Welcome to the very first interview episode of
the Sportsman Dan Show. I'm your host, Dan Janusik,
and yes, this is the Sportsman Dan Show. If this
is your first time checking it out, welcome.
You're officially here from the beginning. A
quick little background on me. Before we jump
in, I'm a data scientist by day. I studied economics
in college, and outside of work, I'm all in on
car collecting, minor league baseball. and kickers.
Yes, actual kickers. I kicked a little bit of
myself back in the day, excuse me. So that position
will always have a special place to me. Kickers
and tight ends, that's really the only football
cards I collect. Baseball cards, pretty much
everything. And NBA cards, pretty much any guys
from Virginia as well as Knicks players. You'll
learn more about me, though, as the podcast grows.
I want to keep this first episode light and give
you a real intro before we get rolling. I also
host the Welcome Home podcast, where I interview
veterans, particularly Vietnam War veterans.
So that's going to be a lot different than the
subject matter here. I like to keep it pretty
lighthearted here, although I keep it real. I'm
not really doing anything trying to break ground
in the hobby or anything like that. More just
cover my experience. I sell at shows. I buy.
I collect. I kind of do it all a little bit in
the card world. So I'm going to show you guys
a little bit just from my perspective and then
have some cool interviews along the way. If you're
listening to this on the audio version, be sure
to check out The Sports Man Dan show over on YouTube.
We'll have live streams, video interviews, and
extra content there. And if you are watching
on YouTube, I appreciate you. And hit like, subscribe,
and stick around, please. You can also find me
on Instagram at SportsManDanBC for clips, cards,
and some other stuff. That's enough for me. Let's
get into it. My first interview, I could not
be more excited. I talked with Alyx from Collectors MD.
And I really enjoyed this conversation because
just how thoughtful Alyx's answers were. I think
what he's doing with Collectors MD is extremely
beneficial to the hobby, and I'll let him explain
it further. Alyx, thank you again for being my
first guest, and thank you for your time. And
I hope you guys enjoyed this interview just as
much as I did speaking with Alyx. And we'll look,
I mean, you'll hear, but we'll look to bring
him again on in the near future. Welcome to the
first interview series of the Sportsman Dan Show.
And I think there's no better interview to do
when getting into the hobby than with Alyx Effron
from Collectors MD. Thanks for joining me, Alyx.
Dan, thanks so much for having me. This is great.
We just spent like 40 minutes riffing right before
we hopped on and already, you know, I think finding
that we have a lot in common and I'm looking
forward to this conversation. Yeah, no, me too.
It's I've done a few interviews with some of
my previous podcasts. A Brit does baseball. Welcome
home podcast was fine. I've never spent that
much time just kind of just talking back and
forth. And I was like, oh, maybe some of this
would have been good to record. Should I hit
that record button? Yeah, but I'm a talker. Hey,
me too. You're not from New York by chance, are
you? I'm from New Jersey. OK, OK, cool. What
part of New Jersey? So I'm born and raised in
Burden County. um currently live in old bridge
new jersey uh my wife and i moved there we lived
in jersey city for seven eight years and uh now
we're down near like new brunswick like ruckers
okay and uh my parents so i grew up in i mentioned
bergen county north jersey they just moved out
to east stroudsburg near the poconos in pennsylvania
last year so i've been spending a lot of time
there. I'm actually here right now for a day
or two, just enjoying the peace and quiet. We're
going to touch on this in a bit, but they have
four dogs that are very, very active and, you
know, keep things, you know, exciting around
here. So while it is peaceful and quiet when
you walk outside and, you know, look around inside
of the house, they're always going nuts. So there's
always something going on here. Yeah, dogs are
amazing. I just have two dogs. I say two. They're
my parents' dogs, but they feel like mine. But
I'm always over at the house, and it's funny.
When you're with them, they do a lot. Sometimes
they make a mess inside. But when you leave,
you're like, oh, man, I miss those guys so much.
So I totally get it. I could talk about dogs
for a while, Alyx, but let's get in. It's funny.
I have icebreaker questions. I feel like we've
possibly already broken the ice a little bit.
But I do want to know. What was the very first
thing you ever collected, if you remember, and
do you still have it? Yeah, I do remember. And
I will preface by saying, Dan, thanks so much
for prepping me with some of these questions.
I was able to sort of gather my thoughts. So
if these answers seem like they're off the cuff,
they're really not. Dan is just really good at
prepping his guests. But as far as the first
thing that I ever collected, I think it's...
something that I remember collecting as far back
as I can actually remember. It was Power Ranger
action figures. I was obsessed with Power Rangers.
I had them lined up, organized, probably took
it way more seriously than any kid should. Unfortunately,
my little brother, he's eight and a half years
younger than me. He was pretty destructive as
a kid. He ended up pretty much destroying everything
that I owned as a kid. including my pokemon cards
so no i don't still have them but looking back
that was definitely my first real exposure i
think to collecting you know the whole concept
of organizing and attachment and just the pride
of ownership um it all sort of kind of makes
a lot of sense now power rangers that's a good
one i didn't expect that and that's a not like
a good news bad news but you know bad news he
destroyed the power rangers but i guess good
news they probably did not appreciate and value
that much um anyway so that was probably okay
there but younger probably not yeah um that that
is actually a silver lining i guess it's a good
way to put it but again with the pokemon cards
forget about it like i had some really nice ones
and they're long gone god knows what happened
to them Yeah, I was talking about this at work,
actually. My brother sold, I remember at a yard
sale, probably in 2003, he sold them for like
$50, which back, you know, that was a lot of
money. But even then we were like. i don't know
maybe that maybe that old man who bought those
pokemon cars is on to something here and uh sure
enough he was yeah it was probably that guy gary
who has like the biggest charizard collection
in the world he was probably just going from
uh you know garage sale to garage sale picking
up every charizard he could in the late 90s early
2000s and he just he knew he had an inkling but
you're you're not alone there i think a lot of
people have that that same story where you know
people just it's it's like any other type of
um speculation or trying to predict something
like how are we how is anybody supposed to know
that pokemon you know was going to blossom into
this multi -billion dollar franchise down the
line same thing with anything crypto bitcoin
i'm about to say bitcoin yeah yeah exactly uh
no uh that's great poke or uh power rangers uh
all right question two here what's one item you
swore you never collect and then absolutely did
and you can't use power ranger uh action figures
here Yeah, I was going to. No, but in all seriousness,
it was actually WNBA players, honestly. So when
I was thinking about this question, I would say
runner up here, probably Funko Pops. I got into
the Funko Pop craze in, I would say, around 2015,
2016. I was just picking them up left and right.
Not to really display in the case, but I would
take them out of the case and just line them
up on my desk. card collecting in the hobby w
nba players for sure i definitely got sucked
into the caitlyn clark frenzy and uh i mean i
think pagebackers is amazing she's like um insanely
talented and just seems like such a cool person
um yeah i don't know like i never saw myself
collecting w nba players i never watched w nba
you know i was like always an nba guy and it
has nothing to do with like gender like you know
men women at the end of the day it's kind of
like weird to have like cardboard pieces of cardboard
with other like pictures of other men on them.
But, you know, I don't know. I just never thought
I would collect WNBA players. And here I am still
have a, a Caitlin Clark and a page backers in
the PC. No, I think that's awesome. And I'm actually
now collecting WNBA because in the Virginia Sports
Hall of Fame, there's a WNBA player who I was
not familiar with and started for me clicking
in the background there. That was me trying to
pull it up real quick. But anyway, I'm going
to look to get some of her cards because we do
like a meet and greet. Michael Vick will also
be there and Tony Bennett. That'll be cool too.
Awesome. No, WNBA, anyone who's a Virginia Hall
of Famer, you know, I'm going to get your card
if you have one. So I'm going to go back and
edit this, and I'll do it justice. But, no, I'm
now collecting WNBA as well, and that's something
I did not think I ever would be doing. Caitlin
Clark is revolutionizing the hobby. I think everyone
can see that. Yeah, we'll see what it looks like
in five, ten years from now. But, you know, sometimes
when – you start picking up things that you never
thought you would, you surprise yourself a little
bit and that's okay. You know, we always say
collect with intention, not compulsion. So, you
know, I did mention, I did get sucked into the
Caitlin Clark frenzy of sorts, but you know,
if you're a fan and not just of Caitlin Clark,
but of any of those players, like Sabrina is
incredible. Like I've, I've seen her play. Like
she's. Awesome. And then there's Asia Wilkins.
Sabrina Ionescu. Ionescu, yeah. From Oregon.
I'm not totally sold on her, actually. Really?
She has too many turnovers for me. They won the
championship a couple years ago. Okay. See, I've
never seen any of my teams win a championship.
She plays for the local squad here. in the tri
-state area the new york liberty so um it was
actually ironic we were joking around about how
new york has just been in such a a slump in terms
of bringing home championships and then the new
york liberty of all teams you know ends up winning
so we we get we got that we got the wnba uh cornered
now so we're in a better spot than we were a
couple years ago And then the Knicks will be
next. The Knicks? Hey, look at the Giants. They
just hired John Harbaugh, or they're about to.
Jackson Dart and Cam Scadaboo, like, weak neighbors.
We'll see. We'll see. I'm not a Giants fan, per
se. Like, I'll root for them, mainly because
I met Eli Manning as a kid, and my prized possession
is a framed Eli Manning jersey that he signed
in front of me when I was 16 years old, and then
proceeded to win the first. of two Super Bowls
against the Patriots. That is definitely my prized
possession in my entire collection. After he
signed that jersey is when he went on to win
it? Exactly. I mean, he held that pen. You had
something to do with it. Dude, yeah, exactly.
It was the domino effect. He met me. He was like,
oh, I'm going on to beat Tom Brady now. But no,
in all seriousness, it was like a golf outing
over the summer. And then fast forward to...
You know, that season, I think they went, like,
what, 9 -7? And they made a playoff run, and
one of the most incredible Super Bowls of all
time came out and beat Tom Brady. And, you know,
he's cemented in, I think, NFL, Super Bowl, Mount
Rushmore because of those two rings. I mean,
there's no doubt about it. In my mind, he's hopefully
going to become a Hall of Famer this year. But
we'll see. Alyx, I'm loving this conversation,
but now I'm a bit hesitant because my buddy Pookie
and I are currently in debate. I was born in
Texas, so you know what I'm about to say next.
I'm a bit of a Cowboys fan. Tony Romo, in my
opinion, is a better quarterback than Eli Manning.
So anyway, that, of course, has not been a hot
debate at all. And so I know he's listening to
you saying this, just grinning ear to ear. So
here's what I'll give you on that front. Tony
Romo is a better commentator than Eli Manning.
Okay. I don't know about quarterback. Look, maybe
in season, but Tony Romo was notorious for choking
in the playoffs. I have the stats. I have the
stats that might disagree, but like I said, we're
going to do a follow -up episode for that. This
is a nice segue actually to my next question.
What's the most irrational hobby purchase you've
made that you don't actually regret looking back
now? Okay. So I thought long and hard about this
and I just couldn't. stop coming back to the
first blaster that i purchased when i got back
into the hobby and i want to say around april
may of 2020 during the pandemic it was mosaic
basketball i pulled a john morant green mosaic
rookie card of course graded it at the time it
got a psa 10 it's not worth much now it's you
know true rookie green mosaic retail green whatever
but i do still have it that is that card is just
you know it's it's symbolic to me it's it's sentimental
it's meaningful And I think it's irrational because
that's the one purchase that pulled me all the
way back in. Like, I was chasing John Morant,
right? Like, it was John Zion at the time, and
I liked John better. And I ended up hitting him
in the first blaster. Color, you know, parallel
of John Morant. And I think that's what sucked
me in. That's what did me under. If I don't buy
that blaster, who knows where my life goes? Sometimes,
you know, I think the irrational thing ends up
being the catalyst. So, yeah. That is kind of
crazy. Anybody who's not familiar with Alyx's
story, we will touch on that. And of course,
I know I saw you on a plethora of podcasts sort
of doing the interview rounds. I learned a little
bit about your story. I never heard that aspect
of it. I never brought that up. That was the
first time. That's so interesting, too, to me
that you still have. I mean, given everything,
you never sold it or anything. You kept it the
whole time. I think that's pretty cool. That
might be one like you got to display the most,
right? That's a pretty cool. That's a very interesting
story. You know, the irony is that John Moran
has as incredible of a player as he is. He's
attracted more negative attention to himself
than one would like to see as a fan of his. But
this is this is a picture of the card. Try to
get it in focus. Yeah, it's a PSA 10 John Moran.
I mean, it's a beautiful card, probably worth
like 40, 50 bucks. But hey. Like we always say,
monetary value is arbitrary when you're collecting
with intention. And frankly, if I pulled that
card today, I wouldn't even slap it. I only graded
it because I think I was sucked into the whole
process back then. And today, I haven't submitted
a card for grading in years. Fair. And I'm also
kind of the same way. I keep saying I'm going
to submit some more cards, and I've been holding
off. I will say John might be getting traded
to Miami, I saw. So that could possibly boost
the John stock, although I'm not sure him in
Miami would necessarily – bad things seem to
happen in Miami. That's probably not a good idea.
Yeah. It's like any time Conor McGregor goes
to Miami, I was like, this is not going to end
well. The extracurriculars at one's disposal
as a resident of – south beach um i don't know
if that's the best idea but i did hear miami
i also heard what was the other team i heard
the warriors potentially i also heard uh what
was the one other team i don't think it was houston
um it'll come to me hopefully why not the knicks
no no way that would end terribly yeah yeah uh
if it comes you bring it up in the meantime if
Collectors MD had a mad mascot I'm thinking like
a big, goofy, over -the -top, like NBA team mascot.
What would it be and why? Yeah, I mean, I'm going
to go back to what we brought up before. A dog,
100%. I'm a huge dog guy. I grew up with Golden
Retrievers. We had a Jack Russell and a Beagle
when I was a kid. I mentioned to you before,
my parents now have four dogs. But beyond that,
I think dogs just represent. you know, loyalty
and presence and unconditional love and support.
They don't judge you. They don't keep score,
you know, they just show up and that's what collectors
MD is all about. You know, and when you just
mentioned like big and goofy, the first dog that
popped into my mind was like Scooby -Doo. Nice.
That's funny. I was now thinking like a golden
retriever. Cause you know, they like to chase
the shiny thing. Sometimes I get it. I totally
understand. Yeah. We'll get to maybe that great
answer, by the way. I didn't expect that either.
A little Scooby -Doo dog. You know, with like
a little, maybe a sports jersey on, I can pitch
it right now. Sure. Yeah. Meat and potatoes with
Collectors MD here. I do want to touch on, you
know, chasing that shiny thing. I was at a show
recently, a little brief introduction of me.
I, you know, I'm a collector first, but I do
sell. cards online at eBay and at shows as a
vendor. But, you know, one guy was coming by
the stand, looking at cards and kind of, I realized
now bragging about like, I get nothing out of
ripping packs. I don't do that. I don't get people
who do. It was like, you know, congrats on the,
you know, self -control or whatever, but I'm
like thinking about it. And I was like, I'm not
like that. I do enjoy ripping packs. Like I like
the chase. It is fun. Getting to the hobby with
Whatnot, I think, is the biggest thing now. It's
the hot topic. So, you know, we'll dive into
the questions I had here, but sort of a precursor,
getting into, you know, Collectors MD. I think
now with the Whatnot, and you can essentially
buy cards, I think, 24 -7. There will always
be a stream on Whatnot or Fanatics Live. Am I
wrong? You're not wrong. 24 -7 access. So I love
buying cards. I like selling cards as well. I'm
being 100 % transparent here. It's a bit of a
different world here. So when I found, you know,
Collectors MD and Alyx, I'll be honest, I don't
see anyone else sort of putting out the message
that you guys are. Absolutely. So sort of just,
I guess, a kudos there and then getting, you
know, into exactly what Collectors MD is. We touched
a little bit about your personal journey into
collecting and how the modern hobby with Whatnot.
eBay Live now as well, Fanatics Live. That's
kind of informed you to start Collectors MD. What
was the exact pivot point where you realized
that Collectors MD needed to exist? Yeah, well,
there are multiple layers to this, right? I think
on one hand, it's been a far -gone conclusion
now for some time that gambling -like mechanics
exist in the hobby. There's risk involved, potential
harm. Kids are being targeted in predatory and
exploitative ways. And so there's no layer of
support that exists for those people that are
experiencing sort of that direct fallout, right?
There's no education. There's no advocacy for
reform. There's no regulation or oversight, guardrails.
And so that was really like the genesis of...
why I felt like something like Collectors MD has
to exist. Now, I will say that we've established
the fact that we want to stay in our lane. We're
not here to be a watchdog or to call anybody
out or say people are doing things wrong or to,
you know, make noise or be negative. We just
want to support people who need help. We're more
than happy to advocate for reform and work alongside
folks that are looking to push. real change in
the hobby. But again, that's not really our jurisdiction.
Now, from a personal standpoint, there were really
two moments for me where I realized that Collectors MD
needed to exist. The first was in April of 2023.
That was my final rock bottom with traditional
gambling. I ended up self -excluding. from traditional
gambling and ended up in an outpatient facility
called Right Choice Recovery in an intensive
outpatient program where I met Rob Sackowitz,
who is the owner of Right Choice Recovery. And
so hearing his story firsthand, I think really
changed my life. He took the thing that almost
destroyed him, basically his biggest weakness,
which was his addiction to gambling, to substance,
alcohol, et cetera. And he turned it into his
purpose. and so that idea really stuck with me
deeply now fast forward Collectors MD didn't
launch until uh almost a year later which was
march of 2024 actually no two years what am i
saying two almost two years later march of 2025
uh but it was always there sort of in the background
um of my brain i guess uh and so that second
moment was i think really like just this epiphany
I just felt like I needed to stop waiting. I
realized this wasn't just an idea anymore. I
felt like, you know, sort of a responsibility
and obligation just given my lived experience
and everything that I know about addiction paired
with my passion and love for the hobby and collecting
in general. I just felt like, you know, it was
time. It was my calling of sorts. And so I said
to myself, like, this isn't a Sunday thing. Like,
I'm just going to go for it. And so the next
day. And so I had that epiphany actually on the
way to picking up my wife from the airport. It
was like on a, I don't know, Wednesday night
or something. And the next morning I found the
handle for, I, you know, created a new account
on Instagram. Originally called it, not many
people know this, Collectors Anon. So like Anon
being short for anonymous. And I bought the domain
for collectorsanon .com, which I think we still
have and redirects to collectorsmd .com. Maybe
not. I don't know if that's still the case. But
anyway, I realized after, you know, a day or
so, I was like, I want to come up with something
that's a little bit more approachable, ubiquitous.
And so maybe something that's kind of tongue
in cheek. And that's like when Collectors MD sort
of just. smacked me in the face so to speak and
you know it's funny so many people uh approach
me and say, well, are you a doctor? Are you a
licensed therapist? You have MD in the name.
And so we always say, and this is stated at the
bottom of our website under a disclaimer, we
are not medical doctors or licensed therapists.
Collectors MD is a peer -led space built to help
people recognize unhealthy patterns, reset their
habits, and reconnect with the joy of collecting.
Our approach is grounded in three core pillars,
the MD's of Collectors MD. mental detox, money
discipline, and meaningful decisions. And so
we flesh each of those out inside of our Collectors
MD Recovery Guide, which we use as the foundation
for our 12 -step program. And so through honest
reflection, education, and community support,
we offer collectors a healthier way forward,
whether you're seeking a reset, a support system,
or simply more intention in how you engage with
the hobby. This is your space. So we are not
doctors. We are not licensed. therapists or clinicians
or anything like that however we do have a referral
network and if you feel like you are in need
of real professional support we can absolutely
direct you to the right places Yeah, I feel like
some people, well, not naming anybody, just in
case anyone has given you a hard time about the
Collectors MD. If you go to the website, it's
pretty clearly stated that Alyx is not a doctor.
He does not call himself Dr. Alyx. He doesn't
put MD after his name. It's the name of the website.
And I think it does make sense, 100 % in the
space of being, hey, we can provide you the link
to licensed clinical professionals. Also, if
you just need someone to talk to, you know, Alyx,
same here. If someone feels like, hey, I'm in
a sports car, but I'm not quite sure how to navigate
this space, collect with intent is something
that I also use. Can't tell a little personal
story from my end. Getting into, you know, briefly
we talked before we started recording about the
Baltimore Orioles, and I'm obviously an Orioles
fan with the hat, but their prospects are so
many good ones, you want to almost collect them
all, right? Like Pokemon. the collect with intent
it was kind of cool i always just kind of looking
back now selling cards those bowman chrome the
top 100 prospect cards you know like the 2023
i just like always like the way they look when
i would get cards autographed when i still get
cards autographed i like to get the bowman you
know top 100 cards a lot of times those and tops
pro debut um not so much about the value they
just look cool to me i like talking about the
insert yeah um Yeah, exactly. The insert card.
There's one through 100 for the top 100 prospects.
It's so funny you say that. Real quick, I don't
mean to cut you off, but while we're on the topic,
one of the only super fractures that I've ever
pulled out of a Topps product was, and at the
time I was like, who the heck is this guy? But
I was fired up that it was a super fracture.
And it was out of a personal box, which I was
actually opening when I was... working with a
break group early on in my uh collecting journey
when i returned to the hobby in the pandemic
it was called bogo breaks me and a few buddies
that i grew up with started this you know this
break group and we were just ripping um you know
on instagram and facebook but uh i was ripping
a bowman flagship box hobby box for myself and
i did it live and i hit a super factor and it
was that it was the number 98 prospect in that
class and it was garrett crochet A Garrett Crochet
prospect card. And at the time, I was like, oh,
man, a pitcher. I mean, I was still excited,
but now Garrett Crochet is arguably the best
pitcher in the MLB. Yes, yes. Did he win the
Cy Young? Yeah, I believe he did. Oh, no, maybe
Scoop. No, Scoop was in the NL. I believe he
got in the AL. No, he didn't. I'm looking at
his career highlights and awards. He did not.
But he should. He was definitely a contender
because last year he had 255 strikeouts, a 259
ERA, and 18 wins. It's funny. I'm glad you said
it. I took my dad to spring training my first
time, his first time as well, and we saw Crochet
pitch for the Red Sox. He was like, is this guy
one of the best pitchers? I was like, yeah, he's
legitimately one of the best pitchers in the
world. He's insane. I'm trying to pull it up
real quick. Yeah, real quick to finish that,
though, that collect with intent. finishing that
set it's like oh yeah go ahead it was uh actually
a rookie i didn't realize i thought it was a
prospect it was a rookie it was number 99 on
on that set list yeah super i had it for a long
time too that's cool what was that 2022 you said
no that was like 2020 so that was in april of
2021 when i pulled that yeah But no, yeah, that
2023, the cards are like $1 to $3. It's one I
don't, I look to get in trades or whatever, right?
And it's a fun set for me to collect. And I'm
like, oh, this is collecting within 10, I'm pretty
sure, because I'm spending maybe $5, $10 a month,
right? And I'm slowly, it all started because
one guy was like trying to get rid of them. He
said, do you want 30 of these for $10? I was
like, and they were random. I was like, and a
couple duplicates, but I was like doing the math.
I was like, nah, I don't want, you know, I was
like, I do like them. I was like, what am I going
to do with it? I was like, well. I already have
like another 20 of these. This is a good chance
to start building out the set. And now, you know,
I'm really enjoying it. So anyway, I got that
idea from you. I'll get, I'll get you to half
cart it with the collecting with intent. So no,
if don't cut me off, I, it's my podcast sports,
Sports Man Dan Show. I mean, the only reason
why I cut you off is because I've literally never
heard anyone refer to that ML or that Bowman
100 insert set because it's not popular. It's
not like, it's not. So. then i remember it just
dawned on me i was like i remember pulling that
card and it being number 99 out of 100 i was
like i could have gotten any player in that set
it could have been one through 50 but i got the
second to last guy in this so in my mind i was
like a little disappointed because it was this
technically the second to worst player according
to the bowman rankings but then fast forward
to today and hey that's what bowman's all about
like you never know who's gonna pan out And,
you know, I mean, all things considered, like
99th best prospect in the MLB is pretty, pretty
damn good. He was actually the 11th overall pick
in 2020. So it's like, yeah, it was it was a
big deal. But also, like, I don't think it was
until recently where people started to pay more
respect to pitchers in the hobby because of Paul
Skeens. But, you know, at the time, like nobody
wanted to hit a pitcher. Right. You had a super
you wanted to be a hitter. I think it's still
that way. It's funny. My buddy, when I got into
autographs after games, he was interested in
getting pitcher cards to get signed. He was like,
is this too unproductive? I'm like, well, I like
watching really good pitchers just as much as
I like watching really good hitters. Yes, it's
not quite as exciting, the home runs, but to
me, I think any real baseball fan can argue that
a guy throwing no hitters is damn exciting, right?
The pitcher is like the quarterback of the team.
Pitchers deserve so much more respect than they
get. But then, of course, you have the Shohei
Otani's of the world who do both, and it's hard
to compete with that. It is, and I think anybody
trying to compete with that, it's... Relatively
impossible, although I know a couple guys out
there. DeGrom was a great hitter as well, and
they kind of took that away with the DH. But
maybe we should digress. I love talking prospects.
I love talking cards. I do want to talk about,
though, is something you've done for the hobby
with Collectors MD. Sort of, you know, it's great
to provide a platform and everything, but, like,
action -wise, what are you doing? These weekly
support groups every Wednesday at 8, I believe,
right? Yep. Wednesday, 8 p .m. Eastern. I was
going to say, what's the most surprising insight
you've learned from these weekly peer support
group discussions? And have you been doing these
since the founding in March of 2025? Yes, that's
a great question. We didn't actually start the
the meetings until. i want to say like april
or may so it was a little a little bit after
we started the movement um really because i wanted
to sort of gauge interest see if there was a
demand or a need for it and then when i realized
there was it became you know pretty uh obvious
that this was going to become you know the sort
of the primary pathway in terms of like what
we offer And so, or at least from a support angle.
So I think the most surprising insight from the
peer support groups is just how similar everyone's
experiences are, right? Like we're talking about
different collections, different interests, different
incomes, different ages, but like the same sort
of emotional loops. We're talking about the same
shame, the urgency, the FOMO, the chasing, you
know, and you're really just chasing that dopamine
hit, that relief. And it's really consistent
across the board. And so what surprises me every
week is just the compassion in the room. People
show up for each other in ways that are genuinely
powerful. It just reminds you, again, how healing
community can be. I've been saying it all along.
We cannot heal in isolation. We have to heal
in community. We have to. you know, lean on each
other for real support. And that's what peer
support is all about. So these meetings aren't
just like sessions where I'm talking all the
time or teaching people or leading, you know,
like I'm helping navigate it. I'm guiding the
meeting forward. I'm, you know, doing a lot of
that, but it's, it's really intended to be peer
support where people can come into a judgment
-free stigma -free environment, speak from the
heart, speak how they feel, get this weight off
their chest. Other people listen who have experienced
very similar things. They, you know, cross exchange,
share each other's story or like share, share,
you know, not advice or recommendations. We try
to steer clear from that, not trying to diagnose
or prescribe anybody anything. It's more so just
like letting people know, like we get it. We're
here for you. You can get through this. It takes
a village. That's what it's all about. No, I
think it's, I think it's an awesome message and
just an awesome, very, you know, inviting hey
we do this it seems very consistent from what
i've seen um also i was a bit surprised to learn
that you've only been around since march of 2025
i think you've done a great job of spreading
that message uh it seems like you do a lot of
an interview almost every week which is that's
the way to do it it shows uh you're dedicated
to it um so uh no just kind of kudos to you there
and uh i don't want to pry but if there's any
personal story or someone you know That relationship
with Collectors MD is a real success story that
you want to share or could share? Yeah, yeah.
I appreciate you, you know, prefacing it that
way because we do take, you know, I guess, community
member confidentiality very seriously. We want
to protect the privacy, the safety. um you know
all of that across the board for our members
and so there is one person in particular that
i'm comfortable talking about because he has
his own youtube channel and he constantly talks
about Collectors MD um sort of forward -facing
and publicly uh his name is Brandon Howard he's
also known as Collector Charles um or collect
Charles I believe he's Collector Charles on YouTube
and Collect Charles on Instagram, but he just
started his own YouTube channel not too long
ago and he's putting out some really great content.
But yeah, Brandon Howard, he's just such a great
example. He's really become like one of the strongest
voices in our community. He joins every single
meeting without fail, always, you know, inserts
himself, adds his two cents, super supportive,
so reliable. I've been able to lean on him at
times if I'm running late to one of the meetings
and I need somebody to kick it off or take the
group through our recovery guide while I'm getting
set up. He does it. No questions asked. And so,
yeah, man, he stopped joining breaks. He became
more thoughtful with his purchases. He's re -centered
why he collects. And his relationship with the
hobby, I think, changed fundamentally. And it's
important to say we have. two distinct lanes
right there's the intentional collecting which
is like somebody like Brandon or myself uh who
still wants to you know enjoy collecting to some
extent but do so more responsibly and just like
within uh you know limitations within our our
means and our uh budget etc and then there's
abstinence right those that just can no longer
have a healthy relationship with the hobby and
just uh you know has have to abstain completely
and so we meet everybody wherever they are in
their journey not everyone needs the same solution
there's not a one -size -fits -all but it is
important to note that uh you know no matter
where you are in your collecting and or recovery
journey we're here for you awesome awesome no
i'm glad i can you know i have a very small platform
right now i understand that but i'm glad to help
share this message and uh you know collectors
md you're uh part of the um what's the name of
y 'all's podcast as well The Collector's Compass
Collector's Compass yeah i love you know checking
in with y 'all and the different stories you
share there i think you've touched on the community
and the people that's what that's what it's all
about um and also shout out all your sponsors
that are help you know keeping Collectors MD
going um i know that you're not in it to make
any profit that's not what you're about Alyx
uh and i looked at y 'all's website man it's
very well done it's a nice like i said very inviting
and professional i might have to ask you for
some tips because i know i need to get my uh
a website of some sort at of some time but uh
that's yeah i appreciate you saying that i mean
i'm not like super savvy when it comes to web
design or anything like that i actually think
that the website's pretty basic and rudimentary
uh in terms of like the way it's set up everything
you see is exactly what i created and again like
i'm not like a designer or you know uh super
um skilled or experienced when it comes to uh
that sort of thing but we are uh working with
a handful of folks that are hopefully going to
help you know propel us to that next stage next
phase of of Collectors MD and help us sort of
redesign the site and get us to where we want
to go um but yeah man i appreciate you saying
that um You mentioned the revenue side of things,
like I'm not in it for profit, so to speak. That's
something that's come up in the past as far as
like, oh, well, he's just doing this for money.
That's not something that I think it's fair to
say because, first of all, we never will take
money from any of our community members. All
of our meetings will always be free. Our tools,
our resources, our referral network, all of that.
100 free um you know if for when we end up down
the line becoming like a treatment center that
takes insurance something like that like that's
way far down the road like we don't expect people
to pay like a monthly subscription or make donations
or anything like that now of course you know
i've dedicated my life and my career to this
and so i gotta find ways to uh you know keep
the lights on right and food on the table and
so we're getting creative and strategic around
ways to monetize through things like sponsorships
advertising uh working with coalitions and councils
at the state level things like that um so that
you know we can really propel this thing and
and keep it sustainable because at the end of
the day you know you can't do that uh you know
without Some somewhat of a foundation, but to
date, it's all been completely bootstrapped and
we haven't taken any donations or really made
much money at all up to this point. But we're
we're working we're working on trying to scale
this thing so that, again, like the end goal
is that we can help as many people as humanly
possible. I think doing these sort of podcast
interviews, I hope hopefully this is not. It's
work at the end of the day, right? And not to
say that this is work and you're not enjoying
every second of this interview, but right, like
doing all these interviews, getting the message
out, that's a great way to do it. And with that,
you've been on a lot of these podcasts. What's
one question you wish people would ask you, but
never do? Yeah, I mean, I think they rarely ask
like what this work costs emotionally, right?
sitting with other people's struggles while also
managing your own can be like really heavy, right?
It's absolutely 100 % worth it, but it's not
easy, right? And I think that part often goes
unseen. That's a good point too. And then like
hearing, you know, maybe somebody lost their
house or lost their, you know, marriage or whatever,
relationship, whatever, or is in debt, you know,
severe debt. And then now, you know, you're looking
at some cards of your own, right? And, you know,
maybe like, dang, you know, they had all these
real problems over pieces of cardboard, right?
I'm sure that has to be tough. It has to weigh
up. Of course, man. We're seeing some really,
really heavy things happening to people in terms
of, you know, divorce and losing custody of children
and losing, you know, their jobs and having to
move out of their homes or sell their homes or
sell their cars. Like these are all very real
things that are happening as a direct result
of addiction, hobby addiction. Yeah, absolutely.
And there are people that spend as much money,
if not more, than some of the biggest degenerate
gamblers you could think of. So, yeah, it's a
very serious and real topic and should not be
taken lightly. And I think it just speaks volumes
to the fact that today's modern day hobby is
not the same as what it was when we were kids.
No. no and i i think most people in the hobby
see that and know that but maybe you know in
some of these you know interactions i've seen
with you you know talking about Collectors MD
uh maybe people just kind of ignore it or laugh
at it because they don't want to accept that
it's such a bad problem you know i just know
setting up at shows i've been selling cards at
shows for a year so i'm very new to this i'm
not gonna act like i'm some expert but i i've
seen at a show a guy on the phone and was like
hey i need you to wire me 500 there's a deal
here i need to get it and the guy you could tell
on the phone was like why can't you and he was
explained oh no already maxed the credit cards
i can't like trying to agree with them like no
i tried all that i can't you know everything's
maxed i need 500 now and then i can flip it and
i was like you know what does this sound like
you know i've been to casinos it sounds like
the guy by the atm of the casino begging a friend
to wire him money to get i'm like you had a card
show you know at 10 a .m on a saturday Yeah,
what you just verbalized, what you just illustrated
is textbook addiction. These are people that
will go to any length to scratch that itch, to
feed that dopamine high, to fill that empty space.
And we're talking about lying, cheating, deceiving,
stealing. It gets really, really serious. And
that's why gambling addiction specifically, and
I mentioned it. To you before, I work at Right
Choice on Monday nights and Tuesday nights leading
group meetings for gambling addiction. And so
I've seen it firsthand. I've experienced it firsthand,
you know, through my own lived experience. I
know what it feels like, but I'm talking about
like gambling addiction is a real disease. Like
it is a disease. It destroys from the inside
out. And it's a lifelong, you know, battle. You
know, it doesn't just go away. There's no like.
there's no remedy there's no anecdote that you
just uh uh take or not anecdote at it antidote
what's it called antidote that you just take
that that will just uh make it go away you really
have to uh stay the course Stick to, you know,
whether it be a 12 -step program or, you know,
a routine or just whatever works for you. Just
keep checking in, taking your personal inventory,
reaching out to others, whether that be, you
know, your inner circle, family member, loved
one, sponsor, accountability partner, peer support,
and just, you know, make recovery. uh a priority
because if you don't it can be so easy to just
uh fall off the wagon we've seen it happen with
people that have been sober clean for 10 years
20 years sometimes more one thing happens that
triggers them um you know and they get that urge
and suddenly they're right back where they started
and uh the cycle starts all over so it's a very
real thing and people just i think on one hand
need to take it more seriously for themselves
but also people looking in from the outside they
they need to also take it more seriously and
understand that this is very real and that we
need to be respectful and mindful of the fact
that mental health is a very serious thing that
um should not be taken lightly no and you know
i'm all about having a good time and you know
keeping shows lighthearted, but it's one of those
things where you kind of have to take it seriously.
It's one of those topics that's just, it is what
it is. Gambling addiction, addiction is dark,
right? There's no way around it. I think you
touched on it earlier, having, you know, not
having to, but choosing to do that, you know,
weekly, day in, day out. I'm sure it does take
a toll. At the end of the day, collecting is
fun. That's why we do it, right? We enjoy it.
At the end of the day, there is the light at
the end of the tunnel, right? But I'm sure there
are a lot of... As we talked about, there are
a lot of dark stories. I want to add, Dan, you
brought up a really great point there. It's not
all doom and gloom. Some of this stuff is really
heavy. It can be daunting and intimidating to
get involved in something like this and really
look in the mirror and say, damn, I need real
help. But at the same time, recovery is a beautiful
thing. want to drive home the point that you
can have the same community, the same camaraderie
that you currently do in your hobby or with a
sports team or a fraternity or something like
that right here at Collectors MD or any other
adjacent recovery -like group or program without
having to spend a single dollar, without having
to sort of fall into the hype traps or give in
to FOMO or that sense of urgency. It's I've made
really close friends through this process. I
really have people I truly believe will be lifelong
friends. It's a beautiful thing. And again, like
we have the intentional collecting lane. These
are people that are still engaged in the hobby.
They still go to card shows. They still buy product.
They still buy cards. But they're just doing
so more mindfully, intentionally and responsibly.
That's what it really comes down to. That's awesome.
Especially the lifelong friends. I know that's
not why you get into it, but when you have that
byproduct, it kind of lets you know that you're
doing the right thing, right? Totally. And sort
of kind of segueing off of that, this whole
hype train and the FOMO, how do you engage with
breakers, shops, maybe vendors or different marketplaces
to promote healthier collecting practices? Because
at the end of the day, a lot of these, I mean,
they just want to make a buck. And anytime that's
involved, there's greed. Anytime money's involved,
there is greed. Yeah, it's a great question.
So we've partnered with a handful of hobby shops,
break groups, hobby platforms, tools, resources,
et cetera, through what we call our hashtag Rip
Responsibly initiative. And so Rip Responsibly
is just all about slowing things down, adding
transparency, removing that sort of manufactured
urgency and hype. And so we've partnered with
Card Ladder, Market Movers, Cards HQ. hobby scan,
mantle, slab track. We just recently partnered
with Rip and Wax. They're a pretty big break
group in the hobby. Rip Hamilton Rips, they're
one of the biggest break groups on Whatnot. Bodega
Cards here in Jersey. So we're doing some really
amazing things. you know, across the board, but
I'm also just so humbled and grateful that these
industry leaders have been willing to, you know,
not just have the conversation, but also spread
the message and spread positive awareness. So
it's not about pointing fingers or, you know,
again, being a watchdog or blaming anyone. It's
just about building healthier systems and creating
a safer and more sustainable environment for
all collectors. Well, you're doing the right
thing by doing this. And I don't mean to harp
on it, but I have a couple more questions I do
want to touch on on the subject, if that's all
right with you, Alyx. Of course, man. Yeah. So
what do you think right now, moving forward,
are the biggest barriers to systematic change
in the hobby? And how does Collectors MD tackle
them? In addition to, of course, these weekly
support groups, which I think is maybe the biggest
catalyst. Yeah. I mean, I think it's a number
of things. I think it starts with incentives,
right? The speed, the hype and the volume are
just, you know, always rewarded, right? Like
incentives are just the biggest barrier, right?
So like right now, the hobby, again, it just
rewards all of that. And so the faster you move
products, the louder the marketing, the more
urgency you create, the more money gets made
in the short term, right? So restraint isn't
rewarded at all. Slow down. someone down encouraging
reflection uh or telling them it's okay to walk
away just doesn't really fit neatly um you know
in into a revenue model for these for these uh
hobby shops break groups platforms manufacturers
etc so real change just requires slowing things
down that can be very uncomfortable for an ecosystem
built on constant motion, constant hype, constant
velocity, right? It challenges short -term thinking.
It asks people to trade these quick wins, these
quick hits of dopamine for something like patience
and sustainability. And that can be really hard
when margins and engagement numbers are really
driving decisions, right? So what we try to do
at Collectors MD is really meet that reality
head on. we focus on uh education so people can
recognize patterns instead of blaming themselves
we build partnerships with platform shops and
creators who are willing to experiment with healthier
engagement and we point to proof right collectors
who feel supported informed and respected uh
actually stick around longer they burn out less
they don't disappear after hitting a wall so
while you know this rip responsibly concept might
deter some people in the short term Really what
you're doing is you're creating a sense of trust
and transparency with your audience that, hey,
this is what we're doing here. This is what this
environment can potentially lead to if you aren't
careful. And I think in turn, the customers and
the followers will respect that platform, that
breaker, that creator so much more. because they're
looking out for the health and safety of the
individual, not just 100 % focused on revenue.
So I think the sustainability factor, the long
-term loyalty will absolutely sort of trump that
short -term loss in potential revenue. So yeah,
I mean, like healthy engagement may not spike
overnight metrics per se, but it absolutely just
creates that sense of trust and trust is really
what lasts. That's a great point, especially
the long -term growth of the hobby. Really, this
is going to help the hobby because that burnout
thing is a real thing. How many times on Reddit,
for anyone on Reddit, you see, I am deeply in
debt and I need to sell my collection. It's like,
oh man, I had a hospital bill. I need money now.
And maybe they're not getting the sales that
they wanted. And stuff like that does happen.
That's not going to make a collector long term,
right? Someone ripping responsibly and collecting
intentionally. That's going to help. Like you
said, it's going to help everyone if we get out
of that short term mindset. Yeah, man. I want
to also acknowledge that, you know, there are
people out there on Reddit that have been actively
supporting and, you know, basically. pushing
people to check out Collectors MD who are having
those issues or openly sharing you know what
they're experiencing and i don't know who they
are if they're you know in our group chat our
discord um you know it's obviously mostly anonymous
but i'm super super grateful for those people
uh because again this isn't about me this isn't
about growing Collectors MD or scaling this or
uh becoming like famous in the hobby or like
creating cloud it's about helping as many people
as humanly possible and that takes an army we
can't i can't do this by myself i need this to
be a community effort and so for those people
that are out there you know on the front lines
in these reddit groups in Facebook posts saying
hey go check out Collectors MD they can help
you that there's peer support available like
that just that means the world because it means
that It shows that people actually care about
one another. It's rare in today's society. It
really is. It is. No, I was starting to think
about what I'm going to be doing with The Sports Man
Dan Show, but I think live streams will be a
part of it. We're going to wrap up here with
some fun questions sort of at the end, but Alyx,
I'd love to have you on with maybe like a live
stream where we bring you on as a guest and just
have people, you know, hopefully with a little
more following by then do like a live Q and a,
and you can kind of just answer questions in
real time. Yeah, that'd be great. I'd love that.
Awesome. No, we'll set that up for sure. Now,
in the meantime, I still have you. And again,
thank you for your time, Alyx. I know I kind
of messaged you yesterday about this and you
you got back to me and managed to set it up today.
So, yeah, I told you I found that window. I was
like, you know what? I really want to do this
with you. I don't want to put this off. Let's
lock in a time. And so we found. an hour which
is now turning into almost two but that's completely
fine um i've really uh enjoyed this conversation
with you Dan getting to know you in this short
time and i think that uh this will definitely
materialize into you know a long -term uh friendship
and relationship so uh that that is just so invaluable
and it really does mean a lot to me it means
a lot to me as well and i appreciate your thoughtful
responses um no this has been a i know it's work
from your end right doing a lot of these interviews
and you know it might be a little work editing
but like genuinely i enjoyed this discussion
i'm looking forward to some future ones me too
man all right so now wrapping up is there a player
set or era that instantly makes you feel like
a kid again when you see that card Michael Jordan
i know this is most people uh most people's answer
especially those that are my age mid 30s uh but
yeah man just like early to mid 90s upper deck
base cards of Michael Jordan um i grew up watching
the Chicago Bulls with my dad i wasn't a bulls
fan per se but like you know it was Michael Jordan
it was his league like he won six rings and went
six and oh in those championship uh runs so yeah
i i remember watching the Bulls play the Jazz
in the finals and just like my dad would would
get me loose packs and i was just always looking
for that Jordan and you know they weren't worth
much they're not worth much now but like you
know those are the memories that are just sort
of embedded in i think in my my past my childhood
my nostalgia No, that is awesome. And I am in
no way a Jordan fan myself, but I do love those
early 90s cards. And I may be dating myself.
Even though I said I'm not a Jordan fan, I'm
a Knicks fan, Jordan is better than LeBron. We
can end that discussion right now. Michael Jordan
is better than LeBron. You can let me know if
you think differently in the comments. I'm more
of a John Starr fan. Look, I'm kind of neutral
on that discussion. I think it's just like Giannis.
fit a square peg in a round hole. It's not apples
to oranges. It's like comparing Tom Brady to
Shohei Ohtani. They play different sports. They're
different players, different types of athletes.
Different eras. But if you were to, there's no
way LeBron is hitting triples. I think Jordan
had a couple triples. extra base hits in the
minor leagues anyway Jordan's just a superior
athlete but i'll just leave it at that i i'm
trying to stir the pause what i'm doing Alyx
that's all good i'm right there with you though
gun to my head i'll probably take Jordan absolutely
in the finals like last shot come on game six
game seven iconic iconic yeah plus LeBron's LeBron's
you know book isn't isn't finished yet so let's
let let's let him finish his career then we can
have that debate I'll have it whenever. Also,
yeah, yeah, good point, Alyx. Moving on swiftly.
Other than paid, which I know you love that,
if no one's familiar with that statement, paid,
if you watch a decent amount of breaks, someone
will hit a card, let's say it's a PSA 10 John
Morant, and they're like, you bought in for a
$200 spot, and you hit that $50 card, and they
say paid. Even though that maybe only paid for
a quarter of your spot, other than paid, Alyx,
what is the most overrated card term out there?
I mean, when they say paid, they may as well
just be saying jackpot. You hit the jackpot on
the slot machine. That's what they're saying.
I think the most overrated or the one that really
just makes my skin crawl is value. This is a
value break. This is a can't miss. like like
it's a once in a lifetime opportunity unreal
value chat it that's just manufactured like it's
it's all about the manufactured urgency and the
FOMO and it's just language designed to just
like speed the decisions and compress thinking
and make hesitation feel like a mistake and it's
the price you know um or the price is framed
as temporary the opportunity is like you know
rare it's once in a lifetime and then you know
the downside is just it's not even addressed
it's not even acknowledged so real value doesn't
need a countdown clock it doesn't rely on like
group pressure or last few spots energy and it
definitely doesn't show up wrapped in someone
else's certainty so if it were truly value if
it were truly value or valuable it wouldn't need
to be sold so hard Well said, Alyx. And that's
true to any industry, right? They use car law
with all the fancy signs and the fancy marketing.
It's like maybe they don't have the best used
cars. Funny how that works out. Yeah. I mean,
that's typically always what we end up comparing
the Whatnot breakers to. And again, I don't want
to be overly critical or cynical or anything
like that, but the whole concept of a car salesman,
definitely. comes up and i won't use any adjectives
to describe said car salesman but it's it's definitely
uh become pretty synonymous with with breakers
some of these financial advisors now i feel like
are more like used car salesmen uh hey and by
the way this is coming from somebody who used
to break right i told you before i i broke for
a couple years on on instagram and facebook before
the whole thing exploded before Whatnot before
Fanatics Live but nonetheless i was still a breaker
and before that i was in well not before that
before Collectors MD i was in advertising sales
so i was the guy people trying to sell pixels
so look i i i can relate um you know empathetic
i understand that at the end of the day a lot
of these breakers are just trying to do their
job they're just trying to bring in money for
the company that they work for like more power
to you but let's just be a little bit careful
when we're you know reeling in the uh the potential
customers especially if you know, we're talking
about expensive spots or like, you know, children
getting involved, things like that. Yeah. Right.
No, we're talking about, it's not, you know,
tens of dollars or dozens of dollars. We're talking
about thousands and tens of thousands of dollars
and upwards of there. Right. So no, exactly.
I think it's well said. Moving on to number three,
I got four here again. Thank you for your time,
Alyx. I'll let you, I'll let you get out of here.
But number three, if you could only collect one
thing for the rest of your life, what would it
be? So I'll say like, you know, cards, you can
do a broad one like that, you know, or shoes
you could choose. You said Funko pops. That would
be an option. Yeah, definitely not Funko pops
and definitely not WNBA players. But honestly,
like this one came to me almost immediately.
And the answer for me is watches without hesitation.
And so my grandfather was a big watch collector.
And a lot of my connection to collecting, I think,
really started there. Like it's really embedded
in my DNA. Just like watching him talk about
craftsmanship and history and what a watch represented.
Like it just always stuck with me. And it wasn't
about like the hype or the resale. It was about
meaning. You know, he really taught me patience
and appreciation. And so that foundation, I think,
just really shapes how I think about collecting
to this day. You know, I love watches. Unfortunately,
I had to sell a lot of them when I was in the
throes of my addiction and going through some
of my financial struggles. But, you know, I do
still have the watch that my wife gifted me on
our wedding day. I still have, you know, another
one that holds a lot of weight in terms of sentimental
value. I have another one that I inherited from
my grandfather. So, you know, again, like curating,
distilling your collection, I think is really
important. Not one person needs. a million watches
or a million pairs of sneakers or 10 zion cases
of sports cards uh but speaking of speak sneakers
i think sneakers would be a close second because
i was a sneaker head long before cards ever entered
the picture in terms of the modern hobby i'm
talking about like the camp outs you know the
the weekly releases the culture the storytelling
uh sneakers really taught me how collecting could
be personal and expressive not just transactional
at one point i mean this was a problem within
itself but at one point i had over 500 pairs
of sneakers in my 20s oh man yeah so uh that's
really where things started to spiral so you
know when i when i talk about these things i
say it you know with a grain of salt um because
in some ways collecting ha really you know hurt
me a lot more than it it brought me value so
with that like I've learned to sort of recenter,
recalibrate, figure out how to trim the fat and
make collecting, provide me with value instead
of no longer serving me, which is ultimately
what it had become over the span of 10, 15 years.
But I feel much, much lighter and more fulfilled.
looking at a fraction of what I once owned than
I did when I was just sitting on a mountain of
crap. Well said. It's collecting with intent,
right? Once you lose that intent, you could have
all the collections in the world. It just won't
really mean as much, right? Right. 100%. The
last thing here, what is one thing you hope listeners
remember after this conversation? And if I had
to pick one, I really think it would just be
the way you ended that last question. You know,
you went through the sneakers. You've seen, I
think, some of the highs to highs of breaking
and lows to lows with your financial hardships
and dealing with this addiction head on. I don't
mean to cut you off, let you answer your own
question. But I just want to say, Alyx, I think
anyone who. wants to take a little introspective
look at themselves um you've kind of opened yourself
out there and uh i think that's a really brave
thing for someone to do i appreciate you saying
that Dan truly um and this is a great question
and i think it's a great uh you know sort of
place to end this conversation which by the way
it's been great you've done such a terrific job
um but i i think the biggest thing i'd want people
to remember is that you don't have to quit collecting
you don't have to quit the hobby to change your
relationship with it for a lot of collectors
it's not about walking away it's just about slowing
things down i think for a lot of collectors it's
not about you know um sort of uh it's really
just about being honest with yourself right and
paying attention to why you're doing what you're
doing right like awareness just changes everything
and once you start noticing those patterns uh
when you're chasing when you're just trying to
numb the pain when it no longer stops being fun,
or like I said before, it no longer is serving
you, that's when you actually get the control,
the agency back. And maybe most importantly,
you don't have to figure all of that out alone.
This stuff is so much heavier when you're just
sitting in isolation or you're feeling that guilt
or shame that you ended up. you know belong through
your savings uh because of cardboard right but
there i promise you there are other people out
there and having other people who understand
uh the nuances of what can come from you know
hobby burnout um and the pull of of just over
compulsive collecting all of that just makes
change feel possible instead of overwhelming
and real quick too um you had put this question
uh on the list and i i just i'd be remiss not
to address it yeah i don't know if you skipped
it or you know just i jump around so i appreciate
your thoughtful responses yeah no please go ahead
this is this is one that i think is really important
and it was advice for others trying to foster
positive culture and i would say And this is
advice that was given to me by a gentleman in
the hobby named Mr. Minty. Great guy. He preps
cards for grading. I met him at National in 2023.
I've had many conversations with him. He's been
a supporter since day one. But what he told me
before I started making content, he said, pick
up a mic and start talking. Don't worry about
audience size. Don't worry about what people
think or what they say. If you help one person.
Just one person, you've made an impact. And that's
what it's all about. That's awesome, Alyx. I
think you are making a real impact. I think you
will continue to do so. And I'm happy to support
in any capacity that I can. I know probably a
lot of people say that, but I do mean it. And
I hope more people do say that. And you continue
to grow it, as I know you will. Anyone who's
interested in learning more, you see down below.
Collectors MD but for those who are just listening
on social you can you can check out Alyx at Collectors
MD um or like i said they have a great website
collectorsmd .com Alyx i'm excited to bring
you back and thank you again for your time thanks
Dan yeah also excited to see uh Sports Man Dan
uh your show grow as well you're doing a a killer
job i know you're gonna crush it so looking forward
to uh yeah man just uh keeping the the positivity
and the momentum going forward Well, I appreciate
that. And there's only one first interview, right?
So you are officially the first interview and
always will be of The Sports Man Dan Show. And
I'm honored and I'm humbled. So thank you.