Kociencki joins The Chase from Netherlands

By David Yarger

Co-Host The Chase

Good morning! And happy Monday to all! We hope you had an amazing weekend and a terrific start to the week. The Chase definitely had a great start to its week, as we ripped some Leaf Metal Soccer and got to hear from our guy Mike Kociencki of the Dave & Adam’s Card World Netherlands location!

It’s been a wild few months for the peeps overseas, as the store got built up over the summer and has gotten off to a hot start. In October, at the 2022 Industry Summit in Las Vegas, the DACW Netherlands location was a co-winner of International Card Shop of the Year. Additionally, the European location has made trips to card shows in Paris, Munich and Stuttgart. 

Kociencki, the EU operations manager, has seen it all as the Netherlands location has risen to be one of the premier shops internationally. He mentioned that the crowds at the shows have been stellar. 

“People when we showed up to Paris they were like, ‘Oh, my God. You’re here.’ And we were like, ‘Oh yeah, we have a store in the Netherlands,’ and they said, ‘No!?’ ” Kociencki said. “So, we saw a lot of emails and orders coming through out of France after we did a giveaway at that show. Then Munich and Stuttgart – I can’t believe – they were so well attended. They’re definitely shows we want to go back to. People couldn’t believe the booth set up – Munich was one size and then we doubled-down in Stuttgart. People haven’t seen that much product at a show, as far as sealed wax and stuff like that at a show, let alone when people come into the store. They’re just totally blown away.”

He added, it was intriguing to see the Netherlands-USA World Cup match from the Netherlands on Saturday. He mentioned that there were some nerves for the hometown faithful in the beginning, but they eventually prevailed. 

As said earlier, after just being open a couple months, the Netherlands shop was a co-winner of the International Card Shop of the Year, which Kociencki said was a huge honor so soon for the store. 

“We couldn’t be more honored. And we were a little shocked, like ‘Oh, my God, we won it!’ So, coming out of opening a store, launching the website and winning that award this first year, I think we just need to raise the bar now,” he said. “We just need to raise our standards higher, so we can go after and get it in 2023.”

He added that they were excited and surprised, because the shop had only been open for a short period of time, but overall, it showed the hard work of all parties involved that helped get the Roermond location up and running quickly. 

Coming up this week, the DA Live Lounge breaker himself Jersey John will be at the Roermond location doing some of the first-ever live breaks from the shop. Be sure to stay on top of all the updates on the DA Card World Europe Twitter. Additionally, check out the newly launched DACW EU YouTube page, where Jersey John’s breaks will be streamed. 

Down the line, Kociencki said the shop is done heading to shows for 2022, but for 2023 there is a wide array of shows that the store would like to get to. 

Additionally, after a few months in operation, Kociencki said the overall reception from locals has been very positive, and he’s noticed in Europe there is a big collective of basketball collectors, as well as soccer hobbyists. 

To see the full interview, click here.

For everything and more regarding the DACW Roermond location, be sure to check out their website.

Also on The Chase …

After the interview with Kociencki, the crew ripped open some 2022 Leaf Metal Soccer. The product contained four autos, all low-numbered. The pulls included a rookie Alejandro Garnacho auto out of 35; rookie Joe Gelhardt auto out of three; Hugo Felix auto out of 30; and Matheus Fernandes wonderkids auto out of 10.

To win these cards, comment on the YouTube replay of the episode who you feel had the best first-ever performance in World Cup history. So, simply, give us who you feel has had the best rookie World Cup campaign in history and these cards could be yours. 

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