The Trade Secrets of Card Collecting Everyone Should Know w/ Kurt from Kurt's Card Care

Hello and welcome to the Geeked Out Collecting Podcast where collect Pokemon cards, and other nerdy stuff, like damn adults. Today's episode I had the pleasure of having on Kurt who has been a lifelong collector and recently has been on a mission to help collectors "improve" the quality of their cards with the skill of card cleaning. No this is NOT card altering! Kurt and I talk about ways you can turn your 8 or 8.5 into a 9, 9.5 or even a 10 depending. But you don't need to be a card grader to get value out of this because who doesn't like a collection full of sharp minty raw cards? We spend some time talking about Fortnite, but don't let that keep you from listening because we do talk about TCG's as well. Enjoy!

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Let's get.

Hello, and welcome to the geek
out collecting podcast, where we

collect Pokemon cards and other
nerdy things like damn adult.

I am your host, Jess.

And thank you so much for
being here in this episode.

I actually wanted to bring on a cool new
hobby buddy that I just recently met.

His name is Kurt from Kurtz card care.

And the reason why I wanted to bring
him on is because he has been cleaning

and maintaining his cards for.

Years now.

And he started teaching that skill
to other people and I wanted to bring

him on because I didn't really know
it was a thing which is silly because

I've been collecting for so long.

I feel a little ashamed that I didn't
know about these things sooner, but also

because you know, it's something that we
really want to, it's a, it's a skill that

you definitely want to try and take on
even a little bit, just because if you

like to send in cards to get graded, or if
you just want to make sure that your cards

are in really good shape and continue
to keep them in really good shape.

And these are good skills to
have just as a collector, even

if you don't grade things.

And just as an aside, I do want
to preface with this isn't, uh,

cleaning cards is not manipulating or.

Um, what's the word altering your part.

That, that's the word
that I wanted to say.

This isn't about altering your cards.

This isn't about quote unquote
making the centering better, right?

Because that would
include cutting the cards.

This isn't about painting the cards.

This isn't about anything like that.

This is literally just shining your
cards up, polishing them, maybe helping

the edges a little bit with some tape.

You know, if there's a little bit of a
frame, these aren't alterations, these

aren't bad taboo things that if you sold
a 50 or $50,000 card, uh, you're not going

to be the Friday, your sellers, right.

That that's not what this is.

This is just in my mind, a very.

Valuable skill as a collector, you know,
to, to develop and build the craft of.

So anyways, that's why I
wanted to bring Kurt on today.

I've rambled for way too long.

Here's Kurt.

I really appreciate
you coming on for sure.

No doubt.

This has been kind of life-changing.

I will say cleaning cards, definitely
life changing, but Kurt, I wanted

to talk a little bit about you and
yourself and what you do online

and what you share essentially.

Hey, I'm happy.

Thanks for having me, Jess.

And let's see, I'll start
back to like when you said

it, like what I share online.

So long story short, and we
can unpack it more if you wish,

just turn the big 40 this year.

And I've been a card
collector price since 88, 89.

I had family and friends that were
into it and I'd just been sucked

in and just found like a great,
just, I just love collecting man.

I'm just a collector.

So I've always been into it.

And for years I was always
obsessed with making cards.

Look a little bit better if I could.

I just, I have a special type of OCD.

I think like when I see something
out of place or bent or scratch,

I'm always like, how can I fix it?

I think it's just probably the artist
in me that likes to see things just

the way they're supposed to be.

I started making formulas like
just, I didn't even call it CURT's

Carter care until a year ago, but I
just started making some formulas.

I grew up in an automotive family,
had a working knowledge of how

to make different products and
stuff that we would use on cars.

And I figured, all right, there's
gotta be a way to do this on cards,

but I know the car stuff is like
way too hard for me too heavy.

So I started making formulas years
back and start working on my cards.

And that's when I started submitting them
and started getting better grades because

I was able to clean up the surface and
whatnot, and I just did it privately.

And I said it for fun.

And I have a handful of collector friends
around the country and even the world

that would send me cards to work on forum.

Boom, the pandemic hit and
I'm like swamped with guys.

Want me to grade are up to.

To clean up their cards.

And I just was like, I was
happy, but I was just like,

there's gotta be a better way.

So I said, you know what?

I'm going to throw, I'm going to
throw every secret or technique

or best practice or everything.

You want to call it out there
and just show people how to do it

rather than just keep on doing it.

So when you said, how did
the online stuff start?

I know my wife told me you
should make an Instagram page.

And I said, oh man, social media drives
me crazy, but all right, I'll do it.

She's like you do good work.

People would like to see this.

And so I made the page and I'm
like, you know what, I'm going

to start making the products and
start sharing them with collectors.

So I just Kurt.

So I named a CURT's card
care and that was that.

And then I started doing demonstrations,
ally, and sure enough, it found out

that I was like, I'm not the only one.

There's a ton of people that
hit me up right away that were.

Hey, I, I try to do stuff on my own, but
I just, I have a patchwork of stuff that

I've been trying to work on cards with.

Sometimes I get great results sometimes
I don't and I like what you're doing.

So just from making videos in this
studio of working on my collection has

really tied me into like collectors
across the world, the country.

And it's all been through this
account and goal of fixing up

the cards in our collection.

So that's really like just the
progression of where we're at now.

And so, yeah, I hope that makes sense.

And I appreciate you asking.

Yeah, it totally makes sense.

And I think the great thing about
just the whole process, it sounds like

it has happened really organically.

And I really like how people will find
your content and they don't even realize

that's, those are things that they
can do or that those products are even

available within there available to
them to use, which is really awesome.

I think it works out really well because
you're teaching skills and this is just.

This is just an aspect of collecting.

And this is just this part of collecting,
coming to the surface a little bit

more because when people think about
maybe cleaning cards, I don't know.

Some people probably instantly think about
alterations and cutting the corners, or

we trying to make the edges look nicer
or the alignment, the centering a little

bit better, but this isn't any of that.

This won't land you in jail.

If you're like, what's his name?

That's going to, you know, alter
a homeless Wagner back in the day.

I know there was like some really
big news a couple of weeks ago

about people cutting cards.

And it's like, for the record,
I don't cut corners figuratively

or literally everything I inlaid.

I've always believed
like, I like competition.

I like natural talent.

And even though I'm just working on
cardboard and teaching the community how

to work on cardboard, that's okay with me.

I like it.

Yeah.

I would never advocate getting out
paints or markers or trimming up corners.

I just think that's cheating.

If you can take a card and fix a little
thing or work out a little vintage

cards, have a lot of heavy fingerprints
and sticky stuff on the surface.

And I think a lot of collectors
will find a card like that

and be like, and game over.

It's not, I'll put it in my collection,
but I sure do wish it looked better.

Yeah.

I think you're tracking
along right with me.

I tried to just, I want him
to be a product are a customer

of a company like mine.

So like when I started grading cards
again, about 10 years ago, I would

search like my company's name, like I'd
searched card care solutions, or how to

fix baseball cards or basketball cards.

And it was like a
patchwork of random ideas.

And I was like, there's no company that
makes something safe to put on cards.

Sounds like such a huge hobby and
such a, so many people collect.

And that's what pushed me to be
like, get to work, start class, then

start testing very in a small group
with just your personal friends.

Yeah, I did that for
close to probably 2010.

I started doing that 10 years later,
I was like, it's time to, um, to share

this there's enough great people I met.

They would totally enjoy this
type of craft and it would

help out the hobby for them.

And that's what I've been doing.

I love that you called it a craft.

I had a whole bunch of questions
in my head on ways we can go with

all the things that you just said,
but I really wanted to bring that

up because it really is a craft.

It's a skill and collecting in general is
a craft in and of itself because there's

different skillsets that come with it.

And.

I dunno.

It's just always been really fun.

And I think for me, at least, because
I've been grading for a few years

now, and for me, my weakest thing
to grade has always been surfaced

and I just was not very good at it.

And when you get into cleaning cards
and having the proper equipment to

even really fully assess or grade a
surface, you really start to everything

really starts to, I don't know, I
guess maybe come into place where you

start to, to really see and understand.

Oh, okay.

Yeah.

I didn't see that without a black light.

My definitely need to
be better about that.

And it's just a matter of practice of
course, but especially with grading costs

being so expensive now we have to eat.

I love to still grade and I want
to grade my favorite and slash most

important cards, whether they're
valuable or not maintaining the quality.

Your goal right at the end of the
day, cause you want to keep them.

So you have to be even smarter now before
it was really easy to just send things

in, but now you have to be much smarter
if you weren't, you've made good points

because surface was where, what led me to
like Kurt scared here to a degree because

I have a pretty good eye when it came to
sharp corners and edges and centering.

And those are things I could I up,
but I didn't realize all the little

things that are on the surface.

I just wasn't into it the way I am now.

And that would be my lowest score.

Like my, I would always submit with
Beckett and I would get nines on the

corners or higher, or I could I add
up, well in the scenario it would

be a nine, five or whatever, and
then I'd get like a seven surface.

And I'm like, what the
heck am I doing wrong?

And I just didn't know how to do it.

The microfiber, obviously
I got them everywhere.

You know what I mean?

They put, they can only go so far.

Sometimes you just sometimes just
need that little bit of extra.

Just help to like even loosen stuff up.

I love nineties basketball parents.

I have so many nineties basketball cards
with specs, dried out them and 30 year old

fingerprints dried on them and all this
stuff that like, I just can't work with a

microfiber and I'm like, they're all foil.

And it's like, they're a while
you start flaking the foil off.

And I'm like, there's
gotta be a better way.

So yeah.

And even if people aren't people
collect for a lot of reasons, that's

like people might buy cards and grade
them and sell them, which is fine.

Or people might just love to have
a collection or keep on growing

their collection, whatever.

But I think that something we can all
agree on is we're all pretty picky

when it comes to having the nicest,
the nicest looking card possible.

Whether you keep it or sell it
or whatever, I think that whether

whatever side you're on or whatever
you collect, I think we all agree.

It's important to like, keep
yourself looking as best.

And that's really where I saw
like a space where I'm like,

why isn't anybody doing this?

All right.

Let's make some videos and
show people how it works.

And I have just met some of
those, the most awesome people.

I met you because of this yourself.

I appreciate you having me on 100%.

I guess the reason why I actually
found out about you was because

one of my hobby buddies, who's into
Fortnite and I'm really into sports

and he's definitely well versed
in a lot of different collecting

verticals, I guess you could say.

And he mentioned you and
I was like, holy crap.

Yep.

This is exactly what I need.

Yeah.

And it makes me want to learn
more about the craft in general

because Fortnite cards, those are
definitely applicable from a lot of

the videos that you've already done.

But also too, I'm thinking
about my Pokemon cards.

I'm thinking about my magic, the
gathering cards, and actually was

funny with the cards that I sent you.

I was debating whether or not to send
you some magic, the gathering cards,

cause there's this one set in particular
that I actually did enjoy, but.

Printing quality was just so
shit like the edges chewed up.

And so I'm thinking to myself, it might
be interesting to see him work on a

magic, the gathering card, but I think
they're base cards unless they're foils.

I think their base cards are
probably paper, but anyways,

it's just, and I try to, I don't
collect every single style of card.

I crave getting my hands on.

Like every style I cared because through
just a really Instagram and the social

channels, I've developed some really
good friendships and like a lot of trust.

It's like people's
collection is very personal.

People spend a lot of money on this.

And for a lot of people it's like
me, at least it's like my escape.

Like I got normal life
hitting me all day long.

So like when I sit down at my
collection, I use it almost as

an escape or just to get away.

So I don't put any people do that too.

So yeah, some sports are my main, but I
just love getting my hands on every card

just to show people in that community, you
know how to go about it and what works.

Hopefully you get home from a crazy
busy day or whatever it may be.

And just have some alone time work on
their collection, see some results like

I've been referring it to is like the
hobby inside the hobby, you got the

hobby, you got the cards, but then you
sit down with them and, and I think that

I'm always been hands-on with stuff.

So I have a hard time just buying my
collection and just like putting it away.

I know I'm not the only one, but
as I like to get it out and look

at it and now that I can get it out
and look for a little imperfections

and work on it, I don't know.

It's just time well spent.

And it's just a good little
vacation at your house with

something you already love to do.

I agree with you.

We all need an escape and what's
great too, is that it just

makes you that much better too.

It doesn't feel like practice, but
that's exactly what you're doing.

And so when you get to those upper deck
cards, not literally the brand upper deck,

but those more expensive, more valuable
cards, it doesn't feel like anything that

should intimidate you because you've done
it so many times on so many other cards.

Yeah, that's a great point.

Just cause I do get people
like on my show, I'll it's fun.

It's cool to feature cards that
are $10,000 or something or higher.

And dude, are you nervous?

I don't look at the player on the card.

I look at the little
surface issue I can fix up.

I can look at the edge that
I know how to fix up because

it's just a card at that point.

Yes, of course it's important.

And I understand that, but I just got a
black bat part out and be like, I see some

issues and just I'd fix them on a $2 card.

I can fix them on a $15,000 card.

Well, so yes, practice.

I tell people like, even my customers will
they'll hit me up and be like, Hey Kurt,

I put an application of Polish on the card
and it the S the market's still there.

I'm like, how many
applications did you put?

How many cards have you practiced on all?

I just got it.

I need you to sit your butt in
that chair and work on 10 cards

a week for the next four weeks.

And you're going to get, you're going
to get the feel and you're going

to be able identify you, pick up
a car and a big old scratch on it.

Sorry.

Kurt's card here is not gonna
fix it because it's permanent.

But if you've got cards with the little
minor perfections and things that you

guys see me, work on, sit down with it,
spend some time with it and practice,

and it just makes you feel good.

Like I said, having inside of the
habit, when you start getting some

results, you're going to be Jack.

Like I just right before we came on Jess,
I got a really nice message from one of

my Instagram buds that just sent me a
look of down chick prism, silver, PSA, 10.

And he cracked it out of a BGS nine
slab, but 8.5 sub grades nines.

And he said, all I did was just
lightly work the edges and corners.

Like he showed me it had a little, couple
bumps and I also took the surface and

he just showed me the 10 slabs today.

And he's, he goes, I don't
want to sound cheesy.

He goes, but this is the
most excitement I've had.

And I was like, Hey man, celebrate it.

That's good.

You sat down and did that with your hands.

And what do you keep the card forever?

Or sell it or whatever you
did it, dude, it's an account.

It's like a little trophy
more than just getting a card.

There's a story behind it too.

It makes that card.

You know that much more special
because I remember the very

first card that I graded.

It was a PSA eight unlimited
hollow MuTu based set.

Originally there's 20 billion
of those cards and it's not even

the best condition, but it didn't
matter because it was the first

one that I sent in to get graded.

And on top of that, it got a PSA
eight, even after the guy that

was, he was checking me out of the
cash register and this was a place.

It wasn't a card shop,
but they did sell cards.

It was like a second kind of spot.

You can get books and
comics and stuff like that.

So they did a whole bunch of stuff.

Anyways, he had the car, it runs
me up some money, but I'm with you.

But anyways, he had the card when
he's just doing his thing on the

cash register and he's going like.

Okay.

He's going like this to the
card right in front of me.

And I don't know I was so
triggered, but I didn't say anything

because I'm just the person.

That's not going to say anything.

I know.

I know they do have that flexibility
because it was a playing card.

So they do you do that with
one of your Fortnite cards or

a sports card it's game over.

So,

and maybe that's what saved me.

I don't know.

But like, to your point with him,
your hobby buddy, that's really great.

That's awesome.

That is so cool.

Regardless of what you do with
that car, that is so cool.

And for me, I've always been the kind
of collector and I've talked to other

collectors about this, trying to find.

Ways to that are hidden, but
not really hidden anymore.

But a few years ago, they were
in the ways to get quality

cards at not top dollar prices.

And one of the ways that we were
initially doing that, and we can,

you can probably still find some
really good deals on them right now.

But CGC is a great grading company.

They grade really hard, and those
cards don't necessarily go for market

price compared to maybe a BGS or a PSA.

If you've got a card with sub grades or
you've gotten a really good look at that

card, and you think there's something
in that car, then maybe you could just

without doing anything, just take it and
get it graded by PSA or BGS, or be better.

That's one way to do it.

But then on top of that, add
to your arsenal of tricks.

Cleaning a surface of a
bar working the edges.

And if I even said in this video and
like, I've always been an artist, and

this is one of the thing that all the
viewers, if you're not an artist, don't,

you don't talk yourself out of this.

You guys, I wouldn't watch
my examples copy off me.

I try to teach the whole time, but I'm
going to show everybody how to do it.

And like I said, when you practice
on your base cards, it's all good.

And then referring to, you
know what you're saying?

Justice, the hobby inside the hobby.

I love going to card shows
and finding rock hearts.

I like going to car shows
and finding BGS 8.5.

So subs, I, if I could be wrong,
I mean, but I think if I had

the budget, just go buy a bunch
of PSA, tens or pristine cards.

I don't know if I would like,
there's no sport in it for me.

There's no competition in it for me.

I do have some nice ones
that are, that are tens.

A lot of them I've turned into that.

And I just, I'm more proud of.

But I do enjoy finding cards.

That card shows because you can definitely
look at them and get a good view of them.

And then yeah, you guys, if you're hunting
for cards that you can clean up, look at

cards with some grades, and if you have
some surface stuff or some edge issues

and you can identify it and see it, it's
not like permanent, but fixable have fun.

Give it a, go crack it, open work at it.

The worst that can happen
is it doesn't work out.

You know what I mean?

It's not many times you guys, like, I
know I show off a lot of pro demos of

like stuff working out really well.

Let me tell you guys something.

The stack of cards that doesn't
work out is bigger than the stack

of cards that does work out.

So don't feel bad if you're like,
God, I can't get this bend out or I

can't get this sliding off the front.

Welcome to my world.

Welcome.

And you can get one of them
to look rockstar status

out of five or eight or 10.

Pat yourself on the back.

That's cool because you weren't going
to do anything with them anyways.

You know what I mean?

So might as well give it a shot.

So it's, it's a fun thing to do.

And I suggest you guys, if it's something
that interests, you go looking for

some, go hit the card shops and pick up
some raw stuff and work on it at home.

That's awesome.

And for today, I know you've seen it.

I had a number of questions that I
was thinking I was going to go in

this direction, but honestly I want
to go into a little bit of a different

direction because I feel like in
my head, I always try to go toward

when I'm learning something new.

I always try to find the fundamental
principles that can, then I can

take and apply to everything.

And from the conversations that we've had.

For sure it is the first one I would say
learning from you is definitely trying

to figure out the material the card is
made out of and what kind of coat, if

it has a coat, what kind of coat and
then build your process from there.

So a, would you agree with some of those
fundamentals that I just said, but B what

other fundamentals would you maybe add
to those or correct, or edit with that?

Yeah, I'll give you what I look for when
able they'll turn occurred around and

then using even like the formulas I make
you guys go seriously, sometimes hot

breath and a microfiber is all you need.

I'm not going to diss hot breath,
even though you guys might see

me use my straw, I can channel my
hot breath on a card rather than

this blowing all over the thing.

So if you're going to use
that breath, use the straw.

All right.

If you don't like McDonald's
straws, you can go to taco bell too.

But what I like say like in context of the
three, my three main products dress like.

Cleaning spray, a card
Polish and a quarter tool.

The most that you're gonna be able
to use my stuff is on modern era

cards with a little bit of protection
on the front or back or both.

And what I mean by that is if you guys
watched any of my work or check anything

out, you'll hear me say the word.

Clear-coat a million times, because
most modern era cards have a plastic

front, a little bit of paper in
the middle and then a plastic back.

So that creates a nice protection
for the card, but it also makes

them waterproof to a degree.

So when I like, for an example, like
I have a couple of Fortnite cards

here on my desk and we've got a base
card and it's a base a way point.

And so for example, guys, like this
card is very shiny on the front and I'll

try to get some light on there for you.

It's very shiny.

So when you guys are looking at your
cards at home, hold them under a good one.

And you're going to see that
this has shine all over it.

So that means that it's
got a protection on it.

When you look at a fortnight card
from the back, just from this series,

this is the 2021 run of the cards.

And on the back, it's an
unprotected cardboard finish.

So what that tells you is if you're
going to work on it with my stuff

or any stuff, just be careful with
the back, my, the safest way to

play cleaning the card on the back.

That's unfinished is going to be
like hot breath and a microfiber.

Okay.

Because if you put a Polish on
here or cleaning spray on here, it

will saturate the guard game over.

You don't want to do that.

Okay.

But the protective, shiny front to
you could put a drop of water on

there and it's going to sit there.

It's not going to saturate into the.

That means you can easily give it a Polish
or a, use, a spray to give it a clean,

if it's got dirty fingerprints or res
residuals or anything on the surface.

So that's like what you want to
look for when cleaning a card and

also take in mind, of course, the
corners, the edges, things like that.

If you have any minor bumps or dings or
anything like that, it's hard to see.

I hear you guys, but this is,
I always keep it on my desk.

Cause I use it all the time.

Being a guy that loves to draw and paint,
I made my corner tool emulate a paintbrush

because I'm good with the paint brush.

And even if you're not, I'm sure
you use a pen or pencil often.

So I just kind of want to like make
tools that feel like it's something

you've already been using for a bit.

So those would be the things that I would
look for when you're accessing, like

sizing up a card and wondering how do I
work on it or where should I go from it?

So make sure it has a clear coat.

You guys, if you want to use any sprays
or Polish or anything like that, you

know, that way you're not going to
ever go too far or damage the correct.

Yeah, that that makes a ton of sense.

So then as far as, okay, so you were
saying the sprays used, if you have maybe

gunky, if it touched like the sticky part
of a team bag or anything like that on

the surface, that's a great that's, you
know what, that's what you nailed it.

I see so many modern cards and
I think black people get cards,

like from a variety of places,
but breaking is really popular.

There's a lot of breakers.

And then a lot of cards go team bags.

I have received cards with
sticky residuals on the front,

and you're not going to get
anywhere with a microfiber on it.

You're just going to smear it all around.

So that's where I make my little handy
spray and I'll put it on just a little

cotton square or a microfiber and just
give it a quick wipe, pull it right off.

Sometimes you guys will see
me work on cards for two days.

Other times, you'll see me
work on them for two minutes.

So little sticky.

That's like really what I'm going after.

So my spring we'll go after a
little sticky stuff or like.

Again, I'm going to go
back to the nineties.

Cause that's like when I grew up and that
was when I started like really big into

basketball, I'll go garage Shaylin or card
show in or whatever, and I'll get nineties

stuff and there's always like age spots or
sticky stuff on them or things like that.

And I can never get that off with
hat and breath or a microfiber.

So use it a little bit of spray on
a cotton square, getting it off.

And then once you get it off,
you might have, it could look

a little dull cause that sticky
stuff was on it for a long time.

And that's where I didn't develop this.

My, my Polish.

I know that there we go to go back on
condition to the top of the card, bring

that shine and that natural luster back.

And then I look at it and I'm
happy and it looks good again.

You know what I mean?

So that's a, that's the process with the
formulas and how I came up with them.

Gotcha.

So the Polish is for an, at the end,
if it needs a little bit of shine

and then just getting like little
weird things off the surface, gently

thingy, a combination of using.

Your McDonald's straw, some
hot breath, maybe a microfiber.

And then the tool is a combo of all that.

Exactly.

Cause I really, I designed the
formulas around BGS is grading

standards, edges, corners, and surface.

I can't do anything with scenery,
but I'm like, all right, what can I

work on with the edges and corners?

My paintbrush that I
figured out works great.

The, I it's, this is metaphorically
speaking, but I look at this as like the

shampoo and this is like the conditioner.

So there's no shame in these things.

You know what I mean?

It was that easy.

I wouldn't have to make it, but the you,
and sometimes if you have a modern era

card, like I'm going to work on a couple
Fortnite cards, you guys, and I'm going to

make a demo and I'll show you these cards
don't have anything dirty on the front.

They're brand new.

But I did notice when I started, I
put the hallow next to the laser.

The laser's more brilliant
than this hallow.

And I held this hallow up to the light
and it does have just a little bit of.

It's just a little dull and it's strange.

It could have been, I don't know how
they even make cards at a factory.

I don't know if they're humid
there or they stick to the card in

front or whatever the heck it is,
or just in movement or whatever.

So I'm not going to, you need to use any
sort of probably cleaning spray on any

of these Fortnite cards, but I'll give
them a quick Polish and they'll just

pull off whatever accumulated or stuck to
the surface from production till today.

And my whole thing you
guys is like restoring it.

And I want to be, I know this is probably
new for a lot of people checking this

out, the Polish I make, you guys does
not bond to the surface of your car.

You are not adding anything to your card.

It is going to go on there.

It's going to cut through whatever
craps on the top and it's going to

tightly pull everything back off.

I have had many people just like we
talked about in this call before.

They're like, I heard stories of people
putting like car waxes and stuff on 'em

cards and then sending them into a graded.

It's clear that they did something
to it and it's altered the actual

physical composition of the card.

And I agree, I agree with that, that it
would, there's under the car polished

car, wax umbrella, literally there's
50 different styles of car waxes and

Polish that all do different jobs, you
know, so no, this, and they just bought

one that could potentially be like
biting off way more than they can chew.

So there's in my stuff.

I don't put any fake colors, any sort of
like abrasives, like a lot of car care

products will have a mild abrasive to
dislike, strip off a little bit of the

clear coat to bring that luster back.

So I don't flirt with that.

The cards are way too delicate and
way too thin to be messing with that.

And the clear coat is like barely there.

So that's like the, the process
that I would take is just.

I just want people to know
you're not going to put my stuff

on and try to hide something.

You put it on, you remove it.

And when you remove it, it pulls
off all the stuff that you're

trying to remove in a perfect world.

And if you do have little swirls on the
clear coat that are real light, or like

these little print lines that happened
to come on cards, I was about to ask,

sometimes those things dig into the card
and like, you rub your finger over it

and you can feel like a divot or a dip
is permanent and it ain't going nowhere.

But if you find them where they're
just barely on the top, it's almost

like the, I can't even visualize
how it happens, but it's almost like

it didn't penetrate the clear coat.

It's just some sort of
sharp little rub on top.

When you Polish that up, you can shine
it though, some of those right off.

But again, all imperfections are unique.

So that's why I always say, Hey, you
guys, my stuff's not a magic wand.

It's it doesn't work on everything.

But.

The common issues.

I go after it.

Doesn't pretty darn good job.

And I'm really glad that you say that your
stuff, isn't a magic wand, but if you've

put in the reps, it might feel that way.

That's where the skill really good.

And you'll know what to go after.

I think I love asking my
customers questions and I'll

say, why are you so bad?

Tell me why you got better at this.

Like when you started, you learned
from now until then they go really what

cards even bother with her go after
they're like, I picked up a bunch of

pet stuff and started trying it on
and that's lots of getting frustrated.

Cause I couldn't, it was just too much.

So my, I became much more, you know,
just used to looking for these little

things and going after them because
yeah, that's, if I figured out a

way to get out giant scratches and
giant dents and all this crazy stuff.

I think I'd have to charge
a thousand dollars a kid.

If I knew how to do that, I don't
think I'm going to figure this

out one out, but the light stuff.

Yeah.

I can help you guys out with that.

Yeah, that's awesome.

Honestly, even if it's just light
stuff that can do wonders to a card.

Great.

Hi already.

So it's like, I don't think I
could turn a four into a 10.

I think that's crazy.

You know what I mean?

But sometimes you guys would be surprised
where someone just never wiped down a

card and it's nine fives or all around it.

Then the surfaces is seven and there's
like a big old piece of gunk on there.

And that brings the
curtain down to like 75.

And you just wipe that thing off
and it pops up to a nine five again.

So I'm not saying it's impossible.

Just keep your eyes open.

It's a huge score when you
can find something like that.

Yeah, absolutely.

And I think the other thing
too, I always talk about this.

I always talk about this
and this is something that.

Been draining myself into as well
is when it comes to graded cards

that you're considering buying.

You always have to make sure that
you grade the card, you buy the

card itself, not necessarily a
great, just because it's a PSA 10.

It doesn't mean it's a strong
10, just because it's a PSA nine.

Does it mean that it's a week nine?

It could be a strong nine that
you could maybe turn into a 10

after doing some cleaning to it.

Maybe you have to make that assessment,
but also just because you buy a mint

near mint gem mint car doesn't mean
that's actually what you get because

they grade all these cards and things go
under the radar and no, one's perfect.

And I don't think you
should expect that either.

And it's not going to
be perfect every time.

And at the end of the day, when it gets
to grading, there's a human looking at

it and they're going to do human things.

Like there's been times where.

I was so confident with cracking a
slab and it looked like, perfect.

Get it out.

And I'm like, oh man,
did I do the right thing?

I'm like, I hope I can just get it
back to like grade the same again.

And so, yeah.

Do do your due diligence.

Look at it under really good lighting.

Get out of black light.

Oh, you'd be surprised cards with a
holographic finish or a heavy, clear coat.

You just get out.

Keep one of these handy
little black light.

You can shine a car with a black light.

And if it has edge separation that
you can't see it with your eyes,

but you put a black light on it.

And the whole edge is a different
color in one area that lifted

off the holographic surface.

And then you're just like Johnny, I would
assume graders have to use black lights.

I would have to assume because even
another thing that I always suggest

to you guys use the black light
because I'm not the only person that

has ever tried to clean up a card.

And there are a lot of cards that
I've purchased just through all means.

Card shows E-bay, whatever it is,
I'll put a black light at them

and I'll see big splotches glow.

And it shows me that somebody down
the line try to clean it up with

like soap or something and it might
look good to the naked eye, but

you put that thing under light.

It's three different colors and you're
like, somebody butchered this thing.

It's these are what nine bucks
on Amazon spend the nine bucks.

It's part of the card Cola.

It's part of the card toolbox you got.

That, that makes so much sense and
something that I did want to ask you,

because you've talked about, you've
worked on a lot of different cards,

including Pokemon cards, right?

Because your kids have Pokemon cards.

I, when it comes to the Pokemon
cards, because they are technically

considered a modern card because they
were printed in the nineties, they

started being printed in the nineties.

So they started using certain
printing techniques form

with clear coats and whatnot.

What is it?

What is my question?

So when you're looking at a hollow
or a reverse hollow where the entire

card doesn't necessarily have a
hollow foil on it, how I don't have

any Pokemon cards in front of me,
but are those still safe to clean?

Because they have a clear coat.

Yeah, they do.

And here's what I would suggest the
Polish is easy on Pokemon cards.

Here's what I know.

When it comes to the ones that my
sons love and that I'm like getting

my head wrapped around more is
like the V's the V max is the, the

ultra of pretty ultra metal ones.

Those you guys are tough as nails there.

You can put, you could Polish the heck
out of the front of the back of those

when it comes to the reverse hollows or
the, this the hollow and Pokemon crew.

Give me grace, just like, what's like
the regular playing card with like the

little square of the hollow in there.

I noticed this since
they are very thin cards.

If there are like print lines or where
lines on those hollows that are now

in the, not the V series, they're
super hard to like, get to go away.

They're there.

It almost is like scratch into
the holographic foil every

time based style Pokemons.

Now, if the car is dirty, which a lot of
those cards from the nineties are dirty

because they weren't used in the game.

They clean up really well.

Just to give him a quick
Polish on the front end.

And then if I'm a fear Pokemon collector
that is big until the Chinese and all

the BS and all that, you can go at
it and you aren't going to hurt them.

One bit.

One thing I will suggest though, that
I have learned, number one, everything

I say, practice on a base card practice
on a base carry practice on a base care.

That's the most important, like
I had somebody hit me up today

and say, Hey, Kurt, I got this
really expensive Derek Jeter card.

And it's got a dot of a
magic marker on the back.

Can I get that up?

Yeah, you can get it off.

You can use the spray to get it off.

But where I start thinking as a
person that sells these products and

represents these products, what if the
person that's pushing on a real heart?

So I said, listen to me, get it off.

But I want you to get a crappy card
of the same set in the same series.

And I want you to draw a circle
on the back of the Sharpie and I

want you to clean it off there.

First, the proper pressure to apply.

And he goes, oh yeah,
I didn't think of that.

I go, I know don't start on the Derek
Jeter with an autograph on the front.

Don't do that.

You know what I mean?

So when it comes to Pokemon,
the sensei are thing.

There's a couple of good things.

If you have a little edge ding or a
little edge bump, they're easier to fix.

They're not as thick as a sports guard.

So there's that as like
the sports cards, right?

Plastic, cardboard, plastic,
there's three layers.

You've got to get to that.

That's a little bit now.

Pokemon is like one.

So like there, if it's too badly
beat up, you're not going to get far

with it, but if you've got a little
depression or a little bump, you can

work it out with the corner tool.

Here's what I want you to do.

Always put a penny sleep on top of your
Pokemon cards when you're working on them.

Because if you just put the.

Coroner tool on the back edge of
a Pokemon card they're delicate.

And you know how it's tell me if I'm
wrong, but I think almost all Pokemon

cards have those on the back of the
plane or the backside of the car, the

reverse blue around the entire edge.

So I was pressing on one too hard learning
how, and I wiped the blue right off.

Oh man, this is a piece of,
it was I take my own advice.

It was like some, it was a card that
wasn't good because my sons love a handful

of the, the chairs are to be their top.

And so before I worked at any
Zardes forum, I said, give me the

beaters because I'm not sitting down
and working on these cards until

I know what the heck I'm doing.

And it was quick.

I learned, I picked it up pretty
quick and I just noticed that's the,

sometimes when you got those scratches
or lines on the non VCR, They're hard

to go make them go away, unfortunately.

But if the car is dirty,
you can clean it up.

Excuse me.

That's really good to know.

And I was going to ask too, with you
when you're working the edges, because

we can see the white edges on the
front, we could see them on the back.

When you put the sleeve on the edge
before working it with your corner

tool, do you also sometimes, is it
helpful to give it a little bit of air?

A little bit of hot breath too?

I, yeah, here's what I do.

Isn't that?

It's so crazy you guys, but
it's like, I try to do practical

things that anybody can do.

I don't feel like it makes me feel good
when people were writing the nice stuff.

Like you're really good at
this and really good at this.

I love when people say you
made me really good at this and

that's like, why I'm doing it?

And it's, I really want
people to have fun doing this.

And when it comes to me, your climate's
similar than mine and I'm in the Midwest.

I'm in Metro Detroit.

And one day it can be 80 and sunny the
next day it can be like 40 and snowy.

So like humidity is a weird thing.

So I noticed like when you have a
decently humid room, I don't even

know if you can see it, but it's like.

Up on my wall right there.

I have a detector that shows me that
humidity being at a, as a musician too.

I got to keep my mind
prevents and healthy humidity.

So like right now it's 68 degrees
in here and I'm at 44% humidity.

That 44% is good because I
have a lot of instruments.

I will turn out.

I have even a little
portable heater in here.

I'll get this room till 77 degrees,
but 55% humidity just to get a

good moisture content near because
cardboard is so sensitive to humidity.

So if it's a real dry room, you can even
crack clear coats and stuff like that.

You don't want to get the card hot, but
you just want to work on it and humidity.

And that's where my straw will come in.

So if I'm sitting in here and
it's in the middle of winter and

it's as dry as a bone in here and
I'm, I can't even bend my hands.

Yeah.

A little bit of hot breath on the
corner, putting the penny sleeve on

it and working it down works awesome.

And if you're watching this
going, what the heck is this guy?

Feel free to jump on my demos.

I'll make some kind of what I promise.

That's really good to know.

And that's something that I actually
wondered when it comes to like

actual humidity metrics and the best
temperature and humidity conditions.

You should keep your cards
in because I have a humidor.

And so I think about humidity for
the humidor and, but we're talking

about much higher humidity levels and
it probably seems like that might be

too much moisture, but I don't know.

You tell me what's too high of a humidity.

Yeah.

It's even like in a walk-in humidor.

Like I love the feel of it.

I bet you the humidity's probably
north of 70%, probably in the eighties.

Cause you can feel it.

The thing is if you get something
too humid, it's going to get sticky.

And if you get it sticky and start pulling
on it with something you're going to

remove the urine, remove the finish.

So my, my ideal card scenario
is I like about a 75.

To 80 degree room.

I know that's like hat for some
people, but like I'm a loser and

I can sit in the heat all day
long and it's like, I'm into that.

I get 75 ish and then I like
about 50% humidity and then I'll

supplement it with a little bit too,
but I just find it to be easier to

accomplish what I'm trying to do.

And that's where I look
at these weird metrics.

That's not just, all right, let's
get this thing out or rubbing on the

corners and trying to see what happens.

I really just pay attention to
all these little things I can

measure so I can do a better job.

So good question.

I'm happy to pass.

Yeah.

And when it comes to cleaning, at
least for me, and this is always the

next question in my head, because
you're spending a lot of time cleaning

cards, you're buying equipment
to clean the cards, the one thing

that you don't want to do in it.

And honestly, it's made me revisit how
I store my cards, but instantly, okay.

I've got a card I'm done cleaning it.

I'm literally revisiting.

Okay.

What do I do with this card right now?

Do I put it in a sleeve?

Do I put it well, obviously of course,
I'm gonna put it in a sleeve, regardless

of where I put it in like a, a top
loader or a soft sleeve, like a card

saber, but I am starting to rethink
those things because I have my idea of

what things have worked in the past.

But now that I'm being even
more particular, I don't know.

That's just something, I
just try to revisit it.

As far as what I do with my collection,
once I'm like, okay, this is a clean card.

This is as good as I can get it.

How do I store it now?

So I don't fuck it up.

Yeah.

Great.

Let me, and it's different.

I don't keep my cards in the workshop
because if you kept the cards and 55, 60

5% humidity all the time, as soon as you
take them out of it, they're going to

get whatever ever seen at the card curl.

They're going to curl because
they're just like if I took a guitar

out and set it in the sunshine for
five minutes, that next and go,

but I'm not sounding good at a gig.

So you have let everything acclimate.

So what I would suggest is, so
I'm at my card station and I keep

my cards here, work on them here.

When I'm done working out a
card for the night, I do not

penny sleeve it right away.

I put, I actually I'll
tell you guys it's fun.

I just put one on top of it.

So nothing gets near it.

I walk away and I look
at it with fresh eyes.

If you're just going through a couple
of easy ones that are just need to

be wiped down, whatever, do that.

But if say you're working out of
one of your, one of your pieces,

one of your cards really let it
just, just rest for the night.

I, it might just be my focus,
but I just put this on top of it.

I leave it on my card,
Matt and I walk away.

Then I come in the morning because
when you're working on a card, you

care about you focus a lot, but
I'm in a dark room under lights.

It's like I'm going in.

So then I just want to get it
out of my head and quit the

staring at it for the evening.

And I come back and look at it morning.

Usually I'll find
seriously, one more thing.

And that's at one thing, that's
going to take a 10 to a nine and

I'll just look at it one more time.

Make sure I like it.

Fresh eyes, fresh hands, then I'll sleep
it, penny sleep, but cards saver it,

team bag it, and then put it back in my
collection or send it off to grading.

But then, so I would say you guys for
your personal collection, keep it.

I think the.

You have a, keep it somewhere
else in your house is my point.

It just keep it somewhere else.

And if you do have, if you live in a
very dry area, you might, if you have

a nice card collection, you might
want to install a humidifier where it

keeps your house between that room,
between 30 and 35%, that's safe.

And then for my card, brothers and
sisters who live in like Florida or

Texas, or like some hot humid places,
I kind of a bunch of great customers

in Southern California and Hawaii.

And they shared with me that.

Over abundance of humidity in those areas
because sometimes wreak havoc on cards.

So they got to have a climate
control place to put their carrier,

but just be mindful of that.

So keep them in a if possible normal room
temperature, 68 to 72, and then try not

to get below 30% humidity or above 50.

And you should be fine.

They'll stay straight.

It's really good to hear because right
now I actually just put a dehumidifier

in my closet where I keep them
just because it just gets closets.

They do, there's no airflow.

Yeah.

And especially like you being in Chicago,
it's a 75, 80% humidity after you get

that class, like have any flow in there.

It, all of a sudden you
take out some of your cards.

You're like, why are you all curled up?

What happens to these things?

And, and some of them favorite
basketball cards from the nineties

are like these clear acetates.

So these super cool short prints, and
they turned heavy yellow after the years.

Okay.

It's unfortunate.

And I know the environment plays a
huge factor in that sunlight or just

a mixture of temperature and human.

I would guess more temperature humidity
just because, unless they were like in a

card and shop, but like any courage, if
you walk into, they're not really like in

a window, like the sun now it's like most
guys that own card shops, or if people

don't car shops are pretty particular
people because they're not going to put

their stuff in like the window light.

So I would guess that it's a little bit
of calumny and a little bit of column B,

but I definitely am going to lean towards
probably just the atmosphere because

the atmosphere can do a lot of stuff.

Like you look at the left, you look
it up, you have Pokemon or Fortnite

or sports cards, even if you bought
them five years ago and put them

in a sleeve and put them away.

You take one out right
now and take two out.

So if you have two of your favorite cars
that you bought five years ago take,

and they're both shiny, take them out.

And held it up to the
next to the other one.

You'll be like, whoa, it's almost a view.

You haven't used like your nice
silverware and like only every Christmas.

And then you get it out.

You're like, it's got spots all over it.

Yeah.

Very similar.

That is so interesting.

You now you make me want to get like
some kind of humidity detector and put

one next to my desk and put another one.

Yeah.

All my customers are
like, where do I get more?

Where I get more of this, where
I got like Amazon, I got links.

I'll send them to you.

You know what I mean?

So it's that important.

I've always been a nerd though.

Like this and this type of stuff.

I love absolutes.

I love having as many metrics around me
as I can to like do things I like to do.

And there's no guessing at that point.

No, I just, I don't
want to screw stuff up.

Like I collect more than cards
and I love my collections and I

always want to keep all my stuff.

Nice.

You know?

Yeah.

I totally agree with you.

And it's the natural, it's
just the natural consequence.

I feel like once you start.

Cleaning cards.

Cause obviously there's a level of
ownership that you have with your cards.

Cause we've talked about it.

Your collection is personal, but then
when you put more of that time and that

care into the cards, then you naturally
start to start to feel a shift in

your brain where you care more about
these smaller little details of, okay,

this is how I want to store my cards.

This is the environment that
I'm storing my cards in.

And you think about those things.

Like I would think about those
things before, but now I don't know.

Now I'm just so much more particular.

I really want to come
down to cause it matters.

You put your time into it.

Yeah.

You just said it.

You put your time into it.

Time is valuable and we choose to do this.

I just want to know you guys, anybody
watching, I'm not an expert, man.

I've got it all figured out.

I just try to like pass on best
practices that I've learned.

And I just always feel if I can keep
pouring my bucket out, I'm going

to be able to like fill it up with
cool new things that I can share.

So I've never really like keeping
like best practices to myself.

And that's what led me to this.

I'm happy that there's
a whole tribe of them.

Card nerds and collectors
like me that are like, Ooh,

humidity, let's talk about this.

You know, but it's not, it's
just a lack goes into it.

And I'm glad that we're
going down this path.

It's fun to talk about.

It really is.

And you're right.

I didn't think that we would be
sitting here talking about humidity and

temperature for cards, but it matters.

It really does.

And I really do appreciate you two taking
the time to put information out there

because a lot of this, when I first
was watching your videos, I almost was

wanting to like, wait for the other
shoe to drop, because I'm like, this

feels like trade secrets because this
is stuff that's valuable and it's stuff.

That's quote unquote legal.

I say that just to get the point
across, but yeah, it just feels like

trade secrets and there's a lot of.

Uh, of course it depends on the purpose
person and the level of skill, like what

we've talked about, but there's a lot
of money to be had in many different

ways, doing this, keeping your collection
better, which could increase the

value of it over time and, or flipping
cards, if that's what you want to do.

And that's why it's your property.

You do whatever the heck you want with it.

It's so draining to, like, I see a lot of
opinions on now that I'm on social media.

I see so many opinions and it's
just, uh, I just fly above it.

You know what I mean?

It's like, I don't want, everybody seems
like they want to tell everybody what to

do with their personal private property.

And I'm like, Hey man, it's your stuff.

Don't do whatever the
heck you want with it.

You know what I mean?

And it's so if it is
always say trade secrets.

Yes, absolutely.

Cause like I shared with you,
like in full disclosure, you guys,

this is not me trying to like,
get you to send me your cards.

Did you clean it?

I don't even do offer that service.

I don't offer cleaning.

I don't charge people for cleanings.

I don't submit cards to any graders
for anybody else than my personal self.

My whole goal is to like,
show people how to do this.

And yes, of course, that
makes some cool formulas.

And if you want to buy them, they're
under the whole kits under 50 bucks.

So it's, I don't want to be too bold,
but you don't make your 50 bucks back.

I don't know what the heck's going on.

You know what I mean?

So I'm trying my absolute best to
put the tools in people's hands,

because I think Jesse would agree.

Nobody cares about your stuff,
that way you care about your stuff.

And there's a, I was one of them.

I was a guy that people would send
cards to for years and I would do all

this stuff to them and fix them up.

And I just felt that it
was just like lacking.

I'm like nobody's out here, like share it.

I had to like, okay, small tangent.

I love the Beatles.

I love musicians.

So how crazy is this?

When the Beatles were like early sixties,
it was this McCartney and Lennon became

friends and they were so into the blues.

That they were writing blues progressions,
but they were missing like the fifth

note that they were looking for
and they couldn't figure it out.

I couldn't figure it out.

So what do you do today?

You just go on type it out and
find the music all written, ever.

Paul and John would travel to meet
musicians in other parts of the country

and learn different minors and majors.

It would go together and take
these notes and bring it back

and put it in their music.

And I was like, it's so remarkable
that people would search for it.

They just, they were so passionate
about their music and about

their craft and about their trade
that they would look for advice.

So really I was just looking for
advice and I couldn't find anything.

I don't know if people are gonna
think I'm crazy or some witch doctor

doing this stuff, but I'll go for it.

I believe in it.

And I know that people practice and
take their time and ask me for help.

Everything's going to be just fine.

You're going to have a lot
of good times doing it.

Oh yeah, absolutely.

I definitely agree.

And you really, I think you've
said this earlier, but you really

train your eye to see things.

And for me right now, because I'm still
learning and still practicing, I don't

even really have a words to describe.

Okay.

What is that thing?

And so I watched one of your videos.

I'm sure you start to notice shit.

You never noticed before.

Like, I mean, honestly, okay.

Last year I sent a whole bunch of cards in
to get graded and I looked at every single

card I sent in 400 close to 500 cards.

It's a lot.

And I didn't look at it nearly
as closely as I thought I was

looking at those cards and you do.

And honestly, I got cards with
a lot of really good grades.

I was for the most part, very happy, but
now I'm starting to look at those cards.

I'm like, Ooh, okay, what
can I do about these?

Is there something, is there one that I
can crack open and maybe resubmit for a

higher grade and maybe this time, do you
know sub grades, if you're feeling and

give it a shot and anybody that's watching
this, it's like, how do you crack a slab?

Or am I going to ruin it?

You guys are more than
welcome to message me.

I will.

I got demos.

I can send you like, look at me
as the car, dude, I'll help you.

I'll I return every message.

Sometimes it takes me a couple
hours, but I will always, I just

want to be a trusted, good guy in
the industry when it comes to like

minor repairs and little fixes.

And I'm always happy to
share ideas and best friends.

And it's really nice having you around
too, because you put in a lot of the

work that we don't have to learn.

The things that you've learned,
making all the mistakes that you made.

Thanks for that, man.

Yeah, I am definitely
it's yeah, I answered.

Yeah, I've definitely.

I had to practice, I did stick to like
base cards, but there was times where

I got too confident and I got something
out that I thought would be okay.

And I worked too hard on an edge and
peeled up foil and screamed out loud

and pouted and jumped up and down.

So like trust, I mess stuff up.

So tread lightly be careful.

And you don't, you're not going to be able
to Google search and stuff because I tried

it a million times, but you can hit me up.

I'll answer you.

Yeah, seriously.

And going back to it again,
industry trade secrets, I feel

like for sure, the pros for sure.

The pros know this stuff.

So it's really nice to.

Have access to your knowledge?

I don't know.

Yeah.

Thank you, Jess.

I appreciate it.

Yeah.

That's like cool.

Like there I am definitely
not the little one.

And only there are, I'd say like in the
card clicking community, I would boldly

say probably 60% plus are of guys have
a toolbox that work on their cards.

And I clicked with those guys right away.

Cause they're like, dude, finally
bunch of good stuff in one collection

they'll show me like tackle boxes.

Like literally like fishing tackle
boxes full of like stuff I love.

Cause I'm like, they're guys.

They're just like me, man.

They're that's exactly what I had.

But then the more and more I'm
meeting people that are brand new.

And so they really need an, I love,
I'm not one of these grizzled veterans

it's oh, you're new to the hobby.

I hate ego and attitude.

You know what I mean?

If you're new to the
hobby, welcome, join me.

I'm like I had some great
mentors when I got into it.

A lot of them were like my uncles and
stuff like that pointed me in the right

direction, but I'm always asking for help,
but I'm not the smartest guy in the room.

I don't have it all figured out.

Having a great community of collectors
has really helped me along the way.

And the plain and simple,
I'm happy to pass it up.

Here's I stress this.

Nobody's going to care about
yourself, the way you care about it.

There are great card cleaners and
card artists out there, and there are

great submitters out there, but I also
know that it makes people anxious too.

Like I'm sending all my stuff
to this person and they're

going to do stuff to it.

And I hope if that makes you
anxious, learn the trade, man.

It's not art.

Like I said, sit your butt in
the chair, 10 cards a week.

Just if somebody wants to get
muscles or lose weight or learn

a new language, it's not gonna
yank in a, wish it into existence.

You gotta put your butt
in the chair and do it.

Yeah.

Oh totally.

I definitely agree.

And that's part of what I think.

I did because I did
send it off to graders.

They're great middlemen.

I had no problem, but I wanted
to be more deliberate with being

able to say, Hey, okay, I think
this card is going to do this.

You're going to do this.

And then get that result
back and see what it does.

See what happens.

I wanted to be more deliberate about
that, which is why I got myself

involved in the grading process.

And I sent my own cards in, I don't
send anyone else's cards and except

for maybe my cousins, but, and this was
pressure for me and bold on my wall.

Relax, have fun and love life.

That's my three biggies.

And as an artsy fartsy person, like
being in charge of a bunch of submissions

and filling out all people's data and
feeling like this pressure that doesn't

make me relax or have fun that makes
me like, not at all, be everything

to everybody, but hopefully like the
content I'm providing and the advice

and the brotherhood sisterhood, I'm
trying to like connect with everyday.

No, I'm good with that stuff.

So you guys, if you need me in that
capacity, I'm happy to connect.

Yeah.

And that's been the biggest, other than
being a collector in the collection in

itself, being very fun and fulfilling.

I guess maybe you could say life
changing because it's so fun

and fulfilling, but also meeting
people that has been so much fun.

And there's so many collectors, you can
find your own little tribe and little

might be not even like tiny little might
be as in a few dozen people that you're

cool with, that you talk to about things.

And you just probably find for me,
and I felt like a special guest.

I got to say it was, it
made me feel really good.

I went to card show last week,
last weekend, two weekends ago.

And I always wear my work shirts
and I had probably six guys say.

Hey, man, where'd you get that shirt?

And I'm like, Hey, I'm Kurt,
the dude from Instagram.

And I go again, they reached out,
they pulled out their card care kit.

I'm like, hell yeah,

give me handshakes and say, me and
my son been doing this together and

we've been working like cards together
and yeah, we've been practicing.

Like he told us base
Karen's we're practicing.

And I was just like, how cool
that's felt great that these

guys were so happy to say hello?

And it was just cool.

I just, I went in there knowing nobody.

And I came out with eight new buddies.

So it was all because we care about
working on our stuff and I, and I

thought that was pretty darn cool.

That's awesome.

They, they got to meet
the face behind the voice.

That's awesome.

Yeah.

Like you might see me wearing rubber
gloves and talking to cards all day.

So it was pretty darn cool to meet
some people that are in the trash.

Hey, I'm here for it.

It's that that's really
fulfilling for sure.

And now that you talk about rubber gloves,
do you always clean with rubber gloves?

I got used to it.

I made myself through it because
you know what is, since I am

paranoid and that's why I leave my
card out, sitting all overnight.

I just think that I have these
series of checklists in my

head where I'm always afraid.

So you pick up a card like this,
even though I've held a million

cards and I feel good with it.

What if my back fingerprint just
naturally touched it when I was putting

it in the sleep or something like that?

I w I never did.

Even if you guys watched my first
Instagram videos, I never worked

gloves, but then I started working
on some of my high end stuff, and I

had to think I had this blind spot
where everybody knows how to do this.

Like me.

That's not true.

So I said, what would I want
my customers to be doing?

I want to wear where go ups.

So everything I do is basically.

If you copy me, you're going
to have better results.

So it took me probably four
cards to get used to it.

And now I swear, I sit down if I don't
have my little rubber gloves here,

I'm like, ah, I can't get started.

But so it's, now this is
part of the repertoire.

It makes it easier to it's peace of mind.

It's it saves you from a little bit
extra work for random fingerprint.

Actually you do an hour and a
half of work on a damn edge.

And you're like, oh, it looks great.

And you're holding it up
and admiring your work.

And then you got like a big
hat fingerprint on the back

and you put it already.

Instead of then you get
like a shitty surface score.

I'd be like, dude, work on that for an
hour and a half in my finger ruined if you

guys don't like them, you're not alone.

I didn't like them at
first, but I got used to it.

Yeah.

And that's actually a shocking thing too,
for me as well, starting to clean the

cards is I didn't think that they would.

I didn't realize that an hour and
a half could go by so quick on

just one card, I'm still learning.

So I'm paying attention to everything
and I'm not rushing at all.

And then I was like, I look at
the time, I'm like, holy crap, go.

It's it's you literally have to
chunk out time because I worked on

a couple of monsters this past week.

They're dye cuts beauties
from the nineties and die cut.

We called it cut above Jordan.

And value-wise, you're
looking at north of $10,000.

The Ken Griffey Jr.

Cut above probably half that
or even three quarters of that.

So big value cards.

And, um, it has a buzzsaw
all the way across the top.

So edges over it.

I probably put into the Griffey
cry four and a half hours.

It was just like, and then I worked
at a precious metal Jim Marvel card

last night with a ding ahead of it.

It was an it wasn't, uh, it was the.

Green precious metal gem of 10.

So this is a banger
depression on the back.

What do I do?

Put this on cap, this massage,
the sides of those things to try

to get that thing to rise up.

I put in a couple hours one
night, another hour the next day.

And then it's also important
to know when to walk away.

I got it up to as much as I could get it.

I always wanted to be perfect.

I couldn't get it.

Perfect.

I bet you, I improved it.

I'll say 65%.

So I'll take the win on that.

I don't even know if we'll get
a much higher of a grade or

whatnot, but just looks better.

It doesn't have this big valley
in it anymore, but you want to be

careful when putting in especially
hours with the corner tool, you

don't want to smash the card so
thin where you hold it up and it's.

Pancake.

And the other side is looking like that
because then you'd screwed the carrot up.

So after checking it and checking
them, I was like, all right, it's

still got its it's uniform all
the way across the tabs still.

It's still a 10 beautiful PMG.

And now that big old line on the
back, isn't driving me crazy anymore.

So I'll just, I'll be happy with it.

So no, no one to walk away.

It's really good to know.

And I think it seems like over time you
get a lot better knowing when to walk

away or feeling good about walking away.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I tell you sometimes I'll like
work on these cards and you know,

I'll have four major issues.

I can get like three of them to go away.

It's way better than it
was going to ever get.

And yeah, those scratches
and print lines suck.

They suck.

And I don't know if it's on Fortnite
bill sports cards right now.

Like all the expensive hobby boxes
are all these shiny premium cards.

They have these damn dimples.

And it's simple and
it's any backyard there.

I kryptonite, I can't even
get those damn things out.

So it's, there's just stuff you can't do.

And you know what, so what move on.

Yeah.

Yeah.

That's a little annoying at least like
what you said when to walk away so that

you don't do further damage to the yeah.

And I, and I have to tell guys too,
some guys will hit me up and go Kurt

polished his cards six times, man.

And I'm not getting any results.

I'm like, dude, wave the white flag.

It's just, sometimes the card wins.

Sometimes you do nothing.

You did wrong.

Nothing you did wrong.

It's supposed to, that's a,
just a hell of mark on there.

It's not going anywhere.

So don't walk away, pick up 10
more cards and work on those.

And you'll cheer yourself
up on the next one.

Did have one last question that I did
want to ask, and I think I might know

what the answer is, but I still want
to give you the chance to answer it.

So if you had a hundred dollars to spend
today, what would you buy it on and why?

And it could be cards or I'll stick.

I'll stick in the card world.

I liked number one, I liked the a hundred
dollars budget because it's silly to say

if you had $10,000 to spend, we're not
talking to all of our viewers at that

point, we're talking to a few people that
are lucky to go and buy stuff like that.

So a hundred bucks a, I like the question.

Be like the budget.

I'll tell you what, let me see.

I'll grab something.

So what I would grab,
what I would go after.

I would go after stuff like this.

I think that stuff that's highly
undervalued right now that is going

to pop this stuff like this music.

This is a 1994 panini smash
hits Nirvana rookie card.

Okay.

So right now you guys like on the
back of these were all made in Italy.

These were not a ton of these
made and look at it like this.

Look at musicians.

Like I picked these up as slabbed because
this one's a six and I want to crack it.

I'm going to correct this one and work
on it because I have depression on it.

And I think sports and music, I have
so many parallels, like a music card is

an actual like event taking place or a
band just like when we look at sports.

And the thing is, there's
not a lot of them.

And when I look at the market, like
F1 cards went from like unheard of

to $150,000 for Pokemon fortnight.

All these non-sports cards are really
getting attention that I'm happy about.

I like that.

I like that there is a
pallet of stuff that collect.

So what else has hat you have, see
cards are selling through the roof.

All this stuff is selling big,
but I don't think that too many

collectors are hip on the music stuff.

So I think that if you're going to
spend a couple bucks, like I know that

being a kid of the nineties growing
up in the nineties, this is my stuff.

So these are some recent
purchases on, this is a PSA eight.

I got this for under a hundred bucks.

And I think the last PSA I sold
the other day just sold 200.

So they're creeping up.

And that was.

I would say, I think that there's
going to be whether you want him

just to personally collect or maybe
something to hold on to and invest into.

I think music cards are being
looked over and I there's there.

And the cool part is they're
all from the early nineties.

So there's not like a bunch of new stuff
out, so I could be wrong, but I'm enter

this stuff and I'll show you guys one
more one that w it wasn't, I wasn't under

the a hundred dollars budget, but I think
being that I'm a lifelong card collector

and a lifelong musician, I had to get
one that really tied the two together.

And this right here is the, if I
know I'm getting a little bit shiny,

this is the Kurt Cobain autograph.

One-on-one holy moly.

This is a very important character to me.

I'm getting it shiny and trying to get it.

But 2018 leaf executive masterpiece,
the Kurt Cobain lead singer of

Nirvana died 1994 one-on-one so
this was really special to me.

And I think his name's cool.

Not too many carrots are on in theory.

So end it.

Kurt is my favorite musician of all time.

And I just tell you though, as
much as like sports have brought

me so much joy and just taught me
so many lessons, I always like,

I'm just such a fan of musicians.

Cause it's, I love the concept of a
musician will stand on stage and sing

a song to 60,000 people and they sing
it back for 60,000 different reasons.

And I think that is super powerful
and that's just such a human thing

and it's just such a soul thing.

And I think that's the same way.

Like why collectors, why I've loved
athletes or art, or I think you can

find art in anything, but I would
definitely suggest if you're a music

fan, look up some of your favorite.

There's some really cool cards out
there from hip hop to rock bands,

alternative bands, like there's some
really cool music paraphernalia.

Like I also invested in Elvis
cards and Beatles cards from

the fifties and sixties.

Oh, wow.

Is undervalued in my opinion, it's
undervalued and it's rare and it's cool.

Long answer to your simple question.

I would have got some music stuff.

Hi.

When I think about music stuff and
music collecting, I always think about

vinyls, but I had no idea a that the
cards existed and B now I've got to

start looking into it a few months ago.

I was exposed.

I don't know, sometime last year,
probably probably a year ago.

Now I was exposed to like the vintage.

T-shirts within like the music realm.

And that really blew my mind because when
you look at artists and these are some

of my favorite artists from back in the
day, and I guess I say back in the day

at nineties, but Aaliyah, and those were
huge artists for me when I was a kid, I

was listening to them in middle school
when I was on the bus and I had my friggin

CD player and I had to hold it like this
because any little thing it would skip

and see, you're trying to protect the
CD and have a good listening experience.

And I had those CDs.

And then I remember when they
had passed and I was looking

at their vintage t-shirts.

I was like, holy crap.

I know there are hundreds
of dollars and yeah.

And even a few people like don't want it.

Like, I just think that it's going
to take off more and more because

it's, I think music and sports
are people's top two things.

A lot of people's top two things.

And I love having, being surrounded
by instruments and autographs.

Like I worked in as a DJ for
almost 20 years and I worked

at a radio station in Detroit.

Yeah.

I was fortunate to be able to
meet like on my wall right here.

I got to do a picnic with
Metallica and I got Metallica

all their autographs on an album.

I got Chris Cornell and
Audioslave behind me.

I have Wolf mother.

So people pilots, velvet,
revolver, the killers, like bands.

I love them.

I was fortunate to meet these guys
and get them to sign stuff for me.

I was just, and then just a couple
months ago, I started name on music

cards and I'm like anybody collect
these things and I'm like, I will.

And so I I've been stocking
up a little bit on them.

I could be wrong, but I don't even care if
I'm wrong because I don't sell any cards.

Anyways.

I keep them all.

So they're mine.

Hey, I appreciate it because I not
had, I've had zero exposure in that.

So now I'm going to
start doing some digging.

Oh,

Hey.

But I appreciate it.

Sometimes I'll spend some time on
PSA's pop reports and I'll go into non.

TCG and non-sports, uh, categories
just to see the random things

that came out these random years.

And I did that two years
ago and I discovered that

there were star wars cards.

No fricking idea.

Star wars is my jam.

I got a ton of the 1976 star
wars series, like the Boba

Fett rookie and all this stuff.

I got stuff I'll just go out market
placement and garage sale in.

And there's a big old box of stuff.

I'm like, I'll buy it anywhere
without stopping at garage

sales and stuff like that.

There could be treasure.

Let's go look, you know, there really
could be one time I went to a, I was at

a baseball shop or whatever, and they
had this table of things $10 or less.

And I'm looking through seeing if
there might be something interesting.

And I found a box, it sealed box
of star Trek, season three cards,

like literally TNG season three.

And I, yeah.

And I had no idea they existed and
I liked T and G I like star Trek.

I don't know.

Anyways.

So I bought it for 10 bucks
and then I also saw this.

It was open, but I got it.

Anyway.

It was a Batman.

It might've been Michael Keaton.

Second film.

Where it was just a wax pack, a
box of wax pack, Batman cards.

And it was just like the star wars cards
where it was just stills from the movie.

And that was cool too.

And I've only opened, I think
maybe one pack because I just

really want to keep them sealed.

I don't know why, but honestly
I should probably just open up a

few more just to enjoy the cards.

You know what I mean?

It is.

Yeah.

I could go obviously and you
get me around collecting stuff.

I'm all in.

It's like sports stuff.

I'm a guitar collector.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I got her to keep one right here.

Here's my work horse that
I'm always working with.

So I've been able to fortunately
find things I like to do

and have fun with them.

I encourage anybody watching.

If you've got a nudge that you want to
try something new or something different

or whatever, just this go from thought
to action as fast as you can go.

Hell.

Yeah.

I liked that.

I liked that.

And that might be, if you want to add to
that, I wanted to give you a chance to

like, let listeners know first off where
they can find you, but also if you wanted

to leave them with partying words, if not
like those parting words were pretty dope,

but I'm gonna leave that as your choice.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I'll give it a recap, Jess.

I just want to thank you so much
for just reaching out to me.

Number one, and being interested in what
I'm doing and just asking questions.

I think that's a really good way to
start about this and I just totally

appreciate your professionalism.

And I just would encourage anybody
that if you got a nudge, like you

want to try something new or you're
getting pulled into some direction,

go from thinking about it, to
being about it as fast as you can.

And really that's how guys I was
scared at first to offer my products.

I do get critics.

I get people that say,
oh, this is terrible.

I shouldn't be doing this.

And there's people that also
think the Beatles suck, and I

don't agree with them either.

So if you guys have
questions, you can hit me up.

If it's something that you're new to
and you guys want to learn a little bit

more, follow me on my social channels
on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook.

That's where I'm at right now.

It's all under Kurt's card care.

And if you want to check out my product
line is available@hertzcarandcare.com.

So bottom of my heart, just
total pleasure to talk to you

and I appreciate you having me.

Oh, that's really see.

I really appreciate you being on.

2021 Geeked Out Collecting