The MOST Iconic Cards in History!
Gordy got a special opportunity to sit down with Adam Gray and discuss a wide variety of hobby topics. He turned down the opportunity to start an investment fund in cards. Adam gave advice on getting started in hobby content. Plus, the one thing he does not do in his own content. Going through the most iconic cards in hobby history. Plus, wrapping up with the one card Gordy and Adam would own if money were no object.
Video Transcript
We as a hobby have somehow decided that jerseys are cooler than shoes, and I don't get that.
You like shoes better than the jersey?
When you think of Michael Jordan, you think of shoes.
Are there cards with sneakers in them?
Yeah.
Yeah.
And they're worth less than jerseys, and that to me just seems crazy.
What's going on, guys?
And welcome into another episode of the Gordie Bonker Show.
I am so excited for this week's episode.
I know you guys are gonna love it.
The guest is Adam Gray, The Real 27 Guy.
You've seen him on social media talking about all things related to the hobby.
His collection, sports cards.
He's really into basketball cards.
He's a really bright guy.
Just an awesome conversation that I know you guys are going to enjoy.
I hope everyone I, I got a ton of great feedback on the episode last week, kinda just talking about the market, where things have been going.
Appreciate all that.
If you wanna listen to my interview with Gary Vee from The National, we've got that on the episode last week, so definitely go check that out as well.
Before I send you guys into the interview, though, I wanna make sure that I give a special shout-out and thank you to the sponsors of the show, vintagecardprices.com.
Check out VCP and use promo code BONKERS for a two-week free trial.
Additionally, guys, be sure to check out Greg Moore's Cards, another one of my sponsors on Bonker's Cards.
Gonna be using them for a big consignment coming up here in a little bit.
Very excited.
If you guys have any cards that you guys are looking to sell, please shoot me an email at bonkerscards@gmail.com, 'cause I certainly am buying.
My eBay live shows have been absolutely incredible.
Another massive week this past Sunday night at 8:00 PM Eastern.
You don't wanna miss my eBay live shows.
Again, follow me on eBay at bonkers-cards.
And while you're at it, follow me everywhere on social media, @bonkerscards.
Like, favorite, subscribe this podcast as well.
It's also being produced.
If you're watching this on YouTube on the Sports Card Nonsense YouTube channel, be sure to subscribe and follow there.
I think that's all of the housekeeping I have.
I wanna send you guys right into the interview this week with Adam.
It was an awesome conversation.
I know you guys will really enjoy it.
Until then, I'll see you guys next week for another episode of the show.
All right, guys, welcome into the interview.
I am joined by special guest this week, Adam Gray, The Real 27 Guy.
You've likely seen if you're on Instagram, YouTube, you've seen Adam's content.
He is everywhere.
He's doing a phenomenal job right now in the hobby, as he's done for a long time.
Adam, thank you so much for joining the show.
I, I can't wait to get into talking hobby with you today.
Gordie, I've looked forward to chatting with you about all things, hobby for a long time, and I'm thrilled that you invited me, so thanks for giving me some time today and, and having me on the show.
I really appreciate it.
Well, dude, you're a big get.
I, like, I was telling you a little bit before we started recording, it just feels like you've got so much momentum behind your content right now.
I, I wanted to say congratulations on your new show.
I know you have had a couple different shows running.
For the people that aren't familiar with you, in my audience, give us a rundown of all the different content, shows that you're currently doing and, and where, like, they typically would be finding you.
I like it when people say that they're a jack of all trades, master of none.
Yeah.
I'm probably a jack of all trades.
So I, I create Most, mostly what I do is, like, short-form content on my Instagram @thereal27guy, but, got, uh-- And I wrote a book last year too called "25 in 25," but as far as, like, main shows right now, I've got a couple shows on the Fanatics Collect app.
One is on Tuesday, and it's called Ask Adam.
The show is designed basically for anybody who has questions about the hobby to show up and say, "Hey, let me ask a longtime hobbyist what he thinks about it."
And so I try to answer questions there.
That's on Tuesday, and then on Thursday, I, I run the second Across the Hobby episode of the week.
Across the Hobby Part One airs Monday, and I just talk about all the big auctions that are happening, all the big auct- Yeah auctions that happened in the previous week.
And that's been really fun because when I started that, the idea was basically just, "Hey, I w- I've gotta create all this short-form content.
Let me just look through stuff that's ending this week, and then let me record myself doing that and talking about why I think it's interesting."
And, like, I'm sort of shocked that people continue to watch it.
At first, like, I'd get, like, a couple hundred people would watch the show, and I was like, "This is awesome.
A few hundred people are watching me just go, go on and on."
But my most recent episode's, like, at 3,000 views, and I'm, like, just blown away.
I- And that's the live show.
You're saying you have 3,000 people watching you live- Oh- breaking down the auctions?
No, it's, it's just me just talking and then r- and recording it and then loading it to YouTube afterwards.
Interesting.
But, like- Okay.
Yeah so it's not, it's not, it's not like, you know, some people have, like, you know Jeff Wilson's got, like, 100,000 people watch every episode.
For me, it's like, you know, a th- 3,000 people that are just listening to me randomly talk about cards I think is, I think is sort of mind-blowing.
Is that what you're co-hosting with Jeremy Leon or no?
Is there- No.
The, the one that I do with Jeremy is just around the premiere auction, and we do it every month.
So yeah, good call on that.
That's on his Sports Cards Live YouTube channel.
Yeah.
And that's a ton of fun, but that's during the extended bidding auction, hours, for Fanatics Collect.
Gotcha.
Yeah.
So I, I've had Jeremy on the show before.
He was the kind of I would say the person that- He's the best when I first started getting into the hobby, just looking for, like, really foundational information, like, just listening to people talk about it, I think you can gather a lot when you just kind of listen in to conversations.
Thought he's-- always has done a great job of being a very, like, middle-grounded voice- Yeah and his guest selection on his show has always been really good, and I've always really admired him.
So, love that you guys do a lot of content together.
But in terms of the stuff that you specialize in, when I think of you, I think of basketball.
Um- Sure you know, I think the video you put out with Jeff Wilson, Sports Card Investor, showing off some of your collection, and I love the way that they marketed that video.
He did a phenomenal job.
Just being able to showcase obviously where the market has gone on some of this stuff, but also just how you went about talking about the importance of each card and how, you know, they were relevant to you.
I thought that was awesome.
So h- first of all, anyone who's listening, I definitely recommend to go back and watch that video.
Have you always been a basketball fan?
What is it about basketball cards that am I wrong in saying that that is kind of your bread and butter, would be basketball- You're right.
Yeah.
No, you're a- you're absolutely right.
I started the first basketball card podcast back in 2015.
I started a basketball card magazine back in 2020.
I started collecting basketball cards back when I Like, in the late '80s and early '90s.
But unlike most of the people who talk about, like, their journey through cards, I just never stopped collecting.
I just- Yeah I've collected basketball cards forever, and I've had people ask me, like, "What is your goal?"
Like, "What are you trying to do?"
Because, you know, I think for a lot of people it's like, "Could I just, you know, make X number of dollars?"
And my collection's sort of grown to the point now where you look at it and you go like, "What was your..." Like- Right "Isn't, isn't it time to cash out?"
And it's like, well, at some point it became less about money and just, like, creating the coolest sort of history of basketball through the cards, like, history of basketball cards that I could.
And, and so I've just sort of tried to do that and turn my collection over at different times and flip my way into specific cards, and it's always a matter of is the thing that's outside of my collection more important than these things that are inside my collection that I could trade into that?
And I'm always just asking that question.
And, you know, the average cards I have in my collection I've owned for, like, eight to 10 years, so I don't flip a lot.
I, I hold onto stuff for a long time.
But, I'm super choosy.
I probably buy three or four cards total a year, which I know people think is crazy, but- Yeah, I love that I just, that's, that's how I think about it, man.
I te- I'm really slow and just, I just, I love basketball.
I, I love vintage basketball.
I remember when I was a kid, my dad would, like, talk to me about the ABA, which was, you know, a league that existed in the '60s and '70s, sort of a- alongside the NBA, and then the two leagues merged.
I loved buying ABA basketball cards, Gordie, when I was, like, seven years old, which I know is weird to a lot of people, but, like- No to me it was about the stories of those old things.
Yeah.
But you get that, right?
'Cause you love the older stuff, and there's a lot of people who look at you, and I've heard them do it.
They look at you and they go, "Wait a second.
Why aren't you into, like, this more modern stuff?
Why are you a vintage guy?"
Right.
And I'll bet you, you and I are probably pretty similar in that way.
No.
Dude, I relate to that heavily.
Like, when I was in sixth, seventh grade, I was really into, like, 1920s and '30s Yankees history.
Like, I loved learning about Babe Ruth and Gehrig, and later into the years of DiMaggio and Mantle, and, like, I, I've, I don't know why that is what clicked with me.
I knew what was going on in baseball at the time, obviously, and, like, even more recently I've actually Like, this morning I bought a $25 Derek Jeter, like, a 2005 Jeter that was gold out of 2005, and I remember that card when I was a little kid in my bedroom, like, putting it in my binder.
So there's, like, that era of baseball that I was aware of and enjoyed as a little kid, and it's fun, like, kind of retreating back to that nostalgia.
But, like, I am into the history and the storytelling of sports- Love it and, like, the lore of it.
And dude, I, I could tell just by, like, watching your stuff, and, like, I, I think a lot of people I've had this, this has been shared to me just through doing content, like, people feel like they know who me, who I am because they listen to me all the time.
Yeah.
I have that kind of experience with you.
Like, I've been watching you- and listening to you talk through your content, and I do have, like, a general sense.
Like, I feel like I know who you are even though we haven't had a ton of conversations in the past, and I just, I, I can't say enough how much I admire the way you go about the hobby and collecting.
And, like, obviously in that video, Jeff and you talk about, like, you, you mentioned it as well, the market value of where your stuff has gone, and people being like, "Dude, like, you kind of won," and you're like, "No, I like this stuff."
b- before I even go forward, are you in hobby ecosystem full time?
Or I know you were an accountant.
Are you still, like, in that world as well?
Are you doing both?
Are you all in on cards?
I just make content.
That's all I do at this point.
And, you know, a lot of people are like, "Wait, you get paid for making content?"
Like, yeah, I, I work 50-something hours a week just working on content.
And so as much as I love doing it, I couldn't do it for free all the time, so yeah.
Right.
But you're doing content full time.
You're not, you're not doing accounting stuff anymore.
No, I haven't done any accounting since I left to go work full time for PWCC back, you know, five, five years ago plus.
So yeah, I've just been full time content for, for five-ish years now.
That's awesome.
No, yeah, I mean, I've, I've figured it as much because of the quality and the output of it.
And, was Jeremy Lee also an accountant as well?
Yeah.
Jeremy and I, Jeremy and I have sort of, like, gotten to, like, commiserate about all these things as we've gone through it over the years.
And both of us were sitting in our accounting jobs, and we're just like, "Why are we doing this?"
Like- Yeah "There's a demand for this, you know.
We can go just talk about cards.
Like, this is awesome."
And so he and I left I can't even remember who left first.
I think I did, but I don't remember for sure.
And, he and I have just sort of gotten to, you know, sort of commiserate about that over the years, and that's been really fun.
You know, I, I, I left my full-time job in 2023 to do this full time.
Like, I was seeing what was I, I had been doing it on the side while also working.
Like, I was doing both full time, and I had realized, like, if I just leave my job and go all in on this, I'm gonna do really well, and it ended up being obviously the best decision I ever made.
Like, I'm so grateful I did it, and obviously the card market being elevated in the last few years- Helped helped.
Yeah.
And, like, it does feel very validating when you're in that point of life and, like, you're trying to make this decision and you're like, "I have this level of conviction," like, "This is gonna be a really big thing."
And now, like, it really does feel like it is a really big thing.
What has that been like for you, seeing the evolution of the hobby grow from when you were collecting when it wasn't this cool- 'cause you have been, you're in it, to now, where, like, it is pretty cool, broadly speaking?
I, man, I could take this, this question so many different directions.
I wanna just take you through a quick timeline, though.
There was a time, and this is now going back This is going back, like, 15 years ago, so several jobs ago, and, you know, I'm in my, my 20s at this point.
Yeah.
And, my, one of my old partners at the old firm that I worked at, he was talking to me about cards and, and one time he just stopped in front of one of the other partners and he's like, "Adam, why are you working for us?"
You should go do cards full-time.
And I was like, "Oh, I don't think that's scalable.
I don't know if I should do it."
And I looked at both the partners, and they both sort of had funny looks on their faces, sort of like, "He doesn't get it.
He doesn't get that that really is what he should do."
And I just sort of, like, was like, I sort of poo-pooed it and, like, moved on.
But I've wondered, like, I've really wondered if I could go back in time and just go back to that conversation and just sort of say, "What would that look like?"
You know, what, what could I have done in the 10 years that I spent between that point and when I finally made the jump, what could I have done with that?
Because, again, like, I was doing podcasts before there were card podcasts, and I was creating so much content before then.
Go back and look at the old Blowout forums.
I feel like half of the basketball section is me for, like- It's your stuff five years just talking, you know?
Yeah.
And so, like, I, I, I got it.
Everything that I thought about, like, where we would go with investment funds and stuff Like, I've told this story.
I had the chance to run an investment fund with Cards back in 2018, and my boss was like, "Yeah, I think we could probably raise, like, a $15, $20 million fund," and that's back in 2018.
Can you imagine, Gordie, if I had raised a $20 million fund back in 2018?
Like, I would've made so many millions and millions and millions of dollars- Yeah doing what I did for myself- Yeah instead for, you know, with millions of dollars for other people.
But, you know, to see where we are now, like, I thought, I thought this is where we would get to.
I sort of have some regrets that I wish I would've started earlier, but, like, I'm really grateful for the ride.
I wouldn't change too much, I don't think, because it's all been super positive, and, and, you know, I'm, I'm, I'm proud.
Like, I feel good about, like, my, my collection.
I can't believe it is where it is, and it's taken as long as it has.
But people always are like, "Well, you know, you got, you know, you had this, this good fortune, and you had this good timing," and that's so true.
But really, like, being so deliberate over the course of years and learning about this stuff, you know, it just took a lot of time and effort and energy.
And so, yes, there's a lot of luck and timing and a lot of that stuff, but so much of it was studying and learning before, before buying.
One of my mantras right now is, like, "Be quick to learn."
You don't have to be quick to buy, but be quick to learn.
Yeah.
Go spend the time that it takes to learn about these things.
And that, I mean, to me, that's, that was my superpower, is I just learned and learned and learned along the way as much as I could, and it's been awesome to watch.
Yeah, no, I, I love that.
I mean, I think that's awesome, and it is interesting to think about, like, how many different doors you probably could have walked in or walked out of throughout this time, because like you said, you never really left, and you've seen, you know, ups and downs that the hobby has had.
And we're certainly in a higher mark to it now.
I love the idea that you're saying, "Quick to learn."
What are some of the things that you've been s- quick to learn lately?
Anything that you've been, like, recognizing and saying, "I, I, I wanna know more about this"?
Every time, every time there's a new auction that pops up, I love just looking through and looking for stuff that I don't recognize.
Mm-hmm.
There was a Josh Gibson cut autograph recently that sold at Heritage, and as soon as I saw it, I went, "I didn't know that guy had a cut autograph," right?
So- I actually know who the buyer is of that card.
Do you?
Yeah.
Okay.
So he's- I do.
He comes and listens to the show.
Yeah.
He's Awesome.
Yeah.
He, he maybe saw my post about the card before it sold, and if he did, and I ended up costing him more money, I apologize.
Um- but, but s- I saw it, and I was like, "Holy smokes.
Let me go look."
And so, of course, I did the research, discovered it was the only Josh Gibson cut autograph out there, and I'm sure other people knew that.
I'm sure that wasn't- It's, like, it's part of, like, you could see other writing Other signatures, yeah.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah.
It's- I don't know what it's from.
It was almost, like, a team thing that they pulled it from- And it's in a Beckett slab?
Yeah, I think so.
Yeah, I think so.
Yeah.
So, but- I know exactly the card.
Yeah but, like, every time there's a new auction, and there's something that's there, sometimes the curiosity comes up in me because of the price that it's at.
Sometimes it's like, "Why is this different?"
You know?
Sometimes an auction Some auction houses put an estimate on what the card will sell for or a lot placement, and those types of things, like, make me go, "Oh, I'm gonna use this as a reason to go, you know, study."
And, you know, I'll spend four hours, like, researching a card.
I had a cut once that I spent about two days researching, which was awesome.
It was so much fun.
And people are like, "Why?"
or, "How can you do that?
Why do you..." Like, I love this stuff, you know?
It's not fake.
Like, I really do love this stuff.
Yeah.
I love learning about it, and for me, it's like, it's a little bit like family history.
A lot of people never get into family history, but if you ever get into it, you can get the bug, and it can just take over.
It's a little bit like that, where it can become, like, an obsession to just l- like, learn and learn, and, and, it's just a lot of fun.
But the thing that I was gonna get to that I didn't get to before is, you know, you were talking about, like, the progression of the market.
I used to sort of wonder, like, "How can you make your way in the card hobby, Adam?"
Like, how can you, you know, make a living?
But the reality is now, this isn't true 10, 15 years ago, but the reality is now, there are so many ways to be a professional in this hobby, and if I suddenly couldn't make content, there's 10 other ways- Yeah I feel like right now that I could go- A ton of them sort of make my, make my living in the hobby.
Yeah, which is sick.
It is a very entrepreneurial landscape, and yeah, for somebody with your much, as much knowledge as you have, yeah.
When you make those short form videos, just out of curiosity, 'cause as somebody who edits, creates content, it takes a, a s- still I imagine, a good amount of time for you to make those videos.
Yeah.
Forever.
Forever.
How long do you think it would make you?
I, I get people all the time, Gordie, who are like, "Hey, I was wondering if you could do this thing for me."
And I'm like- Yeah "So, maybe, but, like, just so you know, that's gonna cost me, like, four or five hours."
Yeah.
It's like four or five hours.
It's only 60 seconds long, and it's like d- like, researching, writing, like, like, actually producing, designing the wh- writing things up, like, these things, to do them well Take freaking forever.
And that's, that's my, again, superpowers a word I've used a couple times.
I take forever on stuff.
I work harder on it than anybody does.
Oh, yeah.
So when pe- when people are like, "How come, how come your stuff's doing so well?"
It's like, "'Cause I took forever on it."
That's- Yeah that's the reason why.
No, I, I figured you'd say that, and I kinda wanted almost to, to hear it even from me personally, 'cause I've shared experience with you.
And I, I don't make as much content for other people really anymore because I know how difficult it is to do and to continuously hammer it out and, like, the I feel like the expectation versus reality of, of clips, like, it is, it is hard and, I don't know, I give you a ton of credit because you know the key points that you wanna hit to educate people on, keep it engaging, and it The social media game in general is so hard and it's, it's been ever-changing.
Like, I, I got into it when I- I started, I was all doing financial media content.
I was covering, like, stock market, job market, economy.
I was a full-time recruiter in the financial services world.
I was doing a lot of short-form video there, like, but it was on a totally different content subject, and when I transitioned to sports cards, like, I knew the general gist of editing and things like that, but there's still, like, so much ramp-up and, and especially if you're doing it in, sort of like in tandem or in promotion with another entity, like, especially if they wanna have it look a certain way or talk about it a certain way.
Like, it is, like, really, really hard to do.
And, uh- Yeah, it is you know, I give you credit for the way that you handle it, and you've got a ton of great relationships too.
I mean, the people that you work with, it shows, like, your brand in the hobby, which is I think a good t- topic for us to talk about as well, like, how important branding is for the hobby as well when you think about all this stuff.
Yeah.
I The relationships are really important.
Um- Relationships, yeah m- there, there are, there are places and people who want to, you know, you to do lots of different types of things, and, that can be, that can be really tough.
You know, when you're producing a I, I've talked to friends who produce podcasts, for example, and it's like they want, you know, th- they've got sponsors that want them to do certain things and take certain amount of time, and it's like, at some point it's like y- you gotta realize, like, that's a lot of effort and energy to create that.
And so, you know, the great thing, the great thing about being able to do what I do is I just do it, I, I was gonna say I do it all on my own.
That's not entirely true.
I have a friend named Ben Carlos who helps me do some of my short-form reels.
Nice.
Yeah.
and that's been super helpful to have Ben, but a lot of the stuff I just still do on my own.
I still do about half of it totally on my own.
It's nice to just be able to say, "This is the right way to do it.
This is how I'm gonna do it."
I think through it all and do it all on my own, because a lot of people want to change how you do it.
A lot of people will say, "Hey, you should've said this in the reel."
And it's like, "I am sorry, there's stuff I'm not willing to say."
Yeah.
Yeah.
There's stuff that I'm not gonna say.
There's stuff that There's people who are like, "Hey, I really need you to do this reel on this specific card," and it's like, "It's not a card that I can do a reel on."
"Uh, why?
Why can't you do that?"
It's like, "There's problems here.
There's things that I need to talk about, and I'll t- I'll hit those things if you want to, but I'm not sure you're gonna like it."
And that's So you've gotta have some freedom, you know?
Yeah.
You gotta be able to say what you really believe.
If you can't say what you really believe, then people will stop watching you and your content will suck.
And the thing that I see most, Gordie, and this is, like, the smartest thing that I can tell you, okay?
People all the time are like, "You need to go do this.
I'll do this Like, if you do this content for me, I'll give you X amount of dollars."
It doesn't matter how much money they offer.
If somebody offers you a ton of money to do content but you're selling out or you're saying something that's not true- Yeah or you're, or you're covering something that's not something you believe in, then you should say no.
And so I've had I'm not gonna get into who, but I've had some chances to do some fairly lucrative things, and I just say no.
Dude, it reminds me, just this past Like, with everything that's been going on in the vintage non-sport boom, because of my, like, background, audience platform in vintage, and then additionally layering in, like, the investment angle of things, like, I get people asking me sometimes to, like, promote or, like, talk or make videos about stuff i- for just their benefit.
And right now, especially with where we are in the vintage non-sport market, I get worried a ton about- You should stuff like that.
And that is one of the things, like, it's this weird, awkward balance for me where there is some, like, truth and interest in this category.
Sure.
And, like, for me, to my audience, like, I want people to know that this is happening, this is going on.
People are really into vintage Batman and Spider-Man, and, last week's episode was my interview I did with Gary Vee where he's hammering the table on this.
And obviously there has been some echo effects from him doing that in the secondary market.
Like, it's very clear, like, if he's not p- talking about this every time that he's had a microphone at the National, I don't necessarily think the market responds the way that it has in the last month.
I still really like Gary Vee.
I still love all the guys at Vee Friends.
I think it's very interesting.
But when you start seeing other people, try to leverage those type of trends and then use you for their own benefit- Dude it freaks me out a little bit, and I am not doing it.
I It's just not what I'm gonna do.
But that's- I would l- when I hear you say that I would love to show I love what you just said, Gordie.
This is So, when people talk about cards, it can influence value.
Yeah.
Right?
Yeah.
Like, let's just say that out loud.
People talk about cards, it can influence value.
It doesn't always necessarily influence positively.
It can influence it negatively.
Yeah.
It can actually cause people to want to sell because they hear the way that those things are being talked about, and then you end up in a situation where none of the real collectors actually own the thing, and then you have no real collectors.
And so you can do real damage, talking about things long term based on how you talk about them.
Yeah.
But at the same time, you know, talking about cards is what we do, and social media has allowed us to learn how to do this, and there's no real rules, there's no real regulations, and we're put into really weird situations sometimes.
Like, so, so the question that you'd ask about Gary is, like, does Gary believe the things that he's saying?
Like you, I believe that Gary believes the thing that things that he's saying.
I do.
But also, when he says it, he has to know that it's having an influence.
So what is Gary allowed to do?
Well, it's a really tough spot for Gary to be in, 'cause if he can't say anything, then what is Like, what is he doing?
And that's what an influencer is.
And so, I, I don't It's sort of this complex thing.
I'll give you another example that's super complex.
I get asked all the time, I mean, all the time, to do reels about specific items that I either have or have something close to.
That's a tough spot to be in.
Yeah.
A few years ago, I got asked to do a reel specifically by an auction house.
They said, "Adam, we know you're great.
You're We know you're the best person out here to talk about this."
And it was a 1997 PMG Championship Michael Jordan.
I own that card.
I own one of the 50 copies, and I'm happy to do a reel on it, and I probably know about it, about as much about it as anybody does out there, right?
Yeah, yeah.
So I did the reel, and I had somebody message me and say, "You should not do reels like this."
And I'm like, "Why?
Because I have a vested interest?
I have a platform.
I should, can talk about things that I know about."
Yeah.
And, like, but I get what they're, what they're saying, because it's like, it's like you're just trying to promote the things that you have value in.
Well, it turns out that I also know the most about those things, right?
Yeah.
Like, I know more about those than I do about, not necessarily more than other people, but I know more about them than I knew, than I know about things that I don't collect.
And so, it's just this weird spot where when you have influence, you don't know how to act in a way that's gonna make everybody happy, so- That's true you've gotta try to be really honest, right?
Tr- try to be, like, honest with yourself, honest with other people, try to do the very best that you can, but realize there are gonna be p- some people who are like, "I wish you weren't talking about that."
Yeah.
Whether, whether they don't want stuff to go up too quick, they want you to talk about their stuff.
And going back to the, going back to the, the DMs thing, Gordie, like, my DMs are, like, dozens of people every day who are like, "Hey, there's this item up, and I think it's important you talk about it, and here's why."
And when I realized that that's sort of where I was going, I was like, "Wow, this is kind of a tricky spot for me to be in," because everybody wants you Everybody wants, you know, a lot of people to be talking about their stuff.
Yeah.
But, like, you can't just do it just 'cause people want you to, and real quick you find out you don't have time to do it.
And so, I just wish everybody understood how tricky it is to navigate these things, and I, I really do my, I Dude, I do my best, but it's, it's complicated.
Yeah.
No, you do a great job, and I, I think a lot of people, too, are messaging you are, just want your audience.
They want your, you know Because the more eyeballs on a card, the more price point, you know, higher prices the thing goes for.
So I, like, get it.
And there was something I wanted to kind of piggyback off that conversation with, but, it's escaping me.
I, I, I, I do find it to be fascinating.
Like, I love talking about the vintage card market.
I love vintage baseball.
I obviously collect.
I invest into it myself, and people do buy it based on what I'm sharing, and a lot of it is because, like, I genuinely believe in this stuff.
I've been pounding the table on it as an alternative asset class for years, and, like, I've fortunately been, like, pretty right so far in terms of, like, where the buyers are coming from, why they're buying it.
It's additional, it's supplementive to Supplementive isn't a word.
It's supplemental to- the collectors in the market.
But a lot of the vintage baseball stuff, to me, like, I wanna talk about, and I do have cards that I've invested into, but I also, like, just find it fascinating, and I'll write about the market value of this stuff, and I'll try to compare it to what's happening in the overall economic environment, and I think people have related to that.
And I'm like, "I'm not gonna shy away from doing that."
I never really think about, like, if I'm selling a card that I also own.
Like, I've sold dozens of '54 Hank Aaron rookie cards.
It's my favorite card ever.
I love that card.
I don't have any issue, you know, with saying, like, I think most likely it's going to continue to be a great store value for the, the future.
You know, I, I was gonna ask you this because I get asked it a lot and I'm curious how you handle the question, and I'm personally just would be curious if you had a, an answer to it.
Like, is there a category in basketball cards, maybe it's an era of vintage cards, maybe it's a set, something that you're looking at and saying, like, "This is a, a great store value or a place that I wanna be long term," that maybe people aren't talking about?
Like, I know everyone loves the, the PA, PXG, PMG.
PXG's my golf clubs.
PMG is- the cards.
But, like, maybe something outside of, like, I don't know, the top, top sets, if there's something that comes to mind where people are thinking, like, "This could be a good option in the future."
I wanna get to that, but I wanna talk about something else you were just talking about real quick.
Is that okay?
Yeah, yeah.
So you said, you know, "I love the Hank Aaron card," the Hank Aaron rookie card, and, you know, that I've, I've also s- helped sell some of these cards.
Oh, yeah.
O- one thing that I have tried to do over the years, and I don't think other people understand this, but it's, there's a reason behind it, is again, it's, it's about, it's about being Some people are gonna just think I'm full of crap when I say this, but it really is about being ch- as transparent as possible.
So what I have done over the years when I'm buying stuff, when I'm selling stuff, when I own stuff, when I'm making reels, whatever, is I just am very clear about what I own.
And so, like, I actually have a list that I make every year where I count down all of the best items in my collection.
I don't have that many items in my collection.
I just count them down from whatever You know, I, I, for a long time I did the, I called it the 27 Guy Top 100, and then I think I did the 27 Guy Top 50, and at this point it might be, like, the top 27 Guy Top 30.
It's like, it's a, it's a, it's always a smaller number it feels like, because I'm always sort of moving up and having to sell stuff, multiply items- Yeah to get to the i- the higher thing.
The reason I do that, one of the big reasons, is I can say, "Yes, I made a co- I made content about this card that I own."
But you all knew that I owned it.
At least you had the ability to know it because I'm really upfront about it.
I just try to say, "I've got this thing."
It's never hidden.
Yeah.
It's always And I think that's important.
When I was You know how I told you about that I had the chance to do that fund?
Yeah.
One of the things that my boss said as I proposed it to him is he said, and I really appreciated this, he said, "Adam, I'd love to do the fund, but for us to do the fund, I think you need to sell your collection first."
And I was like, "Sell my collection?
I can't sell my collection."
No.
Like, it's important to me, it's meaningful to me, and it's an important part of my net worth, and, like, I've, I've spent years putting this together.
Yeah.
And he's like, "No, Adam, you, if you don't sell your collection, you're gonna be so biased in how You're gonna have so much bias in h- in what we buy for the fund.
You're gonna be always thinking about how it influences you."
And I was like, "Gosh, you're probably right."
Like, that's, that's important to understand that.
And in that same way, if you're, if y- if you've got two cards in front of you, Gordie, and you have the chance, you know, you've got two different clients and you're helping them move two different cards, and you have one of those cards, you're probably gonna feel internally like this, "Maybe I should talk about this card right here."
Now, I personally think that's okay as long as you're really honest about it, and that's why I think you've gotta make I think it's really important if you're a content creator who's, who's talking about individual cards, you sh- people should be able to know easily what you own.
Otherwise, you know, you can just be talking about your things all the time and trying to promote that.
Especially, and this is, this is just, you know, two cents from Adam on this.
I avoid, talking about value a lot.
I talk about value probably less than just about anybody who makes content in this space, because I, I don't want to try to, I don't want it to s- to feel like, he's really trying to influence the value.
I like talking about this, the perspective of, like, why people want to own things, why they're important, what the historic significant is, significance is, and all sorts of things around those things.
But just talking about value, to me, feels a lot like the person who walks into the, to the, just a museum and is like, "How much is that worth?
How much is that worth?"
We need to get away from that.
We need to be more focused on why the things matter.
And so, anyway, I just threw a million things at you there.
Yeah, no, I, I- But I wanted to say all that while it was on my mind I think that the world that you play in in the super low pop world where, like, there's only 50 of those Jordans.
So yeah, if, like, one of those sells for a big number and you have one, it's gonna directly correlate.
Like, if I was helping somebody decide between, like, a Hank rookie and, like, another card that maybe I didn't own, it's not even crossing my mind that, like, this sale's going to move the needle on this.
A, also 'cause it's, like, a private sale.
Like- Yeah I just, like, I think the world- That's true.
I think the world- That's true that you play in is so different because you're, you're talking a lot about, like, publicly transacted cards that people then see a record for and then kinda strike it.
Like, I- Yeah the biggest part of, like, my business by far is still, like, private sales, buying and selling cards, and, like, I have my collection that I like.
But, like, at the end of the day, like, I help people buy cards that they wanna collect, or they themselves see as investments that they wanna to put in their, you know, portfolio.
I, I haven't had that run through me before, where I was like, "Oh, this is-" "gonna affect my stuff."
Because a lotta times too, the stuff that I'm, I'm selling, like, I'm not in at.
Like, I don't I've sold a few million dollar plus cards before.
I don't own it.
Gordie Bunker does not have a million dollar collection.
I know about it, and I know the market really well.
But I, I'm not, you know, my 52 Mantle 8 isn't moving up or down based on the sale price that I close on a, on a deal.
The, the- I think it's an interesting point, though, in that, like, y- with great power comes great responsibility.
You've got- Mm-hmm this great audience.
People really relate to you.
And I guess, I don't even, I don't even know how you wanna answer that question in terms of, like, what's an underrepresented part of the basketball market that people aren't- recognizing, 'cause I don't want to put that pressure on you to then say, like, again, you're trying to push this market up or anything like that.
No.
But I- You're good I do think, I get asked a lot in terms of, like, what players do you think aren't appreciated enough, and there are certain Hall of Famers that have been lagging others in terms of market value, and I give those names.
But for me, like, when I think about questions to ask you with basketball and more of that modern era stuff, there's so many different sets, you know?
And there's, like, a lotta confusion for me around that still.
So maybe if there was a set that's easy to kinda get my hands into or learn more about that has great players, that maybe isn't, like, $100,000 for a, a regular card.
Yeah.
Like, I'd, I'd be curious to hear what's that, what comes to mind when I'm, I'm bringing that up.
When Topps and Upper Deck lost their license to Panini, it was interesting because we can look back at that and we can try to understand what happened afterward.
Yeah.
What happened afterward was the biggest stars, specifically Kobe, MJ, and LeBron, have, have retained such an e- enormous percentage of, of the pie.
Like, a lotta stuff has, has increased in value, but if you were just to say, what's the market cap of all the stuff from that era, it's really incredible how much of it is their rarest stuff.
It's also incredible how much, you know, key important sets, have, have continued to move forward.
Whereas a lot of the, the rookies that were, you know, collected for a long time, they don't matter as much, even if they ended up being Hall of Fame type players, if they're not all-time greats.
So from a collector perspective, you know, I'm gonna sound like a lotta people out there right now, which is, like, I, I, I'd lean towards the players that really have You know, groups of collectors that really want to own their cards.
And, where I think there's the greatest opportunity right now in that, if I was, if I was coming in, like I did 16 years ago, with a couple of grand, and like, "How can I, how can I just try to turn this into something incredible?"
I would be focused on those early Panini years, on sets, that are-- that ended up being really important as the years went by, that had a long history, and that, that are highly-- that are very cool designs, highly collectible.
And then the players from those sets that, where the cards don't move very often.
Sometimes you can find those cards, you know, you don't, you won't see anything in Card Ladder for years and years, but you'll find something at a show.
And a lot of times, people don't really know what that might sell for at a current market price, and that's not just a good investment, but it's great arbitrage.
And I always talk about this.
There's, like, two ways to make money in buying and selling.
One is on the gain that comes after, and one is on the buy at the very beginning with the arbitrage.
Yeah.
If you can buy something for less than it's worth, or at least a very good price that's gonna go way up, then you're doing great.
And that's, that's what I've tried to do over the years, try to get, like- Yeah the best cards at, at a very fair price, and then also watch them increase over the holding them for, for years and years.
But if you, if you were fast forward in 10 years and say, "Oh, what's done super well from this point?"
Man, I would go back to 2009 to 2014 Panini era, rare cards, rarely move, important players, highly collectible players.
And, and I would, I would look for that stuff.
And, and those cards in my collection, by the way, I, I, as I've had to sell things over the years, I've done my darnedest to not move them, because- Yeah because I feel like- So even still today, you still feel that way on that '09 to '14 era Panini?
Dude, one of the guys that comes to mind that I feel like is a little underappreciated, I was a big Dirk guy.
Give me Dirk Nowitzki.
Mm-hmm.
Like, one of the coolest, like, just baddest dudes.
Like, I'm a huge LeBron guy.
The only basketball card I have is the LeBron-Kobe tribute dunk.
It's horizontal.
I, I bought it, it's like a silver prism PSA 10.
I bought it- Yeah in January this year for, like, 500 bucks.
By the way, on Card Ladder, it's like a $2,000 card now, which is crazy to me- Crushing it how, how fast- Crushing it it moved up.
So I'm one for one on basketball cards.
I'm not gonna sell that one, just because, like, I love that I was there that night when LeBron did that dunk and passed Kobe, and then Kobe passed away the next day.
And that's, like, a very memorable night.
Like, I just remember it so well, so getting the card was very cool.
But yeah, I like, I lo-- I do like basketball, and I do think that time period's kind of interesting to me.
Like, I was, like, 15, 16.
I was in high school.
Dirk was taking over the world.
I thought he was super cool.
I had a Dirk jersey.
So maybe I'll go look at some cool Dirk Panini cards.
It's, it's one of the most iconic Panini cards ever.
It's the parallel that, you know, that I think a lot of people would describe as maybe the best-looking parallel.
And maybe it's not the rarest card in the world, but, but, you know, there's not Like, there's very few cards that are as recognizable as that one, and the story that you have there is fantastic.
I love cards that have stories.
Yeah.
Right.
The card has to have meaning.
It has to be, for me, it has to be sort of significant in the player's career or in the history of card innovations.
Um- I like that a lot I care a lot.
Yeah.
I, I care a lot to, like, look at something and go, "Oh, that's the first time they did this, the first time they created that set.
Here was the context of when it came out."
And, and, you know, like, you look-- Like, the, here are the, here are the best cards in my collection.
They're super, super varied, right?
But just, like, off the top of my head real quick.
I have Kobe's first Logoman autograph, and it's from a set where they only made nine Logoman autographs.
There's only three players in the set.
They made three of each of them, and it was a regular Upper Deck pack.
It was $2.99 a pack, or $1.99 a pack.
Whoa.
And they actually put the card, not as a redemption, but they c- put the card actually in the pack.
Right.
my second- Who were the other players?
Third-best cards are-- Oh, sorry, go ahead.
Who were the other two players in that set?
It was Kobe and who else that had it?
Wizards MJ and Jay Williams, the Chicago Bulls number two overall pick that year.
Interesting.
Sorry, keep cooking.
I love it.
That's super interesting.
Two and, two and three are both 2012 Gold Prism cards.
The number four of 10, Steph, that's his Olympic number, and it's a PSA 10.
And then the number one of 10, Kobe, so the very first Gold Prism Kobe card.
Cards four and five are two big Jordans, the PMG Champ and the Gold Fusion.
And then, you know, I've got Steph's printing plate for his 2009 Topps Chrome card, where we've never had the superfractor come to bear.
A-and got his first championship tag auto as well.
I've got a couple other really rare Jordans and really, really rare Kobes, and I own Stockton's first Ultimate Logoman autograph.
Everything that I have, it's like, that has to have a key part in the history of cards.
And, and so, like, that's how- Makes sense I think about collecting.
Yeah.
But not everybody feels the same.
That, I, that makes sense to me.
I mean, I, I love, I love it when there's a card that has, like, a specific nuance to, like, the evolution of collecting.
You know, the, I think the first unpack-- Like, the first pack pulled autographs.
Did you know the answer to this?
What, what- In- I believe it's '94 Upper Deck is where I, I'm lying in, in basketball, there's a '91 Fleer.
Okay.
Baseball's weird, though.
So '94 Upper Deck, that's Griffey, Griffey/Mantle, right?
Um- yes.
Then that should be '94, is it not?
That, well, that, that is '94, but that's not the first one.
There's, Upper Deck did some single autographs before that.
Like, remember the Reggie Jackson- That's the Reggie- Yeah yeah, I'm thinking about Reggie Jackson card.
That's what I'm thinking is the first one.
Yeah.
That one's, I think that's, like, '92.
Um- Okay and then there's, there's a Ted Williams that's pretty early.
And there's, each, each sport has something different.
Like, '90- Yeah but between '91 and '93 for all the sports, I think is about where you get the first pack pulled autographs.
I think that stuff's super neat.
One of the things that- It's a- I know it's, I know we're, we're going w- long here, so I'm gonna try to wrap this up The other set that I really like that I was kinda digging around, the Triple Threads.
It's a baseball set.
Yeah.
I don't know if you've ever heard of Triple Threads.
They made it in basketball, too, but yes, I know it.
Oh, yeah?
It, they don't make it anymore.
I feel like that was the coolest thing when that came out, was Triple, Topps Triple Threads.
The only thing that, that hurt, I think, that set is this idea that, like, they're so tied to the triple that, like- You had to be off- you know, there's a lot of three players on the same card or three patches.
And I think at some point people were like, "You know what I'd like?
I'd rather just have one big patch than three little ones."
And I think that sorta hurt the brand as the years went by.
But I, I'm with you, like, cards numbered to three, crazy patches.
Like, I like the multi-player cards.
I thought they were really cool.
It's just I don't think they're as cool as other things, but I liked it.
I like that product.
There was one I was looking at last night on Fanatics Collect, actually.
It had Josh Gibson, Clemente, and Bonds.
And it was, I mean, to me, like, if Bonds isn't on it, I might have bought it already.
Like, I, I don't love Barry Bonds.
I know some guys do.
But, like, Josh Gibson, I love his stuff.
I love that you picked up on that cut auto as well.
And, like, it's a reasonable price tag.
I think it was, like, five grand, and I was like, "Dude, that is just-" What was it?
Was it patches, or was it bats, or?
Yeah.
No, it was bats.
It was bats.
It wasn't, I think- Still cool.
Still cool.
Is the- Bats are- hierarchy jersey then bat?
Like, is jersey the more desirable?
I think so, yeah.
Yeah.
I mean, other than, like, if you get, like, the bat barrel or the bat, like, the name off the bat barrel or the bat knob, like, it just, at some point it just becomes, like, a piece of wood.
Yeah.
Whereas the jerseys, they're color.
Right.
They wore it.
I'll tell you the one that confuses me, Gordie.
We as a hobby have somehow decided that jerseys are cooler than shoes, and I don't get that at all.
You like shoes- I don't get it you like shoes better than the jersey?
Well, like, when you think of Michael Jordan, you think of shoes.
It is, yeah.
Y- you know?
Like, you think of shoes, and the shoe- Are there shoe cards?
Are there cards with sneakers in them?
Yeah, yeah.
And they're worth less than jerseys.
And that, to me, just seems crazy.
I think it's, I think it's crazy.
And I don't own any shoe cards in my whole collection, show, so shows you what I know.
But, but yeah, I think it I, I've always thought that's strange.
I, I, I think there's a lot of room to run still in a lot of those modern, more modern relic cards.
Like, I, at the National I picked up a game used, I think it was National Treasures.
It's a one of one card, and it's Roy Campanella.
It's cut auto on one side, and then it's his game used jersey patch on the other.
And dude, Campy autos can be two, three grand pre-accident just on their own.
Like, I got the card for three grand, and it's got his game used uniform in it and a beautiful autograph, and it's one of one on the back.
So cool.
Stuff like that, to me, like I said, that other one, I didn't buy it, that I was looking at Fanatics.
Three, four, five grand for stuff that's, like, really historically significant to me.
Mm-hmm.
I don't know.
I, I love this t- type of conversation, 'cause it makes me think about some other areas of the market that maybe, like, should or are underrepresented, and it could be something that I do buy either to, you know, bring onto my show or, or just kind of put away in a box somewhere.
But I don't know.
So- I, I love the way you think about the hobby, and I think everybody listening can pick up that your knowledge is just power, and people love listening to you talk about it.
So I really- Let me give you- appreciate you coming on, man.
Yeah, go ahead.
Well, thank, thank you for that.
I didn't mean to interrupt you.
Forgive me for that.
But, want to give you the last time I almost b- bought a baseball card.
Okay.
This one's still just I've got so many of these types of stories.
But there was a guy who reached out to me, who I had known from the blowout days.
This was three years ago.
And he's like, "Hey, I've got a card that you might be interested in."
And I was like, "Okay, what do you have?"
And it was a Babe Ruth autograph cut, jersey card.
Mm-hmm.
But the thing that I loved about it, and maybe, I can't remember, actually.
I might have reached out to him first, but may- but m- but let's go with hi- him reaching out to me.
I c- I can't remember for sure.
But the reason that I really loved it is because it was from the very beginning of that era of stuff.
Yeah.
It was the, it was a product, I forget what the co- product was called.
It was, like, SP Authentic Babe Ruth or the Babe Ruth SP Authentic Edition or something.
But every card in the product was Babe Ruth.
The base set was Babe Ruth.
Once in every couple boxes you'd get a different Babe Ruth jersey.
There were Babe Ruth bat cards.
It was a really cool product.
But at the very elite, elite pull of the whole thing, they had three cut autographs that were also jersey cards.
And I can't remember if they were numbered to three or if they were each numbered one of one or, I can't remember how, how they did it.
But I looked at that Ruth card, the historical significance from a card, from a card, um- Yeah innovation perspective, and I was like, man, like, this just feels so different than, like, any Babe Ruth cut autograph I've seen before.
And I, I got it into my mind, this idea that, like, the closest you can get to a player is, like, even a player who played way before the autograph card era, is, like, an autograph plus a piece of their uniform.
And if you could get, like, the first time that they did that, gosh, that would be so cool.
And I looked at the aesthetics of this card, and it had a pinstripe and the jersey, and I just, I was all in on it.
I wanted it so bad.
And I think if I remember right, I offered the guy, like, 75 grand for it.
And he was just so strong at 90.
And I was like, we went back and forth for, like, a week, and I can be pretty stubborn, and he was definitely pretty stubborn, and we didn't get the deal done.
Wow.
And then, like, a year later, I was like, "Hey, did you ever sell that?"
And he's like, "Yeah, I did.
It's gone."
And I was like, "Ah."
I really wish I would've just gone to 90 on it, because it was one of a kind, unbelievable card, and I'm with you.
Like, on your Campy, some of those types of cards, you know, depending on what they have as far as, like, like, Babe Ruth didn't play in the autograph era, you know?
Yeah.
To, to, to relate it to basketball- Wilt Chamberlain played in the autograph, inserted cards into packs era for just a sec.
He has 475 total pack inserted autographs ever made, ever.
I have one of them.
I'm thrilled to have it.
475 ever.
But he also has cut autographs that came, come after.
Well, for me, since he has non-cuts, I, I, I want the non-cut.
Yeah, yeah.
I want that pack- That makes sense inserted card.
But if you were to say, "I, I want to have all of the autographed patches of guys like Campy, that p- people who played in that era," I mean, that's a pretty cool way to go, Gordie, because there's, there's not that much of that stuff.
The only problem is that, of course, because it's not an on-card autograph, they'll be able to make more, and, it's a struggle.
That's a hard, hard- Yeah that's hard pass for me I'll admit, sure.
I totally get it, and I, I love the w- like, listening to it, that you kinda process and think about it.
I mean, yeah, when we were at the National, we had a kid come up to me who had a Babe Ruth cut auto.
I think it was Babe Ruth and Mickey Mantle maybe.
And, you know, he wanted 500 grand for it, and I was like, "The market isn't there yet for this type of thing."
And, you know, I heard the kid out.
It was an interesting We posted it on Sports Card Nonsense channel.
It got a ton of views, and the comments were like, "Yeah, this kid's out of his mind."
But the kid ended up deciding to put it, he put it out to auction, and I wanna say it's Fanatics or one of, one of the bigger auction houses.
And I'm gonna g- g- I'm so curious to see where it closes, to see, like Yeah, I mean, I don't think it's gonna hit half a mil, but you know, hey, maybe I'm wrong.
I, I originally didn't think it was gonna be even a $100,000 card, let alone five, so.
The market has a ways to go there.
I think Babe Ruth stuff's awesome.
He's one of my favorite guys to talk about.
I mean, when I was in high school, I did a, my f- my final exam project for video production, I did a 10-minute documentary on Babe Ruth when I was, like, 16, 17.
So cool.
I love the guy.
I think he's awesome, so he's al- He- always be relevant.
Let me ask you this.
So I don't know if you remember a few years ago In fact, do I have my book?
I've got my book here somewhere.
A few years ago, I did this project, project called the Iconic 100 for PWCC.
Yeah.
Do you remember that?
I don't know if you remember that.
The project you did?
Yeah.
Yeah, I remember it.
So this is the book that came out of it.
And then you did another one following that as well that was more condensed.
I did the 25 in 25, which was about the 25 most iconic cards in the 2000s.
Okay.
So- Yours was about- But the Iconic 100 was about- Yeah you know, everything that's ever come out, right?
So here's my question for you.
Mm-hmm.
Because y- I'm, I bet you don't remember, but if you had to name the top five most iconic cards across the whole hobby ever, what would you name are, are the, are the five, are the five cards?
I think I, I could get at least three of them pretty quick.
Okay.
The 1909 T206 Honus Wagner.
Mm-hmm.
The 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle.
Okay.
Then I'm gonna go, I mean, I feel pretty confident saying the '86 Fleer Jordan.
I'm wrong on that?
Um- Those are the top three.
Oh, I'm three for three right now?
Those are the top three.
I'm three for three?
You nailed it.
And by the way- Oh you just listed it in order that I listed it in.
I went, I don't know if you were doing it in order intentionally, but- No, yeah for me, it's Wagner, it's M- Yeah it's Wagner, Mantle, Jordan.
Yeah.
Those are the top three.
I was trying to- I'm interested to hear what you say number four and number five are.
Yeah, yeah.
Like, 'cause I'm trying And this goes through what year?
Forever.
Whole time.
Like, and it was published in '25.
Oh, it was p- sorry, it was published in 2022.
Yeah.
I'm, I don't think I'm using anything really in the 21st century anyway.
I'm gonna go more modern on this.
I'm gonna go with the '89 Upper Deck Ken Griffey Jr.
Rookie.
Dude, that was my four vote.
I voted that card number four.
It finished, I think, number eight or number nine.
Oh, okay.
Yeah.
I, I mean, I'll, the next I'm gonna go with, it's tough because he has four different variations.
I'll do the full set.
'33 Goudey Ruth.
No?
Nothing?
Dude, you just did so well at this, Gordie.
That card was ranked And so for purposes of the survey, I put all four cards in one slot for the Ruth, because I knew if we did four different cards- Yeah, they all go together we had to, we had to limit the survey size, you know?
Yeah.
And I knew if we did all four, they would each pull from each other, and I felt like that set was the one instance where I felt like we should put them all together.
And so I made the decision on that, and we put it in, and that card finished fourth- Hell yeah on the list.
Is that right?
And you just nailed it.
I mean, I- I was happy I, I love, I love your list.
I, I had the Gretzky number five- Okay over, over the Ruth, and I, I think I had the Ruth, like, a lot further down, but, but one more question for you.
I love, I love how you did on that.
You did great.
My quest- my last question for you is, I know you, obviously you love your vintage baseball.
Pick one card that if you could just, like, make yours, your grail of grails, the card that you would have in your collection, in 30 years from now if all goes amazingly well for you, what would that card be?
Man, that is an awesome question.
My mind goes to something that's, like, super scarce, you know?
That, like, the f- so there are, I believe, two 10s of, like, if I'm getting real crazy, the '54 Hank Aaron in a 10 is, like, I think Nat Turner owns one, and I think there's a private collector who owns the other.
Those are- Probably Kendrick.
Yeah.
Those are pretty cool.
And then, oh, this is, you never would guess this, but this is high on the list.
I don't even know if it It's not in the PSA Pop Report.
Doesn't mean that it's not real.
I love the '32 U.S. Caramel Bobby Jones card, something more recent in the last year or two.
I've, I really love that set, and I, I'm really into golf, and I love Bobby Jones.
Like, he was an unbelievable person.
So if I could get one signed by Bobby Jones, that would be, like, electric.
Like, I love signed vintage when it's, like- I do too difficult to obtain signatures.
And there isn't any known in the Pop Report on his 33 Sportking or his 32 US Caramel.
So those are some of the cards that, like, come, come, come to mind.
There's, you know, the Jackie Robinson stuff too.
Like, I, I collect honestly more Negro League stuff than, like, traditional, like, bit back Like, I love, like, the history of the Negro Leagues, so, like, Satchel Paige or Jackie Robinson stuff comes to mind.
I don't know, that's such a great question, like, if I could have one card 30 years from now and, like, money wasn't an option, what it is.
You know?
What'd you think, what'd you think of the Jackie auto that sold a couple months ago at Fanatics, the, the- Yeah, I thought it was a good price.
I, I have never been a Leaf guy.
Like, I think that- card is aesthetically kind of ugly.
And so I s- I go more towards the 49 Bowman, which was released at the same time as 49- Same here Leaf.
Yeah.
So, I'm happy it did a good number.
I think, like, signed vintage is awesome.
I, I, I like that it's getting its kind of more fair game.
I think the next time that card sells, it's gonna sell for even more as people get more comfortable with signed vintage, 'cause it's still- Yep for a lot of people uncomfortable.
Um- Yep but I think it was a good number.
It was 1.8, somewhere in there.
Yeah.
What, what do you think is the best, I didn't know you liked vintage autos as much, what do you think the best vintage auto card that you've seen or that you know exists is?
'Cause obviously people would be like, "I'd love a Wagner T206 that's signed," but we don't believe that one of those exists.
That's signed, yeah.
So, so, like, what is the best one that you've seen, that you look at and you go, "I think that's the best vintage autograph card I've ever seen"?
Yeah.
I, you know, I really wanna say I, like, I love Babe Ruth, but he, he did sign, like, he wasn't afraid to sign.
And it's gonna go, well, my mind kinda goes to guys where, and the autograph is unfortunately, like, ghostly.
And one of them that comes to mind is Lou Gehrig.
Like, I love, like, up here I've got a 33 Goudey Lou Gehrig card.
I love that image.
There's a signed one out there, guy wants a big, stiff number for it, and it doesn't look as good as one that had sold previously.
I love his type of stuff.
I also think- Are there, are, are there more Goudey Gehrigs or Jackie Leafs?
There are- I think there's more Gehrig.
I think there's more Gehrig.
Yeah, yeah.
I would imagine them to be pretty similar, to be q- quite honest with you.
I mean, Jackie was at least around a little bit longer to sign- Mm-hmm post, but one of the names that also comes to mind, like, because of how low pop his cards are already, like, if there was a Josh Gibson on card auto, like you mentioned his cut auto earlier, like, that card would be crazy.
Yeah.
A signed Satchel Paige Leaf card, because that's a short-printed card of Satchel Paige's, like, the Leaf goes for crazy money as it is.
Like, if that ever popped up signed, I don't know if it is signed, you're asking me what I know of that is out there that exists that's signed.
I haven't seen, like, a really clean 52 Topps Jackie signed, but I think that would probably do a pretty comparable number to the Leaf.
Because again, I think people like this '49 Bowman, this 52 Topps maybe more than the Leaf.
I think, I, I, I don't know, I hate to say this for people that like the Leaf cards, I think there's probably three different Jackie cards that you should buy before you buy the Leaf if you're looking at it long-term investment.
Wow.
It's, it's not, it's, it's such a immediate entry into the hobby, like, "Oh, this is his rookie, I'm gonna buy it."
I just don't think it's gonna have the staying power.
Like, it's artistically not good.
It's, it's really not dated as a true rookie, like, his '47 Bon Bred a lot of people would attribute to his rookie before that.
I'm not a big '48 Leaf guy.
Yeah.
I'll leave you, I'll leave you with this.
This has been awesome.
Yeah.
For, you know, to let people see behind the curtain a little bit.
We definitely went about 20 minutes longer than we, we, we were- Yeah we meant to.
But it's been a lot of fun for me.
I'm, I'm glad for your time.
But I will say this about the Jackie, I don't know what's gonna happen.
I don't have any sense of, like, what will happen as far as growth or not, but a big reason why I've done these iconic lists over the ti- over the years is to try to get a sense of how people feel.
Not, you know, aesthetics, not- Yeah what came first, not anything, just what do you think is iconic?
You ask the, the, you ask the community the question, you put together the best survey you can, you ask the community the question, and you just see how people react.
The Jackie Robinson Leaf card, the first time that we did this back in 2022, came up as the number, I think it was number nine or the number 10 most iconic card ever.
And at the time, I'm, I'm definitely smarter today than I was then.
At the time I was like, "Wow, that's higher than I thought that it would be," but I know a lot of people really love that card.
And as his, like, there's no question that he, his legend has grown more- Yes since then.
You know, if you, if you, if you ask ChatGPT right now, "Who are the most collected baseball players ever?"
In my opinion, the, the na- the name that should come up on a lot of lists pretty high is Kenny Griffey Jr. Yeah.
You know, he's the most graded player, you know, in baseball ever, and, you know, he's got some of the most iconic cards ever.
But the, the, the answer that I got last time I asked that question to ChatGPT was Mantle one, Jackie two.
And I don't think that was the truth 10 years ago, and it certainly wasn't the truth 20 years ago.
And if you ask the question, "What's the most iconic Jackie?"
I think it's the Leaf.
Yeah.
And that doesn't mean that it's the best for a lot of different other reasons.
No, it's the most recognized, though.
Yeah.
I think it is.
So, and his, as far as autographed cards go, there's five of those.
So that's a To me, I, I, I loved that card that was at auction.
And, and having said that, when you talk about it and you say, "I don't like it for these reasons," I love your opinion on it.
I think it's fantastic.
Yeah.
And- And I feel like I- We'll see what happens long term I, I, I rub people the wrong way a little bit on it, because I'm a big Jackie guy.
Like, I love Jackie Robinson and I, I do think he's the number two guy behind Mantle.
It's just, like, the, the rookie's never done it for me the way that I wish, like, some other, like, when I see iconic players' rookie cards.
I don't know.
I, it's tough, because I love Jackie Robinson and I love vintage baseball, so, like, I wanna be a bigger But like you said earlier, like, you can't say stuff you don't believe.
Like, I'm not gonna be like, "I, I think this should be, like, a top five card."
I'm gonna leave it.
Yeah.
I love it.
But dude, I really wanna say thank you again for coming on the pod.
Before you jump off, if you can, just give the audience a place to know where they can go to connect with you, follow you, learn more of all of your, your wisdom and insights.
Watch and like all my reels at TheReal27Guy on Instagram.
Hit me up on, at Twitter, on Twitter or X at, The 27 Guy, and then on YouTube at The Real 27 Guy where I do my m- hour, two-hour long babbling session every Monday.
Thank you, Gordie.
This has been, this has been a lot of fun.
Absolutely, man.
Thank you.
And guys, appreciate everyone for tuning in, listening to another episode of The Gordie Bonker Show.
Be sure to like, subscribe, share this with a card buddy.
I think everybody's got something that they can learn.
Tune in next week for another episode of the show.
I'll see you guys next week.
