Pack to the Future Podcast · Pack to the Future Podcast

S3 Episode 100: What MAJOR Card Show to Attend This Summer?

April 4, 2026·1 hr 29 min·7 clips

After his mother's death, Ricky told his father for the first time in 42 years: 'I never said thank you — but you were awesome.'

1. Pack to the Future Podcast S3 Episode 100 is a long-format (88+ minute) sports card collecting show hosted by Ricky (Mystery Bay) and Dr. Chad. 2. The episode opens with Ricky displaying two physical items: a half-cord box of cards inherited from his brother following his mother's death, and the original childhood Tupperware junk box — colored green and blue — that he and his brother have had since age eight. 3. The episode's central tension involves whether the hobby's growing investor class is making genuine collecting harder, a theme that runs through the Seller Buy segment, the card-show discussion, and the Elway flip story. 4. The 'Seller Buy' segment names four bad-faith sellers: a Reddit user who ghosted a 2x offer for a Salvador Perez logo mojo; a card-show dealer who doubled the price on a card for a known collector trying to finish a rainbow; a flipper who turned a $3,100 Elway into a $6,000 Fanatics listing within days; and a dealer who shipped a damaged card that did not match the listing photo. 5. The John Elway Ruby PSA 7 card number 7 sold for $3,100 on March 29th; the buyer immediately listed it on Fanatics at $6,000 buy-it-now, a 93% markup that Ricky calls 'what ruins the hobby.' 6. Chad argues that face-to-face card show transactions produce less predatory behavior than anonymous online platforms, and frames this as the reason both hosts want to attend major summer card shows. 7. The episode's monthly giveaway randomizer, run 50 times as a callback to a teased bet, selects Kenny Benson as the $25 eBay gift card winner from the month's purchase submissions. 8. The formal baseball bet contract — signed by both hosts and dated April 2, 2026 — details that Chad must complete a 60-shot power hour if the Dodgers reach 50 wins first, and Ricky must eat a Del Taco meal including two cheese quesadillas, two chocolate shakes, and eight Del Scorcho sauce packets if the Tigers win. 9. Ricky submitted ten cards to PSA grading through the Overtime card shop in South Jordan, Utah — four of his own including a Miguel Cabrera Allen & Ginter stained glass mini, a 2020 Mosaic Flea Flicker Calvin Johnson parallel, a 2022 Flawless Aiden Hutchinson RPA, and a 2022 Matt Stafford Kaboom. 10. The PSA submission cost $32.99 per card for value service plus $2 per card for cleaning, with a projected return timeline of approximately August 2026 based on 75 business days. 11. Ricky's son and his son's friend each asked to have cards graded, then both stood him up — his son texting 'just go alone' while already on his way — leaving Ricky to submit six non-owned cards totaling $41.75 each alone. 12. The father-son inversion is made explicit: Ricky had just bonded with his own father after his mother's death, and was immediately let down by his son in the same week. 13. Ricky's reflection on his mother's death includes a direct message to listeners: grown children should tell their parents thank you, because 'we are huge assholes to them' and the parent-child dynamic rarely includes explicit gratitude. 14. Chad describes moving to a new city for a clinic job that promised no weekend work, only to be told three days in that the new clinic opening in July would require every other or every third Saturday. 15. Chad presents listeners with a decision: keep Thursday off with full weekends free but lose the Saturday flexibility, or switch to Monday off with every third Saturday worked in exchange for the adjacent Friday off. 16. Early listener votes from the live YouTube chat favor the three-day weekend option with the occasional Saturday trade-off. 17. The episode plugs the Pack to the Future website (pttfpodcast.com) for affiliate links through Fanatics and eBay, noting commissions are generated at no extra cost when listeners click through before purchasing. 18. The show's companion programs are promoted: Card Talk with Mrs. Doc on Wednesdays and Sunday Night's Main Event, a live wrestling cards nostalgia show that Chad says has 'reinvigorated his love of wrestling.' 19. Long-time sports card collectors, particularly those who attend card shows and are frustrated by investor-driven price manipulation, will find the Seller Buy segment most engaging. 20. Listeners with no interest in sports cards, baseball, or the card-grading market will find little to hold their attention beyond the personal anecdotes.

As heard by us

A relaxed card-shop hangout where grading talk and junk-box treasure hunts do the heavy lifting.

The episode settles into an easy collector hangout, built around brother eBay's junk boxes and a patient look at action-packed raised cards and transparent hologram cards in CD-style cases.

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

A grading-field report for anyone staring at a box of cards and wondering what deserves a trip to the slab shop.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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