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I’m very excited to share interviews conducted with several sports cards hobbyists, enthusiasts, champions, and hustlers. Check out the entire interview series at the bottom of this page and let’s all learn, improve, inspire, and collaborate.
Today, I bring to you John Newman from New York and host of the Sports Card Nation Podcast and a few other podcasts. His podcast is one of my sports cards podcast recommendations. As a podcast host myself and now fully understanding the work and commitment it takes, having more than 1 podcast is insane!
What is your sports card background, how are you involved today?
- Started in 1979 as a 7 year old
- Worked in a card store at 14
- At 15 in 1987 did my first show
- Had a brick & mortar store at 20 from 1992-1996
- ebay came along & I sold my part of the store to a partner & did Northeast show circuit & online sports card sales
- Started Sports Card Nation Podcast in 2018, now also do “Hobby Quick Hits”, “Hobby Hotline” & “Roughing the Passer”.
What are your other hobbies?
- Flying drones
Biggest sports cards related regret or mistakes you’ve had and lesson learned to help others
- When I had my store I got “attached” to certain cards & didn’t sell them when I should’ve.
- I thought Derek Jeter was overrated because he was a New York Yankee so I sold almost 150 1993 SP Derek Jeter rookie cards between 1993-1995. Let’s just say knowing the price they are at now, can I get those 150 SP Jeters back? Mulligan?
How do you stay motivated, what keeps you going or excited in this hobby
- All the shows keep me motivated, the hobby evolving keeps me motivated. Sometimes when I’m getting a tinge of burnout, I’ll take a couple days off “away from the hobby”.
When was the moment you realized you can make money with sports cards and/or wanted to go full time with sports cards
- That first show at 15 years old in 1997, I made over $1,000 that weekend. That was a lot more money then than now & at 15 even more so. I knew right there I was going to stick around, that kind of money at something I found fun. I was in!
What’s your hope for the future of this hobby
- That the card companies cared more & were transparent, that the shady activity would stop. I know that will most likely not occur which is why it’s under hope.
What are your favorite specific, detailed ways to make money with sports cards
- Diversify, diversify, diversify, list on multiple platforms, carry a diverse inventory
- Be willing to negotiate
- Know when to let stuff go, know when to keep stuff & not sell. TIMING is everything (See Derek Jeters above lol)
- Do not get too attached to cards
- Buy deals, I open very little wax now & just buy cards. Better ROI. Wax is generally a losing proposition, lets others lose, buy their losses & win.
I hope you found some helpful nuggets in this interview. My goal is to help the community because we can all be more open minded.
Check The Rest of The Sports Cards Interview Series
- John Newman of Sports Card Nation Podcast and selling 150 1993 SP Derek Jeter RCs way too early
- Kyle of Wax Museum Podcast as a full time teacher and leaning on one another to help grow each other’s collections
- Jon, the Basketball Card Guy, an emerging media field professional and helpful thoughts for the many new people entering the hobby
- Ron, founder of the largest sports cards scammers group on Facebook with 27,000 members and how a $25 deal ended up helping countless number of collectors
- Kyle of KWJ Sports Cards shares several ways to make money with sports cards
- Agostino of A&M Centerpiece Sports Cards Investments and what he learned buying, selling, and grading a 2001 Bowman Chrome Albert Pujols auto
- James AKA Awe_SomeProCards and how nostalgia kept him in sports cards and continuing to learn about the hobby
