing industry also. Yeah. And actually last month there was 2.7 million cards graded which is the al all-time high. So and PSA just keeps getting more and more of that.

14:35 So these these second guys up in any of these indust in any of these little industry spots is is super important for them to really figure out how they're going to do it. Whatot eBay fanatics PSA.

14:50 Yep. Exactly. And it, you know, it's funny, I don't know if you'll you, you know, I've worked with large company. I mean, really, like Apple, Verizon, Samsung, Audi, Lexus, like they all got competitors. Some of them are leaders, some of them are challengers. You got leaders. Challengers like in in business. You need the competi number one, we're in a country where there's not supposed to be monopolies. Notice how I frame that. I'm not saying there's not any. I'm just saying they're not supposed to be. Uh yeah, you want all the pie, but you need competitors because they help raise the category overall because in marketing and branding, you've got BDI and CDI. You got category development and brand development. You're working on your brand, but you need the category to grow. Well, when you have competitors, it brings the category. that creates more business and more marketing and more dollars into elevating and creating

15:49 demand of the category. And so you need those competitors on some level to kind of raise the bigger pie with which then you can kind of battle for. But so we need some those those other players to kind of come along.

16:06 Yeah, that's that's a really interesting uh way to look at it. I agree 100%. Like we need that. Yeah, I mean that's what makes it all work. Uh, as we close out today Chicago trading card show with today's a Friday where this releases if you're listening. What do people need to do? I know you're out that uh this weekend Brian.

16:22 Yeah, so there's a Chicago sports spectacular. It's in Rosemont, same building as the national uh they it's the upstairs uh probably 600 7 600 tables, let's say. Lex is there. We're we're doing the the VIP experience running the trade night. If you're in Chicago, in the Chicago area, it's Friday through Sunday. Come by, say hi, get some swag. Um and uh yeah, it's it's it's a great show. I mean, obviously, it's a home a home game for us.

16:54 Yep. And that's important. So, you know, building our brand and just touching people out there is great.

17:02 Exactly. They uh they always put on a good thing. The uh VIP lounge was a blast at the national. So uh go by, say hello to them, get Brian's autograph. Uh any whatever it might be, he'll sign that hat for you. Oh, all right, dude. Next week's uh Halloween Thanksgiving edition uh and uh turkey day, the day after turkey day. So uh good luck at the show this weekend and look forward to all the updates. Yeah. Thanks, buddy. It's always a pleasure.

17:37 Yeah. Hey guys, you know where to find us. Collectibles.show. It's all you got to put in. www.collectibles.show. Go to all the highlight clips, the full episodes, links to Lux, links to the Rad Collective, anything and everything to do with the show and what we're doing to help push along the hobby and to teach you the business, the ins and outs, the news. And of course, go to the app store, download Lux, get your get your whole collection into your digital collection there within the Lux app, check values, go through eBay. Really slick integrations. We'll talk more about that as the weeks come along. And we appreciate you for listening and we'll see you next time on Trading Cards and Collectibles. Thanks for tuning in to the show. Don't forget to follow us on your favorite podcast platform and don't miss the full video version on YouTube. You can find us at www.collectibles.show or follow Ryan on Instagram at Ryan

18:35 Ulford. Now get out there and collect yours.

Questions about this episode

Who speaks in "Snype, PSA, Fanatics & More — Major Shifts In The Card Market"?

Ryan Alford (Host), Brian Leden (Guest).

What is "Snype, PSA, Fanatics & More — Major Shifts In The Card Market" about?

The discussion focuses on the evolving landscape of the trading card market, emphasizing the need for competitive marketplaces to drive growth and engagement within the hobby. Key points include the record number of cards rated by PSA and the importance of establishing confidence in new marketplaces despite the current dominance of platforms like eBay and Fanatics.

What is mentioned in this Collector Nation episode?

8 people, works and ideas are mentioned, including Brian Leden, PSA, Lux, Chicago Sports Spectacular, Snipe, Fanatics. Each one on this page links to its own page with every episode that mentions it.

How long is "Snype, PSA, Fanatics & More — Major Shifts In The Card Market"?

The episode runs 19 min; the transcript is about 3,292 words in 58 timestamped sections.

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