Sports memorabilia guru and all-around good dude Tracy Hackler of Panini America joins the fun to talk about the explosion in popularity of sports trading cards and memorabilia, the effect of uniform numbers on card value, cutting up a perfectly good rare Babe Ruth jersey and watching Ryan Leaf's NFL career implode before it began.
Our Guest
Tracy Hackler has spent the majority of his career talking about sports trading cards. You know those 2 \xbd x 3 \xbd pieces of cardboard gold that many of us collected as kids. So yes, he\u2019s got a better job than you do. For more than a decade now Tracy has been running point on all communications and marketing for Panini America, the collectibles giant based in Dallas-Fort Worth. Panini produces official trading cards for the NFL, NBA, college football and NASCAR as well as baseball and World Cup soccer cards. Over the past couple of years \u2013 and especially the past few months \u2013 Panini and the entire sports collectibles category has enjoyed a revival of sorts. Sports cards are super cool again and innovators like Tracy continue to push the envelope to make guys like us want to dig into our savings accounts to buy the next ultra-limited edition titanium-infused autograph jersey card of Zion Williamson.
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3:35 \u2013 \u201cI can retire now.\u201d
Sports memorabilia guru, and all-around great guy Tracy Hackler chops it up with Rudy and Tom. Rudy also takes a victory lap over his first-ever brilliant guest introduction.
4:39 \u2013 \u201cIt\u2019s been a pretty surreal six months.\u201d
Tracy talks about the resurgence in popularity of sports trading cards and memorabilia.
5:50 \u2013 \u201cAnaheim \u201991 was kinda the Catalina Wine Mixer for card people.\u201d
The National as it\u2019s known is THE event if you\u2019re a collector. We\u2019re dropping knowledge all over the place in this podcast!
6:55 \u2013 \u201cFrom the late 90s to 2010 . . .\u201d
The proliferation of products and innovations beyond just cards has moved the entire industry forward. Jerseys, bats, cleats, socks . . . Panini destroys it all and puts it in your hands.
8:40 \u2013 \u201cThe more peculiar the item . . .\u201d
Tracy discusses NASCAR tires and other hand-made items that have become cards and collectibles.
9:28 \u2013 \u201cI really don\u2019t die inside.\u201d
Tracy explains how players have become savvy to the value of their jerseys and memorabilia in general. He also relays the story of cutting up one of three known Babe Ruth jerseys which means he\u2019s certainly going to be haunted by The Babe either now or in the future.
11:20 \u2013 \u201cHow do they matter?\u201d
Rudy asks about jersey numbers and cards and how the two intersect. For example, a John Elway card that is #7 of 50 in existence commands a premium price. Again, the more you know.
12:56 \u2013 \u201cAn education at a small liberal arts institution in the northeast.\u201d
The value of cards and memorabilia has exploded with collectors and even investors getting into the act.
14:43 \u2013 \u201cThat is a great question and I\u2019m glad you asked that.\u201d
Naturally a great question to Tracy about how a change of uniform number or a change of teams/uniforms affects both the sentimental and monetary value of cards and memorabilia for collectors.
16:12 \u2013 \u201cThe NBA has always been really forward thinking.\u201d
Tracy discusses the NBA\u2019s approach to appealing to an international audience and the effect of increased education from Players Associations.
18:24 \u2013 \u201cTracy was at the crossroads of greatness and not greatness.\u201d
It is revealed that Tracy was the unnamed friend who had a front row seat to watch Ryan Leaf\u2019s NFL career implode before it ever began at the Quarterback Challenge in 1998.
Thanks to Tracy Hackler. Check him out on the Interwebs at https://www.paniniamerica.net