Thanks for watching! All right. So for the first
time ever, Ricky and I are going to be having
a guest here on Hobby Talk. And I'm very, very
excited. Now, I am making this little intro before
our interview because I just want to make sure
that I cover a little bit of good information
about what to expect ahead. Because when it comes
time for the interview, I want it to be more
conversational than kind of an interrogation
of just Q &As. So who we are going to be interviewing
is somebody that we already kind of discussed
just fairly recently here on Hobby Talk. and
that is collectors md and that is somebody who
is taking the extra step in the hobby and looking
out for other people within this space because
so many people myself included think that this
hobby has turned into a means of gambling and
so many people have an addiction to gambling
believe it or not whether that's sports gambling
whether that's going to the casino gambling whether
that's scratch tickets gambling lottery tickets
whether it's sports cards pokemon cards for that
matter right so this person has developed a platform
to kind of be that help for people in this hobby
for the people that need help with their breaking
gambling issues. And I'm really, really excited
to kind of peel back the curtain and see what
this person has to offer this hobby, how they
came about, how they got into it and what their
aim goal and what they see themselves doing in
this hobby down the road. I have my background
in clinical mental health counseling. That's
what I was doing before I opened Murph's card
town. So I'm very, very intrigued by this topic
on hand. So I think there's going to be a fantastic
conversation ahead of us. And both Ricky and
I are very, very excited. So without further
ado, let's transition. to our interview with
Collectors MD. All right. We have our, Ricky,
our first ever guest here. Yeah. And we are very,
very excited to introduce Collectors MD. However,
before we dive into anything, before Ricky and
I kind of give our thoughts, opinions, and ask
away our questions, again, I mentioned this in
the intro, which I made separately. I want this
to be more conversational than kind of like an
interrogation of just pounding you with questions
and you just giving us answers. But first, before
we get into anything, please introduce yourself.
Who are you? What are you doing? And how did
you kind of get into this whole space? yeah well
first of all thanks for having me guys uh really
appreciate it um Ricky had reached out to me
about uh you know collectors mb and how he felt
like it was uh something that the hobby you know
was missing and introduced me to uh to Murph
so um you know checked out a few of the episodes
and just really excited and glad to be here so
wanted to thank you guys first before diving
in you're so very welcome And I apologize to
the audience as well. As I told you guys, I'm
a little bit sick. So, you know, if my voice
is a little bit hard to hear, understand, forgive
me. With that, my name is Alyx. I started Collectors MD
just over three weeks ago, which is pretty crazy
to say, because it's been an absolute whirlwind
to this point. Just an overflow. of of dms and
people reaching out just expressing their support
and admiration so i am super grateful uh for
all of the people who have been advocating for
this movement and um you know i'm just really
excited for the opportunity to continue to spread
that uh message and awareness around uh collectors
md and why it is so incredibly important for
the hobby and for other hobbies that involve
collecting. With that, I am based in New Jersey.
I have been in the hobby for about five, six
years. I've been collecting my whole life, whether
that be memorabilia growing up, obviously. um
Pokemon and the Chicago Bulls era with Upper
Deck and Fleer Topps collecting basketball cards
things like that i grew up in the 90s so um you
know i had the opportunity to open packs with
my dad and you know have a lot of nostalgic memories
tied to that And so fast forward to post-graduation,
post-college graduation, I started to get heavy
into collecting sneakers. And so for the better
part of my 20s, I was, it's ironic that one of
the posts here says curate, don't accumulate.
And then as you can see on the left, you see
all the sneakers. Yeah, so I collected sneakers
and it got to a point where it was just like.
I mean, you see the few I have left behind me,
but it was overwhelming, the amount of sneakers
that I had. And it happened so quickly. I didn't
even realize that I was turning into, you know,
an obsessive hoarder as my girlfriend at the
time, now my wife, would call me. And so, you
know, it got a little bit out of hand and I had
no other choice but to start downsizing. You
know, the pandemic came and a buddy of mine reintroduced
me to the sports card hobby. And so I found a
really, you know, I think healthy mix, you know,
at the time that made a lot more sense for me
just in terms of scratching that itch as a collector.
Because, you know, obviously sports cards take
up a lot less space. You know, just as lucrative
and exciting and actually more exciting because
you don't know what you're actually buying into
when you're buying a box of cards as opposed
to a pair of sneakers. And so I kind of pivoted
my attention to the sports card hobby. And I
was involved in breaking and, you know, doing
the whole. breaking thing with a brand called
Bogo Breaks and a few of my buddies that I had
grown up with. I had spoken about this with some
of the guys on these other podcasts within the
space. And, you know, it got to the point where,
you know, I had to make a decision. Do I want
to pursue this full time or, you know, do I want
to focus on my career and just like mess around
and do this on the side? And so. My buddies decided
to just, you know, refocus their attention on
their careers. And, you know, I continued with
it for a little bit, but it was kind of, you
know, impossible to do by myself or, you know,
with one other person with how competitive the
landscape has become. And so, you know, we stopped
and, you know, I still wanted to be involved.
And so I started to just join more and more breaks.
buy more and more personal boxes and it got to
the point where it just started to spiral yeah
it got a little bit out of hand similar to how
the sneaker collecting was to the point where
like you know those massive crate containers
uh you know with like the 10 slots like the biggest
ones you could buy or back into the ceiling and
um that paired with you know very reckless gambling
became a vicious cycle where I was joining breaks
and then playing live blackjack to try to win
back my losses and then going back to the breaks.
And it was just becoming so out of control. And
so, you know, it's something that I've struggled
with for the better part of the last five years
or so. And, you know, for some time I've toyed
with this idea that... you know there needs to
be uh uh some sort of support group some support
system in place for collectors and hobby enthusiasts
who uh you know have experienced what similar
you know to what i've i've gone through and so
you know at first i was like why me why well
like why should i carry this message i'm you
know it's like you know practice what you preach
you know um i didn't want to sit sound or come
across hypocritical right and um you know i i
realized almost like i had an epiphany where
it was like it it will it needs to come from
somebody who has experienced and who has lived
it and is you know in some way still going through
it uh because you know there needs to be that
sense of authenticity and um genuine nature that
comes with uh you know carrying such an important
message. And so, you know, it's been a snowball
effect over the last couple of weeks, just been
going out there with the message around what
Collectors MD is and what we're aspiring towards
and, you know, just trying to get as much content
out there to carry this message as possible.
And so here we are, you know, on another great
sports card show. discussing a movement that
uh the hobby you know really needs to understand
and and uh you know hopefully adapt to and it's
it's funny how that like you know everything
you just kind of mentioned is is you know at
least from my perspective having the shop i see
it almost every day people kind of get trapped
they they aren't focusing on the right reasons.
I was just kind of going through your stories
and I saw the Michael Jordan and the Patrick
Mahomes cards and people are more focused on
price tags and the actual cards themselves. And
it's just like, as I'm listening and as I'm looking
at this, it's just like, wow, is this hobby?
I'm going to say no, but I'm still going to ask
the question, is the hobby too far gone? And
again, I don't think so, but it's just like the
publicity behind the wrong things of the hobby
is what gets. highlighted more than the positivity
and it's crazy how far people have gone away
from collecting it at least from what i've noticed
and you see all these influencers online posting
the high price tags right it's not about the
cool players i mean nobody cares about mike trout
anymore it's all about paul skeens and jackson
holiday nobody cares about their favorite player
anymore it's all about whoever's the hottest
and newest rookie so it's definitely a a place
this hobby where our mindsets and this is kind
of where the whole psychological aspect of it
kind of comes in where our or maybe what we're
watching really and what kind of content we're
consuming is our mindsets are in the wrong space
um but i mean the the overview that you just
gave i mean it literally just gave me Ricky i'm
sure he gave you a great picture of not only
who you are where you came from how you got into
the space and kind of the the projection that
you have uh moving forward of what you want Collectors MD
to do. And I guess while I have the floor right
now, I guess I will apologize for thinking you
were a collector from Maryland with the whole
Collectors MD thing. You might have saw that from
the video that I shared with you. I should have
fought that one over a little bit. Well, when
Ricky first mentioned it, I mean, I even said,
is this like a guy scam or whatever from Maryland?
Like, what are we going to be talking about?
So I'll be honest. I had no idea until Ricky
brought it to my head. My name is Ricky Rips MA
and I live in Chicago now. I didn't think that
went over either. So that's why I had the confusion.
MA for mass. He's in Chicago now. When I see
MD, I thought of Maryland. So it was a common,
common mistake. But I guess, Ricky, do you have
a pressing question you want to ask? Or do you
want me to just kind of fire away the questions
I have? No. Yeah. I saw that post about the Mahomes
RPA. That's something I never really noticed
or thought about. Like people just. post a price
tag instead of the card. It would have been better
if it said Mahomes RPA pulled, not $100 ,000
card pulled. Yeah. It's crazy how once you start
thinking about it and you become aware that this
is just being shoved down our throats on a daily
basis. you see it so much more right collect
like that's the that's one of the bigger pages
and they're pushing it down yeah it's not a hundred
thousand dollar cards and 98 you can see my comment
on the on the post that has 15 likes right not
too bad but you know the the point is um they're
you know it's called it's gotten to a point where
like the leaders within this space Fanatics being
the premier destination to purchase sports cards
tcg sports memorabilia and also you know experience
the hobby you know in terms of the content they
push out uh you know obviously they have their
Fanatics Live app they have their casino um Michael
Rubin is absolutely you know monumental voice
not just in you know our space but also amongst
celebrities and a -listers and such and they're
still leading with with content like this it's
it's just a little bit alarming you know um it's
not necessarily a knock right because it's not
like the the worst thing in the world to to lead
with with price tags and and you know a headline
it's it's clickbait right at the end of the day
this is what's going on right of of individuals
out not just within the hobby but outside of
the hobby like holy cow this card sold for or
this card is valued at a hundred thousand dollars
like let me check this out right at the same
time it's like it's it's almost like a little
bit disrespectful not just to like the the collector
the person hitting the card but to the athlete
themselves right like we're not even talking
about mahomes and his greatness and the fact
that he won three super bowls at age 27 or however
old he was but you know we're just focusing on
the fact that this piece of cardboard with his
ink on it is worth six figures like i don't know
just doesn't sit right with me yeah another thing
that's never told on these posts is how much
money they spent chasing these cars yeah I, um,
oftentimes will tell people at the shop is, you
know, no matter what kind of, what price tag
your box that you're buying is, you have to go
into it with the idea that you're probably going
to lose half your money just by, you know, by
purchasing it and cutting the plastic. And if
you can make half your money back again, whether
it's a $30 box, a $300 box or a $3 ,000 box,
if you can make half your money back, that is
a win. If you can make 15, 150 or 1500, that's
a win. And you have to hope the other half is
fun. you having fun on a $3 ,300 or $3 ,000 box.
Because this hobby, like other hobbies too, and
it's not just sports cards, but it's just so
prevalent, is all built around having fun. But
people forget about it because of these clickbaity
titles and these videos and, again, these influencers.
And like you mentioned, Alyx, these leaders are
pushing not the fun collecting aspect of it,
but the monetary aspect of it. And it's half
backwards because... What do people more so care
about, a $100 ,000 card or Patrick Mahomes? Yeah.
Some would probably say Patrick Mahomes, but
I'm going to argue for the case of this argument,
they care about the $100 ,000 card because that
could have been anybody. They could have pulled
a Jaden Daniels, a Caleb Williams, Bryce Young.
It doesn't matter who it is, but the price tag
is what matters more than the player. Yeah. Murph,
do me a favor. I don't know how to share my screen,
but pull up Barstool. because they also posted
something very similar yesterday and very, very
similar sort of theme in terms of creating this
false sense of hope and illusion for collectors
that they can now go ahead and replicate what
just took place on a stream or a live podcast.
And that's the biggest issue that I have with
these sort of posts. It creates this fantasy
for people. Was it the Jordan poll? Yeah, it
was Big Cat pulling the Michael Jordan rookie,
yeah. All right. Yeah, it just creates this illusion,
this fantasy that people can do what these influencers
are doing, ripping their third pack. You can
see my comment. Look how much attention it got,
100 -plus likes. 27 reviews. I bet half of those
people are calling you Negative Nancy. You can
go through it. I've actually been going back
and forth with some of them, responding to as
many as I could, because honestly, some of them
were thoughtful. A lot of them were combative
or just like, shut up. You don't know what you're
talking about. But this was a good opportunity,
good platform to engage with people outside of
the hobby who might not necessarily be educated.
Granted, a lot of these are probably just kids
or trolls trying to get attention. But, you know,
like this really hit home for me. And I think
a lot of people will agree that, again, like
it's not as simple as just buying a vintage pack
of Fleer, you know, 86 basketball and hitting
on Michael Jordan rookie card in your third pack
and grading it and turning around and making.
you know, a hundred K or whatever, you know,
probably go sell off the other packs. It's not
that black and white, obviously like there's
so much that goes into that, getting to that
moment for the average consumer. Most people
would have spent thousands upon thousands just
to have the opportunity to open a pack like that.
So, you know, it's just, it's a matter of education
and creating guardrails. for the average consumer
for the average collector that doesn't truly
understand the scope of this the nature of this
and how you know complex it is and it's not just
rolling the dice hitting your number and then
turning around and making a fortune it's there's
so much more that goes into it and on the other
hand it's like why can't we just you know take
a step back and enjoy the nostalgic nature of
something like this. Like this is an iconic card,
obviously of an iconic player that many people
consider the greatest of all time. Like, can
we take a moment to just celebrate his greatness
and not focus on like PSA and the grade and the
value. But that's all that matters for a lot
of these people is what it sells for. I mean,
you can find. multi -thousand dollar cards hundred
thousand dollar cards seemingly anywhere now
but you know who cares that you know that it's
michael jordan who cares about the nostalgia
of it because all these people in this stream
probably don't even know what 86 fleer basketball
is or the significance of it they probably don't
even know that there was basketball cards before
then so it's the amount of people i've noticed
at least getting into this space that have bigger
platforms who are just kind of casuals in the
space or they just have this money kind of laying
around to do dumb stuff like this it is just
appalling because it is bringing you know this
kind of negative negative not negative uh media
let's call it towards the hobby because how many
i mean i think i saw a comment in the mahomes
one you know how many people think that this
is realistic to pull this or maybe it was in
this one here i mean you could probably open
a dozen of those fleer um hobby boxes and you
might not even pull a single one and how much
money is that going to gut you so it's yeah and
this is vintage right like this is completely
different format there's no parallels there's
no inserts like you're just you're just you just
have the the full card set right so i don't know
what the odds are to pull a michael jordan obviously
there's there's a print run or there's like a
particular order where if like you hit the i
forget which player it is but you know that the
jordan is coming you know the next couple cards
in the next pack whatever the correlation is
um but with ultra modern it's just complete completely
different ball game you know so it's hard it's
kind of like apples to oranges in that regard
but i think despite that that clip and just like
the way you know the culture is reacting to it
is it is a good example of of why thought this
hobby is so desperate is is in such great need
for something like we're trying to to push here
with collectors md so i'll go ahead ready it's
big guys like that who will introduce new people
to the hobby with that unrealistic expectation
like i wouldn't be surprised if down the line
we get barstool breaks Dave's going to see that.
He's going to be like, this is our next money
maker. That'll create a whole new consumer base,
I guess. I'll just bring a lot more people into
the hobby who just expect to make money. Just
flush money down the toilet. i've talked to a
lot of people in the last couple weeks um people
who have spiraled people who have lost not just
thousands but hundreds of thousands millions
in some cases it's all relative right it's all
the amount of money you win or lose in the hobby
all is dependent upon your own personal circumstances
and situations so million dollars to one person
you know is not million dollars to another person.
So anyway, with that, you know, you hear very,
very similar stories. And a lot of people say
like, you know, the first box I bought when I
got reintroduced to the hobby, I hit this, you
know, unbelievable. sandy kofax to 10 that i
turn around and sold for 15 000 or something
like that and then it's like all of a sudden
creating this false sense of illusion it's almost
like your first hit right like they talk about
like chasing the dragon you know people always
want to recreate the first time right you you
understand what i'm referring to it's so similar
in that sense where like you're just trying to
recreate that same dopamine hit that you got
when you when you hit that first big pull so
it's almost like a blessing and a curse when
you hit something like that especially when you're
getting reintroduced and you your you know mind
is in so many different places and you don't
fully understand you can't fully wrap your head
around what is happening and what you're experiencing
right and then next thing you know like you're
trying to buy uh more and more boxes to recreate
that moment to get that next big pull and it
takes you another you know fifteen thousand dollars
worth of purchases to even come remotely close
and before you know it you know you're you're
no longer in the green you're you're down more
money than you came in with and it's like the
fact that those terms are so similar to gambling
is another part of the problem right sports guards
hobby has just replicated it's turned into my
um uh glorified gambling i mean you can buy packs
like on your damn phone now and like rip them
there or you could you could sell it right back
you have it shipped to you you could probably
post it for sale or something like that it's
all the courtyard online i forget what that what
it's called um arena club oh yep arena club does
because i know they were having like a segment
on like mlb network with probably somebody maybe
i forget who it was but they were like oh do
you want to oh matt strong i mean like hey do
you want to rip this he rips like 10 of them
and i don't know what he does with them but it's
like my god dude 10 of them like um but no i
mean that whole like chase thing i mean i see
so many people apparently so many new people
into this hobby will buy a blaster box or a fat
pack and they pull a downtown or a kaboom or
something like that and just like you're saying
they're chasing that high and it's like yeah
you're at the top of the mountain very early
on but how many times in your life are you really
going to do that and it's only going down from
there but that's how people kind of get sucked
in is because not only are they seeing it online
they experienced it firsthand and they're like
oh i did it once i can do it again i see this
person doing it all damn time and it's just a
negative it's like you said, negative spiral
effect because gambling and sports cards, you
know, used to be so far apart and so completely
different, but now it's such a tight parallel
between the two. I mean, with the, especially
with the infusion of fantasy sports that have
been around forever with, you know, sports gambling,
that's a massive one nowadays. I mean, there's
commercials everywhere for it. I mean, if you're
into sports one way or the other, chances are
you're probably into gambling too. And you may
or may not even know it, which I think is, is
could be exciting for people if they're responsible
enough. I mean, I know I saw one of your posts
saying how casinos promote responsible gambling,
but the hobby doesn't. And I think that who's
going to, I mean, Everybody just want any business
just wants money and all these breakers and all
these platforms just want the end consumers money.
They don't care about your wallet, your mind
state or whatever it may be. And I think for
for me, at least with the background in psychology
and counseling, it's just like you can only beat
that horse so many times. The horse being that
consumer until they. metaphorically die but until
they kind of you know get out of the whole uh
gambling aspect of it and you know they just
tap out and can't do it anymore and how many
people are going to continue to come around to
be like to replace that person so i i just i
think and i've said this before with Ricky plenty
of times i think Whatnot as a whole and i'm just
going to kind of kind of point to Whatnot because
they're probably the the first and the biggest
culprit here i think Whatnot in a vacuum is great
for the hobby it allows people to kind of sell
dollar cards it allows people to buy cards for
cheap it allows people to kind of you know buy
a box and break it if they're doing it you know
and wholeheartedly in a good way there's a lot
of good things you can make connections there
but the degree and the level that it's gotten
to with backyard breaks and people scamming and
sliding car you know slight of handing cards
is is what's bad for the hobby and then you mix
in the the advanced repetition and then the advanced
gambling component of it but to wrap up my point
real quickly so i just want to clarify just for
people listening so you don't have like any kind
of background in like counseling or psychology
it's just more experience based for you what
you've seen what you've been through in your
experiences correct That's correct. Yeah. I'm
not I'm not. And I think that's important, though.
I think that's important, though, because it
allows other people to, you know, maybe hear
what you have to say or see what you have to
say on social media. Sorry, my my other screens
over here. And it allows them to be like, all
right, well, he's just an average guy. He's just
another guy in the hobby who did it and, you
know, had an admission of. Whether it was doing
something wrong, guilt, or just bad habits. And
hey, now they kind of took a turn for the better.
If he can do it because he's just some average
guy, I can do it too. And I think that's more
important than if you had a background in any
kind of medical field. Exactly. And that goes
back to the point I was making earlier in regard
to this imposter syndrome that I was experiencing
before launching Collectors MD, right? I'm not
a doctor or a licensed therapist. I don't have
any experience in offering therapy or services
or resources to individuals who are seeking help,
especially within the mental wellness space,
which is a very, very vulnerable space to begin
with. But what I do have is experience, and I've
lived it. That can't be replicated, right? Counselors,
therapists, doctors, they study and they understand
the nature of what's causing the root issue,
but they've never truly experienced the root
issue in most cases. But it's just, to me, it's
so important for the person carrying this message
or leading the way with this message. to have
gone through that experience. Yeah. And I think
experiences is very important for a lot of people.
Just, you know, not, not just from the hobby
or anything, just in life in general. But again,
it's so many people experience so many different
things. They kind of get caught up. I think,
you know, focusing on the wrong things and there
is a time and a space to focus on the wrong things.
But when it comes to the hobby specifically.
I mean, so many people watch backyard breaks
for the entertainment. So many people are watching
sudden death auctions, you know, for the entertainment.
And I guess if you want to just stick to the
entertainment aspect of it and keep your debit
or credit card out of it, that's fine. But once
you kind of partake into it. You're just feeding
the fuel of that Whatnot breaker or whoever,
and you're no better than the rest of them. Because
I stand on the edge, and I will die to my grave
saying this, that if you and your buddies all
chip in to buy a box four ways, a nice box, and
you break it amongst each other over pizza and
some beers, whatever. That is all fine and dandy.
That sounds super fun. I would love to do that
with, you know, some friends. But I think that's
as far as breaking, in my opinion, should go.
I don't do any breaks around here because I don't
really care for it. I've tried doing cheap ones.
Nobody wants them, but they'll spend hundreds
of dollars with Backyard in a heartbeat. So,
like, if you're having fun with a group of friends,
fine. But, like, once you go online and you feed
into the negative BS that we see on Whatnot or
Drip or FNAF, whoever or wherever. then you're
just, again, you're, I don't think you're any
better than anybody else. And I don't try to
mean that, you know, in a mean way, it's just
like, when are people going to learn? Like, what
is it going to take for that person to be like,
to like yourself? I can't do it anymore. I'm
done. I'm in a bad space. I spent so much money.
Like, so let me ask you personally. Um, and I'm
sorry, Ricky, I'll, I'll let you squeeze in.
I just, at what point? Was it laying in bed?
Was it after a bad break where you got nothing?
You looked at your bank account. At what point
were you like, I can't do this anymore? Like,
was there one moment? No, that's the thing, Murph.
It's not one moment. It's been countless moments
of experiencing exactly that, where it's just
utter burnout. That feeling of dread, that feeling
of what did I just do? How did I just spend all
of that money so mindlessly, so recklessly, so
carelessly? And now I have to face the consequences.
I wrote, so I write these daily reflections is
what I call it. And I publish them every day.
I don't know how many people actually read them,
but it's therapeutic for me. And I've had a lot
of, or a handful of people contribute and write.
right for this, uh, blog. And so I wrote one
last week that, um, I think really relates to
the story. It's, it's a short one, uh, but I'm
just going to quickly read it. Cause I think
it, it really, uh, hits home what you're, what
you're talking about here, Murph. So, uh, the,
the article, um, was written on the ninth. So
it was like eight days ago and the title is the
algorithm finds you. So, um, I'm just gonna,
I'm just gonna read straight from, uh, You might
not go looking for the break, but the break knows
how to find you. Late at night, during a rough
patch, in a moment of boredom or burnout, the
ads show up, the clips autoplay, the algorithm
knows your patterns, it remembers what you lingered
on, and it isn't guessing. That little hit of
content is designed to reel you back in, and
it doesn't care how you're doing mentally, emotionally,
or financially. You mindlessly click on the ad
and re -download the app you previously deleted
over 100 times before. You reluctantly tell yourself,
I'm just watching, but watching becomes browsing,
browsing becomes clicking, and clicking becomes
spending. And just like that, you're back in
the cycle you fought to leave, the cycle you
promised yourself you're done with. This isn't
just about box breaks or sports cars. It's about
free giveaways, rare finds, flash sales, one
-time discounts, anything designed to hook you
fast and keep you chasing. It's about what happens
when passion turns into pressure and no one's
talking about it. Awareness is power. Recognize
the pattern. Reclaim your space. The algorithm
doesn't get to decide your story. So you could
have that burnout moment time and time and time
again. But at the end of the day, if you don't
have the wherewithal, if you don't have the self
-control to be able to stop yourself when they
start reeling you back in, that's when there's
a problem. And with gambling, You can self -exclude.
You can tell the gaming commission of whatever
state you live in that you no longer want to
participate and they will literally block you
out. You could walk into a casino and try to
gamble and they will literally escort you out
for trespassing. That's how serious they take
it. That doesn't exist in the hobby. Whatnot,
Fanatics Live, these breakers, they could give
two shits, excuse my language, about, you know,
who you are where you come from and the amount
of money you lost they just want your money they
just want your attention and that's what it comes
down to so it's it's a sad reality but you know
we we got to do something about it so it's just
like how many like i mean we every casino every
state like you mentioned has these strict regulations
these laws because it is you know kind of how
these gambling uh businesses or you know casinos
empires um you know they thrive off of these
laws and they have to abide by these laws otherwise
they're going to get shut down and their whole
business is gone because you know casinos and
gambling is a huge huge business and it's a huge
money pit but when it comes to the hobby like
you said in that article it doesn't matter how
you're feeling or what kind of day you've had
or how much is in your bank account they just
want your money and i think almost every break
i don't watch a lot of breaks so i can't say
this so i could very well be wrong but i would
love to think actually i i think that a lot of
breakers i don't know what percentage but it's
a very high percentage don't really care about
the hobby itself they don't care about your experience
in the stream they just care if you're joining
the break and how much is spending in the break
right i think that's like their bottom line you
know they don't care that you're pulling the
cards that you want or you're buying the cards
that you want or you're getting the teams that
you want They just want to know if you're participating,
how much you're spending, and how often are you
spending. They also don't care how much you've
spent with them historically. And I hate to give
the casino, the gambling world, their flowers
in any capacity because it's just as dangerous,
if not more dangerous than what we're talking
about here. But at least they take care of their
high rollers. At least they put you up in like
the penthouse and give you free stuff and invite
you to the games and take care of you and scratch
your back and make you feel important. Not to
say that's a good thing because that's what sucks
you in. But like the hobby doesn't even offer
that. How many breakers or how many like local
sports or local card shops offer? their top spending
customers some form of vip treatment i've spent
thousands if not more with certain break groups
i won't name any names certain breakers certain
card shops oh fire away this is the most the
most i've gotten maybe a hundred dollar uh discount
or a hundred dollar gift card here and there
uh like uh you know thanks for your your uh thanks
for your support thanks for your business A sticker,
a koozie, a hat. A pen? What are we doing? I
got a pen from somebody. What are we doing, right?
You could walk away and never spend with them
again, and they won't even blink twice because
they don't care about their customers. They care
about the customer's wallets. They care about
the customer's bank accounts, money in those
bank accounts, and that's it. That's what it
comes down to. It's a business at the end of
the day. There's one breaker in particular. that
I've spent the most money with to date of all
of the breakers that I have spent money with
by a landslide. And I've had conversations with
the owner about this. And I've asked them, why
didn't you offer like a VIP program? Why didn't
you offer like, I don't know, some form of give
back to like your top 2 % customers, your top
spenders? And they literally chalk it up as,
well, we have the most competitive pricing in
the industry. You get the best deals with us.
Which is open to everybody. And that doesn't
even exist anymore because Fanatics has created
some form of regulation in regards to pricing.
And they still price gauge and do whatever they
want in terms of pricing the boxes. It's like,
are you kidding me? That's the answer you give
me? But anyway, you know, I don't like to talk
about this topic because it feeds into the concept
of going back and spending more. And it's like,
if that did become a thing, it would just attract
more people and would end up screwing over the
majority of the people that would get involved
with that because they would just keep coming
back. And at the end of the day. The house always
wins. So the reason why they give you that penthouse
and they give you all the free food and tickets
and everything else is because you're going to
spend the money. They want to get you inside
of the establishment. That's all that matters
to them. They don't care how much money they
need to throw at you. Eventually, you're going
to give it back to them and then some. Preach.
Preach. What were you going to say, Ricky? About
the whole VIP treatment thing with one -off breakers
and all that. I feel like a big reason they don't
do it is because they don't have to. There's
no need to. They're still going to get people
and they're spending money. Like you said, if
you or whoever else walked away, they wouldn't
even notice because other people will fill that
spot. At the end of the day, like I said, they
don't care about their customers. Real quick,
Ricky, here's the other thing about comparing
gambling to sports cards. And again, I don't
want to endorse gambling or any means of playing
blackjack or sports betting. Don't do it because
it's just not healthy and you're never going
to win in the long run. With that said, when
you sit down to play a hand of blackjack, at
least you have a 50 -50 chance of winning. At
least you have a 50 -50 chance of doubling your
money. When you sit down and spend $500 on a
hobby box, You have maybe a 10 % chance of making
your money back, let alone profiting. It's like
that alone should deter people. But it doesn't.
It doesn't. And people justify it by saying,
well, you know, at the end of the day, like you
said, Murph, just paying for the entertainment.
You know, there's the entertainment value. And,
you know, it's the nostalgic factor of opening
a box of sports cards like I used to when I was
a kid with my dad or whatever. Who are you kidding?
The way people open cards today versus how it
used to be in the 80s and the 90s, it's not even
in the same stratosphere. People like to join
breaks for a rooting interest. You'll see a lot
of sports bettors. They'll throw $5 on a game.
They'll throw $50 on a game, whatever. They're
just like, it just gives me something to root
for. I'll admit it. During football playoffs,
I'll do the same thing during the championship
weekend and the Super Bowl. I'll pick a few,
three or four props. I'll throw five, ten bucks
on it. If I win, that's great. If not, who cares?
But it just gives me something to root for. I
won't say I want to get in the end zone twice,
whatever it may be. But let me ask you this because
I feel like we – If you could do that, more power
to you. It's called control and restraint, honestly,
because once the games are over, delete the app.
If you can be an adult, like I salute you. And
I am just – I have nothing but good words to
say about people who have that sense of control.
And most people do, frankly, but there are people
that don't. And we need to help those people.
People ask me all the time, like, how do you
not rip all that product, you know, on the shelves?
I'm like, well, I buy it once. And, you know,
I look at it as the mindset of if I open it,
I buy it a second time, which, you know, any
business, any ROI, any profit, you know, you
know, model, you can't buy something twice and
expect to profit off of it. You just can't. So
it's like, I don't really care for this certain
set, you know, this court Kings basketball set
personally. or maybe it's like football absolutely
i could care less for it so why would i even
open it like sure it would make great content
sure it would be nice to kind of expose so i
have a better understanding of the product Sure,
sure, sure, sure. But there's too many products
that come out. So it's like, why expose myself
so I can understand this product better? Sure.
It might help me sell it better, but like, there's
going to be something else next week. So why
does it matter? And I'm not going to keep opening
and opening, opening over the week. Exactly.
So it's just like, I mean, you can go on YouTube
and find a million people who are opening the
product. If you want to kind of, you know, look
at it and see what comes out of it. And, you
know, I'm not going to try to, you know, be a
fish swimming in that school with, you know,
you know, all these other bigger breakers or
bigger box openers. But. I do want to ask you
this question, though, because we've been talking
a lot about, I'd say, the negative aspect of
it. But obviously, when we're trying to bring
awareness to something, we have to accept something.
And that acceptance is unfortunately negative.
But in your perspective, where do you see? or
where would you like the hobby to go? Maybe within
just a year from now with the promotion and the
introduction of collectors MD, like this time
next year, where do you expect collectors MD
to be? And where would you like to see the hobby?
It's a great question. And it's a hard question
to answer because it's definitely not black and
white. It's not black and white. It's only been
a few weeks. But the amount of. momentum and
support i've received in such a short time has
been so overwhelming that i feel like this potentially
has wheels to you know take take some leaps and
bounds and and become a mainstay uh in a hobby
in an industry that is so desperate for something
like it so in a year from now i would love to
see just at the bare minimum some guardrails
in place so and it doesn't have to have anything
to do with Collectors MD. I'd love to help push
the reform for it. I'd love to help advocate
for this to be a mainstay. I'm just one person.
I'm not a gaming commission. I'm not going to
come in like the SEC and just lay down the law.
That's not what we're trying to do. Just trying
to spread awareness. I would love to see guardrails.
I would love to see Fanatics. and or Whatnot,
Loupe, whoever else, say, okay, we have to offer
the customer, the consumer, the option to put
themselves in timeout, which in gambling terms,
that means cool off, where you can't access the
app. Once you put yourself on that exclusion
list, you cannot. access the app no matter how
hard you try they have your ip address they have
your social security number they have all of
your credentials so that the only way you could
access it would be through you know somebody
else i mean you know addicts find a way around
it but at least put something in place uh you
know a safety net feature so that people can
can stop themselves in a moment of vulnerability
and desperation right like Murph you're talking
about all these different products that we have
access to you know like i could say this because
i've experienced it there have been times at
2 3 a .m where i'm so desperate for a hit that
dopamine hit that next big card where i'll i'll
open anything you know i'm i'm like at the uh
Chronicles Blasters, baby. Bottom of the barrel.
Just trying to scrape whatever I can. Trying
to join whatever live channel is still, you know,
is still live. And, you know, now it's 24 -7.
But, you know, just trying to find somebody who's
selling anything. And it's like I find myself
ripping product that I never in a million years
would have thought I would open, right? Like
I always tried to limit myself to basketball,
football, baseball. Like the three main sports
and the three main leagues, right? Like I'm not
opening up WNBA or, you know, college or, you
know, I'm not really a hockey fan, but like I'm
not ripping hockey. I'm not ripping UFC or WWE
or F1 or any of these other sports or, you know,
secondary sports, if you will, that have become
mainstream within this space, right? If it's
out there and it's available at 3 a .m. and I
need that itch scratched and it's the only thing
I can open, I'll give it a shot. There have been
times where it's like the stream ends or the
money runs out or my credit card gets declined
because I've exceeded my daily limit and I literally
can't spend another dollar even if I tried. And
I'm itching. I need to in that moment so badly.
But then I just end up falling asleep. And the
next morning, I wake up with a sense of relief
that I wasn't able to. It's like your mindset
completely changes in the daytime or in the morning
versus that late night when you're really craving.
And so if there was an opportunity to... stop
yourself before you end up in that situation
so like in the morning when you're like oh i
can't believe i i went down that rabbit hole
i'm like afraid like all i could think about
all day is like what if i end up there again
later tonight give me the opportunity to prevent
myself from putting like that that alone will
give people peace of mind right it's one less
thing to worry about it's one less thing to like
think you know uh like i don't even have the
option to like i'm self -excluded from gambling
I did the maximum five years in New Jersey. I
did this, you know, when I stopped gambling in
April of 2023. And now I can't gamble. And I
don't even really think about it, right? Like
it's just not really top of mind. It's all mindset.
That's really what I'm down to. When it was there,
when it was an option, I would always think about
like, well, what about the deposit match? What
about the bonuses? What about like, you know,
all these freebies? Like just one more hand won't
hurt. And it's such a slippery slope that like
no matter. how you approach it, you're going
to end up going full tilt at one point or another.
It's just a matter of time. So that was a very
long -winded answer to your question, Murph.
But I just want to see some guardrails in place
that help protect the end consumer. And, you
know, one other thing I just want to caveat is
that a lot of people, like when I spoke with
the guys at the Real Card Show, you know, Cage.
uh and valor both great dudes they were having
fun with it you know but they were talking about
like you're an adult like you don't need like
a nanny or like uh somebody to to help you like
they couldn't wrap their heads around it per
se like they could but at the same time they
were like like why can't you just be an adult
And that's something that comes up all the time
in GA because I went to GA meetings for a couple
of years and we can get into that if we have
the time. But spouses and significant others
are like, why can't you just be a grown adult
and be responsible and not gamble? But unfortunately,
we live in a day and age where it's just not
that simple. And an addict is an addict no matter
how you slice it. You can't tell an alcoholic
who's addicted to drinking. to just stop drinking.
It's not that simple. And like, it's, it's not
a cop out. It's not like an excuse or justification.
It's the reality. Addiction is addiction. And
it just, it needs to be treated appropriately.
And I just want to see people in this hobby have
the opportunity to get that treatment the same
way any other addict would. I just want it to
be taken seriously. I like that. That was a good
answer. Do you have a follow -up for that, Ricky,
before I ask another question? Yeah. I mean,
you would think that these bigger companies want
their consumers to feel protected, safe in a
hobby, but it really shows their mindset of they,
at the end of the day, they just want your money.
They don't care about you. And I think that sucks.
They just care about your money. People should
realize that they don't care about them. Yeah.
I do think there's like a psychological element.
I mean, we've already kind of talked about it
a bunch when, you know, it comes to addiction
and that dopamine hit, but like outside of that,
I want to know, I mean, maybe you could speak
about experience. Like other than that, other
than the dopamine, the chase for another hit,
like what is that underlying reason to do it?
And it can be a rhetorical question. We don't
need to dive into it because I do have another
question I do want to ask. I think it's a little
bit more important, but like. I mean, I guess
I'll ask both of you this. I want to kind of
ask this question. Ricky, I'll ask it to you
first. Are singles any better? Obviously, it's
a safer purchase. You know what you're getting
compared to a break. And you can make that purchase
price anything you really want. You can go from
quarter cards. You can go to $1 ,000 cards. But
just in a vacuum, the practice, the principle
behind it. And then, Alyx, I'll ask you after
Ricky. How much better is singles? You could
buy $100 cards, $100 cards, $100 cards, and the
next thing you know, it tanks 20%. Would you
be better off just buying the box and being done
with it, or is the single being able to walk
away with something better? I feel like it depends
on the mindset that you're going into it with.
Are you buying the single because you think it'll
shoot up? Yeah. Or are you buying the single
because you like the player? If it's a card you
like, I don't think it necessarily matters. the
value of it like obviously you want it to maintain
or grow but at the end of the day you're getting
a card you like and i think that's more important
or better than buying to make money yeah at least
it's like at least you're getting something that
you want out of it whereas you could spend hundreds
of dollars on breaks and get base cards yeah
they don't even send you base cards right so
at least you're getting something that you want
out of it if you're buying to collect. But if
you're buying to invest, I mean, I guess that's
no different than buying a box. Yeah. So Alyx,
where do you stand on this? Like, obviously I
feel, at least I feel like the way I'm interpreting
it and probably the direction you're going with
is more of the whole breaking platform, your
whole live stream platforms, you know, people
diving into that unconsciously basically. But
like, When you're buying singles, whether it's
on one of those platforms or buying singles,
say, at a show, is there any difference? Is it
any better? Is it more acceptable? I think from
a collecting standpoint, like what Ricky said,
I think it's totally fine because if you want
to spend $100 on a guy, go ahead. It doesn't
matter. Do whatever you want that will please
your collection needs. Why do people buy these
multi -hundred -thousand -dollar boxes? Because
they think that they're going to buy in cheap
and get something crazy. For them, it's a way
of an investment. But if you're looking at singles
from an investment standpoint, in your opinion,
is there any difference? Yeah, it's a great question.
It's definitely a gray area because it really
depends on the person. I'll lead with singles.
Buying singles, going the singles route is obviously
much safer than joining breaks. But it's less
appealing because it doesn't have that excitement
factor. And one thing I'll say, you know, that
I've always enjoyed about getting into breaks
or just what eventually evolved into just buying
my own personal boxes was that if I hit like
a top prospect, I'll give you an example. 2021
Bowman came out. This was Bowman draft. And at
the time, Carson Williams shortstop prospect
for the Tampa Bay Rays wasn't like a big name.
I think it was like a top 15 player, but. I hit
his black refractor to 75 on card auto his first
bowman. And I ended up holding onto it because
he had a really cool like autograph, like penmanship.
He signs his name with like a star. And so I
ended up holding onto it. And like, now I find
myself rooting for the guy. Right. I'm like rooting
for the guy to play well and to move up the rankings.
Well, as it turns out, he's now a top five, top
10 prospect. And so I ended up, uh, creating
the card it got a psa 10 autograph 10 and i held
on to it for a long time and then uh he didn't
get called up this year i think his eta is either
this year or next year but i said like why why
am i holding on to this card you know like i
hate it like but like there's no real sentimental
value here so i ended up just selling it i got
rid of it like you know i'm still root for the
guy whatever but like i realized that The only
reason why I was rooting for this guy was because
I hit his card in a box of Bowman. There's a
cool factor to that to some extent, but there
is literally no other reason why I'm rooting
for the guy. Exactly. With that, on the other
side of the coin, Collectors MD is intended to
help people with compulsive spending across all...
categories verticals hobbies whatever you want
to call it and the sports card hobby is the most
lucrative because excuse me because of that excitement
factor because of the fact that you are buying
into something that you don't know what you're
getting in return you don't know what the contents
of the box is which is what makes it glorified
gambling right and so if you're just buying singles
that eliminates that and now you're just back
to regular collecting where you're just buying
you know what you're getting you're buying a
pair of jordan threes you know you're getting
a pair of jordan threes in the mail right but
when you buy a box of a hobby box of prism and
you open it when it gets it like you don't know
what you're going to hit you don't know if you're
getting back 10 of your return of your investment
you don't know if you're getting back 100 200
and so it creates uh you know a sense of it creates
an illusion it creates like you know that fantasy
like i could potentially double my money if i
buy into a break or if i buy a hobby box you
know of of sports cards and so that's why i feel
like obviously buying singles is much safer but
you can still fall into the same trap from buying
singles because of the emotional and psychological
burnout that comes with spending compulsively
right like i've been in you know just just a
spectator where like i i see a really nice card
get hit in a break where i'm not even in the
break or maybe i am in the break and somebody
else hits the card next thing i know i find myself
trying to find that same card on eBay to buy
it for myself right so like or to see what it's
worth just to kind of worth and the next thing
you know like you're you're overspending on it
just like because you want to scratch that itch
and It comes in and then like a week later you're
over it and you want to sell it and you're going
to lose money on it because the product's no
longer as hyped. And it's a vicious cycle, man.
You just have to do it. You have to buy with,
or I should say collect, not buy. You have to
collect with intention, not compulsion. And that's
just the important part. So there's so many ways
you can look at it. There's so many different
answers. And again, it's, it's. case by case
person to person but as long as you're doing
it responsibly and with intention you know you
you have my blessing more power to you i i hear
that and i think there's so many factors that
go into it but i think a lot of people who are
kind of stuck in this rut let's call it just
don't see the bigger picture i mean let's kind
of circle back to a previous point like just
be an adult like i mean you got kids you got
a wife you got family whoever whatever and just
like at the end of the day it's just cardboard
and we really make what the we make the market
i mean i'm telling people religiously like hey
don't buy scalped pokemon product don't buy product
that's too overpriced because if you just stop
buying it then they won't be able to sell and
they're going to lose money eventually or you'll
be able to find it cheaper and i think there's
a lot of similarity or at least a lot of crossover
to the sports world is like, if people just,
I mean, let's just play a hypothetical. Like
if people, everybody in the world just stopped
buying into breaks, there's going to be a dramatic
price collapse in spots because these breakers
still need to sell those boxes. And even if they
take a loss on it, they're just happy to move
it to keep things rotating and going. So it's
just like, obviously that's not going to happen,
but it's just like, you know, if people collectively
was to just kind of. open their eyes let's just
call a lack of better words then maybe the breaking
space can even become a little bit better a little
bit healthier kind of circle back again to another
point having guardrails in place or having you
know safety systems in place or just to have
people just be more vigilant and conscious and
conscious excuse me when it comes to this stuff
then the whole breaking element of the hobby
and it's not even really a hobby breaking to
be honest but if that whole aspect can dramatically
change or just small changes along the way over
between now and the next year to go back to a
question i asked then maybe breaking can be fun
for people or it can be or it can be um you know
healthier in some ways i mean i'm still going
to be against it completely again unless you're
with some buddies you know you know having a
few drinks and some pizza while you're opening
some cool cars but otherwise it's just a pit
of misery for people yeah like i think Yeah,
I think – I mean Rob Veers from Burbank says
the reason why they don't do breaks. I mean and
they're the place that could do all the breaks
in the world with all the product they have.
But it's like eight out of ten times you join
a break, you're leaving unsatisfied. So would
you do anything to spend for satisfaction? I
would say probably 9 .5 out of ten times. I would
agree. I think he kind of low -balled it there
because it's like every thousand dollars you
spend on a break. How much of that are you making
back? Sure, there's going to be a one -off where
you absolutely hit. Sure, sure, sure. But how
many times are you breaking? Yeah. Just on the
quote on your website, just to finish my point,
just a quote from your website, $50 ,000. How
much money do we think that guy actually made
back? Or how much value he obtained from those
breaks? Yep. And these are all real quotes, by
the way. It's crazy, man. It really is. It's
the camaraderie and the excitement that these
breakers create, right? Especially for kids who
are just coming into the hobby or who are uneducated.
And maybe they're using their savings, their
life savings or their college fund or their parents'
money. And then these breakers are like, why
break anywhere else? You've got to get into this
next one. Big, big, big tradebacks and all of
the excitement and the lure. I hate to say it,
and I don't mean to sound cynical, but it's just
so predatory. It's just so predatory. I'll never,
I'll never, I'll never forget. I think it was
backyards. They were doing a break on something.
I forget what product it was. It wasn't like
a Chronicles or anything. Maybe it was Prism.
I have no idea. And they pulled, I think this
is Derek Carr's first season in new Orleans.
And I was just watching cause I was bored of
the shop one day and Prism just came out again.
I think it was Prism and they pulled the Derek
Carr out of 149. And I kid you not, they flipped
out. Like they just pulled RPA, like an RPA of
the Mahomes, you know, From earlier, we were
talking about it. It's like, guys, it is a mid
-tier quarterback who is overpaid, who is probably
in the last leg of his career. Why are we going
crazy over a $2 .29 card? The break spot was
probably $100, to be honest. It's just like,
what are we doing, guys? I mean, it's not just
Backyard, but they were the poster child. It's
so many breakers. It's so many companies. It's
so many streamers. And it's even the people who
are buying into it, too. They all mimic each
other, man. It's like they're all one in the
same. And again, I'm not trying to knock anyone
or knock any breakers. I respect the hustle.
At the end of the day, it's just a business.
And a lot of these individuals that work for
these brands, these breakers, they're just doing
their job. They're just trying to do right by
the company. So I get it. I respect it. But we
just need to create a sense of... regulation
of like if hey if if you feel like you're going
down a slippery slope and you need a little bit
of help you need a little bit of guidance like
we're here we're here for you that's all it really
is man that's all it is it's like you can collect
you can continue to collect you can continue
to join breaks just make sure you're doing it
responsibly make sure you're doing it with intention
and if you feel like you can't do that if you
feel like you're at a point where you can't join
a break or you can't watch a break or consume
the content without like getting that itch, then
maybe it's time to like hit the pause button
and just reset and just rethink what your goals
are and what your, you know, what your, what
your, your, your life is all about. Right. Cause
at the end of the day, like this is affecting
people's livelihoods and that's. That's where
it starts to get scary. Marriages are being affected
and children are being affected. We don't want
all that. This hobby should be full of joy and
positivity. That's what we're trying to push.
We're not trying to be cynical or rain on anybody's
parade or be this black cloud in the hobby. If
anything, it's like we're trying to be a breath
of fresh air. shining light for people who need
the help it's like okay to admit that you need
the help or like you know somebody who needs
the help or you have a customer that needs the
help you know what i would love and i'm just
spitballing here just kind of thought of this
but like if a breaker a break company had like
a set of terms where they like a guide of sorts
where if like they can identify if one of their
customers is starting to overspend, overextend,
lose it, go down a spiral, they can then work
with us at Collectors MD to figure out a solution
to help that individual. It's not like, let me
rat out like this person and they need help.
Like, let's get them help. It's more so just
like providing them with that guidance, that
sense of security that just doesn't currently
exist. I agree. Ricky, any final questions before
we kind of go into our outgoing takes, which
is a segment we always do to wrap up episodes?
Any other final questions or anything, Ricky,
before we go over there? Yeah, I just want to
talk about a point you just made. Like, we're
not cynical. We don't hate the hobby. anything
like that like ironically enough the sports card
hobby helped me get over my gambling addiction
like yeah back during kovid when all the sports
were just coming back i that's what i spent most
of my money on like offshore bookie betting like
yeah once i started doing sports card that took
the focus off of that and like sports card helped
me get over my gambling like i still i'll still
play some better every now and then but I just
enjoy sports cards way more than I enjoy gambling
and I'm getting something out of it. It's physical
too. That's the thing. I mean, how many parlays
can you place? And even if you win, what are
you walking away with? Sure. You're walking away
with a little bit of money in your account, but
like, I mean, money comes and goes all the time,
but I mean, if you buy a card, it can always
stay forever. Like I got a bunch of cards here
in my backdrop that I don't ever see myself getting
rid of unless I can upgrade. And I don't mind
paying the money for him. And at least I have.
something to showcase and I can walk away with,
you know, something at the end of the day. So
no, I, I agree with you completely. Me too. A
big reason why I never got into the breaking
business or repack business or anything like
that is because I understand what it's like to
lose your money and get nothing out of it. Like,
I don't want to be that person who takes people's
money and not getting anything out of it. Right.
I can't get myself to do that. Nope. Again, I
mean, I think there there's a line of fun and
degeneracy. Now, I think that line is going to
be a lot different for everybody. But I mean,
at least for me, I mean, even as a shop owner,
like, could I run breaks? Sure. I mean, I we
all have platforms. Could we all do it? Sure.
But like, I mean, I pride myself so much on,
you know, having fun and a happy and healthy
hobby. And it's just like breaking is not that
it's just not that in any way, shape or form,
at least for I'd say the majority of people.
in this hobby or in this space for that matter.
But to transition to our outgoing takes here,
Alyx, what Ricky and I like to do to wrap up
each episode is we like to just kind of circle
back to one point that we talked about. It could
be something that we did talk about or didn't
talk about, something we just kind of want to
mention before we wrap up today's episode. So
I'll let you go first so you can take the floor
on that one. It could literally be about anything.
It could be about nothing. It could be about
this or that, but fire away. man really uh put
you on the spot yeah yeah put me on the spot
do you want me to go i'll go first if you want
why don't you go first okay so my outgoing take
here is to i mean i think i kind of maybe mentioned
it probably a thousand times already is just
have fun in this hobby whatever that is responsible
fun being an adult i kind of like how you mentioned
that and at the end of the day really this hobby
is just built on cardboard mostly shiny cardboard
with a little bit of of ink and some napkin patches
and you know people are going to spend what they're
going to want to spend they're going to make
the decisions that they're going to make whatever
it is however you do it or how much you spend
just have fun doing it and if you're doing it
because you need that itch or you need that dopamine
then you're probably into it for the wrong reason
now sure fun and dopamine can have a strong correlation
together but i think we all know a really good
separation between needing dopamine and having
fun. Like, I mean, we could all go to the store
right now and probably buy a fat pack for $15
and probably rip it and have some fun and we're
done. Whereas whoever needs that dopamine itch
needs to buy the next pack and the next pack
in the whole box and then another box. And just,
there needs to be a difference there. And I think
for a lot of people, there is a good difference
or at least they know that difference, but just.
whatever your plan is, whatever your path is,
whatever you're doing in this hobby, whether
you're a breaker, you're a streamer, you're a
seller, you're a buyer, trader, shop owner, whatever.
Have fun. And I preach that all a lot. Ricky
can testify that. But that's really what this
hobby needs to be. And you could probably look
at any hobby, whether it's sneakers, comics,
video games, action figures, new, old, anywhere
in between. The majority of them are probably
having fun to some degree, maybe not sneakers
because, you know, that's a little bit of intoxicating
from time to time. But just have fun. I think
that's a good outgoing take for myself. I like
it. Ricky, why don't you go next? Yeah, I just
wanted to say that, like, for people who are
going through, you know, an addiction, sports
car, whether it's sports car, gambling, whatever,
just need people to know that they're not alone.
They're not the only ones who are up at. 3 a
.m like you said buying into a break of i don't
know college lacrosse even though they don't
know anything about it like they're not people
aren't alone and i it's important that they find
the resources like your page so they'll let them
know that they're not alone and that there is
help out there and people who are just like you
yeah yeah 100 easy a lot shorter than mine Cool.
I'll close it out. So, you know, we talked a
lot about collecting versus gambling and how,
you know, there are a lot of synergies there.
And there's obviously a lot of blurred lines
between collecting and gambling these days. So
the question is, you know, and people are going
to continue asking this question as we continue
to push this message is, is it even okay to collect?
You know, if you're... pursuing this as part
of, you know, your life's mission or, you know,
you're advocating for this movement. And the
question is, it's more than okay. You know, we're
not like Gamblers Anonymous where we're telling
you that gambling is the devil and you have to
self -exclude and you can never do it again in
your life. And, you know, it's a lifelong commitment
journey. And while, you know, with collecting
and doing it responsibly, 100 % is a lifelong
journey, it doesn't mean that you have to stop
collecting or you can't appreciate, you know,
a nice item or like you said, Murph, like a tangible
object, that material good that you save up for
or you purchase with intent. So it's just collecting
what it's done with intention. It can be filling.
It's healthy. It can connect you to what you
truly love, whether that's your favorite team,
a piece of pop culture, a specific moment in
time that's nostalgic, or even just something.
you know, a certain aesthetic that you vibe with.
So for a lot of us collecting, again, it brings
us back to nostalgia. It gives us something to
look forward to and it helps express who we are.
So again, the problem isn't collecting. The problem
is when it turns into chasing and gambling and
when it starts to feel like pressure instead
of passion and when you're not even sure why
you're buying anymore, right? You're buying for
all the wrong reasons. You're just trying to
keep up or get that next hit. Fill that gap that
never actually truly closes, no matter how big
the hit is. But if you're setting boundaries,
staying within your means and actually enjoying
the stuff that you're picking up, then yeah,
collecting is an awesome thing. It can be grounding.
It can be fun. So yeah, it's okay to collect.
Just don't lose yourself doing it. I absolutely
love that. You kind of encompassed everything
we've been talking about. You kind of wrapped
it up, put a nice little button on it. That was
perfect way. And Alyx, before we go collectors
MD, I know I kind of put it up a little bit on
the screen, but Instagram, you have a website.
Where else can we find you? Yeah, man. Well,
first of all, thank you guys again so much for
having me really, really appreciate it. Appreciate
you guys helping spread the word, the awareness.
If you want to learn more about collectors MD,
you can follow us on Instagram. DM us. I do my
best to respond to every single DM and not just
with an emoji or a heart. I try to be thoughtful
and intentional with my responses, so please
feel free to reach out. You can also check out
the website, collectorsmd .com. We post daily
reflections on there. Every single day, there's
a new journal entry, so if you're looking for
content, post there. We post on mantle as well
which is a new community platform built for the
hobby very similar to discord uh but we are on
mantle now and i will be you know continuing
to post on a daily basis there um and as we grow
you know as hopefully collectors md becomes a
team beyond me Beyond just me, we can start reaching
individuals no matter where they're consuming
content. So we already have TikTok, Twitter,
Facebook. What else? Discord, YouTube, all of
the above. We just need the bandwidth to be able
to syndicate across all of those channels. So
hopefully sooner rather than later. But this
is a collective effort. Let's do this. Amen.
uh you know move the needle spread the message
spread the word and educate people i appreciate
you guys absolutely and it was a pleasure to
have you on thank you so much Yeah, absolutely.
I mean, again, Ricky, I'm glad you found Collectors MD
for us to be able to sit down and have this conversation
with Alyx. Again, I think it's going to be a
funny little story moving forward. I thought
I knew a collector from Maryland, but it's neither
here nor there. But no, it was an absolute pleasure.
I mean, we definitely would love to have you
on maybe, you know, sometime down the road to
kind of revisit things and kind of see, you know,
how far you've grown and, you know, where you're
at now. you know, come then. So hopefully the
door, if you'd like it to be open to come back
on and, you know, preach some more about what
you're doing or what you have done up, you know,
love that. Absolutely. Thank you guys. Absolutely.
And everybody, thank you so much for watching.
We've definitely appreciated Alyx. We will catch
you in another time. Hopefully we can keep our
inboxes open and converse more. I'm not going
to lie. I didn't expect that interview to go
as long as it did. And hopefully it was a very
smooth conversation for you guys because, you
know, such. importance in regards to gambling
I mean it makes or break people and you know
the hobby I mean a lot of people know it as gambling
these days people come into the shop all the
time nowadays and you know they even themselves
mention how it's just like gambling whether it's
buying a box or some cards so hopefully conversation
we had with Alyx Collectors MD was very insightful
was very informational for you maybe it kind
of sparked a little interest to do a little bit
of research yourself if you find yourself kind
of you know having too many of those itches and
needing too much dopamine or just chasing that
hit and not even having fun in this hobby but
this was an absolutely fantastic episode to make
with Ricky and Alyx and you know Alyx being our
first ever guest hopefully we can have some more
guests on here on hobby talk but this was absolutely
fun guys and i really hope you did enjoy drop
your comments down below in the comment section
if you have any questions comments concerns anything
you want to discuss whether it's something i
said Alyx said Ricky said you know drop those
down in the comments we definitely would love
to read and react to those and i know Alyx kind
of mentioned where you can find Collectors MD
you know instagram you know mantle i'm gonna
leave a link to his website down below in the
comment section so in case you guys didn't catch
that or you weren't able to type it fast enough
you can just click on the link and it'll take
you wherever you need to go big shout out to
Alyx from Collectors MD thank you so much again
and thank you to you for watching hopefully you
enjoyed this video like comment hit that giant
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i said this will wrap it up for today's episode
guys thank you so much as always i've queued
up an excellent video right there for you that
i do believe will be excellent for your hobby
endeavors hopefully i'll see you in that one