Crank It Up Sports Card Podcast Episode 11

Crank It Up Sports Card Podcast – Episode 11

Episode 11 of the Crank It Up Sports Card Podcast brings plenty of laughs, friendly competition, and great hobby conversation as Matthew Epperson and Parker Johnson welcome special guest Braden to the show. From the moment the episode begins, it's clear this is one of the most entertaining episodes yet, with Braden fitting right in and helping create a fun, relaxed atmosphere that every sports fan and collector can enjoy.

One of the highlights of the episode is a pair of baseball-themed games that put everyone's sports knowledge to the test. First up is a game of "Age Golf," where the hosts and guest try to match players with their correct ages. It's harder than it sounds, leading to plenty of surprising guesses, unexpected answers, and good-natured trash talk along the way. The game sparks conversations about players from different generations and reminds listeners just how quickly time flies in the world of sports.

The competition continues with a challenge to build a five-player lineup whose combined career home run total comes as close as possible to 1,000 home runs without going too far over or under. Each participant has to think strategically, balancing legendary sluggers with players whose career totals fit the target. The results are surprising, and everyone explains the reasoning behind their selections, making for an engaging conversation that baseball fans will love. Whether you're trying to beat the hosts' totals or simply listening along, it's a fun way to test your own baseball knowledge.

Beyond the games, the episode includes the casual hobby conversations that have become a staple of the Crank It Up Sports Card Podcast. Matthew, Parker, and Braden share collecting stories, discuss the appeal of baseball's greatest legends, and reflect on why the sports card hobby continues to bring people together. The episode captures what makes collecting special—not just the cards themselves, but the friendships, memories, and conversations they create.

As always, the show blends humor with genuine passion for the hobby. Whether you're a longtime collector, a baseball history buff, or someone who simply enjoys sports conversations with friends, Episode 11 offers something to enjoy. The chemistry between the hosts and Braden keeps the episode moving, making it feel like you're sitting around the table joining the conversation yourself.

If you enjoy sports trivia, baseball history, and the sports card hobby, this is an episode you won't want to miss. Be sure to subscribe to the Crank It Up Sports Card Podcast so you never miss an episode, and follow Cranks Sports Trading Gallery for the latest trade nights, new product releases, and hobby updates. Thanks for listening, and remember to keep collecting, keep having fun, and always Crank It Up!

Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:00

Welcome to the Crank It Up Sports Card Podcast with your host Parker Johnson and co-host Matthew Emerson.

SPEAKER_00 0:06

Who the heck is that? Thank y'all guys for tuning in and uh the setup looks a little different today because we have a special uh not special to us uh because he works here and we see him every day, but special to y'all guest on the podcast today, Braden. How are you feeling? I feel great. Good to be here. Good to be here.

SPEAKER_03 0:26

Yeah, very excited.

SPEAKER_00 0:27

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. How do you feel, Matthew?

SPEAKER_03 0:30

I'm feeling excellent.

SPEAKER_00 0:32

Good, good. I feel pretty good too. Thank y'all for asking. Of course. Um but we got a lot to talk about today. Absolutely. So let's get right into it.

SPEAKER_03 0:41

How are you feeling?

SPEAKER_00 0:42

Uh I feel all right. I think I'm alright.

SPEAKER_03 0:44

Feel with your hands.

SPEAKER_00 0:47

Let's get into it. Um, we've got the uh World Cup that we were gonna we were talking about a little bit before. Yeah uh hand. Uh now they once this comes out, they will have already played. But today they're playing. Yes, who are they playing? They're playing Belgium. Belgium. So uh are they winning that?

SPEAKER_03 1:04

I think so. The United States, right? Yes. I don't really know.

SPEAKER_00 1:10

Are you rooting for Belgium?

SPEAKER_03 1:11

They have really good waffles.

SPEAKER_00 1:13

Yeah, they do. They do.

SPEAKER_03 1:15

I mean, if if it's a waffle competition, they're winning it. I'm probably yeah, yeah. I'm putting my money on them.

SPEAKER_00 1:21

Don't bring soccer to a waffle fight, right?

SPEAKER_03 1:23

Right. Sure. But as far as the soccer match, yeah. Um USA, all the way.

SPEAKER_00 1:29

All the way all the way there won it. Are they uh two and one right now? Two and one? Can't remember. If they want two.

SPEAKER_02 1:36

They were on the group stage. They were two and one in the group stage, but two. Two and one in the group stage. Now they've advanced.

SPEAKER_00 1:40

Yep. Yeah. I think they'll go all the way. Yeah. I'm rooting for them too. Um America. Absolutely. Yeah, America. America. Yeah. Uh what about you? What do you have to talk about today? What do I have to talk about? Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:55

I have I have a lot to talk about, but uh one thing that I thought would be interesting, we shared our story last week of how we got involved in the hobby and what uh what interests us as we first started uh ripping cards and stuff like that. Um I thought we would ask our special guest, sure, yeah, Braden.

SPEAKER_00 2:14

I mean, I don't know who you know wants to know that, but we can we can flip it to I'm sure to Braden.

SPEAKER_03 2:19

Bra Brayden, how did you get started in the hobby?

SPEAKER_02 2:22

So I got started, I was about eight or nine years old, and uh back when Mr. Robert owned the card shop over here, actually, uh I used to come here when I was younger, and I came in and bought my first pack with one of my buddies, uh, and he gave me a free pack. And uh I know he used to do that a lot when he owned the shop, and um I just remember that being like one of my first memories of ripping the pack, and I got a rated rookie, Alvin Kamara, and obviously being a Tennessee fan, that was huge for me as an eight-year-old. So uh yeah, that's how I got into it.

SPEAKER_00 2:48

That's awesome. That's awesome. And now you're uh running whatnot. Yeah. Now you're running whatnot. Um what uh what is our whatnot?

SPEAKER_02 2:58

Our whatnot is at cranks underscore sports.

SPEAKER_00 3:01

Cranks sports, go follow. Um they run whatnot all the time. That's great. Yeah, it's it's probably the best whatnot uh probably the best whatnot out there.

SPEAKER_02 3:09

Well, best value channel on whatnot. That's our claim to fame. Claim to fame. We also have a break spot too. We do what is that channel?

SPEAKER_00 3:17

Brakes. Cranks breaks. Awesome. Okay.

SPEAKER_03 3:19

So and you you oversee a lot of that, don't you?

SPEAKER_00 3:23

Yeah, yeah, yeah. We do. Uh so we do the breaks. Guys, do y'all have anything else to say or should we go to game time?

SPEAKER_03 3:30

Game time already?

SPEAKER_00 3:31

I'm ready because I've got I'm excited. I think I'm a little excited.

SPEAKER_03 3:34

Okay. Okay. Well, let's go to game time.

SPEAKER_00 3:37

Flip it to game time, I think. Let's do it.

SPEAKER_03 3:39

Game time.

SPEAKER_00 3:42

All right. Have y'all ever heard of age golf?

SPEAKER_02 3:44

No.

SPEAKER_00 3:45

I'm gonna pull it up right now. Great. Um, I gotta pick, I gotta, I'm I'm getting Chat GPT right now to get me, uh name me five uh sports players. Okay. So age golf, let me let me explain it. And I'll explain it to to y'all as well. Age golf is where you I give you five players, okay, and you have to guess their age currently in the name, currently. Okay. That's it's in the name. Okay. Um, and let's say someone's 50 years old and you guess 45 years old, you're off by five. Okay. And it's a cumulative score. So you would get five points for that round. Gotcha. It's golf because you know, lower score wins. Lower score wins. Do you understand it? I think you might be good at this because you know everybody. Um, so I'm gonna be asking y'all. Y'all can pull just pull your phone out. Do you have your phone on you? Yeah. Yeah. And then just use your calculator. Keep it up, keep keep up with it yourself. And uh, that's the game we're gonna start with. So let me see. Let's see. Let's see which ones it gives me.

SPEAKER_03 4:43

This is all sports?

SPEAKER_00 4:45

Yeah, all sports. Great. All sports. Awesome. All right. LeBron James is the first one. I feel like this is gonna be easy. So, on three, y'all tell me. Are y'all you got it, you got your number? You got your number? On three, y'all tell me how old you think he is. Okay. One, two, three. Forty-one. You said 39? Yep. 41? On the dot. Dang it. Yep, yep, that's bad, Braden. That's not great. First podcast, and you're dropping the ball. This is not a good start. You might not be back. Oh, great. Uh okay, so you're zero. Yeah. You got it on the money in your two, right? All right.

SPEAKER_03 5:18

Already got it calculated in.

SPEAKER_00 5:20

Perfect, perfect. All right, you ready? Patrick Mahomes. Okay. Three, two, one, three.

SPEAKER_03 5:29

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 5:30

So you were off your five off. Did you say 33? Okay, so y'all have the same score right now then. Look at that. I I was surprised that he's 30.

SPEAKER_02 5:38

I thought he was at least 32.

SPEAKER_00 5:40

Me too. I thought he was older. Wonder if we might have to fact check chat here here a little bit. Alright, this one's another one I feel like y'all are gonna get. This is easy. Uh this is easy. Shohe Otani.

SPEAKER_02 5:52

Okay. Is it easy? I think that might be a little bit of a tricky one.

SPEAKER_00 5:57

You ready? It's easy for me, but maybe I'm Okay. I just know I just know it. Uh three, two, one. Thirty-one. Thirty-two. Okay. He's beating you by one. You gonna let the young kid beat us? Alright, you ready? Yeah. I think this one this one would be tricky for me, but maybe not for y'all. Lionel Messi.

SPEAKER_03 6:20

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 6:21

Okay. Three, two, one. Thirty-eight? Yeah. Okay. Okay. This is gonna be the last one.

SPEAKER_02 6:32

Okay. I'm at nine. I'm at seven.

SPEAKER_00 6:34

Okay, so you gotta come back. This one I think y'all could like this one would be difficult for me. Okay. Because I don't keep up with this sport. I don't know if y'all do either. Connor McDavid.

SPEAKER_01 6:44

Oh.

SPEAKER_00 6:49

Do y'all even know what he plays?

SPEAKER_03 6:51

Ollers. Okay. Do you know? I know what he plays, but I have no clue.

SPEAKER_00 6:57

Right. Alright. Three, two, one.

SPEAKER_02 7:00

32.

SPEAKER_00 7:03

32? 32 and 37? 29. Does that mean you are tied? Do we go to tiebreaker?

SPEAKER_02 7:10

I'm I'm at 10. I'm also at 10. Tiebreaker, let's go. Oh wow.

SPEAKER_00 7:15

Okay, give me one more. Tiebreaker. In the final round. That's too easy. I think we got. I'm not this is I'm not doing this, but uh uh it was Aaron Judge. I feel like that's too easy. Okay. What would y'all have guessed, just out of curiosity?

SPEAKER_03 7:32

34. Probably 35.

SPEAKER_00 7:37

He was 34.

SPEAKER_03 7:39

He would have won.

SPEAKER_00 7:40

Wow.

SPEAKER_03 7:40

But we didn't do that one, so of course, yeah, of course. I haven't lost my luck. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 7:45

Ooh, this is a good one. I was trying to get one from a different sport. I think y'all both should know this. Even though. Like, this is gonna be a difficult age, I think. Okay. But y'all both should know who Max Verstappen is. Yes. F1. Yep. Do you know do you not know who that is?

SPEAKER_03 8:00

I know who it is. I have no clue.

SPEAKER_00 8:04

F1's huge, remember? Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 8:06

Huge. Uh shout out hooded figure, who also thinks F1 is huge.

SPEAKER_00 8:10

True. True. Okay. This is it. Tiebreaker. Final round. Okay. Right here, right now. Got it. This is gonna be if if Brain wins, is he gonna steal your spot on the pod? Can't let him take it. Is that the report? That'd be crazy. Okay. Three, two, one. 30. Crap. Okay, y'all. Okay, we gotta do one more. It was 28. But it's it's still like the set. Y'all still go 29. Second best of it.

SPEAKER_02 8:40

Alright.

SPEAKER_00 8:40

Joker.

SPEAKER_02 8:44

I feel like he's sneaky young though.

SPEAKER_00 8:48

Y'all got a number? I got a number. Three, two, one, three. Beat him by one. Bang. Wow. Bang. Wow. That's crazy. What a what a tiebreaker. It's pretty good. It's pretty good. Alright. So that was that game. And then we're going to play the other game that we played. Are we doing the home run total? Yeah, we can do that. Are we doing that again?

SPEAKER_03 9:14

All three of us? Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 9:15

Yeah, we can all three do it. Home run tot total total. Yeah. I think we're going to play that game. I'll tell you how it works. They know how it works. You know how it works. But uh we're gonna we're gonna pick five different players without looking. The other person will add it up in the closest to a thousand home runs. Okay? Okay. Does that make sense? Yeah. Okay. Matthew, do you want to go first? I do. Okay. Uh I'll add it up. Let me let me pull up uh home run totals for people. Who's your first person that you're gonna pick?

SPEAKER_03 9:52

Freddie Freeman.

SPEAKER_00 9:54

Freeman. Wow, 382 home runs. That is more than I thought he would have. He's almost in the 400 home run club.

SPEAKER_01 10:02

That's crazy.

SPEAKER_00 10:04

Okay. Wow, you get that's a big chunk to start. All right, what's the next one?

SPEAKER_03 10:09

Let's go. Uh Ronald Acunia Jr.

SPEAKER_00 10:13

Big Braves fan over here. Uh 193.

SPEAKER_03 10:18

Okay. So where's my total?

SPEAKER_00 10:20

You're at 575.

SPEAKER_03 10:23

575.

SPEAKER_00 10:24

Yep. Okay. With only three people.

SPEAKER_03 10:28

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 10:28

I guess there's some lower numbers.

SPEAKER_03 10:30

Yeah. Let's see. Uh Paul Goldschmidt.

SPEAKER_00 10:35

Is he going to be sneaky high?

SPEAKER_03 10:37

I think so.

SPEAKER_00 10:38

He is sneaky high. Wow.

SPEAKER_02 10:39

That's what I would think.

SPEAKER_00 10:40

Wow. He's got 800, so you went over already. Wow. Uh 386. You were. Oh my word. You were at 961. Probably. Two players left.

SPEAKER_02 10:55

Gotta go rookies.

SPEAKER_00 10:56

You gotta go real. I got this. I got this. Yeah, I think you do. I think you do.

SPEAKER_03 11:00

Okay. Let's go. Um Michael Harris. That's a good pick.

SPEAKER_00 11:10

Ooh, are are you sure that's a good pick? He has uh 89. Yeah, I thought he was gonna be high. You're at a thousand fifty with one more person. Now look, we you could pick a pitcher that has zero home runs, but I feel like you I feel like that's cheating, right? No. We can pick someone who has zero? Yeah. Fine, whatever.

SPEAKER_03 11:33

Who? Aaron Bummer. He has zero.

SPEAKER_00 11:36

Does he?

SPEAKER_03 11:37

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 11:37

I really hope he has one. That'd be kind of funny.

unknown 11:40

No.

SPEAKER_00 11:40

No, he doesn't.

SPEAKER_03 11:41

Not a chance.

SPEAKER_00 11:42

Okay, so you are 50 over. So just remember that. All right at all. Do you want to go next? Sure. And then I'll I'll go last.

SPEAKER_02 11:49

Alright. So you go. I'm gonna start off with Shoheo Tani.

SPEAKER_00 11:52

Shoheo Tani. We are at 298. Great.

SPEAKER_02 12:00

Can it be all time?

SPEAKER_00 12:01

Yeah, anybody.

SPEAKER_02 12:03

Okay. Uh give me Yachty or Molina.

SPEAKER_00 12:07

176. Okay. That's a little less than that. That's lower than I thought it was gonna be. He played so long. I mean, I guess he wasn't like a huge home run hitter, but he played a long time. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 12:17

Well, you gotta consider that I mean he's a catcher, so he doesn't always play everybody. That is true. That is true. Hey. I'm right. You're right. Yeah. I'm right.

SPEAKER_00 12:28

Absolutely. You've lived like, you know, like way longer than us though.

SPEAKER_03 12:32

I mean, you can end the podcast now because you know that I'm right. True.

SPEAKER_00 12:38

Okay, what's the next pick?

SPEAKER_02 12:40

Uh let's see. I'm gonna go. Give me Aaron Judge. I'll do Aaron Judge.

SPEAKER_00 12:48

Oh. I think he's following your uh your lead with getting some big numbers out of the way.

SPEAKER_02 12:52

I want to go ahead and take out the chunks.

SPEAKER_00 12:55

That is 385. So what's my title? You're at 859. 859 with two players remaining.

SPEAKER_02 13:01

Great. Okay. Uh give me Ender N S Arte.

SPEAKER_00 13:07

Who? What?

SPEAKER_02 13:08

Ender in S arte.

SPEAKER_00 13:10

How do you spell that name? E-A-E-N-D-R D-E-R.

unknown 13:14

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 13:14

Wow.

SPEAKER_03 13:15

There's 22. He's in a good spot. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 13:19

You're at 901. Yeah, you're in a really good spot, I feel like.

SPEAKER_03 13:23

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 13:23

If he gets this on the dot, okay, so he's already taken your spot on the pod. If he gets it on the dot, he takes my spot as well.

SPEAKER_03 13:32

Wow. Okay, solo pod, yeah. Somebody with 99 career home runs.

SPEAKER_02 13:38

I know he went over, but I'd be close on him. Give me Austin Riley. I know it'll be over a little bit, but it'll be in the ballpark.

SPEAKER_00 13:48

Oh, 178. Man. So you have 179 total. I feel like those are beatable. I feel like they're beatable. Let's see if they are. I feel like it's beatable.

SPEAKER_01 14:01

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 14:02

I just gotta be within 50.

SPEAKER_03 14:04

Yeah. Yeah. Who you starting with?

SPEAKER_00 14:07

I could I could name like two players and then that's the thing with the zero. I feel like I could name two players and be like basically at a thousand. Pretty much, yeah. And then I could guess zero the rest of the way, but I'm not gonna do that. Okay. Because I'm uh I'm a big man.

SPEAKER_02 14:23

Okay. Sure. As compared to Taylor.

SPEAKER_00 14:29

Yeah. We'll go with Taylor. Oh, okay. Let's see, let's see, let's see. Let's start off with um no one ri went really old, so I'm gonna go old. I'm gonna say Carl Yastremsky.

SPEAKER_03 14:41

Oh let me spell Yastremsky here. Uh 452.

SPEAKER_00 14:47

452. Okay, sweet. Let's go with Ricky Henderson.

SPEAKER_03 14:54

297.

SPEAKER_00 14:55

Perfect. What am I at right now?

SPEAKER_03 14:57

749. 749. Alright.

SPEAKER_00 14:59

So we got, I guess, some lower numbers right here. Let's go some solid uh newer guys like Corbin Carroll. Wait, did I use him last time? Did I use him last time?

SPEAKER_03 15:13

No.

SPEAKER_00 15:14

Okay. I can't remember. You Oh, you did? I don't remember what he had.

SPEAKER_03 15:18

95.

SPEAKER_00 15:19

Okay, good. 844 with two left. With two left. Let's go. Let's go Lawrence Butler.

SPEAKER_03 15:32

52.

SPEAKER_00 15:33

That's uh exactly where I was hoping he'd be around. So where am I at?

SPEAKER_03 15:36

496. 896.

SPEAKER_00 15:39

Okay, I was on. Lawrence Butler's are that bad. He went backwards. Oh my word. Uh okay. So I need just over a hundred. Who's got just over a hundred? I think he's gonna be too low.

SPEAKER_03 15:52

Technically, like 60 something.

SPEAKER_00 15:55

Wait, what was I at?

unknown 15:58

Uh probably like 29.

SPEAKER_03 15:59

896. So you technically if you get to 950 wins.

SPEAKER_00 16:03

I'm not yeah, I'm not just trying to beat y'all though. I'm trying to I'm trying to get it exact.

SPEAKER_02 16:08

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 16:08

Trying to get it exact. I think this answer. Unless I'm I'm trying to think if he missed much time being hurt or anything, and I don't think he did. So I'm gonna go with Gunnar Henderson.

SPEAKER_02 16:22

I don't think that's gonna get there.

SPEAKER_00 16:23

You don't think well, yeah, but I think it beats y'all.

SPEAKER_03 16:25

Probably, yeah. 102. 998 is your total. Wow.

SPEAKER_00 16:33

That's not worth clapping over? Sure. Alright, thank you. That's pretty good. That's pretty good, and that's why I'm in the seat. Okay.

SPEAKER_03 16:40

Um, you're in that seat because you literally put the seat there. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 16:47

I'm in the seat because y'all didn't want to sit by me. Right. Yeah. Um Well, that was game talk. That was game talk. That was fun. That was fun. Uh we can talk about uh some new products coming out. There's uh some nice stuff coming out in the shop. Uh one of my favorite, I think I feel like I say this about the past few uh uh releases that Tops has had, but they've been releasing a lot of stuff I like. And Tops Finest is one of them. Tops Finest Baseball, one of my favorite products. Um it's gotten fairly expensive over the past few years, so I don't know if I'll be getting any. But one of my favorite products, I remember in 2024 when they released uh Tops Finest Baseball. We ripped uh this is back when we were doing like breaks pretty heavily on whatnot, which we're trying to uh do more and more. We we did a case, we did a whole case break. May have even broke more than a case. There's eight to a case, and um we hit in one case Jackson Holiday Rookie Auto, Yoshinobu Yamamoto Rookie Auto, which that would be huge right now. Back then it was big, but it'd be really big right now. I think it was I want to say it was either orange or gold, it was a redemption. Oh wow. Uh so low-numbered Yoshinobu Yamamoto. We got a case hit, we got a I can't remember the case hit. Uh it was it was an oil spill. And I want to say it was like Otani, it was some huge name. Um and then we got a Cal Ripkin Jr. on card auto black numbered to 10. Wow. I mean, it was just loaded. And so I was like, this product is amazing. And so I'm I was like, I'm gonna buy buy a couple boxes, and I did, and back then I could because they were way less than they are now. Right. And uh I got a holiday auto and a couple other big ones, uh, and great product. I love the product, I like the new format. A lot of old like people who liked Top's Finest for a while did not like the new format. You collected probably longer than both of us have been alive. So um what is your thoughts uh on the past few years of them changing the format to Top's Finest? And uh do you like the new way that they're doing it or the do you prefer the old way?

SPEAKER_03 18:53

Well, I can remember growing up um when Top's Finest first came out. I mean, literally first come out. Uh it was a product that uh 93, right? Yeah, 93. 93. It was a product that I was priced out of then. I I never had enough money to buy a pack of Tops Finest.

SPEAKER_00 19:12

Always, yeah, always been expensive.

SPEAKER_03 19:13

I I like the fact that I mean it was very rare. I mean, I think you got one refractor in a in a hobby box. Yeah. So uh that's definitely changed. Sure. Uh I like the rarity more than having all kinds of different possibilities of of having a numbered card. And yeah. Um my question is, you know, there was a big card hit recently in shop of Tops Finest Basketball, Wimby One of One. Yep, that was huge. Did you see that? I did see it. I saw it on Instagram.

SPEAKER_00 19:43

It's on, I think it's on the uh people want to see it, it's on our eBay. Yeah. Uh which is Crank Sports. Yeah, if you go look that up. It's the is it the Black Finite or what are they calling that in Topps?

SPEAKER_03 19:55

I'm not sure exactly the the name.

SPEAKER_00 19:57

It's not the superfractor, but it's black one of one Wimpenyama, which is really awesome.

SPEAKER_03 20:02

That's kind of odd to me. It's it's I believe that card is an uncommon one of one. Uh what makes it uh more rare than the one of one common that doesn't make sense to me.

SPEAKER_00 20:17

Yeah, one of ones get tricky when you have different tiers. Same thing with gold label, they used to have um class one, two, and three. And it's just in a different image, so I guess it would come down to what image you like more.

SPEAKER_01 20:29

Sure.

SPEAKER_00 20:30

But I'm talking about even more recent, uh, because yes, they used to have just the one refractor, but for years they just had like the the the main box and then the two mini boxes, you know what I'm talking about? And I think the last year they did that was 23, so 24, 25, and now 26, it will be a totally different format. And for years it was the hobby with the two mini boxes.

SPEAKER_03 20:50

I I like this format having just the packs uh because I mean if this at the store here, there's not many hobby shops that pack out a box anymore, but at Cranks we do pack out the boxes, and it gives everybody an opportunity to to hit uh something good out of it. True. And and we've been known to to pack out some really good boxes.

SPEAKER_00 21:10

People got some big hits out of those packs, yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 21:12

Uh you were talking about the affordability of it though. One thing that uh Topps has done this year is that they've released a mega box of Tops Fines, normally just a hobby product, uh, but it'll also be retail as well. How do you feel about that?

SPEAKER_00 21:26

Uh I'm kind of split, kind of split on it because uh for for the affordability thing, and if people want finest without having to spend four or five hundred dollars on a box, that's great for them, right? Yeah. Um, but that means they're printing more and that could kind of dilute the product a little bit. And so it's kind of like, yeah, it's good for people who want it. Uh brokies like myself who have to uh buy the mega box, I might buy the mega box.

SPEAKER_03 21:53

Um what about Braden Braden?

SPEAKER_02 21:55

Do you do you think like you would buy a mega box? Uh definitely more likely to buy a mega box. Now I'd say uh especially like y'all were talking about with the affordability now at the price instead of buying something bigger, uh a hobby box. Like it's I'm definitely more likely to get into it.

SPEAKER_00 22:10

Do you enjoy Finest?

SPEAKER_02 22:11

I do. I actually I think it's a very good looking product.

SPEAKER_00 22:14

Yeah, I do too. What's uh what's one of your favorite products?

SPEAKER_02 22:17

Uh I'm a big Tops Chrome guy. Chrome, anything anything cosmic. I like Cosmic a lot. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 22:23

God, Cosmic's expensive too, though. It's so expensive. It's tough, it's tough. But uh, but yeah, no, those products look really good. Yeah, so we got Finest coming out. Uh there's a few other big releases, aren't there?

SPEAKER_03 22:34

Tops Chrome Black Football is coming out as well. I believe that comes out this Friday. Um kind of a I would say mid-tier because it's like in probably five, six hundred dollar range. I mean, the high end now is starting at nine hundred dollars, so I guess it's mid-tier at four or five hundred dollars. Yep, yeah. But uh I I think that'll be a good product.

SPEAKER_00 22:55

Yeah, I think so as well. Absolutely. Chrome Black has has always been nice. Um we hit a uh you and I bought a box. We did. And it's funny because we we we got a box, open a box. Every now and then we'll split a box because that's how how uh we can afford one. Uh this was the baseball though. Okay, yeah. And so we opened it and we're like, man, this was a terrible box. And we had a Ju Soto sitting right there, and it was a new case hit that we didn't know about until we listed it. It but it was the uh it was Juan Soto Damascus. Oh, and it was a case hit. And so we listed it on eBay and we're like, why is this going so high? It was on auction, it just kept going up. And then we looked into it and it said um the odds were one in twenty-four, which it's that's for packs. Right. Usually that means one hobby box because there's usually 20, 24 packs in a hobby box. But for Top Scrum Black, there's only two packs per box. Right. So that means one per case. That's crazy. And so we didn't even realize it was a case hit, and then it paid for our box and everything. So we got lucky right there. Yeah, pretty exciting. Okay, we didn't just toss toss the ones. Yeah, those are just base cards. Yeah, so glad we didn't do that, but that was fun. That was a good one. Yeah, that's good.

SPEAKER_03 24:08

What this will go for on whatnot. Yeah. I know.

SPEAKER_00 24:12

That would have been bad. Yeah. That would have been really bad.

SPEAKER_03 24:14

No, no, no, no.

SPEAKER_00 24:15

What do you think about the platinum anniversary? People have been hitting some nice stuff out of there.

SPEAKER_03 24:19

Yeah, I'm I think it is a product that people can afford. Again, it's it's another product that's doing well in the shop. I believe if we had a hundred cases of it, we would eventually go through it. So too. Uh but one issue with with all products right now is uh a lot of products are pricing people out. Um but Topps has been able to keep that one under, you know, three three hundred dollars for a hobby box.

SPEAKER_00 24:44

Which I think they uh which I think is interesting because to me it doesn't seem like they printed that much of it. It's a big checklist, yes, but I mean how many red to fives have you seen come out of that product? I have seen a lot. I've seen several. I could s I would say I've seen fifteen to twenty easily. And when you're pulling low-numbered stuff like that, to me that indicates that there's not a bunch of what I would say just kind of fluff in the rest of the product. There's not a whole lot of like millions of card number one and millions of card number two throughout the whole checklist. Because if you're pulling reds or super fractors, then that just helped helps your odds. Uh they do have several different types of red, but so does every other product. They've got like four or five different reds. Now maybe Platinum Anniversary has six or seven. Um but young guy, the young guy made a face first. And uh, but it's still one or two more uh red parallels, which is still not that many more because they're only numbered to five. So it's not that many more, I feel like. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 25:54

I I I kind of am against that having so many different number one you know, numbered out of five or numbered uh just like we were talking about superfactors and one of ones. I believe one of one should be, you know, significant pull when you hit it. Yeah. What do you think, Braden?

SPEAKER_02 26:11

Yeah, I absolutely agree. I think when when you get into like like y'all were saying earlier, where you have the different like variations of the one-on-one, I think it takes away a lot of the value from it being like a one-of-one, is what it's supposed to be.

SPEAKER_00 26:22

It's not a one-on-one anymore. Right. No, exactly. Yeah, exactly, exactly. It it's funny to me in the products like um is it Dynasty? Um and they'll have one of ones, and it will be the exact same thing, except it's like it's if they're running or they just hit the the ball. It's like this picture right before they hit it, it's a one-on-one. The picture of him making contact, and the picture of him footage will swing. And it's the exact same car with the exact same patch with the exact same signature, and they're all three one of ones. Yeah, that's funny to me. Yeah. Now, those are still very expensive cards. Yes, they are. Um, but I wonder what it would be like if there was just the actually just one. Now it probably, you know, would be just way too expensive. But um but no, platinum anniversary, I like I love the city variations out of that product.

SPEAKER_03 27:09

Uh I like them as well. Yeah. That that's uh I guess that's considered their case hit. I think so. You know, one thing about Topps Chrome Platinum that I was just thinking about is there's you were saying not a lot of fluff, there's not a lot of inserts in it. There's a occasional insert here and there, but most of it is of that true photo, and then you know they have some variations off of that, yep. And numbered cards and and things of that nature, but um not a whole lot of subsets to that.

SPEAKER_00 27:39

Sure, sure. Yeah, I uh I think tops as of late has really upped their case hit game, in my opinion. The city variations I love. Uh like the the Damascus that I was just talking about, that's new. Um they also put the um what is it, the uh home field advantages in Chrome Black as well, which looked really nice, I thought. So I think they've done a good job at kind of stepping up their game a little bit. Um we we've talked on the podcast before before about how Panini case hits seems to be a little bit better, but I kind of think recently Topsa's really done a good job.

SPEAKER_02 28:14

I think they've definitely been up in their game for sure.

SPEAKER_00 28:16

Yeah. What do you think? Think so? I I agree. I concur. You concur? Yeah. Um well let me tell them a little bit and then let's get out of here. I'm gonna tell them a little bit and then we're gonna get out of here. Okay, um you guys find if I tell them a little bit of a little bit more. Yeah, yeah, go for it.

SPEAKER_03 28:31

I have a suggestion. Okay, well I have a suggestion. Why don't you tell them a little bit right here?

SPEAKER_00 28:36

Okay. That's what we're gonna do. Yeah, go ahead. Yeah, you're good. Yeah, just on you, yeah. Um we got a few things coming up. Last podcast we talked about uh having a budget, me and Matthew. We are still building that out, uh the thousand dollars, and we get to pick uh the cards that uh we that we would buy, you know. Uh it's a figurative uh amount of money. And then um we'll be kind of checking back in every so often and seeing whose portfolio went up more. Uh it's gonna be mine. Um, but that'll be uh that'll be fun. And then uh next week we will have a special guest on the podcast, which I'm really excited for. Uh Matthew said he wasn't, but um, I'm really excited for I know you're lied.

SPEAKER_03 29:23

You lie. You lie so much.

SPEAKER_00 29:26

I do. It's a it's an issue that I do have.

SPEAKER_03 29:28

We'll have to talk about that.

SPEAKER_00 29:29

Yeah, yeah, off camera. Off camera.

SPEAKER_03 29:31

Um let's let's dive in right now. Switch spots with us.

SPEAKER_00 29:35

You come over on the couch, is this an intervention? Yeah on the pod. You didn't know it, but yeah, it is. Uh but awesome guy named Richard. Uh he was one of the guys who uh did comment on our uh posts and stuff, and that was awesome. And so he is going to uh come on the next podcast. I think it'll be the next one, whenever he's out of town. It'll be in one of the upcoming podcasts. So we're excited for that.

SPEAKER_03 29:59

And um we have a we're gonna we have a I didn't mean to interrupt you there, but we have a few customers that are interested in uh a few other people as well.

SPEAKER_00 30:08

Yeah, we're gonna we're gonna try to do that every maybe every other podcast or one or two a month. Um so that'll be really fun. But Richard was got that first slot. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 30:18

So looking forward to seeing Richard.

SPEAKER_00 30:19

Yep, we're excited for that. So uh give it up for Braden being on the pod.

SPEAKER_03 30:24

Appreciate you being here, Brad. Absolutely. Thanks for having me. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 30:27

Absolutely. So uh thank you all for tuning in today. We'll uh we'll be back next week uh for more you know really insightful um things of the hobby. So definitely definitely come back if you uh need some some some information. Yep. So uh we'll we'll see you all on the next one.

SPEAKER_03 30:45

See you next time. See ya. Thanks for listening to the Crank It Up Sports Guard podcast. Please subscribe, share, like, follow, but most of all, please enjoy.