Stacking Slabs

2026 Topps Football Is Back: Which Cards Will Still Matter?Topps flagship football returns with an NFL license for the first time in more than a decade.Pack and Brett discuss the role paper cards can play in football collecting, the first pack-issued cards of Fernando Mendoza, Jeremiyah Love and Carnell Tate, and the excitement of seeing players in their new uniforms.They also question the speed of today’s chase-card cycle. Kaiju. Tecmo. Alter Ego. Each release brings another card to the front of the line. Which ones will collectors still want after th...

What does The National show us that sales data cannot?Brett sits down with Chris McGill and Josh Johnson to examine the forces shaping today’s card market.They discuss the 2013 Tom Brady Prizm Black Finite 1/1 approaching $1 million, the rising prices across football cards, and why seeing a card sell multiple times can change how collectors view it.The conversation then turns to what happens away from public marketplaces.Why does being in the same room help deals happen? How do you value a card with no sales history? What questions sh...

The hobby grows when more collectors find a reason to care and a reason to stay.In this episode, Brett explains why categories such as wrestling, WNBA, Disney, Pokémon, and fictional characters matter. He also draws a line between building a collecting community and selling the claim that a market is about to explode.Brett breaks down how to evaluate category growth, why price alone proves little, and how ownership, urgency, repetition, and status shape collector decisions. He shares a framework for separating your collecting thesis from your market thesis, testing demand, and deciding w...

What makes someone choose a team and keep choosing it when the wins are not there?Katelyn sits down with Ike (@istockgrizz) to talk about his connection to the Los Angeles Sparks and the cards that bring him closer to the team.They discuss the Sparks game-day experience, the gap between player accomplishments and card prices, and why Ike buys cards he would feel comfortable holding for life.Ike also shares the story behind his Nneka Ogwumike 2008 McDonald’s All-American autograph. He gave up a Candace Parker Gold Prizm PSA 10 to bring it ho...

Stephanie Garcia started Mama Breaks while teaching from home and looking for a way to reconnect with cards.Her first goal was to reach 1,000 Instagram followers and host one break. Four years later, she leads a 12-person, multimillion-dollar business.Stephanie shares why she left teaching, how she earned trust with collectors, when she knew it was time to hire, and why the experience around a break matters as much as the cards.She also explains how her love for wrestling, Star Wars, and non-sports cards helped Mama Breaks serve collectors who were being...

Supporting collectors gets harder as a business grows.The answer is not to care less. It is to turn that care into a process others can repeat.Brett examines how operators can add capacity without making collectors feel processed. He also sits down with Michael Osacky of Baseball in the Attic at The National.Michael shares what he has learned the years in business, earning trust through independent judgment, staying connected to clients, finding a niche, and refusing to lead with money.Growth matters.The question is whether your...

John Cena’s WrestleMania Patch Auto 1/1 is heading to Goldin’s Summer 100 auction.The opening bid alone will set a public sales record for a Cena card. The final price will tell us how much demand exists beyond wrestling card collectors.Adam and Ryan discuss the card, the bidders who might pursue it, and what the sale means for the wrestling card market.They also break down 2026 Topps WWE Universe, recent sales, Solo Sikoa’s growing collector appeal, and Ryan’s $9,000 Finn Bálor gift to Neil.Check out RbiCru7 for all y...

A reported private sale valued Josh Allen’s 2018 National Treasures Platinum NFL Shield autograph rookie card at $1.7 million.The reaction focused on what Allen has not done.He has not won a Super Bowl.Pack and Brett explain why championships alone cannot determine collectibility. They discuss the power of player connection, recognizable card features, career narratives, and the people willing to own these cards for the long term.The conversation also covers Jaxson Dart’s grading volume, Tom Brady’s 2002 Topps Chrome market, Randy Moss and Jerry Rice, cards sitting on your e...

Technology has made it easier to build a product. It has not made it easier to know what deserves to be built.Brett sits down with Josh Johnson, CTO of Card Ladder, at The National to discuss how Card Ladder grew from a problem its team faced as collectors.Josh shares why he spent three months preparing the app for The National, how Card Ladder earned trust through seven years of work, and why the team turns down revenue opportunities that pull the product away from collectors.They also discuss AI, product development...

The cards are unpacked. The pickup posts have slowed down. That does not mean The National is over.In this episode, Brett looks at the return that does not fit inside a card case: clarity about your collection, evidence that tests your beliefs, relationships worth continuing, opportunities worth testing and a clearer understanding of where your attention belongs.He shares what Wrestling Card Takeover revealed about community participation and offers a 30-minute process for turning your National experience into action.What will be different because you were there?Check out...

Check out Card Ladder the official data partner of The WNBA Card PodcastFollow the WNBA Card Podcast on Instagram Get your free copy of Collecting For Keeps: Finding Meaning In A Hobby Built On HypeGet exclusive content, promote your cards, and connect with other collectors who listen to the pod today by joining the Patreon: Join Stacking Slabs Podcast Patreon[Distributed on Sunday] Sign up for the Stacking Slabs Weekly Rip Newsletter using this linkFollow Stacking Slabs: | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | TiktokFollow Katelyn: | Instagram</p...

Dave Thimesch wanted a 1987 Topps Mark McGwire card. That card started an obsession.At 13, Dave opened a card shop. He returned to the hobby during the Stephen Strasburg rise in 2009, moved from opening products to running group breaks, and built DT Sportscards into a PSA submission business handling thousands of cards.Dave joins Brett to discuss why ripping products created debt, how rising product costs forced him to change his business, and why transparency matters when collectors trust you with their cards.They also talk about the systems required to submit 1,200 cards per...

Most people do not have an idea problem. They have a permission problem.In this episode of Hobby Jobs, Brett explains why operators need to build before the market gives them certainty. He shares a 30-day conviction sprint for testing an unresolved problem, examines how Gabe built his college football card expertise into a career with CardCollector2, and spotlights the content creator role at Layton Sports Cards.Then Brett sits down with Collect Talent co-founder Danny Mosse at The National.After 15 years across Sotheby’s, Christie’s, Goldin, and eBay, Danny is building a jo...

Wrestling Card Takeover filled a room with nearly 400 collectors at The National.The shirts disappeared. The room hit capacity. Deals took shape. One-of-ones surfaced. Collectors traveled from across the country and as far as Germany to take part.Adam, Ryan, and Brett look back on the week that showed how much the wrestling card community has grown.They discuss: The demand for Oba Femi cards  The John Cena and Rhea Ripley WrestleMania patch autographs  The cards pulled and purchased during Wrestling Card Takeover  The stories behind the deals  The market response to SummerSla...

Pack and Brett return from The National to process what they saw across the show floor.Cards priced between $100 and $500 moved at a fast rate. Dealers struggled to keep cases stocked. Seeing cards such as the 2017 Patrick Mahomes Prizm Black Finite and Peyton Manning Gem Masters in person changed how they viewed them.They also close out Linebacker Summer with Luke Kuechly, one of the best defensive players of his era. His career is set, but his card market tells a different story.The conversation covers cards that have moved beyond reach, displaying...

Most collectors know BCW through penny sleeves, top loaders, magnetic holders, and storage boxes. Behind those products sits a company with more than 100 employees serving collectors, shops, breakers, and dealers.Noah Dock joined BCW as CFO after working in finance, private equity, and his family’s pawn business. He did not earn the role because he knew more about cards than everyone else. He earned it because he understood finance, operations, and how to help a company scale.Noah shares why passion cannot replace skill, why a CEO must become the “chief repeating officer,” and how co...

After my first 24 hours at The National, I returned to my hotel with more energy than I had when the day began. It wasn’t because of a card, a sale, or a booth. It came from the conversations.In this episode, I explore how conversations give collectors context that sales data cannot provide. They test our thinking, strengthen our conviction, build trust, and remind us that people exist on both sides of every card.We also examine the difference between attention and connection, why networking can turn into extraction, and how better questions can ch...

Passion gets you into sports cards. It does not build a product people trust.Brett sits down with Card Ladder co-founder Chris McGill at The National to discuss the work behind one of the hobby’s most used tools.Chris explains why seeing collectors rely on Card Ladder creates pressure, why customer service takes up much of the team’s time, and why standards matter when money is involved.They also discuss the start of Card Ladder, the value of bringing experience from outside the hobby, and what people should consider before pursuing a ca...

Gabe did not follow a career path into sports cards.He created one.His interest in college football led him to Bowman University, player research, value boxes, and content built around a part of the hobby few people were covering.Consistency helped Gabe become a trusted voice in college football cards. It also started a relationship with Ryan Johnson of Card Collector 2.That relationship grew through shared interests, phone calls, podcast episodes, and work behind the scenes. It led to a job offer and Gabe moving his family from Arizona to...

What happens when a collector starts looking at cards as a source of funding for a business?Brett examines the tension between the collector who wants to keep the card and the operator who sees what selling it can fund. He shares four questions every founder should answer before turning a collection into capital.Recorded at The National in the Card Ladder booth, Brett also sits down with Steve Sloan, CEO of Heystack and former president of PSA. They discuss building technology for the card industry, earning business partnerships, hiring for a startup, and why...