This Is the Pull: The Jedi Lex & The Thrill of Whatnot

This week on Twin Suns: Card Cantina, we’re diving into the galaxy of Star Wars trading cards with collector, content creator, and Whatnot host The Jedi Lex (@thejedilex).

From ripping packs live to chasing grails, Lex takes us inside the thrill of the pull, the art of the break, and the community that keeps collectors coming back for more. We talk about favorite cards, biggest hits, our favorite sketch artists, and what makes Whatnot feel like a return to childhood, just with much higher Las Vegas stakes.

Plus, we dive deep into Smuggler’s Outpost and the highly anticipated FanExpo Anaheim & Rebel Scum Con 2026.

Whether you’re deep in the hobby or just Whatnot-curious….this is the way.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Welcome loyalists and critters. You're now listening to Twin Sons, the Star Force podcast. Lawyer defenses and join your hosts, John and Nelly, for promises to be the lightning conversation about a galaxy far, far away. The warn you know, not attempt to turn this podcast off before it's finished. World Force to demonstrate the true power of the dark side. So now, on with this go.

SPEAKER_05 0:41

Hello there and welcome back to Twin Sons. And today we are stepping fully into the Cantina. New segment called Twin Sons Card Cantina, where the force meets the thrill of the pull. And today we are talking all things Star Wars trading cards with collector, content creator, and whatnot host, the Jedi Lex. Lex, how are you doing?

SPEAKER_00 1:07

I'm good. It's uh it's a pleasure to be here. Thank you for inviting me.

SPEAKER_05 1:11

Absolutely. I got on WhatNot back in January, January 26th. I was trying to wean myself off of YouTube for a variety of reasons. Somehow news was showing up in my feed, and you know, that's no good. So I was I was thinking, you know, let me download whatnot and see what everyone's been going on about for years now. And the last two months plus a few days have been so thrilling and so expensive. You know?

SPEAKER_00 1:43

Yeah, whatnot is uh it's notorious. It's a it's a pit for sure.

SPEAKER_05 1:48

It it really is. I mean, it's just so easy to grab your phone when you just need to like be on your phone for however long, wherever you're at, and go to whatnot, as opposed to social media or YouTube or you know, work related. So it's very easy to spend money quickly, and I love it.

SPEAKER_00 2:12

Definitely uh makes uh swiping very readily available. Yeah. It's it's quick. It it can add up very quickly. Yes.

SPEAKER_05 2:22

Absolutely. I I found that you have the best thing to do is to link it to your your Apple Pay because as soon as you purchase, it flashes on your phone. You just made this purchase. If it's tied to a credit card, you don't see it until 30 days later, and you're like, what the hell? I always like to start out with a little get to know you, and I just saw you were at Megacon, correct?

SPEAKER_00 2:50

I was, yeah. Last weekend, or it was two weekends ago was MegaCon, and then this past weekend was CollectiveCon.

SPEAKER_05 2:57

Oh, fantastic. What were the highlights for you of both of those conventions?

SPEAKER_00 3:04

So for MegaCon, I only did one day this year, and I would have to say getting to talk to Nick Gillard was very enlightening. He is extremely knowledgeable, getting to share his experience about how he kind of developed some of the choreography, how he, you know, had to kind of tailor it to the different actors like Hayden and Ewen, and just all of his different experiences on set. It was really cool talking to basically the lightsaber legend. It was, I would say that would probably be the highlight for me for Megacon. For CollectiveCon, I got to meet quite a few people. I actually got some plaque signed for some friends, but they did an Ahsoka panel, and it had Monas Fondi, Ivana, Paul, and then Diana Lee. And that was pretty cool kind of hearing their insights and a little bit more into Ahsoka. I'm a huge Ahsoka fan. That's probably so far my favorite show that Disney's put out, maybe aside from The Mandalorian. Um it was cool getting some you know insight into season one, and then they kind of teased us a little bit, obviously, not too much about season two. So probably my most anticipated project of this year. So it was nice to hear how excited they are for it.

SPEAKER_05 4:23

Yeah, that's gonna be fantastic. I I saw some video footage of the panel when Amon has just really like got such a great personality. He was rocking that, you know, Return of the Jedi button down, which I thought was pretty stylish. It's funny because he's obsessed with tennis. And we live in Palm Springs, and there was this massive tennis tournament. And on his IG, he was like at our favorite sandwich shop, he was at our favorite coffee shop. I mean, he literally was circling where we live and where we go on a daily basis. So so desperate to I wanted to meet him so bad or just bump into him. But yeah, Ahsoka 2 is gonna be incredible. Now, what is it about Ahsoka that that particular show that makes it your favorite? Did you are you, I mean, are you really familiar with Rebels? Because everyone says it's Rebel season five, and I hate to say it, but I have not watched Rebels yet.

SPEAKER_00 5:25

Oh man, yeah, you're definitely missing out. So, I mean, I I grew up, I was, you know, pretty much a a kid, a a young teenager when the Clone War started coming out, and I never watched it like consecutively. I would watch shows kind of like here and there, or episodes, I guess. And I always, whenever it would come on, I would just really resonate with Ahsoka. And I never kind of took everything that it was offering at face value until I was a little bit older, and then obviously COVID hit, and I was like, you know what? I've got a ton of time on my hands. Let me re-watch all seven seasons of Clone Wars, and it made me really appreciate Ahsoka's character just as a young young lady. She was really one of the young, you know, female Jedi's. There wasn't many others, and at the time I was young, so I really resonated with a lot of the stuff she was going through. Obviously, I wasn't having to fight in lightsaber duels or leave the Jedi Order or lose my master, but you know, I just I was I felt like I was going through similar things, obviously not that similar, but I just really resonated with Ahsoka. And then I ended up finding out that Rebels was a thing. So as soon as I finished Clone Wars, I went right into Rebels, and I was hooked. And now kind of on the day-to-day between animated shows, I really kind of go back and forth between like what's my favorite, because Rebels is just different, but it still has that like kind of Clone Wars feel, but it's almost more family-oriented, and it does very much carry into Ahsoka. I think you can watch Ahsoka not really need to have seen Rebels. I think they did a good job kind of allowing, you know, just the regular common viewer who, you know, maybe doesn't enjoy animation or didn't watch it to really understand what was happening in Ahsoka. But I think if you did have that background knowledge, it it really exemplified a lot of the background of the characters, like who they were. Like my my parents, my dad introduced me to Star Wars. So anytime a show comes out, we watch it together. And now that I've kind of moved out, whenever a show comes on, we'll like text each other during it or what, you know, after get each other's thoughts. And he had never watched any of the animated stuff, and he was like, man, you know, this was really good. And I was trying to like walk him through some of it. He's like, Man, maybe I should watch Rebels. Like maybe that would help a lot. But I mean, he still enjoyed it, even though he'd never watched Rebels, but it very much as a continuation of it, and then getting to see really one of my some of my favorite animated characters make their live action transition. It was just really special. And then you've got, you know, the Clone Wars flashbacks, which again, I'm a huge Clone Wars person. I love Hayden and Anakin, so getting that was insane. There was just so many good things, and then a lot of the stuff that they teased for season two with like the Mortis arc and all of that, it just it has me ecstatic. I I just can't wait.

SPEAKER_05 8:23

That's so cool that you do it with your dad. I think that's all of our links to Star Wars, you know, whether it's family or friends, or it's such an it's I don't know, such an important part of growing up. And that doesn't, I mean, as I've gotten older, that hasn't gone away. It's gotten almost more important and stronger the older I get. But hang on a second. I've got because I know I've got a lot of people that either just turn turned this off or I'm gonna get hate mail. I tried watching Clone Wars a couple times, and I just it, you know, I was like, I'm not getting it. And then I I found the this is the order you should watch them in list. And I'm halfway through it. So I'm not watching them in the order that they came out, but the chronological timeline order of episodes. So I'm about halfway through, and I feel like I'm at that point where a lot of people have said if you give it enough time, it almost becomes more for adults, or not more for adults, but it almost becomes for adults of the films, something special starts to take place. It starts to gel, it almost grows up a little bit, the themes get a little bit more serious. So I'm making my way through Clone Wars, lovingly so. And Rebels is next. I mean, I know who all the characters in Rebels are. You know, I'm familiar enough with Star Wars to know who Ezra is and and Sabine and all that prior to the Ahsoka show, but I'm I'm excited about finishing the Clone Wars and diving into Rebels. Would you say that's your earliest Star Wars memory? What would be your earliest, yeah, with your dad? What would you say your earliest Star Wars memory is?

SPEAKER_00 10:15

So my dad introduced me to I am a 2000s baby. So my dad introduced me first to the prequels, and we watched it on DVD, and the first movie that I ever remember watching was The Phantom Menace. And I actually talked about this on my podcast a couple episodes ago, but I fell in love with the pod racing. I was obsessed with it, as I think many people are, and where I kind of feel like might get a little divisive for some people and they may not agree, but I loved Jar Jar Banks. He was so comical to me. He was so just goofy and clumsy. And quite frankly, I think if Jar Jar Banks wasn't a character, I wouldn't be a Star Wars fan, or I wouldn't be the fan that I am today. There probably wouldn't be a Jedi Lex. There, without Jar Jar, I really don't think my love for Star Wars would be as strong as it is, because that kind of made me want to continue watching. Then we got into Attack of the Clones, we got into Revenge of the Sith, which is then now my favorite movie, but my first memory is Always the Phantom Menace. And then a little bit later on, he introduced me to the original trilogy. And for the longest, I kind of like I kind of shit on it. I'm like, dude, what the hell is this? Like it came in this box, he had to like rewind it. I'm like, just put the DVD in. He's like, there isn't a DVD. So for the longest, I kind of felt some type of way about the original trilogy just because it came on, you know, the VHS and it was like a whole big thing. And then as I got older and they kind of showed it in theater, like I got to see Return of the Jedi, I was like, man, like this is, I don't know why I ever kind of felt some type of way about it, because this is great. But I think just as you were kind of saying, for adults, when you watch Star Wars, you view it differently than when you were younger. When I was younger, I didn't pick up on a ton of things. And even though Revenge of the Sith has always been my favorite movie, it wasn't until I got to see it on the big screen for the anniversary last year that I really was like, holy shit, this is extremely like this is deep. Like the stuff between him and Padme, the the inner turm turmoil that Anakin feels, like there are such adult motifs that I never picked up on until I grew up. So even though I've loved Star Wars since I was young, you don't kind of see those things until you get a little bit older and you've kind of lived life a little bit and experienced obviously not the same things, but just similar themes, I guess you could say. And it's that's I mean, yeah, that would be my my earliest memory of the Phantom Menace and Jar Jar Banks for sure.

SPEAKER_05 12:53

I love that. I love that. Have you had the opportunity to say what you just said to me to Ahmad?

SPEAKER_00 12:58

I have not. He was at Celebration, and that was the first con or you know, uh event that he that I was at that he was at, but I did not get the opportunity to meet him. But I a hundred percent, I really do. He is like very high up on my list. I just haven't we haven't crossed paths at Collins recently, so but one day for sure.

SPEAKER_05 13:20

Absolutely. He was the we we live a couple hours outside of LA, and there was like a comic shop he was at, just this random comic shop where he was signing his new comic the day it was released in LA, and something prevented us from going. And I was so bummed out because it looked like such a casual, non-kind of convention. There was nothing corporate about this meet and greet, and everyone was getting lots of time with them, and he was signing extra things, and the signature was free if you bought the comic. Oh god, that's heartbreaking. I know. So, well, that's a beautiful story, and I love hearing somebody who's a prequels generation poo-poo on the OT because it's usually the other way around. And I was born right before all that happened and was there as a as a young kid, and I was one of those people that guys that walked out of the Phantom Menace just going, whoa, hang on, like what's happening here? And then I really, you know, once Attack of the Clones came out, I started to warm up, and then by the time Revenge, I loved it. And then recently, my girlfriend is a you know hardcore prequels gal, and you know, I've just learned to love them. And you're right, seeing any of these on a big screen is a game changer.

SPEAKER_00 14:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 14:44

You know, and well, what do you, you know, I'm hoping that this sort of revival happens with the sequels. What what are your thoughts on the sequels? Are you pro or con?

SPEAKER_00 14:56

Definitely a little bit more con, which is like it makes me feel some kind of way because I know you know how the OT generation felt about the prequels, and I was like, man, I'm I'm never gonna be one of those people. But now that the sequels are out, I kind of feel like how I, you know, probably the OT people felt, but I I try to just I mean, there there's parts of it that I like. I never am like, all right, let me sit down and you know, if I'm gonna put any Star Wars movie on, it's almost never gonna be a sequels movie, I guess. I I went to theaters, I was extremely excited to see them. Like me and my dad, my whole family, we actually all went, I think it was 2019. So we hadn't had a Star Wars movie in theaters, and this was that was the the first sequel movie. That was the first Star Wars movie that I actually got to see in theaters. And I was so excited, and I kind of walked out of it, and I was like, man, I I just I don't it it just didn't click for me. I guess you couldn't say. I just I really felt like the writing was very choppy, it didn't feel cohesive. Some of the storylines and where I thought they were going with it is not really where we ended up. And I don't really think, and I've never felt this way, even just about you know how people felt about Ahmed or Jake Lloyd. I never blamed the actors. I don't ever think it's their fault. I just think that the the character writing is the issue. So interesting. Well better.

SPEAKER_05 16:24

I'm sorry, go ahead.

SPEAKER_00 16:26

No, I it just I think it I think it could be better. And I I think they're trying to fill some of the plot holes in, you know, with like Bad Batch and some of that kind of stuff, but it it could be better.

SPEAKER_05 16:37

Well, this is the circle of life because everything you just said is probably what I have said or was thinking when I walked out of the Phantom Menace. And now that I think about it, the real game changer for the prequels with me is I was listening to, you know, David W. Collins, the soundtrack show. Prior to him doing that soundtrack show, he was on a podcast called Oxygen, Star Wars Oxygen, and he broke down the prequel soundtracks, and it made me go back and revisit them. I'm a huge music fan, I'm a huge soundtrack guy, and I started listening and I'm going, oh my god, like this music is is probably some of the best music he's ever done. It's like opera. And so listening to those soundtracks, the Phantom Menace Tack of the Clown Varangas says soundtracks made me go back and revisit the movies through a different lens. So my only uh hope is is that perhaps even while you're doing you know your show and whatnot, dig into the soundtracks of the sequels, just have them on and see if that helps. Because it really helped me. I don't know, a movie without music is not good, you know. I mean, you take away we just saw recently the Attack of the Clones in the theater, maybe a month or so ago at the Academy Museum in LA. And by the time Across the Stars crescendoed at the end, I was like emotional. You know, I was telling my girlfriend, oh, something's in my eye. I was blubbering, like it is so powerful. So I get all the criticisms of the sequels, but it is interesting now that the prequel generation is not happy with the sequels, and I hope that that generation emerges. I think they will. But well, let me ask you this. What was the first thing that you ever collected? Obviously, now correct me if I'm wrong, collecting is what led you into the you know, whatnot, and the you know, you being like a uh you know, making like a business decision of joining that and doing the cards. What was the first Star Wars thing you started to collect?

SPEAKER_00 19:01

So when I was younger, I was very much into Legos. So when I was younger, I I collected a lot of Lego sets, things like that. And then of course, as I got older, you know, it wasn't cool in middle school or high school to have all these toys and you know, Legos. So I really kind of fell out of it. And my parents were like, okay, if you're not gonna play with it, like we're gonna get rid of it and donate it, which like kills me now. But so it wasn't until I would say COVID when a lot of things shut down. At the time I was working for a company that they pretty much allowed us to stay home. I mean, they gave you the option to come in and work, like if you wanted to, or they allowed you to stay home. And of course, I was like, you know, I'm gonna stay home, might as well, you're paying me to stay home. So I just found that I had a lot of time on my hands. So I started, I had actually downloaded whatnot, like then. Like I've been on whatnot, I've known about whatnot for a very long time. I initially I started on it because I was buying Funko Pops. A lot of my buddies, that's kind of how I got introduced to the con life. Some of my buddies are like, hey, you know, you want to go to this con that was in Miami. So we went, and of course, they're big into anime, so they were looking for Funko Pops, and I was like, Well, I'm not really into anime, but like I kind of want to be in the mix with you guys. And I we went up to our first Funko booth, and there it was Star Wars Funko Pops, and I was like, Oh shit, I found my calling. So I went in on you know the Star Wars Funko Pops, and then I started, you know, buying some Lego sets because Amazon was still delivering during COVID, and I just started building Lego sets. I was ordering pops off of whatnot, and then at one point I had kind of accumulated a lot of stuff, and I started looking on YouTube and Instagram, and I started following more creators, and I was like, man, you know, I think my collection is pretty cool. I'm sure there's other people that would think that my collection is cool, and that's how I got into the content creating realm, and that's how I met Tony. Tony was very much and always is, I mean, even still to this day, a mentor to me. He's like a big brother. So I started content creating. And then it wasn't until Japan, I mean, I knew Tony and some of the guys had gotten into whatnot and started selling cards, but it wasn't until Japan where, like, literally every day after celebration, we'd go sit in the lobby or we'd go to the mall or whatever, whatever we ended up doing, and they would just start ripping boxes. And I remember we ended up going to this Irish pub, I think it was on the first day, and I saw all of the sketches that they had commissioned by Tracy. And I was like, wow, like this is beautiful because I love art. That's really kind of what got me into it. And I was obsessed with the the PSCs that they that she did for them. I just kept watching. I'm like, you know, I I can't, you know, I forgot all these Funkos, all these Legos. I can't get into another rabbit hole. So I kind of just, at some point, I went back on a whatnot. I followed Tony, some of the other guys that I had met while I was over there, BP, Jungle, Vic. And I was like, you know what? I gotta support the homies. And I remember what really got me was at the time Tony, after Celebration, was doing the galaxy streams. He was doing like the Galaxy singles. So he'd buy the complete base sets and he'd just run them at a dollar. He'd go through the whole set. And I just remember seeing it was series four. That's what really locked me in. All the Padmays, the Anakin's, there was some Ahsokas. It just was beautiful. So I just started buying some of those cards. And then at one point, you know, a couple months down the road, I think it was like August or so. I was like, we had gone to Rebel ScumCon, they were ripping packs. We went, you know, and we were just doing all these things, and they were still ripping cards, and I still, other than just buying singles, was holding off. And then I had kind of started accumulating a lot of cards without realizing it. And I was like, you know what? I've I already have all the setup, you know, that I need, other than a few other things, like probably the printer and some of the shipping stuff. I've already got the camera, I've got the mic, I've got the lights, and I'm spending all this time watching Tony and BP and Jungle. Like I'm I'm just sitting in their streams modding. I could be sitting in my own stream, you know? So I kind of just was like, let's let's give it a go. And I had talked to them about it, and they were like, dude, do it. Like I've never been happier. I do this full time, and there's a few of them that do it full time now. And I was like, you know, this is this is crazy. So starting Oct, I took it pretty not seriously up until October. I had been doing it for a few months, but just very infrequent. I wasn't really making time or trying to be consistent. And it wasn't until October, like the end of October, that I really tried to step, you know, my game up, try to be more consistent, do the streams, really make the time for it. And ever since then, I've I've really noticed a difference, and it it is kind of crazy.

SPEAKER_05 24:15

Yeah, I bet. I mean, well, this is a good segue into us talking about this because uh, you know, I I was a kid, and I would, you know, go to the store and buy cards when the films came out in 77 through 83. And I would always buy multiple, you know, I'd get boxes, and a couple of years ago my mom found them all and brought me and all the cards, and I somehow had the vision to know that I'm gonna get uh full sets, put them behind plastic and put those away, and then have other you know cards loose. So I have all the original, especially the blue 77s that were put into plastic on the day and haven't been touched since. So when she brought those and gave them to me one Christmas a couple of years back, and I was going, look at I've got boxes of empire cards that the box isn't open. Like the box is full of rat empire cards. I sent Tony some videos and he was like, You need me to help you with that. So it kind of sparked the interest, and then January 26th, I said, All right, that's it. I got on whatnot and just started kind of looking around, going, well, this is really cool, and I kind of like anything with Anakin and Padme was kind of it. And then I'm like, okay, well, I love Anakin, that's cool. Okay, I'm I'm OT guy, Luke was you know my hero, okay. And then got bit by the Padme bug, and I was like, okay, I'll start collecting, you know, that's an expensive bug to get bit by, by the way. I mean, so in just two months, just to put things in perspective, since January 26th, I now have a Vault X binder, what is it, 320 that's full? I have a Zion slab case X that's completely full. That's 110 slabs. Um, and then there's all the stuff that extras that I've got. A lot of them I I bought twice and I didn't know that I owned it because I was buying so much so quick. Um, and what I'm gonna do with the extras though, because I thought about that too. I was like, should I get on to a channel? And I'm like, I'm just gonna package these up and hand them to kids at Revel Scum Con. Just here you go. There's some there's some really nice cards in there that I bought twice. But so did you just start buying cards? So you got into car the Star Wars cards and then got into whatnot.

SPEAKER_00 26:47

So I mean, I knew about whatnot, I was using it, I I had started watching like Tony's stuff, but I I think I kind of was introduced I don't know which really I mean I Whatnot has always been around like for years I've been using it, like honestly, since COVID. So at least 2019, 2020, I've I've been on, I've been a user of Whatnot, but it really wasn't until after Celebration that I kind of started tuning in to the Star Wars cards page rather than like the Funko and Lego pages. But it yeah, Celebration really was eye-opening for multiple reasons. That was the really the first introduction. I had no idea about the Star Wars cards, other than seeing Tony post like a couple random things here and there. Because he wasn't uh posting as regularly as he was now back then. It was just like a few things here and there, and then after celebration and seeing them, the art, the the things that they were pulling. I mean, I just I started watching whatnot and trying to learn a little bit more about it just to be a supportive friend. That was really the the intention, or that's what I thought it was uh gonna be. But I was like, let me just be a good friend, let me buy a couple cards that I just think are cool. And then I think I did what everybody does. They go really hard, really quick, ended up with a ton of cards, and I was like, you know what? Let me just let me start selling. Like I might as well. I've got all these cards.

SPEAKER_05 28:13

So well, I would see at in Japan at you know, at the convention and then at the hotel in the lobby, circles of everyone. I'm sure you were in there ripping, and I would always walk by with my girlfriend, you know, with an arm full of Star Wars gear, and I just always would say, I am so glad that I'm not into that hobby. And then all of a sudden this happens. But what was it like doing your first show? Was it a rush? Was it a thrill?

SPEAKER_00 28:41

I mean, yeah, I mean, it didn't, it definitely was like a little bit nerve-wracking because I mean, you don't you want to do good. I I mean, I I'd been watching Tony, I'd been watching BP, like I'd been watching all these guys who had been doing it for a couple months, and I was like, man, like I kind of I don't want to mess this up, but you know, I was like, at the end of the day, like I've been making YouTube videos, I've done live streams, I've done my podcast. Like, really, how different can it be? So, I mean, after the first few shows, I kind of fell into a rhythm, and now I kind of just hop on, and it it's become a lot easier to just do the shows. But my first couple few, I mean, it was definitely a little rough kind of figuring out just OBS, figuring out the whatnot interface and how to just run the show through your computer. Like buying is so much different than selling, and I think people don't realize how much goes into that. But I used to just sit there and uh initially when I was watching Tony's shows and stuff, I was like, man, I can do this, it's not that hard. And so I was like, oh my god, there's like the getting your product, you gotta then do your show, you gotta be on it, entertaining, you know, watch the the chats while you're also trying to run auctions or just do all the things that you're trying to do, and then after the fact, all the shipping and stuff. So I mean, people kind of just scroll, they swipe, go to the next show, call it a day, but I don't think people realize how much actually on the back end work goes into it. So initially I was like, yeah, whatever, I can do this. And then I was like, oh shit, what did I just get into? But now that I've done it for a little bit and I've been taking it a little bit more seriously, it's kind of become just like a second major.

SPEAKER_05 30:19

Yeah, you guys all, everyone you just named, all your shows look great. I think that's so important. I mean, some of them are just they look bad and they're blasting rap music, and I'm like, uh-uh, I can't do it. I don't care what your supply looks like. I just cannot, I can't listen. I mean, you kind of connect with the person, the sellers, and go, well, okay, here are the people that I enjoy. What what for you, like what does a great show look like compared to a good show? I mean, how do you build the energy? You know, when you when you click on, what's your what's kind of like your strategy to make a great show?

SPEAKER_00 30:57

So what I've come to learn is it's it's about your product and it's about engaging and kind of building your community. Because when I first started, you know, I think a lot of us have experienced it. You know, you start and you really only have like, you know, maybe one to five people that are in there hanging out with you. And then obviously the more that you can offer people, whether it's singles or, you know, packs or the Persi's, the hobby boxes, the more variety that you can offer, it entices more people to come in and it definitely sparks your interest. Because you never know what kind of mood people are in. Sometimes they're looking for singles, sometimes I just want to open a couple packs, sometimes I want a whole box, and you have to kind of just be able to be on the go for it. And I actually was listening to BP and Jungle's podcast, and they were talking about how they've kind of this this new generation of streamers has kind of made kind of just like a different way of going about it. So whether it's having breaks, but you're also ripping boxes, just allowing people to kind of get whatever they need out of your show rather than only offering one thing, you're offering multiple things. Because some people they only want to do breaks, they only want to get into breaks. Sometimes, you know, they only want to rip packs. It really, everyone's mood is different. What everyone is looking for is different. So I think the more that you can offer and the more variety that you have makes for a better show. So, like recently, I've been trying to get more hobby boxes to do mayo, hyperspace, sapphire, whatever it is. And then it's also about building your community because those are the people, even if they're not buying from you, they're still hanging out with you, they're still engaging, they're still modding, like they're still supporting you, even though it may not be financial. And not that it not that it has to be, because it it's great having people come in and mod when they're able to kind of be like, hey, check out the shop, or hey, you know, we've only got X amount of spots left in the break, or hey, there's only two boxes left. Like, don't sleep, we've been pulling heat, you know, whatever it is, it's it's about building that community. So when you have that and you've got the chat going, but you've also got product to open. I mean, the other day I had one guy. I mean, this was probably the best show that I had. We went through 17 mail boxes. This one guy per seed 17 mail boxes, and it was just crazy. The chat was going wild. We pulled, I think, eight case hits, so autographs, uh, we had stickers, posters. Like it was just, it was crazy. That's probably the best show that I had, but obviously not every show is gonna be like that unless you're Tony. Um, but it it just um it's all about variety and it's about building your community 100%.

SPEAKER_05 33:40

So 17. I'm I I was watching you one day, and you had like one guy bought eight boxes from you. And you you know, to me, this whole thing feels like Vegas. Uh living close to Las Vegas. I've gone spent the last 25 years of my life for whatever reason, usually concerts or eating, but there was a period where I'd go there to have fun, and there's just something about walking up and gambling. It's gonna cost like hell, it's a rush, and I feel like there's an element of that to stepping into the whatnot world and buying boxes or packs. It's the thrill of the hunt. I mean, you're paying for the experience, not just the end result. For my journey was okay, I opened it the first two streams I saw were Winchester and Whale Grails. So I thought that's what all of them were. Just selling single cards. And then I went up, finally, Tony's show was up next, went over and was like, what's he doing? What is this? You know, this card with the numbers and the X's. And then I went over to somebody else's and I was like, oh, everyone's doing something different. It's completely different. And for me, uh initially it was more about like finding the cards that I loved and you know, building a collection that tells a story and as opposed to taking the gamble. You have your own PC, personal collection, correct?

SPEAKER_00 35:04

Yeah, yeah, 100%.

SPEAKER_05 35:06

Okay. So what does that walk us through what hang on a second? No, no, I gotta have that. What was the most what's the most crazy moment that you've ever experienced, like that you've ever pulled for someone else, like on the air? Like what's the what is the apex moment of oh shit, look at this?

SPEAKER_00 35:29

So I mean, I haven't, I'm still as far as like ripping boxes and stuff, but at least this past month I've really started to go a little bit heavier with it. But I mean, I haven't pulled like a Carrie Fisher, I haven't pulled a Luke. Well, you know, I'm I'm not on Tony's level yet. But I think for me, there was one stream. It was one of the gentlemen, he actually had bought a couple boxes, and in the first box, I think it was the first pack, he I he ended up pulling like a we ended up pulling a dual auto. It was Ezra Bridger and Harrison Doula, and it was out of 10. So that was crazy. And then we were like, dude, like, oh my god, what else could be there? Like, you know, we we can't just leave boxes. So he ended up buying another one, and there was a gold foil Lindsay Grayling Princess Leia sketch, and pulling sketches in Mayo is already hard enough, and it was crazy because this was the first case of Mayo that I ever like actually brought in to have, and like for stream. So not only pulling a dual auto out of 10, but also a sketch on the first case that I ever opened of Mayo, that was probably so far the craziest. Those were the two craziest that I pulled it. It's crazy because it came out of the same case. Wow.

SPEAKER_05 36:48

You're there, you all have suppliers, you know, that you've got in around the United States, you're ordering these from. I mean, it's business. And you don't, you have no idea. I mean, it's it's again, it's like gambling. You just don't know what the you know, what card's gonna turn over. So I think, you know, is it uh perhaps it's volume. When you do that kind of volume, something's gonna is gonna pop. But I I get the addiction to keep going. Like, okay, surely something's about to happen, and you know, that's the excitement of it. What is your kind of crown jewel in your PC?

SPEAKER_00 37:26

Oh, I mean I I just hung up like this display that I put some of my cards in there. I I truthfully don't have anything super crazy, but I would say probably the crown jewel that I actually pulled for myself. I decided to Percy my first like Galaxy box. It was a couple months ago when Galaxy had dropped. And I ended up in one pack. There was a sketch and then an out of five Qui-Gon Comic Fractor. Um so I've got that. I would say that is probably right now the one of the biggest pieces in my collection. But I mean, truthfully, as I kind of mentioned earlier, I really like the art. It's I mean, as much as I would love to have the Hayden, as many Hayden autographs as I can have, and as many Natalie Corman autographs as I can have, I really truthfully appreciate the art and I love Galaxy for that reason. Galaxy is my favorite set. I mean, a lot of the other ones are fun, and people ask all the time, like, you know, what set? It really depends on what you're looking for. If you're looking for better odds for autographs, it's gonna be one thing. If you're looking for better odds for sketches, it'll be another. For me, the art, it it'll it's galaxy all day. So I mean, I've got some mojos and like atomics of certain cards, like the Lake Country and the Across the Stars. So, I mean, to me, those are some of you know my prized possessions, even though I know some people might look at them and be like, oh my god, that's just like an out of 50, you know, galaxy card. That's nothing. But you know, to me, I love the art, I like the artists, and that's you know, that's why I collect is for the art.

SPEAKER_05 39:05

I think one of the most telling moments and exciting moments is when you love a base card so much that you put it in a mag Pro Lite. It's not uh it's not a out of, it's not a number, it's not a color, and you're like, that thing is so sexy, give me my mag Pro Lite, it's going in. You know, like I don't care what anyone says. So, well, what I'm curious because you know, I kind of came, you know, aware of what Star Wars trading cards were in this day and age via Mayo. Well, from an odd standpoint, again, I keep using a Vegas reference. It it what is what is the thrill of Mayo? What are people looking for when they are just constantly, you know, Mayo, got a boxing mayo, let's do mayo. What is it? Is it the Padme auto? Is that what's still out there? That's it.

SPEAKER_00 40:06

Yeah, the the one of one Natalie Portman is she at to to our knowledge, she is is still live and has yet to be pulled. So that's definitely one of the big ones. I mean, of course, just the one of one, the super fracture look, it it's crazy. And if I mean Tony just made like a freaking super fracture stand, which is so funny to me, but the one of one Natalie, her auto is still out there. But truthfully, it's it's the Mayo sketches. To me, at least that's what I see a lot of people chasing for is the sketches. I mean, the posters are cool, the stickers are cool. Obviously, you want to get like low numbers of those, like an out of five Padme sticker, you know, stuff like that. But truthfully, I think with Mayo, I I at least from what I heard, it it seemed like it was more of a rushed set. So the artist didn't have enough time to fulfill all the sketches that they were allotted. So getting sketches in Mayo is extremely difficult. I mean, you can go opening multiple boxes, I mean, sometimes like a couple like a hundred or even more, and never hit a sketch. So I think a lot of people chase sketches. And because they have that kind of like manga manga, like curosawa kind of just style to them, it just makes them that much more different than sketches that you get from literally any other set. Like, I think mayo sketches themselves, not only are they harder to pull, but they are just so different. Like you can pick a Mayo sketch out. If you're just scrolling on eBay, you'll be able to tell what a Mayo sketch is. All the other ones, you're like, I have no idea what set that came from. That could have come from hyperspace. I mean, if it's got the planet at the bottom or galaxy, but mayo just it stands out and is so distinct. So what I've noticed is I think a lot of people chase that, but of course, you're always looking for the one of one big autos like Natalie Boardman, of course.

SPEAKER_05 41:57

You're yeah, I know that seems to be, and I love that. I mean, I often say, you know, if you don't believe it, no one else will. And I love that Tony's putting it out there, you know. And I don't doubt that he will, you know, and I you know, praying for it when he had that as like his you know, show, you know, icon or what a logo or whatever. I was like, did he pull that? I was like, okay, no, that's just that's his date. He's dangling a carrot. Well, I I I know what you mean, because although it wasn't part, I don't know, it wasn't part, it was part of Galaxy. The the first set that really I went, you know, I mean, ultimately, I think for me, and what happens with a lot of people is when you start looking at cards, there's something inside of you that goes, Well, that's beautiful. And there's something about it that you go, wow, that's really cool. And I saw it, I was like, okay, what is that? I gotta have that. And it was the the duel uh on Mustafar insert. Yeah. And I just went, I thought there was only like a couple of them, and then I was like, okay, I gotta have them all. And then I'm like, wait a minute, I gotta have them all in atomic, and I just landed. My Grail is, and I'm so excited to get this signed. Is I just got the red one of five, you underestimate my power, Anakin.

SPEAKER_04 43:16

Wow.

SPEAKER_05 43:17

I got the I got the alpha. And I know, and I'm like, I cannot. I mean, I'm like, Tony, what pen sets do I get, you know, and all this? I it god bless Tony. If you're listening, I you've answered so many questions. I would have told me to get lost, probably. I'm like constantly hitting Tony with questions, and I cannot wait to get that red pin and and have Hayden sign the number one of five of the dual Mustafar. So that's usually the gateway in, and then you discover sketches, and that's when it's for me, it was game over. Have you done any? Personal sketches. Have you hired any artists to do a personal sketch for you?

SPEAKER_00 44:05

Yeah. So at the first one that I actually got was at Rebel Scum Con. There was a gentleman that was doing like sketch commissions and would like allow you to pick them up at Rebel ScumCon. So a few of us, I think Ricky got one, I think Tony got three. I ended up getting two. So I did that. Was the first time I had actually gotten some like a commission PSC. And then my friend, she just started getting into like she's just her husband. Well, they're married now, but at the time I think they were still dating. But her husband now, he's he streams. And at one point she was just like off to the side, like sketching. And he like picked up the card and showed everybody. And we were like, oh my god, Sammy, like you need to sketch. Like you, you need to, like, you can do this. So then she, of course, she talked to Jungle and she kind of gained that confidence. So she's actually doing sketch streams now and taking commissions. So I've got a piece from her. I do have a piece from Jungle. Um I do have a Kevin Nelson coming in at some point. Um, it's a it's a Padme. I think it's very similar to the one that you uh sent me earlier, actually.

SPEAKER_05 45:12

Yeah, I okay, so we we can open this can of worms now. I that that was it. I finally, you know, just started going, okay, everyone's there's names that I'm hearing over and over again. And then you start hearing kind of similar names, the same names, and then finally I'm like, Tony, who are who are the heavy hitters? And Kevin Nelson was one of them. So I reached out to him. You know, I don't know anything about this. You know, I'm thinking this guy's not gonna respond to me. And in the last two months, I had two commissions done, which I showed you today. He just sent me the photo. I've bought two panos and I've bought four cards that he had on his website for you know, on his stories for sale. I w I went crazy.

SPEAKER_00 46:09

I mean, he's he's an amazing artist, so he kind of it's easy to, you know.

SPEAKER_05 46:14

It's amazing how they collaborate how they'll they'll willing like the the willingness to collaborate. He just sent me a photo today because I said, Kevin, hey, look, what's up? You know, you know, I don't want to rush your genius, I don't want to rush your artist, but you know how we look in. And he sent me a photo of everything that I've ordered, and I forgot about some of it, and I was just going, oh my god, it's the most beautiful thing ever. So then I reach out to Cisco Rivera. Oh, wow, and him and I start having this incredible text conversation late on a Sunday. So I got him working on a couple, and that turnaround time when he told me, I said, All right, you know, here's my deposit. I'll see you on the other side. So I'm really excited about Cisco, but my my new just absolute I I would never say favorite, but someone that I've so enjoyed is Nadia. And I think I'm saying her name Espino. Espino, I believe, Nadia, she's actually Russian, but she lives in Mexico City, and she did is doing three sketchographs for me. And if you look at her her Instagram, she shows you when she starts to do them the the progress. So yeah, I've gone crazy, Lex.

SPEAKER_00 47:37

I think I I think I saw the shin because me and Tony were talking about it at CollectiveCon. Because I was tossing up because we're gonna be going out to Anaheim to go meet Mark, and I was kind of like, dude, I don't know what I want to get signed. I kind of want to do a sketchograph. Like, and he showed me the one that she had made of Shin, so I was like, oh shit, that's pretty cool.

SPEAKER_05 48:00

The one right before it, the Padme, and then the one right after it, the Sabine, are all three mine. And then someone somewhere online, I saw this incredible AI photo of Padme Natalie leaning against R2, you know, with the white outfit, and she's working on that now. So I added a fourth one. Bless her heart. She's probably I I thought like she was it would be like, you know, two months or something, and she started working on them immediately. But working with her and watching her process unfold in real time has been a real pleasure. I I I hope I'm saying her last name, Espino. Nadia, that's just how I know her. But if you're thinking about doing a commission sketchy graph, I think she is fantastic.

SPEAKER_00 48:53

Um, I think I might have to to reach out to her.

SPEAKER_05 48:56

But I mean and reasonable.

SPEAKER_00 48:59

Yeah. I mean, and that's I mean, this might be like controversial. I don't, I don't know. I mean, I understand the gamble. I mean, I I basically feel like I I enable it, you know, but I I get the the want to gamble and to pull a sketch. But through doing it and just seeing and being around in the community, I've come to learn which artist I really like and you know which ones I would really want to have sketches from. But again, you know, as you said, the likelihood of you opening a box and there being, you know, let's say like Kevin Nelson sketch, the the percentage, the ratio, it's like astronomical. And a lot of these guys, they do commissions like Michael Mastermaker, Cisco, I mean Kevin. So I've I've and then you can also get a card. I mean, you may get a sketch. I mean, on the on the chance that you pull a Kevin Nelson sketch, is it actually of a character that you PC? That's the other thing. So the odds just get slimmer and slimmer. So I mean, I I've kind of now started shifting towards just commissioning sketches.

SPEAKER_05 50:00

Well, this is yeah, this is where it's gone off the deep end for me, is they're so beautiful and it's fun talking to them. I mean, I Cisco Rivera did a sketch, I think it was International Women's Day, and he did it of Padme, you know, in the ribbed white outfit holding the gun. I would say that he accentuated uh some of Natalie's features, and we ended up having this whole discussion about that, and he was sharing with me sort of you know how perfect Padme was, the way he was just enthusiastically and passionately talking about Padme, the character, and what it was like for him to draw her. I just basically said, you know, here's my credit card, you know, like I what you know, I gotta have this. Like, but it was such a thrill to interact with the artist and to be part of the process. So for me, I love that. And I get that on some level it's not from a card set, so maybe it's not as worth as much money. But to be honest with you, I'm not I'm not getting rid of any of these. Yep. Like these are for me. So, okay, good. Well, I'm glad to hear that the sketch card thing is something that, you know, I don't know, the commissions are something that you're down with. Definitely check out Nadia.

SPEAKER_00 51:35

Oh, I I will. I I think I followed her this weekend. We were like waiting for a panel or something, and we were talking about it. He should actually brought up the sketch and was like, yo, he's getting this made. And I was like, oh my gosh. So I actually followed her and I've been watching her post and stuff. But yeah, I mean, I think this goes just collecting in general. It it really comes down to what you're collecting for. Are you collecting for you and you see that you're gonna keep this, or are you collecting it because you're trying to hold on to it and you know at some point you're gonna sell it? If that's the route you're going, then yeah, you probably do want to have the official, you know, sketch cards. I mean, just having that tops backing and things like that just obviously elevates the price. But for me, collecting for me, I'm collecting because I love the art. I'm collecting because I like interacting, as you said, with the artists, learning about their process, getting to learn more about who they are, how they go about doing stuff. To me, that is way more valuable. And that's what I want in my collection because I'm collecting for me, um, versus just getting a sketch just because it's you know drawn on a hyperspace blank or because it's drawn on here. I mean, but everyone is different and there's no right or wrong. I think it just really depends on you and what your goal is as a collector.

SPEAKER_05 52:47

Absolutely. Yeah, I I I I get it. I I totally get the addiction of it. Um, and there is something, especially now with you know, smugglers outposts, you know, things that are being pulled out of there. What what are what are your because this is the first set that's come out since the addiction kicked in January 26th. So there's something special about it. What what are your thoughts on smuggler's outposts overall as as a set?

SPEAKER_00 53:20

I mean, overall it's very interesting. And I don't know if we saw, but GameStop is now carrying smugglers at a much more affordable price than where it's at. Really? Um yeah, initially, though, I kind of was a little bit skeptical of it when they announced it and we saw the insane checklist, just the combination of all the different sets that they were kind of throwing into it, you know, how it was only gonna be basically the one, you know, the one box and it was only gonna have X amount of cards, there was no packs in it. And then I tried on uh pre like pre-order day to get some, and I literally, as soon as the clock hit, I swiped and the cases were already sold out. I tried to go check out, like this was the first time that I did not get anything. And then on release day, I tried again and I did not get anything, and then of course the prices kind of just soared. So unfortunately, I I took a I took a back seat on smugglers, and I've tried to go in on some breaks and stuff like that. But what I've noticed, and I don't know if this is like a common observation that others have seen, but when you hit, and I honestly I feel like I say this about a lot of the sets, but more in particular to this, it feels like a more expensive chrome black, but when you hit, you really hit. Like some of these cases, some of these boxes, like they're just insane. Like I think there was one guy, he had the one of the breakers had a case, it had the one of one Ahsoka, and then I think in the same case it had the one of one Padme auto. Like, and I was like, dude, like you know, that's insane. But then you look at some of these other ones, and it's got these other cards, you know, obviously less desirable for me and who I collect in PC. So I've I've just noticed some like the ratio in the like kind of I guess you could say like the portion control of cards, whether it's you're like you're either gonna get a box that's really good, or you're gonna get a box that's just not what you're looking for, I guess. And to me, at the price point that it's at, it's it's a bit too much of a gamble to be purcying.

SPEAKER_05 55:30

Yeah, I um, you know, le like left work. I there's one sports card shop here in Palm Springs, and I called and they said we have one box or we have one case, and I quit left work and went over there and was just sweating because I've never bought a uh a box before, not since you know, Return of the Jedi at the 7 Eleven when I bought the whole box with my you know paper route money and went in there and this is like a really reputable, you know, high-end you know, sports card shop. And then I said, Tony, look, this is what I've got. And they were trying to sell the the boxes to me for $650. And I hadn't I didn't know. And I said, Is this good? And he's like, get out of there. Like, that's shameful. That a sports card shop, uh not a chain of stores, is charging $650. And he said, Check out this place in LA. And I called him, they had one case, and I just said I'll take three boxes. And honestly, Lex, those three boxes are sitting unopened. I haven't opened them because I'm I'm nervous, I'm scared that I spent that money on three boxes, and there's not gonna be anything in there. And so I've been waiting until like I can make myself a nice cocktail. It's Saturday night, and I'm just gonna sit there quietly by myself. I might put on the I might record me doing it just for fun and open those three boxes just because that's a bit rich for me. Like, you know, I mean, that's a financial commitment for someone who's just collecting cards for fun.

SPEAKER_03 57:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 57:16

So I think they're beautiful, they're absolutely stunning cards. I mean, I love the like the colors, I think are really cool. I was on Tony's stream when the Padme one of one was discovered by the one guy who had endless boxes. Like whoever that guy is was just opening. But I didn't understand. I'd never been part of the whole you buy a character or you know, buying spots. Like I still, because it was new and they weren't selling them or letting you bid on them, like that whole process of breaking, I I I still don't quite understand. I'm waiting for everything to sort of calm down and have them trickle in. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 57:57

I mean, to to like a point, I feel like I can kind of justify it. I mean, they're they're not in the 600s, we'll say.

SPEAKER_05 58:05

Yeah, that's good. And I probably should look before I start doing anything. I the last time I bought a bunch of uh boxes, I got like six Lizzos. Now you still own a BP? That well, no, you know what I'm gonna do is I don't I've never talked to BP, I've never interacted with BP, but I imagine he's gonna be at Rebel ScumCon. I'm gonna carry him all the way from California and just walk up to him, not say anything, and hand him to him. He'll get a kick out of that. He won't know who I am, he's never heard of me, at least I don't think maybe he's heard Flip Tony or whatever, but that's what I'm gonna do with him. I mean, it's the gear, the refractor, the I mean, I got more lizos in those three boxes, and I was just going, oh God help me. Um it wasn't like three, you know, a bunch of sabines or you know something like that. Now let's talk a little rebel scum con. You're obviously gonna be this year. Do you have a booth or what's going on with you? And it and is it Victoria? Is that right? Yeah. Your friends?

SPEAKER_00 59:08

Um yeah, so essentially last year we went, we had a great time. I mean, I I went, I ended up getting like a content creator pass, and we kind of just went and we had fun, we ripped boxes, and when we actually, a group of us went to Halloween horror nights like in October, and we were all sitting there and we were talking, and we were like, dude, I mean, maybe we should be that presence. Because like when you go to cons, even like when you go to card shows, there's just not Star Wars. I mean, they're sports, there's Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh! or Yu-Gi-Oh or whatever. Like there, there's everything, and then there's maybe like a point five percent of that entire show is like Star Wars. And it kind of just felt like a lot of us, like, that's what we were looking for. We wanted to rip boxes, we wanted to do stuff because that's what you we do after cons. We've kind of coined the term uh sips and rips. So after the con or even during the con, we'll we usually end up in Tony and Ricky's room, and we'll, you know, at Rebel Scum Con, we all went out, we bought some alcohol and some mixers and stuff, and we all like people bought brought boxes. And at the time I wasn't like ripping personally, but I would just go for the atmosphere. It pretty much just felt like celebration continued, and we'd go, we'd all sit around. There was like an island, and we would all literally we would they would take turns of who was gonna open what box or what pack, and we would just drink and we would basically sip and rip. And then we were like, damn, like we're kind of missing that at Rebel Scum Con. And they ended up their offering, I guess it was new this year, but it was kind of like an like a new table that was like a little bit less expensive. It offered a little bit less, but was more of like an introduction, like if you're trying to, you know, get into that vending world, kind of like an in-between. And we were like, y'all, why don't we do it? So Tony and BP will have a booth, me and Victoria will have a booth, and then I believe Jungle, and I think it's only jungle, at least at this moment. So there will be three booths of just Star Wars. I think Jungle's mostly gonna, you know, he's gonna have his sketches and do all that kind of stuff. Um, and then the rest of us, we're actually the week prior gonna be at Nationals pretty much the entire week. So Tuesday we're gonna fly in. Nationals is Wednesday to Sunday. There's gonna be trade night Saturday. We're gonna fly home Monday just to fly out again Thursday morning to Texas for Rebel ScumCon to set up, and then we'll be there Friday through Sunday, and we'll just kind of be vending until we run out of product.

SPEAKER_05 1:01:40

That sounds incredible. I know this year is shaping up to be a really exciting and very expensive year. Um, I'm I'm considering Tony seeing if he can get a ticket. I might fly in. If I can get a ticket to the Star Wars night in Chicago, I might just fly in for the Saturday night because I'm dying to experience that. But between SpaceCon and then the next weekend is Anaheim, and then you've got Nationals, then you've got Rebel ScumCon, and let's throw in the celebration tickets are gonna go on sale, what, in the next couple of months, right?

SPEAKER_04 1:02:21

Yeah, anytime though.

SPEAKER_05 1:02:24

Yeah, it's might be time to sell that one out of five. I mean, what I have spent on Hayden photo in auto and Mark photo in auto is crazy. You know, like, and Mark, this is it. I mean, we said that about Chicago, and I'm glad I went. I'm making a list of everything that I want to get signed because you just think at some point Mark might not do this anymore.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:56

Yeah, and my my problem is is when he went to Chicago two years ago, I literally was wrapping up nursing school. I was studying for like I had just graduated, I was studying for boards, like it literally couldn't have come at like the most inopportune time, and I I just I couldn't make it happen. And I kept saying, and I've ever since, the next time if he does, if he announces again that he's gonna be going to a convention, I have to drop everything and go. And as soon as he announced it, I think I had worked the night prior and I had just gotten up. I saw Tony, he like texted us. He was like, dude, Mark Campbell got announced. I immediately bought VIP tickets. As soon as Mark Campbell they dropped his stuff, I went and bought the autographs. I still need to buy like a photo op and stuff, but I at least locked in the autograph because I knew I wasn't gonna miss it. So unfortunately, I am gonna have to like kind of forego some other cons that I am wanting, I was wanting to do initially, but I I can't miss Mark. I can always go to SpaceCon next year. I can go to SpaceCon for the next five years, you know, or IEEC or literally any of them. But I mean, Nationals and Rebel ScumCon, those were my two biggest priorities. And the off chance that Mark was gonna announce that was gonna be my third. So as soon as he announced it, I I've pretty much cleared the rest of my convention schedule. Like other than NAPC and Rebel Scumcon, yeah, it's so it's gonna be the fan extra Anaheim, then it's gonna be Nationals, Rebel ScumCon. Those are gonna be the three big ones for me. Because I I was gonna try to fly out to San Antonio for SpaceCon because it just seems crazy. I mean, Jimmy Smith's, like, but I I can't pull off. I don't have that much PTO in Leeway, unfortunately. So but I can't miss where we can.

SPEAKER_05 1:04:41

That that this that's why we weren't at Seattle or Cleveland or MegaCon or any of those, is because we just went all in on SpaceCon. And that obviously was announced way before the Anaheim business. But and you know, a lot of people who've listened to this know it nausea in detail. Like my girlfriend and I, huge Hayden fans, and so we keep missing them. So we were like, let's just make that weekend like twice a day, you know, and do it upright. And then what was it like a Wednesday? Came in the morning, got up, was like, all right, let's go to work, opened it up. Mark Hamill's announced. Oh man, and we can drive. Oh, thank God. You know, the fact that it's only like an hour and a half away. But hot take, I think because it's Anaheim, it's a great convention center, so much better than LA convention center. I used to live across the street from that, whole nother story. But I think uh Fan Expo Anaheim is gonna be celebration 26. I think they are just going to stack all the Star Wars actors because they're local. Yeah, you know, they live there, so I think Mark is. Just like them kicking the door open, hear the VIPs, have at it, and then I think everyone's gonna be in now.

SPEAKER_00 1:06:07

I hope it's not a hot take. I would be all for that. Because I mean, I think I had heard in your one of the prior episodes, you had also missed Hayden at Celebration. Um, and that was devastating because I missed him as well.

SPEAKER_05 1:06:21

Um yeah, we were part of it.

SPEAKER_00 1:06:25

Yeah, that was that was rough. But I mean, they had actually, I'm in Florida, so they had actually just announced that Hayden was going to be coming to Supercon in Miami, but then they announced, and it it's literally like a week or two after that Anaheim's taking place, and I'm really hoping that they announce Hayden for that. So that way I don't have to drive down to Miami, and then literally the week weekend later or the two weekends that I fly out to Anaheim, because I'm already going to Anaheim to meet Clark. That's that is happening, and I hope that I can just maybe knock out you know Hayden at the same time. But it would be crazy if they offered, because I mean Tony and the guys, they all got to do the the Mark and Hayden photo op. Like I would love to be able to get in on that, but that might have just been like a one and done kind of thing. I'm hoping it wasn't, but I I really hope that they kind of take advantage of it. But I mean, good on Fan Expo for coming out of the gates with like a monster, like you know, because when Megacon it was tough because they waited and waited and waited, and then boom, Diego Luna, and then boom, this person. I'm like, where were all of these announcements like all this time? You know, a lot of us wrote MegaCon off just for you to hit us with all of these people. So good on them. I mean, marketing-wise, I'm sure the VIP tickets are gonna be sold out, I'm sure Mark is gonna sell out, and I hope they just continue stacking the people.

SPEAKER_05 1:07:47

I think they're gonna do it. That's why that's what made the Anaheim celebration so wonderful, I'm convinced, is they just left work for lunch and headed over. You know, I mean, John Favreau just brought all the costumes up from Long Beach. Like, it's so readily available, and there's lots of commerce here in California. There was all kinds of opportunities for great vendors to buy stuff. So I think I really think FanExpo Anaheim is celebration 26. But you're right, went ahead and we got the VIPs. We booked the hotel disconnected to the convention before they got wind of it, took the time off. So what what are you gonna get, Mark to sign?

SPEAKER_00 1:08:30

That's what I was talking about. I mean, I I personally at the moment, I I when I started getting autographs, I was doing Funko Pops, and obviously I've kind of moved away from just Funko. Um, and for the past like year or two, I've been getting plaques signed. And as much as I'd love to do a plaque, I've started seeing the sketchographs become more prevalent. And I'd love to get, you know, like a big artist that I really admire to make a sketchograph to have him sign, but I feel like it's something I gotta jump on now because time is ticking. The the plaque I can get like literally the week of, but I just I don't I don't know. And it's killing me that I and I need to figure it out because I'm getting an autograph, I just gotta figure out what it's what it's gonna be on.

SPEAKER_05 1:09:14

Yeah. I I've I've compiled a list and going, okay, well, you have to choose something. And I did I'm I uh two things. One, I'm getting that 77 rookie card that's been behind plastic since 1977. Hasn't been touched by human hands except for one time, and that's when I slipped it into plastic when I was a young boy. So I'm getting that signed, but I did make the executive decision and I reached out to a sketch artist to get a commission, thinking he would say no, and he said yes. So I I should I say it is a big one, it is a big one, and I thought he would say no, and he said, I'll add it to your order, just your order won't be ready, but I'm I can I'll see if I can get this ready before Cisco. Oh well, I know, and I thought he was I thought this guy's gonna say, dude, you're crazy, there's no way. And he said, I'll see what I can do. I said, Don't worry about the other three, I'll get those at Christmas. Whenever they're done, don't, but if you can do this, so I'm saying a little prayer that you know the Skechograph I get signed by Mark would be would be from Cisco Rivera.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:37

Um yeah, he he was one I was thinking of because he just hasn't asked me about his sketchographs, but I almost kind of feel like it'll be I almost kind of feel like his sketch might be more expensive than Mark's auto sketch.

SPEAKER_05 1:10:51

I I I I I think that is an accurate representation.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:58

Yeah. I mean the plaque it's like 18 bucks. So I'm like, do I go the plaque route and I just have that and I can display it and just get a sketch later on? Or but I I don't know. I feel like it would just be really special to kind of have one of the artists that I really admire make, you know, a sketchograph and then I take that to go get signed. I just feel like there's there there's more meaning to that than the plaque. Like even though the plaque is easier, it's cheaper. I just I don't know, but I I probably need to get on it and stop slacking.

SPEAKER_03 1:11:30

I I it's gonna be here before we know it.

SPEAKER_05 1:11:33

Totally. Yeah. But I think Cisco's up there with the best of them.

SPEAKER_00 1:11:38

Oh, he's he's a legend. I mean, there's another guy that I just kind of recently came across, so I was thinking about asking him, but I mean, there there's some of them that are already kind of up on like my Mount Rushmore of like sketch artist. And uh it's I mean, I don't know. They they need to make Mount Rush my Mount Rushmore needs to be a little bit bigger because it the list is growing.

SPEAKER_05 1:12:00

I know. I know that's that's so cool. Well, and what okay, what do you Hayden? What's in line? What do you I mean I'm getting my dual on Mustafar signed? I know Tony got his signed and had to explain to him what it was, which is pretty cool. What what are you looking what card would you want to get Hayden to sign?

SPEAKER_00 1:12:19

Oh, card? I mean, I in Japan, because before I had I I didn't know really much about the card situation. So for Japan, I actually brought a plaque with me. And I had actually bought like a Hayden and Rosario auto, and I bought Rosario for Friday and Hayden for Saturday, and come Friday, I went to go redeem my ticket, and on the thing, I bought them at the same time, so it was on the same piece of paper. She only they only scanned the Rosario. And then on Saturday, I went to go redeem it, and they were like, no. And I was like, no. And they were like, yeah, no, Hayden is like sold out. Like, why didn't you get it your ticket yesterday? I'm like, well, you guys only scanned the Rosario. Like, you you had the opportunity to scan Hayden and give me the ticket, and I would have done that. So from here on out, I I know better. But I brought, I have a plaque, like I have one made. It was like a Revenge of the Sith, it's the uh the Sith Eyes Anakin, which is kind of one of my favorite versions of Anakin, where he's kind of like got his head turned with the with the cloak and the uh the Sith Eyes. So that is initially, you know, what I was going to get signed. If I was to get a card signed, I don't know. I'd have to put a lot of thought into it because there are some really good Anakin cards. I know. Some really good ones. I mean, even the box art for this year's Galaxy, the what remains, like that one is insane. I I don't know. I'd really have to put some thought into it.

SPEAKER_05 1:13:48

We missed out on the auto for him as well. We were part of that whole chaos, it was awful. Um, and the key art poster of Vader for celebration, you were, you know, it's the Japanese-style samurai. I got him to sign it a couple months later at Phoenix, and when he was signing it, he stopped and just started talking about he got how we got to meet the artist. And so getting him to sign that, you know, a couple of months later was kind of a redemptive moment. You want to make sure, especially with Mark, it's gotta be, it's gotta be the best.

SPEAKER_00 1:14:21

I mean, I honestly I was just thinking too. I mean, Tracy for 24 Galaxy did that whole run of Anakin, uh, like the inserts. So, like, honestly, some of those too, like I would get signed. Now I'm like, now I'm spiraling on what I would have them signed for.

SPEAKER_05 1:14:37

I know, I know. I I I I mean, again, I started taking notes because I'm like, I don't want to mess this up. I want to make sure that what I get is right. Is Tracy I I know who she is. I follow her on Instagram, I've seen her art, I've heard you guys talk about her. Does she do commissions?

SPEAKER_00 1:14:54

So she doesn't. She did commiss commissions at celebration. She's very locked in, at least from what I've heard, with tops, and I don't think that she wants to risk that relationship. So I think she's very selective. And I mean, like she had gotten approval to do it to do commissions at Celebration, which is why she did it. I'm hoping she does some for trade night, but I know it's not like a licensed Star Wars event. I mean, I know she trades, like if you I know she was trying to collect like the galactic origins, so she if you could like find some for her, she'd trade you like a sketch as kind of like payment. But other than that, she doesn't, which kills me because I would love some Tracy art.

SPEAKER_05 1:15:38

One of the things that is wonderful that I still do that I did from the beginning of whatnot is go in, people. If you're listening and you're interested in this, go into the shop, hit the shop button, and you know, if you don't want to spend money on a pack, there's so many good cards. That's how I met you. I mean, you basically finished one of my favorite sets, and that's the graffiti set. I think I bought like six or seven from you. Um, and I think those are super cool. The Sabine is awesome. Um the the Chebaka, I mean, getting Junas to sign that at Rebel ScumCon is kind of high up on my list. You know, the there's there's some those are some great cards as well. So go into the into the shops and there's always something really cool that you can buy and at least you know what you're getting. You know? Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:16:29

Yeah. I mean, having the shop was like a definitely a big unlock, being able to put cards in the shop to just, you know, because I mean running single shows, it can definitely get a little tedious. So if you can just list it and people can just purchase it, like while you're live, I mean, even while I'm not live, sometimes I'll be at work and I'll get a notification, hey, you know, you got an offer, or hey, this card's sold, and I'm like, wow, like this is cool, you know. Like, you don't even have to be live and you can just go shop. I mean, I I do it all the time. There's a few people I check their shops every day. I mean, Tony's I look at gestures, and like people just have such good deals. And honestly, if you shoot offers, like most of the time people accept it or they're counter like slightly a little bit, but yeah, the shops are it's a lot of fun.

SPEAKER_05 1:17:12

It's awesome. It's a lot of fun, and it's a really it's a great way to get a couple of amazing pieces that you can put in that Mag Pro light. Okay, I got two two quick things for you. My I've not unlike the trading cards. I've walked by my whole life and I've been in convention lines, and I've said to myself, to my girlfriend, thank God I'm not into collecting Funko, because that is like looks like a dangerous lover of a drug. So we're talking to Josiah. She sees all these cool Funko pops she's that he's getting signed and then putting behind the acrylic case. And that for some reason that was the tipping point for what in with your Funko knowledge, what Luke Skywalker and what Anakin would you get signed by Mark and by Hayden? What what are your two favorites of those two characters?

SPEAKER_00 1:18:07

So I I do mainly PC like Ahsoka, Pat and May, and Anakin. So uh even though I've downsized a lot of my Funko Pop collection, I still have pretty much most of those characters left. Um, if I was to pick a pop to have him sign, honestly, oh, I don't know if I okay, I'll give you my top three. There was, I believe it was like a New York City exclusive. There's Anakin from Attack of the Clones. He's got his little Jedi braid, he's got both the lightsabers, like the blue and the green. That one was like one of the first drops that I actually went in on. Like it was like a Funko release, and you had to go in and it was you had to just try to get it, and I actually got it for retail, which was crazy. So I love that pop. There is Walmart did like an exclusive for the Kenobi show where Vader kind of has his cracked mask. So even though that's not Anakin.

SPEAKER_05 1:19:05

It's still Hayden Otto, right? I mean, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:19:07

Yeah, it's Hayden. So I I love that, and plus it just resembles one of my favorite duels. It's kind of like almost a juxtaposition of the Twilight of the Apprentice. So I I like that pop a lot, but I would say out of all of them that I have, there is a Revenge of the Sith Anakin with the Sith eyes, like in the Revenge of the Sith box. It's pop 281. That would be the one that I would get signed.

SPEAKER_05 1:19:31

Now, because it was this, it was described to me like, you know, and I don't, you know, I again I was talking to Josiah and I said, Oh, I really like this one. And he's like, Well, that doesn't have like a sticker on it, so it's not an exclusive, and that's what like the flex is. And I was going in my mind, not knowing anything, I was like, Well, that sticker kind of covers them off. Like, he's like, No, that makes it exclusive. I said, Okay, because I love the little red five look. I don't know why. I just you know, I think that's a cool look. But so I'm I'm getting an education here, and and the is it the New York Comic-Con one? Is that the one first one you said? That that seems to come up on everyone's list as one to get signed.

unknown 1:20:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:20:12

Um it's it's a it's a cool one. But I mean, to me, this I've had I have plenty of pops that are signed that don't have any exclusive sticker, but then again, it kind of just depends. There's some people that only collect if it's got the sticker on it, and if it doesn't, it doesn't mean anything. Some people have to keep it in the box, some people don't. I mean, to each their own when it comes to collecting, to me, the stickers have never really mattered that much as long as I really liked the pop. But I I do know, I mean, I I was very immersed in that pop community for a very long time, and I know there's people that only collect the stickers. Got it.

SPEAKER_05 1:20:47

Yeah, I know. I I don't, I just wanted like a cool pop to have signed in an acrylic case. So what what uh what I mean again, I'm never selling it, you know. It's like so what what's your favorite Luke?

SPEAKER_00 1:21:02

So there is a it was, I believe it was a celebration exclusive from 2017, I think. Like, I think it was Orlando maybe, but there's like a Luke from like Return of the Jedi. It's not like one of those newer models where you know they've kind of you know upgraded. It's it's kind of got that older, like kind of hero pose and it's a little bit more bulky, but it it's got the hooded loot, it's he's like hooded, he's got his green lightsaber out in front of him. He's in this little hero pose, but to me, I mean, Return of the Jedi Luke is like my favorite. Like even if I was to get a sketch, it would be the Return of the Jedi Luke where he's in the black. I think he just looks like a badass. So I think it's oh my gosh, I don't even know where it is. I think it's like 120 something pop wise. But yeah, that would that would be the one that I would get.

SPEAKER_05 1:21:51

Right. That sounds good. And the last thing, and I can bring this up because this episode will air in a few days, so it'll already be gone in your shop, right? I gotta I'm gonna wheel and deal on this with you. I'll I'll reach out to you. I, you know, and the only reason why I hadn't sort of made a run for it is because I've got three boxes of smugglers outposts unopened. Is that stranger card, you know, uh to get that signed by Manny at Rebel ScumCon. Yeah. I mean, are you kidding me? So I gotta talk to you about that off the air because you still have that in the shop, right? As of now. I mean, that card is so beautiful. And I've been debating on at Rebel ScumCon, like, okay, what do I want to get Manny to sign? You know, you're somewhat limited because, you know, then one show. So I really got my eyes on that one. And that one is a one out of a like six out of a hundred. Is that correct?

SPEAKER_00 1:22:51

Um that one, the one that I have, I think is out of fifty.

SPEAKER_03 1:22:54

It's out of fifty.

SPEAKER_05 1:22:56

How many times did they re-redo that card?

SPEAKER_00 1:22:59

There's a base of it or yeah, there's base, I know there's out of twenty. I mean, I know there's out of ten, there's probably an out of five. I believe like the original sketch card is basically the one of one for that. Because even though these are like some of the numbered ones are basically reproductions, like the actual sketch card is live, like to be pulled. So I don't know if his the original sketch of this card by Charlie Cody's been pulled, but I I'm pretty sure there's an out of five. I know for a fact there's out of 10, out of 25, out of 50, and I'm I'm sure there's some of the more higher numbers, but there's base as well.

SPEAKER_05 1:23:38

You know, I mean out of 50 is fine with me. They're not, you know what I mean? That sounds great. I mean, there's no color difference, right, with the out of 50 compared to the out of 100, right?

SPEAKER_00 1:23:47

Or they or is it the out of 25, I think, is like a little orange-ish. The out of 50 to me, it looks gold. I know that there is a little, at least on the bottom, like the where the Star Wars logo is, there there is, I know there is a bit of a color difference.

SPEAKER_05 1:24:03

Gold works. I can see that gold pen right now. But I when I saw that in your shop, I was like, damn, that's clearly what needs to get signed. I just need to go ahead and open those three boxes. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:24:16

Listen, you gotta you gotta get get in the mood, get yeah, make it an event.

SPEAKER_05 1:24:20

Like it's almost like Saturday night you order your favorite like food or something, you know, like it needs to be an event and the the moment has it been right, but just in case in the that you know, those three boxes there's a one of one. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:24:34

Um dude, you could have one of the quad autos, you could have one of the triple autos. Like, I mean, some of them haven't been pulled yet, or some of the numbers are still out there. But I mean, honestly, I mean, I like the look of a lot of the cards. I like a lot of what they did. I like how the quad autos look, the kurtosis is really cool to me. There, I I think the design of the set is really cool. Like, I like how it looks. I just wish it was a little bit more balanced. What do you mean by you can hit you could be sitting on a thousand more than a thousand dollar card, truthfully, and you you just don't know until you rip it.

SPEAKER_05 1:25:08

I you know, I don't know how the production and the release of these works, but for the Padme uh or um Queen Amadala one of one to be released within hours of the set was a little strange, right? I mean, don't you think it would from a like a business standpoint, they'd spread that out a little bit? I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 1:25:28

I mean, yeah, I don't know, I don't know how that works. I mean, I noticed this with hyperspace too, but it felt a little bit more prevalent with smugglers. It kind of just seemed like within the first week, really the first day, before smugglers even officially dropped, really, because people had started, I think it dropped Wednesday. I think people had already started getting their hands on it like Monday and Tuesday. And within probably by the following Wednesday, all of these one of ones had been hit, all of these amazing black foil sketches, all of these crazy quad autos, like it it kind of just was like, I just felt like a lot of the huge chase cards that everyone, you know, always holds hope out that they're gonna hit was getting hit. And it was kind of crazy to me. I mean, we definitely have talked about that a lot with some of the guys, but it it it did seem like I mean, we send each other back and forth, like a lot of the screenshots of like, oh my god, look, this was just pulled, look, this one of one just got pulled, oh my god, look at this. And like it felt like that whole week we were just going back and forth sending screenshots of the huge cards. I mean, the one of one Ahsoka, the one of one Padme, the like it just the one of one Anakin, like it it was just one thing after another, they were just getting pulled left and right. So I don't know how the distribution of that works, you know, how any of that, how tops runs and operates, but I mean, I I did notice it did seem that way, and I think a lot of other people picked up on it, but I I do feel like a lot of the chases have been his.

SPEAKER_05 1:26:56

Ah, that's that's tough. I my three boxes were out of a case from one case that this one major card shop in greater Los Angeles got, and I just, you know, I want to believe that there's something in there. I just I want to believe it. And it was day one. There's gotta be something in there. So I'll let you know. And then lastly, oh, I did I do want to pick it right. One more thing. Sorry. Thank you so for so much of your time. I had this whole idea. I got the little stand with twin sons made on it, and was doing this whole side hustle as part of our IG, and it drove me to drink. Taking a good photo of your card and not seeing light in the reflection is one of the most challenging things I've ever experienced. Holy Toledo, you think it would be easy. I moved that stand and that card all over, not direct light in the corner. Moved, I mean, it was a nightmare. What is the key to? Taking a good photo of your card.

SPEAKER_00 1:28:02

Truthfully, I went through the same thing because I saw Tony started posting all his hits and I'm like, dude, how is he doing this? And me and Vic actually talked about it separately because she was like, dude, I don't know how he's doing it. But a lot of the stuff that I put in my shop, I do try to angle it so that the light and like my reflection isn't showing. But you also kind of, I feel like, lose out sometimes on some of the other details when it is like forward facing. So what I've been doing is I have like a little thing that I rest my phone up against and I open on my watch my like the camera thing, and I'll I'll set it up, I'll make sure it looks good, and then I'll like kind of step away so I'm like my reflection and everything is not in the photo, and then I'll click on my on my watch to take the photo. So that's uh it seems like a lot. Like it's a lot to kind of go through to get a picture, and then of course, just the lighting and everyone's rooms is different. Like the one I'm in, I don't have any windows in here, but I have like this one obnoxious overhead light, so I have to like shut that off. I've got a couple ring cameras or like ring lights, so I'll set those up, and then I just prop my phone up and then I'll take the picture like using my watch. It's it's a process, but that's probably the best way I've come to do it. But truthfully, angling it too makes it a lot easier. Like, if you don't want to go through all of that work, angling it a little bit helps, but it it really depends. But yeah, it's nothing prepared so funny because I went to the same thing.

SPEAKER_05 1:29:32

Or what it was like just trying to get two cards photographed, and I said that's it, I'm done. It drove me to Jack Daniels. I was like, I cannot believe that this is so hard to get this photo. I found that once the sun is on the other side of the house and setting, but boy oh boy, is that an art form? Getting a good photo of your damn card. Because you want to I want to show off all these really cool cards and put them to fun music and you know, write something hysterical. So uh if you're listening and you see a great photo of a trading card, respect. Um yes, amazing. Well, Lex, thank you so much for all this wonderful insight. And you've got a great channel, and uh love what you're doing, and keep doing it. I think I I'm noticing I'm watching your your all you know your channel grow and it's it's really cool, it's exciting to see people headed your way and giving you their business.

SPEAKER_00 1:30:28

So I I appreciate that, man. Thank you. It's it's nice to hear and to see that others are also seeing it. So thank you for that. I appreciate that a lot.

SPEAKER_05 1:30:36

Absolutely. And I might see you oh no, I'll definitely see you in Anaheim. So 100%. Yeah, Anaheim, that's gonna be incredible, and I cannot wait to see who they announce next. Nothing against Frank Grillo. But give us give us some Star Wars people. Yeah, please. Yeah, so well, thanks so much, and uh look forward to seeing you soon and talking more Star Wars cards.

SPEAKER_00 1:31:06

Yeah, thank you for having me on. I appreciate it.

SPEAKER_05 1:31:08

Absolutely. Hi, this is Simon Cassianities with John and Nelly on the Twin Sons podcast.