Transcript

Where Content Meets Collectibles: Building a Card Shop for Creators, Traders, and Fans

From Collector Nation · Episode page · Watch on YouTube

· 30 min · 5,363 words · 39 timestamped sections

This is the full, timestamped transcript of "Where Content Meets Collectibles: Building a Card Shop for Creators, Traders, and Fans", an episode of Collector Nation published December 16, 2025 (30 min, about 5,363 words). It mentions 12 people, works and ideas, including Collector Station, Fanatics, Topps, Ryan Alford, Frank Thomas.

What is discussed, and when

  1. – 5:00: Collector Station, Frank Thomas, Ryan Alford, Vibe Science
  2. – 10:00: Collector Station, Brian Luton
  3. – 15:00: Collector Station
  4. – 20:00: Easley, South Carolina, Fanatics
  5. – 25:00: Fanatics, Mike Mayan
  6. – 29:58: Collector Station, Shador Sanders

Notable quotes from "Where Content Meets Collectibles: Building a Card Shop for Creators, Traders, and Fans"

  • Bluffs going inside the hobby, are you ready to collect? Let's get at it. Here is your host, Ryan Alford.
    about Ryan Alford · at
  • Store. Destination hobby store. That's what I'd conceptually call it. We do have a name now. Collector Station here on Main Street. We've got a standalone building. It's…
    about Collector Station · at
  • Hopefully wealth show. wealth, hey, health is wealth, baby. Vibe Science. So, I do three shows. Yes, I do. Always doing the content. That's the way it is. Got to pay them bills somehow. But yeah, but we built.
    about Vibe Science · at
  • And then, we are going to have some integration. Was talking to Brian Luton yesterday who does the Friday show with us. and we're going to have ways that their technology can be blended in this with.
    about Brian Luton · at
  • Excited about where that concept's going. So again, collectibles station here in Easley, South Carolina. We're going to have links to all of the social media and everything. Getting all of that activated with where you can learn more and.
    about Easley, South Carolina · at
  • Going to continue to see those kind of things. You've got Tom Brady involved with the vault and Fanatics and Topps now owning the licenses for all the major sports, Sans…
    about Fanatics · at
  • For good, better, and different. They've got all the attention. we're going to have Mike Mayan actually on the show hopefully going to make that happen here in the next few weeks to talk about that very thing. And I think I do think you're.
    about Mike Mayan · at
  • Whatever that is in the background. Oh, look at this. Fancy. covering up what would be Oh, that Shador Sanders.
    about Shador Sanders · at

Who and what is mentioned in this episode?

People

Companies & orgs

Places & events

Full transcript with timestamps

We're going to be the first store with drivethru, pack, pickup. This is like trading card, McDonald's, and that's what it is. It's going to be retail tamement is like this intersection of retail, entertainment, and media, and ultimately showing other people what we're doing and helping elevate the hobby through the lens of what we are doing, not only with this show, but also the store. Welcome to the Trading Cards and Collectibles podcast on the Radcast Network. From Chasing Grails to Colin Bluffs going inside the hobby, are you ready to collect? Let's get at it. Here is your host, Ryan Alford.

What's up, guys? Welcome to Trading Cards and Collectibles here on the Radcast Network. continue to upgrade the studio here in the wonderful easily South Carolina. We're on Main Street. We got the studio. We got the store starting to rock. Starting to feel like a store. And we're thankful that you're here wherever, whenever you are listening. We appreciate you. We know you have options. So many options. You could be watching that grandma Tik Tok video. I don't know. I'm making up But you never know. There's a attention to be had anywhere with any video. So, if you're listening, watching, we appreciate you. Don't forget us over there on YouTube. You can see all the glory here and our expanding studio.

And holding up my Ken Griffy Jr. 1989 upper deck. You know, it's only a seven, but I'm telling you, that was the first chase card of that I had as a kid. You know, if you're listening, you're probably we've probably got some guy a lot in my age range. This was kind of like the big hit in the day. Ken Griffy Jr. Upper Deck. Man, how many packs did I rip hoping to get that guy? Then it became like Frank Thomas and Leaf and everything that came after it in the junk wax errors. It's like so many cards, so many Don Russ 1991 baseball cards worth absolutely nothing.

But hey, it's not about the money. It is about collecting. That's why we do this show. We appreciate you here. We normally have a guest on our Tuesday episodes, but you got numero uno. Got a few announcements. Want to talk a few things as we lay the agenda here on the show. First, want to talk more about the store we are building. Destination store. Destination hobby store. That's what I'd conceptually call it. We do have a name now. Collector Station here on Main Street. We've got a standalone building. It's kickass. It's really cool. It's got kind of a I don't know. I don't know, mid-century feel to it, maybe meets like industrial.

Uh, it's uh got a nice pitched roof that's kind of interesting. It was an old Chevy dealer back in the 50s supposedly. And if you look at it from the street, you can almost see that even though it's smaller than dealerships. Now, dealerships are gigantic. They got to have place to count all that money they make uh selling you stuff. But um again, we uh appreciate you. But yeah, but it's been interesting building a store. You know, 3,000 ft² may or may not sound like a lot of space, but it's a lot of space and we've got the studio built into the concept here in the corner. We wanted it to be open. So, when people come in, I might be recording content for this show, my business show right about now, or my other wealth health and wellness show.

Uh hopefully wealth show. Uh wealth, hey, health is wealth, baby. Uh Vibe Science. So, I do three shows. Yes, I do. Always uh doing the content. That's the way it is. Got to got to pay them bills somehow. But um yeah, but we built a studio right here in the space because we want this to be kind of a media hub. That's where the industry is headed. Um you know, you've got all the content that's in the hobby sort of happening. And we're building some plans around that. Uh which we'll talk about later. But it's been fun building the store uh and having the studio within the store and sort of like it's been really organic. Uh I've been I don't know like a laboratory the last couple months both doing you know like touch-up work that the building needed floors and all that.

Doing a lot of it myself mainly because I I had the time and availability and and I didn't really know what I want. I didn't know what to tell someone I wanted. So, it's almost like been painting with a brush, you know, like bringing the artwork to life. I had conceptually what I wanted to do with the store, which was this, you know, multimedia hub meets retail hobby store, but I didn't want to be just another trading card store, you know, bright lights, uh, sports, uh, you know, the same old same old that you walk in and you've got the white lights, the glass cases. Um, and look, cases are necessary. Uh, I've learned that. But at the same time, I wanted it to feel different. I wanted to be somewhere that you didn't want to just come buy something. We wanted to be some somewhere you have an experience that you hang out. And that's what we've been doing here. And I've been thinking through it, been thoughtful with

decisions and continue to be as we bring this to life because we want it to be the modern place where people want to come to collect and to trade. And you know, I've been saying a few different things as I sort of crystallize the concept, but I think it's really this notion where every day at collector station is trade night. And what does that mean? Well, if you think about trade night, it's everybody brings their cards, they're hanging out, they're doing deals together. You might have dealers there, but you've got a blend of everyone and everyone's sort of hanging out. And [clears throat] I wanted to have that experience where whether you were doing wanting to do live, whether you're wanting to trade onetoone, meet up with with friends or other collectors, and you know, we're going to buy, sell, and trade here just like any other card shop. But I wanted to foster that community of collectors and giving

some place for people to hang out. And yeah, we need some people to buy some stuff. But, you know, if you're hanging out and you're in the hobby, we're also creating sort of a safe home for that to happen, where it naturally happens, where you've got access to the supplies that you need, where you have access to new product, where you can do deals, and we'll be buying and selling all day. uh and certainly it will have those aspects that are common in any hobby shop, but we wanted to facilitate that community where people can trade and make some deals happen together and we can facilitate that. And then the big thing is we're going to have media. And so we do this show, we do a lot of social content. We've got a big following and growing on other channels and other mediums, you know, from business, my business show, but now we're growing in the hobby. We've got good momentum on YouTube and some of the other channels

and we really want to just foster the ability for people to get that content out there and to kind of document stuff and so we're not going to force that down anyone certainly doesn't want it but at the same time that's what people love to watch and and I think there's a demand and a desire for people in any community to be involved in that. They're seeing these things online and you know if you don't that's cool. We got spots in here. You can come hang out and open some packs and do your own thing and, you know, buy and sell and trade and never, you know, step in front of a camera. But it is part of the thread and the fabric of what we're building with this show trading cards and collectibles and the integration and organic nature with which the business and the hobby shop and you know collector station gets integrated within that because it's our way of sort of authentically being in the business. We

got a we're running a business directly in the field with which this show is about and we want to learn, grow, and share uh those stories and bring to life that energy that we hope we have. And you know, Bella, who's our executive producer on the show, I was talking to her yesterday, you know, like I want us to, you [clears throat] know, be a place that people they don't come to shop, they come to stay. And that's the goal. And so I think we're headed towards that. And I think, you know, there's some concepts bringing to life. I think one, I'll go ahead and share it. We're going to have a pack bar. So you when you walk in, the place almost feels like it it should be a bar or restaurant.

I've got um some old tables that have been industrialized and really cool that were in my uh social house concept that that we've kind of landed the plane on um co-working. And we've brought in some of that stuff that's kind of given it, you know, like a bar and hangout feel. And then we have the bar, the original bar with the barnwood. It's like 100-y old barnwood here. And it feels like, hey, that's walking into a restaurant or walking into a card shop. Well, the answer's a little bit of both, but definitely more card shop. We're not going to be uh necessarily cooking up food, but we are going to be cooking up packs. So, you know, when you walk up to the pack bar, we're going to have different flights of packs that you can order so that you can test out different things. You blend some things. We got some creative ideas. We are marketers here. And so, it's going to be a great way for people to, I don't know, dabble

in different things maybe they haven't bought while maybe getting some more um higherend stuff at an affordable price. You can open some packs from something that that might be high priced. And you know, we're going to do some bundling of different things. It'll be fun. May blend sports with Pokemon. Hey, look out. Crossing genres so that you know, you can see what it uh those are like. And then, you know, we are going to have some integration. Was talking to Brian Luton yesterday who does the Friday show with us. Um and we're going to have you know, ways that you know, their technology can be blended in this with scanning cards and get getting values quickly, knowing what you have. Uh, and it's going to be really cool to watch this sort of integration of things happen, but the back bar is going to be cool and fun. I'm kind of staring at it here and I already have some product kind of on the shelves. I'm sitting here

going, we're going to need more shelves. And uh, but it's going to be fun. And sort of bundling together different things that that you would need. And then, you know, we're going to do some things digitally with um ordering online. some stuff that might be harder to get. It's pre-ordering and picking up. We have some lockers here where people can store some stuff. So, it's going to be sort of a collector's paradise and a hangout and a destination for people to buy, sell, and trade things in the hobby. We are going to have collectibles. Um, that's probably going to start on the slower side. I mean, I have some stuff that that will be here on display and but but the big thing that we're also going to do is have a big consignment area. So for local people or wherever they are, they want to consign uh some stuff and have it in a you know fully secure insured place where um we can consign uh their

collectibles or cards. We are going to offer that. Uh so that will be unique to us in a lot of [clears throat] ways especially in this area and you know it's going to be really interesting. It's going to be an organic process for how this sort of comes to life and how it fits into the community while also attracting we hope and we plan you know a broader national and regional audience for people to come buy, sell and trade here and to hang out and you know watch some content. More than anything we want to be a destination and somewhere you want to come hang out. You you know Yeah. Hey, we're going to make it easy for you to stop in and grab some packs, grab what you want. We've even got a drive-thru window to make that happen.

We're going to be the first store with drivethru pack pickup. Buy online or reserve online. Pick up in the window on the side. This is like trading card McDonald's here. It's going to be cool. And we're going to make it easy for you to transact with us the way you want to, but ultimately the store, our physical location is meant to be that destination. And we're gonna do some cool stuff with the pack flights and the pack bar and you know bringing some stuff not just expensive but maybe and not necessarily even like hyper rare but maybe just hyper unique. So you want to open up that first year you started collecting an 87 tops pack combined with a 90 8797 2007 you know stuff like that.

Um, so we're gonna try to collect and collect like a lot of random things. I'm I'm got my eyes peeled when I'm out buying and doing things and putting my feelers out for stuff to kind of hold back and have for these unique things. And look, just because like I said, we're like [snorts] we're the trading card trading night destination. like the store that feels like trading night every night is literally going to be easy for us to then turn the dial for those events. So, we're going to host events, trading card nights, um you we have a huge parking lot and area where we can do outside sales where we can bring and do shows uh here and so people can show their their collection, sell, set up tables. Um, again, lots of stuff for kids, lots of stuff for adults, all the different collectors, and of course, Pokemon's huge right now in trading cards. We're going to have a great selection of that for buy, sell, trade,

packs of that, uh, and welcoming in that whole core audience to ultimately place where you can collect and trade anything. And that's why, you know, it's a collector station and it's purposeful in that name. Number one, we got the train running straight through the the city of Easley. Um, and we [clears throat] mentioned this on previous episodes. The train goes by, while people are here, we're going to do like a 10% off or something, maybe a free pack. It's going to be fun. And and that's what it is. It's going to be retail attainment is like this intersection of retail, entertainment, and media and ultimately showing other people what we're doing and helping again elevate the hobby through the lens of what we are doing, not only with this show, but also the store. So again, we want it to be one of those flagship lo, you know, uh, put it on your bucket list when you're coming through the state of South Carolina. You

got to have collector station on your list as somewhere to stop in and spend a couple hours hanging out, talking, trading, flipping, selling, you know, bringing us some some rare cards that we want to look at. And, hey, bring them by and let us look and uh, we'll help you get a valuation on something whether you sell it to us or others. And we really just want to be that beacon for collectors in the area and in the region and nationwide as we bring to life something that reflects what's really become a staple in my life with the boys and otherwise. So the boys will be working here uh periodically and getting to see them interact with people and getting back into some of the live selling and stuff that we've been doing.

And we're also going to open that up where we have people where they can come in and they want to do some live sales and stuff. We're going to let you set up live selling and, you know, run it straight here. We'll help you do that from as much as you want to. And, you know, we've got the space to to sort of bring that to life. We've got big screens everywhere. We got a projector theater. Uh we're going to have hobby content, movies, all kinds of stuff playing. Um, it's really going to be an experience that, uh, I think is going to be unique and something that we sort of learn and grow with over time. We are going to have and partner with some unique, uh, retailers and collectors. Be calling up some of the guys I've met on this show and the last couple years uh, both the national for offering up some of their products, artwork, and access to different things. And I think this is going to be that hub for access, you

know, so you know, what are you looking for? What are you wanting to collect? What do you want to trade? And, you know, we want to be a central point for helping bring all of that together. And I think, you know, we're going to partner with some of the biggest and best players and get getting distribution. Um, working [clears throat] those angles. That's some of the hardest things to do in this business is is getting that distribution. So, we're going to be going calling all the B bat channels, but we've got the connections to make that happen and to tap into some unique uh and cool stuff that not everyone else might be able to get hold of. And again, bringing that to life through some of our sections. We're have singles for sale. We'll have packs for sale. We'll have a little bit of everything. But again, I think it's going to be a little bit of a different flare because it's not going to be um exactly what you see

in almost every trading card store you go into. It is about the product, but this is going to be about the experience, too, and and about staying and hanging out to talk collecting to meet a friend and make some trades. Um, and you know, again, we'll be activating new and things. We're a lot of people go, I when you opening. Well, we're going to have like a soft opening, then like a grand opening. So, we're working through those dates. Probably soft opening this month to be announced and then a full grand opening probably January, February. um work out a few kinks, get a few details in line, and get our stock up and a few other surprises and people showing up and all that sort of stuff. So, want to make that something really fun and to do, but again, we're going to lean into the community, lean into having special events and uh events and all kinds of things that add on. And um I am really

excited about where that concept's going. So again, collectibles station here in Easley, South Carolina. We're going to have links to all of the social media and everything. Getting all of that activated um with where you can learn more and find out everything that we have going on with that. Secondly, today I did want to talk about a little bit um you know, we're we're about to turn the calendar year to 2026. So, as I look into the crystal ball of like, okay, where's collectibles, the hobby, where's everything going? I mean, you've had this sort of and I I would even put myself the last couple years suddenly like inserted into the hobby, a business guy who collected young, has kids. I think you're going to see this further proliferation of non- mainstream people coming into the hobby. And that's a lot of the reasons for me wanting to open this store to be accessible to those people. But I think it's going to be

people that don't necessarily look, feel, smell, and act like hobby people are going to be coming in and poking around either because of their kids coming into it as a potential asset, something is to collect and to, you know, put away as an investment. Uh you've seen the bigger investment players come into the industry space and make a lot of uh noise. I think you're going to continue to see those kind of things. You've got Tom Brady involved with the vault and Fanatics and Topps now owning the licenses for all the major sports, Sans hockey. Uh but they've got, you know, baseball, football, basketball. So everything's going in their tops. It's going to be sort of tops fanatics world next year.

Fanatics Fest is going to be interesting. uh I'll be there and at the national going to do the major shows and I think you're going to see a further push into this integration of sports culture, hobby, um side hustle, all of these things sort of continued to proliferate. I I think that and with everything that's happening with jobs and the economy and stuff, I think people are looking for uh I think as much as anything outlets for their time and energy um and attention and it's it's bringing together all of these things because you've got the the athletes, you got the sport that they play and the interest in live athletics [snorts] being its highest level ever.

um all the sort of commercialization of all of these things. You've got even the WNBA being hot and their cards being hot. You've got soccer, the World Cup, all of that stuff coming. So, you're going to I think there's a lot of things that are just going to continue to to burn the fuse of what's already lit in this that you're going to see more of it. So, I don't know that you're going to see different other than just it's going to be different having, you know, one major retailer or one major uh manufacturer um owning all these licenses and sort of for good, better, and different. They've got all the attention. Uh we're going to have Mike Mayan actually on the show um hopefully going to make that happen here in the next few weeks to talk about that very thing. And um I think I do think you're going to start to see this push even more into not necessarily things that you might expect having trading cards and having

collectibles. And I almost see this era of if you think back to the days I'm age myself, but if you're, you know, in my age bracket or, you know, 30 to 50, um, if you're younger, you might get it. But these collectibles like McDonald's would always have, they'd have the they had the California raisins. They had these glasses that everybody wanted to get. Everybody was kind of collecting and like it was part of a retail giveaway or an add-on. I think you're going to see more of those types of things happen. uh where collectibles get integrated as bonus items into other products and then you're going to see other things get get cards that you might not have expected and entertainment um and movies and other things where I don't know I think we're going to lean into what's happening in this collectible space and the and how these cards both digital and physical are so hot as assets collecting and it's

just so ingrained in our fiber to be collectors and the technology, everything's enabled, plus the desire to do it is at an all-time high. So, I think you're going to see increases in all of that. And hey, bring back those California raisins. If you're old enough, you get it. Uh, but I remember McDonald's having those giveaways. You're collecting every one of those things, man. And then I think some of that stuff still has pretty good value depending on what it is. I don't know about the California raisins, but I remember that distinctly trying to get every one of them. Uh, what a crazy marketing ploy. But I do think you're going to see more and more collectibles as add-on to get people enticed to different things. Movies, uh, retail, food, you know, what can they add on?

You've seen that integration already happen like Pokemon's integrated with some a few different things and you've got obviously the natural integration with big box, special edition boxes and stuff, but that that's a dial turn. The bigger dial turn I think is going to be sports enter entertainment music and how collecting kind of gets swiped across all of that you know like again spread across it. So I think you're going to see more and more of that and then it's going to be you know where does tops take us hopefully in a great direction with new product and you know we aren't just slapping the logos back on the jerseys. We're in innovating with new idea, new concepts, new artistic approaches on cards and players and all that stuff. Let's keep the downtown effect going. And uh I think we're in we're in the right hands with the leadership at Fanatics, but I just hope they bring it to life and they can, you

know, keep it all together. So, we'll be talking more about all of that. And hey, that's what we're here for as a show. You know, we're a show. We're a store. and you know ultimately here to bring it to life to be authentic and to give you what you want and what you need in the hobby. So let us know what you think. Uh drop those comments. I I replied I had like 20 comments on our YouTube videos that I caught up with today. Continue to drop those. We it means the world that you care enough to listen to watch. Uh I can't tell you what that means. Uh and you know it takes time, energy, effort, attention and we know you have a lot of options. So, keep it right here and uh know that we do it just for you and you know where to find us.

Collectibles.show. That's the website with all the content, all the information. More news coming on collectors station. And appreciate you for tuning in. See you next time on Trading Cards and Collectibles. All right, here collector station. These are the special edition boxes that are at Walmart. Now, uh, if you can find them, got Revolution Football and one exclusive parallel card and a CGC graded card in here. 25 bucks. Let's see what we got here. See, like the faux honeycomb parallel, whatever that is in the background. Oh, look at this. Fancy. Ah, covering up what would be Oh, that Shador Sanders.

It is nice. Shador on the card in the box. Little parallel. What is this? I don't know the parallels well enough to know, but I do know Shadore is a good rookie to get. So, shockwave. One, two, three, six packs of Revolution Football. All right. that. Hey, talking about one of the best players in the game right now. Jackson Smith and Jigba, best receiver in football right now. Oh boy. Rich Ganon. I don't know what that parallel is. That's the Cosmo. Will Howard? I haven't seen or heard much of him yet. And Isaac, not Elon Musk Tesla.

All right, we opening all these. I don't know what we're really chasing here other than maybe like an auto or something. Rocoan Smith played at Georgia. Good linebacker. Baker Mayfield. Cosmo. Oh, Tyler Warren. Is that an auto? No, it's not. But he's a good rookie. Mason Graham. Cool looking cards. And the kids reporter opening packs at the pack bar. That's what we're doing. Ashton Genty. This has base Tony Dorset. The Grid Iron Legacy, Kareem Hunt, and Miles Sanders for the Panthers. All right, what we got? Jaylen Noro. I haven't seen him this year. The other Jaylen, Jaylen Herz, Colston Loveland. Oh, that's cool.

All right, two packs left. Who are we going to get? How about an autograph number? Jack Beck that Beck or Beach? I think it's Beck. Stargazing Over Burrow. Deorest Buckner and Dwayne Bow. Haven't heard that name in a while. All right, last pack. Magic. Let's go. Kate Hotton. Quinn. Users right behind him. Cool color. Is that a Cosmo? Got to be Mike Evans and Mike L. Williams. Cold. Hey, these are beautiful cards. I like the look of these. Don't know if we got any bangers here, but fun. Open. Lots of uh color parallels, shiny stuff.

They definitely win the shiny award. They got the sun like shining them up in my eye here. But um fun open here. 25 bucks. Yeah, I think decent value. The lunch box alone with this guy is worth $25. Let's be honest. Come on. We'll put that up with our I mean, look, what goes better than those two things?

Exactly. We were already ahead of time. So, there we go. The pack bar will be open soon. And you get all the hits. Hey, can't hit it if you don't rip it.

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 collectibles.show. We 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. 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. 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 Ulford. Now get out there and collect yours.

Hey. Hey.

Questions about this episode

What is discussed in "Where Content Meets Collectibles: Building a Card Shop for Creators, Traders, and Fans"?

In order: 0:00 Collector Station, Frank Thomas, Ryan Alford, Vibe Science; 5:00 Collector Station, Brian Luton; 10:00 Collector Station; 15:00 Easley, South Carolina, Fanatics; 20:00 Fanatics, Mike Mayan; 25:00 Collector Station, Shador Sanders.

What is mentioned in this Collector Nation episode?

12 people, works and ideas are mentioned, including Collector Station, Fanatics, Topps, Ryan Alford, Frank Thomas, Vibe Science. Each one on this page links to its own page with every episode that mentions it.

How long is "Where Content Meets Collectibles: Building a Card Shop for Creators, Traders, and Fans"?

The episode runs 30 min; the transcript is about 5,363 words in 39 timestamped sections.

More from Collector Nation

About this transcript: the episode's spoken words as captioned on YouTube, split into timestamped sections. Reclip.Me locates every person, work and idea in the text, keeps the time it is first named, and quotes the words around it verbatim. Last updated January 7, 2026.