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Alright. We have a player focused conversation here.
I'm excited to dig into this one. Long time coming. I am joined today by Beau. You might know him at Roethlisberger Collector seven. We're gonna talk about collecting a specific player and, maybe being the top collector of that player.
We'll talk a little bit about that. But without further ado, Beau, welcome, man. How are you? Brett, thanks so much for making this happen.
It's been a long time coming as we spoke before, but, really appreciate you having me on. And first of all, I just wanna say congrats on all your success and hard work, all the pods, and all the collabs that you're doing, man.
It's it's awesome, and I could probably speak for everybody else on that behalf. We look forward to all your multiple podcasts during the week. So congrats, man.
Appreciate that, and congrats to you. I know, relatively, new dad, which is, many of us have been in that position trying to navigate. I guess maybe, like, as a new dad, how, like, how has that impacted maybe your hobby experience?
I get maybe time in the hobby, like, how you specialize in. I know you're busy with your own business too, but how how does adding a new, a new baby to the house, like, change the way you think about the hobby?
Changes everything. Thankfully, I got the best wife in the world. Right? Like, she let me go to the national last year when she was just a few months old. So that awesome. Right?
But, yeah, I I'm I'm sure we'll talk about it how, you know, my my collecting and how I purchase things and budget is all gonna factor into that, and that's kind of the approach of of honing in and trying not to spend money out of pocket and keeping it all in trading cards.
So, you know, consolidating and buying this to sell that or vice versa. So Would would you maybe just, like, out of the gates, put you on the hot seat. Would you consider yourself the best?
And you don't need to be modest, but would you consider yourself the best Ben Roethlisberger collector out there? I don't know. Because there's there's some sneaky guys that collect that don't advertise it.
I I'm I'm finding new stuff, like, in the last year, for example. I don't do a lot of Facebook, groups, but I've dabbled, and there's guys on there that you wouldn't even know. They they just don't post stuff.
Right? And they got some killer stuff. Even on, like, Instagram, I'm doing deals, and, again, they just don't post it. And a lot of the guys aren't player specific. They're team guys. They're they're Steelers collectors.
They hoard it all, from, you know, top end to mid level stuff. I guess that's kind of a gift and a curse. You know, if I'm looking for specific players or player, they have, you know, everything under the moon.
So, I I would say I'm up there. I don't I don't wanna be too, modestly. So I wanna get to maybe, like, where the the big bin collecting, started.
But, like, that triggered a thought that I hadn't really thought about with Ben where, you know, there's so many there's like you I can think about team collectors in the hobby, and you've got, like, teams like the Packers and the Niners who have, like, these really strong fan bases and collector bases.
And I then I think about the Steelers, and the Steelers are in a similar vein.
So what I guess maybe there's a lot of Steelers collectors who adopt Big Ben because of all the success he has in their collections. But I'd love to maybe learn from you about, like, navigating that.
Like, has that been complicated because of how strong, like, team collect specific collectors there are with the Steelers to be able to, like, get every big bin card that you want for your PC?
You nailed you nail on the head right there.
That's pretty much what I was explaining. There's there's guys that, you know, hoard Steelers. They they clock Steelers, and they have some some big, you know, cards of Ben that I'm trying to pursue. And this is it's it's tough.
You know. They, you know, I'm trying to trade and do partials and whatever I can to do that. But yeah, it's the same thing, you know, Packers, Cowboys, all those die hard, you know, fan base, big American teams, right?
But, yeah, I I've I'm still digging and finding all these, like, random loopholes and collectors that don't post anything, which is crazy to me.
What what does, what does that tell you about I what does that tell you about, I don't know. With Big Ben, I feel like what's interesting about him is, like, he had so much success, on the field.
But, you know, whenever people are talking about most collected or top collected quarterbacks, like, Roethlisberger typically isn't a part of the conversation.
So it's almost like he's a little bit out of sight, out of mind because he's been out of football for a while.
What is that kinda what is that I don't know. Like, what's that like for you as someone who collects it? Is it is does it I know we talked about the Steelers thing, and it's harder.
But do you think the fact that he doesn't have, like, the spotlight like Brady or Manning or Rodgers, do you think that makes it maybe a little bit easier to navigate? Absolutely. Helps me.
Helps my pocket. You know? Yeah. He he he's in that era. He's in the Brady and Manning era. So, obviously, those are the GOATs in that in that, you know, era. So, he's kind of underneath that. And Rodgers is the last man standing.
Who knows if someone's gonna pick him up? I think the Steelers offered him a one year contract, so God only knows. And he's he's the last of the of the group of the batch. You know, after that, it's all new guys.
So, yeah, it's it it helps definitely that he's not top top tier, but I think, I've noticed in the last year specifically, a lot of his bigger stuff and more rare stuff is starting to get more appreciated.
I think it is because he's been out of the league for a few years now, and people are starting to remember how good he was and what the quarterback carousel is going on in in Pittsburgh. So, yeah, I think it's it it helps.
So when did this when did the collect the Big Bend collecting start for you? Like, what was, yeah, what was the catalyst? Was there a specific moment where you're like, I'm just gonna start collecting Roethlisberger?
So I'll keep this quick. I've collected my whole life, probably almost forty years now. I started, like, in '85, '80 '6. So I've just collected everything, ripping packs and doing all that stuff in the eighties and nineties.
And one of my first cousins married one of Ben's first cousins. So we met at the wedding. I think I was a junior or senior in high school. Ben was I think I got him by a couple years.
So he was probably a freshman or something. And then fast forward, we, you know, I see him at family events or whatever, and then he goes off to college and tears it up and then gets drafted. And this is surreal. We're like, oh my god.
Thankfully, the Cleveland Browns didn't pick him up at number six. His career might have been a little different. Right? But, yeah, because of that because of that connection, I collected them ever since o '4, obviously.
So once his rookie card started coming out, the first products I'd always dropped back then were, like, the Sage and the Hit, Score Fleer, the cheaper lower end stuff, a lot of collegiate uniform stuff, and but I was buying it all.
Like, I was hoarding it, you know, because it was cheap and inexpensive.
No big hits. And pretty much since then, I haven't stopped, and, you know, I've, weeded out a lot of that stuff. You know what I mean? So, yeah, since o four. I love the the personal connection.
In that draft, which I think, you know, many would say is up there with the best, you know, quarterback drafts of all time, but, like, in those early days of collecting him, were was the hobbies focus at all on him during that time?
I know he's a rookie and, you know you know, collectors are attracted to rookies, but how did, like, collecting been early compared to, like, an Eli or or a Philip Rivers in during that time? I know you collected a little bit of Rivers.
I don't think he got any love at all. Like, even his rookie year, it was primarily like Eli. Eli was kinda like the cover boy, and Ben was right there. Up up until Ben when he got his first opportunity to play, and he went undefeated.
He went 13 and o and made it to the playoffs. Can you imagine that happening in today's market? If Jaden Daniels did that this past year, if you went 13 and o and went to the playoffs, how you explode.
Right? So that's what he did. And I remember when he was, like, six and o or seven and o, it it did explode. Back at price guys were still used.
EBay was still around, but back at were primarily used at shows and stuff. His stuff started selling for double book, and I sold I sold everything I had. Again, it was just kinda cheap stuff, but I had no choice, you know, for that.
So, back I guess, you've if you've been collecting Big Ben since, you know, his rookie year, there's likely been several different iterations of how you collect.
And maybe I think this is an interesting part about player collecting is, like, there's the let's get in and start collecting someone we like, then you learn preferences on types of cards, and then you run for rarity and scarcity.
Maybe talk us through just, like, over the years, like, what your evolution has been in terms of collecting just one player, but how how it's changed. Yeah. So, obviously, the first handful of years was like I was buying anything.
Obviously, all the rookies, all the number stuff, all the refractors, and this and that, all the parallels. Up until probably the February, I started kinda really, you know, backing off.
I'm like, god, do I need this many copies of that? What you know, what's the value of this? You know? And it just becomes to be a lot of, you know, hoarding of cards.
So, that's what I'm doing now, actually. For the last year or two, I've been really focusing on, you know, cutting back, and just dumping a lot of that stuff because it's all obtainable.
You you gotta get buy it tomorrow. If I wanted two or in two years, it's gonna be on eBay or other platform.
But, yeah, it it probably in the last, I would say, five, six years when we had the boom, I really started focusing on the rare rare scarce stuff. The prism gold, some are prism simp like yourself.
So after the prism golds, the gold vinyls and blacks if they ever surface. So, I'm actually doing, you know, the prism gold run twelve through '21, which is his last playing year, which is cool that they did that all the way through.
So yep. I have to I have to show just your your sickness here and help I'm show I'm sharing this on the screen, but you talked about the Prism stuff.
And I have been, like, ever since you started this, I'm like, I'm not sure I've ever seen this happen or anyone attempt this feat. And I'm showing on the screen for everyone that's listening.
Beau has what is it? Eight? Eight? Eight of the 10. Of the ten, twenty twenty one Ben Roethlisberger gold prism cards, which is insanity. How did this how did that start? Like, why did you start how did you start doing it?
Like, just talk us through this. If it's present gold. Right? Like, we all love it. It's it's it's awesome, man. And being his last year, his last playing year, I think that just made another difference.
And and and the main thing is if it's available. Right? These things are out of time. Like, you may not see one again. This 2012, for example, I've only seen one copy in the flesh, and I had to buy it.
Right? And it's been out for how many years? So, yeah, I started you know, whenever ones pop up, I have other years. I have multiples out, but not like this.
So being that this was a little newer and fresher, I think they just kind of surfaced a little easier. The last one I got, I can't remember his handle, but he he kinda helped me out and led me to a friend of his that had one.
And we made a trade, and it was bam, done, easy. So, yeah, still on the lookout for two of them, man. So I tend to, like when I think about a player, I tend to in this era, I always measure it to, like, what they did against my team.
And I I think about Roethlisberger, and it's funny. I think about Roethlisberger and Rivers. I think about Roethlisberger and Rivers a lot in terms of these guys, like, made a habit of making my life miserable as a Colts fan.
Player. There was so much good football coming from my team. I can think about o five when I think it was the best Colts team we've ever had pre Super Bowl and just the the brutal loss to the Steelers at home.
And then years later, I went to, go to Heinz and saw a game, and the Steelers were reeling a little bit. And, like, I think three game loss, and the Colts had won, like, four in a row.
This is luck era. And I'm sitting down, and all the Steelers fans are like, oh, you guys are gonna run through us. We're not very good right now, this and that.
And it just so happened to be a game where Big Ben decided to throw seven touchdowns. Like, three of those, I think, or four of those went to Miami as Brian, and I was just like, oh, we picked the wrong game to go to.
So I although, like, Ben has never had, like, the prolific numbers as, like, you know, a Manning or a Breeze or a Brady, like, to me, he's always been, like, one of the toughest guys to beat.
I know he's had a great coach, great defense, but, like, I don't know. It's it all falls down to the quarterback. So that's my experience with Ben.
Do like, do it but it doesn't feel like he gets the recognition of, like, some of these top players or top quarterbacks from a hobby expect perspective. Maybe just like I don't know. Shed some light on on that.
Like, I'm sure that's part of, like, you know, you've you've have a personal connection, and then there's a maybe a a part of it is like, oh, I see opportunity here because his prices aren't as much as, like, some of the top guys.
But, like, maybe talk about that and just, like, you navigating that and just finding opportunity through him not being front and center right now.
It it's it's wild. I mean, again, it's it it helps me out. It's beneficial. But if you look at the numbers, if you look at quarterback stats, all time grades, he's top 10 in every single category.
He's, like, top five, top six. It's like Manning and, Brady, Favre, and he's right there with with yardage and completions and touchdowns.
So I don't know. It it doesn't make sense. Right? But, again, I'm not complaining about it. Again, I think, you know, I I always look at it as, you know, how the nineties and the rare inserts are have been surging.
I think the two thousands are is right behind there, and I think a lot of people are gonna look back at the the draft, those years, and the players that played and changed, you know, their franchises for so many years.
I think that's I think that's hopefully ahead of us.
So Big Ben is one of those players, which I think these players are really fun to collect, where you've got car playing days cards in the two thousands and all of that run, and then you get into the prism era, which is fun.
So you've got, like, this whole diversity with the types of cards you can collect. You mentioned two thousands, and I feel like two thousands is maybe the most underserved, segment of football card collectors right now.
You've seen the prices with nineties and then the newer stuff with prism, and then it's just, like, two thousands.
But, like, the two the the collectors who collect the stuff in the two thousands, finest, like, short printed serial number stuff, like Superfractors, like, that group of collectors is is is super passionate about about that.
There's been there were so many rookies during that time.
Like, it's the prime year for, Brady and Manning. Like, why do you think that portion or that category of football cards maybe doesn't get the love from the broader hobby as maybe the nineties or the current era?
I don't know. It it again, it doesn't make sense. The newer stuff is new and shiny. New shiny toy, everybody likes it. I I kinda dip my toes into unsealed wax.
I mean, we all like the rib, but it's such a gamble. But it's fun. I do it for entertainment purposes, and that's what I hone in on. I hone in from the, like, o one to, like, 2014. It was probably, like, my cutoff.
Any of the new stuff, it's like, nah. It's it's too pricey. It's fun because it's cheap, and there's still it's tops chrome, stuff like that, finest, and there's still super factors and there's crazy, you know, stuff parallels.
And you know who you're getting. Right? You're not hoping this rookie is gonna pan out and sell for a thousand dollars.
So it's kinda fun. You know who exactly what you're getting and what it's worth. So I've been doing that as a side project, hoping to do, like, a fun ripness or something this year.
So we'll see. What what has been your primary strategy for building out your, collection or in acquiring cards? Has it been eBay marketplaces, private deals?
Like, I'm sure it's, there are a lot of different, but, like, how have you focused in on making sure you're continuing to acquire find the right pieces, consolidate, and kinda continue to build that collection in a way that motivates you as a player collector.
Yeah. Pretty much all of them. If I if I have stuff I'm I'm willing to trade or sell, I'll I'll throw them up on IG as a story or whatever.
And then, like, again, I don't do much on Facebook, but I I just recently did a little bit. And then, you know, obviously, throw it up on eBay. Just, you know, let it run.
Let it ride. You know, it just depends. You know? Am I after something? How quick do I need this to get out of my hands to fund that? Or am I just looking to build up my nest to for that potential card that's coming hopefully soon?
You know? So I dabble a little bit in everything. Local shows, I really don't. Obviously, my life has changed lately, so I haven't really been able to get out, but just looking forward to the national this year.
Are you going? I'll be there. Yeah. I will. At. I feel like this is gonna be a good year. There's been a lot of, yeses whenever whenever I've asked people.
So, yeah, I'm I'm maybe this is a good topic because I just dropped an episode on already thinking about the national. Like, I guess, do you have a, like, a a bit a list of Big Ben cards that, like, are top for you Yeah.
To work off? Yeah. So yeah. So I actually listened to that this morning. Brilliant. So, me and Joey every year at the Etrader, he will give me a list. It could be one card or two cards. Very specific, very here it is.
And I'll do the same, and he knows what I'm after, but I'll do the same. Here's a two or three cards that I'm really looking for. We're together the whole time, but we'll you know, sometimes he's doing a deal.
I'm doing a deal, and we'll venture off, and we'll find those cards. Seems like every year, like, I'll find that one card he's been looking for. So, yeah, we'll have kind of a strategy, a list, but it's the national.
It's overwhelming. You're gonna fall into something's gonna fall into your lap or you're gonna see something in a showcase that you weren't expecting. So you have to kinda prepare for that. You know?
Have have stuff on deck ready to trade or sell, or just be ready because it's it's so overwhelming. There's so many cards. I mean, it takes three days alone just to walk through. You know? So, really looking forward to that, man.
Yeah. Definitely. When when you mentioned earlier and I like, it hit me because I just, to get to get into something else, you know, I had to go give up some cards that had been in my collection for a while.
And they were cards that had been in my collection for a while. They I can get them back, but the fact, like, those copies were in there, it was a little it I I I felt kinda bad.
It was like, do I, like but then you looked I I don't I'm, like, I'm trying to build my collection from within, so it's, like, not a ton of new money is going into it. I'm trying to, like, consolidate down.
But I don't know. Like, when you've got a player that you've collected for so long, like, is it hard for you even though, like, in your mind, you're like, this is a gold refractor, and I could probably get it back in a PSA 10.
But I've had it for five years. Like, does that is that still a struggle for you even though you're probably getting a bigger piece because of that effort?
Maybe talk about just processing change in your collection. Yeah. No. Absolutely. There I mean, there's certain cards, right, that I'm, like, near and dear to, but you can get them.
I I you can get them. You know? If they don't show up tomorrow, they'll be on online somewhere next year. But, yeah, that's what I've been doing, man.
You just gotta do it. And once it's done you know, we've all been there. Once once a a kind of a card that you really truly love is out of your hands and you have that new grail, you you don't forget about it, but it feels good.
Right? You're like, alright. I could do this, and it makes the next card or two that you're gonna do easier.
And especially what what what kind of grill you're looking at. You know? The ones I've gotten recently are cards I've never seen, and they've been out for twenty one years.
You know what I mean? They're out of five or they're out of 10 from 02/2004. You know? That's just ultimate rare. You know? So to me, that's that's it's definitely worth, consolidation for.
So the 2012, Roethlisberger, you mentioned Gold Prism. You mentioned that you've only seen one copy. Talk talk, like, talk to us about, like, when that copy became available.
Like, where was it available? And then, like, in that moment, because you you you love Gold Prism, this is the first year. It's the first time you've seen it. Like, how did you process that?
And, like, I wanna know about, like, did you, like whatever it was listed for from a price perspective, did you, like, try to figure out, like, if you're overpaying to for do it, or do you just, like, buy it?
Like, talk about that. Yeah. So if I remember right, it was somebody on IG kind of showed it off. We talked a little bit, and it was a done deal at the National.
This was probably five years ago, if that. And once I saw it, I'm like, I gotta get it. Right? Let's figure this out. It didn't take long. We I mean, again, I've only seen this one copy of it. Am I ever gonna see this again?
Somebody else is gonna buy it right behind me probably. So I I just made it work. We we figured it out, got the deal done. And, again, that was five or six years ago. So the pricing at the time was, I think, right on.
It was probably pretty fair. I might have paid over a little bit, but I wanted it. Right? And, again, am I gonna see it? Probably not. So, yeah, it had to do it, man. Those cards like that, you just you just never know. Right?
What have you seen, in terms of just, like I don't collecting a player like Roethlisberger, I feel like helps you see a wide range of the ebbs and flows in the football card market because he's got cards in multiple eras in a lot of different products.
Like, I don't know.
Like, in today's Ben Roethlis the era of Ben Roethlisberger collecting, like, would you say, like, the stuff you like or gravitate to is still for like, affordable or within striking distance for you, or has it changed one way or the other?
For the most part, it it's still reachable. There's still, you know, a handful of, like, really grails that that are you know, they're pricey.
I'd have to liquidate quite a bit. And I'm not really you know, I am liquidating, but am I really ready to, like, dump, like, 90% of my collection for one card? I will be one day maybe.
You know? But, there's there's some there's some heaters out there. I've seen a couple of his, like, rookie shield autos. Both of them were at National last year. There's a, Leaf Limited, and I think I can alternate collection.
Both beautiful. But, again, the only drawback is they're both event worn. They're from his rookie photo shoot. Right? Which whatever. It's cool. But how many are there? Right? Like, how many jerseys did you throw on?
Like, right, there's two shields. And I remember I did I used to own a different one from, like, Fleer EX. It was a duel. It was like him and Drew Henson, of all people. But, yeah, those are pretty pretty rare, obviously.
And then, somebody just acquired the o four contenders, championship, one zero one rookie ticket auto. That one was always on my watch list. I think maybe one day, one day, but who knows?
You know? But other than that, everything else is pretty fair game. You know? I could I can make it happen. Did you, there's always this period, like, post retirement where, I don't know, with, like, Brady specifically.
It was like, once he retired, it felt it felt like, you know, his market went down, and it was a little out of sight, out of mind.
And, you know, the the real ones kind of were able to gobble up some of the cards that might have seemed overpriced or out of specific collector's ranges, for a certain time.
Did did you did you sense any of that after Ben walked away? Was was that something you noticed in terms of trends and opportunities, or was it just kinda business as usual?
Business as usual. But his last year or two was kinda blah. Right? The team was rebuilding. It was kind of in shambles, which, you know, to me, it's like, okay.
Who cares? Who's gonna give me a price break? But, yeah, business as usual. But, again, I think we're steadily starting to see a little more activity and little, price, increase on some of his rare stuff.
So I think it can be an out for the last handful of years as bringing back those memories, and people are really missing, that era of quarterback. What, okay.
So let's, like, maybe get into your collection a little bit. What would you you know, I could just go through your Instagram page, and there's just a ton of bangers, shiny stuff, stuff I I love to collect and the players that I collect.
Maybe talk about, like, what are some of your your favorite pieces within your big big bin collection? So one that I acquired not too long ago, I think you showcased it.
It's the o four finest gold x factor rookie auto number to 5InABGS95. That was a deal that was, it it took a minute. You know what I mean? The seller, Christina Fenix, I think his name is Jared, he had the entire run.
He had the gold, the gold extractor, the refractor, and the base, like, all BGS nine fives or something. And he was trying to sell it as a lot. And I'm like, listen.
Let's let's let's figure this one out. You know? Again, out of five, this is the only copy I've ever seen since o four. Right? So I had to make this somehow happen when we we finally came to a a price and a deal, and here it is.
It's just absolutely stunning. And, you know, I don't care what grade technically it's in. It just so happened to be at nine five, so kind of a bonus there.
Maybe help listeners who maybe don't collect in this error or collect football understand how challenging of a to like, nearly, you know, we're, you know, we're twenty one years later that this card was produced, and there's only five copies.
And o four finest is such an interesting year of finest. Specifically, not a lot of collectors, like, talk about it because the parallel structure is a little different, but then they're baked within it.
You've got these out of fives, and then this is a rookie year, obviously, and it's got the autograph.
Like, how big of a, like, how big of a ghost card is this card? Like I said, that's the only copy I've ever seen. You there's plenty of his golds out of 50. Right? You you can go on eBay right now and buy five of them probably.
But this one just it just screams that set, the o four. I'm a huge fan of that that set. But like you said, yeah, there's a lot the structure, the the parallels are kinda goofy, but there's true golds.
Right? And then there's this. But, yeah, this is one of my probably my favorite rookie auto that I own of this. I think a lot of us go through this mentioning the the golds in in this era right there out of 50, and this is out of five.
Like, how how much does acquiring a piece like this in this era change your perception on, like, the gold refractor out of 50?
Like, I it it in it impacted me when I started moving down a little bit. These out of fifties, maybe lost their luster a little bit.
But did anything has anything changed for you when you get something like this with some of the, you know, higher print run stuff in his shiny catalog? Absolutely, man. Like, I'm a huge Topps Chrome fan. Love ripping it.
It's just it's fun. But, again, yeah, just like you said, man, once you start digging into the prisms out of 10 and stuff like that or out of fives, out of 50 sounds like a lot. Right? And, again, you can get those any day of the week.
You know, I could probably make a Stops Chrome run, you know, if I wanted to right now. So, yeah, that those those are obviously cards that I love, but they're they're probably gonna get, you know, sold off or traded off, very soon.
Alright. What what other cards get you really excited out of your collection? Another one that's, obscure is the o four Bowman Chrome, red refractor Mhmm.
Rookie auto, and that's number the 10. Again, I've never seen any of them but this one. I think I've seen an Eli. I think someone's got an Eli online. Now these, I believe, were uncirculated, like the box toppers.
And the rookies the non autoed rookies were numbered to some obscure number, like two thirty nine or something like that, but the rookie autos were numbered to 10. That's number one of 10.
I think that just randomly showed up on eBay one evening. I was like, yep. So it's I noticed on your page that you have, quite a few of the red reds out of Bowman, which are, I don't they're certainly hard to obtain.
You got out of fives, a lot 10 in this instance. That seems to be a parallel that I think maybe hasn't completely gotten its time yet.
But based on Bowman being such a prominent brand in this era and based on, like, the low print run, it just feels like maybe at some point, those cards will have their time.
What do you think about, like, those reds out of Bowman? I know, obviously, you're you're praising this one, but it just doesn't seem like maybe the the hobby has completely come around to those at this point.
Yeah. Because everybody likes gold and shiny. But the red the reds, I mean, it's the same thing with the NBA.
Right? Basketball usually kinda hits first and has more of a premium, and then football lags right behind there. I think that's what's, you know, gonna happen with these. They're they're rare, man.
Yeah, I've had a few people reach out specifically for those, and I'm like, no. They're not they're not going anywhere for a long time. So, I think it's one of those things where it's kind of lagging, but it'll it'll it'll catch up.
Alright. Maybe what's what's one more, card from your collection that you wanna call out? Or it can be a couple cards, whatever. Let's do the, LEAF certified, equipment shield.
Okay. I'll I'll look for it on your page, but go ahead and talk a little bit about it. So that was a deal. Somebody actually reached out to me a handful of years ago on IG, and I can't remember his name.
It drives me drives me crazy. We figured out a a deal, and then we met at the national. No. That's not that one. It's, the, it's a graded, PSA six.
It's a full You know you know you got a collection when you've got multiple, Gameborn Shields here. I'll find it. Go ahead. So it was it was a done deal at the national. We met up and, got the deal done.
It was raw. And those cards from that era, they're just so thick and chunky, and, you know, god knows where it's been since February I think it's a 02/2007, if I remember right. And I just got it graded just to slab it.
You know? It's just one of those cards. Like, the grade doesn't really truly matter. I just wanted it graded. And sometimes grading it just authentic kind of raises some eyebrows. Like, what's wrong with it?
You know? Is it altered? So I just who cares? It's a six. It's what it is. There's nothing major. You know? You don't see anything. Like, oh my god. There's a huge crease going through it or a tear or, you know, whatever.
It's just normal edge, you know, a little bit of corner, but which is typical for that era on those thick cards. I would love to hear your perspective on just the the the shield, category of cards. And, you know, I don't know.
Like, it's never been an area I've collected, but it seems like who everybody who's in kind of the shield game collecting full equipment shields, everyone talks about how rare and scarce and truly limited it is.
I think you look across basketball and the Logomans obviously command a premium, but doesn't seem like you know, I know shields are are desirable, but it it it doesn't feel like the shield, market is quite the same in football as it is in basketball.
Maybe just share some perspective on football, Game worn Shields, and how how easy or how hard they've been for you to acquire in your big bin collecting.
Oh, they're impossible. They're they're they're tough, man. You just don't see them, especially the older stuff because that that's where they were game worn. Right? They're game worn, game used.
Today's stuff is worn by Cliff the janitor or somebody who just threw on the jersey or somebody bought a jersey at Dick's and said it was game worn. That stuff obviously doesn't sell. It's more like aesthetics.
It looks cool, but the actual GameWarn logo patches and the shields and ladders and stuff like that, I think, is gonna do nothing but go up, because of the whole Panini era era and they're, you know, player worn or not from any specific game or event kinda thing.
So, yeah, they're they're tough, man. They they don't come around very often. So when they do, I always try to get it as fast as I can.
Do you do you have, like, any moments throughout your collecting or or chases or acquisition stories of a Big Bend card that stand out to you in terms of, like, maybe it wasn't easy or maybe you had to do something challenging, anything that stands out in your mind, and maybe what what is this specific card?
Not not really. But you know what? It's always stands out. This is like a big memory for me is when o four, I had a local show, in Ohio is where I'm from.
And all the all the dealers are new that I was PC ing him. So they'd all hold it hold whatever it was for me. Even if I had 30 of his tops card, that would still buy five more. And we'd all wheel and deal get it done.
So one of the older dealers had the I don't know if you ever heard of the big three three. It's, like, a football kind of Super Bowl for all the MVPs in, like, Pennsylvania, Ohio, I think Baltimore.
And they do that every year, and they'd come out with, like, a set, like a, you know, whatever, a 20 card set or whatever it was.
And Ben was in the I think it was from February. So, obviously, he's still in high school. And it's such a rare obscure card. Right? He he had it, and he just gave it to me. I'm like, what is this thing?
They're super rare. They don't grade well because I think they might have been issued in, like, bags, like, team bags. They're all off centered because, obviously, there's no quality control. Who knows who printed these things?
But, yeah, there's only probably one or two on eBay, maybe one sale in the last year. So they're super rare, but that little memory of him giving me that kind of as a gift, and he knew I appreciated it.
That card just being obscure, but I I love it. Right? That's amazing. No. And I have I have never heard of that before. You learn something new every day.
Maybe, like, as we're kinda rounding the corner of the conversation, I know, like, your collection isn't exclusive to Big Ben, although it's your handle and through my observations, your primary collection.
How do you prioritize maybe, like, your Big Bend collecting with everything else you're collecting?
Like, does everything else you're collecting get in the way of your Big Bend collecting? Does your Big Bend collecting get in the way of everything else?
Talk a little bit about that. Yeah. So I PC a handful of other guys, you know, but but I keep it really specific with those guys, like Blake Griffin or, Josh Hamilton, Jason Williams.
I only will buy certain cards of those guys. Right? So it's not like, you know, a big massive hoard. Like, this box is Blake Griffin. This box is Josh. I keep it real narrow.
I might just have, like, five or 10 cards of each of those guys. Just comes down to safe searches. Right? You check-in every night when you're laying on the couch relaxing, seeing what's pop up and what's available at the time.
But that's that's basically all it is. I do a little bit of prospecting too. I love baseball, and that's that's obviously a huge gamble, but it's fun. You know? It's part of the hobby. It's part of the game.
So I keep it I keep it light. I keep it easy. Every once in a while, I'll search, you know, whatever, something random and and stumble across something, you know, a prospect or a player that tore it up back in the twenty tens.
And if you can get them dirt cheap, it's kind of like nostalgia. It's cool to have. You know, card used to be worth $500, now I got it for $5, you know, that kind of thing.
I love it. Maybe as as we end this, you've been collecting Roethlisberger, you know, for a really long time, and I'm sure there's a lot of lessons and experiences that you've had.
Maybe through your experience of collecting Big Ben for, you know, multiple decades, like, what advice might you give other player collectors, maybe someone who's starting a new player PC in terms of, like, trying to find the same longevity that you have found through your collecting?
Patience, because you're gonna grow.
Like, exactly what I talked about, how I did. You know, I went from buying almost anything and everything to now really focusing on just the rare and scarce and some key rookies, obviously. But, like, just keep keep calm. You know?
You'll you'll learn to progress and learn your avenue. Like, okay. I wanna stick with this era or this player and this parallel. Okay. Awesome. And I always would recommend, like, maybe find another guy or two in a different sport.
Find you know, PC a couple people. Otherwise, if you're not finding anything on on your one main PC guy, you're gonna start impulse buying stuff that you're gonna be like, why did I buy this?
You know? So always keep it open, keep it flowing, and just have fun with it. He is Beau. His handle is at roethlisberger collector seven.
Beau, I'm glad we could do this. It was a ton of fun hearing about your Big Ben collecting. Even though sometimes when you postcards, it haunts my dreams of that o five, playoff loss, Mike Vanderjag, Schenk, and all those memories.
But Oh, yeah. Appreciate you coming on and sharing your story. Thanks so much, Brett. I appreciate it, man. I'll see you at the national. Yes, sir. Alright.