Meelypod Hobby Podcast · The Meelypops Shop

EP. 36: Alan Narz (Big League Cards)

·1 hr 4 min·2 clips

Jameel Muhammad and Jeff Cardozo host Alan from Big League for a conversation that stays in the hobby but keeps widening out in useful ways. The opening energy is classic collector excitement, with the hosts breaking down a $100,000 bounty on an Evan Longoria Charizard card and the kind of value talk that only really makes sense inside this world. From there, the episode opens up into what Alan has been building at Big League. Pack Wars comes up as one of the clearest examples, and the conversation treats it as both fun and a sign that hobby events can grow when they are put together with some imagination. The hosts spend plenty of time on the National and on what happens when a good idea turns into a full crowd event. Alan’s approach to getting hundreds of people ripping packs at once is described as pandemonium, and that energy becomes part of the point. The conversation does not stay with spectacle for long, though, because it keeps circling back to the practical side of running a store and serving collectors well. That is where dealer education becomes one of the main themes. Alan talks about how much of what Big League does comes from learning from other store owners, borrowing ideas, and staying open to better ways of doing the work. That openness comes across as a strength rather than a flaw. The episode keeps returning to the idea that the best hobby operators are the ones who share, compare notes, and improve together. Jeff’s questions help draw out the thinking behind that attitude, so the discussion does not just celebrate clever events, it explains why they matter. The tone stays relaxed and conversational, but the subject still has some weight: how a card store stays relevant as the hobby changes. Alan makes it clear that the next five years will not look like the last five, and the conversation leaves room for that uncertainty instead of trying to smooth it over. Card Stores Near Me becomes the clearest example of where that thinking is headed. The project is framed as a straightforward way for collectors to locate stores by entering a zip code, which fits the episode’s larger interest in making the hobby easier to enter and easier to support. The hosts also talk about wanting to keep helping kids get excited about the hobby and about partnering with the card show as it grows. That gives the episode a community feel without getting sentimental. Even when the conversation shifts into future plans, it keeps the focus on useful infrastructure, better store culture, and the people who keep the hobby moving. The episode also has the easy rhythm of a duo that knows how to follow a lead and let a guest expand it. Jameel and Jeff bring banter, memory, and local energy from the Coach's Podcast Room at Spurrier’s Gridiron Grill in Gainesville at Celebration Point, which helps the interview feel lived-in instead of packaged. The shop talk lands because it is specific: breaks, comps, grading, rookies, market timing, and event ideas all sit naturally inside the conversation. That specificity gives the episode its shape. It is not trying to explain the hobby to strangers. Instead, it assumes the listener already knows some of the language and wants to hear how experienced people think about it. The episode keeps coming back to the same practical question from different angles: what makes a store, a show, or a collecting idea actually work? Alan’s answer is part creativity and part willingness to learn from others. The hosts let that answer breathe. They also keep the conversation human, with side comments, old stories, and a few sideways turns that make the whole thing feel like a real day in the hobby rather than a polished presentation. By the end, the episode has built a clear case for Big League as more than a retail name. It comes across as a place where ideas get tested, shared, and scaled. The show also leaves room for what comes next, which fits a conversation about a hobby that keeps reinventing itself around events, tech, and collector behavior. The closing stretch brings the focus back to the next show, the next guest, and the next week of collecting talk, so the episode ends with momentum instead of a hard stop.

As heard by us

A lively hobby-shop conversation that makes store know-how worth borrowing.

MeelyPod Hobby Podcast stays centered on Alan from Big League Cards and keeps its attention on the overlap between collecting, store culture, and the practical side of the hobby business.

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Why you'd press play

Press play if you want hobby talk that knows the shop floor.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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