#19: Kabooms, IG Lives, and Wrestling Card Collaborations
š Hello, Iām Brett from the Stacking Slabs Podcast and welcome you each Hey week to my newsletter the Weekly Rip. The goal of this newsletter is to elevate the people who make the Hobby better.
Howās it going?Ā
Iām typing this at a long brown kitchen table in a beach house that sleeps a half a dozen families. Iām on vacation this week and Iām beginning to get a sneak preview of what my life is about to become with little one.
Although it might not be the quietest vacation that Iāve ever taken, it's a ton of fun. Within moments of arriving my nephew Conor said to me, āHey Uncle Brett, have you sold that Justin Herbert card that we got from the packs last year?ā I quickly told him that I hadnāt yet and that I was waiting for the right time.
I spoke about it on an episode of SSP around Christmas time last year when I watched my nephew pull a Green Reactive Herbert from a blaster box of Mosaic football. When he pulled the card I likely startled everyone, but knew it was an important time to educate on protecting cards. Little did I know when that card was pulled that I wasnāt going to be able to send it to PSA right away and educate on the grading process. Maybe they donāt need education on the grading process yet, but I had a strong desire to get him up to speed about how the wacky world of sports cards works.
As I reflect on that experience and his question within moments from arriving on vacation I think about the significance that pulling big cards has on kids. Itās something neither he or I will ever forget. I want to bottle up that moment and find ways to get my nephew and others to stay. There will never be an overload of great content that educates in the Hobby. We need more of it and when we find it we need to share it with others.Ā
After I got done trying to explain what was going on with the current state of grading. I could tell that it was going in one ear and out the other. It was a reminder to me that we always need to find ways to communicate the Hobby in ways that are personalized to the audience who we are speaking with. I shouldnāt expect to have a kid about to enter middle school to care about grading nor should that information be important to him at this point.
Moments after the conversation about cards was over my other 6 year old nephew grabbed the controller and said, āUncle Brett, Monday Night Raw is onā. I told him to turn the channel to it and the next several hours were about as enjoyable as it gets for me.
āIs it realā
āWhy does Drew McIntyre have a sword?ā
āIs MVP really an MVP?ā
āHow bad do you think it hurts?ā
All questions that I fielded and enjoyed talking through.
My conclusion from this week is that itās always important to take some time away and itās even more important to share your passions with younger generations.
Undeniably thereās a lot of anxiety ahead as a first time Dad on the horizon, but you can be rest assured that I will have plenty of interests to share and explain to my daughter.
Itāll be her choice if she wants to be along for the ride or find something more interesting than my things.
On with the damn newsletterā¦
šThe Ups, Downs, and KaboomsĀ
I love shiny cards. Itās that simple and I know that I am not the only one.Ā
Iāll never forget asking Kevin Randall (@dacaptain37) about the cards in his PC that he just canāt part with and his response was, āI love the shiny cards. Itās the cards that make me feel like a kid again.ā Whether it is a Prizm Silver, Refractor, Galactic, or any other badass technology that shows up differently when the light hits it then I am here for it.Ā
I love to watch consumer habits and the studying of trends in our Hobby. Itās fun to see what cards, sets, players, and parallels seem to grab our industry by the kahunas and take hold. Itās undeniable that over the past year no other card has done it quite like the Kaboom.
I know...I knowā¦
The rise of the Kaboom might have been kicked off by the influencer hype train as with most things these days. The thing that I will point out is that the Kaboom has proven to be more than just a fad. Itās quickly becoming a mainstay, symbol of significance, and a short print that we might be talking about for years to come.
You know that whole market dip thing?
Well it hasnāt seemed to impact Kaboom much. Letās take a look at a few different Kabooms.
2013 Innovation Kobe Bryant #9 PSA 10
I think what makes Kaboom fun is that it gets inserted into different products every year. The OG Kaboom was put into the now defunct Innovation product in 2013. There were 20 players selected and the players were originally depicted as comic style images. Kobeās original Kaboom has been on a tear since these cards started to gain traction and is currently listed as the most valuable non parallel Kaboom card in Card Ladder.Ā
2018 Crown Royal Luka Doncic #23 BGS 9.5
This card last sold for $17k in February, which was up $10k from itās November sale price. This shows the excitement and confidence not only for Luka, but the Kaboom product moving forward.Ā
2018 Panini Kaboom Patrick Mahomes #PMA PSA 10
The Mahomes is a Kaboom that is slightly down from itās April and June sale price and maybe that is something to take note of. Maybe football collectors havenāt come all the way around on Kaboom like their basketball counterparts? Maybe this signals a buying opportunity for those who are not only confident in Patrick Mahomes, but the growth of the football card market? Whatever the reasons maybe I think that we can all agree that this is a badass card.Ā
I was distracted by the shine of the Kaboom when I went to the Dallas Card Show back in May. I saw a Kyler Murray KaboomĀ BGS 9.5 out of the corner of my eye and knew that I had to make a play at it. This is one of those cards that I always pick up and look at when I am spending time with my PC. The Kaboom hits differently and Iāll be on the sidelines watching how strong of a grip that this set continues to have in the hearts and minds of collectorās abound.Ā
šListening to Hobby VetsĀ Ā
One of the biggest mistakes that I made in my first 6 months back into the Hobby was not spending enough time learning from Hobby vets. I consumed the content, but didnāt do a great job of building my network to learn from.
That changed in a big way when I met several people through Instagram and I began bringing them on my show. My Friday episodes have always been about learning. If there is something that I am going to learn from a conversation then I might as well make it public because chances are there are several other people like me who desire solid Hobby information.
If you are a regular reader of the Weekly Rip then you read my thoughts on the current state of Hobby content. Content is a good thing, but as more and more is created it takes individuals to curate the good stuff to their audiences for maximum learning. A big reason why I started this newsletter is because I wanted to curate other peopleās content outside of my weekly shows in a dedicated place for people to learn.
Thatās why I want to share Kevin Randallās (@dacaptain37) Instagram Live on the āDoāsā and āDonātā of the National. Dacaptain37 is the definition of a Hobby vet that I wish I would have started following in my first days back in the Hobby. First, he loves football cards and has helped me better understand the market, but the content that he shares. Second, heās a straight shooter. There is no bullshit with Kevin and I love the honesty for which he shares information. Lastly, heās a collector at heart. He does his fair bit of dealing, but after over a year of interacting I understand the passion that he has for the sports cards that he collects.
Kevinās IG Lives are some of my favorite content that the Hobby has to offer. If you are going to the National do yourself a favor and watch his latest one back. Youāll feel better informed and ready to go in a few weeks.Ā
šŖFirst the Mega Powers and now Worldās CollideĀ
When I first saw the title of this wrestling card collaboration project fromĀ Zhan Mourning and Tony Vela the first thing I thought about were the Mega Powers. My youth was full of a lot of glorious things, but nothing was as great as the story of the Mega Powers.Ā
Like with any great story thereās a build up, a fall out, and then a main event to capture the hearts and minds of wrestling fans abound.Ā
While Iām not sure Zhan and Tony will ever split and end up in the squared circle vying for the title of Wrestling Card Content Creator Champion of the World, I do think itās a good time to turn the readers of this newsletter to their amazing project.Ā
If you are looking to get educated on wrestling cards then look no further. I really enjoyed their latest conversation with Yamwax and David Peck.Ā
The wrestling card community is an amazing place. Go ahead and do a 450 splash into the madness.Ā
I ask you two things in closing:
Do whatever you can to use your skills to give back to the Hobby - we need it more than ever
Please share this newsletter with whoever you think can benefit