Sep 22, 2026 · 1 hr 18 min · 19 segments
Gordy is joined by Seth Gershenson from American University. He's a collector himself, but he's a Professor of Public Administration and Policy, focusing on Economics. He's also now an Associate Dean…
well to to be a little contrarian maybe the best thing is to not keep growing at this pace um in terms of uh production uh yeah i think the i i i think if we're not there already eventually there's going to be sort of parallel fatigue um and the other part i think that eventually the market will hopefully fix us is pricing pricing of wax yeah price boxes and packs There's a real disconnect, I think, between prices of singles and expected value coming out of a box that you open.
And it's high because of this lottery ticket aspect of getting that one really, really big card.
And irresponsible gambling creates problems for families, for people, for society, et cetera.
And sort of my sense is that the hobby hasn't really reckoned with that yet.
And so I think that is the big thing to sort of get a handle on before it sort of burns itself.
Yeah, I didn't mean to cut you off there, but yeah, just trying to get a more level playing field pack price and sealed price.
The challenge, though, that's kind of what we were just speaking to with grading demand being so high and prices needing to be elevated to meet that.
And people, you know, as a good economist, the market has spoken, right? People are going to pay these prices.
I do think that there are a lot of unfortunate stories of people that are paying those prices and then regretting it.
people that are paying those prices and then not paying their mortgage because of the thrill of the chase or the addiction or trying to recoup losses and things like that.
And, and sports betting more generally is, uh, so commonplace and, and, you know, encouraged by the leagues now.
I like, but, um, there, I think that's the thing that, that if some, if something throws off the hobby in the future, I think that's it.
I think that the The gambling high price aspect of the steel wax is what gets it.
Or if there is some sort of gambling regulation or something that comes in on it that adjusts like, you know, I don't know, some of the standards that they can do.
well to to be a little contrarian maybe the best thing is to not keep growing at this pace um in terms of uh production uh yeah i think the i i i think if we're not there already eventually there's going to be sort of parallel fatigue um and the other part i think that eventually the market will hopefully fix us is pricing pricing of wax yeah price boxes and packs There's a real disconnect, I think, between prices of singles and expected value coming out of a box that you open.
And it's high because of this lottery ticket aspect of getting that one really, really big card.
And irresponsible gambling creates problems for families, for people, for society, et cetera.
And sort of my sense is that the hobby hasn't really reckoned with that yet.
And so I think that is the big thing to sort of get a handle on before it sort of burns itself.
Yeah, I didn't mean to cut you off there, but yeah, just trying to get a more level playing field pack price and sealed price.
The challenge, though, that's kind of what we were just speaking to with grading demand being so high and prices needing to be elevated to meet that.
And people, you know, as a good economist, the market has spoken, right? People are going to pay these prices.
I do think that there are a lot of unfortunate stories of people that are paying those prices and then regretting it.
people that are paying those prices and then not paying their mortgage because of the thrill of the chase or the addiction or trying to recoup losses and things like that.
And, and sports betting more generally is, uh, so commonplace and, and, you know, encouraged by the leagues now.
I like, but, um, there, I think that's the thing that, that if some, if something throws off the hobby in the future, I think that's it.
I think that the The gambling high price aspect of the steel wax is what gets it.
Or if there is some sort of gambling regulation or something that comes in on it that adjusts like, you know, I don't know, some of the standards that they can do.
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