Downtowns, Topps Production and the Super Bowl E331

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:30):
What's up everybody? Welcome back to Hobby Hotline. We are
here for episode three thirty one. We are here with
doctor Beckett and also Lauren who. I believe this is
your first show, Lauren and my crew.

Speaker 2 (00:42):
Yes, it's my debut. Thank you for having me.

Speaker 1 (00:44):
Exciting absolutely Welcome Doctor Beckett. How's your how's your week
been going?

Speaker 3 (00:49):
It's great, it's great. You know, I'm semi retired. It's
I can look at the retired part of the semi
part in way it's less than full time, like an
overtime like I used to have.

Speaker 4 (01:00):
Right, Yeah, it's nice. Nice.

Speaker 1 (01:02):
And then Lauren, how about you, how's your how's your
week been going?

Speaker 2 (01:05):
Good? I think it was better than last week for
most of us, so, uh, you know, yeah.

Speaker 1 (01:10):
Can't complain awesome, awesome, Yeah, And we have uh some
people in the chats saying hello. We got Rex Hello
from UH. I believe that is Indiana and Minnesota.

Speaker 4 (01:21):
I'm not full.

Speaker 1 (01:22):
I'm not the acronyms or the shortened states. I kind
of sometimes forget uh. And then we've got fal Ball
say good morning. We've got Steven Uh saying good morning
as well.

Speaker 3 (01:34):
Uh.

Speaker 1 (01:35):
We got White Sox Tom in the chat here mad City.
Bruce said, there's no snow here in Madison, Wisconsin, so
that's always a good thing. We had a little bit
of snow up in Boston, uh this past week, but
nothing's super crazy. I mean, the weather's been weather's been
kind of interesting. It's been either freezing or it's been
warm enough that all of the snow melts. Essentially, shout
out to like I said, shout out to everybody in

(01:55):
the chat. We also have Rich Klein, a veteran here
on hobby hot Line as well. That's always fun to
hear from him.

Speaker 4 (02:05):
Muki Chilsen.

Speaker 1 (02:06):
He said, greetings, We've got the wings are ordered, beers cold.
That's always good. Definitely getting ready for the Super Bowl tomorrow.
We're gonna probably get into a little bit of that.
I mean, with the game being essentially a rematch of
two years ago. I don't know the topics for that
one aren't super hot on the hot on the press
is if you if you catch my drift here, So

(02:27):
the first topic we are actually going to talk about
is a kind of unfortunate. Let me just pull up
the card here, So it's a little bit unfortunate. People
were starting to notice that some of the dual downtowns
were pulled out of Don Russ Football this year, and
they started to notice some very interesting aspects of the

(02:49):
card that I don't think people really were expecting. It's,
like I said, unfortunate for the reason that it looks
like Panini potentially was using some AI art here.

Speaker 4 (02:59):
It feels what pretty.

Speaker 1 (03:00):
Obvious if I'm going to be honest, just based on
like this card specifically, like the end zones are here
and then the lines are going the opposite direction. Also,
Atlanta plays in a dome, so having their field not
be a dome seems pretty odd to me. Again, and
I'll kind of pull up some of the other cards
as we're talking, But so I'll ask you doctor Beckett

(03:22):
first here, like what were your kind of thoughts I
guess when you saw this, Like, is this, you know,
something that we should be expecting going forward with card
companies or is this just maybe an unfortunate mistake here
for Pernini number one?

Speaker 3 (03:34):
We should be expecting all companies in this industry, in
every industry, to be considering AI for certain kinds of tasks.
But I have a question for you, Adam, do you
think Panini is frustrated or angry at you, or happy
with you for bringing this up. I think I can
make a case that they're happy that you brought this
up because it's brought attention to their product. Yeah, it

(03:57):
may be pointed out they have a little egg on
their face because you know, and the end zone thing,
it's a little but AI is not perfect. And I
don't know if they thought they could get away with
it or they didn't double check it. But you're their
double checker and you've brought a commission to their product.

Speaker 4 (04:16):
Right.

Speaker 3 (04:17):
But it's like, no publicity is a bad publicity. You're
talking about the product. You're now showing the product. And
the primary aspect of any card product is not the
background stuff. It's the players. It's who's pictured, and and
you know that's the primary artistic element. Right, something about

(04:38):
Dallas it had the wrong skyline or some other thing.
But still I think it's I think they're not unhappy
that this being is being discussed. It is the coming future.
There's going to be more and more AI for card
backs as well as card.

Speaker 1 (04:53):
Fronts, right and and so you know, I'll go into
my thoughts a little bit after. But Lauren, so what
were your kind of the initial thoughts when you were
looking at some of these cards and kind of seeing,
you know, a mistake or I don't know. I like
doctor Beckett said that, I don't know if it's a
mistake necessarily, but I think the designs of the cards,
I don't know, you know.

Speaker 2 (05:14):
Yeah, I I only saw the Atlanta one because I
just didn't want to look at the other ones, to
be quite honest, I didn't want to get like progressively
more upset. The Atlanta one. I was kind of like, Okay, well,
I know they play, you know, in a dome, like
they're not an open stadium like that. I could forgive that,
but like the lines going the wrong direction, and like

(05:36):
a lot of AI kind of has this style you
can kind of see it, and they didn't even try
like they didn't try to disguise anything. I I started
kind of entering into the you know, hobby community through
card art, and I don't think AI is terrible. I
think it's a tool, though I don't think it's the

(05:57):
art itself. I think of it more as like a
paint brush versus like the paintbrush being the art itself,
like it can be in your toolbox, but make it
the background on a prominent card. I don't love that.
I think, you know, Panini's so huge and they can
you know, they can afford to pay artists. You know,

(06:17):
they're also not starting from the drawing board. Like this
is not a revolutionary design. I just think it was
and like doctor Beckett said, it's true now we're talking
about it, but like at what cost? You know, Like
I don't think. I think Panini like really should be
trying to like bolster you know, their reputation rather than like,

(06:39):
you know, just kind of giving in. So I don't
I don't love it. You know, it might be kind
of quirky down the line, you know, in like twenty
years people you know, be a great you know, hunt
for people to see all the different Yeah, like I
just I don't know. I think it's just disappointing, especially
after we had a pretty decent NFL season that was
really exciting. Like this is just kind of like mom, mom,

(07:02):
you know, at the end ahead of the Super Bowl.
I don't know, it's just kind of disappointing, I think
more than anything.

Speaker 1 (07:07):
Yeah, I I mean with the with you know, I
actually came into the hobby very similar to you, Lauren
is I have a background and like graphic design, like
I went to I've got my I have a undergrad
and graphic design like that's why I went to college
for so seeing them use AI is well, I think

(07:28):
the thing is that it's just they used AI and
they didn't fix any of the mistakes.

Speaker 4 (07:32):
At all at all at all.

Speaker 2 (07:33):
They just let it ride, which is crazy.

Speaker 1 (07:36):
They just let one pass through basically, or they let
they did they did one design and they were like, Okay,
that's it, which I I'm con I guess the thing
that I'm most confused by is like how someone immediately
didn't look at the card and say that's that's the
field is just not correct. Like again here it's like
what is this field and what is this stadium? Like
what is the whole concept of the design? Like it

(07:58):
doesn't just doesn't make much sense to me, like so
and immediately when I saw people posting about it this
past week, I was like, oh, yeah, I mean that's
AI for sure. So I mean I would be fine
with them using AI if they you know, if they
used AI for the concept and then they were to
change it a little bit at least like or at
least like update it so that way, you know, the field.

Speaker 4 (08:20):
Looks correct or something along those lines.

Speaker 1 (08:22):
I mean, I think the other thing that makes me
a little bit that I think is a little bit
unfortunate about the card itself is like if you look
at the different designs, like I know, someone posted on
it was either Instagram or TikTok er. They posted something
where they were comparing the twenty eighteen design, which was
when it first kind of started getting into products, and
then this one.

Speaker 4 (08:42):
And it's like.

Speaker 1 (08:43):
The character behind the cards themselves really is gone from these.
And that's sort of one thing that I don't think
AI you write exactly like the you know, like I.

Speaker 2 (08:54):
Mean not to cut you off the but like I
realized I had my shackdown town right next to me,
like there's care here, you know. You like if you
took the football players out of the card that's on
the screen right now, would you know, would.

Speaker 4 (09:06):
You know who's supposed to be there right?

Speaker 2 (09:08):
You know? Like they could have considered that too, right.

Speaker 1 (09:11):
And there's another there's a Patriots one that they use
like the Boston Skyline. But it's like I think it
was watched the breaks posted on Twitter. They posted two
pictures of the Boston Skyline and then they posted the
New England card and it looks nothing. There's one building
that you can kind of distinguish, but again I don't
really know. So I mean, you know, doctor Becket, I
have another question for you for this car, for these

(09:32):
types of cards. So one other discussion that I saw
on Twitter was people were upset a little bit that
deep doubt. They were upset that these cards have become
so desirable and that they spent what seems like not
a lot of time making them into a down Russ product,
which is supposed to be just like a regular base
product that everybody can get. Its supposed to be like

(09:53):
Series one, which is something we'll talk about later on
in the show. But it's supposed to be a product
that's very easy to get and people should be able
to find it for cheap. But now, because of these downtowns,
because of these downtowns, unfortunately, it can be a little
bit harder to get and people are buying and selling
it and doubling the price online.

Speaker 4 (10:10):
So, you know, doctor Beckett, for you, I'll ask you
this question.

Speaker 1 (10:13):
Do you like that there is this chase card within
a product like don Russ. That should be you know,
in my opinion, fairly easy to get, but now it's
become a little bit harder to get.

Speaker 4 (10:23):
Do you think that's a good thing or a bad thing?

Speaker 3 (10:25):
Well, you can't have it both ways, Adam. They are
making them less desirable I by this treatment. But if
you ask a collector do they want more inserts or
more of these type of art cards that have interest,
They're going to say yes, they want more. If they
do too many more, yes, it does drive down the valley.

(10:46):
They put it in lower end products. Again, all that
affects things. But I still come back to the fact
that if we're looking at this card right here, if
a famous artist had done that background, and again it
does have a little bit of a stylistic AI feel
to it. But even with the errors and the But

(11:06):
if a famous artist did that, would it be more
or less desirable? I just think the average collector is
you know, if it was it was a signed art
piece and it was mainly Griffin and Daniels and mainly
Jayden Daniels, you'd have with the background is not it's
not photorealistic, it's not intended to be. But if a

(11:28):
famous artist did an amazing rendition of that, it would
still be incongruous to your sensibility of that doesn't make sense,
that doesn't look right. But many art many artists are
trying to provoke that kind of thought, to think about
something in a fresh way. So I think I think

(11:49):
Panini was trying. They're all trying to do it. They're
trying to see how they can use AI to their
own benefit. And they're finding out that there are limits
and that's a good thing. And you're bringing attention to it.
That's a good thing.

Speaker 1 (12:02):
Right, And so you know, Lauren, I'll ask you kind
of a similar question, do do you the chase inserts,
I mean are very reminiscent of like the nineties, where
like the nineties inserts were really kind of the that
was what people were chasing back then, Like the inserts
versus the base cards.

Speaker 4 (12:19):
Do you think we're.

Speaker 1 (12:20):
In a similar timeline here in the kind of the
history of sports cards with like inserts like these really
being the kind of the cards that everybody wants versus
the some of the base cards.

Speaker 4 (12:32):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (12:33):
Probably, I mean I think for me, I'm more interested
in the inserts because, like the nineties inserts, they're they're bonkers,
like they're so campy and fun and creative, and so
I think, you know, even if right, I mean the
downtown's right now, we set up at shows and the downtowns,
a lot of the kids go nuts for them. They

(12:53):
will pay a premium for them. They're not super high end,
but they're like, oh, I got a little bit more
for this card that I sold them. I thought, now
I can afford it down and you know, like they
can stretch their money a little bit further for something
they think is cool. And so I think that this
is gonna be kind of similar. Just like you said,
I think down the line, younger collectors are probably gonna

(13:15):
look back at these fondly because they are just so
again campy, like they're fun. They're kind like they're border
tacky almost, you know, because there's just so much happening,
but like they're you know, the focus is still on
the player. I think overall, it's still clean, like they
just push the limit there. So I think down the
line they probably will be like highly coveted by people,

(13:37):
especially because it represents you know, if you're from that city,
if your ride or die for your team in that city,
like as you grow older. I think that that's gonna
be really coveted for people.

Speaker 3 (13:48):
Except that they're gonna they're they're beating a dead horse
a little bit, which they frequently do, right, But I
gotta tell you these are these are they're becoming some
of the cheapest cards that Benin can produce it in
terms of production cost, other than some maybe special laminate
that basically, this is an art card that's done by

(14:10):
a machine. In many cases, there's no relic, there's no autograph,
and they can run different color backgrounds and serial numbering.
All that is very very cheap, and it drives interest
to the product. But they should not mess up the
franchise of Downtown by cheaping in it, cheapening it with

(14:31):
art that is substandard.

Speaker 1 (14:33):
That I agreed, Yes, agreed, And so actually, doctor Becka,
I kind of have a question. So so Matt city
Brew brought this up in the chat. Do you think
it's time to potentially move on? I mean, I guess
in theory we will be moving on. I guess a
little bit with like with tops taking over, But or
do you think it's more you know they're going to

(14:53):
run it until or just for forever? I mean that
could just be the thing, like maybe they just never
get rid of it. Like are you what are your
kind of thoughts on it?

Speaker 3 (14:59):
Collectors, you're not clamoring for we we want less great inswerts.
They want more. So as long as it's got legs,
I think they'll run it. The danger is they run it,
they run it, they overproduce it. So as long and
so if they overproduce it, well then they'll quit because
people will say these are not as collectible anymore. It'll
damage the prior years too. In the in the perspective

(15:23):
of the of the longtime collector, they should not mess
with that. They don't. They're capitalists, you know that they're capitalists.
If as long as it's got uh, if they're look
at the box and see what they're touting on the box,
that's the stuff that they've done focus groups or uh,
they've tested it. That these this is the cell copy

(15:45):
on the on the hobby box that people say, hey,
I want to open that. I want to buy this box,
open it up because I want to get some of those.
And it's not base cards, it's stuff like this.

Speaker 4 (15:55):
Right Yeah.

Speaker 1 (15:56):
And then so Lauren, I have a question for you
kind of before we maybe move on to the next
topic here, someone else brought up a conversation that, uh
still looks better than the Kaboom. Do you have like
a thought on like I don't know, not really a
tear list or a ranking, but like your favorite maybe
Panini inserts like the Downtown I feel like was always
one and Kaboom is one.

Speaker 4 (16:14):
But do you think that there's uh, do.

Speaker 1 (16:17):
You think that there's space, like doctor Becka was saying,
for more of these inserts potentially, and we're just gonna
kind of keep seeing them adapt and change throughout the
history of or the what they're going to do going forward.

Speaker 3 (16:27):
I guess, I.

Speaker 2 (16:28):
Mean, I think I think that they need to just
you know, like doctor Beckett said, this is a pretty
straightforward design. They can modify it with you know, okay,
it's an orange color instead of a you know, an aqua,
so now it's like twenty five, you know, number to
twenty five instead of one hundred and ninety nine or
whatever I would prefer, which I know, now we're we

(16:50):
kind of see they're regressing from this kind of like
creativity and technological advancement with you know, just slapping AI
on it without editing it at all. But I was
also thinking I had this card close by. One of
my friends sent this to me, and it's a wave
of the future. But it's like the cards in like
a casing. There's like some liquid and like glitter. Like

(17:13):
I think, I don't know too much about it, but
like I think that only happened in like one year,
Like why are they not pushing, you know, why are
they not pushing technologically? But like doctor Beckett said, they're capitalists.

Speaker 3 (17:27):
And also that card is indicative of coming from a
company that was.

Speaker 4 (17:32):
Bankrupt, right, yeah, it's not for me, and I mean.

Speaker 3 (17:38):
Thirty years old and that and they they lost sight
of the business aspects. I don't want them to be
a nonprofit. I want them to make money. But if
they put inserts that are too expensive and those way
of the future ones, they weren't. Again, the player selection

(17:58):
was poor.

Speaker 2 (17:59):
Yeah, not a greatly.

Speaker 3 (18:02):
Do high production values on you know, not unproven rookies.
But but you know, like second, your players that are
that are not not named Victor Weber Yama.

Speaker 1 (18:13):
Right right, yeah, yeah, And so I mean the thing
is with the downtowns and the inserts is I on
one hand, I like that it's helping the some of
the lesser no, not lesser no, because I think Don
Russ is a pretty prestigious product within the hobby. But
it's I guess it's helping the value of those those
that product in general. But at the same time, like,

(18:36):
I also worry that people you know, are not able
to get Don Russ, which is like it feels like
Don Russ should be like Series one, like I was saying,
like it should be one that's very available.

Speaker 4 (18:46):
So yeah, I don't know it's it is available.

Speaker 3 (18:50):
It's available at a higher cost, right, well, because they
put more good stuff in the product, right and if
you find out that it doesn't sell, they'll they may.

Speaker 4 (19:00):
Be back off them, right right.

Speaker 3 (19:02):
But I think it is selling.

Speaker 1 (19:03):
Well, that's the thing that's I think part of it
where I think it and I guess on again, I
see it from both sides. Like I want people to
be making I want people to be in the business
of the hobby, like I want them to be able
to make money, but I also want collectors to be
able to get cards for the price that they should
for the price that is reasonable and that should be

(19:27):
not like double or triple what a box should cost Like,
you know, I thought it was when I was this
was way back, and in twenty nineteen, I guess that's
not the way back, but that's far enough back where
I was going to a hobby shop to buy a
blaster of twenty nineteen Prism Basketball which had Zion and John.
I was like, I was in my head, I was like,
oh my god, I spent thirty five dollars on that blaster,

(19:48):
and looking back at it's like, wow, maybe I should
have just not opened that blaster and kept the kept
it closed or something like that. But now you look
at that one and it's like two hundred bucks for
one of those blasters from twenty nineteen, which probably is
a little bit just because of unfortunately Zion not exactly
panning out. But yeah, so it's it's it's it's kind
of all of that. So you know, hopefully going forward

(20:11):
there is I don't know, Panini, there's probably gonna be
more of these. If this is just one of the
first ones, I would expect more of these cards to
potentially come out, so, uh or the the AI design cards,
I suppose, I mean, I don't know. Maybe because the
dual Downtown was sort of a newer concept also here.
So maybe Panini looked at it that way and said,
we want to come out with something flashy, and I

(20:32):
don't know, maybe potentially down the road people they don't
maybe they don't do any more AI art, and this
becomes sort of like a niche insert within the hobby
that people look at and say, well, it was the
only time, or it was one of it was the
first time that Panini used AI.

Speaker 4 (20:45):
So, I mean, I don't know that way.

Speaker 3 (20:48):
Come on, be realistic. They're not going to move away
from AI. AI is getting better, not every year every
three months. It's getting better on the on the the
the verbage side, as well as the conceptual side, the
artistic side, And so AI is here to stay. The

(21:08):
crime is they didn't double check it, right. Yeah, maybe
that was even intentional. But it's gonna get better and better.
It's here to stay. Upper Deck's gonna do it, Leaf
is gonna do it, Tops and fanatics are gonna do it.
So it's here to stay. But it'll get better and better.
And there may come a time where we can't tell

(21:29):
the difference.

Speaker 1 (21:30):
Yeah, that's I mean, that's this again. When I see
videos and stuff of people use AAI. I'm like, are
people not like terrified of that? Like, are people not
like watching these videos of like people doing face swaps
and like people doing the face swap on like music videos?
And are people not like that? Is the scariest thing
I've ever seen? Like why why are people not? I
don't know, And maybe it's maybe maybe that's my the cynic,

(21:51):
the cynic in me potentially, but I don't.

Speaker 2 (21:54):
I mean, I I'm not a big fan of AI personally.
I think it's again, it's too well, you know, you
can use it for certain things. But I think, I mean,
I think that a lot of people are complaining within
the hobby of like losing the human aspect, you know,
the community aspect of it. And I think if they're
gonna lean more into AI, which you know, like doctor

(22:15):
Beckett said, it's it's inevitable, it's getting better, it's you know, cheaper,
I think it's gonna push people away. I think they're
gonna be. I think they're gonna be. You know, I've
seen people say before if Panini doesn't care about me,
why do I care about Panini? And that's you know,
picking on Panini specifically, but like you know, if if
the products that are coming out are not for you,

(22:37):
it's for their bottom line, then you know, people might say, okay,
well I'm not interested in that. Will it be enough
to make them change? Probably not, because you know, unfortunately
to bring back last week what not still hasn't said anything.
A lot of people have been trying to get them
to and they haven't. They've stayed quiet, and you know,
they're just trying to weather the storm. I think a
lot of you know products probably will if you know,

(23:00):
if it just keeps moving, if it just keeps you know,
the synergy in place, then yeah, they're gonna use AI.
And I don't love it. I don't love AI. But
also I'm not you know, I'm not the president of Panini.
I'm not you know, I'm also not the president of
tops or Fanatics. I don't have licensing. I don't, you know.
It's it's and consumers can only do so much, they

(23:22):
can only voice so much, they can only you know,
withhold their dollars so much. So it's I think we're
in a weird place right now where we're kind of
finding out how is this going to work within our
community and how we consume and how we interact.

Speaker 3 (23:35):
So there's never been a successful boycott, okay, right, right
in one hundred years. I don't like this product. Don't
anybody buy it? That has never worked?

Speaker 4 (23:47):
Yeah?

Speaker 3 (23:47):
Right?

Speaker 1 (23:47):
Unfore, I mean fortunately or unfortunately, I suppose for depending
on what side of the if you're a collector or
if you're you know, somebody who is making the cards.

Speaker 3 (23:56):
The most the closest thing to to a boycott is
two thousand and three Exquisite Basketball. Yeah, this is outrageous.
I'm not paying it. And he's gone on to be
the most.

Speaker 4 (24:09):
Successful perhaps in history, right right. Exactly what a.

Speaker 3 (24:14):
Boycott is that it's it's counter instinctual in this industry.

Speaker 1 (24:18):
Right right, yeah, and I yeah, I mean that's it's
an interesting way to look at it with with the
Exquisite because that's like you said, it's it's probably the
most desirable product of all time, right now.

Speaker 4 (24:30):
I mean from a.

Speaker 1 (24:31):
Back came out right well exactly exactly, it turned into
that it was.

Speaker 3 (24:35):
A cash grab, right and look at it now.

Speaker 1 (24:39):
Right shout out to shout out to Carvin who is
one of the creators of that product. I mean, he
really was sticking his neck out there to create something
that only really he saw was going to be so desirable,
and you know, maybe he got lucky. Maybe it was
seeing the future. Maybe he's from the future. Who really knows.

Speaker 3 (24:55):
Maybe he lucky, he's good, and he's right right exactly, yes,
And they and the powers that be at Upper Deck said,
we believe in you, Carbon you know we're gonna and
they created a whole U super premium franchise.

Speaker 4 (25:09):
Right exactly. Yeah, I was being I was.

Speaker 3 (25:11):
I was being a little lucky car is good.

Speaker 1 (25:13):
I was being a little facetious when I said lucky.
I know he's a he's a he's a phenomenal mind
and a legend in the sports card. I didn't mean
to disrespect him like that, obviously. But so before actually
we move on this next topic. I should have done
this at the beginning of the show, Lauren, since it
is your first show here, Uh, why don't you tell
the audience a little bit about yourself. I didn't think
about doing this at the beginning, but I think someone
in the comments was someone in the comments was like, oh,

(25:35):
tell us about yourself. So Lauren, tell us, give us,
you know, give us some give us a little bit
of info or background on yourself.

Speaker 2 (25:40):
Sure, hey chat. I Like I said earlier, I kind
of entered the hobby space doing card art. My husband
was a collector. I helped him open a lot of
prism looking for Zion and that's kind of how I
really got back into it, and then the art was
kind of like my way of finding a place in

(26:01):
the community. Yeah, I am an Orlando Magic fan for
better or for worse, So I collect a lot of
shack and penny more. You know. Sometimes I get higher
and gifts from my husband on you know, Valentine's Day, Christmas,
but my favorite ones are like shack sticks, his tongue
out in a lot of pictures, so, you know, all

(26:22):
his goofy faces. I like collecting those. I collect Tennis.
Cocoa Golf is my main PC. I really love Coco
and I believe in her. So Yeah, I write for
Hobby News Daily and Collectibles on SI. And Yeah, I'm
very happy to be on Hobby Hotline. I've watched it
before and to be here with Adam and doctor Beckett.

(26:45):
It's a kind of mind blowing on my first episode,
but I'm very happy to be here.

Speaker 4 (26:49):
So absolutely, we're we're happy.

Speaker 1 (26:52):
We're happy to have you, I mean Orlando Magic's you know,
unfortunately the Shack and Penny era didn't turn out exactly
how you would have liked. But still, I mean very
I love those up that upper deck. The the black
upper deck shock card is such. It's one that I
remember buying like a couple of years ago before really

(27:12):
things started to pop off, and then that was ended
up being like the shock card that everybody was looking
to get, So that.

Speaker 2 (27:18):
Was that was what's going to.

Speaker 1 (27:20):
Hit, right, yeah, right, exactly. We had another funny little
comment here from Cooterer. He said, I've successfully boycotted new
products since nineteen ninety three. My bank account and collection
have benefited. So yeah, I mean, uh, definitely, definitely go
said last. Somebody said last boycott the nineteen eighty Olympics,
and then somebody actually shouted out, Paulo is a great

(27:42):
young player for the Magic. You got definitely some ye
some good stuff.

Speaker 2 (27:45):
And hopefully they can lock in together and put up
those numbers.

Speaker 4 (27:49):
Well, that's right, that's right. Steve said that I might
be AI.

Speaker 1 (27:52):
I mean I may maybe, who know, I mean that,
which is something that an AI might say potentially, but
you know, at the same time, truly know right, yeah,
right exactly, and then uh, John obviously the board. Let's
see if we got any other comments to somebody said
they love AI just not AI cards. I tend I

(28:14):
tend to agree. I mean I think AI in terms
of like chat GPT is great. I mean they chat
GPT uh they or they, I don't know if it's
what it is. The computer, I guess is a proof
reading all my articles that I do for for SI.
So I mean shout out to shout out to chat
GPT uh. I always say please and thank you because
if one day AI and computers take over it.

Speaker 4 (28:35):
Yeah, they hopefully they know that I was nice to that.

Speaker 2 (28:38):
It was one of the good ones.

Speaker 4 (28:40):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (28:41):
Yeah, Adam, you're using it instead of it using you, right,
I think it's not. It's not a sentient being, and
so you have overrule you. You have to know what
you want to say, and then you're able to review
it and say, yes, it's an accurate summary of and
proofreading of what I really want to say. So you
have to know more about you than they know about you.

(29:04):
They can know about some background stuff, but that's your defense,
is your own knowledge and your own understanding. Otherwise are
taken over.

Speaker 1 (29:14):
Yeah, right, which you know, there is this interesting theory
and we'll get back into sports cards in two seconds.
There's an interesting theory called the dead Internet theory that
I don't know if anyone has heard of this, that
apparently when AI was created back in like twenty fifteen,
twenty fourteen era, like that essentially now eighty to ninety
percent of the Internet is actually just AI. Like it's

(29:35):
not real people interacting with real people. It's actually just
AI content that has been you know, continuously trained and
continuously done to make content and make like different accounts
on social media. And it's very it's kind of scary,
but you know, like I said, wow.

Speaker 3 (29:50):
Oh it's bots. Yeah, but we had bots before, but
now AI this is at another level of training the.

Speaker 1 (29:57):
Bots kind of right, exactly exactly. Yeah, all right, so
we will move back in here. So our second topic.
I'm glad you know that AI topic. We definitely I
think we had some buttons on there for for everybody's, uh,
everybody's opinions.

Speaker 4 (30:11):
So let's move on to So this.

Speaker 1 (30:13):
Week actually is the release of one of, in my opinion,
one of my favorite products.

Speaker 4 (30:18):
It's gonna be Top Series one.

Speaker 1 (30:20):
Uh, Top Series one baseball that is going to be released,
and there is a great Twitter account if you're looking
for like specific information about Top Series one. I think
this is, you know, one of the one of the
better Twitter accounts here, uh that has a lot of
this information.

Speaker 4 (30:34):
So it is uh tops BB.

Speaker 1 (30:37):
Essentially, they have like an algorithm that they put all
of the odds information into some sort of database and
it spits out like how many cards there are for
each player.

Speaker 4 (30:47):
So we've seen a little bit.

Speaker 1 (30:49):
Of an increase from the past year about about a
looks like a two to three hundred ish thousand card
increase from individual bas cards from twenty four to twenty five. So,
you know, doctor Beckett will kick it off to you
first here Series one. What are your thoughts kind of
maybe if you want to touch on this, if you do,

(31:10):
if you don't, kind of what were you thinking about
with Series one coming out?

Speaker 3 (31:15):
Last Tuesday? I had lunch over at Fanatics and got
a little tour and so if you tell me there's
a million base cards of Top Series one, I think
I saw a million of them on the floor because
it's it's Florida ceiling of a huge It's like an Indiana,
Jones Warehouse, you know, Raiders of the Lost Arc. You know,

(31:36):
they're putting you just as far as the eye can see,
you know, stacked up to the high ceiling of tops,
Series one and other stuff too. So yeah, it doesn't
surprise me. It should be shocking, but as if you
look back ten years, but it's not shocking when you
look at the last three or four years. So the
production numbers, they don't scare me because they're they are

(32:00):
printing tops, especially is trying to print to.

Speaker 1 (32:03):
Demand, right, Yeah, and I mean here like he's like,
like we said, it's it's really I mean from twenty
twenty two.

Speaker 4 (32:09):
Also, it's only up about two hundred thousand.

Speaker 1 (32:11):
So like when I first looked these numbers, I thought
this ad one point eight million. I was like, we
were going up a million cards from twenty twenty four.
That seems like an issue. But the increase I don't
really think is is too crazy all things considered. So Lauren,
you two, how about how about what are your thoughts
on these numbers or kind of what are your thoughts
on Series one in general?

Speaker 2 (32:29):
Well, just kind of looking at you know, just kind
of digesting the numbers, you know, twenty twenty to twenty
twenty one, they you know, doubled, which we all know
what happened there, but you know, it does seem like
there was that massive jump and then they just kind
of slowly looks like by about three hundred thousand until
last year, you know, per year. Yeah, I mean I

(32:52):
think a lot of people. I think somebody commented in
the chat to another junk wax era but also I
don't know, I don't know the statistics, but I would
imagine that you know, the number of people that are
involved in the hobby now, you know, because it has
a little bit wider you know, reach and accessibility. You know,
maybe they must know that it's it's warranted. You know,

(33:15):
maybe with it being junk wax, it'll drive the price down.
And you know, I don't I don't collect a lot
of baseball. I don't know a lot about baseball, but
like Series one is kind of like it is, I mean,
I know it's kind of where you prospect and stuff,
but it is kind of like how you get into
the baseball correct, Like it's it's really kind of like
your your starting point if you're going to collect an
open baseball, correct.

Speaker 1 (33:36):
Yeah, I mean, I'd say that's probably a pretty good representation.
What do you think, doctor Beeck.

Speaker 3 (33:40):
Well, it's this is just TOP Series one, and over
the last few years, maybe for more than last year's
TOPS has been careful to sometimes hold back. They've done
it in all the different sports, to hold back a
rookie that ought to be in Series one and the
hold right. I think that also affects these these print
cols because they they don't they don't hit Series one

(34:03):
with everything they got, truely right, we're somethings back and
they hold some things back I think improperly. I want
to see the players when when I want to see
the players, and so when it goes down one year,
it may be because Series two was bigger than.

Speaker 2 (34:19):
Right, Yeah, I'd like to see the numbers kind of
side by side. That's interesting.

Speaker 1 (34:23):
Yeah, right, I think I think that that makes sense.
And so you know, actually I'll ask you this, doctor
Beckett too, Like with these numbers, we we have a
decent enough size sample size of like how to get
these numbers. So because TOPS puts out their odds and
they we know how many one of ones there are,
we know how many of the other different parallels. So
you know, doctor Beckett, what are your kind of thoughts

(34:44):
on like the difference between Tops putting out their their
odds and like how Panini basically doesn't put out their odds.

Speaker 3 (34:51):
Well back in the day, you know, when we when
I was doing price guides, we we we did this,
I mean, that was part of our case analysis and
our product. And now now again we're looking at empirical
what are the cards selling for? But to understand rationally
why something would sell for more, you need to have
some concept of how scarce it is. It's not capricious,

(35:13):
but we did these kinds that we got these kinds
of numbers, and even with even with Panini, you can
do some estimates. I mean, it's not like you're totally
in the dark. But Tops makes it easy with knocking
down the odds. You know the pack odds, right, so
you know, if you know that one is out of
nine thousand packs and there's so many of them, then

(35:36):
you've got to multiply by nine thousand times that. So so
they they don't make it easy, but it's but it's
doable right totally.

Speaker 1 (35:44):
And you know, so Laura will ask you this question
the odds themselves, is that something that you think should
be Do you think Panini should make their odds public
or do you think it's something where you know you're
okay with them not and then Tops doing it? Like
is it something that you wish every company would do

(36:04):
or is it something that you're fine with just Tops doing.

Speaker 2 (36:07):
I I mean, I I like having information, so I
would like I understand, not necessarily understand, but I can
rationalize why they wouldn't want to. But I like that
you can, you know, like more recently with Tops, now
you know it's print on demand, they will tell you
as soon as they close the sale, you know, or

(36:28):
not as soon as, but you know, shortly after they'll
tell you the exact number you can find that information.
I think that's interesting because it does kind of help you,
you know, learn what's going on, what's what's being you know,
what's desirable, what's interesting? You know. I mean for twenty
twenty four, And this this is me asking genuinely because

(36:49):
I'm not, again one hundred percent sure, I don't know
a lot about baseball, But was twenty twenty four, like
doctor Beckett said, there's series one and two. Was Paul
Skeens in Series one or series two both like is
that why the number was driven down because they were
trying to lower the probability of getting schemes. I like
the numbers because I like to kind of see, you know,

(37:09):
what's going on here? Like what are we trying to
you know what? What are you trying to learn from
me that I'm trying to learn from you? Kind of thing,
I guess. But but yeah, I like to know. I
like to know. But I'm not upset that Panini doesn't
necessarily share those So well.

Speaker 3 (37:27):
You can be all the upset you want to be,
any of us, it won't. They have determined that it's
in their best interest, and that is because of basketball,
because basketball has been so outrageously hot over the last
seven or eight years. Their Prism. How awesome it is
to have a flagship that is a premium product like Prism,
which is what they've done. And if you look at

(37:50):
the proliferate proliferation of inserts there of parallels. There are
so many nice looking non number, non serial number parallels.
And that's why Panini doesn't want to tell you the
odds on all those because some of them are tough
and some of them are real easy. So it is
they they have deemed it not in their best interest.

(38:12):
And when I put on my rational hat, I think,
you know what, they're printing an awful lot of that,
and it would I don't know that it's up in
these kind of numbers of a million per per player,
but it's a lot, and it's a lot more than people.

Speaker 4 (38:26):
Think, right right.

Speaker 3 (38:28):
I also sales, it might even it might even damage
consumer confidence lawrence there, and that's that's the determination they've made,
right right.

Speaker 4 (38:38):
And I also just looked it up.

Speaker 1 (38:40):
So Skeens was in TOPS Update, so he wasn't even
an in series two. He would think he didn't have
his I think he had a TOPS Chrome in maybe
regular Tops Chrome. Maybe wasn't Tops Chrome Update. Obviously all
the rookies had their patches in Tops Chrome Update. But
I think the regular first Tops Chrome is where skeens
his original rookie card was, and then the TOPS regular

(39:01):
Top Update was when he had his first uh non chrome,
I guess if you want to call it that, so sorry,
go ahead.

Speaker 3 (39:09):
One more thing. Uh this is Top series one, but
I think this includes all the configurations of the product,
because you know, you know, there's there's there's you know,
there's blasters, there's there's megas, there's there's hobby, there's retail,
and the insertion not the well there the pack odds

(39:30):
are according to.

Speaker 4 (39:31):
That pack, right, Well, I think that I'm pretty.

Speaker 3 (39:34):
Sure the other that because they have the same number
of the gold parallel in each one of these, it
just goes up by one each year, and so you
can figure that out. But the way it's packed out,
because otherwise twenty twenty four would be a bargain to
go into that year because there's less base cards and

(39:56):
there's just as many cards, so that they have to
put the stuff in there. And so I think it's
the it's the product mix, the configuration, because all of
these fanatics tops, Panini upper Deck, they have to do
on average at least as well as what they're advertising.

(40:17):
If they say it's one per pack, it needs to
be at least one per pack on average. So it's
got to make up. And so when the number goes down,
maybe you got a better shot of getting good stood.

Speaker 1 (40:26):
Right And yeah, and I think I think you are
correct about that, doctor Beckett. I think this is this
one point one million number is based on the configurations
of every single different type of configuration. I think it's
I think the the algorithm this person is built, puts
in hobby versus jumbo hobby, versus blasters versus sello packs
versus every type of configuration just comes out to the

(40:48):
roughly I'm assuming this isn't or maybe it is exactly.

Speaker 4 (40:51):
I don't really know exactly I think, but.

Speaker 3 (40:53):
But yeah, but Panini has dealt with that by having
first off the line box, right, which we don't know
how many of I don't think we know how many
of those there were, and those are loaded, those were loaded.
So and Tops maybe I think has some preferred breaker.
Maybe not in the Top Series one, but they have
some preferred breaker, you know, fanatics get some special special boxes.

Speaker 4 (41:18):
Yeah, I think it's called breakers. Delight.

Speaker 1 (41:19):
Is there is a breakers there's a specific Yeah, yeah,
there's a specific.

Speaker 4 (41:23):
Breaking, but that could affect these numbers, true, yeah, right,
yeah exactly.

Speaker 1 (41:30):
And then I was just looking up the rookies that
were in Series one last year, so it was Ellie
de la Cruz was like the big rookie that I
think everybody was trying to chase. But then also Jason
Aminga's was also in Series one last year. Evan Carter
was another name, Colton Kowser. I'm not super familiar with him.
I'm not going to go That was all that TOPS
had on their website of rookies that were in last

(41:51):
year's series one, which Ellie de la Cruz is one
of the examples of TOPS basically just well not deciding.
They have like a deadline of when if a player
makes their day versus what product they're going to be in.
Like Ellie de la Cruz was a Rookie of the
Year in twenty twenty three candidate and then doesn't get
a rookie card until twenty twenty four, So it's a
little bit confusing. I mean, I know we've seen in

(42:12):
the past with players like Rose Arena. I believe he
made his debut in like twenty nineteen, but then didn't
get a rookie card until like twenty twenty one, I believe,
which was I think he like got called up and
then got sent down, and it was kind of he
had a sort of an up and down career until
he really kind of made his way into the majors
and actually started playing.

Speaker 3 (42:32):
Well, Adam, you're bringing in the extenuating circumstances, but if
you look at these numbers that are on the charge
from twenty seventeen to twenty twenty five. What would happen
in most companies in twenty twenty four is that the
leadership would be.

Speaker 4 (42:46):
Fired if the fifty numbers went down like that, because.

Speaker 3 (42:49):
The numbers go down in a hot market, and somebody
would be fired. Okay, but they're not fired because you're
pointing out the nuance, the configuration, all that stuff, and
so so there ATOPS is trying to print as many
as they can because that's directly proportioned of their sales,
and so that made sense to them. Then, But in
a typical company, they want to see sales going up

(43:12):
ten percent a year, and when it drops twenty percent,
somebody's in.

Speaker 1 (43:15):
Trouble, right And then, actually, there was a good comment
here that I wanted to bring up. So maybe the
prices for the average person and kid should be a
bit lower and manageable. There's still higher end and super
high end low print runs for those who have the
money to chase bigger prices or pieces. Excuse me, Yeah,
that's well, And this was kind of my topic of

(43:38):
Like Don Russ, for example, is like Don Russ feels
like it should just be as accessible and as easy
to buy and as cheap to buy as Series one.
But they've kind of included that where Series one, you
know you're going to get autographs, but it's really not
a product that's like designed to have autographs in it.
Like it's a product that's supposed to be you know,
it's fun for you can get a cheap box of
it and you can open it up, you know, during

(43:59):
spring training or something along those lines. I mean, you know,
doctor Beckett, for you, like, do you think that there
do you think that there needs to be this distinction
in these types of products?

Speaker 3 (44:07):
Are not? Really? Yes? Come on, I mean, why would
Panini want Donners to be compared to Top Series one,
which is so institutionalized. They need to be better than
Top Series one to justify purchase because everybody thinks immediately
of Top Series one, and so Doners to be the

(44:28):
same as Top Series one, they're going to lose in
the in the in the in the consumer's mind and
less than and so they they they felt again, I
think they're not doing this. They care, They care about
their top line, they care about their bottom line, and
they've determined that if they you know, put some more
better stuff in donners, they raise the price a little bit.

(44:48):
That that's the strategy. It's going to be a winning strategy.
But trying to be the same as Top Series one
is a losing strategy.

Speaker 4 (44:55):
And well so, and then I actually have a second question.

Speaker 1 (44:57):
So do you think it's a losing strategy because, like
I know, like you were saying, you want that, they
want it, they want the product to be better, but
like I don't know, I mean, Top Series one is
a pretty, like it's a pretty like everybody knows it.

Speaker 4 (45:10):
Everyone knows the Tops flagship products.

Speaker 1 (45:13):
So do you think that that's maybe the difference there
what Pennies trying to do. They're trying to not have
maybe necessarily a flagship product.

Speaker 3 (45:20):
No, No, they'd love to have a flagship product, but
their products have become boutique products. Tops Series one is
what immediate. All of my friends that no longer collect
or that used to collect, everybody knows that that Tops.
Everybody knows Tops. I may some of them no Upper Decks,
some Flair Doris, all these others, but everybody knows. And

(45:41):
there are so many people that every year are going
to be either pick up a box or a factory
set or something of the tops. You know, that's that's it,
and so that is the standard. And it's we talk
about fanatics being monopolistic. They bought a company that's going
to allow them to be monopolists because there's going to

(46:01):
be a flagship TOPS Football and a flagship TOPS Basketball
and all the other sets are going to be compared
to that, and they probably other than Big League or
some of these others that are very kid oriented, things
that are kid oriented and everything else is going to
have to move up market, right, And that's what they're doing.
So they're they're not unintelligent. They're doing the right thing.

(46:24):
So so don Ris doesn't want to be They don't
want to be an afterthought. They want to have their
own brand identity. And if their brand identity, hey we're
just like Top Series one, that's that's not convincing to
the public.

Speaker 1 (46:38):
Yeah right, okay, yeah, I think that. I think that
makes sense. And then it's a rich Actually put another
comment here. Schemes made his debut on May eleventh of
last season, since he hadn't played in a major league
game and he couldn't be in Series one, which I
believe that was very similar to players like Ronald Lacuna.
He made his debut early on in the season and
he and I think he had a short He had

(47:00):
a short print in Series two and then had his
full base rookie in Series one.

Speaker 4 (47:05):
So I'll ask you.

Speaker 1 (47:07):
A question, Lauren, but I just have actually have one
more question for doctor Beckett.

Speaker 4 (47:10):
Do you know or do you have.

Speaker 1 (47:12):
Any like background knowledge on how TOPS decides what players
other than like when they make their debut obviously, but
do you have any background knowledge on like how TOPS
decides what product a player is going to be because
baseball is very different, So do you have any knowledge
on that?

Speaker 4 (47:30):
Do you think?

Speaker 3 (47:31):
Yeah? I mean, historically TOPS had a huge advantage because
they had individual contracts and so they could do whatever
they wanted to. And then in five six, when the
rules were tightened for all the companies, but especially Tops
with putting the RC logo on the card, that was
the level of playing field. And so now there's more

(47:51):
strict rules that you can't put in guys early, but
I guess you could put them in late. Yeah. I
withholding if you have these, by holding it back, you're
gonna supercharge the extended series or a series two otherwise
you've used up all your goodies in series one, and
so you know, so that I think they can't put

(48:13):
in guys early, but they can hold them back and
if that makes business.

Speaker 4 (48:16):
Sense right exactly? Yeah, like the l well, I guess
that's one of the things.

Speaker 1 (48:20):
It's like with Ellie de la Cruz for example, he
made his debut in twenty twenty three, didn't have a
rookie card until twenty twenty four.

Speaker 4 (48:27):
So, Lauren, I'll ask you this question.

Speaker 1 (48:28):
I know you're saying you weren't like a huge baseball fan,
but like in your opinion, like do you think that
it should be when a player makes their debut, which
I understand later on in the season might be a
little bit tough, but like when a player makes their debut,
do you think that they should be have to be
included in that year's product like that's or are you
okay with them not like holding them out for the

(48:50):
next year potentially?

Speaker 2 (48:52):
I see, I'm I'm so into basketball and it's so straightforward.
You know, Wenby was drafted number one. He was the
most thought after rookie. He wasn't you know, gonna be
like he was just there, you know, baseball is it's
you know, more storied. It has a little bit more
you know, intricacies to it, so, you know, and and

(49:13):
part of baseball I think because I have a lot
of friends who collect baseball, and I you know, kind
of learn you know through them. Like baseball, I feel
like it's it's more involved, it's more I don't want
to say research heavy, but to you know, for lack
of a better phrase, they like following people, they like
prospecting with. With basketball, it's a little more straightforward. With baseball,

(49:38):
it's a little more intricate. So you know, I'm not
a baseball collector, so I don't I don't know exactly
what you know is desirable in general for you know,
baseball players and collectors. But that's one of the things
I like about basketball is it's very straightforward. You know,

(49:59):
you know who you're looking for or you know who's
gonna be in there.

Speaker 4 (50:02):
You know.

Speaker 2 (50:02):
Now, of course, with the you know, contracts and exclusivity
and stuff, it varies, but you know, you I I
like that part of baseball that like, you know what
you're gonna find when you're gonna find it, whereas you know,
but baseball it is baseball. I feel like baseball collectors
have a little bit more restraint, they have a little
bit more grace. Maybe they have a little bit more

(50:25):
you know, they can rationalize things. They get it, and
so I mean, if that makes sense to them, you know,
if they're like, hey, he did you know, like Rich said, like, legally,
can Paul Skins be in that product? Apparently no. So
you know, if they want to stick by you know,
the standards that are set and the tradition, then you know,

(50:45):
I get that and I understand that. So yeah, it's
hard to say because I don't personally have any like
you know, any any you know, skin in the game
with it. But I do appreciate baseball and I like
the passion that baseball collectors have because they are so
in it, like they're just they cannot like go a
day without thinking about baseball and the induranss. So yeah,

(51:09):
I think it just depends on like whatever the tradition
and the standard and the expectation is. You know.

Speaker 3 (51:15):
Well, to Lawrence's point about being straightforward, the immediate fix
for this Adam is having two baseball license tops would.

Speaker 4 (51:25):
Not be holding off Oh yes, right right.

Speaker 3 (51:28):
And so the fact that they're in it. And again
that's why I know five oh six when why that
was done, because they were each trying to jump each other.
Now Tops can hold back and wait, if there was
a if there was a competitor out there, they would
not be holding Elie Delacruz.

Speaker 4 (51:43):
Right, oh yeah, yeah, right.

Speaker 3 (51:45):
Now what they can do, which is their new cash
cow is Tops. Now they can immediately so that it's
not a timeliness thing. They can do things this week. Yeah,
but they're just marketing in that way.

Speaker 4 (52:01):
Yeah. And then actually, so I have a question for you,
doctor Beckett, do you.

Speaker 1 (52:04):
Think that, like you know, nowadays, I feel like products
are much easier to go from like start to finish,
where it's like you have the whatever, you know, I'm
assuming it starts with the checklist and then you make
all the cards and then they produce them and I'm
sure there's nuances and all that type of stuff there.

Speaker 4 (52:21):
But like, do you.

Speaker 1 (52:22):
Think like the June deadline just seems like it's a
little too early in my opinion, Like you said, it
probably would be fixed by two people doing the license
because then they you know, Ellie da la Cruz makes
his debut in June he's definitely in that year's TOPS
Update or Series two. But like, do you think that,
you know, TOPS Update should be either pushed back a
little bit farther to include every single rookie from that

(52:44):
past year. And I think maybe the obvious question is
that it's, you know, the capitalism side of it. They
want to make sure that they have a guaranteed star
for the next season. But do you think that it
would matter really from a sports card industry perspective if
they always inclined rookies that made their debut in the
year that they made their debut.

Speaker 3 (53:03):
You've kind of answered your own question. I mean, TOPS
is they have the monopoly, they have the whole license,
and they're doing what they want to do. We don't
like it because we want cards. Can I want a
Luke Actually I don't want to Luka Lakers card right now.
I wouldn't rip it up. But they Tops can you know,

(53:24):
when they get the basketball license, you know it's they
can do cards quicker on a one off basis. But
as far as the series, like the TOP Series one,
those numbers are based on the fact that there's an
orderliness to the inserts, the serial numbering and all that
that's what takes time, the configuration of the product development. Okay,

(53:45):
but clearly, if there were two baseball licensees, Tops would
get on the stick and Panini or Upper Deck whoever
else it would be, would also they would aggressively be
getting things out because each one would try to scoop
the other, because that's historically what happened. Okay, So now
TOPS has control and in a in another way, the

(54:06):
Players Association has some control over there.

Speaker 1 (54:09):
Right.

Speaker 3 (54:09):
We're not in a mad scramble, They're not being you know, pestered.
There's there's an orderly aspect of that too, right, yeahs
tens of thousands of autographs.

Speaker 4 (54:21):
Right, that's the other part about this that's disrupted.

Speaker 1 (54:23):
Right exactly. And so actually we are coming up here
on the top of the hour. But there is one
more topic that we're going to discuss. I think we're
probably going to go quickly through this. I don't think
it's necessarily going to be a huge topic. We are
going to do, uh, the definitive hobby hotline, the sorry
I'm looking for the definitive hobby hotline.

Speaker 4 (54:42):
Super Bowl picks.

Speaker 1 (54:44):
Uh. These will represent everybody on the roster who we
all think are going to be the winners here, so
we'll we'll kind of we'll give our picks here. Any
kind of initial thoughts or final thoughts here for the show.
So Lauren, I'll kick it off to you. What are
you What are you thinking for the game here?

Speaker 2 (55:00):
You know, I know there's just so many feelings about this.
You know, I was really invested in the Bills, you know,
and the Chiefs game, and I really wanted Josh Allen
to be there this week. So it's tough because I
really do. I don't know. I think they're pretty well matched.
I think Saquan's incredible though. I think he's gonna really

(55:21):
just I think he I think this is like the moment,
like I think the stars are aligned for tomorrow for Saquon.

Speaker 4 (55:27):
I hope.

Speaker 2 (55:29):
You know, would it be cool to see Kansas do
a three p Personally? No, but you know, like I'm
I'm rooting for Eagles, but like logically, I know you
don't cut you don't count out Kansas City. Yeah, I
really hope it's the Eagles. But Patrick Mahomes, I mean,
I'll go ahead and say the controversial thing. He has

(55:50):
the refs on his side, but like he's Also he's
if he has any time on the clock, he can
make magic happen. We've seen it a million times. I'm
most about Kendrick Lamar in his halftime show. Honestly, there's
a football game around the concert I'm looking forward to.
So I'm excited because you know, it's always fun and
it's a big deal and everybody's into it. But hopefully

(56:13):
it's just a good game. And yeah, and I's like
Jalen hurts to get his first ring. I think, you know,
I think that would be great. It'd be a great
narrative for Saquan again. So I can't pick, like I
really can't. I've tried, but I would like to see
I think the Eagles win.

Speaker 1 (56:30):
So yeah, and also anybody in the chat here, I'm
definitely interested to see what the chat thinks of who
who they're picking, because I think it's I'll give my
opinion after. You know, doctor Becka, what you what were
your kind of kind of thoughts here on the game?

Speaker 4 (56:44):
Like are you excited for? Are you kind of like
who really cares? Or whatever? But so, what are your
kind of thoughts here?

Speaker 3 (56:50):
I've never missed a super Bowl, But here's my strategy.
That I don't think other uh. I think mainly in
terms of men because I'm a guy. But I do
not drink before or during the game because I don't
want to miss the game or the commercials.

Speaker 4 (57:05):
Okay, right right, well.

Speaker 3 (57:08):
During that time. But the Chiefs are the former Dallas Texans.
I knew Lamar Hunt, I know Clark, so I'm friends
of the family, not tight friends, not enough that they
gave me tickets or anything. But and the other rule
is don't bet against the better quarterback. If we've earn't
anything from Tom Brady, don't bet against the better quarterback

(57:30):
and maybe even the better coach.

Speaker 4 (57:31):
Yeah okay, yeah.

Speaker 3 (57:33):
Well I'm picking the Chiefs. I'm picking Mahomes to be
the MVP, and I'm looking for a close game.

Speaker 1 (57:39):
Though, yeah yeah, I mean as a Patriots fan, I
sit here looking at a team that is basically doing
exactly what the Patriots did, Like they just are going
to every Super Bowl, and you know, I don't know
if they're going to go through a drought where they
don't where they don't win a Super Bowl in ten
years like the Patriots did. I mean, there was obviously
an injury and then they go to Super Bowl and

(58:00):
they lose them.

Speaker 4 (58:00):
But I don't know.

Speaker 1 (58:01):
I mean, my heart wants the Eagles, I guess, but
my head is probably saying the Chiefs. I'm really just
hoping for everybody to have fun. I think on the field,
I hope there's you know, no injuries like there was
last year with the uh the forty nine ers player
who tours Achilles, like I'm hoping that. I'm also betting
on a bunch of Super Bowl props, so like I'm
hoping it's the high scoring game and a bunch of
bunch of people are getting touchdowns.

Speaker 4 (58:22):
So we've got a prize.

Speaker 1 (58:24):
Picks has like a plus half a yard for Patrick
Mahomes like a free square basically. So we're doing that
with uh saquon touchdowns. So you know that'll not like
putting five bucks on it, so we'll see.

Speaker 3 (58:36):
Uh.

Speaker 1 (58:36):
But yeah, I mean as a Patriots fan, like I said,
it's on one hand, I I hope that the Eagles win.
On the other hand, I see, I've literally seen this
story every single year my whole entire life. It's like,
you don't again, like doctor Beckett say, you don't bet
against the best quarterback. You don't bet against the the
quarterback that uh you know is going to is gonna
do I think uh three repeated and then yeah again

(59:00):
you had your fun as a Patriots fan. Now it's
time for somebody else, which I mean, I like, yeah,
I agree, but I you know.

Speaker 4 (59:07):
I wish it was the bills.

Speaker 1 (59:08):
I wish the Bills were the ones going for because
I have family members who are big Bills fans, so
you know, I was hoping for the Bills there. So yeah,
that's pretty much everything we've got for today's episode. We'll
be back next week here on bench Clear Media and
the Hobby Hotline YouTube channel. I think we just started
re streaming also on the Hobby Hotline YouTube channel as well.
So doctor Beckett, you know, any final thoughts here on

(59:30):
the show as we wrap things up, What you got
planning for the week, any anything he got going.

Speaker 3 (59:36):
I'm gonna go to the show this afternoon. So it's
nice to meet you, Lauren and Adam. Always appreciate your
your You're one of the hardest working men in the industry.
Thank you, Thank you, hey, and thanks for you know,
managing all your quarterback in today. Appreciate it.

Speaker 1 (59:51):
Yep, absolutely, Lauren, how about you what you got planned
for the week, anything you want to shout out.

Speaker 2 (59:56):
No, I'm just I'm I'm very much looking forward to
the meme from super Bowl, the narratives, I'm looking forward
to seeing what happens. But again the halftime show, I'm
just I'm very excited about that. I'll be thinking about
that all week. So but yeah, thank you, Adam. Like
doctor Beckett said, you are a superstar. You do so
much and I don't know when you sleep because you

(01:00:18):
write like fifty articles a day and also do the
podcast and now this which is you know, its own
song and dance. So I really appreciate you know, you
guys having me and chatting with me. And it was
really fun. I really enjoyed it.

Speaker 1 (01:00:31):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely, I mean, I'm glad to have you
here on the team. A first first episode thing went
really well. Yeah, I mean, like Lauren said, I a
check out SI. You know Lauren and I are both
writers for that, so make sure you go check out
our articles on their hobby News Daily podcast. We're doing
actually kind of a relaunching of the site on March first,
I believe, So that's going to be like with a

(01:00:53):
new revamped website and all that kind of stuff. Danny
and I have been kind of working behind the scenes
the past couple weeks on doing that kind of stuff.
We've got articles, we're gonna be launching again, so it's
gonna be a ton of fun. So yeah, make sure
you go check out all of our stuff. I mean,
I'm sure we're all on Twitter, Instagram, The Hobby News
Daily SI collects all that kind of stuff. So thank
you all for listening and watching. Everyone.

Speaker 4 (01:01:13):
We will see here next week.