WEBVTT

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Welcome to the very first interview episode of

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the Sportsman Dan Show. I'm your host, Dan Janusik,

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and yes, this is the Sportsman Dan Show. If this

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is your first time checking it out, welcome.

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You're officially here from the beginning. A

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quick little background on me. Before we jump

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in, I'm a data scientist by day. I studied economics

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in college, and outside of work, I'm all in on

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car collecting, minor league baseball. and kickers.

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Yes, actual kickers. I kicked a little bit of

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myself back in the day, excuse me. So that position

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will always have a special place to me. Kickers

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and tight ends, that's really the only football

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cards I collect. Baseball cards, pretty much

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everything. And NBA cards, pretty much any guys

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from Virginia as well as Knicks players. You'll

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learn more about me, though, as the podcast grows.

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I want to keep this first episode light and give

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you a real intro before we get rolling. I also

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host the Welcome Home podcast, where I interview

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veterans, particularly Vietnam War veterans.

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So that's going to be a lot different than the

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subject matter here. I like to keep it pretty

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lighthearted here, although I keep it real. I'm

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not really doing anything trying to break ground

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in the hobby or anything like that. More just

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cover my experience. I sell at shows. I buy.

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I collect. I kind of do it all a little bit in

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the card world. So I'm going to show you guys

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a little bit just from my perspective and then

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have some cool interviews along the way. If you're

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listening to this on the audio version, be sure

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to check out The Sports Man Dan show over on YouTube.

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We'll have live streams, video interviews, and

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extra content there. And if you are watching

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on YouTube, I appreciate you. And hit like, subscribe,

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and stick around, please. You can also find me

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on Instagram at SportsManDanBC for clips, cards,

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and some other stuff. That's enough for me. Let's

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get into it. My first interview, I could not

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be more excited. I talked with Alyx from Collectors MD.

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And I really enjoyed this conversation because

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just how thoughtful Alyx's answers were. I think

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what he's doing with Collectors MD is extremely

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beneficial to the hobby, and I'll let him explain

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it further. Alyx, thank you again for being my

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first guest, and thank you for your time. And

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I hope you guys enjoyed this interview just as

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much as I did speaking with Alyx. And we'll look,

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I mean, you'll hear, but we'll look to bring

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him again on in the near future. Welcome to the

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first interview series of the Sportsman Dan Show.

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And I think there's no better interview to do

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when getting into the hobby than with Alyx Effron

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from Collectors MD. Thanks for joining me, Alyx.

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Dan, thanks so much for having me. This is great.

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We just spent like 40 minutes riffing right before

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we hopped on and already, you know, I think finding

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that we have a lot in common and I'm looking

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forward to this conversation. Yeah, no, me too.

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It's I've done a few interviews with some of

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my previous podcasts. A Brit does baseball. Welcome

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home podcast was fine. I've never spent that

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much time just kind of just talking back and

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forth. And I was like, oh, maybe some of this

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would have been good to record. Should I hit

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that record button? Yeah, but I'm a talker. Hey,

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me too. You're not from New York by chance, are

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you? I'm from New Jersey. OK, OK, cool. What

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part of New Jersey? So I'm born and raised in

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Burden County. um currently live in old bridge

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new jersey uh my wife and i moved there we lived

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in jersey city for seven eight years and uh now

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we're down near like new brunswick like ruckers

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okay and uh my parents so i grew up in i mentioned

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bergen county north jersey they just moved out

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to east stroudsburg near the poconos in pennsylvania

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last year so i've been spending a lot of time

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there. I'm actually here right now for a day

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or two, just enjoying the peace and quiet. We're

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going to touch on this in a bit, but they have

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four dogs that are very, very active and, you

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know, keep things, you know, exciting around

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here. So while it is peaceful and quiet when

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you walk outside and, you know, look around inside

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of the house, they're always going nuts. So there's

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always something going on here. Yeah, dogs are

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amazing. I just have two dogs. I say two. They're

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my parents' dogs, but they feel like mine. But

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I'm always over at the house, and it's funny.

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When you're with them, they do a lot. Sometimes

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they make a mess inside. But when you leave,

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you're like, oh, man, I miss those guys so much.

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So I totally get it. I could talk about dogs

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for a while, Alyx, but let's get in. It's funny.

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I have icebreaker questions. I feel like we've

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possibly already broken the ice a little bit.

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But I do want to know. What was the very first

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thing you ever collected, if you remember, and

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do you still have it? Yeah, I do remember. And

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I will preface by saying, Dan, thanks so much

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for prepping me with some of these questions.

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I was able to sort of gather my thoughts. So

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if these answers seem like they're off the cuff,

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they're really not. Dan is just really good at

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prepping his guests. But as far as the first

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thing that I ever collected, I think it's...

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something that I remember collecting as far back

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as I can actually remember. It was Power Ranger

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action figures. I was obsessed with Power Rangers.

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I had them lined up, organized, probably took

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it way more seriously than any kid should. Unfortunately,

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my little brother, he's eight and a half years

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younger than me. He was pretty destructive as

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a kid. He ended up pretty much destroying everything

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that I owned as a kid. including my pokemon cards

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so no i don't still have them but looking back

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that was definitely my first real exposure i

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think to collecting you know the whole concept

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of organizing and attachment and just the pride

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of ownership um it all sort of kind of makes

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a lot of sense now power rangers that's a good

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one i didn't expect that and that's a not like

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a good news bad news but you know bad news he

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destroyed the power rangers but i guess good

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news they probably did not appreciate and value

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that much um anyway so that was probably okay

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there but younger probably not yeah um that that

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is actually a silver lining i guess it's a good

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way to put it but again with the pokemon cards

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forget about it like i had some really nice ones

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and they're long gone god knows what happened

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to them Yeah, I was talking about this at work,

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actually. My brother sold, I remember at a yard

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sale, probably in 2003, he sold them for like

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$50, which back, you know, that was a lot of

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money. But even then we were like. i don't know

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maybe that maybe that old man who bought those

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pokemon cars is on to something here and uh sure

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enough he was yeah it was probably that guy gary

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who has like the biggest charizard collection

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in the world he was probably just going from

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uh you know garage sale to garage sale picking

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up every charizard he could in the late 90s early

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2000s and he just he knew he had an inkling but

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you're you're not alone there i think a lot of

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people have that that same story where you know

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people just it's it's like any other type of

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um speculation or trying to predict something

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like how are we how is anybody supposed to know

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that pokemon you know was going to blossom into

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this multi -billion dollar franchise down the

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line same thing with anything crypto bitcoin

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i'm about to say bitcoin yeah yeah exactly uh

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no uh that's great poke or uh power rangers uh

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all right question two here what's one item you

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swore you never collect and then absolutely did

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and you can't use power ranger uh action figures

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here Yeah, I was going to. No, but in all seriousness,

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it was actually WNBA players, honestly. So when

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I was thinking about this question, I would say

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runner up here, probably Funko Pops. I got into

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the Funko Pop craze in, I would say, around 2015,

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2016. I was just picking them up left and right.

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Not to really display in the case, but I would

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take them out of the case and just line them

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up on my desk. card collecting in the hobby w

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nba players for sure i definitely got sucked

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into the caitlyn clark frenzy and uh i mean i

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think pagebackers is amazing she's like um insanely

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talented and just seems like such a cool person

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um yeah i don't know like i never saw myself

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collecting w nba players i never watched w nba

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you know i was like always an nba guy and it

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has nothing to do with like gender like you know

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men women at the end of the day it's kind of

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like weird to have like cardboard pieces of cardboard

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with other like pictures of other men on them.

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But, you know, I don't know. I just never thought

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I would collect WNBA players. And here I am still

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have a, a Caitlin Clark and a page backers in

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the PC. No, I think that's awesome. And I'm actually

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now collecting WNBA because in the Virginia Sports

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Hall of Fame, there's a WNBA player who I was

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not familiar with and started for me clicking

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in the background there. That was me trying to

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pull it up real quick. But anyway, I'm going

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to look to get some of her cards because we do

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like a meet and greet. Michael Vick will also

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be there and Tony Bennett. That'll be cool too.

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Awesome. No, WNBA, anyone who's a Virginia Hall

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of Famer, you know, I'm going to get your card

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if you have one. So I'm going to go back and

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edit this, and I'll do it justice. But, no, I'm

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now collecting WNBA as well, and that's something

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I did not think I ever would be doing. Caitlin

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Clark is revolutionizing the hobby. I think everyone

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can see that. Yeah, we'll see what it looks like

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in five, ten years from now. But, you know, sometimes

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when – you start picking up things that you never

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thought you would, you surprise yourself a little

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bit and that's okay. You know, we always say

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collect with intention, not compulsion. So, you

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know, I did mention, I did get sucked into the

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Caitlin Clark frenzy of sorts, but you know,

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if you're a fan and not just of Caitlin Clark,

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but of any of those players, like Sabrina is

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incredible. Like I've, I've seen her play. Like

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she's. Awesome. And then there's Asia Wilkins.

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Sabrina Ionescu. Ionescu, yeah. From Oregon.

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I'm not totally sold on her, actually. Really?

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She has too many turnovers for me. They won the

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championship a couple years ago. Okay. See, I've

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never seen any of my teams win a championship.

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She plays for the local squad here. in the tri

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-state area the new york liberty so um it was

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actually ironic we were joking around about how

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new york has just been in such a a slump in terms

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of bringing home championships and then the new

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york liberty of all teams you know ends up winning

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so we we get we got that we got the wnba uh cornered

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now so we're in a better spot than we were a

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couple years ago And then the Knicks will be

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next. The Knicks? Hey, look at the Giants. They

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just hired John Harbaugh, or they're about to.

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Jackson Dart and Cam Scadaboo, like, weak neighbors.

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We'll see. We'll see. I'm not a Giants fan, per

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se. Like, I'll root for them, mainly because

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I met Eli Manning as a kid, and my prized possession

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is a framed Eli Manning jersey that he signed

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in front of me when I was 16 years old, and then

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proceeded to win the first. of two Super Bowls

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against the Patriots. That is definitely my prized

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possession in my entire collection. After he

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signed that jersey is when he went on to win

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it? Exactly. I mean, he held that pen. You had

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something to do with it. Dude, yeah, exactly.

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It was the domino effect. He met me. He was like,

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oh, I'm going on to beat Tom Brady now. But no,

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in all seriousness, it was like a golf outing

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over the summer. And then fast forward to...

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You know, that season, I think they went, like,

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what, 9 -7? And they made a playoff run, and

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one of the most incredible Super Bowls of all

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time came out and beat Tom Brady. And, you know,

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he's cemented in, I think, NFL, Super Bowl, Mount

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Rushmore because of those two rings. I mean,

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there's no doubt about it. In my mind, he's hopefully

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going to become a Hall of Famer this year. But

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we'll see. Alyx, I'm loving this conversation,

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but now I'm a bit hesitant because my buddy Pookie

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and I are currently in debate. I was born in

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Texas, so you know what I'm about to say next.

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I'm a bit of a Cowboys fan. Tony Romo, in my

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opinion, is a better quarterback than Eli Manning.

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So anyway, that, of course, has not been a hot

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debate at all. And so I know he's listening to

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you saying this, just grinning ear to ear. So

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here's what I'll give you on that front. Tony

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Romo is a better commentator than Eli Manning.

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Okay. I don't know about quarterback. Look, maybe

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in season, but Tony Romo was notorious for choking

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in the playoffs. I have the stats. I have the

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stats that might disagree, but like I said, we're

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going to do a follow -up episode for that. This

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is a nice segue actually to my next question.

00:12:52.149 --> 00:12:55.029
What's the most irrational hobby purchase you've

00:12:55.029 --> 00:12:58.129
made that you don't actually regret looking back

00:12:58.129 --> 00:13:01.409
now? Okay. So I thought long and hard about this

00:13:01.409 --> 00:13:04.620
and I just couldn't. stop coming back to the

00:13:04.620 --> 00:13:07.159
first blaster that i purchased when i got back

00:13:07.159 --> 00:13:10.460
into the hobby and i want to say around april

00:13:10.460 --> 00:13:13.539
may of 2020 during the pandemic it was mosaic

00:13:13.539 --> 00:13:16.639
basketball i pulled a john morant green mosaic

00:13:16.639 --> 00:13:19.539
rookie card of course graded it at the time it

00:13:19.539 --> 00:13:22.379
got a psa 10 it's not worth much now it's you

00:13:22.379 --> 00:13:25.059
know true rookie green mosaic retail green whatever

00:13:25.059 --> 00:13:28.120
but i do still have it that is that card is just

00:13:28.120 --> 00:13:31.559
you know it's it's symbolic to me it's it's sentimental

00:13:31.559 --> 00:13:34.279
it's meaningful And I think it's irrational because

00:13:34.279 --> 00:13:37.720
that's the one purchase that pulled me all the

00:13:37.720 --> 00:13:40.240
way back in. Like, I was chasing John Morant,

00:13:40.340 --> 00:13:42.539
right? Like, it was John Zion at the time, and

00:13:42.539 --> 00:13:44.879
I liked John better. And I ended up hitting him

00:13:44.879 --> 00:13:48.399
in the first blaster. Color, you know, parallel

00:13:48.399 --> 00:13:52.179
of John Morant. And I think that's what sucked

00:13:52.179 --> 00:13:54.159
me in. That's what did me under. If I don't buy

00:13:54.159 --> 00:13:56.179
that blaster, who knows where my life goes? Sometimes,

00:13:56.440 --> 00:13:58.379
you know, I think the irrational thing ends up

00:13:58.379 --> 00:14:02.960
being the catalyst. So, yeah. That is kind of

00:14:02.960 --> 00:14:04.639
crazy. Anybody who's not familiar with Alyx's

00:14:04.639 --> 00:14:06.919
story, we will touch on that. And of course,

00:14:06.940 --> 00:14:10.440
I know I saw you on a plethora of podcasts sort

00:14:10.440 --> 00:14:13.240
of doing the interview rounds. I learned a little

00:14:13.240 --> 00:14:16.580
bit about your story. I never heard that aspect

00:14:16.580 --> 00:14:19.139
of it. I never brought that up. That was the

00:14:19.139 --> 00:14:21.360
first time. That's so interesting, too, to me

00:14:21.360 --> 00:14:23.399
that you still have. I mean, given everything,

00:14:23.580 --> 00:14:25.340
you never sold it or anything. You kept it the

00:14:25.340 --> 00:14:26.779
whole time. I think that's pretty cool. That

00:14:26.779 --> 00:14:29.500
might be one like you got to display the most,

00:14:29.580 --> 00:14:32.179
right? That's a pretty cool. That's a very interesting

00:14:32.179 --> 00:14:34.600
story. You know, the irony is that John Moran

00:14:34.600 --> 00:14:38.600
has as incredible of a player as he is. He's

00:14:38.600 --> 00:14:41.460
attracted more negative attention to himself

00:14:41.460 --> 00:14:45.100
than one would like to see as a fan of his. But

00:14:45.100 --> 00:14:47.779
this is this is a picture of the card. Try to

00:14:47.779 --> 00:14:51.379
get it in focus. Yeah, it's a PSA 10 John Moran.

00:14:51.460 --> 00:14:52.960
I mean, it's a beautiful card, probably worth

00:14:52.960 --> 00:14:57.620
like 40, 50 bucks. But hey. Like we always say,

00:14:57.700 --> 00:15:00.100
monetary value is arbitrary when you're collecting

00:15:00.100 --> 00:15:03.000
with intention. And frankly, if I pulled that

00:15:03.000 --> 00:15:05.740
card today, I wouldn't even slap it. I only graded

00:15:05.740 --> 00:15:10.120
it because I think I was sucked into the whole

00:15:10.120 --> 00:15:14.320
process back then. And today, I haven't submitted

00:15:14.320 --> 00:15:19.259
a card for grading in years. Fair. And I'm also

00:15:19.259 --> 00:15:20.960
kind of the same way. I keep saying I'm going

00:15:20.960 --> 00:15:22.600
to submit some more cards, and I've been holding

00:15:22.600 --> 00:15:25.159
off. I will say John might be getting traded

00:15:25.159 --> 00:15:28.039
to Miami, I saw. So that could possibly boost

00:15:28.039 --> 00:15:31.100
the John stock, although I'm not sure him in

00:15:31.100 --> 00:15:33.580
Miami would necessarily – bad things seem to

00:15:33.580 --> 00:15:35.200
happen in Miami. That's probably not a good idea.

00:15:35.360 --> 00:15:37.779
Yeah. It's like any time Conor McGregor goes

00:15:37.779 --> 00:15:39.440
to Miami, I was like, this is not going to end

00:15:39.440 --> 00:15:42.860
well. The extracurriculars at one's disposal

00:15:42.860 --> 00:15:49.120
as a resident of – south beach um i don't know

00:15:49.120 --> 00:15:51.379
if that's the best idea but i did hear miami

00:15:51.379 --> 00:15:54.299
i also heard what was the other team i heard

00:15:54.299 --> 00:15:58.740
the warriors potentially i also heard uh what

00:15:58.740 --> 00:16:01.159
was the one other team i don't think it was houston

00:16:01.159 --> 00:16:06.559
um it'll come to me hopefully why not the knicks

00:16:06.559 --> 00:16:10.500
no no way that would end terribly yeah yeah uh

00:16:10.500 --> 00:16:13.539
if it comes you bring it up in the meantime if

00:16:13.539 --> 00:16:17.419
Collectors MD had a mad mascot I'm thinking like

00:16:17.419 --> 00:16:21.919
a big, goofy, over -the -top, like NBA team mascot.

00:16:22.500 --> 00:16:25.659
What would it be and why? Yeah, I mean, I'm going

00:16:25.659 --> 00:16:29.220
to go back to what we brought up before. A dog,

00:16:29.360 --> 00:16:34.279
100%. I'm a huge dog guy. I grew up with Golden

00:16:34.279 --> 00:16:37.740
Retrievers. We had a Jack Russell and a Beagle

00:16:37.740 --> 00:16:40.220
when I was a kid. I mentioned to you before,

00:16:40.279 --> 00:16:43.340
my parents now have four dogs. But beyond that,

00:16:43.480 --> 00:16:45.919
I think dogs just represent. you know, loyalty

00:16:45.919 --> 00:16:48.580
and presence and unconditional love and support.

00:16:48.960 --> 00:16:51.019
They don't judge you. They don't keep score,

00:16:51.220 --> 00:16:54.480
you know, they just show up and that's what collectors

00:16:54.480 --> 00:16:57.220
MD is all about. You know, and when you just

00:16:57.220 --> 00:17:00.159
mentioned like big and goofy, the first dog that

00:17:00.159 --> 00:17:03.600
popped into my mind was like Scooby -Doo. Nice.

00:17:04.119 --> 00:17:05.740
That's funny. I was now thinking like a golden

00:17:05.740 --> 00:17:07.559
retriever. Cause you know, they like to chase

00:17:07.559 --> 00:17:09.759
the shiny thing. Sometimes I get it. I totally

00:17:09.759 --> 00:17:13.880
understand. Yeah. We'll get to maybe that great

00:17:13.880 --> 00:17:15.420
answer, by the way. I didn't expect that either.

00:17:15.599 --> 00:17:19.359
A little Scooby -Doo dog. You know, with like

00:17:19.359 --> 00:17:21.400
a little, maybe a sports jersey on, I can pitch

00:17:21.400 --> 00:17:25.000
it right now. Sure. Yeah. Meat and potatoes with

00:17:25.000 --> 00:17:28.440
Collectors MD here. I do want to touch on, you

00:17:28.440 --> 00:17:31.000
know, chasing that shiny thing. I was at a show

00:17:31.000 --> 00:17:33.640
recently, a little brief introduction of me.

00:17:33.700 --> 00:17:35.759
I, you know, I'm a collector first, but I do

00:17:35.759 --> 00:17:39.920
sell. cards online at eBay and at shows as a

00:17:39.920 --> 00:17:42.359
vendor. But, you know, one guy was coming by

00:17:42.359 --> 00:17:45.259
the stand, looking at cards and kind of, I realized

00:17:45.259 --> 00:17:47.400
now bragging about like, I get nothing out of

00:17:47.400 --> 00:17:49.839
ripping packs. I don't do that. I don't get people

00:17:49.839 --> 00:17:52.900
who do. It was like, you know, congrats on the,

00:17:52.920 --> 00:17:54.579
you know, self -control or whatever, but I'm

00:17:54.579 --> 00:17:56.720
like thinking about it. And I was like, I'm not

00:17:56.720 --> 00:17:58.940
like that. I do enjoy ripping packs. Like I like

00:17:58.940 --> 00:18:02.160
the chase. It is fun. Getting to the hobby with

00:18:02.160 --> 00:18:05.039
Whatnot, I think, is the biggest thing now. It's

00:18:05.039 --> 00:18:07.960
the hot topic. So, you know, we'll dive into

00:18:07.960 --> 00:18:10.519
the questions I had here, but sort of a precursor,

00:18:10.539 --> 00:18:13.559
getting into, you know, Collectors MD. I think

00:18:13.559 --> 00:18:15.400
now with the Whatnot, and you can essentially

00:18:15.400 --> 00:18:18.140
buy cards, I think, 24 -7. There will always

00:18:18.140 --> 00:18:21.079
be a stream on Whatnot or Fanatics Live. Am I

00:18:21.079 --> 00:18:25.789
wrong? You're not wrong. 24 -7 access. So I love

00:18:25.789 --> 00:18:27.990
buying cards. I like selling cards as well. I'm

00:18:27.990 --> 00:18:31.130
being 100 % transparent here. It's a bit of a

00:18:31.130 --> 00:18:33.329
different world here. So when I found, you know,

00:18:33.349 --> 00:18:35.690
Collectors MD and Alyx, I'll be honest, I don't

00:18:35.690 --> 00:18:38.069
see anyone else sort of putting out the message

00:18:38.069 --> 00:18:42.369
that you guys are. Absolutely. So sort of just,

00:18:42.470 --> 00:18:44.569
I guess, a kudos there and then getting, you

00:18:44.569 --> 00:18:48.630
know, into exactly what Collectors MD is. We touched

00:18:48.630 --> 00:18:50.650
a little bit about your personal journey into

00:18:50.650 --> 00:18:53.349
collecting and how the modern hobby with Whatnot.

00:18:54.160 --> 00:18:57.680
eBay Live now as well, Fanatics Live. That's

00:18:57.680 --> 00:18:59.799
kind of informed you to start Collectors MD. What

00:18:59.799 --> 00:19:02.140
was the exact pivot point where you realized

00:19:02.140 --> 00:19:05.900
that Collectors MD needed to exist? Yeah, well,

00:19:05.940 --> 00:19:08.359
there are multiple layers to this, right? I think

00:19:08.359 --> 00:19:10.980
on one hand, it's been a far -gone conclusion

00:19:10.980 --> 00:19:14.079
now for some time that gambling -like mechanics

00:19:14.079 --> 00:19:17.640
exist in the hobby. There's risk involved, potential

00:19:17.640 --> 00:19:21.740
harm. Kids are being targeted in predatory and

00:19:21.740 --> 00:19:25.869
exploitative ways. And so there's no layer of

00:19:25.869 --> 00:19:27.809
support that exists for those people that are

00:19:27.809 --> 00:19:31.730
experiencing sort of that direct fallout, right?

00:19:31.789 --> 00:19:35.109
There's no education. There's no advocacy for

00:19:35.109 --> 00:19:42.009
reform. There's no regulation or oversight, guardrails.

00:19:42.049 --> 00:19:46.349
And so that was really like the genesis of...

00:19:46.859 --> 00:19:49.599
why I felt like something like Collectors MD has

00:19:49.599 --> 00:19:52.819
to exist. Now, I will say that we've established

00:19:52.819 --> 00:19:57.839
the fact that we want to stay in our lane. We're

00:19:57.839 --> 00:20:00.859
not here to be a watchdog or to call anybody

00:20:00.859 --> 00:20:03.559
out or say people are doing things wrong or to,

00:20:03.559 --> 00:20:07.400
you know, make noise or be negative. We just

00:20:07.400 --> 00:20:10.000
want to support people who need help. We're more

00:20:10.000 --> 00:20:12.680
than happy to advocate for reform and work alongside

00:20:12.680 --> 00:20:16.240
folks that are looking to push. real change in

00:20:16.240 --> 00:20:18.720
the hobby. But again, that's not really our jurisdiction.

00:20:19.000 --> 00:20:21.859
Now, from a personal standpoint, there were really

00:20:21.859 --> 00:20:26.019
two moments for me where I realized that Collectors MD

00:20:26.019 --> 00:20:29.079
needed to exist. The first was in April of 2023.

00:20:29.819 --> 00:20:33.220
That was my final rock bottom with traditional

00:20:33.220 --> 00:20:36.910
gambling. I ended up self -excluding. from traditional

00:20:36.910 --> 00:20:39.789
gambling and ended up in an outpatient facility

00:20:39.789 --> 00:20:43.589
called Right Choice Recovery in an intensive

00:20:43.589 --> 00:20:46.910
outpatient program where I met Rob Sackowitz,

00:20:47.029 --> 00:20:49.430
who is the owner of Right Choice Recovery. And

00:20:49.430 --> 00:20:52.069
so hearing his story firsthand, I think really

00:20:52.069 --> 00:20:54.990
changed my life. He took the thing that almost

00:20:54.990 --> 00:20:58.049
destroyed him, basically his biggest weakness,

00:20:58.190 --> 00:21:01.049
which was his addiction to gambling, to substance,

00:21:01.210 --> 00:21:04.049
alcohol, et cetera. And he turned it into his

00:21:04.049 --> 00:21:06.980
purpose. and so that idea really stuck with me

00:21:06.980 --> 00:21:10.440
deeply now fast forward Collectors MD didn't

00:21:10.440 --> 00:21:13.700
launch until uh almost a year later which was

00:21:13.700 --> 00:21:16.759
march of 2024 actually no two years what am i

00:21:16.759 --> 00:21:19.119
saying two almost two years later march of 2025

00:21:19.119 --> 00:21:22.619
uh but it was always there sort of in the background

00:21:22.619 --> 00:21:26.660
um of my brain i guess uh and so that second

00:21:26.660 --> 00:21:29.420
moment was i think really like just this epiphany

00:21:29.680 --> 00:21:32.180
I just felt like I needed to stop waiting. I

00:21:32.180 --> 00:21:34.519
realized this wasn't just an idea anymore. I

00:21:34.519 --> 00:21:36.700
felt like, you know, sort of a responsibility

00:21:36.700 --> 00:21:39.779
and obligation just given my lived experience

00:21:39.779 --> 00:21:42.480
and everything that I know about addiction paired

00:21:42.480 --> 00:21:44.859
with my passion and love for the hobby and collecting

00:21:44.859 --> 00:21:48.180
in general. I just felt like, you know, it was

00:21:48.180 --> 00:21:52.480
time. It was my calling of sorts. And so I said

00:21:52.480 --> 00:21:55.380
to myself, like, this isn't a Sunday thing. Like,

00:21:55.380 --> 00:21:58.640
I'm just going to go for it. And so the next

00:21:58.640 --> 00:22:01.369
day. And so I had that epiphany actually on the

00:22:01.369 --> 00:22:04.289
way to picking up my wife from the airport. It

00:22:04.289 --> 00:22:06.009
was like on a, I don't know, Wednesday night

00:22:06.009 --> 00:22:11.390
or something. And the next morning I found the

00:22:11.390 --> 00:22:14.250
handle for, I, you know, created a new account

00:22:14.250 --> 00:22:17.150
on Instagram. Originally called it, not many

00:22:17.150 --> 00:22:21.789
people know this, Collectors Anon. So like Anon

00:22:21.789 --> 00:22:24.569
being short for anonymous. And I bought the domain

00:22:24.569 --> 00:22:29.410
for collectorsanon .com, which I think we still

00:22:29.410 --> 00:22:33.970
have and redirects to collectorsmd .com. Maybe

00:22:33.970 --> 00:22:35.829
not. I don't know if that's still the case. But

00:22:35.829 --> 00:22:40.349
anyway, I realized after, you know, a day or

00:22:40.349 --> 00:22:43.130
so, I was like, I want to come up with something

00:22:43.130 --> 00:22:45.509
that's a little bit more approachable, ubiquitous.

00:22:45.569 --> 00:22:48.490
And so maybe something that's kind of tongue

00:22:48.490 --> 00:22:51.450
in cheek. And that's like when Collectors MD sort

00:22:51.450 --> 00:22:54.640
of just. smacked me in the face so to speak and

00:22:54.640 --> 00:22:58.069
you know it's funny so many people uh approach

00:22:58.069 --> 00:23:01.390
me and say, well, are you a doctor? Are you a

00:23:01.390 --> 00:23:03.650
licensed therapist? You have MD in the name.

00:23:03.910 --> 00:23:08.430
And so we always say, and this is stated at the

00:23:08.430 --> 00:23:11.630
bottom of our website under a disclaimer, we

00:23:11.630 --> 00:23:13.849
are not medical doctors or licensed therapists.

00:23:14.210 --> 00:23:16.549
Collectors MD is a peer -led space built to help

00:23:16.549 --> 00:23:19.450
people recognize unhealthy patterns, reset their

00:23:19.450 --> 00:23:21.410
habits, and reconnect with the joy of collecting.

00:23:21.650 --> 00:23:24.250
Our approach is grounded in three core pillars,

00:23:24.450 --> 00:23:28.400
the MD's of Collectors MD. mental detox, money

00:23:28.400 --> 00:23:31.279
discipline, and meaningful decisions. And so

00:23:31.279 --> 00:23:34.539
we flesh each of those out inside of our Collectors

00:23:34.539 --> 00:23:36.579
MD Recovery Guide, which we use as the foundation

00:23:36.579 --> 00:23:39.819
for our 12 -step program. And so through honest

00:23:39.819 --> 00:23:41.640
reflection, education, and community support,

00:23:41.819 --> 00:23:43.640
we offer collectors a healthier way forward,

00:23:43.799 --> 00:23:46.559
whether you're seeking a reset, a support system,

00:23:46.599 --> 00:23:49.299
or simply more intention in how you engage with

00:23:49.299 --> 00:23:52.799
the hobby. This is your space. So we are not

00:23:52.799 --> 00:23:56.240
doctors. We are not licensed. therapists or clinicians

00:23:56.240 --> 00:23:58.819
or anything like that however we do have a referral

00:23:58.819 --> 00:24:01.680
network and if you feel like you are in need

00:24:01.680 --> 00:24:03.960
of real professional support we can absolutely

00:24:03.960 --> 00:24:06.660
direct you to the right places Yeah, I feel like

00:24:06.660 --> 00:24:09.400
some people, well, not naming anybody, just in

00:24:09.400 --> 00:24:11.700
case anyone has given you a hard time about the

00:24:11.700 --> 00:24:14.059
Collectors MD. If you go to the website, it's

00:24:14.059 --> 00:24:17.099
pretty clearly stated that Alyx is not a doctor.

00:24:17.200 --> 00:24:19.980
He does not call himself Dr. Alyx. He doesn't

00:24:19.980 --> 00:24:23.359
put MD after his name. It's the name of the website.

00:24:23.539 --> 00:24:26.339
And I think it does make sense, 100 % in the

00:24:26.339 --> 00:24:30.839
space of being, hey, we can provide you the link

00:24:30.839 --> 00:24:35.579
to licensed clinical professionals. Also, if

00:24:35.579 --> 00:24:37.140
you just need someone to talk to, you know, Alyx,

00:24:37.200 --> 00:24:39.759
same here. If someone feels like, hey, I'm in

00:24:39.759 --> 00:24:41.720
a sports car, but I'm not quite sure how to navigate

00:24:41.720 --> 00:24:44.579
this space, collect with intent is something

00:24:44.579 --> 00:24:47.920
that I also use. Can't tell a little personal

00:24:47.920 --> 00:24:52.180
story from my end. Getting into, you know, briefly

00:24:52.180 --> 00:24:55.799
we talked before we started recording about the

00:24:55.799 --> 00:24:57.900
Baltimore Orioles, and I'm obviously an Orioles

00:24:57.900 --> 00:25:00.200
fan with the hat, but their prospects are so

00:25:00.200 --> 00:25:02.099
many good ones, you want to almost collect them

00:25:02.099 --> 00:25:05.240
all, right? Like Pokemon. the collect with intent

00:25:05.240 --> 00:25:07.359
it was kind of cool i always just kind of looking

00:25:07.359 --> 00:25:10.420
back now selling cards those bowman chrome the

00:25:10.420 --> 00:25:12.920
top 100 prospect cards you know like the 2023

00:25:12.920 --> 00:25:15.519
i just like always like the way they look when

00:25:15.519 --> 00:25:17.579
i would get cards autographed when i still get

00:25:17.579 --> 00:25:19.980
cards autographed i like to get the bowman you

00:25:19.980 --> 00:25:22.359
know top 100 cards a lot of times those and tops

00:25:22.359 --> 00:25:25.140
pro debut um not so much about the value they

00:25:25.140 --> 00:25:26.799
just look cool to me i like talking about the

00:25:26.799 --> 00:25:30.470
insert yeah um Yeah, exactly. The insert card.

00:25:30.869 --> 00:25:33.230
There's one through 100 for the top 100 prospects.

00:25:33.609 --> 00:25:35.650
It's so funny you say that. Real quick, I don't

00:25:35.650 --> 00:25:38.150
mean to cut you off, but while we're on the topic,

00:25:38.509 --> 00:25:42.390
one of the only super fractures that I've ever

00:25:42.390 --> 00:25:45.369
pulled out of a Topps product was, and at the

00:25:45.369 --> 00:25:47.750
time I was like, who the heck is this guy? But

00:25:47.750 --> 00:25:50.109
I was fired up that it was a super fracture.

00:25:50.609 --> 00:25:52.829
And it was out of a personal box, which I was

00:25:52.829 --> 00:25:57.440
actually opening when I was... working with a

00:25:57.440 --> 00:26:01.220
break group early on in my uh collecting journey

00:26:01.220 --> 00:26:03.240
when i returned to the hobby in the pandemic

00:26:03.240 --> 00:26:05.519
it was called bogo breaks me and a few buddies

00:26:05.519 --> 00:26:07.559
that i grew up with started this you know this

00:26:07.559 --> 00:26:10.019
break group and we were just ripping um you know

00:26:10.019 --> 00:26:12.900
on instagram and facebook but uh i was ripping

00:26:12.900 --> 00:26:17.180
a bowman flagship box hobby box for myself and

00:26:17.180 --> 00:26:19.940
i did it live and i hit a super factor and it

00:26:19.940 --> 00:26:22.799
was that it was the number 98 prospect in that

00:26:22.799 --> 00:26:26.599
class and it was garrett crochet A Garrett Crochet

00:26:26.599 --> 00:26:30.279
prospect card. And at the time, I was like, oh,

00:26:30.299 --> 00:26:33.039
man, a pitcher. I mean, I was still excited,

00:26:33.279 --> 00:26:36.039
but now Garrett Crochet is arguably the best

00:26:36.039 --> 00:26:39.039
pitcher in the MLB. Yes, yes. Did he win the

00:26:39.039 --> 00:26:42.420
Cy Young? Yeah, I believe he did. Oh, no, maybe

00:26:42.420 --> 00:26:44.660
Scoop. No, Scoop was in the NL. I believe he

00:26:44.660 --> 00:26:47.960
got in the AL. No, he didn't. I'm looking at

00:26:47.960 --> 00:26:49.500
his career highlights and awards. He did not.

00:26:49.660 --> 00:26:51.920
But he should. He was definitely a contender

00:26:51.920 --> 00:26:55.720
because last year he had 255 strikeouts, a 259

00:26:55.720 --> 00:26:59.200
ERA, and 18 wins. It's funny. I'm glad you said

00:26:59.200 --> 00:27:01.299
it. I took my dad to spring training my first

00:27:01.299 --> 00:27:04.740
time, his first time as well, and we saw Crochet

00:27:04.740 --> 00:27:07.039
pitch for the Red Sox. He was like, is this guy

00:27:07.039 --> 00:27:09.680
one of the best pitchers? I was like, yeah, he's

00:27:09.680 --> 00:27:11.319
legitimately one of the best pitchers in the

00:27:11.319 --> 00:27:15.160
world. He's insane. I'm trying to pull it up

00:27:15.160 --> 00:27:17.200
real quick. Yeah, real quick to finish that,

00:27:17.240 --> 00:27:20.369
though, that collect with intent. finishing that

00:27:20.369 --> 00:27:24.849
set it's like oh yeah go ahead it was uh actually

00:27:24.849 --> 00:27:26.470
a rookie i didn't realize i thought it was a

00:27:26.470 --> 00:27:28.990
prospect it was a rookie it was number 99 on

00:27:28.990 --> 00:27:32.170
on that set list yeah super i had it for a long

00:27:32.170 --> 00:27:34.910
time too that's cool what was that 2022 you said

00:27:34.910 --> 00:27:38.670
no that was like 2020 so that was in april of

00:27:38.670 --> 00:27:42.900
2021 when i pulled that yeah But no, yeah, that

00:27:42.900 --> 00:27:46.420
2023, the cards are like $1 to $3. It's one I

00:27:46.420 --> 00:27:48.640
don't, I look to get in trades or whatever, right?

00:27:48.740 --> 00:27:50.900
And it's a fun set for me to collect. And I'm

00:27:50.900 --> 00:27:52.920
like, oh, this is collecting within 10, I'm pretty

00:27:52.920 --> 00:27:56.779
sure, because I'm spending maybe $5, $10 a month,

00:27:56.900 --> 00:27:59.539
right? And I'm slowly, it all started because

00:27:59.539 --> 00:28:01.539
one guy was like trying to get rid of them. He

00:28:01.539 --> 00:28:03.660
said, do you want 30 of these for $10? I was

00:28:03.660 --> 00:28:04.880
like, and they were random. I was like, and a

00:28:04.880 --> 00:28:06.960
couple duplicates, but I was like doing the math.

00:28:07.359 --> 00:28:08.619
I was like, nah, I don't want, you know, I was

00:28:08.619 --> 00:28:09.779
like, I do like them. I was like, what am I going

00:28:09.779 --> 00:28:12.140
to do with it? I was like, well. I already have

00:28:12.140 --> 00:28:14.799
like another 20 of these. This is a good chance

00:28:14.799 --> 00:28:16.319
to start building out the set. And now, you know,

00:28:16.359 --> 00:28:18.180
I'm really enjoying it. So anyway, I got that

00:28:18.180 --> 00:28:19.740
idea from you. I'll get, I'll get you to half

00:28:19.740 --> 00:28:22.400
cart it with the collecting with intent. So no,

00:28:22.519 --> 00:28:26.420
if don't cut me off, I, it's my podcast sports,

00:28:26.480 --> 00:28:30.240
Sports Man Dan Show. I mean, the only reason

00:28:30.240 --> 00:28:31.819
why I cut you off is because I've literally never

00:28:31.819 --> 00:28:35.440
heard anyone refer to that ML or that Bowman

00:28:35.440 --> 00:28:38.839
100 insert set because it's not popular. It's

00:28:38.839 --> 00:28:42.059
not like, it's not. So. then i remember it just

00:28:42.059 --> 00:28:44.160
dawned on me i was like i remember pulling that

00:28:44.160 --> 00:28:47.799
card and it being number 99 out of 100 i was

00:28:47.799 --> 00:28:51.140
like i could have gotten any player in that set

00:28:51.140 --> 00:28:53.799
it could have been one through 50 but i got the

00:28:53.799 --> 00:28:56.720
second to last guy in this so in my mind i was

00:28:56.720 --> 00:28:58.180
like a little disappointed because it was this

00:28:58.180 --> 00:29:00.559
technically the second to worst player according

00:29:00.559 --> 00:29:03.019
to the bowman rankings but then fast forward

00:29:03.019 --> 00:29:05.359
to today and hey that's what bowman's all about

00:29:05.359 --> 00:29:08.180
like you never know who's gonna pan out And,

00:29:08.180 --> 00:29:10.019
you know, I mean, all things considered, like

00:29:10.019 --> 00:29:13.720
99th best prospect in the MLB is pretty, pretty

00:29:13.720 --> 00:29:16.000
damn good. He was actually the 11th overall pick

00:29:16.000 --> 00:29:19.279
in 2020. So it's like, yeah, it was it was a

00:29:19.279 --> 00:29:21.880
big deal. But also, like, I don't think it was

00:29:21.880 --> 00:29:24.400
until recently where people started to pay more

00:29:24.400 --> 00:29:26.819
respect to pitchers in the hobby because of Paul

00:29:26.819 --> 00:29:30.059
Skeens. But, you know, at the time, like nobody

00:29:30.059 --> 00:29:32.160
wanted to hit a pitcher. Right. You had a super

00:29:32.160 --> 00:29:35.690
you wanted to be a hitter. I think it's still

00:29:35.690 --> 00:29:37.690
that way. It's funny. My buddy, when I got into

00:29:37.690 --> 00:29:40.990
autographs after games, he was interested in

00:29:40.990 --> 00:29:43.230
getting pitcher cards to get signed. He was like,

00:29:43.309 --> 00:29:45.509
is this too unproductive? I'm like, well, I like

00:29:45.509 --> 00:29:47.670
watching really good pitchers just as much as

00:29:47.670 --> 00:29:49.170
I like watching really good hitters. Yes, it's

00:29:49.170 --> 00:29:51.950
not quite as exciting, the home runs, but to

00:29:51.950 --> 00:29:55.609
me, I think any real baseball fan can argue that

00:29:55.609 --> 00:29:59.930
a guy throwing no hitters is damn exciting, right?

00:30:00.319 --> 00:30:02.599
The pitcher is like the quarterback of the team.

00:30:03.359 --> 00:30:05.640
Pitchers deserve so much more respect than they

00:30:05.640 --> 00:30:08.980
get. But then, of course, you have the Shohei

00:30:08.980 --> 00:30:11.640
Otani's of the world who do both, and it's hard

00:30:11.640 --> 00:30:16.039
to compete with that. It is, and I think anybody

00:30:16.039 --> 00:30:19.160
trying to compete with that, it's... Relatively

00:30:19.160 --> 00:30:21.420
impossible, although I know a couple guys out

00:30:21.420 --> 00:30:23.279
there. DeGrom was a great hitter as well, and

00:30:23.279 --> 00:30:25.460
they kind of took that away with the DH. But

00:30:25.460 --> 00:30:30.500
maybe we should digress. I love talking prospects.

00:30:30.579 --> 00:30:33.200
I love talking cards. I do want to talk about,

00:30:33.319 --> 00:30:34.920
though, is something you've done for the hobby

00:30:34.920 --> 00:30:39.599
with Collectors MD. Sort of, you know, it's great

00:30:39.599 --> 00:30:41.240
to provide a platform and everything, but, like,

00:30:41.240 --> 00:30:43.400
action -wise, what are you doing? These weekly

00:30:43.400 --> 00:30:46.119
support groups every Wednesday at 8, I believe,

00:30:46.220 --> 00:30:50.789
right? Yep. Wednesday, 8 p .m. Eastern. I was

00:30:50.789 --> 00:30:52.390
going to say, what's the most surprising insight

00:30:52.390 --> 00:30:54.609
you've learned from these weekly peer support

00:30:54.609 --> 00:30:57.309
group discussions? And have you been doing these

00:30:57.309 --> 00:31:02.069
since the founding in March of 2025? Yes, that's

00:31:02.069 --> 00:31:04.609
a great question. We didn't actually start the

00:31:04.609 --> 00:31:08.349
the meetings until. i want to say like april

00:31:08.349 --> 00:31:10.950
or may so it was a little a little bit after

00:31:10.950 --> 00:31:14.230
we started the movement um really because i wanted

00:31:14.230 --> 00:31:18.029
to sort of gauge interest see if there was a

00:31:18.029 --> 00:31:20.509
demand or a need for it and then when i realized

00:31:20.509 --> 00:31:24.549
there was it became you know pretty uh obvious

00:31:24.549 --> 00:31:28.470
that this was going to become you know the sort

00:31:28.470 --> 00:31:31.529
of the primary pathway in terms of like what

00:31:31.529 --> 00:31:34.910
we offer And so, or at least from a support angle.

00:31:34.970 --> 00:31:37.829
So I think the most surprising insight from the

00:31:37.829 --> 00:31:41.210
peer support groups is just how similar everyone's

00:31:41.210 --> 00:31:43.369
experiences are, right? Like we're talking about

00:31:43.369 --> 00:31:46.190
different collections, different interests, different

00:31:46.190 --> 00:31:50.170
incomes, different ages, but like the same sort

00:31:50.170 --> 00:31:52.750
of emotional loops. We're talking about the same

00:31:52.750 --> 00:31:57.210
shame, the urgency, the FOMO, the chasing, you

00:31:57.210 --> 00:31:59.130
know, and you're really just chasing that dopamine

00:31:59.130 --> 00:32:02.319
hit, that relief. And it's really consistent

00:32:02.319 --> 00:32:04.859
across the board. And so what surprises me every

00:32:04.859 --> 00:32:07.900
week is just the compassion in the room. People

00:32:07.900 --> 00:32:10.900
show up for each other in ways that are genuinely

00:32:10.900 --> 00:32:14.839
powerful. It just reminds you, again, how healing

00:32:14.839 --> 00:32:18.619
community can be. I've been saying it all along.

00:32:18.759 --> 00:32:21.480
We cannot heal in isolation. We have to heal

00:32:21.480 --> 00:32:24.380
in community. We have to. you know, lean on each

00:32:24.380 --> 00:32:26.339
other for real support. And that's what peer

00:32:26.339 --> 00:32:28.579
support is all about. So these meetings aren't

00:32:28.579 --> 00:32:31.619
just like sessions where I'm talking all the

00:32:31.619 --> 00:32:33.900
time or teaching people or leading, you know,

00:32:33.900 --> 00:32:36.279
like I'm helping navigate it. I'm guiding the

00:32:36.279 --> 00:32:38.539
meeting forward. I'm, you know, doing a lot of

00:32:38.539 --> 00:32:40.579
that, but it's, it's really intended to be peer

00:32:40.579 --> 00:32:44.460
support where people can come into a judgment

00:32:44.460 --> 00:32:47.119
-free stigma -free environment, speak from the

00:32:47.119 --> 00:32:49.480
heart, speak how they feel, get this weight off

00:32:49.480 --> 00:32:52.410
their chest. Other people listen who have experienced

00:32:52.410 --> 00:32:55.930
very similar things. They, you know, cross exchange,

00:32:56.049 --> 00:32:58.549
share each other's story or like share, share,

00:32:58.670 --> 00:33:01.430
you know, not advice or recommendations. We try

00:33:01.430 --> 00:33:03.349
to steer clear from that, not trying to diagnose

00:33:03.349 --> 00:33:07.450
or prescribe anybody anything. It's more so just

00:33:07.450 --> 00:33:10.150
like letting people know, like we get it. We're

00:33:10.150 --> 00:33:12.769
here for you. You can get through this. It takes

00:33:12.769 --> 00:33:15.589
a village. That's what it's all about. No, I

00:33:15.589 --> 00:33:17.430
think it's, I think it's an awesome message and

00:33:17.430 --> 00:33:21.339
just an awesome, very, you know, inviting hey

00:33:21.339 --> 00:33:24.240
we do this it seems very consistent from what

00:33:24.240 --> 00:33:27.039
i've seen um also i was a bit surprised to learn

00:33:27.039 --> 00:33:28.819
that you've only been around since march of 2025

00:33:28.819 --> 00:33:30.480
i think you've done a great job of spreading

00:33:30.480 --> 00:33:33.779
that message uh it seems like you do a lot of

00:33:33.779 --> 00:33:35.640
an interview almost every week which is that's

00:33:35.640 --> 00:33:37.740
the way to do it it shows uh you're dedicated

00:33:37.740 --> 00:33:41.359
to it um so uh no just kind of kudos to you there

00:33:41.359 --> 00:33:44.839
and uh i don't want to pry but if there's any

00:33:44.839 --> 00:33:48.480
personal story or someone you know That relationship

00:33:48.480 --> 00:33:50.940
with Collectors MD is a real success story that

00:33:50.940 --> 00:33:53.519
you want to share or could share? Yeah, yeah.

00:33:53.799 --> 00:33:58.500
I appreciate you, you know, prefacing it that

00:33:58.500 --> 00:34:03.559
way because we do take, you know, I guess, community

00:34:03.559 --> 00:34:06.279
member confidentiality very seriously. We want

00:34:06.279 --> 00:34:09.760
to protect the privacy, the safety. um you know

00:34:09.760 --> 00:34:12.099
all of that across the board for our members

00:34:12.099 --> 00:34:14.980
and so there is one person in particular that

00:34:14.980 --> 00:34:16.760
i'm comfortable talking about because he has

00:34:16.760 --> 00:34:19.219
his own youtube channel and he constantly talks

00:34:19.219 --> 00:34:21.719
about Collectors MD um sort of forward -facing

00:34:21.719 --> 00:34:24.420
and publicly uh his name is Brandon Howard he's

00:34:24.420 --> 00:34:27.579
also known as Collector Charles um or collect

00:34:27.579 --> 00:34:30.309
Charles I believe he's Collector Charles on YouTube

00:34:30.309 --> 00:34:33.230
and Collect Charles on Instagram, but he just

00:34:33.230 --> 00:34:35.909
started his own YouTube channel not too long

00:34:35.909 --> 00:34:37.769
ago and he's putting out some really great content.

00:34:37.909 --> 00:34:40.489
But yeah, Brandon Howard, he's just such a great

00:34:40.489 --> 00:34:43.250
example. He's really become like one of the strongest

00:34:43.250 --> 00:34:45.949
voices in our community. He joins every single

00:34:45.949 --> 00:34:49.050
meeting without fail, always, you know, inserts

00:34:49.050 --> 00:34:52.030
himself, adds his two cents, super supportive,

00:34:52.130 --> 00:34:55.480
so reliable. I've been able to lean on him at

00:34:55.480 --> 00:34:57.480
times if I'm running late to one of the meetings

00:34:57.480 --> 00:34:59.760
and I need somebody to kick it off or take the

00:34:59.760 --> 00:35:01.940
group through our recovery guide while I'm getting

00:35:01.940 --> 00:35:05.500
set up. He does it. No questions asked. And so,

00:35:05.579 --> 00:35:08.960
yeah, man, he stopped joining breaks. He became

00:35:08.960 --> 00:35:11.719
more thoughtful with his purchases. He's re -centered

00:35:11.719 --> 00:35:14.519
why he collects. And his relationship with the

00:35:14.519 --> 00:35:17.900
hobby, I think, changed fundamentally. And it's

00:35:17.900 --> 00:35:20.929
important to say we have. two distinct lanes

00:35:20.929 --> 00:35:23.010
right there's the intentional collecting which

00:35:23.010 --> 00:35:25.809
is like somebody like Brandon or myself uh who

00:35:25.809 --> 00:35:29.210
still wants to you know enjoy collecting to some

00:35:29.210 --> 00:35:31.949
extent but do so more responsibly and just like

00:35:31.949 --> 00:35:35.550
within uh you know limitations within our our

00:35:35.550 --> 00:35:39.409
means and our uh budget etc and then there's

00:35:39.409 --> 00:35:41.710
abstinence right those that just can no longer

00:35:41.710 --> 00:35:44.010
have a healthy relationship with the hobby and

00:35:44.010 --> 00:35:47.329
just uh you know has have to abstain completely

00:35:47.329 --> 00:35:50.849
and so we meet everybody wherever they are in

00:35:50.849 --> 00:35:54.469
their journey not everyone needs the same solution

00:35:54.469 --> 00:35:57.550
there's not a one -size -fits -all but it is

00:35:57.550 --> 00:36:00.110
important to note that uh you know no matter

00:36:00.110 --> 00:36:03.130
where you are in your collecting and or recovery

00:36:03.130 --> 00:36:07.030
journey we're here for you awesome awesome no

00:36:07.030 --> 00:36:09.469
i'm glad i can you know i have a very small platform

00:36:09.469 --> 00:36:11.469
right now i understand that but i'm glad to help

00:36:11.469 --> 00:36:14.449
share this message and uh you know collectors

00:36:14.449 --> 00:36:18.179
md you're uh part of the um what's the name of

00:36:18.179 --> 00:36:20.500
y 'all's podcast as well The Collector's Compass

00:36:20.500 --> 00:36:23.719
Collector's Compass yeah i love you know checking

00:36:23.719 --> 00:36:25.539
in with y 'all and the different stories you

00:36:25.539 --> 00:36:27.960
share there i think you've touched on the community

00:36:27.960 --> 00:36:30.619
and the people that's what that's what it's all

00:36:30.619 --> 00:36:32.960
about um and also shout out all your sponsors

00:36:32.960 --> 00:36:34.699
that are help you know keeping Collectors MD

00:36:34.699 --> 00:36:37.820
going um i know that you're not in it to make

00:36:37.820 --> 00:36:39.599
any profit that's not what you're about Alyx

00:36:39.599 --> 00:36:41.920
uh and i looked at y 'all's website man it's

00:36:41.920 --> 00:36:44.320
very well done it's a nice like i said very inviting

00:36:44.320 --> 00:36:47.170
and professional i might have to ask you for

00:36:47.170 --> 00:36:49.449
some tips because i know i need to get my uh

00:36:49.449 --> 00:36:52.750
a website of some sort at of some time but uh

00:36:52.750 --> 00:36:55.570
that's yeah i appreciate you saying that i mean

00:36:55.570 --> 00:36:58.050
i'm not like super savvy when it comes to web

00:36:58.050 --> 00:37:00.750
design or anything like that i actually think

00:37:00.750 --> 00:37:03.510
that the website's pretty basic and rudimentary

00:37:03.510 --> 00:37:06.150
uh in terms of like the way it's set up everything

00:37:06.150 --> 00:37:10.530
you see is exactly what i created and again like

00:37:10.530 --> 00:37:13.989
i'm not like a designer or you know uh super

00:37:14.539 --> 00:37:18.159
um skilled or experienced when it comes to uh

00:37:18.159 --> 00:37:21.360
that sort of thing but we are uh working with

00:37:21.360 --> 00:37:23.960
a handful of folks that are hopefully going to

00:37:23.960 --> 00:37:27.719
help you know propel us to that next stage next

00:37:27.719 --> 00:37:30.780
phase of of Collectors MD and help us sort of

00:37:30.780 --> 00:37:32.980
redesign the site and get us to where we want

00:37:32.980 --> 00:37:35.539
to go um but yeah man i appreciate you saying

00:37:35.539 --> 00:37:38.670
that um You mentioned the revenue side of things,

00:37:38.769 --> 00:37:41.710
like I'm not in it for profit, so to speak. That's

00:37:41.710 --> 00:37:43.630
something that's come up in the past as far as

00:37:43.630 --> 00:37:45.590
like, oh, well, he's just doing this for money.

00:37:47.030 --> 00:37:50.030
That's not something that I think it's fair to

00:37:50.030 --> 00:37:54.469
say because, first of all, we never will take

00:37:54.469 --> 00:37:58.289
money from any of our community members. All

00:37:58.289 --> 00:38:01.349
of our meetings will always be free. Our tools,

00:38:01.469 --> 00:38:04.269
our resources, our referral network, all of that.

00:38:04.650 --> 00:38:09.989
100 free um you know if for when we end up down

00:38:09.989 --> 00:38:12.769
the line becoming like a treatment center that

00:38:12.769 --> 00:38:14.510
takes insurance something like that like that's

00:38:14.510 --> 00:38:17.670
way far down the road like we don't expect people

00:38:17.670 --> 00:38:20.130
to pay like a monthly subscription or make donations

00:38:20.130 --> 00:38:22.469
or anything like that now of course you know

00:38:22.469 --> 00:38:24.489
i've dedicated my life and my career to this

00:38:24.489 --> 00:38:27.670
and so i gotta find ways to uh you know keep

00:38:27.670 --> 00:38:29.750
the lights on right and food on the table and

00:38:29.750 --> 00:38:32.230
so we're getting creative and strategic around

00:38:32.230 --> 00:38:35.590
ways to monetize through things like sponsorships

00:38:35.590 --> 00:38:38.610
advertising uh working with coalitions and councils

00:38:38.610 --> 00:38:41.449
at the state level things like that um so that

00:38:41.449 --> 00:38:43.429
you know we can really propel this thing and

00:38:43.429 --> 00:38:45.550
and keep it sustainable because at the end of

00:38:45.550 --> 00:38:48.809
the day you know you can't do that uh you know

00:38:48.809 --> 00:38:51.840
without Some somewhat of a foundation, but to

00:38:51.840 --> 00:38:53.840
date, it's all been completely bootstrapped and

00:38:53.840 --> 00:38:56.719
we haven't taken any donations or really made

00:38:56.719 --> 00:39:00.280
much money at all up to this point. But we're

00:39:00.280 --> 00:39:02.159
we're working we're working on trying to scale

00:39:02.159 --> 00:39:04.320
this thing so that, again, like the end goal

00:39:04.320 --> 00:39:06.800
is that we can help as many people as humanly

00:39:06.800 --> 00:39:10.679
possible. I think doing these sort of podcast

00:39:10.679 --> 00:39:15.250
interviews, I hope hopefully this is not. It's

00:39:15.250 --> 00:39:17.409
work at the end of the day, right? And not to

00:39:17.409 --> 00:39:18.969
say that this is work and you're not enjoying

00:39:18.969 --> 00:39:21.469
every second of this interview, but right, like

00:39:21.469 --> 00:39:23.489
doing all these interviews, getting the message

00:39:23.489 --> 00:39:26.269
out, that's a great way to do it. And with that,

00:39:26.349 --> 00:39:29.769
you've been on a lot of these podcasts. What's

00:39:29.769 --> 00:39:32.550
one question you wish people would ask you, but

00:39:32.550 --> 00:39:36.349
never do? Yeah, I mean, I think they rarely ask

00:39:36.349 --> 00:39:38.829
like what this work costs emotionally, right?

00:39:39.739 --> 00:39:42.079
sitting with other people's struggles while also

00:39:42.079 --> 00:39:45.079
managing your own can be like really heavy, right?

00:39:45.579 --> 00:39:49.380
It's absolutely 100 % worth it, but it's not

00:39:49.380 --> 00:39:52.260
easy, right? And I think that part often goes

00:39:52.260 --> 00:39:55.179
unseen. That's a good point too. And then like

00:39:55.179 --> 00:39:57.679
hearing, you know, maybe somebody lost their

00:39:57.679 --> 00:40:00.420
house or lost their, you know, marriage or whatever,

00:40:00.559 --> 00:40:03.519
relationship, whatever, or is in debt, you know,

00:40:03.519 --> 00:40:05.800
severe debt. And then now, you know, you're looking

00:40:05.800 --> 00:40:07.800
at some cards of your own, right? And, you know,

00:40:07.800 --> 00:40:10.250
maybe like, dang, you know, they had all these

00:40:10.250 --> 00:40:12.190
real problems over pieces of cardboard, right?

00:40:12.269 --> 00:40:14.469
I'm sure that has to be tough. It has to weigh

00:40:14.469 --> 00:40:16.909
up. Of course, man. We're seeing some really,

00:40:16.929 --> 00:40:20.250
really heavy things happening to people in terms

00:40:20.250 --> 00:40:24.730
of, you know, divorce and losing custody of children

00:40:24.730 --> 00:40:29.070
and losing, you know, their jobs and having to

00:40:29.070 --> 00:40:30.909
move out of their homes or sell their homes or

00:40:30.909 --> 00:40:32.650
sell their cars. Like these are all very real

00:40:32.650 --> 00:40:34.929
things that are happening as a direct result

00:40:34.929 --> 00:40:38.670
of addiction, hobby addiction. Yeah, absolutely.

00:40:39.260 --> 00:40:41.960
And there are people that spend as much money,

00:40:41.980 --> 00:40:44.880
if not more, than some of the biggest degenerate

00:40:44.880 --> 00:40:47.380
gamblers you could think of. So, yeah, it's a

00:40:47.380 --> 00:40:50.079
very serious and real topic and should not be

00:40:50.079 --> 00:40:52.880
taken lightly. And I think it just speaks volumes

00:40:52.880 --> 00:40:56.139
to the fact that today's modern day hobby is

00:40:56.139 --> 00:40:58.260
not the same as what it was when we were kids.

00:40:58.639 --> 00:41:01.769
No. no and i i think most people in the hobby

00:41:01.769 --> 00:41:04.369
see that and know that but maybe you know in

00:41:04.369 --> 00:41:07.210
some of these you know interactions i've seen

00:41:07.210 --> 00:41:09.449
with you you know talking about Collectors MD

00:41:09.449 --> 00:41:12.849
uh maybe people just kind of ignore it or laugh

00:41:12.849 --> 00:41:15.170
at it because they don't want to accept that

00:41:15.170 --> 00:41:17.050
it's such a bad problem you know i just know

00:41:17.050 --> 00:41:19.469
setting up at shows i've been selling cards at

00:41:19.469 --> 00:41:22.389
shows for a year so i'm very new to this i'm

00:41:22.389 --> 00:41:24.730
not gonna act like i'm some expert but i i've

00:41:24.730 --> 00:41:28.110
seen at a show a guy on the phone and was like

00:41:28.480 --> 00:41:31.320
hey i need you to wire me 500 there's a deal

00:41:31.320 --> 00:41:33.760
here i need to get it and the guy you could tell

00:41:33.760 --> 00:41:35.880
on the phone was like why can't you and he was

00:41:35.880 --> 00:41:37.780
explained oh no already maxed the credit cards

00:41:37.780 --> 00:41:40.179
i can't like trying to agree with them like no

00:41:40.179 --> 00:41:42.320
i tried all that i can't you know everything's

00:41:42.320 --> 00:41:45.519
maxed i need 500 now and then i can flip it and

00:41:45.519 --> 00:41:47.099
i was like you know what does this sound like

00:41:47.099 --> 00:41:48.780
you know i've been to casinos it sounds like

00:41:48.780 --> 00:41:51.659
the guy by the atm of the casino begging a friend

00:41:51.659 --> 00:41:53.940
to wire him money to get i'm like you had a card

00:41:53.940 --> 00:41:56.449
show you know at 10 a .m on a saturday Yeah,

00:41:56.489 --> 00:41:58.369
what you just verbalized, what you just illustrated

00:41:58.369 --> 00:42:01.869
is textbook addiction. These are people that

00:42:01.869 --> 00:42:06.230
will go to any length to scratch that itch, to

00:42:06.230 --> 00:42:10.190
feed that dopamine high, to fill that empty space.

00:42:10.469 --> 00:42:14.150
And we're talking about lying, cheating, deceiving,

00:42:14.269 --> 00:42:18.369
stealing. It gets really, really serious. And

00:42:18.369 --> 00:42:20.809
that's why gambling addiction specifically, and

00:42:20.809 --> 00:42:23.219
I mentioned it. To you before, I work at Right

00:42:23.219 --> 00:42:25.119
Choice on Monday nights and Tuesday nights leading

00:42:25.119 --> 00:42:31.480
group meetings for gambling addiction. And so

00:42:31.480 --> 00:42:35.019
I've seen it firsthand. I've experienced it firsthand,

00:42:35.280 --> 00:42:36.960
you know, through my own lived experience. I

00:42:36.960 --> 00:42:38.460
know what it feels like, but I'm talking about

00:42:38.460 --> 00:42:41.699
like gambling addiction is a real disease. Like

00:42:41.699 --> 00:42:44.079
it is a disease. It destroys from the inside

00:42:44.079 --> 00:42:47.900
out. And it's a lifelong, you know, battle. You

00:42:47.900 --> 00:42:49.639
know, it doesn't just go away. There's no like.

00:42:50.170 --> 00:42:52.710
there's no remedy there's no anecdote that you

00:42:52.710 --> 00:42:57.429
just uh uh take or not anecdote at it antidote

00:42:57.429 --> 00:43:02.309
what's it called antidote that you just take

00:43:02.309 --> 00:43:05.409
that that will just uh make it go away you really

00:43:05.409 --> 00:43:09.960
have to uh stay the course Stick to, you know,

00:43:09.960 --> 00:43:12.900
whether it be a 12 -step program or, you know,

00:43:12.900 --> 00:43:15.920
a routine or just whatever works for you. Just

00:43:15.920 --> 00:43:18.280
keep checking in, taking your personal inventory,

00:43:18.679 --> 00:43:22.199
reaching out to others, whether that be, you

00:43:22.199 --> 00:43:24.159
know, your inner circle, family member, loved

00:43:24.159 --> 00:43:28.360
one, sponsor, accountability partner, peer support,

00:43:28.579 --> 00:43:34.360
and just, you know, make recovery. uh a priority

00:43:34.360 --> 00:43:37.440
because if you don't it can be so easy to just

00:43:37.440 --> 00:43:40.559
uh fall off the wagon we've seen it happen with

00:43:40.559 --> 00:43:44.380
people that have been sober clean for 10 years

00:43:44.380 --> 00:43:47.480
20 years sometimes more one thing happens that

00:43:47.480 --> 00:43:50.880
triggers them um you know and they get that urge

00:43:50.880 --> 00:43:54.059
and suddenly they're right back where they started

00:43:54.059 --> 00:43:57.920
and uh the cycle starts all over so it's a very

00:43:57.920 --> 00:44:01.190
real thing and people just i think on one hand

00:44:01.190 --> 00:44:02.789
need to take it more seriously for themselves

00:44:02.789 --> 00:44:07.110
but also people looking in from the outside they

00:44:07.110 --> 00:44:09.389
they need to also take it more seriously and

00:44:09.389 --> 00:44:11.829
understand that this is very real and that we

00:44:11.829 --> 00:44:13.789
need to be respectful and mindful of the fact

00:44:13.789 --> 00:44:18.969
that mental health is a very serious thing that

00:44:18.969 --> 00:44:22.449
um should not be taken lightly no and you know

00:44:22.449 --> 00:44:24.989
i'm all about having a good time and you know

00:44:26.329 --> 00:44:28.369
keeping shows lighthearted, but it's one of those

00:44:28.369 --> 00:44:30.369
things where you kind of have to take it seriously.

00:44:30.449 --> 00:44:32.750
It's one of those topics that's just, it is what

00:44:32.750 --> 00:44:34.829
it is. Gambling addiction, addiction is dark,

00:44:34.949 --> 00:44:37.789
right? There's no way around it. I think you

00:44:37.789 --> 00:44:39.969
touched on it earlier, having, you know, not

00:44:39.969 --> 00:44:42.090
having to, but choosing to do that, you know,

00:44:42.090 --> 00:44:44.530
weekly, day in, day out. I'm sure it does take

00:44:44.530 --> 00:44:47.230
a toll. At the end of the day, collecting is

00:44:47.230 --> 00:44:49.309
fun. That's why we do it, right? We enjoy it.

00:44:50.050 --> 00:44:51.829
At the end of the day, there is the light at

00:44:51.829 --> 00:44:53.590
the end of the tunnel, right? But I'm sure there

00:44:53.590 --> 00:44:56.579
are a lot of... As we talked about, there are

00:44:56.579 --> 00:45:00.400
a lot of dark stories. I want to add, Dan, you

00:45:00.400 --> 00:45:02.039
brought up a really great point there. It's not

00:45:02.039 --> 00:45:05.039
all doom and gloom. Some of this stuff is really

00:45:05.039 --> 00:45:11.320
heavy. It can be daunting and intimidating to

00:45:11.320 --> 00:45:13.119
get involved in something like this and really

00:45:13.119 --> 00:45:15.079
look in the mirror and say, damn, I need real

00:45:15.079 --> 00:45:17.940
help. But at the same time, recovery is a beautiful

00:45:17.940 --> 00:45:24.690
thing. want to drive home the point that you

00:45:24.690 --> 00:45:27.550
can have the same community, the same camaraderie

00:45:27.550 --> 00:45:32.090
that you currently do in your hobby or with a

00:45:32.090 --> 00:45:34.909
sports team or a fraternity or something like

00:45:34.909 --> 00:45:38.429
that right here at Collectors MD or any other

00:45:38.429 --> 00:45:42.889
adjacent recovery -like group or program without

00:45:42.889 --> 00:45:45.210
having to spend a single dollar, without having

00:45:45.210 --> 00:45:48.750
to sort of fall into the hype traps or give in

00:45:48.750 --> 00:45:52.360
to FOMO or that sense of urgency. It's I've made

00:45:52.360 --> 00:45:55.440
really close friends through this process. I

00:45:55.440 --> 00:45:58.980
really have people I truly believe will be lifelong

00:45:58.980 --> 00:46:02.500
friends. It's a beautiful thing. And again, like

00:46:02.500 --> 00:46:04.480
we have the intentional collecting lane. These

00:46:04.480 --> 00:46:06.159
are people that are still engaged in the hobby.

00:46:06.260 --> 00:46:08.659
They still go to card shows. They still buy product.

00:46:08.739 --> 00:46:10.659
They still buy cards. But they're just doing

00:46:10.659 --> 00:46:14.099
so more mindfully, intentionally and responsibly.

00:46:14.260 --> 00:46:17.809
That's what it really comes down to. That's awesome.

00:46:17.989 --> 00:46:21.030
Especially the lifelong friends. I know that's

00:46:21.030 --> 00:46:22.929
not why you get into it, but when you have that

00:46:22.929 --> 00:46:24.449
byproduct, it kind of lets you know that you're

00:46:24.449 --> 00:46:28.530
doing the right thing, right? Totally. And sort

00:46:28.530 --> 00:46:30.510
of kind of segueing off of that, this whole

00:46:30.510 --> 00:46:33.570
hype train and the FOMO, how do you engage with

00:46:33.570 --> 00:46:36.750
breakers, shops, maybe vendors or different marketplaces

00:46:36.750 --> 00:46:39.769
to promote healthier collecting practices? Because

00:46:39.769 --> 00:46:41.690
at the end of the day, a lot of these, I mean,

00:46:41.690 --> 00:46:43.769
they just want to make a buck. And anytime that's

00:46:43.769 --> 00:46:45.630
involved, there's greed. Anytime money's involved,

00:46:45.809 --> 00:46:48.280
there is greed. Yeah, it's a great question.

00:46:48.480 --> 00:46:52.480
So we've partnered with a handful of hobby shops,

00:46:52.760 --> 00:46:55.960
break groups, hobby platforms, tools, resources,

00:46:56.079 --> 00:47:00.000
et cetera, through what we call our hashtag Rip

00:47:00.000 --> 00:47:03.079
Responsibly initiative. And so Rip Responsibly

00:47:03.079 --> 00:47:05.679
is just all about slowing things down, adding

00:47:05.679 --> 00:47:09.019
transparency, removing that sort of manufactured

00:47:09.019 --> 00:47:12.300
urgency and hype. And so we've partnered with

00:47:12.300 --> 00:47:17.030
Card Ladder, Market Movers, Cards HQ. hobby scan,

00:47:17.309 --> 00:47:22.909
mantle, slab track. We just recently partnered

00:47:22.909 --> 00:47:27.010
with Rip and Wax. They're a pretty big break

00:47:27.010 --> 00:47:29.630
group in the hobby. Rip Hamilton Rips, they're

00:47:29.630 --> 00:47:32.869
one of the biggest break groups on Whatnot. Bodega

00:47:32.869 --> 00:47:37.369
Cards here in Jersey. So we're doing some really

00:47:37.369 --> 00:47:40.630
amazing things. you know, across the board, but

00:47:40.630 --> 00:47:44.469
I'm also just so humbled and grateful that these

00:47:44.469 --> 00:47:47.309
industry leaders have been willing to, you know,

00:47:47.309 --> 00:47:53.150
not just have the conversation, but also spread

00:47:53.150 --> 00:47:55.889
the message and spread positive awareness. So

00:47:55.889 --> 00:47:58.530
it's not about pointing fingers or, you know,

00:47:58.530 --> 00:48:02.289
again, being a watchdog or blaming anyone. It's

00:48:02.289 --> 00:48:04.530
just about building healthier systems and creating

00:48:04.530 --> 00:48:07.849
a safer and more sustainable environment for

00:48:07.849 --> 00:48:12.300
all collectors. Well, you're doing the right

00:48:12.300 --> 00:48:14.920
thing by doing this. And I don't mean to harp

00:48:14.920 --> 00:48:16.679
on it, but I have a couple more questions I do

00:48:16.679 --> 00:48:18.780
want to touch on on the subject, if that's all

00:48:18.780 --> 00:48:21.320
right with you, Alyx. Of course, man. Yeah. So

00:48:21.320 --> 00:48:23.300
what do you think right now, moving forward,

00:48:23.340 --> 00:48:25.480
are the biggest barriers to systematic change

00:48:25.480 --> 00:48:28.059
in the hobby? And how does Collectors MD tackle

00:48:28.059 --> 00:48:30.039
them? In addition to, of course, these weekly

00:48:30.039 --> 00:48:32.420
support groups, which I think is maybe the biggest

00:48:32.420 --> 00:48:35.219
catalyst. Yeah. I mean, I think it's a number

00:48:35.219 --> 00:48:37.760
of things. I think it starts with incentives,

00:48:38.119 --> 00:48:42.860
right? The speed, the hype and the volume are

00:48:42.860 --> 00:48:46.460
just, you know, always rewarded, right? Like

00:48:46.460 --> 00:48:49.320
incentives are just the biggest barrier, right?

00:48:49.420 --> 00:48:51.860
So like right now, the hobby, again, it just

00:48:51.860 --> 00:48:54.599
rewards all of that. And so the faster you move

00:48:54.599 --> 00:48:58.260
products, the louder the marketing, the more

00:48:58.260 --> 00:49:00.800
urgency you create, the more money gets made

00:49:00.800 --> 00:49:04.239
in the short term, right? So restraint isn't

00:49:04.239 --> 00:49:07.980
rewarded at all. Slow down. someone down encouraging

00:49:07.980 --> 00:49:11.079
reflection uh or telling them it's okay to walk

00:49:11.079 --> 00:49:15.099
away just doesn't really fit neatly um you know

00:49:15.099 --> 00:49:18.820
in into a revenue model for these for these uh

00:49:18.820 --> 00:49:21.099
hobby shops break groups platforms manufacturers

00:49:21.099 --> 00:49:24.920
etc so real change just requires slowing things

00:49:24.920 --> 00:49:28.280
down that can be very uncomfortable for an ecosystem

00:49:29.230 --> 00:49:32.230
built on constant motion, constant hype, constant

00:49:32.230 --> 00:49:35.429
velocity, right? It challenges short -term thinking.

00:49:35.590 --> 00:49:39.730
It asks people to trade these quick wins, these

00:49:39.730 --> 00:49:42.329
quick hits of dopamine for something like patience

00:49:42.329 --> 00:49:45.090
and sustainability. And that can be really hard

00:49:45.090 --> 00:49:50.309
when margins and engagement numbers are really

00:49:50.309 --> 00:49:52.929
driving decisions, right? So what we try to do

00:49:52.929 --> 00:49:56.070
at Collectors MD is really meet that reality

00:49:56.070 --> 00:50:00.420
head on. we focus on uh education so people can

00:50:00.420 --> 00:50:02.639
recognize patterns instead of blaming themselves

00:50:02.639 --> 00:50:05.500
we build partnerships with platform shops and

00:50:05.500 --> 00:50:08.420
creators who are willing to experiment with healthier

00:50:08.420 --> 00:50:11.940
engagement and we point to proof right collectors

00:50:11.940 --> 00:50:15.400
who feel supported informed and respected uh

00:50:15.400 --> 00:50:18.760
actually stick around longer they burn out less

00:50:18.760 --> 00:50:21.179
they don't disappear after hitting a wall so

00:50:21.179 --> 00:50:23.980
while you know this rip responsibly concept might

00:50:23.980 --> 00:50:26.710
deter some people in the short term Really what

00:50:26.710 --> 00:50:28.730
you're doing is you're creating a sense of trust

00:50:28.730 --> 00:50:32.489
and transparency with your audience that, hey,

00:50:32.510 --> 00:50:35.329
this is what we're doing here. This is what this

00:50:35.329 --> 00:50:38.429
environment can potentially lead to if you aren't

00:50:38.429 --> 00:50:43.590
careful. And I think in turn, the customers and

00:50:43.590 --> 00:50:47.710
the followers will respect that platform, that

00:50:47.710 --> 00:50:51.610
breaker, that creator so much more. because they're

00:50:51.610 --> 00:50:54.090
looking out for the health and safety of the

00:50:54.090 --> 00:50:56.670
individual, not just 100 % focused on revenue.

00:50:56.869 --> 00:50:59.710
So I think the sustainability factor, the long

00:50:59.710 --> 00:51:05.110
-term loyalty will absolutely sort of trump that

00:51:05.110 --> 00:51:09.590
short -term loss in potential revenue. So yeah,

00:51:09.690 --> 00:51:11.929
I mean, like healthy engagement may not spike

00:51:11.929 --> 00:51:15.829
overnight metrics per se, but it absolutely just

00:51:15.829 --> 00:51:18.150
creates that sense of trust and trust is really

00:51:18.150 --> 00:51:22.099
what lasts. That's a great point, especially

00:51:22.099 --> 00:51:24.940
the long -term growth of the hobby. Really, this

00:51:24.940 --> 00:51:27.000
is going to help the hobby because that burnout

00:51:27.000 --> 00:51:29.860
thing is a real thing. How many times on Reddit,

00:51:30.000 --> 00:51:33.199
for anyone on Reddit, you see, I am deeply in

00:51:33.199 --> 00:51:36.059
debt and I need to sell my collection. It's like,

00:51:36.159 --> 00:51:39.420
oh man, I had a hospital bill. I need money now.

00:51:40.159 --> 00:51:42.880
And maybe they're not getting the sales that

00:51:42.880 --> 00:51:44.880
they wanted. And stuff like that does happen.

00:51:47.269 --> 00:51:49.210
That's not going to make a collector long term,

00:51:49.309 --> 00:51:52.150
right? Someone ripping responsibly and collecting

00:51:52.150 --> 00:51:54.090
intentionally. That's going to help. Like you

00:51:54.090 --> 00:51:55.989
said, it's going to help everyone if we get out

00:51:55.989 --> 00:51:58.969
of that short term mindset. Yeah, man. I want

00:51:58.969 --> 00:52:02.670
to also acknowledge that, you know, there are

00:52:02.670 --> 00:52:05.489
people out there on Reddit that have been actively

00:52:05.489 --> 00:52:11.010
supporting and, you know, basically. pushing

00:52:11.010 --> 00:52:13.389
people to check out Collectors MD who are having

00:52:13.389 --> 00:52:16.050
those issues or openly sharing you know what

00:52:16.050 --> 00:52:18.530
they're experiencing and i don't know who they

00:52:18.530 --> 00:52:20.849
are if they're you know in our group chat our

00:52:20.849 --> 00:52:23.869
discord um you know it's obviously mostly anonymous

00:52:23.869 --> 00:52:26.389
but i'm super super grateful for those people

00:52:26.389 --> 00:52:29.010
uh because again this isn't about me this isn't

00:52:29.010 --> 00:52:31.769
about growing Collectors MD or scaling this or

00:52:32.360 --> 00:52:35.579
uh becoming like famous in the hobby or like

00:52:35.579 --> 00:52:38.019
creating cloud it's about helping as many people

00:52:38.019 --> 00:52:40.980
as humanly possible and that takes an army we

00:52:40.980 --> 00:52:44.099
can't i can't do this by myself i need this to

00:52:44.099 --> 00:52:46.119
be a community effort and so for those people

00:52:46.119 --> 00:52:49.699
that are out there you know on the front lines

00:52:49.699 --> 00:52:52.219
in these reddit groups in Facebook posts saying

00:52:52.219 --> 00:52:55.880
hey go check out Collectors MD they can help

00:52:55.880 --> 00:52:58.599
you that there's peer support available like

00:52:58.599 --> 00:53:01.000
that just that means the world because it means

00:53:01.000 --> 00:53:03.699
that It shows that people actually care about

00:53:03.699 --> 00:53:07.260
one another. It's rare in today's society. It

00:53:07.260 --> 00:53:11.190
really is. It is. No, I was starting to think

00:53:11.190 --> 00:53:12.869
about what I'm going to be doing with The Sports Man

00:53:12.869 --> 00:53:15.750
Dan Show, but I think live streams will be a

00:53:15.750 --> 00:53:18.349
part of it. We're going to wrap up here with

00:53:18.349 --> 00:53:20.829
some fun questions sort of at the end, but Alyx,

00:53:20.869 --> 00:53:23.090
I'd love to have you on with maybe like a live

00:53:23.090 --> 00:53:24.969
stream where we bring you on as a guest and just

00:53:24.969 --> 00:53:27.150
have people, you know, hopefully with a little

00:53:27.150 --> 00:53:29.289
more following by then do like a live Q and a,

00:53:29.409 --> 00:53:31.269
and you can kind of just answer questions in

00:53:31.269 --> 00:53:33.510
real time. Yeah, that'd be great. I'd love that.

00:53:34.130 --> 00:53:37.670
Awesome. No, we'll set that up for sure. Now,

00:53:37.789 --> 00:53:39.590
in the meantime, I still have you. And again,

00:53:39.730 --> 00:53:41.449
thank you for your time, Alyx. I know I kind

00:53:41.449 --> 00:53:43.369
of messaged you yesterday about this and you

00:53:43.369 --> 00:53:45.730
you got back to me and managed to set it up today.

00:53:45.969 --> 00:53:48.670
So, yeah, I told you I found that window. I was

00:53:48.670 --> 00:53:50.349
like, you know what? I really want to do this

00:53:50.349 --> 00:53:52.969
with you. I don't want to put this off. Let's

00:53:52.969 --> 00:53:55.510
lock in a time. And so we found. an hour which

00:53:55.510 --> 00:53:57.610
is now turning into almost two but that's completely

00:53:57.610 --> 00:54:00.769
fine um i've really uh enjoyed this conversation

00:54:00.769 --> 00:54:02.670
with you Dan getting to know you in this short

00:54:02.670 --> 00:54:05.469
time and i think that uh this will definitely

00:54:05.469 --> 00:54:09.630
materialize into you know a long -term uh friendship

00:54:09.630 --> 00:54:13.769
and relationship so uh that that is just so invaluable

00:54:13.769 --> 00:54:16.469
and it really does mean a lot to me it means

00:54:16.469 --> 00:54:18.530
a lot to me as well and i appreciate your thoughtful

00:54:18.530 --> 00:54:22.559
responses um no this has been a i know it's work

00:54:22.559 --> 00:54:24.000
from your end right doing a lot of these interviews

00:54:24.000 --> 00:54:26.320
and you know it might be a little work editing

00:54:26.320 --> 00:54:28.280
but like genuinely i enjoyed this discussion

00:54:28.280 --> 00:54:31.019
i'm looking forward to some future ones me too

00:54:31.019 --> 00:54:34.500
man all right so now wrapping up is there a player

00:54:34.500 --> 00:54:38.179
set or era that instantly makes you feel like

00:54:38.179 --> 00:54:41.380
a kid again when you see that card Michael Jordan

00:54:41.380 --> 00:54:44.219
i know this is most people uh most people's answer

00:54:44.219 --> 00:54:47.260
especially those that are my age mid 30s uh but

00:54:47.260 --> 00:54:50.489
yeah man just like early to mid 90s upper deck

00:54:50.489 --> 00:54:54.090
base cards of Michael Jordan um i grew up watching

00:54:54.090 --> 00:54:56.909
the Chicago Bulls with my dad i wasn't a bulls

00:54:56.909 --> 00:54:59.670
fan per se but like you know it was Michael Jordan

00:54:59.670 --> 00:55:03.289
it was his league like he won six rings and went

00:55:03.289 --> 00:55:07.349
six and oh in those championship uh runs so yeah

00:55:07.349 --> 00:55:09.989
i i remember watching the Bulls play the Jazz

00:55:09.989 --> 00:55:12.409
in the finals and just like my dad would would

00:55:12.409 --> 00:55:15.170
get me loose packs and i was just always looking

00:55:15.170 --> 00:55:18.039
for that Jordan and you know they weren't worth

00:55:18.039 --> 00:55:20.280
much they're not worth much now but like you

00:55:20.280 --> 00:55:22.300
know those are the memories that are just sort

00:55:22.300 --> 00:55:26.340
of embedded in i think in my my past my childhood

00:55:26.340 --> 00:55:29.969
my nostalgia No, that is awesome. And I am in

00:55:29.969 --> 00:55:33.050
no way a Jordan fan myself, but I do love those

00:55:33.050 --> 00:55:35.690
early 90s cards. And I may be dating myself.

00:55:36.050 --> 00:55:37.789
Even though I said I'm not a Jordan fan, I'm

00:55:37.789 --> 00:55:40.969
a Knicks fan, Jordan is better than LeBron. We

00:55:40.969 --> 00:55:43.190
can end that discussion right now. Michael Jordan

00:55:43.190 --> 00:55:45.130
is better than LeBron. You can let me know if

00:55:45.130 --> 00:55:48.050
you think differently in the comments. I'm more

00:55:48.050 --> 00:55:51.989
of a John Starr fan. Look, I'm kind of neutral

00:55:51.989 --> 00:55:54.789
on that discussion. I think it's just like Giannis.

00:55:55.130 --> 00:55:58.190
fit a square peg in a round hole. It's not apples

00:55:58.190 --> 00:56:03.510
to oranges. It's like comparing Tom Brady to

00:56:03.510 --> 00:56:07.369
Shohei Ohtani. They play different sports. They're

00:56:07.369 --> 00:56:09.190
different players, different types of athletes.

00:56:09.610 --> 00:56:12.590
Different eras. But if you were to, there's no

00:56:12.590 --> 00:56:16.170
way LeBron is hitting triples. I think Jordan

00:56:16.170 --> 00:56:18.739
had a couple triples. extra base hits in the

00:56:18.739 --> 00:56:20.619
minor leagues anyway Jordan's just a superior

00:56:20.619 --> 00:56:22.920
athlete but i'll just leave it at that i i'm

00:56:22.920 --> 00:56:24.579
trying to stir the pause what i'm doing Alyx

00:56:24.579 --> 00:56:26.579
that's all good i'm right there with you though

00:56:26.579 --> 00:56:29.880
gun to my head i'll probably take Jordan absolutely

00:56:29.880 --> 00:56:32.360
in the finals like last shot come on game six

00:56:32.360 --> 00:56:36.280
game seven iconic iconic yeah plus LeBron's LeBron's

00:56:36.280 --> 00:56:38.679
you know book isn't isn't finished yet so let's

00:56:38.679 --> 00:56:40.400
let let's let him finish his career then we can

00:56:40.400 --> 00:56:42.980
have that debate I'll have it whenever. Also,

00:56:43.139 --> 00:56:46.860
yeah, yeah, good point, Alyx. Moving on swiftly.

00:56:48.099 --> 00:56:51.360
Other than paid, which I know you love that,

00:56:51.500 --> 00:56:54.500
if no one's familiar with that statement, paid,

00:56:54.679 --> 00:56:57.820
if you watch a decent amount of breaks, someone

00:56:57.820 --> 00:57:00.780
will hit a card, let's say it's a PSA 10 John

00:57:00.780 --> 00:57:03.440
Morant, and they're like, you bought in for a

00:57:03.440 --> 00:57:06.039
$200 spot, and you hit that $50 card, and they

00:57:06.039 --> 00:57:09.539
say paid. Even though that maybe only paid for

00:57:09.539 --> 00:57:13.940
a quarter of your spot, other than paid, Alyx,

00:57:14.039 --> 00:57:16.679
what is the most overrated card term out there?

00:57:17.360 --> 00:57:19.380
I mean, when they say paid, they may as well

00:57:19.380 --> 00:57:23.300
just be saying jackpot. You hit the jackpot on

00:57:23.300 --> 00:57:25.159
the slot machine. That's what they're saying.

00:57:25.840 --> 00:57:30.460
I think the most overrated or the one that really

00:57:30.460 --> 00:57:34.559
just makes my skin crawl is value. This is a

00:57:34.559 --> 00:57:37.679
value break. This is a can't miss. like like

00:57:37.679 --> 00:57:40.539
it's a once in a lifetime opportunity unreal

00:57:40.539 --> 00:57:44.440
value chat it that's just manufactured like it's

00:57:44.440 --> 00:57:47.039
it's all about the manufactured urgency and the

00:57:47.039 --> 00:57:49.480
FOMO and it's just language designed to just

00:57:49.480 --> 00:57:52.900
like speed the decisions and compress thinking

00:57:52.900 --> 00:57:55.880
and make hesitation feel like a mistake and it's

00:57:55.880 --> 00:57:59.059
the price you know um or the price is framed

00:57:59.059 --> 00:58:01.880
as temporary the opportunity is like you know

00:58:01.880 --> 00:58:04.659
rare it's once in a lifetime and then you know

00:58:04.659 --> 00:58:06.909
the downside is just it's not even addressed

00:58:06.909 --> 00:58:09.690
it's not even acknowledged so real value doesn't

00:58:09.690 --> 00:58:14.070
need a countdown clock it doesn't rely on like

00:58:14.070 --> 00:58:18.489
group pressure or last few spots energy and it

00:58:18.489 --> 00:58:20.389
definitely doesn't show up wrapped in someone

00:58:20.389 --> 00:58:24.210
else's certainty so if it were truly value if

00:58:24.210 --> 00:58:26.710
it were truly value or valuable it wouldn't need

00:58:26.710 --> 00:58:30.500
to be sold so hard Well said, Alyx. And that's

00:58:30.500 --> 00:58:33.139
true to any industry, right? They use car law

00:58:33.139 --> 00:58:36.260
with all the fancy signs and the fancy marketing.

00:58:36.360 --> 00:58:39.340
It's like maybe they don't have the best used

00:58:39.340 --> 00:58:42.900
cars. Funny how that works out. Yeah. I mean,

00:58:42.900 --> 00:58:45.880
that's typically always what we end up comparing

00:58:45.880 --> 00:58:48.460
the Whatnot breakers to. And again, I don't want

00:58:48.460 --> 00:58:50.860
to be overly critical or cynical or anything

00:58:50.860 --> 00:58:54.659
like that, but the whole concept of a car salesman,

00:58:54.739 --> 00:58:58.409
definitely. comes up and i won't use any adjectives

00:58:58.409 --> 00:59:01.369
to describe said car salesman but it's it's definitely

00:59:01.369 --> 00:59:04.610
uh become pretty synonymous with with breakers

00:59:04.610 --> 00:59:07.590
some of these financial advisors now i feel like

00:59:07.590 --> 00:59:10.309
are more like used car salesmen uh hey and by

00:59:10.309 --> 00:59:11.949
the way this is coming from somebody who used

00:59:11.949 --> 00:59:15.610
to break right i told you before i i broke for

00:59:15.610 --> 00:59:17.829
a couple years on on instagram and facebook before

00:59:17.829 --> 00:59:19.989
the whole thing exploded before Whatnot before

00:59:19.989 --> 00:59:22.550
Fanatics Live but nonetheless i was still a breaker

00:59:22.550 --> 00:59:25.349
and before that i was in well not before that

00:59:25.349 --> 00:59:28.309
before Collectors MD i was in advertising sales

00:59:28.309 --> 00:59:30.610
so i was the guy people trying to sell pixels

00:59:30.610 --> 00:59:36.010
so look i i i can relate um you know empathetic

00:59:36.010 --> 00:59:38.510
i understand that at the end of the day a lot

00:59:38.510 --> 00:59:39.750
of these breakers are just trying to do their

00:59:39.750 --> 00:59:41.230
job they're just trying to bring in money for

00:59:41.230 --> 00:59:43.789
the company that they work for like more power

00:59:43.789 --> 00:59:45.849
to you but let's just be a little bit careful

00:59:45.849 --> 00:59:50.449
when we're you know reeling in the uh the potential

00:59:50.449 --> 00:59:53.539
customers especially if you know, we're talking

00:59:53.539 --> 00:59:55.860
about expensive spots or like, you know, children

00:59:55.860 --> 00:59:58.260
getting involved, things like that. Yeah. Right.

00:59:58.360 --> 01:00:00.280
No, we're talking about, it's not, you know,

01:00:00.280 --> 01:00:02.599
tens of dollars or dozens of dollars. We're talking

01:00:02.599 --> 01:00:04.559
about thousands and tens of thousands of dollars

01:00:04.559 --> 01:00:08.300
and upwards of there. Right. So no, exactly.

01:00:08.699 --> 01:00:11.659
I think it's well said. Moving on to number three,

01:00:11.739 --> 01:00:13.840
I got four here again. Thank you for your time,

01:00:13.920 --> 01:00:15.659
Alyx. I'll let you, I'll let you get out of here.

01:00:15.739 --> 01:00:18.480
But number three, if you could only collect one

01:00:18.480 --> 01:00:20.900
thing for the rest of your life, what would it

01:00:20.900 --> 01:00:23.119
be? So I'll say like, you know, cards, you can

01:00:23.119 --> 01:00:25.500
do a broad one like that, you know, or shoes

01:00:25.500 --> 01:00:27.780
you could choose. You said Funko pops. That would

01:00:27.780 --> 01:00:30.719
be an option. Yeah, definitely not Funko pops

01:00:30.719 --> 01:00:35.639
and definitely not WNBA players. But honestly,

01:00:35.880 --> 01:00:38.920
like this one came to me almost immediately.

01:00:39.300 --> 01:00:42.719
And the answer for me is watches without hesitation.

01:00:43.119 --> 01:00:45.880
And so my grandfather was a big watch collector.

01:00:46.510 --> 01:00:48.670
And a lot of my connection to collecting, I think,

01:00:48.690 --> 01:00:50.550
really started there. Like it's really embedded

01:00:50.550 --> 01:00:54.349
in my DNA. Just like watching him talk about

01:00:54.349 --> 01:00:57.969
craftsmanship and history and what a watch represented.

01:00:58.269 --> 01:01:01.510
Like it just always stuck with me. And it wasn't

01:01:01.510 --> 01:01:03.989
about like the hype or the resale. It was about

01:01:03.989 --> 01:01:06.610
meaning. You know, he really taught me patience

01:01:06.610 --> 01:01:10.170
and appreciation. And so that foundation, I think,

01:01:10.190 --> 01:01:12.130
just really shapes how I think about collecting

01:01:12.130 --> 01:01:16.800
to this day. You know, I love watches. Unfortunately,

01:01:17.079 --> 01:01:21.320
I had to sell a lot of them when I was in the

01:01:21.320 --> 01:01:23.219
throes of my addiction and going through some

01:01:23.219 --> 01:01:25.960
of my financial struggles. But, you know, I do

01:01:25.960 --> 01:01:28.440
still have the watch that my wife gifted me on

01:01:28.440 --> 01:01:31.820
our wedding day. I still have, you know, another

01:01:31.820 --> 01:01:35.119
one that holds a lot of weight in terms of sentimental

01:01:35.119 --> 01:01:37.639
value. I have another one that I inherited from

01:01:37.639 --> 01:01:39.940
my grandfather. So, you know, again, like curating,

01:01:39.960 --> 01:01:41.679
distilling your collection, I think is really

01:01:41.679 --> 01:01:45.030
important. Not one person needs. a million watches

01:01:45.030 --> 01:01:48.230
or a million pairs of sneakers or 10 zion cases

01:01:48.230 --> 01:01:51.610
of sports cards uh but speaking of speak sneakers

01:01:51.610 --> 01:01:54.510
i think sneakers would be a close second because

01:01:54.510 --> 01:01:57.849
i was a sneaker head long before cards ever entered

01:01:57.849 --> 01:02:00.269
the picture in terms of the modern hobby i'm

01:02:00.269 --> 01:02:02.050
talking about like the camp outs you know the

01:02:02.050 --> 01:02:04.469
the weekly releases the culture the storytelling

01:02:04.469 --> 01:02:07.630
uh sneakers really taught me how collecting could

01:02:07.630 --> 01:02:10.949
be personal and expressive not just transactional

01:02:10.949 --> 01:02:14.269
at one point i mean this was a problem within

01:02:14.269 --> 01:02:16.690
itself but at one point i had over 500 pairs

01:02:16.690 --> 01:02:20.070
of sneakers in my 20s oh man yeah so uh that's

01:02:20.070 --> 01:02:23.670
really where things started to spiral so you

01:02:23.670 --> 01:02:25.449
know when i when i talk about these things i

01:02:25.449 --> 01:02:29.150
say it you know with a grain of salt um because

01:02:29.150 --> 01:02:34.309
in some ways collecting ha really you know hurt

01:02:34.309 --> 01:02:36.710
me a lot more than it it brought me value so

01:02:36.710 --> 01:02:41.500
with that like I've learned to sort of recenter,

01:02:41.500 --> 01:02:45.980
recalibrate, figure out how to trim the fat and

01:02:45.980 --> 01:02:51.599
make collecting, provide me with value instead

01:02:51.599 --> 01:02:55.400
of no longer serving me, which is ultimately

01:02:55.400 --> 01:03:00.599
what it had become over the span of 10, 15 years.

01:03:00.760 --> 01:03:07.900
But I feel much, much lighter and more fulfilled.

01:03:08.650 --> 01:03:12.170
looking at a fraction of what I once owned than

01:03:12.170 --> 01:03:14.150
I did when I was just sitting on a mountain of

01:03:14.150 --> 01:03:19.650
crap. Well said. It's collecting with intent,

01:03:19.849 --> 01:03:22.630
right? Once you lose that intent, you could have

01:03:22.630 --> 01:03:25.030
all the collections in the world. It just won't

01:03:25.030 --> 01:03:29.420
really mean as much, right? Right. 100%. The

01:03:29.420 --> 01:03:32.179
last thing here, what is one thing you hope listeners

01:03:32.179 --> 01:03:35.039
remember after this conversation? And if I had

01:03:35.039 --> 01:03:36.639
to pick one, I really think it would just be

01:03:36.639 --> 01:03:39.579
the way you ended that last question. You know,

01:03:39.599 --> 01:03:42.360
you went through the sneakers. You've seen, I

01:03:42.360 --> 01:03:44.320
think, some of the highs to highs of breaking

01:03:44.320 --> 01:03:47.460
and lows to lows with your financial hardships

01:03:47.460 --> 01:03:51.260
and dealing with this addiction head on. I don't

01:03:51.260 --> 01:03:52.579
mean to cut you off, let you answer your own

01:03:52.579 --> 01:03:55.739
question. But I just want to say, Alyx, I think

01:03:55.739 --> 01:03:58.849
anyone who. wants to take a little introspective

01:03:58.849 --> 01:04:01.789
look at themselves um you've kind of opened yourself

01:04:01.789 --> 01:04:04.929
out there and uh i think that's a really brave

01:04:04.929 --> 01:04:07.329
thing for someone to do i appreciate you saying

01:04:07.329 --> 01:04:09.989
that Dan truly um and this is a great question

01:04:09.989 --> 01:04:12.889
and i think it's a great uh you know sort of

01:04:12.889 --> 01:04:15.789
place to end this conversation which by the way

01:04:15.789 --> 01:04:18.329
it's been great you've done such a terrific job

01:04:18.329 --> 01:04:21.630
um but i i think the biggest thing i'd want people

01:04:21.630 --> 01:04:24.880
to remember is that you don't have to quit collecting

01:04:24.880 --> 01:04:26.800
you don't have to quit the hobby to change your

01:04:26.800 --> 01:04:28.980
relationship with it for a lot of collectors

01:04:28.980 --> 01:04:31.639
it's not about walking away it's just about slowing

01:04:31.639 --> 01:04:34.400
things down i think for a lot of collectors it's

01:04:34.400 --> 01:04:38.800
not about you know um sort of uh it's really

01:04:38.800 --> 01:04:41.119
just about being honest with yourself right and

01:04:41.119 --> 01:04:43.679
paying attention to why you're doing what you're

01:04:43.679 --> 01:04:47.079
doing right like awareness just changes everything

01:04:47.079 --> 01:04:49.780
and once you start noticing those patterns uh

01:04:49.780 --> 01:04:53.460
when you're chasing when you're just trying to

01:04:53.460 --> 01:04:56.519
numb the pain when it no longer stops being fun,

01:04:56.639 --> 01:04:58.760
or like I said before, it no longer is serving

01:04:58.760 --> 01:05:02.300
you, that's when you actually get the control,

01:05:02.440 --> 01:05:05.420
the agency back. And maybe most importantly,

01:05:05.659 --> 01:05:07.719
you don't have to figure all of that out alone.

01:05:07.960 --> 01:05:10.099
This stuff is so much heavier when you're just

01:05:10.099 --> 01:05:12.460
sitting in isolation or you're feeling that guilt

01:05:12.460 --> 01:05:15.969
or shame that you ended up. you know belong through

01:05:15.969 --> 01:05:19.170
your savings uh because of cardboard right but

01:05:19.170 --> 01:05:20.929
there i promise you there are other people out

01:05:20.929 --> 01:05:23.309
there and having other people who understand

01:05:23.309 --> 01:05:28.269
uh the nuances of what can come from you know

01:05:28.269 --> 01:05:33.250
hobby burnout um and the pull of of just over

01:05:33.250 --> 01:05:35.949
compulsive collecting all of that just makes

01:05:36.329 --> 01:05:38.449
change feel possible instead of overwhelming

01:05:38.449 --> 01:05:42.469
and real quick too um you had put this question

01:05:42.469 --> 01:05:45.929
uh on the list and i i just i'd be remiss not

01:05:45.929 --> 01:05:48.329
to address it yeah i don't know if you skipped

01:05:48.329 --> 01:05:53.110
it or you know just i jump around so i appreciate

01:05:53.110 --> 01:05:55.949
your thoughtful responses yeah no please go ahead

01:05:55.949 --> 01:05:57.969
this is this is one that i think is really important

01:05:57.969 --> 01:06:00.469
and it was advice for others trying to foster

01:06:00.469 --> 01:06:05.610
positive culture and i would say And this is

01:06:05.610 --> 01:06:08.610
advice that was given to me by a gentleman in

01:06:08.610 --> 01:06:13.409
the hobby named Mr. Minty. Great guy. He preps

01:06:13.409 --> 01:06:15.809
cards for grading. I met him at National in 2023.

01:06:16.550 --> 01:06:19.190
I've had many conversations with him. He's been

01:06:19.190 --> 01:06:21.630
a supporter since day one. But what he told me

01:06:21.630 --> 01:06:24.750
before I started making content, he said, pick

01:06:24.750 --> 01:06:27.289
up a mic and start talking. Don't worry about

01:06:27.289 --> 01:06:29.690
audience size. Don't worry about what people

01:06:29.690 --> 01:06:33.250
think or what they say. If you help one person.

01:06:33.719 --> 01:06:36.960
Just one person, you've made an impact. And that's

01:06:36.960 --> 01:06:40.800
what it's all about. That's awesome, Alyx. I

01:06:40.800 --> 01:06:43.440
think you are making a real impact. I think you

01:06:43.440 --> 01:06:45.440
will continue to do so. And I'm happy to support

01:06:45.440 --> 01:06:48.780
in any capacity that I can. I know probably a

01:06:48.780 --> 01:06:51.559
lot of people say that, but I do mean it. And

01:06:51.559 --> 01:06:53.780
I hope more people do say that. And you continue

01:06:53.780 --> 01:06:57.119
to grow it, as I know you will. Anyone who's

01:06:57.119 --> 01:07:00.159
interested in learning more, you see down below.

01:07:01.309 --> 01:07:03.369
Collectors MD but for those who are just listening

01:07:03.369 --> 01:07:06.730
on social you can you can check out Alyx at Collectors

01:07:06.730 --> 01:07:09.969
MD um or like i said they have a great website

01:07:09.969 --> 01:07:13.110
collectorsmd .com Alyx i'm excited to bring

01:07:13.110 --> 01:07:15.789
you back and thank you again for your time thanks

01:07:15.789 --> 01:07:19.070
Dan yeah also excited to see uh Sports Man Dan

01:07:19.070 --> 01:07:22.409
uh your show grow as well you're doing a a killer

01:07:22.409 --> 01:07:24.510
job i know you're gonna crush it so looking forward

01:07:24.510 --> 01:07:28.090
to uh yeah man just uh keeping the the positivity

01:07:28.090 --> 01:07:30.880
and the momentum going forward Well, I appreciate

01:07:30.880 --> 01:07:33.320
that. And there's only one first interview, right?

01:07:33.420 --> 01:07:35.579
So you are officially the first interview and

01:07:35.579 --> 01:07:37.980
always will be of The Sports Man Dan Show. And

01:07:37.980 --> 01:07:39.860
I'm honored and I'm humbled. So thank you.