The Shallow End david.asa.schwartz

The sports-card hobby is an ecosystem. It has apex predators, parasites and everything in between. If you're among the 99 percent of collectors who fall somewhere between the two ends of the hobby spectrum, how do you survive it?

A funny thing happened on the road to The National 2023: previously absent or scarce cards suddenly became available in droves. With the 2024 National about two months out, Austin Carlson (@carlson_cards) visits to talk about how last year's trend is informing this year's collecting.



The Shallow End is hosted by Dave Schwartz (@Iowa_Dave_Sportscards)

In this episode, it's three stories in 15 minutes.

1. A card negotiation in the shallow end of the collecting pool

2. Dave once again gets tripped up by his hobby nemesis

3. A new, surprising experience that could have ended badly, but didn't

- The Shallow End is hosted by Dave Schwartz (@Iowa_Dave_Sportscards)

The biggest U.S. sports figure over the last year has been basketball player Caitlin Clark. Now, armed with a fresh Panini contract as her WNBA career is set to begin with the Indiana Fever, the former University of Iowa star is beginning a new chapter in her remarkable run. To commemorate the moment, Dave welcomes three guests into The Shallow End:

• Keith Murphy, WHO-TV Des Moines broadcaster who has covered Clark since her freshman year of high school (4:32)

• Brett McGrath, the Stacking Slabs Podcast host and Indiana native who's now directly in the path of the Caitlin Clark Experience (33:20)

• Carter aka @MCBasketballPC, a WNBA fan and card collector with unique insights into how Clark's soon-to-be-released Panini cards might affect the hobby (57:13)

- The Shallow End is hosted by Dave Schwartz @Iowa_Dave_SportsCards

Dave saved up to buy a card that long had been on his watchlist. But when he finally had the funds, something happened: he didn't buy it. This is the story of what made him stop.



Host: Dave Schwartz @Iowa_Dave_Sportscards

Joe (@Henry_Rowengartner_Cards) has one of those Instagram pages you can't stop looking at. His collection of late 1990s Cubs baseball cards is something of a marvel. In this episode we learn how – and why – he chose to build it.



Host: Dave Schwartz (@Iowa_Dave_Sportscards).