The Chase Ep. 18 Recap

Martin of Preserve the Hobby joins ‘The Chase’

By David Yarger

Co-Host “The Chase”

It may not seem like it, but, believe it or not, National is just days away!

As we approach closer to the big day, some may ask what they need to bring, or what they should expect at the natty. Look no further, as “The Chase” crew welcomed Jason Martin of Preserve the Hobby on Friday’s show. Martin was informative and helpful, offering the best tips for national goers this upcoming week.

Martin, with Preserve the Hobby, has a podcast and will publish written content. He also heads NASCAR radio in addition to talking some F1. Recently, he published a blog regarding all the must haves and tips for this year’s National.

Martin said he’s been a collector for “as long as he can remember,” and between the audio and card shows, he said he’s done a bit of everything in the hobby.

As far as the 2022 National, Martin said he’s most excited to just see the entire community and have a central location to connect with everyone.

“Being able to see each other for more than an hour, once a month, on a weekend show. This is where people plan vacations around, and they take multiple days off. It’s like that March Madness thing where people take off that whole first week. That’s kind of what this is,” Martin said. “There’s the exchange of ideas and swag and all that stuff that goes along with it.”

And for some, 2022 in Atlantic City may be their first-ever National experience. Martin ultimately said to first timers, to essentially be prepared for everything possible.

“Don’t treat it as your local hotel show, where there’s 30 to 50 tables of dealers. This is like Wizard of Oz. Black and white is your local show and then you go to this and it’s color and you’re just like “holy crap.” It can be very overwhelming when you step in that door,” Martin said.

He added, his first National was in 2018, and he admittedly said he was not prepared for what the National entailed.

As far as must haves, Martin told attendees to make sure they’re comfortable and to make sure they have everything before arriving to the show.

“For me, it’s be comfortable and don’t treat it like your local card show. Bring a backpack, wear comfortable shoes – don’t wear flip-flops, wear sneakers … walking shoes, essentially, something you could do for a while. So, clothes, backpack, take a notebook, plan on a battery charger for your phone. … Stuff like that, stuff you’re going to need … almost in like four to five hours, instead of right when you get there,” Martin said.

Additionally, for the hungry crowd, Martin recommended bringing food, but nothing that can spill, because if you’re buying cards, anything that spills can obviously ruin your cards.

There is also an opportunity you could meet celebrities of the industry or athletes walking the floor at National, and also an outside chance you could get an autograph, so Martin recommended bringing a sharpie.

Not bringing a backpack, Martin said, is one of the bigger mistakes he sees at National.

“(When) you go to the small shows once a month, you’re not prepared for this big show. You can go out to your car at the small shows every 10 minutes and go in and out. This is a bigger venue, it’s a longer walk, you might lose track of where you are. Take a backpack, because you can stuff it full and you might not be able to get in and out of the building like you would at a local show. Sometimes there’s a stigma of ‘I don’t wanna lug this around all day,’ but I think once you have it, it comes in handy and this was a good idea,” Martin said.

Martin said he’s trying to make his schedule work so he can attend this year’s National.

As for Preserve the Hobby, you can find them on their website, Twitter and Facebook. As for Martin, find him on Twitter here.

Also on “The Chase” …

• For Friday’s box rip giveaway, the crew opened 2021 Chronicles Football. There were some nice hits, including a Ja’Marr Chase auto numbered out of 99. Want a chance to win the Chase pull and all the cards we pulled on “The Chase?” Make sure you comment on the YouTube video of the episode and comment who you think will be the 2022 NFL Rookie of the Year in the NFL. Winners will be announced on Monday.

• Additionally, the crew talked about some funny inscriptions on cards and discussed a recent article by Barstool Sports of the top-five ugliest baseball cards. The inscription talk came after Backyard Breaks pulled a one of one Jalen Suggs logoman that had Suggs’ auto and an inscription “Take care of this for me :).” This ensued a convo of some of the funnier inscripted cards we had seen, such as Phil Hughes writing his career home runs allowed, or even Benny Montgomery, prospect for the Colorado Rockies, signing his Bowman card, “Borat!”

• For more information on everything Dave & Adam’s Card World related, visit dacardworld.com or visit all the social media platforms here.