Crank It Up Sports Card Podcast Episode 14

Episode 14 of the Crank It Up Sports Card Podcast features special guest Richard Laws as we dive into the sports card market ahead of the upcoming NFL season. Richard shares which players and cards he believes are smart buys as football kicks off, along with the stories behind his personal Mount Rushmore of collecting. We also have some fun playing Closest to .800 OPS+, testing our baseball knowledge with a unique stats challenge. To wrap things up, everyone reveals the one card they would add to their personal collection if they could choose just one. Whether you're a football investor, lifelong collector, or just love hearing hobby conversations, this episode is packed with insights, opinions, and plenty of laughs you won't want to miss.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

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

SPEAKER_02 0:06

Who the heck is that?

SPEAKER_01 0:08

All right. Thanks for joining us again for the Crank It Up Sports Card Podcast. I'm Matthew Epperson. This is Parker, and we have a special guest today, Richard. Appreciate Richard coming along. Worth a clap. That definitely deserves an applause. Yep. Richard is a very good friend of ours that comes in the shop now. And uh well, he's been coming in the shop for a number of years, and uh we formed kind of a a relationship with him and and uh he won our our I guess it was episode 10 of uh having someone on. We've had a few guests here recently, yep, and uh we're excited to have Richard here.

SPEAKER_02 0:47

Uh me too. I'm excited. He was one of like three people that commented. So he got the he got used to the We actually did have quite a few comments. Did we? Yeah. Okay, well that's good. So Richard, tell us a little bit about yourself, how you got in the hobby, what you're kind of collecting right now, uh, you know, your your your picks for what you think is gonna go up, what you think is gonna go down. Just kind of a little overview on all that.

SPEAKER_00 1:10

Okay, all right, that's a lot. I got you. Uh so like you said earlier though, I'm Richard. Uh I do work for Walmart, which is right next door, so it's very, very convenient uh to come over here on my lunch breaks. Uh I work with the global talent and learning division inside of Walmart. So uh essentially I just train managers all day. Uh it's a pretty chill job back there. Yeah, as far as what I'm collecting right now, uh you kind of mentioned it, I do collect quite a bit of things. Uh I'm a massive, massive Star Wars fan. Um, and so I do a lot of action figure collecting.

SPEAKER_03 1:40

Oh, cool.

SPEAKER_00 1:41

Um, but there's uh there's a Star Wars game out that's very similar to Magic the Gathering. Uh it's called Star Wars Unlimited. Okay. Uh and every set of those they come out with a um uh the the chase cards are called showcases, and they're just dual-side holo cards uh with extra artwork. Coolest things in the world as far as like Star Wars stuff goes. So uh I chase a lot of those waiting on some to come back from PSA. Fingers crossed. We've been waiting for a while. Waiting a while there. Uh expected back two months ago. Yeah. He said June 15th, right? Was my my estimated date of delivery. Yeah. Um, and then you know, outside of the TCG, uh, you know, I do some Pokemon collection, uh, but I'm bigger into basketball and football.

SPEAKER_03 2:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 2:27

Uh love, love, love basketball right now. Uh Cooper Flag, big, big fan of him. Uh I've got a lot of stuff waiting again for him to come back as well. Uh, but I've got a lot of faith in him uh in a especially on his rookie contract. Um he's a really good four to five year investment if you're looking for something to kind of grow inside of the hobby. Um Knipple, another guy right now that I'm yeah uh happy he's down, not really understanding it. I think you guys had covered that a little bit. Not sure why he just tanked completely. Yeah, but uh he's another guy I'm kind of uh uh collecting. Uh Dylan Harper, yeah, like him a lot right now as well.

SPEAKER_02 3:05

I I knew that you liked Khan a lot. We've talked about that. Has your opinion on Khan changed any since um was it Lamello who got traded?

SPEAKER_00 3:17

Uh yeah, so for me it's actually gone up. Uh so LaMelo got traded, and uh I can't think of the other guy they traded right now as well, but they got rid of uh another option over in Sar uh Charlotte. Okay, and so uh I think he's just gonna be uh the premier player when they uh they it kicks back up. Okay. Uh I'm I do think next year he's probably gonna drop a little bit because I don't know if he's ready to to have the whole offense focus on him. He's not that type of a player. Uh he's a lot closer to uh Klay Thompson with a little bit more playmaking. Uh but uh I think within two to three years I think he can recover and and be right back in it. Fingers crossed they do good in the draft and actually build a team around him.

SPEAKER_02 3:56

But yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_00 3:58

They collected a lot of good assets right now, so that's a that's a good step forward for him.

SPEAKER_02 4:02

For sure. Um what about football? Because uh we re we actually talked about it a little bit ago. The Tops Chrome Black 2025. This is the was it the last or next to last 2025 product?

SPEAKER_01 4:16

This is probably going to be one of the last 2025 products that they're already releasing uh 2026 flagship. And as a matter of fact, when this podcast comes out, I believe the pre-order will have already been.

SPEAKER_02 4:28

Wow. So are you um because you said football and basketball, kind of the two main ones. Uh on for this next upcoming 2026 rookie class, are you looking for anybody specific or your kind of picks?

SPEAKER_00 4:40

Oh man, that's a I I'm not super stoked really about this coming up class.

SPEAKER_02 4:45

It doesn't seem as deep as the other one.

SPEAKER_00 4:47

Um Mendoza's a fun, you know, just in case you never know what he's gonna end up doing. Sure. Um the uh he's losing my mind right now, the guy that got taken by the Rams uh really early.

SPEAKER_01 4:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 4:59

Uh I can't think of his name right now. That's another Ty Simpson. Ty Simpson, yes, the Alabama quarterback. That's another guy that's that's interesting to kind of keep an eye out for. Um, but for for me, uh I don't I'm not looking at this draft. I'm looking at last year's draft class and some of the uh QBs that are getting a shot this year. Sure. Um and so uh, you know, recently I've been collecting uh I call him Tyler Suge. Uh Tyler Suge is who I'm I'm all in on right now.

SPEAKER_03 5:27

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 5:27

Uh I don't think he's a full year investment, though. Uh to me, he's one of those guys that collect him for the first six to eight weeks. Sure. Fingers crossed, he's having a good, you know, start of the season uh and then move off him fast.

SPEAKER_01 5:40

What do you think?

SPEAKER_02 5:41

Sorry, go ahead.

SPEAKER_01 5:42

I've I've heard you're you're going to be uh seeking out all the Ohio State uh players. Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_00 5:49

He wants to switch seats real quick, Parker. Is that can we do that? Can we switch seats? There's a fight all of a sudden. I mean, we can maybe I'm just mistaken.

SPEAKER_02 6:00

Thumbnail is like guest on the podcast, storms off.

SPEAKER_00 6:04

Yeah, yeah, walks by that's a good thumbnail.

SPEAKER_02 6:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 6:07

Uh zero Ohio State. I will refuse to collect any uh anything with that uh brand on it.

SPEAKER_02 6:13

What do you think about Cam Ward?

SPEAKER_00 6:16

Uh for the Titans? Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 6:18

Do you think he's good?

SPEAKER_00 6:23

I don't think he's worth collecting.

SPEAKER_02 6:24

Fair enough.

SPEAKER_00 6:25

I I uh um potentially in Tennessee just because you're gonna have fans that that are potentially gonna overvalue him. Uh but I think like if it's somebody that you're collecting and hoping that in a year or two he's gonna pay out, he's just not the type of person I think that's yeah. Uh I don't think he's gonna have a good start to the year. I think it's gonna take him a little while to to find their footing. Uh and so I don't he's not got much around him. No, um definitely does not have any receivers because they wasted an early pick on one.

SPEAKER_02 6:53

So I've got a Cam Ward kaboom. So does that change your like you think he's gonna do good? Does that change your answer?

SPEAKER_00 7:01

I'd put it on your one dollar whatnot. That's where that's where I'd run that one at.

SPEAKER_01 7:06

You you mentioned Mendoza, and I I believe that'll be a chase. He's the he's the cover athlete for 2026 football. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 7:15

Tops he'll be a huge chase, but then after that it I feel like it falls off a lot.

SPEAKER_01 7:19

Yeah. I I tend to agree with you. I I don't think the the football class or the uh quarterback class is as good as it was in previous years. And of course, 2024 was a fantastic year. 2025, I I believe some of those guys will get a chance, as Richard was talking about. Uh you had a lot of people from that class that was injured throughout the year, and I don't think that they got the reps that that other quarterbacks or even any other rookie normally gets. Yeah, true. I think that could be a good buy, just as Richard said.

SPEAKER_02 7:53

Yep, yep. Yeah, Tyler Shuck, he's I hear numerous people talking about him. Um Dart, um and I I do hear, and maybe it's just because of the area, but Cam Ward, I do hear a lot of people talking about him, and I think it might maybe people are just wanting to believe because of where we're at.

SPEAKER_01 8:14

D does that make you cautious though, when everybody's going after this one particular athlete, um, you know, maybe they are a little more inflated right now than they normally would be. Um is is Cam worth the buy? Is you know, everybody's going after Shook.

SPEAKER_02 8:31

They are, and that's a that's an interesting point, because if everybody thinks that the that their market's low and everybody gets in on it, then the market's probably not actually low. No. So probably more inflated. Yeah, so that is that's one way to look at it for sure. I think though that probably any decent quarterback that is um like a higher end card like the kaboom that I was talking about is not a bad buy in the offseason. I bought that uh Cam Ward Kaboom for I think it was six hundred and fifty dollars. Last three sales are like eight hundred, eight ten, and eight hundred. So that's gone up already, you know? And I think I think that card by the time the season starts, it's probably about a thousand dollar card. Um if it follows the same trajectory.

SPEAKER_01 9:19

Easy for easy. Easy trajectory? Is that what it was?

SPEAKER_02 9:22

Yeah. So if it follows that same trajectory, then I think that it'll be about a thousand dollar card. And um and I think anything like that, whether it is gonna be good, and then if you don't believe in them, maybe just sell them like right at this the time the season starts. Because that's if they don't have a good year, that's gonna be the peak because everybody's excited speculating on them. If they have a great year, then obviously this guy's kind of the limit, like as we saw with Drake May. I mean, his stuff was crazy. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 9:51

So I have one final question for from me. Okay. To actually this could be to both of you. Sure. Who's on your Mount Rushmore uh collection or who you collect?

SPEAKER_02 10:02

It's a good question.

SPEAKER_01 10:04

Are we in sports? Are we staying keeping it to school? Who you collect? I mean, it could be some of your Star Wars and and Pokemon. Um I think it's a good question for both of you.

SPEAKER_02 10:14

This is a good question.

SPEAKER_00 10:15

Okay, so four. I'm picking four, right? Four. Okay, so um, I'll go first. Is that all right with you? Go first. Okay, so um I would say first and foremost, uh Boba Fett from Star Wars. Uh Boba Fett's the whole reason I got into Star Wars, uh, his armor, uh, which is phenomenal. Uh and then uh, you know, when they start releasing more books, um they dig into the Mandalorian culture, uh, and which is a really cool like warrior culture inside of Star Wars. Um, but I have I couldn't even tell you how many action figures of this character. That's cool. All different variations. Um, I mean, probably somewhere between 30 and 40 different uh action figures from all different size uh sizes, eras. Um so it'd probably be the one Star Wars one. Outside of that, um I'm a massive Tom Brady fan. Uh yeah, you know, I don't know if you could tell. Where do you get school? Uh the greatest college in all of America, uh, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan. Uh so Tom Brady would be the second one. Uh I would say right now, just based on volume, Cooper Flag, uh, just because I have a lot of Cooper Flag. Um and then somebody I haven't really got to talk much about yet, uh, that I've slowly started building a collection because I have a lot of uh faith in them, uh Scoot Anderson in Portland over there. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 11:30

I knew that you because you actually I think we get sold you an auto.

SPEAKER_00 11:34

Two. Two of them? Two separate autos.

SPEAKER_02 11:36

Yeah. That I didn't know that you were kind of all in on him. Well, cool.

unknown 11:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 11:40

I uh I like the way that the future looks for Portland and the way he performed in the playoffs. I've got a lot of faith.

SPEAKER_01 11:46

So that's weird. The Mandalorians, they've had a good year. Yeah. They have had a good year.

SPEAKER_02 11:52

So I would say, so are we are we going off of favorite players that you like to collect? Or whatever you collect. Okay. Well I'll kind of break it down. First two is just we know the first two. My my favorite players that I like to collect. For no reason other than I like both of them. And that's Mike Trout and Bobby Wood Jr., right? And then if I was gonna pick two others, I would probably be picking based on like value, if I think I could make money off of them, I guess. Um it would probably be we talked about this, but Jordan Alvarez I think is so cheap for how good of a hitter he is. And I think that he just because of the um kind of cheating scandal with the Astros, I think he gets lumped in with that, even though he didn't come up um or he came up after that. I think he's really good. I also think Juan Soto, another guy that I've talked about before, because he's bounced around uh on so many different teams, I think that kind of hurts his value. And so I think he's cheap and too cheap for how like the level of production um he has. And I think because he's gonna be on the Mets for 15 years, unless I guess, you know, gets traded or something like that, um, or chooses to go somewhere else. Uh I think that that consistency, especially if the Mets can rebuild and do well again, I think that makes his cards go up a lot. So those are two people that I think are really talented, uh, came up young enough to where if they continue on this path, I think they are Hall of Fame candidates if they if they continue. That's the biggest question, you know. Um and so I would pick both of them just based on buying them and holding them for a little bit and making some money later on. Okay. So very good. Yeah. Do you have four locked and loaded that you want to tell us about?

SPEAKER_01 13:44

Well, I'm I'm a big Atlanta Braves fan. Um so most of them would probably be Braves. Yeah. Um I do um two players that I like. I know there's only four on uh the Mount Rushmore, but I do like Nick Kurtz. I do like Bobby Witt. So they're in there as well. Maybe if you can chisel them on like one side of the mountain, um just take up one space. Right. Um but uh also uh Ronald Acunia Jr. Um I guess that's kind of a given. Any of the old Braves uh in that uh good rotation smolts, Glavin, Maddox, I love that stuff. Um so that's that's chiseled on one as well.

SPEAKER_02 14:28

Wow, you're fitting a lot of people on Mount Rush right now.

SPEAKER_01 14:31

Well, I mean, it was my question, so I can Yeah, you can I guess do what you want, yeah. And then I guess uh last would probably be I hate to get stuck on just one when I had so many uh people there. Yeah. Uh probably any old brave. I mean, Del Murphy, Hank Aaron.

SPEAKER_02 14:52

I don't have any big You haven't said Chipper, I'm surprised. Are you not a Chipper guy?

SPEAKER_01 14:56

I would yeah. I don't have any big Chipper Jones cards either, but um boy, my my voice sounds horrible.

SPEAKER_02 15:03

It is going out. That's crazy. But uh well that's cool. That was a good question. That was a good question. Why don't we go and kind of flip it over to game time? Got a cool game today. It's probably gonna be a difficult game, but we're gonna get through it. I think it'll be funny. I think it'll actually be uh pretty funny, depending on how off we all are. We've done the home run. Uh home run one where we uh, you know, closest to a thousand. We're gonna try something different and a lot more difficult, and that is going to be OPS Plus. OPS Plus. Uh Career. Career OPS Plus. Doesn't have to be a single year. Um Career, they can they can be current, they can still be playing, they can be all-time, however you want to do it. And we're trying to get to 800 because um a thousand that'd be pretty tough to get to a thousand. So we're kind of tailoring that a little bit, and we got to get to 800 OPS plus with only uh with only five players.

SPEAKER_01 16:07

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 16:07

Only five players. Who wants to go first between you two?

SPEAKER_01 16:11

Uh would you like for me to go first so you so you can kind of get an idea about everything?

SPEAKER_00 16:17

If you use the names, I can't reuse them, right?

SPEAKER_02 16:20

True. So you you go first. You go first.

SPEAKER_00 16:22

I go first. Yeah. Okay. I don't want to. I mean, I'm going last. But I want to say away from my talent pool.

SPEAKER_01 16:27

So and you would think a stat like OPS Plus, an old guy wouldn't know what that is, but I do.

SPEAKER_02 16:32

You do know what that is. And for those who are watching who might not know what OPS Plus is, it takes into consideration the ballpark size, it takes into consideration all of that. And um any stat that has a plus at the end of it, like ERA plus or anything like that, um, a hundred is league average. So if you have a career OPS plus of 150, then you were 50% better than the average player. Okay. So that's how that works.

SPEAKER_01 16:59

What's Richard's OPS plus as a cranks customer?

SPEAKER_02 17:02

Uh 200. He is 100% better. Sounds right. Than everybody else. Uh, especially Tyler. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 17:09

Oh, yeah, yeah. We haven't talked much about him, but I figured I'd close it up.

SPEAKER_02 17:13

Name drop, name drop right there. Sorry. Sorry, Tyler. All right.

SPEAKER_00 17:18

Go ahead. I'm ready. Okay. Um, I'm actually gonna use a name uh from someone you just said.

SPEAKER_02 17:23

Okay. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 17:24

I'm gonna still off your uh Mount Rushmore.

SPEAKER_01 17:26

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 17:26

I'm gonna start with Chipper Jones. I'm gonna see Okay.

SPEAKER_01 17:29

That's gotta be high. It's gotta be. Real high Hall of Famer.

SPEAKER_02 17:37

OPS Plus. 141 career OPS Plus.

unknown 17:42

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 17:43

Okay, so better than Chipper is what I gotta think of. Uh let's go with Ricky Henderson.

SPEAKER_02 17:49

Interesting. That's a good pick. I think his own base is gonna be like carrying that.

SPEAKER_01 17:58

A very interesting stat by um uh of Ricky Henderson is he broke up more no-hitters than anybody to have played baseball. Leadoff home runs.

SPEAKER_02 18:14

Uh 127, that's a little lower than I thought it would be.

SPEAKER_01 18:18

Under Chipper, you know, the great brave Chipper Jones. Yep. Larry Wayne's Jones, Larry Wayne Jones Jr.

SPEAKER_02 18:26

Larry Wayne Jones.

SPEAKER_00 18:28

One day you will be horse. Can't wait. He'll cancel. Don't worry.

SPEAKER_02 18:33

Yeah, probably. All right, so that's two down.

SPEAKER_00 18:36

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 18:37

Um just you're at 268.

SPEAKER_00 18:40

Okay, well let's go with Barry Bonds. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 18:43

You're gonna get a lot on this one.

SPEAKER_00 18:44

Still one of mine. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 18:45

You're gonna get a lot. It's gonna be big. Uh PS plus.

SPEAKER_01 18:51

This is for career.

SPEAKER_02 18:52

182. Wow.

SPEAKER_00 18:55

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 18:56

So you were at 450.

SPEAKER_00 18:58

With two more.

SPEAKER_02 18:59

With two more. So you need some high numbers right here. This is 800 might be like really hard to get to.

SPEAKER_00 19:04

You may have to help me with this name.

SPEAKER_02 19:06

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 19:07

Short stop, I believe, for the mariners a while back. Uh that uh uh had like that hit streak. Maybe second base.

SPEAKER_02 19:18

When did they when did they play?

SPEAKER_00 19:19

Early 2000s.

SPEAKER_02 19:21

For the Mariners? You're not thinking Alex Rodriguez, are you?

SPEAKER_00 19:25

No.

SPEAKER_01 19:25

That would be a good guess. I was thinking maybe Ichiro.

SPEAKER_02 19:28

Oh, Ichiro?

SPEAKER_01 19:29

Is that right? Ichiro is on base will be pretty high.

SPEAKER_02 19:32

Yep. Yeah, we'll do so Ichiro, OPS Plus.

SPEAKER_01 19:35

Yeah, played right field, but it's way off.

SPEAKER_02 19:40

This is very surprising to me. Oh, this is gonna be a bad number. 107. Is that not crazy low?

SPEAKER_01 19:48

Okay. Really low. I think it's probably more so because of his slugging. Probably.

SPEAKER_02 19:53

He was definitely not a home run and he was a contact guy for sure. But that's still surprisingly low. So we're at 557 with one person left. So I don't know who actually I think I know probably who has the most ever, but you probably need to guess someone who has the most ever.

SPEAKER_00 20:10

Hank Aaron.

SPEAKER_02 20:11

That's a very good guess. Probably number one or two. 155. 155. That's lower than I thought. 712.

SPEAKER_00 20:20

Not bad. 712.

SPEAKER_02 20:22

Inside 100. That's not bad. Again, I think that OPS plus was going to be tough. So just remember, remember your number, 712. I'll write it down. All right, Matthew. I'm gonna go last, which means this is gonna be tough for me. It's gonna be hard. This is gonna be really players. Because I you there's only a handful of people you can pick for this category to get 800. We should have probably lowered it to like 600.

SPEAKER_01 20:43

I'm gonna start with Babe Ruth. Yeah. That's a good pick.

SPEAKER_02 20:47

I think I I could be totally wrong, but I think he was the one who had the most. He or very good.

SPEAKER_01 20:52

He was pretty good.

SPEAKER_02 20:53

Yeah, 206.

SPEAKER_01 20:54

206.

SPEAKER_02 20:55

Yeah, I'm pretty sure he has the most ever.

SPEAKER_01 20:57

Okay, that helps. Yeah. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 20:59

Yeah. Yeah, thanks. I'm gonna I'm gonna absolutely I'm gonna get like four.

SPEAKER_01 21:04

Let me go. Mickey Manel.

SPEAKER_02 21:06

Man, you're taking I'm gonna yeah, this is bad. This is bad. Just based off of your picks, this is bad.

SPEAKER_00 21:13

So I'll at least be second. I like this.

SPEAKER_02 21:16

Yeah. 172.

SPEAKER_01 21:19

Okay, so how much is that?

SPEAKER_02 21:21

You're at 378. Okay. Wow.

SPEAKER_01 21:24

800 is still really hard to get to.

SPEAKER_02 21:28

Oh, you can get there. Yeah. You can get there for sure.

SPEAKER_01 21:31

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 21:32

There's been quite a few names that have not been said.

SPEAKER_01 21:35

Willie Mays.

SPEAKER_02 21:37

Another good one. You're going, you're going your era for all these players. Yeah. I guess you know, stick with what you know. Uh 155, you are at 533. Well within reach with two players left.

SPEAKER_01 21:53

Two players left. Okay. Let me go Mike Schmidt.

SPEAKER_02 21:57

Interesting. Jack Schmidt. It's interesting. I'm not I don't even have a gauge of where I think he would be at. I think he's got one forty eight.

SPEAKER_01 22:06

Okay. So how much left?

SPEAKER_02 22:07

You're at six eighty one. You're in a very good spot. But not bad.

SPEAKER_01 22:16

Yeah. What about Fred McGriff?

SPEAKER_02 22:20

Interesting.

SPEAKER_01 22:24

He had some good home run injuries, though.

SPEAKER_02 22:27

I don't I feel like he's gonna be closer to average.

SPEAKER_00 22:30

My guess is you're at like 770.

SPEAKER_02 22:32

Whoa. I might be sleeping on Fred McGriff's career. 134. So I went over. So you're at 815. Wow. It's not bad though. Dang, that's gonna be tough to beat.

SPEAKER_00 22:48

Yep. This isn't like the price is right.

SPEAKER_02 22:50

It's gonna be tough to beat. It's just closest to 800. If he goes over, then yes.

SPEAKER_01 22:56

Yeah, it doesn't count for me.

SPEAKER_02 22:58

If I don't get it on the dot, I'm at le immediately losing. Wow, this is gonna be tough. Did any of y'all go with modern people? No at all. None of y'all said Griffey, right? It's gonna be my first one. I'm very surprised neither one of y'all said Griffey.

SPEAKER_01 23:14

See, I don't know how to operate a cell phone because I'm so old. True. Where is the stat?

SPEAKER_02 23:22

Do you want me to go back to baseball reference? Here, here, here, here, here.

SPEAKER_01 23:26

I mean fielding. Let's do fielding percentage.

SPEAKER_02 23:30

Oh no. Yeah. That would be very bad. Where's OPS plus? Griffey. Oh wow, 136. That's less than I thought it was. All right. Do you want me to do this?

SPEAKER_01 23:40

That's alright. I got it. I can I can figure it out.

SPEAKER_02 23:42

Look, look, look, look. If you scroll right down to career right here, excuse me. And then you just scroll over to you see OPS Plus and then Career 136. So I'm at 136.

SPEAKER_01 23:54

136. You you got the 136 in there?

SPEAKER_02 23:56

Next is going to be Aaron Judge.

SPEAKER_01 24:00

177.

SPEAKER_02 24:01

Wow. I'm gonna go Mike Trout. Because of course he's close to 170 as well.

SPEAKER_00 24:09

Who is he?

SPEAKER_02 24:10

Who's that guy?

SPEAKER_00 24:11

You're at 313.

SPEAKER_02 24:12

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 24:14

Before Trout. OPS Plus is 168.

SPEAKER_02 24:17

There you go. I knew both of them were like very, very high.

SPEAKER_00 24:21

481.

SPEAKER_02 24:22

481. With two left. Is that right? I said three already. Wow. Was it three? Yeah. Yeah. I'm at 480.

SPEAKER_00 24:35

81. 481.

SPEAKER_02 24:37

Man, y'all took so many of the high hitters. I'm really this is testing my ball knowledge right here. Let's go with uh let's go with Otani. Let's go with Otani. That's crazy. You don't know ball. You don't know ball?

SPEAKER_00 25:00

His voice is going loud again.

SPEAKER_02 25:03

He can't handle it. That's crazy. Oh man.

SPEAKER_03 25:13

Oh man. That's good. That's good.

SPEAKER_00 25:16

This is the reason I keep coming back. This is the whole reason.

SPEAKER_02 25:19

So 160. 160. Wow. You are crying. You are in full blown tears right now.

SPEAKER_00 25:27

You're at 641.

SPEAKER_02 25:30

Okay. That's doable. That's doable. This is doable. 641.

unknown 25:38

I can't do it.

SPEAKER_02 25:40

So I need 159 to win? Is my math correct? Don't do math in public. Unless Richard's beside you because he knows math like that. Okay. Wow. I need to be within 12. You got 812? Is that what you got? 815? 815? You can't talk right now. You might need to be silent the rest of the life.

SPEAKER_01 26:05

Good thing to do a podcast when you're horse.

SPEAKER_02 26:07

Horse when you're a horse? Um 159. Who's a career 159 guy?

SPEAKER_00 26:15

Technically, you can be within 14 of 159 on either side. So true. Don't help him, Richard. True.

SPEAKER_02 26:22

I want to get it on the dot, though. With the home runs I got to 998, I was too off from getting it on the dot.

SPEAKER_00 26:28

Oh, I saw.

SPEAKER_02 26:28

That was pretty crazy. That's pretty insane. Man. 800's a lot. I should have done like 600. Then we could have named some bad players too. That would have been kind of fun. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 26:38

Might be a little more difficult that way.

SPEAKER_02 26:44

This might be selling. I don't know. I'm going to go Pete Rose. I do not know what kind of career OKS was.

SPEAKER_01 26:59

Well, he was reinstated, so 118.

SPEAKER_02 27:04

Man, that is way lower than I thought it was going to be. So I lost.

SPEAKER_00 27:09

759.

SPEAKER_02 27:11

Man. Pete Rose is really that low? Is that surprising?

SPEAKER_01 27:15

I think it's more so because he had a lot of singles. So his slugging wasn't slugging wasn't as big.

SPEAKER_02 27:22

What would Alex Rodriguez have gotten me?

SPEAKER_01 27:24

I think Alex Rodriguez would be really good.

SPEAKER_00 27:26

I'm going to guess 135.

SPEAKER_02 27:28

That still wouldn't have made me win if it is that low. Because I was I was kind of between, but I would think one of the best hitters of all time would have been a little higher than that.

SPEAKER_01 27:38

And I think because Pete Rose had so many at-bats as well, that kind of drags it down. 140 for A-rod.

SPEAKER_02 27:46

Would that have let me win? You'd still win. What did I mean? I put it still lost. Wow. Alright, alright. Hey, I'm not I'm not mad at that with going last. There were so many big players I couldn't pull.

SPEAKER_01 27:56

You really were at a disadvantage.

SPEAKER_02 27:58

Yeah. Yeah. I feel like that was alright. They come in last.

SPEAKER_00 28:02

Okay, I had all the advantage. Yeah. And it didn't work.

SPEAKER_02 28:05

It didn't matter, so it's all right. Well, that was game time. That was fun. That was good game time. Um, we had something else to talk about, and I just can't even remember what it was. Do you? I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 28:19

After laughing like that? No. I lost it.

SPEAKER_02 28:21

Oh, the national. The national. That's what we were gonna talk about. That was the last thing on my list of things. We're going to the national.

SPEAKER_01 28:29

We are going to the national. You, me, George, Cunner. Gunner, yep. Got a couple other people going that I can't remember all the names, but um I'm excited about the national.

SPEAKER_02 28:39

Me too. Were you gonna be able to say something?

SPEAKER_00 28:41

I was just George if you're watching. Yeah. I would also like to go to the national.

SPEAKER_01 28:47

We are already on vacation, so I mean it lined up randomly. That's perfect. One one thing that I was kind of reminded of in the store we were talking about certain things. It seems like uh the national does bring the price of cards up. It does, especially football. Everybody's looking for football going into the season, so football's gonna be really hot going into the national and and uh it's crazy that a card show is so big that it can just affect the card market like that.

SPEAKER_02 29:18

It's crazy. I've never been, I'm excited to go. Um we went to Fanatics Fest uh one year. I went there, that was really fun, but I've never been to the National, so I'm excited to go. I hear it's insane. And uh have you have you been? I've never been.

SPEAKER_01 29:34

Okay. Anyone watching there that's going to the national, look for us. Yep, we'll have our table set up.

SPEAKER_02 29:39

We'll be there.

SPEAKER_01 29:40

Cranks.

SPEAKER_02 29:42

Come say hi.

SPEAKER_00 29:43

What a can I ask you two a question about this? Yeah, yes. Um, is there a card at the Nationals that you would purchase? Like, is there anything that you're looking for? Like any any player they're like, hey, I'm gonna go buy like this is my first time at the Nationals, I want to buy this player.

SPEAKER_02 29:59

I have one locked and loaded that I've wanted for a while, but I I don't think I can afford it. I could afford maybe a very low grade um card I've always wanted is the Mike Trouttops flagship rookie, but the Target red border. So, you know, they all have like the the Walmart blue borders for some. Well, they also did used to do the Target red, and I think that is one of the prettiest aesthetically pleasing looking cards I've ever seen. Uh color match. It's beautiful, but it it's expensive.

SPEAKER_00 30:30

What does it what does it go for? Like a you you said a higher grade or you could get a lower grade, so like I'm gonna do that.

SPEAKER_02 30:35

I would need like a I would need like a five or six, and it would still probably be in the at least a thousand dollar range. It's while you're giving your answer, I'll tell you right now how much this.

SPEAKER_01 30:46

It this kind of reminds me, the question actually reminds me of somebody I would put on my mount rushmore. Uh King Griffey Jr. I want uh I would like to have the you know the bubblegum card with him blow blow in a bubble. Um I would love to have that, uh like a PSA 9. 10 would be incredible, but uh I've always wanted that card. Griffey was uh probably one of my favorite athletes when I was growing up, uh even though he wasn't a brave.

SPEAKER_02 31:14

Yep. Just uh April or no, May 1st. A PSA 6 sold for $2,500. A six. Um you know, if you get into there's another six that sold March 28th for 2150. So it's gonna be over two grand if I get a six. So that's that's a lot for me to spend on a card. Um let's see what nines and tens are doing.

SPEAKER_01 31:42

Um while you're doing that, I'm actually gonna pull up the what a nine does? No, the I'm pulling up my card. The the bubblegum.

SPEAKER_02 31:51

Well, yeah, you said a nine though. I'm saying what a nine does? Oh yeah. Nine. Did you think I said mine?

SPEAKER_01 31:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 31:56

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 31:57

Apparently my ears don't work either. I think uh around 300 bucks would get me a nine. So that's not too much.

SPEAKER_00 32:04

That's not okay. That's a so three hundred dollars for and it's the uh the bubblegum. Is that the second most popular griffy card?

SPEAKER_01 32:13

Probably. Probably. So um the target there's a 10. Well, that's got an auto on it, but uh he's blowing a bubble. There's a 10. That was the auto, I believe, was graded on that. That's a $2,400 card. So I'm I'm priced out of a 10.

SPEAKER_02 32:33

The P there's no PSA nines or tens within the last two years that have sold. It's a very rare card. A PSA 3 sold for $1,500 in 2024.

SPEAKER_01 32:41

What's awkward about your card is um it's more rare than the Walmart card. It is. Richard, I'm gonna do it.

SPEAKER_02 32:48

I have the blue.

SPEAKER_00 32:50

I have the blue. What's going on?

SPEAKER_02 32:51

I mean, yeah, what's what's with that?

SPEAKER_00 32:53

Well, first, I don't know why you're collecting anything from Target that does nothing for me. It's not like I go to other card shops. Yeah, this is so now that I know. Sorry about that. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 33:03

Yeah, well, this is the last time we're seeing Richard on the pod. Oh, that's hilarious. Last time a tin sold, at least on card ladder, unless I'm searching it just totally wrong, uh, was 2022. He was definitely way more back in 2022 and the card market exploded with COVID happening and everything. Um but it sold for 56,000. Uh the card ladder says 21,000 would be the estimate. Let's see if BGS I mean how okay, a BGS 95 just sold for uh 13,000.

SPEAKER_01 33:40

How hungry do your kids get?

SPEAKER_02 33:42

Exactly. That's why I said I can't get this card. Not gonna be able to. But a BGS95 just did 13. That was like a month ago.

SPEAKER_01 33:50

What about you, Richard? If uh if you were to able able to go up to the national and get whatever card you wanted.

SPEAKER_00 33:58

Um, so the my favorite card collecting wise, um, it's a very odd card. Uh, so this kind of actually is how I got into collecting. Uh it's a Tim Duncan instant impact rookie card.

SPEAKER_02 34:14

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 34:14

Uh huh. Not an expensive card at all.

SPEAKER_02 34:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 34:17

Uh, but uh I had uh I had a septic infection in my knee when I was a kid, and it was when Duncan was a rookie, and my little sister's uh kindergarten teacher was the local card shop owner. No he had heard that I had hurt my leg and I was like, you know, bedridden for a while.

SPEAKER_03 34:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 34:36

And he gave me one free pack, and that's the card that I pulled, and that's what set everything into motion. Wow. So if I could ever get back and get the it's like a hardwood classic instant impact uh Tim Duncan refractor, that would be the card. It was a dope card. Yeah. Uh my dad, love you dad, sold it uh when I was when I was traveling. I had a tin of uh Peyton Manning rookies, Charles Woodsard rookies, uh the my Michael Jordans, and that Tim Duncan, and he sold them all for $250.

SPEAKER_02 35:11

Oh man.

SPEAKER_00 35:12

I still love him, but it's Charles Woodson.

SPEAKER_01 35:15

That's the guy that stole the Heisman away from Peyton Manning, right?

SPEAKER_00 35:18

I don't know who Peyton Manning is. He's not under the list of Heisman winners. He's never been to the Heisman house. That's crazy. Also never beat Florida. They can write your name down on a trophy that doesn't make you the best. We probably do a whole nother podcast on that. That'd take a long time. That would take a long time. It's a long discussion.

SPEAKER_02 35:37

Well, Richard, thank you for being here. I hope you enjoyed it. That's great. I enjoyed it.

SPEAKER_00 35:41

I appreciate you guys letting me on here. Yeah, it's always good seeing you all.

SPEAKER_02 35:45

Let's just make it a weekly thing.

SPEAKER_00 35:46

Yeah, a bi-weekly.

SPEAKER_02 35:47

Yeah, you're not even gonna be a guest on here. You'll be you'll be you'll be sitting in my chair here in a little bit.

SPEAKER_00 35:51

So I was gonna wait to tell you.

SPEAKER_02 35:56

Well, thanks for coming on. It was fun, it was a blast. Uh, thank you all for you know tuning in. Uh get to you know, sit down and hear what Richard had to say. Well, uh, you know, again, come see us at the National if you're gonna be there. We'd love to see you. So thank you all for stopping by for our 13th episode. And we'll see you all in the next one.

SPEAKER_01 36:16

Thanks for listening to the Crank It Up Sports Card Podcast. Please subscribe, share, like, follow, but most of all, please enjoy.