And now, Frank's gone. Frank's gone. What do
we got here? All right. So, CollectorMD, if you
have any questions for CollectorMD, throw them
in here. I'm going to show you my questions,
what I feel like I want to ask. Where are we?
Hey, Macy's Thanksgiving. Da -da -da. Here we
go. All right. CollectorMD, I want to know his
credentials in the field. What exactly? What
is his background? Number one. Number two, mission
statement. What exactly is he hoping to do with
Collectors MD? Number three. And Frank, thank
you for calling in. Always a pleasure. You're
welcome anytime. I love how he comes in. He gives
the knowledge. He came prepared. He had a slide.
He had a video. And then he got right out. What
is his inspiration? Where does the passion come
from for doing this? His biggest problems he
sees in the hobby or what he sees at his front
door? And finally, my biggest thought about this
is, you know, how does he compete with already
established medical community and avenues? There's
outlets for this already. So how is he just going
to focus on the niche and feels that's going
to be? So speaking of which. I think he should
be calling in any moment. Let's see. How do I
make this happen? Say his name and he appears.
I believe in Joe Hendry. I believe in Joe Hendry.
All right. Collectors MD, what is your first name?
Well, thanks for having me. Can you hear me okay?
Yes, sir. My name is Alyx. Alyx, good to meet
you. We heard you a little better and now you're
a little frozen. Let's see if that frozen goes
away. Oh, there he is. And we heard you a little
better in the beginning. I don't know if your
mic was closer. Now you're a little lower. Can
you hear me now? Yeah, I can hear you pretty
good. So collector and Petty's here as well.
You want to hop on Petty? No, not yet. Petty,
maybe later. Okay. My first question to you is
Alyx, correct? Yeah, it's Alyx. Yeah, that's
right. Alyx, so you can see my questions on the
screen. So my first question is kind of like,
what's the background? What's your background?
What qualifications do you have for Collectors MD?
Yeah, so first of all, I just wanted to thank
you for having me and just say hello to everybody
in the chat. I see a few folks that are in our
community. Collect Charles, Brandon, awesome
guy. Appreciate the support. Yeah, so Collectors
MD is a support first movement for people who
love the hobby but are tired of feeling controlled
by it. At its core, we help collectors step back
from all of the chaos, the compulsion, the pressure
-driven behavior that we're seeing everywhere
and move toward what we call intentional collecting.
So what intentional collecting is, it's where
choices are rooted in clarity, boundaries, and
purpose instead of dopamine, urgency, and FOMO.
We recognize that collecting isn't inherently
harmful, but the modern hobby has increasingly
borrowed a lot of what we see within casinos
and across sports books and the entire gambling
world that sort of drive these hype cycles. and
uh predatory mechanics right that blur the line
between passion and addiction and so that's the
space we exist just wanted to sort of uh set
the table there give everybody a high level overview
of who we are that was my third that was my second
question your mission statement so it sounds
like there's some of that in there i'd like to
expand a little more but again what are i think
it's important to to highlight you know at the
very beginning what are the credentials that
you have And I don't know. I'm honestly just
curious. Yeah, of course. I am not a licensed
therapist or a doctor or anything like that.
I am simply a lifelong collector who has experienced
the highs and lows of both gambling addiction
as well as compulsive collecting. Have you thought
about partnering with or reached out or has it
crossed your mind to partner with someone that
is accredited? So we have a full -fledged referral
network of five. I think we're up to five individuals
now that are licensed therapists, doctors, clinicians
that we can provide service from as part of this
extra layer of support for our community. We've
also partnered with three facilities that help
folks that have gambling addiction, behavioral
issues, substance abuse, things like that. And
those three facilities are Birches Health, Right
Choice Recovery, and one we actually just announced
today, Better Way of Miami. So if you have a
difficult time with sports cards, you can enlist
into these programs? Absolutely. Sorry, that's
so funny. I don't know why that's funny. Okay,
let's take the silliness away from it. How many
are people signing up for these things? Because
I think it's hard to admit yourself you have
any problem, let alone saying, oh, yeah, I have
a sports card problem. Yeah, I mean, from the
outside looking in, it can absolutely seem comical.
you know, confusing as to how something like
a childhood nostalgia or childhood hobby rooted
in nostalgia can have the same sort of. Well,
that's not what it is anymore. Right. But that's
what it was. And so it's it's hard for people
to wrap their heads around. But are you finding
anybody admitting out there that, yeah, I do
have this problem? Oh, absolutely. Our community
is growing by the dozens on a weekly basis. how
where is your community at a facebook group discord
how do they what is the how does they join that
community so we host weekly meetings every wednesday
night at 8 p .m eastern we it's a real subject
i know it's 100 real and it's 100 serious and
good for you in being out there doing this I
know that it's come to this fucking thing, man.
I'm not laughing. I just it's unreal that that's
where we're at. Yeah, I'm not I won't I'm not
taking offense to you laughing or anything like
that. But it is a very serious subject. And there
are people out there whose lives are getting
absolutely destroyed by the hobby. And we see
that firsthand on social media. We see it in
Reddit. We see it on Facebook groups, people
coming out and talking about the outrageous amount
of money that they've lost by getting sucked
into these breaks and break culture in general.
How does someone find your community? If I wanted
to join those meetings or be a part of the community,
which I don't have the problem, but how would
you do that? Can I share my screen? I can't,
I don't know. Can you, I'm not quite sure if
you can. Okay. I just, yeah, you did here. Let's
add to stage. I think this is, Oh, you might
have to do it. I don't know if I can, I, it won't
let me click add to stage. Hmm. Okay. Well, uh,
it's not letting me click either, but all you
have to do is go to collectors, md .com. Oh,
here I can remove that. Add to stage. Yeah, there
it is. There we go. Is there an echo? Do we have
an echo? Hopefully there's no echo. Sorry, Alyx.
Go ahead. You're good. And by the way, what's
your first name again? My first name is Jason.
Jason. Jason. It's great to meet you, man. Master's
degree, no doctorate. So, you know, you could
assume you couldn't get at me. But yeah, anyways.
The Real Mike Petty asks, is it a disease or
a weakness? Gambling addiction is a disease.
We absolutely. like see the parallels between
gambling addiction and compulsive collecting
overspending retail therapy. And by the way,
it's this, do you want to hop on right now or
no? This isn't just sports cards. This encompasses
a lot of different verticals across the collecting
world, right? There are sneakers, TCG. I'll put
you back when we stop sharing the screen. That
way you're not covered. Sorry about that. So
when you go to this website, again, I'm trying
to plug how exactly does somebody get into the
community? So all they have to do is go to our
website and click on this link that says sign
up for our weekly peer support meetings. It takes
you to a Google form that you fill out, answer
a few high -level questions, and we add you to
the calendar invite. It's very simple. We are
seeing anywhere from 30 to 40 plus people joining
on a weekly basis. Oh, that's great. Goating,
you're right. Stop interrupting. Sorry, there's
17 things going on. Sharing screens, adding this.
Petty's down there. He wants to ask questions.
Chat's going. I'm trying to get to know Alyx.
Okay, so they just go to the site and they can
join from there. Do you see more clients or more
people signing up from the TCG world or from
the sports card world? More from the sports card
world at the moment, but we do have a handful
of folks in our community that are addicted to
other things outside of just sports cards. I
was naming a few of them. Obviously, TCG with
Pokemon being the number one sort of culprit
there. Sneakers, memorabilia, watches, handbags,
luxury goods, NFTs, gaming, you name it. If it's
something that... will drive people to overextend
themselves or spend outside of their means, outside
of their budget, it's potentially, you know,
harmful. And, you know, there are... No, you're
not wrong. I agree with a lot. I mean, I don't,
I think a lot of what you're saying has some
truth. I think it's hard for people to admit
to themselves they have any sort of addiction,
any sort of problem. Let alone when it, so that's,
that's the barrier I think. And it sounds like
you're still getting people and Petty. Hey, how
about some support for Petty in the chat? Petty,
a random Petty. Hey, happy Thanksgiving. How
you doing? Happy Thanksgiving guys. Alyx, a pleasure
to meet you, my handsome friend. I really appreciate
what you've been doing. And I was, I was one
of your first subscribers. Thank you. I just
cannot believe what a slow ride it's been. to
get like a hundred subscribers for you. Yeah.
You're talking about YouTube. I mean, yeah. I
mean, do you have, do you have other impact in
other areas that are okay? Because I mean, the
people that should, you should have a hundred
thousand subscribers. I know. It's only been
eight months. So the amount of work. Shit, I
have that many subscribers in five minutes and
I don't have a channel. Mike, you gotta, you
gotta come work with me then. I gotta figure
out a way to blow this up. In all seriousness,
it's all about getting the message out there,
spreading awareness, educating people on the
insidious nature of collecting and the hobby.
And the first thing that I want to put out there
is that we are not anti -hobby. We love collecting.
I'm still a collector. I've been collecting my
entire life. I've collected sneakers, memorabilia,
obviously cards. And so, you know, this isn't
about canceling. sports cards canceling, break
culture, any of that. We don't want to remove
the fun. We just want people to know that they
can continue to collect as long as they're doing
so intentionally. And so when the... But you
know what? When you have an addiction like that,
you pretty much have to stop it all. And especially
when you're a young kid in your 20s to 30s and
you have a family. And there's just other things
that are just so much more important, like paying
your rent and buying groceries and things like
that, that I think, I mean, you literally have
to stop. And I think one of my professors in
college, and a lot of people that know me know
that I was in college for 10 years, so I've had
quite a lot of schooling. But one of the main
things I learned was, is the guy said, hey, stop
doing what isn't working. And it's pretty simple.
I mean, it's probably the best advice I ever
got in life. So no matter what it is, whether
it's gambling or something in your life that's
not going right or that's not working at that
time, stop it. And I don't know that it's a disease
or a weakness. I mean, I don't know. Like, I
think we all, in cards in general, I think we
all have a little bit of an addictive personality.
Yeah, so the first thing I want to say to that
is you're absolutely right, Mike. I mean, there's
definitely more at play here. We're talking about,
oh, that's my boy. So Brandon. I have a little
beef with your boy. He knows, he knows. Charles,
good to see you. One of our biggest supporters.
But yeah, I mean, there's a lot of things at
play, right? There's the psychological effect,
the dopamine loops. You know, it's a lot harder.
than you think to just stop a behavior especially
when you've been sucked into the point of you
know it's sort of embedded in your dna and it's
been a part of your life uh for years or for
decades and so um especially with something like
sports cards or TCG that again is is rooted in
our childhood it's something we've been doing
since we were kids and so because of that because
of the nature of it there is this gray area.
There are a lot of blurred lines. People don't
realize the gambling mechanics that have been
introduced. They don't understand. We realize
forms like Whatnot and Fanatics Live are engineered
to suck you in Arena Club, get you to spend money.
Arena Club is. Hey, so can I ask you a question?
I have a few more questions before Charles. Thank
you for calling. So did it bother you when you
were on Geoff show and he did the Arena Club ads
prior or it didn't cause it got some, it got
some. press. So did that bother you at all or
not so much? So I spent 13 years in advertising
sales. So I understand the nuances as far as
partnership agreements are concerned, advertising.
I mean, this is an advertiser that pays Geoff
and his company money on a monthly, quarterly
basis. He stands for nothing. Let me finish.
You just partnered. Respectfully. Well, some
of the chat is saying to move on. I want to make
sure it's very long -winded, but go ahead. Yes,
yes. Yeah, so with something like that, of course,
like Arena Club is doing what they're doing,
and they're a part of the problem. But at the
end of the day, and this kind of goes hand -in
-hand with any break group. card shop platform
that Collectors MD partners with. It's not about
endorsing the behavior. It's about reaching people
that are involved in said behavior. And so for
instance, if Arena Club is reaching hundreds
of thousands of individuals and a percentage
of those individuals have a gambling problem
and need help, then we're now able to reach those
people through these partnerships. So it's, it's
less so about, you know, from like a mission
standpoint and more so about making sure that
we're getting in front of these individuals that
actually - Oh, it didn't bother you. You don't
really answer my questions. It didn't bother
you. It's a loaded question, Jason. I mean, I
can't - Well, it's one way or the other. It either
bothered you or it didn't. It's not a loaded
question. It didn't bother me that - Arena Club
was a sponsor of the show. What bothered me was
that people don't look at the entire picture.
They look at everything from face value. And
everybody and their mom wants to be a keyboard
warrior and insert their opinion. comment and
say this that the other about well Geoff is doing
this is gonna be tough we just we just hate the
fucker that's all no no a previous question you
also i i'm having a tough tough time you i also
asked like this and maybe you did answer and
i missed it uh is the majority of people you
see coming in from TCG or from sports cards sports
cards okay all right thank you uh i have Charles
go ahead you thanks for calling Charles what's
up I'll work with Alyx. I'll vouch for him. We
don't take any kind of endorsements widely. And
Mike Petty, I totally understand you being dogmatic
about us partnering with Market Movers. No, I'm
not. I think it's probably a good partnership.
In what context do you work for? Because you
get a lot of morons over there that can really
use it. And I'm a big supporter of this. Let's
just get that straight. Oh, me too. I'm not trying,
I'm almost trying to get straight answers. What,
in what context, me too, in what context do you
work for the company or for Alyx? I just help
him out and contribute with our daily reflections
and whatever he needs as far as. That's nice
of you. It really is. As contributions are concerned.
You know, it's anything I can do to help the
hobby out. I joined this because as. I don't
even know how much that I've admitted of this.
You might have figured it out. I had a real tough
time with breaks, spending too much money. Don't
say. Well, that's how we met. That's how we met,
Charles, and how we tried to talk. And we're
trying to help. And I think it's awesome, dude.
And I'm like, I love you. Up to this point, you
know, going from being a loser and just being
a nightmare and having to listen to you. Being
just an awesome guy, I really appreciate you
and really, really like you. You've come a long
way on the show. You've come a long way in three
months, I heard you. That's all you've been in
the hobby. So I think it's great. Five months
now total since the summer. Five, yeah. So that's
great. No, I didn't start doing these until about
September. And we're just busting your balls
a lot too. Yeah, I know. You deserve it. It's
all in fun, but he still deserves it. He still
deserves it. So here's the thing. So here's what
I saw when I first came into this hobby. Arena
Club. Hey, chase a Grail card. Get a really awesome
card you've always wanted that's graded. You
have Geoff Wilson going, hey, graded cards rule.
This and that and the other. And then you have
breakers saying, hey, you can buy into this much
cheaper and not have to actually buy an actual
box of cards and stuff like that. So it's really
enticing. And I have an addictive personality.
I was a gambler. I was in the big poker boom
back in the mid -2000s. I won money. No, I lost
money. You know, cause that was the thing back
then you got on online. Yeah. So this, the whole
thing with Arena Club, that's what stands out
to me. They have that algorithm. They have that
method of doing things. And that's what really
got me wrapped into it a little bit. And plus
the breakers that act like they want to be your
friend. And they're really just kind of sort
of wanting your money. Cause you'll notice when
you don't go into their breaks anymore, you don't
hear from them. It's like when you are in their
breaks, they'll like send you emails or DMS or.
I mean, if you're Fanatics, I guess. Sure. But
like, if you're just a mom and pop shop, sometimes
they're just like, oh, well, anyway, we'll move
on to another. We call it. I'm curious. Like,
what's the difference? So you're saying once
you're not in their break. So if you're joining
somebody's break, are they hitting you up with
like, hey, buy this from us today or how? What's
the difference? How's it going? They try to include
you in. It's like a social circle. That kind
of thing. It's sort of like. They veiled like,
hey, you're in our club. Join us here and subscribe
for $5. Hey, hit the damn like button. Sorry.
There's 100 people in here, 17 likes. It's free.
It helps grow the channel. It helps spread this
message of Alyx and Collector Charles helping
out. We got Petty on. Hey, you know Petty. He
wants it to be. Hey, Petty, thanks for calling
in. Charles, has the addiction gotten better?
Oh yeah. I mean like I'm not buying into breaks
anymore. I think I bought into one like in the
last month and it was just for a box of cards,
you know, stuff like that. But you'll get into
the trap of like watching these breakers or watching
these people pull cards. You're like, I don't,
I'd go down to my shop and just buy a hobby box,
buy a jumbo box. That's what collectors in these
four, I can text Alyx and be like, Hey man, so
I got a problem. I want to start buying some
more boxes. He'll say, here's the checklist.
It's crap. Alyx, let me ask you a question. That's
great. I mean, run everything by Alyx. Exactly.
It's like, look, the checklist is crap. Or, you
know, this or that or the other. Just buy your
singles. If you want to pick your arms, it's
fine. Or a box every three months. Or, you know,
enjoy what you like. Budget your money, that
kind of stuff. Save your, you know, that kind
of thing. Go ahead, Jason. My question for you,
and I don't know if you had something to say,
but is it mainly in breaks? Is it mystery packages?
Buying too many singles? What's the biggest problem
that you see on your front door or that comes
to you? Yeah, it's people joining breaks. It's
people buying personals and chasing the next
big hit. It's just that constant dopamine cycle.
There's just so much oversaturation now with
product. And it's being forced down our throats
24 -7 by the manufacturers, platforms, and breakers.
And so because of that, there's this sort of
inherent reaction from the hobby where they're
just driving this relentless sense of FOMO. There's
so much urgency. A new product comes out, every
breaker on the planet is shouting from the mountaintops
that you got to join this break or you're missing
out. And so young... impressionable uneducated
adults and children are being sucked in and spending
money hand over fist not even realizing that
what they're doing is effectively gambling and
so it's across the board it's even people who
are just buying singles just to scratch an itch
we're seeing it everywhere it's becomes very
sensationalized and almost everything you just
said We have different ways of going, but that's
almost what inspired me to make a channel. I
mean, it's just absolutely every, all the overprinting,
it's shoved down your throat. Some of these content,
it's really kind of sensationalizing it in a
way that creates a bigger issue. And yeah, so
I can connect with all those. all those things
you just made. And then, so, okay. That leads
me to my next question is that's what inspires
me for content. What inspired, obviously you
doing this, there has to be a passion. There
has to be a reason. So where is it in your gut
or what, what inspires you to do this? My own
lived experience. Like I said earlier, I'm a
recovering gambling addict. I've experienced
the. the thrill of the chase I've experienced
the lowest of lows, that feeling of like I hit
rock bottom multiple times in my life. I'm 36
years old. And so I have fully dedicated my life
to helping people who need support. And so you
had a problem with the sports cards or have a
problem currently. I mean, I would hope not.
I'm a recovering gambling addict and that encompasses
anything defined by the gamblers anonymous program
is gambling. And, yes, sports cards and breaking,
by definition, are gambling. How does breaking
suck people in? How does breaking get you? Because
I argue it's not sustainable. People get in,
they realize it's not the best ROI, and they
get out. But maybe, I guess I'm wrong. I don't
know. So what do they do to keep you and suck
you in? They do a lot of things. Are we talking
about the platforms, the breakers, the manufacturers?
Either anything. Let's start with the breakers.
Not manufacturer, because I understand that part
completely. Let's start with the breakers. So
everything that you're seeing on Whatnot and
Fanatics Live, all these gimmicks, the wheel
spins, choosing which team you want from a deck
of cards, the flashing lights, the breakers screaming
into the microphone to bid, the auctions aren't
going for what they should. Go get it. The trade
two teams for one. It's all a giant facade engineered
to suck you in the same way casinos do. The difference
between breaking and gambling, traditional gambling,
is that there's zero oversight, zero regulation,
zero rules, and breakers can do whatever they
want. So, for instance, if a breaker or a card
shop is selling singles, they can plop a slab
down on a card stand and say, this card lasts
for $20 ,000. You have 10 seconds on a sudden
death auction. Bid. On a card you can't see.
And people immediately just feel this sense of
urgency. Yeah. And mindless. And they'll have
people in there in the beginning, trying to pump
it. Cause what I understand about all the burgers
is momentum. You have to build more. So you'll
have someone in there, even hyping the first
few building those prices. That way it builds
some momentum. So now, Ooh, now, now we're going,
now there's a rush. If you don't believe that
this is a real issue. And I'm not saying that
you guys don't. I'm just saying for anybody listening,
if you don't believe that this is a real issue,
I highly encourage you to sign up for one of
our meetings, sit in, and listen to the real
stories from real people in the hobby. I'm glad
you have them. Are those recorded? No. Out of
the safety and privacy of our community, our
weekly peer support meetings are not recorded.
If I were to join, could I use some of those
as anonymous and just some of the stories that
I hear from there? I think it's important to
get them out. Whatever you want. I would just
encourage you to be respectful. Would you be
okay with me sharing some of what I heard? Yeah,
you could share whatever you'd like as long as
you're not, you know. calling anybody out or
naming anybody by name. There is a waiver that
you have to sign before joining the meetings
that sort of highlights all of those details.
I would be very interested to be on a fly in
a wall on one of those meetings. Yeah, I mean,
we've had people join from the hobby who, whether
it be somebody whose podcast I was on or vice
versa, people who are just genuinely intrigued
or interested in learning what's going on behind
the scenes, the people that are really struggling.
And you'd be floored at some of these stories,
truly. There are people, and I'll tell you a
story right now. There are people who have nearly
lost their lives. There are people who have had
to sell their homes, their cars, lose custody.
In what way nearly lost their lives? Lose custody
of their children. Oh, all sorts of things. I
mean, we're talking about people that end up.
because of what they're going through. I mean,
this is no joke. Absolutely. Brandon, no, or
sorry, Charles. I don't know. So Brandon, he
was my Brandon, but he's Charles on here, so.
I go by Collector Charles on YouTube and everything.
What a snake. I go by Brandon outside of my life.
It's fine. So Charles gets it. Yeah, I mean,
they're all walks of life. And you're talking
about people losing possibly their wife or their
husband or, you know. Losing your house? It's
men and women. Why do you think I speak out about
this bullshit? This is exactly the reason why
I've been speaking out for two years on YouTube.
It's because people don't see the damage. It's
all smoke and mirrors and all joy and a bunch
of fun and games. And I know that this shit is
happening because it happened to me. Not in sports
cards per se, but I was a big poker player before
I was 21 years old, okay? I had a $10 ,000 credit
limit at Caesars Palace for free rooms and all
I could eat and get a room anytime I wanted at
Caesars. This is before I was 21 years old. I
had a fake ID. I had worked my way up from when
I was 19 years old. I went to Las Vegas and played
poker. This was seven -card stud back then. Hold
'em had just kind of started. I won. 20 times
in a row. I'd go every two weeks. I lived three
hours from there. So I would drive up there.
Here I am. I'm sitting at a poker table playing
$30 and $60 limit with Pugsy fucking Pearson,
Doyle Brunson, and Amarillo Slim at the same
fucking table. And me. You can only imagine how
young I looked. It was ridiculous. I would get
my cigar, my 10X Beaver hat, Stetson, and I would
hit cards, hands I had no business being in,
and just dumbass luck. But then, what do you
think happened? The way I would do it is I'd
go there, I'd sign out for chips at the blackjack
table. So I'd get $5 ,000 at the blackjack table.
This was before they ever knew. Now they know
every quarter you spend there, they know. Back
then, they couldn't track you. So I would play
$100 hand. I'd win, lose, play two hands, win
or lose. I'd take all the cash, put it in my
pocket, and go straight to the poker room. I'd
play like in a 5 to 10 limit. Regenerate. I was
a degenerate pretty much. But I didn't lose.
But guess what? Your luck runs out. When you
start getting in debt, $10 ,000. Well, I would
come home after with $8 ,000. with $15 ,000 and
then I would pay my bill off and you would show
a $10 ,000 loss every month. And sky was the
limit for you. But when you lost, and I was just
working a regular job making $8 an hour, you
know, working at like a lumber city or a hardware
store out here as a kid going through college.
And then I got married. And yeah, it definitely
made an impact on my life. But also I had to
learn. To quit completely. And I was also collecting
sports cards. And I quit sports cards. And I
quit everything at once. To try to get out of
debt. It took me five years to get out of debt.
For $10 ,000 back then. It's hard. That was back
then. Now these guys are just spending money.
This is why I speak out about it. Because I feel
that I had a problem back then. But then I never
bet. or they didn't have all these apps. It wasn't
so easy. I had a friend that was spending 20,
he would bet $25 a game in football. You got
14, 15 games every week. He was down like $5
,000 in like three months. Oh, and the way the
books work now is if you prove to them, you're
a winning player. Well, guess what? They either
cut you off or they, they really limit your play.
They're not trying to, they know who's the losers
and winners and the winners are rare, especially
at the sports book. And if you do it, if I gamble,
if I gamble a hundred dollars. But I do have,
I do want to go some, I do want, go ahead, go
ahead. I have something. No, no, you run on the
show, but I just wanted people to know that story
about me because a lot of people haven't heard
it before. But I mean, and this is why I speak
passionately about it. The problem I have, the
bit, and I, you know, I'm going to, I'm going
to, Alyx, I don't know if you like this, but
I think the marketing is, is one is you said
you were in advertising. So the marketing on
some of this stuff is disgusting. I'm a PR journalism
major. Some of this is so gross. And that's what
the people see. That's how it's marketed. That's
what you're seeing. And to me, Arena Club is
one of the culprits and there's many others.
It's just push. As you mentioned, shove down
our throat. And that's through content. That's
through the marketing. And I despise it. And
that's a lot of what inspires me is I really
despise the marketing, which then leads to people
finding you. But it's the marketing that helps
push this whole problem. Yeah. The problem is
there's no regulation on any of it, including
the marketing and advertising. So Arena Club
can send out these predatory emails and nobody's
going to be accountable. So I really quickly
guys want to address something because the chat
is going, you know, running rampant, obviously
with Geoff and we just did partner with market
movers. And so I want to answer a question that
somebody had asked earlier. I don't know who
asked this question. I just copied and pasted
it. But he said, Alyx, how much influence does
Geoff have on young collectors, especially with
the gambling -like side of ripping packs? Could
his content be pushing some kids toward unhealthy
habits in the hobby? And so that is a great question.
And the honest answer is yes. Yes. All right.
You are truthful then. I'm glad you said that.
Geoff absolutely has influence. This isn't just
about Geoff. This isn't just the Geoff. He's not
helping. Geoff is one of the most visible faces
in the hobby and young collectors absolutely
model what they see. So when a creator has that
kind of reach, their tone, their pacing and framing,
especially when ripping is presented as nonstop
excitement, the big hits, the emotional highs,
right? So for young collectors who are still
forming these habits, that can blur the line
between entertainment and behavior. to emulate,
right? So the chase, the suspense, the celebration
of the big pull, all of that can condition the
idea that more ripping equals more fulfillment.
That said, and this is the important part, zooming
out, this is really about the ecosystem, not
one individual. Geoff is operating inside a structure
that, that rewards society right now. The high
energy. Yeah, it absolutely is. But to give Geoff
a pass, I think it's a reflection of society.
So let me just finish. Geoff is operating in this,
in this system that rewards high energy, ripping
content, dramatic reactions, and constant openings.
Platforms, algorithms, breakers, the sponsors,
the marketplaces, they all benefit from making
ripping feel like the heartbeat of the hobby.
So while creators like Geoff do shape perception,
they also are a part of a much larger machine.
No, they are the machine. They are the fucking
machine. And emotional hooks. Geoff started it
five years ago. The real concern isn't, is Geoff
corrupting kids? It's what happens when the most
visible version of the hobby becomes. non -stop
high stakes ripping instead of intentional collecting.
Well, that's what it is now. That's what we're
looking at right now. We're in the thick of it.
Right. So that's where Collectors MD steps in.
We're not here to. I don't think Geoff does. I
mean, I think it's a great thing. I mean, if
you can get them to gear it back a little, like
you're down big shifter. Right. I mean, like,
at least like, look at what you're doing. Make
a plan. Does that provide extra money for you
to operate the business? Hopefully there's a
reason you did partner with them in order to
spread this bigger. Exactly. The biggest thing
here is that we're not here to... endorse or
villainize anyone especially creators or influencers
we're here to broaden the narrative to remind
people that collecting isn't just about the rip
it's about things like purpose connection pacing
sustainability and that's especially important
for these young impressionable people you don't
think all that content that's opposite of that
is a huge problem i mean let's not just say Geoff
there's a dozen other 50 other people doing this
to me that is press media content is very very
it's bigger than people understand it has a big
influence and so to me a lot of the problem is
how it's pushed because people have businesses
that they want those businesses to work and so
how do they do that at least Alyx has his foot
in the door and he has some eyeballs on it and
he what he is doing a great job and he is the
uh the warning sign on the side of cigarettes
instead make may cause cancer so Geoff is also
the first individual that I've spoken with in
the hobby as an industry leader who has said,
you know what? You're right. Everything you're
doing makes sense. Let's endorse this message
and layer it into our ecosystem. So if you can
bring me another car group influencer breaker
who is willing to put Rip responsibly on as a
disclaimer on their content. Is that what he's
actually going to do? Is that really going to
happen? Give me one sec. Well, you have it there.
I want to see it on everything. I don't buy it.
Maybe get in with Gio. Gio's a friend of the
show. Today, actually, these are samples, but
they're basically, I don't think you can see
it. Rip responsibly. So these are going to be
brake mats that are rolling out across the hobby
in the coming months. And they will be co -branded
with Cards HQ, amongst a few other shops that
we're rolling out this campaign with. But the
idea here is that you see 1 -800 -GAMBLER on
a gambling ad, right? They're not endorsing that
message. They're just acknowledging that there's
a problem and that they're there for people who
need the support. That's what Collectors MD is
to the hobby. So for those of you who are asking,
oh, is there a Collectors Anonymous or some sort
of recovery program or group for the hobby? Yes,
there is. It's called Collectors MD and we're
here to help you. Are you a doctor or do you
have doctors? No, we said he didn't have. Actually,
they partner with, I think there's like three
or four accredited doctors that are therapists
and that specialize in this kind of behavior.
Facilities as well. In the beginning of the conversation
before you guys join. Yeah. They're used as references
because, like Alyx said, he's not a registered
doctor. Neither am I, obviously. But there are
those. It just seems like on YouTube, everybody's
a doctor. Dr. Beckett, Dr. Carlos. Everyone's
an expert. Dr. that guy. So I don't know. Yeah,
I was hoping you'd have credentials, but it sounds
like you've done the right thing with partners
and some options for people to go to that can
help. I like the fact that you do have meetings.
Don't love that you partnered with SportsCard
HQ, but it'll get your brand out there, hopefully.
more well the hobby really needs you and you
know so i think that like me i'm always cynical
before i buy into anything but i mean the hobby
is really your boy Orlando you know Orlando he's
partnering with the car drug dealers it's it's
kind of the dirty business it's it's he's not
wrong but it helps endorse draft kings and fan
duel and the behavior that goes on mine i think
i like that though i mean everybody is doing
that everybody from the not everybody's um well
you go to like like watch dodger content and
you've got like five or six different yeah you
know uh People that are doing that and everybody
sponsored by Arena Club. I got to listen to all
their bullshit and, and a fan duel and the other
draft Kings. And then, I mean, you've got the
NBA. Look what's going on with gambling and the
sports clubs right now. There are class action
lawsuits that exist at the moment against the
hobby. We don't have anything to do with those
things. That's out of our jurisdiction. But there
are folks that if you wanted to, you could go
to your local legislator and file a complaint
about what Mike's talking about. Alyx, do you
think it could ever come? Because it took a long
time with cigarette companies, alcohol companies,
but there's no. Excuse me. We used to see those
advertisements all the time. Now, now we don't
gambling legally is somewhat new. I mean, six,
seven, eight years. So could we become to a point
at some point where, and I know sports cards
is not technically gambling, but let's just talk
gambling ads where maybe it gets banned. Maybe
they say, Hey, this isn't good for society. We'll
keep the legal gambling, but you can no longer
have all these gambling billboards ads on everything.
I've been talking to any and everybody in this
space for the last eight months about this. Yes,
those sort of things are absolutely at play.
And the hobby is in danger of major changes,
major adjustments from an outside governing body,
whether that be a gaming commission or an SEC
-like organization. What do you know? What do
you know? But we could change that. We can prevent
that. If we all collectively, proactively...
make this hobby a safer and more sustainable
place. But in order to do that, people have to
get on board. Enough with the trolling and the
keyboard warriors who just want their name to
be flashed on a live stream. That's all I want.
Someone else had a question I wanted to get to.
I apologize if I'm coming across as defensive
or abrasive. You've come across great, not informative,
nothing. We like to have a little fun. You're
more serious. It's not even a matter of being
serious. It's just a matter of fans. I'm very
passionate about this. I wouldn't have you on
if I didn't appreciate what you were doing. Yeah.
Like I said, I wouldn't be one of your first
subscribers, but, but also to like, I go on your
live streams. I put in chat in there. I mean,
I do it during my work day or whatever. I never,
I appreciate that. Here's the question. Isn't
the entire modern hobby design. Oh, sorry, Rhonda.
Hold on. Isn't the entire modern hobby designed.
hey now come on isn't the entire modern hobby
designed to create new addicts holy shit i'm
just gonna read it to you uh it doesn't help
when so many guys are feeling hopeless uh when
uh when upper upward mobility i don't know let
me just ask that isn't the entire modern hobby
design modern mind you designed to create new
addicts yeah it's engineered that way so that
the powers that be the the folks at the helm
can uh exploit and monetize in every which way
possible, which includes your wallet. So yeah,
that's exactly what it's designed to do. How
do you advise people that do want to be in sports
cards to stay in sports cards and not have it
be up? Do you advise against breaking? Do you
advise buying singles? We have two distinct lanes,
Jason. Collecting with intention, somebody like
Charles, who embodies that mantra. Somebody who...
Well, that's new to Charles. And then we have
another lane for abstinence, folks that just
can't have a healthy relationship with collecting
anymore, and they're just making an effort to
abstain completely. And we honor and respect
those names. Seriously, I think they need to
stop completely. But I understand this intentional
collecting first, and then if that doesn't work,
I mean... You got to just stop doing what isn't
working. I mean, it's really that simple. Whether
you say it's a disease or not. Now, my wife worked
for Malibu Passages. I'm sure you guys have all
heard of that. Don't know it. I don't know it.
Well, it was the biggest drug rehab facility
in California. And she worked there for 10 years.
She's, you know, it was a celebrity type place
here, 30 miles away from me here. The people,
they were just fucked in the head, those people.
But really, that's pretty much what he said is
like, you know, you have underlying conditions.
That's what it is. It's not so much a disease
or a, you know, an addiction. There's underlying
conditions for doing what you're doing. And I
think what's happening is this get -rich -quick
society is there's so many people. Young, younger
people, I think that just haven't hit their stride
yet. And they're almost hopeless. Yeah. They
see people, they see all this going on there
and they, they, they think I need to get that
big hit. I need to hit that million. It's not
a collection society for young men. It's a lottery.
It's a lottery ticket for them. I don't necessarily
blame them at their age, but us older people
have to talk. I mean, I don't know if they don't
have parents or what. They're lost at that age.
Or they don't listen. I think it's a listening
problem. The thing is, a lot of compulsive behavior
is being exacerbated by companies like Arena
Club that advertise and they focus on that kind
of stuff. And I admit, I'm compulsive about things.
Like you mentioned your poker boom in the 80s.
I played online poker. I played online poker
because you're getting scammed on that. I was
in there with Phil Hellman. Yes, you were. You
know, those guys, you know, poker stars, Full
Tilt. I actually got money from Full Tilt because
I was actually being cheated. Took a while. Yeah.
So I get that. I get that whole perspective,
too. So that's why I lean on Collectors MD and
the message I get across. you know it's yeah
i knew Market Movers would be one of those it's
like okay and Charles what's part of the problem
is not everyone's our age so if you imagine you're
18 20 21 it's harder to you found out you know
in five three six months whatever it's been you
saw through it pretty quickly but yeah that younger
generation is not seeing through it they're watching
because they they might have money like from
crypto or whatever so they got or no money at
all come on well they might have credit but they
might have a lot of different ways of obtaining
money and that kind of thing a lot easier than
it used to be like even 20 years ago when i was
in college or when Petty was in the 80s you know
cash was king in the 80s plastic started being
king back in 2005 and 6 when i was when i was
in the chat has a few more questions for Alyx
Charles where did you want to go because you've
been quiet for a minute where did you want to
go with it i was just going to say like i see
a lot of the People like Dan, you know, big boomer
energy, like, come on, man. You know, we don't,
I don't think we're even with Arena Club. We're
with Market Movers. We have a Card Ladders, one
of our partners too. So it's not just, you know,
singling them out. We're trying to work with
any of the people that a lot of folks use card
ladder to comp their prices out. You know, why
not help? Like, hey, so if you're collecting,
you're trying. It's also it's also who knows
what the right way to do here. Just a couple
of questions they had for. Where's another one?
Let's see. Alyx, do you think sports card companies
should put Gamp Gamp? Ronda Ronda. She's the
best. Let's see. Let me see. I have it. I could
read it if you want. Do you think sports car
companies should be put gambling -style warning
labels on their packs? Should breakers have gambling
warnings on their live breaks? Yeah, so this
is a really important question, and I think the
answer lives in the gray area. So do sports cards
equal gambling in the legal sense? No. Do modern
ripping and live breaking function like gambling?
like do so psychologically? Yes. So when you
look at what's happening on, on Whatnot and Fanatics
Live and social media breaker, live streams,
the, the countdown timers, the bid, bid, bid,
the sudden death spins, the mystery boxes. It's
just, it's hard to ignore the similarity to these
casino mechanics. Right. And so, well, because
it is. Yeah, because it is. So, yes, the gambling
style warning labels need to be somewhere. If
that means on packs, I don't know, because that,
you know, Fanatics and Panini and these other
companies that produce the product have the most
fleshed out legal teams you could possibly imagine.
They've gone through the ringer for decades now
over this, and they do put some sort of disclaimer
about odds on the packs. So that is definitely
an area that opposing parties have tried to fight
against for a long time. Again, that's out of
my jurisdiction. What we can do is put that responsible
messaging, the disclaimers, the warning signs
in strategic places that can reach the individuals
who are firsthand consuming the content or they
won't keep going. And that includes, yeah, that,
that includes breakers. So his other question
was, should breakers have gambling warnings on
their live breaks? And yes, that's exactly what
I just showed you with the rip responsibly a
card mat. We're also going to be doing card stands
and backdrops. At least they have somewhere to
turn or they can see a, or, you know, where it
drives the thought in their brain head. that,
hey, maybe I have a problem when it comes time
to pay in their next credit card bill. Another
question from, and I don't know if there's any
truth, is Dan Vintage Baseball. Did Collector
MB talk about his bankruptcy and giving his debtors
penny on the dollars? I don't know anything about
that story. I don't know if you want to go into
that story. Is there truth to that story? I have
no clue about any of that. Yeah, so this is something
I talk about on my podcast in our weekly meetings.
I, again, am a recovering gambling addict. I
just like I wear my heart on my sleeve. I talk
about this stuff. The reason why I'm doing what
I'm doing is because of my own lived experience,
my transgressions, my mistakes, the fallout that
was created from my actions. And so I'm paying
it forward now through what I'm doing. So anything
that I've experienced. What exactly happened?
What what what happened with that? I was in a
boatload of debt. Oh, you, your purse. Oh, so
you shared that story. This is a personal. Yeah.
I don't know how that person, you know, obviously
this is all public information. If somebody files
for bankruptcy, you can pull that up on Google,
but I had a gambling problem. It led to me having
to file for bankruptcy. I am 100 % that isn't
news to anybody in our community. Like, so again,
like there's nothing. about me or my past that
i don't already talk about is it a 12 -step program
yes we have a full -fledged recovery guide with
12 steps uh what are the first few steps can
i share my screen again yeah it'll be funny with
four of us let's see how that works all right
share this tab instead i have to let's see add
to stage okay This is our recovery guide, which
is adapted from the GA yellow book. And so the
12 steps are right here. Again, these are 12
steps rewritten for Collectors MD through this
recovery guide during every single weekly peer
support meeting. It's intended to be used as
a foundation for our recovery. And so number
one is we admitted that our spending or collecting
and taking control of our lives in ways we couldn't
ignore. We began to believe that with real support,
we could find peace again. We committed to asking
for help and opening ourselves up to community
-based recovery. I don't know if you want me
to read all 12, but... No, it's fucking hilarious.
I'm sorry. It's not a big 12 -step guy, but that
is that, hey, however you got to do it, man.
I hope you're doing good. You know, it seems
like you're doing good work. Is this kind of
stuff for you? Why don't you just tell these
fucking idiots, stop doing what isn't working.
I'm not even paying attention to the chat. I'm
sure everybody has an opinion. I've tried to
ask some of the questions. Doesn't it make sense?
Stop doing what isn't working? It's worked for
me. Stop buying brakes. Like I said, every time
things are not working for me, I look back to
that. I learned that in 1980. You know, my life
has been a roller coaster and I was bankrupt
myself in 1994 after a divorce. So I and I sold
I had baseball cards. My wife supported that.
I had sets from the 60s. And, you know, and I
was lucky enough to keep those. And it helped
me through my bankruptcy, actually. And, you
know, and. I never had never seeked any treatment
for my gambling addiction, but I stopped going
to Vegas. I paid my debt off. And then, then
once I have to stop, I mean, you have to stop.
Once you're divorced, you know, shit hits the
fan and a lot of people go bankrupt during it.
You know, anybody, anybody who is, you know,
thrown shade or making light of this serious
topic. Like, Oh yeah. I mean, it's all good.
More power to you. Like it's completely fine.
The fact of the matter is we are helping people.
And the other thing, you know, Alyx is that 10
years ago, prices weren't the same. So people
are losing bit, you know, it's rates. We're talking
about real money. You're not buying $150 box.
You're not buying a $20 break spot. People are
spending. The money aspect of it has gotten out
of control. It's a different beast today than
it was a decade ago. The prices of this stuff.
Gio asked the question, so is Geoff going to be
changing his messaging and including warnings
now also? My skeptical brain, Alyx, is I want
to see those mats actually being used. I'll believe
it when I see it. We're officially rolling out,
we're formally rolling out the campaign with
Cards HQ in December. It'll be used at the World
Series of Breaking next year. I mean, again,
like, it's not about clout. It's not about popularity.
No, I want to see them being used. That's all.
If you can get them to be used, that's great.
Blowing up my name or anything like that. It's
about, again, reaching the people that need the
help, reaching the masses. Yeah, if people see
it, I just want people to see it. I just want
people to see it. Do you guys want a quick preview
of the Cards HQ mat? Yeah, why not? Didn't we
already have it? That was just the Collectors
MD. That was with no logo. Not really. I don't
give a shit what they're doing. That'll take
two seconds. The thing is, the reason why it
works is because Cards HQ uses that. We'll see.
We'll see if it works. That's the thing. We'll
see. I also want to see it be used. And I also
think it's a great message. You're not doing
what you're doing. And it starts with someone
like Geoff and we need to get to others, you know,
like, you know, run good life and his breaks.
You know, if he gets a lot of people, he has
a lot of reach. So Gio, Gio, Gio's on board.
I already know because you know what, because
Gio is, you know, he's at least pragmatic and
practical about the whole situation. Sometimes
when it fits his narrative. Sometimes. He makes
a good living off it. Sports card nonsense. We're
going to be working with them, too. All right.
Well, there you go. You're going to go with all
as he's joining the Gio. Chris and I have been
in touch and we're talking about doing some great
things together. Gio's in touch with everybody.
Gio's going to sell it as soon as he gets another
million. um yeah we're we're gonna they i didn't
know this until recently but sports card nonsense
has the uh licensing for si collectibles and
so we're talking about a potential partnership
there to just continue to roll out more content
it's the right man it's a better message than
what they're pushing out now so that's good that's
good is there anything you want you know you've
been going we'll be almost an hour here uh i
can stay stay on as long as you want Jason uh
So you tell me, you know, my last question here
is how do you compete with already established
medical community avenues? I mean, there's your
competition and I know you're focused on just
cards, but there's Gamblers Anonymous. There's
there's other things, you know, there's psychiatrists,
there's therapists. We exist in a completely
white space. There's nobody else doing what Collectors
MD is doing to support this gray area of. compulsive
collecting and overspending and again it's bigger
than just cards yeah what do you get outside
of cards what do you yeah so boo boo Charles
knows we have people that are addicted to art
we have people that are addicted to sneakers
we have people that are addicted to nfts and
gaming and gotcha games and loot boxes and crap
like that it okay so are you reaching out to
other audiences besides cards yeah it's a it's
a corner it's a cacophony of different people
that come out you know, when different avenues,
like, like he said, sneaker, you know, collecting
sneakers is a big thing. Like, how do they find
you? Are you on? I was immersed in the sneaker
community for 12 years, 12 plus years at one
point had over 500 pairs of sneakers. I mean,
it was out of control. I had a problem back then.
And then it manifested itself and became gambling.
And then it became, you know, the hobby and breaking.
I had an addictive personality. I'm, like I said,
a lifelong recovering addict. I think a lot of
us do. I've embraced that it's a lifelong commitment.
And so I've devoted my life to this space. And
it's not just Collectors MD. I also work at a
local facility called Right Choice Recovery where
I lead group meetings for gambling addiction
on Monday and Tuesday nights. Is this all your
full -time job or do you also have a job? This
is my full -time. Hey, good for you. Well, you
need to smile a little more. Ryan mentioned,
is there any real data? Any reason why these
prices are so high? Is that why the hobby's inflated?
And Ryan, we're not going to answer that now,
but I think it's the right questions. Rhonda,
I'm going to try to throw it up for just 30 seconds
or 20 seconds, but I do think it's the right
question to ask. Ryan, try one more time. If
not, so be it. But anyways, I've kind of asked
all my questions, Alyx. Is there any? avenue
we didn't go down or we didn't hit that you you
think's important or you want to share well i
mean i can answer the question regarding the
data real quick if he wants well that's it's
all it's not i don't think there's one answer
every i've done enough that we talk about this
every day there isn't there isn't one answer
you can give us your take you want to stick around
while i tell you a little bit about showbiz Yeah,
I just did a piece. So we publish these daily
reflections every single day, which is basically
a journal about what's going on in the hobby
and what we're what we're experiencing. Charles
has contributed to a handful of them. And so
we did a piece this week about what's going on
with the whole shill bidding scandal and saga.
I think yesterday or the day before. So, yeah,
it's that's not that's not kosher. So, Petty,
where did you want to go with that? I wanted
to talk. The reason I called in an hour ago is
because I wanted to kind of teach the room a
little bit about how the shill bidding. Dan and
Charles, do you want to stay here for this? Okay.
I have two videos about the shill bidding. Charles
wants to stay here. Charles wants to push. He
wants that exposure for his channel. I know.
I'm going. That's fine. We'll leave it at that.
You called me. So, yes, let me go check out his
channel. Go ahead, Mike. Stick around, Alyx.
I'm going to tell you a little bit about how
just this show. I'm not going anywhere, Mike.
Don't worry. All right, man. We love you. All
right. So July of last year. Real quick, real
quick, real quick before you start. Goading365
just said something, and this is something I
wanted to address. He said Alyx is going to try
to charge $9 .99 a month for his health. No,
we are never, ever, ever going to charge any
of our members for our service. It is 100 percent,
no strings attached, completely free. You have
access to our meetings, our support, our tools
and resources, our educational content. Everything
is free and it will always stay that way. You
have my word. We will never exploit people who
are going through the thick of it from a financial,
mental and emotional standpoint for their money.
You have my word. From the bottom of my heart,
that will never happen. Good. I'll put it to
you this way. I want Petty's rant. I want Petty's
rant. Go ahead, Charles. I'll give you one better.
If that ever happens, you'll never see me in
Collectors MD again, and I will come out and
have a video of that live. I love what you guys
are doing, and you're passionate about it, and
you've already lived it. I feel like I could
do the same thing if I had a passion for that.
I've tried to help people by just being a complete
dick, pretty much, of this hobby and being a
lightning rod, you know, for a lot of people.
And I only do this to support other people's
channels, to be honest with you. I don't have
my own channel. I don't care to monetize. I don't
give a shit. No, Penny, I want to get to that
rant. Okay, here's the rant. Thank you, KK, for
saying that. Do you get any grant money? Do you
get any sort of help money? No, we're not set
up as a nonprofit to answer that question. All
right. Petty, let's hear this rant. Here we go.
So everybody knows about Shillstein. For 20 years,
he's been doing this. It's much the same way
as what PWCC did, okay? And you have a group
of card doctors that work around the clock buying
cards and shilling them on these third -party
sites. So you had PWCC, which was an eBay company.
or selling on eBay. You had Probstein on eBay.
And that's the way it worked originally. The
card doctors, 10, 15 of these assholes, you're
starting to see a lot of them now. The Kuntzes,
the Craigs, the Scissorhands Mosiers. The best
friends. The list goes on and on. The original
of all this. Well, the originator was... of shill
bidding was Mastro, but shill bidding was a fraction
of what you would see. It was the, it was the
trimming and then the shilling. And then they
send it to PSA after the trimming, get a higher
grade from a three to a seven. They'd increase
a $50 card to a, to a $3 ,000 card. And that
was just commonplace for these guys. They all,
and Shillstein was in on this. Okay. So. I knew
about Shillstein and basically just wrote him
off. I tried to block him on eBay as far as like
a seller, but at some point I couldn't figure
out how to do it. It was just too difficult.
They make it really hard on eBay to try to do
that. So in July of last year, 2024, these Home
Run Derby cards come up. There's 10 of them on
Probe Scene. They look like this. and these cards
were very hard to find, okay? They're really
pretty rare. Shillstein happens to have 10 of them.
Maze, the Mantle, you know, all the Hall of Famers,
the cards I wanted. Everybody's at the National.
I think, I'm going to win these cards. I go in
there, and I know, Charles, you don't really
understand the way these snipe bids work, but
there's programs like Gixxin and... And another
one I use. Carlstein actually said this on Sports
Car Dad interview that he used a software to
snipe bids. Well, he shouldn't be using it. That
is for collectors like us to use, all right?
So we use those to put the last 10 -second bid
in. You put your highest bid, 10 seconds. That's
why it goes up from 1 ,000 to 3 ,000 at the end
or whatever happens. You have five guys that
are, you know, bidding. But my point is, is this
Willie Mays card that I showed you here, right?
There was a comp, a PSA 5 for $4 ,750 in 2022.
There was a comp for $4 ,050 in 2023. So that
went down $700. So now I'm putting my snipe bid
in and my highest bid in. On that day, on July
15th, I see, it was like $58 .50 was my highest
bid. Now, why should I have to bid $58 .50? Now,
keep in mind, there's a PSA 5 for a buy it now
for $7 ,000, okay? So I could click in and buy
that for $7 ,000 anytime. And I know the guy.
And I know he wanted $6 ,000 for it. But I wasn't
going to pay that, even off of eBay. So I put
this number in. This is just on this particular
one card. Keep in mind, there's 10 other cards.
Ernie Banks, Tommy Killebrew, all these cards
haven't been up for years. You see these once
a year at that. So now, it's the shit hits the
fan. This particular card went for $58 .90, okay?
And I'm second place bidder. I go and I look
at all the other bids that I placed. Every other
card except for one I lost, I was the second
place bidder. You go and look at the guy who
won, he had 47 feedback. Okay? So now, keep in
mind, that 47 feedback, he won everything except
for this. I won this one for $3 ,200, the Mickey
Mantle. This was the prize, but I also got, you
know. Ripped off on this one. Explain to me real
quick just basically exactly he was just outbidding
you up? I got outbid at the end for $5 ,800 on
this card, okay? Now, two weeks later, so I get
the mantle. I win the mantle. Two weeks later,
every one of these fucking cards come up for
auction again, including this one. So now I know
that this shit is shill bid. And I've known for
years that Probstein is a shill bidder. But as
a collector, I'm a fucking idiot. You know, here
it is. They always say, cards trump all. I wanted
the goddamn cards. It's simple as that. I blame
myself mostly. So the next auction comes up.
This goes off. I put my same bid in there. And
would you believe that guy with the 47 feedback?
You would think after he reneged on all those
fucking cards, Probstein would cut him off, right?
He's right in there bidding again. All day, every
day. This is what Schillstein does. This is the
fucking Schillstein guy. That's how he got his
name Schillstein. By me. Because I love nicknames.
So I win the card. for $5 ,000. The third bid
is $3 ,500. I got fucked for $1 ,500 on this
card. Now, that other card, that PSA 5 that was
$7 ,000, in three days, that card was sold for
$6 ,000. That was up for a fucking year on eBay.
What happened is that increased the price of
these home run derby cards immensely. So as they
were trending down, all of a sudden, Probstein
caused this card and all these cards to go up.
And then after that, this guy, the guy that bought
the card for six grand. Before he got the fucking
card, the guy is called Sports and Comics or
something. He loves doing that. Shows a picture
of the card with his kitchen table. I don't know
what kind of background he has, but before he
even has the card, he puts it up for $8 ,000.
And finally, after the next sale goes up and
this card goes up, he sells it a year later for
$7 ,000. So it increased. The price of this Mickey
Mantle card for a PSA from what should have been
like a $4 ,000 card to $7 ,000. And these cards
have never seen bottom since. I sold a PSA 2
or a PSA 2 sold for $4 ,000 on the next sale.
So this is the way that this fucking asshole
has had his stupid yarmulke. in the hobby. What
pisses me off is this motherfucker wears that
yarmulke. I'm Jewish. My mother was Jewish. I'm
Jewish, too. The only time I ever wore a yarmulke
was at my grandparents' and my mother's funeral.
I take it responsibly. That guy goes everywhere
he goes. He wears that fucking yarmulke. He's
a goddamn disgrace to the Jews. Because he steals
all day and prays all fucking night. That's why.
So you think it's a PR move? You think that he
wears it to look like an honorable person? Absolutely.
And I'm sure he prays and I'm sure he eats kosher
and he's whatever the hell, he's acidic or whatever
the fuck. But my dealings with that guy have
been nothing but shady. $925 million. $925 million
over 21 years. And again, I told people on Net54
seven, eight years ago that this hobby was a
billion -dollar fraud, and they fucking laughed
me off the fucking network. I had to come up.
And now you can see that just this one guy is
a fucking billion dollar. If you don't think
this is multi -fucking billions, you're out of
your mind. And that's the reason that I'm here
on sports cards, Professor Sports Cards. That's
the reason I'm on eBay. Do I love the hobby?
Hell yeah. I love the cards. But again, people
need to know that this shit is happening. And
you've got kids like this Pokemon guy that came
out. He's got 50, he did 500 grand worth of business
with Shillstein last year. And then he goes on
to, then the Shillstein guy, he goes and makes
his own site. What did you expect to happen?
You knew he was going to show that shit up. I
didn't think it would come out that he would
fail that miserably, but he is just a stupid
idiot. He's an arrogant fuck. And I, I, he should
go straight to fucking hell. He went on sports
car dad, at least four or five times and just
flat out. You have to remember Dustin doesn't
know shit. Okay. He came out. I love the guy,
but I can't watch his shit anymore. And I didn't
even see Shillstein call himself Shillstein. which
I thought was pretty funny because it was a compliment
that he at least has seen me, but, but Dustin
bless his heart. He just wants to be like Geoff
Wilson. He, you know, he really, he's take sponsorships
and he does a lot of shady shit. He hasn't gotten
to bed with too many bad people, but he doesn't
know any different. And then you want to talk
about Beckett for a moment. Let's just take a
look at these hobby friends and the blockchain
that goes across with these assholes, okay? So
you have Beckett comes out and just flips. He's
not a shill bitter, so let's just get that straight.
Oh, I don't know. He was way overbidding. He's
bidding on his own cards. It sounds like he's
okay with bidding on his own cards. And something
like that you're talking about is just like a
little speck, you know? He was too open with
it. Well, the way he was talking to P. Ryan,
okay, was just offensive because they're talking
like it's a good old boy network. How do you
even know that fucking loser? Because P. Ryan's
got more money than God. I give $500 to charity.
I pay the fucking money. He gives $50 ,000. So
that's his economic level compared to mine. He
doesn't pay his $50 ,000. I give my time to charity.
That's my economic level. That's better than
nothing because everybody's got to start somewhere.
But again, I just find that that blockchain from
Beckett is trying to like sell his story. My
friend Mastro. Mastro was the fucking beginning
of this shit. My friend Shillstein. He's, again,
another fucking asshole. My friend Patrick. If
you think that's the first time that guy shilled
that shit. I think you said his friend was Mastro.
Because this is what the hobby does. They use
these fourth -party companies to, you know, to
shill their shit up. They have them shill their
shit up. This is the way it's been working. They
let... People either bid their own stuff or they
had their employees do it. Mastro had an FBI
knock on his door and served 20 months in club
bed. That's how bad Mastro was. You know what?
The thing is, he had so many fucking charges
on him. He only pleaded to show bidding, which
was the easiest out for him. And so whether that
was the worst thing that he did, no. Probably
not. To catch somebody in the showbiz scheme
these days, it's not going to happen. He apparently
got a 2306 card and sold it to Wayne Gretzky,
and then it got resold for $2 .8 million. Yeah,
but you know what? But the owner of that card,
he doesn't care. That's part of the charm of
the company. And that was PSA's first card. It
was sold on a, you know, as a PSA 8. It's a trimmed
card. So it doesn't say trimmed. It didn't say
authentic. And here you go. This was the beginning
of PSA. And Bruce McNall, shortly after that,
found himself in jail because he was a fucking
scammer too. So all these guys are just into
it. And then you get this P. Ryan, and he leads
to Geoff Wilson. And who does Beckett go on with?
Geoff fucking Wilson. These guys are just fucking
idiots from the word go. And I'm just so sick
of these guys. You can't even believe it, how
they are fucking up the hobby. Amen! Other than
that, I love the cards. I love the hobby. I'm
not going to allow myself to get shill bid anymore.
Good. But, you know, I know it's part of the
deal. We all know it's part of the deal. It's
not going to stop. It's going to continue. And
all this price manipulation, you have all these
companies like Card Ladder, VCP, and bowel movement
movers that are basically, you know, it's just
fake data. Okay. So real good. Not to pivot,
but Dan's on a mission right now. Dan's vintage.
So he mentioned, you know, he really wanted to
show this and that in this statement, it says,
I'm sure you'll have a good answer, Alyx, if
you're able to donating help fund out our research
infrastructure, blah, blah, blah. So what would
you answer back to Dan? Cause you seem to, to
yeah, go ahead. You seem to be transparent. Yeah,
of course. 100 % transparent from day one. We
have never taken a single donation at Collectors MD.
If we did, you would know it. This was on the
website for the first couple months before we
filed as an LLC. We were exploring going in multiple
directions, whether it be nonprofit or the LLC
route. it was just to are you comfortable sharing
why you went LLC i'm not no judge there's reasons
why you pick one or the other are you comfortable
sharing why you didn't end up going that way
versus uh the other way yeah i i could definitely
expand on that um but i just really want to quickly
finish my thought on yeah sorry about that go
ahead yeah so uh Dan was insist i mean he was
just on a mission like you said uh claiming that
we had a donation button of some sort or like
maybe like a patreon or something of that nature
and that never existed and he said it it was
on the site for um at least a year our website
didn't launch until march of this year so i mean
people look at the end of the day people want
to throw shade they want to prove themselves
right they want to well the other you know it's
it's a it's a shady business people are doing
shady stuff so it you know you really have to
work hard to make sure you stay a good name yeah
so real quick on the uh LLC topic so we structured
Collectors MD as an LLC because it reflects the
reality of what this is becoming You know, it's
not just a passion project or an awareness movement
where it's like, you know, a part time gig of
some sort. We're building a sustainable organization
built to operate, partner, protect people and
grow responsibly. And so going LLC gives us that
sense of legitimacy and infrastructure. it allows
us to form formal partnerships with treatment
centers and coalitions and platforms and brands
and it allows us to do a lot of a lot of other
things you know we can develop programs we can
license educational content we can secure funding
if needed and create long -term support systems
without being limited by informal structure right
and it also protects the mission legally and
operationally so this work isn't dependent on
just one person or treated like a side project
so um another thing that comes up a lot is like
god forbid i make any money you know doing what
i do as a full -time job right Do doctors make
money? Do therapists make money? Does any sort
of service that offers. No, but just being transparent,
you know, people don't want to think you're taking.
I don't think you got to. I mean, the most important
thing that people need to understand is that
we're not taking donations. We've never taken
a donation. We're never going to charge our members
for the service. Any revenue would come through
partnerships, potential advertising, merchandising,
like the RIP responsibly, Matt, I showed you,
things like that. We will never be in a position
where we're exploiting people for their mental
health and financial shortcomings. It's just
not going to happen. I'm more than happy to continue
this conversation. Dan seems to be a really vocal
guy. He's saying he's dealt with guys like this
his entire career. So he's clearly putting me
in a bucket with other people. Like, look, you
could talk all you want. It's not going to change
what we're doing. We're going to continue to
power forward and we're going to help as many
people as humanly possible. If you have a problem
with this helping people, then God help you.
Alyx, personally, between me and you, I really
don't care what you're doing, but if you can
help one person. Dan's skeptical it's a money
grab. Yes, it's not a money grab. And I'm putting
words in Dan's mouth. I don't know that for sure,
but that's my take. That would be what I guess.
Yeah, I mean, look, people can think what they
want. You're never going to make everybody happy
no matter what you do. Of course not. You're
never going to have... fans everywhere you go.
But at the end of the day, we can't make a change.
We can't shift culture. We can't help people
by standing on the sidelines. So we will be at
the center of the conversation any opportunity
we have to continue spreading the message. If
that means Professor Sports Cards invites me
to be on his podcast and there's going to be
haters in the chat throwing shade, I welcome
it. It's a little different than Jeremy Lee,
right? It's a little different than Jeremy Lee.
But whatever. I mean, just keep doing what you're
doing and see. And just to throw something at
Alyx, you know, Orlando's a respected guy. Dan's
a respected guy. Orlando's the mayor. Collector's
dream. You know, and these two guys, they're
older than us. They have more experience than
us. They've been in the hobby for 50 years or
more. It's at least good to take their both heads.
They both say, you know, maybe stay away from
some of those taking the drug dealer money or
the car dealer money. But that's just something
I'm only throwing at what they're saying. And
I respect both those guys a lot. I see the young
people struggling, seeing people losing their
lives or losing their livelihoods, I should say.
Like Charles said earlier, looking at divorce,
looking at potentially losing custody of their
children. Well, my friend Jamie gives advice
to me. My advice is just don't ever change your
message. Don't ever change what you're doing.
If you want to partner with those, okay. But
you really have to be adamant, transparent. And
the biggest takeaway I got from tonight, and
we'll go another minute or two. I want to finish
with voicemails. I think the 12 -step program
is okay, but I think your actual meetings where
people can go and hear others and be open and
be vulnerable, that's priceless. That's a very
good thing. I would like to join one just to
be a fly on the wall, just to hear what actually
gets said in those meetings. Absolutely. I was
a three -bird -a -day pussycat until I found
GA or BA to help you. Rick, I'm not immersed
in this space. I don't join live streams or spend
my Thanksgiving eves on... I'm just kidding.
But in all seriousness, I respect everybody.
Good opinion, bad opinion. Gentlemen, let's give
closing thoughts for the three of you. We went
through a lot. This was nice. This was good.
Let's have Charles go first, and then we'll Gio
and Alyx, and we'll sum it up. I wouldn't hitch
my wagon to somebody like Alyx or Collectors
MD if I thought there was anything shady going
on. That's the last thing I want to be a part
of is something. One more thing is shady in the
hobby. I don't get that. Well said. Charles,
thank you for calling in tonight. Petty, what
do you got? I just want to say I wish you all
the best. You're fighting a tough battle, and
you've got a really tough battle ahead of you.
And if you could just help one person, I'm sure
you'd consider yourself successful. And that's
all I've tried to do by talking the shit I do
about people. I don't care who likes me, who
hates me. I simply love the cards. I've met some
great people along the way in the last couple
of years, and that's what I'm going to take away
from it. Am I going to slow down? I've got my,
you know, I love my collection. It is with a
purpose. It's not the same way I collected when
I was addicted, maybe, or when I was a younger
man, when I maybe didn't have the money, you
know? So I didn't, I quit until. I started making
a little bit more money. I had my house paid
off. I was a little bit more mature in my collecting,
you know? And I, and I think that's why somehow
it's, I do respect a lot of you younger guys
or guys in your forties or, or even in the thirties
or, you know, that are pulling this off because
you're a much better man than I was because I
never could do that. You know, I really didn't
find, I didn't really find my success or my wheels.
until my forties, you know, and I wouldn't even
think of cards until, you know, I was in my fifties
and established. It's an established and I had
all my, and I had all my debt paid off and, you
know, that's really, that's really where it was
at. I, you know, I paid my house off in 14 years,
credit cards, bought cars for cash. And then
they, you know, my retirement was funded my asset
my you know all this shit goes what Alyx was
trying to do is there's so many people not in
that situation playing these games Alyx how did
you want to to finish up yeah i have a few thoughts
the first is to your point Jason if i could save
just one person i would combat i would go against
a hundred Dan's and Orlando's a night if I had
to and I truly mean that I will I respect those
two guys a lot I respect those two guys like
you have no like there are others I'm sure they're
I'm sure they're great people and they are probably
have you know, wonderful content, put out wonderful
content. And it's good to listen to, you know,
guys have more good men. I get it. People are
going to be jaded. They're going to be skeptical.
They're going to think we live in a society.
We live in a world now where every, any and everything
needs to be sort of put through a filter or a
strainer, if you will, because there's so much.
malicious intent and bad actors that are going
around. So we have to be careful. Well, I hate
every new company that comes out. I hate them.
So this hobby in particular, especially if a
new voice or a new brand comes into the fold
and starts making noise and partnering with the
Geoff Wilsons of the world, there's going to be
some sort of... some version of an upheaval or
people just expressing their frustration. But
you have no, in the long run, you'll prove it
wrong. It's all good. Like it comes with the
territory and I totally get and respect that.
And you just continue doing what makes you happy.
To people like Dan and Orlando and Cartel and
all of these naysayers that just are throwing
shade. I love it. Keep bringing it. We're here
to stay. We're not going anywhere. So we can
continue to. have these conversations. I'm not
speaking for those guys, but I can tell you that
I know that they want what's best for the hobby
in general. And if you can help, and let's see
what happens in a year or two, just keep doing
what you're doing. Most importantly, work on
yourself. And that's a lifelong struggle, what
you're going through. And you can help others.
It makes a big impact on you as well. And you
need to make a living. I've always said that
profit is not a dirty word. I've made profit
on, you know. Yeah, but it depends how you're
making the profit. That's all. And I'm not accusing
Alyx of anything, but some of the guys are. No,
no, no, it doesn't. Absolutely. But you know
what? I mean, it's not a dirty word. Mike, if
electors MD went away today and we cease to exist,
there are so many people that we already reach.
That's great. When is your next meeting? When's
your next meeting? Our next meeting will be next
Wednesday, December 3rd at 8 PM. Eastern. All
right. Well, Oh shit. We actually, we actually
have two meetings. Now we partnered with a coalition
in Colorado called PGCC, the problem gambling
coalition of Colorado. They've rolled out the
first official franchised version of collectors
MD called. Oh, It's called Unbox Powered by Collectors MD.
They've been hosting those meetings now for almost
two months. They're every Thursday at 7 p .m.
Eastern, and they're just as effective. I joined
them myself. So the reason you are partnering
with some of these companies is because you're
not taking in any money from the people calling
in or doing the program, so you have to support
the business somehow. Right. We're partnering
with state coalitions. We're offering consulting
and advising to... these organizations that really
only know traditional gambling, all of the nuances
within the hobby and how there's so many gambling
like mechanics and overlap. And so, you know,
we're basically franchising collectors, MD offering
the branding, the IP, but most more importantly,
the curriculum, the modules, the recovery guide,
the entire program so that more people, cause
I I'm one person. I can't reach everybody. We
need to, there are hundreds of thousands of people
struggling. Last question. We're going two hours
here. Our meeting, and Phil, we can do this again.
I have no problem. Our meeting's over Zoom. Yeah,
so we're going to shift from Google Hangout to
Zoom, but the Unbox meetings are already on Zoom.
So yes, the answer to that is yes. Gentlemen,
dude, thank you guys for calling in. I think
we should have done this show. Can I say one
last thing real quick? Yeah, we can do it again.
I just want to end on one note real quick, Jason,
if you don't mind. As long as it's somewhat short.
It's short. It's short. So if there's one thing
to take away from this conversation, it's that
the hobby isn't broken, but the way we've been
taught to engage with it is, right? So we can
love collecting and still question the systems
that profit from our impulse. We can enjoy ripping
and still recognize when the chase starts to
replace intention. And we can care deeply about
this space while asking it to evolve. And that's
what Collectors MD is about. We're not here to
shame. We're not here to blame. And I also think
you got that message across throughout the whole
night. Alyx, Petty, Charles, have a great Thanksgiving.
Thank you for calling in, and I hope to stay
in touch with all three of you. Love you, boys.
Alyx, good luck. Stop doing what isn't working.
Hey, now. Up. He gave us a happy Thanksgiving.
I kind of cut him off. Hey, it was a good conversation.
I want to end with voicemails. Wish you all a
happy Thanksgiving. That was awesome. That was
a lot of insight we had on Wednesday before Thanksgiving.
I think the peak was 133 in here. So I like the
slow growth. It's very healthy.