Coom & Currie Sports cards

Inside A Binder: Hits, Misses, And Hobby Plans. MC goes solo..

• Ben Coom & Martin Currie • Season 1 • Episode 19

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Cardboard tells stories, and today I’m telling mine. I crack open the binder, walk through a growing Topps Premier League set, and face the collector’s dilemma head-on: keep ripping for that elusive autograph or switch gears to trades, breaks, and strategic singles. Along the way, I unpack real pull odds for Chrome Kings, gold line, Premier Pulls, and those ultra-short print rookie diamonds, then map a plan that balances budget, patience, and the thrill of the chase.

We head into show season with a first-look plan for the Brighton card show at the Amex: how to scout tables without overspending, when to barter, and how to anchor on three target cards to avoid impulse buys. There’s Chrome talk too, because Topps Chrome Premier League remains a favourite for a reason: clean design, sturdy feel, and refractors that pop. Mail day brings a Gerrard-heavy haul across Project 22, Futera, Deco Champions League nostalgia, and a numbered LA Galaxy card, proving a personal collection shines brightest when it blends licensed staples with creative oddballs.

I round out the journey with a first Whatnot break, a tidy Edwin van der Sar pull, and a quick show-and-tell of a Rodrygo Topps Chrome as El Clásico looms. Plus, a peek at the Topps Premier League Advent Calendar and how those festive inserts can fuel daily content. If you love set-building, smart buying, and the stories that bind it all together, you’re in the right place. Subscribe, share with a collecting friend, and drop your best 2025 pull in the comments—what should we chase next?

SPEAKER_00:

Welcome to Coom and Curry Sports Cards Podcast. We're collecting meat again. Welcome back to episode 19 of Coom and Curry Trading Cards, Sports Trading Cards Podcast, and you have got a surprise solo show from myself. Coom is currently at um a football tournament in Napier, New Zealand. Did plan on getting a member of the squad or of the coaching staff to jump on. That didn't happen, and Coomb has also removed himself from uh participating today, so um we move on. You know, he did a solo show when I was away, uh, and this solo show will be for me today. So hope everyone's well. Um I thought I would go into um my tops collection. So got my binder here with me, uh lover binder. Um got a binder for the match attacks last year, tempted by the match attacks again. Um, as I bought another tin this week uh and got another hit of the same ilk. So I've got a Wesley Schneider Inter Milan uh Champions League relic medal card, um which is great. Um I do like the cards, they do feel a bit thinner though. That's my only my only um negative to the cards. The cards look great, the the designs are I like, but in terms of the feel, uh it's not quite there for me yet. But obviously the the two cards I did pull, the the relic um Gemathy relic metal ones, they're actually quite thick, so they feel um they feel good. Um but yeah, so right first and foremost, I buggered up the uh I buggered up the setup at the moment. So what should have been on the first page is the Premier League Hall of Fame limited edition cards, which you which you get in uh each super tin. So super tin one, two, and three. You can get the Hall of Famer cards, um, which look thus if you're watching, um if you're not watching, the other thing is Hall of Famer, so you've got Frank Lombard, Stephen Gerrard, Eric Cantoner, Dennis Bergamp, Sergio Obrero, Rio Ferdinand, Patrick Vieira, John Terry, and Roy Keane. Um, so that should have been at the front, um, because it's up in the top right hand corner of the checklist. So I always always think that Arsenal will be first in the binder, anyway. Hopefully not in the league. But uh, yeah, so what I've done is I've put the um, I guess the blue, the blue parallels, the blue, yellow, green parallels ones that you get in one in 10, 1 in 15, 1 in 20, 25, etc. Put them in front of the base card itself, so you can see there. Uh Yuri Tillemans uh in the green at the top, and then I've got Julio Soler of Bournemouth in the yellow there. Um yeah, it's coming on, coming on quite well. Um I guess the only thing where I'm at with the collection is I don't need that many for the base for the base teams. Um question is how many more packs do you buy? Because after a while I was um only buying them really to see if I could pull any more numbered or any more sort of um still on the hunt for an auto. Um, keep seeing them, but no luck. So, yeah, uh my next I guess portal call would have to be there is a website called Got Got Need, I think, or Need GotSwap, something like that. Um, and people just uh submit um cards that um they don't need. Um, so yeah, I'm gonna go on there and I might try and just see if I can get as many of the base cards that I can to just fill this bind and get it done. Then I'll go back to potentially buying singles and going to breaks and stuff like that. That's where you're you'll have more chance of getting you know um more sought-after cards and more render cards in the breaks, and yeah, potentially buying them singles. So prone kings are looking a bit sad. I've got Seth Fabrigast, Dwight York, but Adam Smith, green, green parallels, uh Nathaniel Klein, I've got three times, David Silva, Roy Keen, Paul Lint. There's still quite a lot missing there, and the gold lines seem to be uh surpassing me as well. I've only got Adam the R L twice. Um that's what we're looking for. I want to get, I would love to get so just read on the back here. Your guide to the rarest chase cards. So just give you uh an idea of what um how rare some of these cards are. So Chrome King legend cards, um, that's semi-rare. One in ten packs. So the chrome technology has been used for the crone king legend cards. Look out for the ultra rare parallels and genuine autograph versions of these cards, too. Now, I saw someone pull, I think I mentioned it maybe a week or two ago, but Danny Murphy Crone King Auto. That would have been lovely. And then gold line is rare, one in 28 packs. Um printed on a shiny gold foil and embossed with the Premier League Line logo. These cards even come with a liquid silver finish to deliver a truly stunning effect. They are nice, I just haven't had any really, apart from the Diallo one twice. Um, and then moving on to Premier Paul cards. These are mega rare, there's a one in a hundred packs. So premier pool cards provide a rare mini chaser, these high-end cards are available one in a hundred packs and include a top class lineup of current players and all-time premier League Legends. So, I haven't had any of them either. And then you go into the the big dogs, you've got autograph cards, which are super rare. One in 168 packs. I'd like to know how many packs I've pulled or that I've opened. I don't know if it's surpassed 168, but you do the math. Um, if chasing autograph cards get too excited, then this Top's Premium Elite 2026 collection is definitely for you. This collection delivers rare autograph cards at a jaw-dropping rate of one in 168 packs. Look out for ultra-rare parallel versions, too. Yeah, I would absolutely die for an auto. I've never pulled one. I've never pulled one. Um, I've got uh a Kevin Keegan one um that I bought, bought off eBay, not much, I think it was I don't know, maybe seven or eight pound, um, which is in very good condition. It's potentially uh gonna get an upgraded just because it's my only auto that I've got, um, but I'd love to put one, it'd be amazing. Um, what would be even better is the diamond rookie card, ultra rare, one in 500 packs. Look out for these ultra-rare short print diamond rookie cards. These cards carry the RC logo, rookie card logo, and are reserved for just 10 of the most exciting rookie prospects in the Premier League 25-26 season. Now when he got his um got his haul of uh Premier League top tops cards, he um he pulled uh one of them. One of 500 Diamond Rocky card, he got a um Shimas, the Greek uh striker for Brighton. Um how's your luck? BC. Well it was obviously in that day. Um yeah, there we go. There's the update there. Um would like to get that finished soon because I know uh talks to topp's chrome. Um it's been on the agenda for a while. They'll be releasing that, which is a really, really sleek, slick um uh topps collection. Um, I bought a box of the Chrome Premier League ones. Um, I think I got them from the Fanatic store, I think. Um, and they're super cool cards. Um I really enjoyed them when I got them. Um so yeah, I'm sure they'll be released in the Premier League one. I think Stu from Carl's Lee Break, shout out Stu. Um, discussed it when he was on, and he's um he really likes the collection too, and he's looking forward to it. So yeah, we'll wait to see that um that announce and that drop and um look to buy well, look to buying some and um seeing what a collection's like this year. Uh which also brings me on to speaking of Brighton, um something's been brought to my attention um from a good friend of ours, or good well, yeah, a good friend of mine. Um he knows Coon, but he uh also runs um or edits and helps with the Dogma design. So shout out to Dogma, um James James Hawen, um good friend of mine, uh, brought to my attention along with Friend of the Pod Dom Rot also uh sent me this as well. So there's a card show at um the Yannex Stadium, which is Brighton Hove Albion Football Club Stadium, uh, on the 15th of November. So a couple of Saturdays, well, three, yeah, three weeks away. Um tempted, very tempted. Um it would be my first show. I was gonna break my duck with with Coon uh at Guildford show, but potentially, potentially not um don't quote me on this, but um that could be a hell of a show. Um it looks amazing, it's like there's loads of vendors, loads of tables, and obviously it's um been placed in a hell of a venue as well. So watch this space. Um let us know if you go in. Um would love to uh say hello. Um but yeah, the tactics might have to come into play, uh previously discussed, uh, in regards to what um what tactics that I will use going into the card show because obviously that's something that um that me and Coom discussed in terms of how do you how do you navigate the card show? Do you go all rounds blazing and buy the first things you see? Do you wait it out? Do you barter? What's the what's the crack? So it's all new to us. Rookie's going into this. Um so yeah, highly looking forward to whether I go to that one or if we wait until the Guildford one, which is on Sunday, 14th of December. Um, again, looking forward to that, and um it's a whole new avenue for for us. We're looking forward to to experiencing it, and um yeah, um, if you have if you yeah, if you've heard of any other ones, local, European, um get in touch, let us know. We'd love to try all different shows and and and really sort of engulf ourselves in the community and and see how it works. So, yeah, thoroughly looking forward to going to the show and breaking my duck, and um yeah, we shall see what's coming up at all these car shows. Um, obviously, there's more ones. Um, I think there's a Topps one, an actual Topps one in there was one in Germany, but I think it's in the summer, so obviously Coombs coming back, and it's gonna be the winter. It's coming back five five weeks um for Christmas. So I don't know if the card shows us sort of few and far between this time of year, but we'll definitely be going to one at least. Um, and also lots of plans coming up for uh podcast recordings, um, lots in in the pipeline. Um I believe we've got Nick uh Nick from KCC next week. Uh give us up giving us an update on um what products coming out. It's been a while since we've had him on the pod. Um obviously he is an experienced man of the trade. Um you know, really knowledgeable. Great to have him on, great to have a chat with him and really um sort of get into his mind and and see what what um what he's got going on and what's coming up, and um yeah, look forward to getting one for his fourth, fourth um appearance on the podcast. Um becoming an experienced member of the the the Cooman Curry podcast in uh episode, so yeah, look forward to that one. We've also got Seaside Sports Cards, um South Coast based uh page. Andy from from there is gonna come on um on the 9th, so the week after. And then the week following, we've got friend of the pod, Dom Lot, um, who I caught up with last night, and he's got um he's got some stories. He's got some stories gonna make for a really interesting show. Um uh yeah, had a great some some interesting um some interesting cards being pulled, some interesting stories, um uh heavy into breaks. So it'd be interesting to hear um how he's finding that and and what he enjoys about that. So, yeah, that to come as well. Um, I don't know. One after that, I believe, is um the Eve episode, if you will, of Coombe flying back to the UK from New Zealand. So uh lots coming up for the pods. Um exciting, and um, yeah, this is the first solo show. It's quite strange. Um, because usually obviously it's two of us and we bounce off each other and we uh we you know waffle on and whatnot. And um today just me sat in a coal shed doing it to myself, just chatting away to myself. But yeah, I hope you're enjoying um listen to the pod in general. Please share, follow, like uh all helps um towards the numbers, um, which uh are still super strong. Like we're we're so um I think me and Coon message most days, um, just with updates and and and what we've got and how the social media um posts are going or whatever, and um yeah, Instagram, I think we're looking at just shy of 2,000 followers, which is amazing. Um, TikTok, we're on 830 followers, I believe, uh, from this morning. Um, so yeah, um we're just trying to get as much content out as we can um because we enjoy it and it's it's the hobby and it's what we um what we enjoy and what we're passionate about. So plenty more content to come. Um very much looking forward to personally um doing the tops Premier League advent calendar, which is in the garage for safe hiding. Your wife hasn't seen it yet. Um, but that will be very interesting. Obviously, you've got all the the festive. Let me just grab my binder. So in the binder you get a checklist as well, and yeah, the second to last section um on the checklist is festive freeze, exclusively available on a countdown calendar available from October 2025. So you've got 24 of them cards, and I think they double up as a um as a Christmas tree decoration as well. You can there's a hole at the top of the card which you can obviously put some string through, I guess. Some string or some elastic and um get them on a tree. I won't be doing that. Um but wish you all the best if you do. Uh okay, what sort of players have we got on this festive freeze? Okay. Interesting some interesting selections, I feel. Let me just run through the list for you. Interesting selections. Jordan Pickford, Tarek Lampty, Leighton Baines, Virgil van Dyke, Maxime Esteve, Mark Gay, Bekaio Saka, Stephen Gerrard, brilliant, looking forward to that. Um, Erlin Haaland, Sergio Vero, Juan Wissa, Tyler Adams, Michael Balag, Arl Balak, um what a player he was, Alexander Isak in his Newcastle kit, Nemanja Vidic, another legend of the game, uh Diallo, Yankuba Minta, Emil Hesky in Avila Kit, Dominic Solanke, Gerald Bowman, Anthony Alanga in his forest kit, Nelson Sonedo, Emiliano Martinez, and Reese James. Um just feels a bit strange. There's a strange selection. Just a bit random, isn't it? I feel I know. There's like two United players, two Everton players. You would have thought they maybe would have picked they've covered every team. There's no f there's no Fulham player in there. Bit rude. No Leeds players. So yeah, interesting um interesting. But nonetheless, very much looking forward to opening that up day by day, and that'll obviously um produce daily videos for for for the socials, uh, see what we pull. Um, I've obviously seen videos of people that have bought it already, um, because it was released um early October, I believe, or mid-October. Um, so people have obviously bought it and they've they've cracked it open. I've seen people pull yeah, autos from it, parallels, um, numbered cards. So I believe there's festive card and then like a pack of five, or festive cards in the pack of five, I'm not too sure. Either way, you get five, potentially six cards in each in each door. Um, there's a quiz on it, a quiz on the front about who the player is on the inside of the festive freeze. Um, I think Tarot Lempty's the first one, but um, yeah, very much looking forward to it. Um, quite reasonably priced as well, actually. It was, I think it was 30 35 pounds. Now taking into consideration the amount of cards that are in there, so 24, 24 doors, five cards. You do the mess. I'll do it for you. It's uh 120 cards. Is that right? I think so. See if my brain's working today. Yeah, it's 120. So take that into consideration. Um in in comparison to like what you'd buy in a retail pack. I think it works out alright. Pretty good. Um, so yeah, that's to come December 1st. Um happy days. So let's move on to Mail Day. Um Mail Day and well, for me, mail day I got I received one card, but that wasn't that was yesterday. It was part of uh an eBay haul, should we say? Um, I went Gerard crazy the other day. Um felt like I hadn't bought added to my my PC for a while, and um I've got all these cards on my watch list, and I thought, you know what, biked a bit, bought a but bought a bunch, um two that have been in my basket for god knows how long. Um got two super super cool cards, in my opinion. Uh two of the Project 22 cards, um excuse me, two of the um yeah, Project 22, so it's where artists have like reimagined the player and the cards. So really cool designs. I think the one I received well, the one I received yesterday came in its original packaging, comes in a thick plastic case, like slab. Um and it was like three different pictures of JRive, three different colours. Um super cool. Um, and then there's another one which is almost like a like uh not like an anime, but have an anime effects behind him running or celebrating. So they're they're two big cards that I'm really look forward to. Um getting on my PC and um getting them on the social soon. We can have a look at them because they are the I think the when I first discovered the Project 22 collection, um, I was really drawn to it. It was creative, it was RT. Um, so yeah, that's that that'll be my second and my third Project 22 Gerard card. So um, yeah, great additions to the PC. Uh, and also some other interesting cards coming my way, which I haven't actually got any of. So I've actually got a Futera Gerrard card coming uh in his England kit, unlicensed, so there's no uh sponsor or kit kit manufacturer on there. Um I've also got a well so I've got a TOPS 2223 hero insert, which is quite cool. Uh UEFA Champions League deco cards of um of him hitting that volley against Olympia Kos with the classic Andy Gray uh commentary of oh yabi day funny story actually. Um back in the day, back in the day, sound so old. Probably, I don't know, this is quite a long time ago now. Maybe we've done talking 20 years ago, maybe, give or take. Um me, poon actually was with me, funnily enough, and friend of the bug, Ben Huggins. Um, we we used to go to we used to try and go to different grounds, uh different matches, just to experience, you know, different stadiums, different clubs, different teams, different fan bases and all that sort of stuff. So obviously us living Brighton Way, um we we sort of jumped on the train to London quite often and would go around London all the different um all the different grounds and go to different games and pretty much gone to all the all the sort of top flight top flight clubs. And we went to we went to this game was this game was unbelievable. It was Tottenham v Manchester City, it was uh I think it was the Carling Cup, maybe back then, so the Lee Cup. Um just gonna paint you a picture here. It was a White Heart Lane, which um yeah, is uh you know one of the the bricks and mortar sort of stadiums, you know, within the community. It was um I used to love I've I went there a hundred of times and uh enjoyed it very much. It was very closed. The the pitch was really close to the advertising boards, it all felt really encompassed and sort of you were on top of it all, and um, yeah, it was really really really nice. But um, yeah, went to this game, it was I've got it's definitely it was uh an evening match, an evening or a night match. I can't remember the day, day of the week it was, but anyway, we were um I think we must have went around, had some got some food in London, had a few drinks or whatnot, and we went to went round round, we went to the ground and we um we did like a lap at the ground just uh to take it all in and see it and soak up the atmosphere and whatnot. And we walked round to must have been a west or the east stand, I think, and it was there was uh can only be described as like an old London bus with no with no wheels. So it was um it must have been like they must have done it for it must have been there like permanently, obviously, because it's got no wheels, but it was for um I guess like commentators and pundits to um to have some time out, I guess, or go on there and eat their dinner or whatever because there was like tables on there, it was all like done up on the inside. Um, not as of us, it was as a um almost like uh yeah, tables and chairs, if you will. Anyway, we're walking past and thinking, what is this? It's a bit random. And then none other than Mr. Andy Gray walks past us. Um obviously excited, we were like Andy, Andy, Andy. Um, and at the time, so we must have been like 18 years old. Um I think we went to a club shop and I bought a um I always used to like, I still do to to this day, if I go to a stadium, I like to buy something and as a like a token, like a souvenir, if you will. Um and I and I bought I bought a Spurs autograph book just because it was I think it was cheap and and it was um don't look quite cool. Um and I got into sign it, and I and as you saw Huggins and Coon will be laughing uh if I listen to this, when they listen to this. So I basically went to um I think it was me anyway. I went, uh you're an absolute legend. And he said, Don't you mean a legend? Cheers, boys, and he walked off onto the bus. And to this day, whenever I hear Andrew Craig's voice or see him, that story always comes to mind. Uh absolute classic. Going back to the match, um, it was the tickets were tenner. So, as you you know, as as League Cup matches are, they're a bit cheaper going through the the early rounds. And I don't think it was might have been like fifth round, I want to predict fourth or fifth round, anyway. Um Spurs, the Spurs came out of the traps, scored first. Um they scored first, scored second, and then like third before half time. I remember Christian Sieger, um, ex Liverpool, Spurs, German left backslash centre back, scored a free kick, absolute perler. Um, trying to think of what else called Robbie Keane scored. Oh, and um my memory's actually doing well today. Rohan Ricketts scored actually as well, if memory serves me. So yeah, Rohan Ricketts, Robbie Keane, and uh Christian Zieger with the girls, and um at half time, Joey Barton got sent off. Um says something to the ref. Um kick it off. Something I think he, I don't know if it was a straight red or second yellow, might have been a second yellow. Either way got sent off. So City with out of 10 men, um and you know, thought good game, games games game's over, you know. It's gonna come out second half, and it'll be four or five, maybe. Um, they came out and um let me see if my memory really serves me today. City came came out and they scored. I think it might have been like Paul Bosvelt, um, Dutch central midfielder. Um got one back, they got another back. Trying to think who scored. I can remember the other two, but I can't remember maybe the second one. Anyway, Bosfeld scored, someone else scored, then Shawright Phillips chipped the keeper ran through, chipped it over his over over the body of um whoever's in golf for Spurs at that time. And um and then uh big John Macken, if you remember, if you remember him as a player. John Macken pops up with a uh pops up with a winner. I'll tell you who scored the second goal, Sylvan Distan. I saw some great knowledge coming out of my head, but they they went on to win 4-3, 10 men City, you know, uh completely out of the game. Shouldn't have won that, but they you know the Spurs flot game was done and dusted. City came out of the traps, and um, you know, what a game,£10. I've got to got to add a laugh with Andy Grey, got a signature, saw seven goals on a red card. What more do you want from a League Cup match? If that if that that match epitomises League Cup, you know, that's What you want. Excuse me. Knees down here in the shed. But yeah, hell of a game. Hell of a match. Great memories. And funny enough, this is gonna roll back roll the heck uh some more memories. Um, I actually recorded the match on VHS, and uh lo and behold, I've probably still got it in the loft. But there's a there's a point in the game where someone got fouled, and I showed a replay in Sky Sports, um, and you see me, Huggins, and Coon all just get out of our seats, slow motion like that. And then it pans back to to real time to the match, but um so great memories of that, and yeah, what what um what superb stadium white Hulane is. Sure, Spurs fans out there would agree that that was um just like the West Ham fans would agree with Upton Park. Um, you know, then proper in the community sort of old school uh stadiums were you know just just really encapsulating and and uh yeah um they're missed and obviously the game moves on and stadiums get bigger and built and whatnot, but um yeah, White High Lane was uh was a fantastic, fantastic round. Anyway, moving on. Where was I? I was talking about Gerald cards. Uh yeah, I've got um one other card coming, which is uh my first Gerard LA Galaxy card actually, numbered to 99. Um there is a lot of uh quite a well quite substantial amount of um LA Galaxy cards for for CBG, um considering how how long he was there for. So yeah, I've got a few on the radar, a few more, but that's uh that's a number to 99. Um so look forward to getting that. Um I think that might be it in terms of what I've what I've ordered, but yeah, my sort of Gerald Hall. Um been looking looking at some other cards and and um obviously getting tempted again and again and again. Watch this keeps growing, but um yeah, fantastic. You know, just love the hobby. Uh love growing my personal collection. Um, what else have I been up to this week? I went on uh my first whatnot break with um really nice guy called Jay. Jay Brakes, his name is shout out Jay. Uh so it's JA, you know, three wise breaks, and he was breaking um a Netherlands and Belgium box at the same time, and it was so he set up the you pay in to get a spot, it does like a role of all these players, so it was like Van Dyke and I don't know, like um Bruiner, for instance. It was, I mean, that wasn't one of the selections, but it was like a Dutch player and a Belgian player, so you you bought in, started at a pound, so you buy in for a pound, and then the bid goes up two pound, three pounds if it gets to four pounds, you get the chance to do a respin. So if you win at four pound, you're not happy with your selection, you'll respin it for another one. Um, but yeah, it was super good. Did it in the morning, did it at work, um, on my break, and it was it was cool. Um, I've got some some uh didn't get any big pulls out of it. I did get the the best the best card I got out of it was uh Edwin Van der Sar. Um I'm gonna put it as like a church background, like a stainless steel church in the background. Um, but I'll get pictures and put it on social so you can have a little bit but that was a nice pull, considering I bought a few spots in it, so yeah, should be getting some um some nice bass cards from both of those nations, but um yeah, nothing major. But I really like the setup, it was really good. First whatnot break, um, it was decent. Um, so I'll definitely be doing that again at some point as well. Cool, all right. Um let's move on to a solo all about the boo. Sounds a bit weird, do not mine. Not having Coom laugh back at me every time, but here we are. So I've got a wonderful card in front of me. Now obviously we spoke about this or I alright spoke about this earlier on. So I've got a Tops Chrome card. Okay, so I've got Tops Chrome and it's Rodrigo Real Madrid. As you can see, they're really cool, it's a really nice card. Um the reason I've put this in is because for one, Tops Chrome is probably one of my favourite collections that I've I've ever bought. Uh, and also it's the El Casco today. So for one, track Rodrigo in there, um, and that'll go into the to the binder for the competition, um, which we will be doing next year. Um, and that'll be drawn on well or announced for Super Bowl. So, yeah, another edition, Rodrigo Tots Chrome. Uh, happy days. Um, I think we'll have to get Kuhn to do two cards next week to make up for his uh his last minute exit um of today's episode. But um we wish him all the best um in in the football tournament um in Napier um with his women's team. Um look forward to hearing how we got on and how how they did, and um yeah, thanks for leaving me on my own. On that, Bob Michelle. Regards to all your families, and uh we'll see ya on the next one over and out.

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Ben Coom

Host
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Martin Currie

Host