THE ART OF TRADING CARDS.

This week we’re joined by Alladan Flinn, founder of Based Trading Cards, to talk about what happens when you build a trading-card company around original art, finite supply, transparency, craftsmanship, and the collector experience.

Alladan describes trading cards as a kind of “playground classroom for economics”. Based grew from his fascination with scarcity, supply and demand, and hard assets, using cardboard as a way to make those ideas tangible without turning the hobby into an economics lecture. Bitcoin was the starting point, but the ambition has become much broader.

We get properly nerdy about manufacturing, original artwork, experimental inks and finishes, hidden details, and why Alladan wants the artists behind the cards to remain part of their story. We also get into AI — where he believes it can genuinely help the creative process, and where it starts to remove the human soul from the work.

There’s a wider conversation about transparency, print runs, reprints, and the journey from toy to collectible to asset, along with why community and nostalgia matter more than simply manufacturing something scarce.

PLUS, we talk Cardboard Kings, Alladan’s forthcoming history of trading cards with Nick Jarman, and the frankly bonkers 15lb Based Experience Box — a product designed to make opening cards feel like an event again.

Underneath all of it is a simple philosophy: slow down, make something worth keeping, and remember why physical collecting matters in a world where everything else is fighting for our attention.

Or, as Alladan puts it: open a pack, not an app.

Find Based Trading Cards: https://basedtradingcards.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/basedcards/

Follow Alladan: https://www.instagram.com/alladin_btctc/

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⏳ TIMESTAMPS

00:00 Meet Alladan Flinn & Based Trading Cards

06:12 Bitcoin, Hard Money & a Trading Card Economics Classroom

13:15 Innovation, Printing & the “Kitchen Sink”

23:28 Original Art, AI & Keeping the Human Soul

33:03 Scarcity, Supply & What Collectors Really Know

38:05 Inside Based: Packs, Parallels & Community

50:04 Transparency, Reprints & the Toy-to-Asset Journey

1:04:35 Marvel, Nostalgia & the Roots of a Collector

1:08:54 Cardboard Kings: 150 Years of Trading Card History

1:18:07 The 15lb Experience Box & a Chance to Win a Car

1:27:15 Open a Pack, Not an App

1:30:05 Voice of the Hobby, Pop Quiz & What Comes Next

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👇 CONNECT WITH US

• Instagram: www.instagram.com/thatccpod

• Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ThatCCPod

• All Platforms Hub: https://linktr.ee/ThatCCPod

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🎙️ SHOW CREDITS

• Intro: Smooth vocals by Greg McLaughlin of The Rebel Base Card Podcast – check out his show here: https://open.spotify.com/show/2T5nysLpxbK2ZpRrgcCO8I⁠

• Music: "I Got a Stick Arr Bryan Teoh" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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ABOUT THAT CARD COLLECTORS PODCAST

Pop-culture trading cards, with a side of sports.

Hosted by Ian Taylor (@happy.place.cards), talking cards and collecting: non-sports, the hobby, creator and industry interviews, and the community around it.

Established in 2019 as the Marvel Card Collectors Podcast, we’re now in Season 2 — same authentic passion, refocused.

Founding member of The Certified Trading Card Association.

#EnjoyCollecting

WHEN THE HOBBY STOPS FEELING LIKE A HOBBY.

This week we’re joined by Alyx Effron, founder of Collectors MD, for a conversation about something that can be difficult to recognise from inside the hobby: what happens when collecting shifts from something you enjoy into something you feel compelled to keep doing?

Alyx’s perspective comes from lived experience. After struggling with gambling addiction, he began recognising familiar patterns in his own collecting — where it wasn’t necessarily the card he was chasing, but the anticipation, the next opportunity, and the feeling attached to the possibility of a hit.

That leads us into intentional collecting: understanding why you’re buying, setting boundaries and guardrails, stepping away when necessary, and recognising that healthy collecting isn’t defined by how much somebody spends, but by their relationship with that spending. The conversation becomes personal too, as we reflect on our own experiences with debt, overspending, gambling, impulse buying, and the changes we’ve made to keep collecting enjoyable.

We also look at the modern hobby itself. Digital ripping, card breaks, randomised outcomes, scarcity, FOMO, frictionless payments, and the constant highlight reel of big hits can all influence behaviour. Alyx is careful not to label collecting or breaking as gambling; instead, the question is whether the behaviour is creating financial, emotional, or relational harm — and whether collectors and the industry have the tools to recognise that sooner.

From survivorship bias and the “dopamine economy” to 'Rip Responsibly', peer support, and recovery, this is one of the most open and personal conversations we’ve had.

It isn’t about telling anyone how they should collect. It’s about understanding what a healthy relationship with the hobby looks like for you — and remembering that collecting should bring joy, not take it away.

Find Collectors MD and its support resources at: https://collectorsmd.com/

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⏳ TIMESTAMPS

00:00 Meet Alyx Effron & Collectors MD

10:13 What Is Intentional Collecting?

13:13 When Collecting Gets Personal: Debt, Spending & Guardrails

26:37 The “Double Blind Spot” & Industry Responsibility

41:32 Gambling Safeguards vs the Modern Collectibles Market

48:00 e-Pack, Overspending & the “Red Glow Casino”

58:11 Digital Rips, Dopamine & Chasing the Feeling

1:06:44 Survivorship Bias: Why We Only See the Hits

1:13:42 'Rip Responsibly', Guardrails & Healthy Participation

1:26:14 Peer Support, Recovery & Paying It Forward

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👇 CONNECT WITH US

• Instagram: www.instagram.com/thatccpod

• Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ThatCCPod

• All Platforms Hub: https://linktr.ee/ThatCCPod

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🎙️ SHOW CREDITS

• Intro: Smooth vocals by Greg McLaughlin of The Rebel Base Card Podcast – check out his show here: https://open.spotify.com/show/2T5nysLpxbK2ZpRrgcCO8I⁠

• Music: "I Got a Stick Arr Bryan Teoh" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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ABOUT THAT CARD COLLECTORS PODCAST

Pop-culture trading cards, with a side of sports.

Hosted by Ian Taylor (@happy.place.cards), talking cards and collecting: non-sports, the hobby, creator and industry interviews, and the community around it.

Established in 2019 as the Marvel Card Collectors Podcast, we’re now in Season 2 — same authentic passion, refocused.

Founding member of The Certified Trading Card Association.

#EnjoyCollecting

INSIDE UPPER DECK

This week we’re joined by Paul Zickler, Director of SportsBrand at Upper Deck, for a rare look behind the curtain at how one of the hobby’s biggest manufacturers thinks about the cards we collect.

Having seen the trading-card business from the rights-holder, player, and manufacturer sides, Paul brings a fascinating perspective on what actually goes into getting a card from an idea to a pack - and why the process can take up to two years.

We go back to the beginnings of Upper Deck hockey andexplore how more than three decades of products evolved into the range collectors know today, how the annual release calendar comes together, and why offering collectors different ways and price points to participate still matters.

From Young Guns to The Cup, the growth of women’s hockey tonew technology, we get into how Upper Deck balances innovation with authenticity and quality, how products develop as the hobby changes, and why genuine connections between athletes and collecting can make such a difference.

And for those of us who arrived through non-sports cards,there’s a fascinating look at how ideas move between hockey and entertainment - and why the two worlds might be closer than they first appear.

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⏳ TIMESTAMPS
00:00 Meet Paul Zickler of Upper Deck04:08 Paul’s Road Through Sports & Back to Upper Deck11:44 Upper Deck Hockey: 36 Years, Flagship & Young Guns16:27 The Growth of Hockey & Making a Statement at The National29:20 How Upper Deck Builds the Hockey Product Calendar35:21 The Cup, Rookie Autos & Game-Used Innovation39:48 Growing PWHL Cards & Upper Deck Moments45:56 Authenticity, Quality & What Makes Upper Deck Different53:24 Players, Collectors & Building Genuine Connections57:43 From Hockey to Entertainment & What Comes Next

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👇 CONNECT WITH US

• Instagram: www.instagram.com/thatccpod

• Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ThatCCPod

• All Platforms Hub: https://linktr.ee/ThatCCPod

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🎙️ SHOW CREDITS

• Intro: Smooth vocals by Greg McLaughlin of The Rebel BaseCard Podcast – check out his show here:https://open.spotify.com/show/2T5nysLpxbK2ZpRrgcCO8I⁠

• Music: "I Got a Stick Arr Bryan Teoh" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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ABOUT THAT CARD COLLECTORS PODCAST

Pop-culture trading cards, with a side of sports.

Hosted by Ian Taylor (@happy.place.cards), talking cards andcollecting: non-sports, the hobby, creator and industry interviews, and the community around it.

Established in 2019 as the Marvel Card Collectors Podcast,we’re now in Season 2 — same authentic passion, refocused.

Founding member of The Certified Trading Card Association.

#EnjoyCollecting