An Interview With Graig of Midlife Sports Cards

Presented by

Sorry about my delayed start this week. I spent the weekend in the Boston area with a friend.

Midlife Sports Cards is an up-and-coming, fast-rising YouTube channel in the collecting community. Graig already has more than 5,000 subscribers, and he hasn’t even reached his second anniversary yet. So I thought I’d ask him some questions to get an understanding of his success and goals.

How long have you been collecting? And did you take any breaks in there?

I started collecting cards in 1987, specifically with 1987 Topps Baseball Cards. That year, I found a card binder with pages at a garage sale when we were trying to find a bigger used bike for my brother. Once I had the binder and pages, I was all in. I went to close to 100 card shows all around California over the next 12 years or so. San Francisco used to have some massive card shows, and even attended my first National there!!

During college I continued to collect cards, but my interests started to broaden. I got heavy into golf cards (1981 and 1982 Donruss) during the early 2000s and built those sets, which I still have. I got married in 2003 and collecting cards took a back seat as we were strapped for money while having children. But, I did continue checking ebay prices of many cards during that time.

In about 2010 I started getting heavy into collecting ticket stubs. So, I wasn't specifically collecting many cards, but I was buying stubs online. Some of my biggest stubs included: Reggie's 3 HR World Series Game, Jesse Owens winning a Gold in Germany in the 100 Meters and Broad Jump, Nadia Comaneci's perfect 10, Steve Prefontaine winning his preliminary heat in the mile at the Olympics, and the 1984 Basketball Gold Medal game when Jordan won his first Gold. I spent about 6 or 7 years focussed on tickets before I returned to card collecting. So, I never really took a break from collecting, but I took a break from baseball cards while I was focussed on other sports collectibles.

What would you say you like collecting the most?

The longer I collect, the more I enjoy collecting old cards. As a kid I collected modern, then in my teens I was collecting 1970s cards, several years ago I got into 50s and 60s, and now I'm really enjoying pre war cards. So, while it's always changing, the category that currently interests me the most are pre war cards. Predominantly I focus on baseball cards, but I also really enjoy other sports and non sports as well. I also really like basketball cards from the 1970s and football cards from the 1950s and 1960s.

What is your favorite card? (Not most valuable)

For me, cards help tell a story about a time in our lives. So, the cards that mean the most to me are not the most expensive cards, but the cards that I have the best memories of acquiring. As a kid, I was a HUGE Roger Clemens fan, and the grail card was his 1984 Fleer Update XRC. I could never afford the card because it routinely sold for around $80. I was at a card show in about 1989 and the show did a door prize every hour. The ticket that was pulled received a $100 credit to be used at the card show. Once I got done looking through the tables, I stood by the door and asked people that were leaving if I could have their raffle tickets. After a couple of hours, I had about 20 tickets and eventually one got pulled. I immediately used my credit to buy the 1984 Fleer Clemens and it will always be my favorite cards in my collection.

What is a card you desperately want, but haven’t been able to acquire, either due to scarcity or price?

This is a difficult question because I collect such a wide array of different types of cards. One set that I love is the N19 Allen and Ginter Pirates of the Spanish Main. I have about half of the set of 50 cards, and the key card in the set is the Blackbeard. I've only seen a couple come up for auction in the last couple of years, but I'd love to get that one.

In regards to baseball cards, I think most of us would love to have a Babe Ruth or a Ty Cobb card. As a teacher, my budget is limited, so I don't anticipate picking up one of their cards anytime soon, but I would love to have one at some point. Specifically, I would love one of the 1933 Goudey Ruth cards or one of Cobb's T206 cards. So, I'd say those are the cards that I haven't acquired due to price, and the Blackbeard is one I haven't acquired because of scarcity.

What big cards are you targeting at the National?

There are a lot of big cards that I'll hope to buy at this year's National. Two cards I've been wanting for a long time are the 1948 Yogi Berra and the 1954 Topps Ernie Banks. Both of those cards are very high on my list. I'm also working on putting together a collection of at least one card from every Hall of Fame player in the T206 set, other than the Wagner or Plank. So, I'll actively be looking for some of the cards I don't have yet like Ty Cobb, Cy Young, Walter Johnson, Eddie Collins, Zach Wheat, and others.

What made you start YouTubing?

I genuinely love collecting cards. But, collecting cards can be a little isolating. Other than attending card shows, there aren't a lot of ways for middle aged guys to hang out with other collectors. I wanted a place to hang out, besides just a Facebook group. I had seen a few channels and they were showing off some amazing cards, which I genuinely enjoyed. But, there weren't a lot of opportunities for fellow collectors to participate. At the time, live streams were pretty rare other than "breaks." Most of the bigger channels were collectors showing their cards and talking about them. I thought it would be fun to start a channel where there were more opportunities to get opinions and feedback from other collectors. As a result, I worked really hard to ask questions in my videos so that other collectors would share their thoughts and I could learn from them but also share our love of the hobby. To this day, I've responded with a written message to every comment I've ever received on my channel. It's important to me that my channel is a dialogue and not just a place where I talk and others listen. I want my channel to always be highly interactive with fellow collectors.

Your first video was in October of 2022, and then your second one got more than 13,000 views. How did that happen and what was your reaction?

That particular video that got "big" is an interesting one. I had been sending a lot of cards, mostly modern, to PSA for grading. I was receiving a REALLY high rate of 10 grades. Online, I was watching a lot of people doing PSA reveals and complaining that they were getting 8s and 9s on their grades and not understanding what was going on. So, I made a video about my process for submitting cards to PSA, which had a high rate of success. For the first month or so, that video got very few views. I'd say it had about 100 views in the first month. Then, one morning I looked and it absolutely skyrocketed. To this day, I have no idea what happened or why it caught on. My guess is that a bigger channel possibly shared the video or something, and their larger audience saw it. I was obviously super surprised, but also extremely grateful that people were taking the time to watch something that I put together. It was humbling.

What’s your favorite part of YouTubing?

I know it's super cliche, but I've made some REALLY good friends as a result of launching my channel. There are a handful of people that I anticipate being friends with for the rest of my life. We talk about things far beyond just cards. These are people that I genuinely care about as human beings and I believe care about me and my life. Those connections and friendships mean more to me than anything else that could ever happen as a result of having a YouTube channel.

Why do you think you’ve become so popular in the community?

I don't know if I'm popular in the community or not, but that's a very flattering question. My channel has grown faster than I expected, and I think the root of your question is in regards to that; (why my channel has a good number of subscribers.) I can tell you with all sincerity that growth has never been my goal. My number one goal is to create videos that are worthy of people's time. If people are going to use their limited time listening to me yap away, I want to make sure that I put in the time and effort to be enjoyable or valuable. So, since the very start, I've always tried to hold my content to a fairly high standard. I try to edit it properly, show graphics on the screen that are relevant, but most importantly...and TRULY the most important thing is that I'm authentic. I don't want anyone to ever meet me in person and say, "he's nothing like he is on video."

I think most people that know me, realize that I am who I am. I know I'm long winded. I know I'm excitable. I know that I get passionate when talking about cards. But, it's me...for better or worse. If my goal was to have a LARGE channel, I'd do things MUCH differently than I do it. Vintage cards are a fairly small demographic, so if I wanted to have a large channel, I'd dabble into modern cards like Shohei, Steph, Burrow, and others.

Another way to grow a channel quickly is to associate with larger channels with lots of eyeballs. For example, Mojo lives in the Sacramento area and we've crossed paths at MANY card shows. If my goal was to grow, it would be really easy to have him on my channel or do some collaborations with him and a lot more people would become aware that I exist. But, that's just simply not my goal. I want to connect with people and hear their stories and passion for the hobby that I love. That's why I do a weekly video where I ask a question to my audience; I genuinely want to know what they all think. I have a weekly Q and A video where people can ask me questions and hear me ramble with my opinions on those topics. I answer all of the comments on my videos because it's important to me that EVERY person that takes the time to watch and comment knows that I appreciate them, because I do.

I'm always using analogies, so I'll use one to help answer this question. When you think back to High School and you think about your favorite teachers and your best teachers...think about it for a moment. Did they get up and stand at the board and lecture at you while you wrote down notes? Did they simply disseminate information that you were required to memorize? My guess is that most people remember the teachers that ENGAGED them and valued their situation. The teacher that asked you questions and got to know you. The teacher that welcomed questions and discussions and debates. The teacher who flipped the script and listened to you as much as you listened to them. Well, that's why I think my channel has caught on with some people; I care about what the viewers think, and I believe people know that...because I truly do!!

What’s next for your channel?

My plans for my channel are that I don't have plans for my channel. It's like going on a hike- there are a lot of places that the path may or may not take me, but I'm excited to see where it goes and what it has in store. As soon as I start forcing things for my channel, then I believe it loses authenticity and relatability. I will continue to do videos where I invite people to share opinions and ask questions.

I will continue to ask people to show off their latest pickups with the rest of the community. I'll research data and share my reactions, while asking others to chime in with their thoughts and reactions. This year I started doing more collaborations, which I have really enjoyed doing. Discussing cards and aspects of the hobby is something that I thoroughly enjoy doing, and I'm always honored when people ask me to come on their channel. (It's actually fairly rare that someone asks me to be a guest on their channel.) But, as far as there being any sort of "new" series/topics/events for the channel, I don't have anything currently in the works.

Shout out some of your favorite YouTubers with under 5,000 subscribers.

This is a tough question because there are so many channels that I truly enjoy. I consider myself to be good friends with Mookie Chillson, Darren of Return to Collecting, and Theo of Clemente Collector, among others. So, I'd always suggest people check out their channels.

Orlando of A Collector's Dream is one of the kindest people I've ever met, and I really enjoy when he teaches about different sets and issues, same with Dave of Bluejacket 66. Nuf Ced Cards is a channel I love watching because he has some absolutely incredible cards and seems like such a nice guy. Ray From Philly has a great channel that I'm always excited to check out. Those are some of the channels that first pop into my head when I think of channels I'd recommend others check out, but there are obviously many more that I really enjoy.

If you’re not already subscribed to Graig’s channel, you should do so here.

YouTube Get-Together

Baseball Collector Mike organizes and manages a YouTube get-together at the National. It’s open to anyone who wants to go: viewers, commenters, YouTubers, etc. I will be there and would love to meet you if you’re around.

Here are the details:

Thursday 6pm-10pm (I’ll probably leave by 8:00 or 8:30)

American Legion

19944 Sheldon Rd.

Brook Park, OH

Quit sending emails like a dinosaur.

It’s the year 2024 and all the top newsletters are using beehiiv.

beehiiv was created by the same early Morning Brew employees who scaled their daily email to over 4 million subscribers. And now every newsletter on beehiiv has access to the same tools and winning formula.

So what exactly does beehiiv offer?

• World-class growth tools like the referral program and recommendation network

• Monetization via the beehiiv Ad Network and premium subscriptions (i.e. beehiiv helps you get paid)

• Seamless content creation with a sleek collaborative editor

• Best-in-class inbox deliverability of 98.7%

• Oh and it’s the most affordable by a mile…

Take your newsletter to the next level — get started for free.

PSA 4.5 Missing A Corner?

Longtime subscriber Steve sent me this. Is this Johnny Bench card missing a corner? If so, how did it get a 4.5 grade from PSA?

Here’s the listing. Go and zoom in on that corner.

I checked the cert and it is not, in fact, missing a corner.

Weird that it looks that way. Pro tip: use PSA’s high-res scans in your listings instead of your own terrible photos.

YouTube Comment Of The Week

This is so clever of Robert the Commenting Collector, on my video about buying an SGC 2.5 Ernie Banks rookie card. One of those jokes I wish I’d thought of.

Upcoming Videos

National coverage and pickups!

Links:

Mike Sommer writes it, I link it. “Overspending As A Gesture Of Goodwill?”