Episode 262: Tyson Beck: Designing the Future of Player-Licensed Cards

This week we welcome designer and creator Tyson Beck back to the show for a deep dive into card design, player-licensed products, and where the hobby may be heading next.

Tyson discusses the thinking behind building a product that improves on what already exists in the hobby, how he identifies gaps in the market, and the creative process that drives his work.

We also explore the Nikola Jokić game-worn collection, including the recent $5K sale and the challenges involved with producing player-licensed cards — particularly when jerseys can’t display team, league, or sponsor identifiers.

The conversation expands into the current health of the hobby, what trends look positive, and what elements may need fixing as the industry evolves under the Fanatics / Topps era.

Other topics include:

• Tyson’s dream projects
• The possibility of an NBL concept set
• How card allocations are randomised
• Why Tyson is sceptical about a Topps Now-style model
• A listener question about QR-coded cases linking to game highlights

A fascinating look at the creative side of the hobby and what it takes to design cards collectors truly connect with.

Transcript

Russell: Welcome everybody to this week's show. This is episode 262 of the Yukon Comp This MBA trading card show and I am here with Tyson Beck. Tyson, how are you today?
Tyson: Yeah, I'm I'm good. Russell, how are you?
Russell: Yeah, man. Like life is treating me very well and um I've genuinely got like got no complaints to be honest. Like um I think the first thing I want to start off with is thank you to you. And what I mean by that is is thank you for what you do for the community because I think what you do is actually very important and I think without your contributions in this field um the hobby wouldn't be what it is. So I think now that I've said that and sort of got that out of the way I think this is the perfect time for you to introduce yourself cuz there might be some people out there that just don't know who you are and and want to hear a bit more about you. So, please tell us what you do and maybe even like a small genesis story too, man, because I know you've told it before, but it's still good to hear.
Tyson: No, no, no, thanks. No, I first off, I really appreciate that, Russell. Means a lot to me. Um, there's a lot of good people in the hobby. I think that's what makes the hobby so cool, you know, so great. Um, so welcoming and, you know, um, you know, you make lifelong friendships from it. It's kind of insane. So, um, yeah, it's great to be a part of it. um really appreciate uh people allowing me to have a you know I guess a space in in the hobby. Um and yeah, they're so supportive. So it's been incredible. Uh a little background on me for anyone that doesn't know me. Um I'm uh from Adelaide uh in Australia. Um so born in Australia, raised in Australia, still live in Australia. 99% of the internet think that's that I live in America.
Russell: I still don't know why because you spend a fair bit of time in the States.
Tyson: I spent a fair bit of time there, but I never never moved there. Like I love Yeah. Love America, but Australia is home to me. Always be home to me. I'm very loyal person, so I could never leave here. Um, so yeah, I do everything from Australia. I just fly over signings. Uh, so I do trading cards with
Russell: Hypothetically though, if you did have to live in America, what state or what area would you live in?
Tyson: Oh man, that's a that's a good question. Um, oh, I mean, if you actually really want to be honest, I'd probably say Hawaii. That's a technicality, right? Yeah. Yeah. That's the closest to home. Um, so I would pick Hawaii. Can I pick that or not?
Russell: It's your podcast. You can do what you want.
Tyson: I would pick Hawaii. Um, but inside the states probably California just because the weather. I need somewhere warm. Um, whereas uh Yeah, I mean Florida is probably a little bit too um from what I'm used to, I'm not used to the humidity. So, probably pick somewhere in California. Yeah. Um would be nice. But yeah, um, uh, trading card, um, designer, artist. I've been working, I started working with cards, uh, first did started cards in 2014 with Tops, uh, work with them until about 2024. Made heaps of sets, uh, Topps Fire mainly, but then also later on I did some, um, like I was doing inserts and stuff like that with them as well, but I did, uh, Project 70, Project 22, and Project 2020. I think they're the three names of them. They were probably what people know most about my TOPS work. Um so they were interesting. Um that was yeah during 2020 to 2022. Um and uh a few years before then I worked with Panini. I did a few um a few pieces uh releases and stuff with them. Uh but realistically since 2020 I've been focusing on my own brand, building my own brand. uh just back trading cards, working directly uh directly with athletes and trying to launch yeah I don't know just trying to do what I enjoy and build up my brand and you know um I definitely thought like as a young kid working for the biggest companies in the world was my dream but um as I was as I've been doing this for like 20 years now um in sports design I've you know slowly found out that you know working for the big companies isn't isn't the end goal and it's building your own brand building up your own your own baby, you know, um which has so much more meaning behind it. So that's what I'm that's what I'm all in on.
Russell: Um yeah, so for young people out there, and I think I sort of asked you this last time, like what advice have you got? But I think the way I'm going to ask this question is like did someone sort of mentor you at some point or like give you a piece of advice and that was kind of like you know the inception for this like concept because like I've been really blessed. I've had so many people just be putting me under their wings over the years and you don't realize sometimes until maybe 5 or 10 years later how much these people sort of meant to you professionally or you know in some other capacity. So was there someone that just was that person for you?
Tyson: No, not really. I mean it's unfortunate but I think it's based on when I started doing it. So when I started doing sports design work was in 2005. Like honestly no one was doing it. It was just a few random people on forums. So it was just kind of doing that. But it was also just I don't know like just like I've been told a million times by people like oh give up it's not worth all this stuff like that's fine. Um but I don't know it's just something that I enjoy doing so I was just going to keep doing it. But especially with the card stuff, no like you know um you know I was yeah there was no one to lean on because when I did it in 2020 I was essentially the first person to do it like outside of obviously like you know Leaf and like the bigger companies as well like no one no individual like independent person had done like you know exclusive car deals uh and collabs with athletes and launching their own products. No one had done that yet. So I was kind of stepping into unmarked territory. Um so I didn't have anyone to kind of guide me. But look, let's be honest, I'd worked for TOPS for nearly, you know, six, seven years before then. So I would say it was just based on, you know, I guess I I kind of had been in the hobby. Like I read all the time on the internet. Like I'm I'm a collector myself. I see what people like. I see what people don't like. You know, I'm not going to launch a product with stickers. you know, I'm not going to la, you know, there's so much stuff that I wouldn't do. Um, that I feel like it was just just the community and like collectors as a whole, like just what they what their needs are and wants uh it kind of guided me into what what I should do. So, it it wasn't like rocket science or anything. It's just like try and build something that I myself would want as a collector and Yeah.
Russell: Yeah. So tell us some of your thought process when trying to create a product that improves on what's already out there. And I think that you've sort of touched on that a little bit already.
Tyson: Yeah, I mean it's definitely unique to the athlete, right? Like I guess if you want to keep it recent like Jokić, Nikola Jokić—I did a one-of-one and you know you can have fun with him and put him as the Joker, which he absolutely loved. He wanted to keep a few himself which is actually like the ultimate feedback to receive. Um, so you can have fun with that, but then someone like I don't know like you know another player might not have those um uh you know they you wouldn't have that ability to kind of have fun with that. Um so it's really just kind of building up something that's unique and specific to the athlete.
And it is different. I need the athlete to approve the artwork and everything. So that's the thing that's different is that you know people collect trading cards of like you know Topps and Panini or whatever but um in most cases like the athlete never sees the card never approves it nothing because it's handled by the league um so they they have no say like they they might absolutely hate it or like you know they might never see it.
Russell: Right. Okay. Whereas when they're working with you they're getting input into the the final output.
Tyson: Yeah. Or even if it's just simply a sign off. So, you got to make something that they're they're cool with, which is which is actually a great chance. And you know, there is stuff that, you know, like the the League may have not, you know, the Joker had stuff like blood on his outfit and everything. I mean, the league wouldn't have approved that. Like, no way. No, no way they would approve that. So, you're able to kind of do things that um because you don't have the league overseeing, you know, what you can and can't do. You got the ability to do things that are a little bit unique and different.
Um, but that's just that example. Um, the other players, yeah, I don't know. I just try and try to have fun with it. Try and create something, you know, sometimes I kind of go a bit out there and sometimes I'm a bit more conservative and just kind of make something a bit more simplistic. So, for me, I know a lot of people like, oh, like over the years, I switch up styles. I just because I get bored of things. I'll just, you know, I might make something grungy. I might make something graffiti. I might make something clean. I might make something cartoony. I just have fun with it. Like, I've been doing this for over 20 years. If I have the same style, I'll be drive like I'll be bashing my head against the table.
Russell: So, in that in that Yokić instance, is he a fan of that character? Is he? And so, he wanted to do something in that line.
Tyson: Yeah, that's what I found out. And I guess like the cool thing about Jokić is um like he has this persona where he doesn't care about—I'm not saying it's true obviously—like the media portrays it like he doesn't care about basketball, he cares about horse racing more and all.
Russell: Yeah. Yeah. 100%. You know I agree with that to a certain degree though too. He does give that portrayal of it but he's an insane competitor. Like you saw him go off the other night against OKC, right? He was going to mess that guy up hard.
Tyson: Oh yeah. Yeah. And he doesn't have social media as well. He doesn't have any social media accounts. So, we kind of probably don't really see his real thoughts and his real like kind of I don't know, which is kind of unique in a way. No social media. But why I say that is that I kind of went into it thinking he won't care about these cards if he doesn't care about basketball. Why would he care about these cards? But he absolutely loved them. Requested to keep some. And so, I'm mailing him back some more cuz I wanted to give him like the unique packaging I did and everything. Um, which um which I think he's just, you know, he's going to enjoy even more. It's not just like a pack of cards. It's like a full-on like, you know, collector's box. Um, and uh, yeah, that that was that was cool to me. That that that is the ultimate feedback is someone like an athlete actually requesting—like "I need some of these"—and I'm like, "Yeah, you got it."
Russell: That's like literally the biggest like compliment. Yeah. So, what gaps and opportunities do you look for before deciding to approach it? Um, or an athlete or just like a project in general?
Tyson: Well, a lot of the times like I'm in the position where like I guess people have access to athletes um and uh you know, it might be agents, might be managers, might be just people that are like connected with players. So, they're mainly hitting me up and being like, "Would you be interested in working with this guy?" Or they have a list of players and I could kind of feed through that and see what one's worth it. And to be honest, more times than not, it's not worth doing because just because like I only can I put so much time, effort, and care into projects that I can only pump out something say once every three to five weeks. I can't be doing stuff weekly or daily or whatever. It's just not possible because I don't want to put out a like a half-ass project. Um so I have to look, "Okay, I'm only going to work with say 10 or 12 releases this year." So, I have to kind of be picky and choosy. Some have been amazing and then some um um I've done something and I'm like, "Ah, I shouldn't have done something with that player because I've lost this opportunity with another player."
Um so, that's the main that's how I go into it. Okay, cool. Should it be someone I do this year or maybe schedule for next year or um and then if it's someone that I think will work. So, for example, I guess the best players are ones where you look at a situation where, oh, they haven't signed for a long time. So, if it's a retired guy, they haven't signed in years. Well, then that's great.
Russell: What's an example of like a player that's hasn't signed for a while and you're like, I need to get them.
Tyson: Yeah, he signs a lot now, but when I did Patrick Ewing, he hadn't signed in a long long time.
Russell: Yeah. Um, but he signs all the time now. Um, what was your art concept around Ewing? Because I can't remember that one at all to be honest with you, man.
Tyson: Um, it was just... out of space cosmic kind of just retro 90s stuff. There was another similar was like Tyson Fury. So Tyson Fury is a boxer. Um he had not done an on-card auto ever in his entire career and he's like freaking heavyweight champion.
Russell: Is that the guy who refers to himself as the Gypsy King?
Tyson: Gypsy King. Exactly. Right. So it's just like I was like, how can this guy not even have an on card auto? So I was able to put out his first oncard auto which was amazing. Um and even he sat down he was just like—it was funny is that one thing I asked these players, I always bring up the stickers just as a joke sort of thing or just get their reaction—and they go we "effing" hate stickers. They're like I hate stickers because they don't know what is going on. Like you think about these guys, these athletes and like celebrities, they get used and abused left, right, and center. So once they're signing a sticker they really they're unsure what the hell it's going on. So they like signing on card because they know the end product is. Um you know they can see it um and then they can you know there's been instances of athletes they'll go on Twitter or whatever and go "I never signed that." Well yeah of course you never signed it because um you didn't know you signed a sticker and it was just applied on something. So I think that being on card it eliminates that whole you know uh yeah the athlete not knowing what the hell was going on.
Russell: Yeah, there's some old Tyson Fury cards. Yeah. Um, but that was a cool one. Yeah. Uh, so just before you move on from that, like tell us a funny story about this guy cuz like surely he like did a trick on you or like like did something to you.
Tyson: No, he was—you know what I liked about him—the way he is on camera and on social media and everything is exactly what he's like when he's off camera. Some of these guys sometimes you'll you know they might be... I mean he was just a lark. He walks in and it was like he was putting on a show just signing cards which I absolutely loved. Um yeah. No, he he was trying to do a deal. He was actually... so you know the fights he was actually in, he came to Australia because he was trying to do a fight at the MCG. Um he was trying to do it at the MCG or Suncorp and he ended up getting money from the Saudi princes or whatever... one of the you know rich billionaire trillionaires whatever they are over there.
Russell: Um that's on my to-do list one day is get some oil money.
Tyson: No, we ended up going out out there and doing the deal there. I think the fight with Usyk or whatever it was, but uh he tried to he was scoping out Australia. They were trying to get a fight done here.
READY FOR PART 2? Say "Go" and I will drop the middle chunk.