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By David Yarger
“The Chase” Co-Host
Wednesday morning, Tom Hughes and Tyler Bielec of Hit Parade made the long journey around the corner to the Dave & Adam’s Chase Studio.
The duo took the time to talk about some of the hot topics in the hobby, the upcoming NHL Draft and got to tell viewers about the Hit Parade brand.
Hit Parade is a subsidiary of Dave & Adam’s Card World that produces memorabilia, trading cards, comic and pop culture hobby boxes. The company was started by D&A about six years ago.
Hit Parade is a repack company, which means they buy products, such as cards, memorabilia, comics, toys and more, from card shows and dealers all over the country. Once the products are back at the Hit Parade building, the crew decides how they want to configure the item.
“We will box them up, and sell them as a product with very limited print runs. So (we’re) trying to get everyone that realistic opportunity to hit some of the bigger hits that we supply in the products,” Bielec said.
As an example, Hughes added it’s unique that, in a Hit Parade product, you have the opportunity to get a Ja Morant rookie, a Luka Doncic rookie and a Charles Barkley rookie all in the same run.
Bielec and Hughes have been with Hit Parade for over three years now, and they both said the company has come a long way, even with the COVID-19 pandemic throwing a curveball into the mix.
“There were times where Tom and I were making products in our living rooms, because everything was shut down and we’re just trying to keep the ball rolling, because we had momentum,” Bielec said.
Hughes added, him and Bielec were driving to Chicago for a show the day the NBA season got suspended and more shutdowns became looming.
“It was really uneasy,” Hughes said. “Do we buy heavy, because things are going to be low now and people are selling cheap? Or do you hold back? Because who knows what the market’s going to do if there’s no sports. So it was a real crazy time, and to see things kind of explode a few months later … it’s been really cool to see the whole hobby itself get kind of mainstream publicity now.”
A lot of guests that have come on to “The Chase” have said they restarted collecting during the pandemic. The HP duo agreed that the pandemic gave collectors a source of entertainment while not much was going on, and it made the fringe collectors into bigger hobbyists.
“Prices started to go up and everyone was like ‘Ah, I can make some money in this,’ ” Bielec said.
Hughes added, “Breaking is a huge thing (too). People thought, ‘Hey, I can’t go watch the game tonight, but I can go and watch this guy break cards and I can get into a break.’ I think breaking was that gateway to a lot of people getting back into cards. They needed something to do.”
Bielec added, many people who sit at home and sports bet didn’t have that opportunity during the pandemic, so breaking was kind of the next best thing.
Looking further into Hit Parade, Hughes said what makes their products so unique is that the brand stays current on the hottest trends in sports.
“Because we’re making products every single day, if Max Scherzer comes back and throws 11 K’s, we can put him as a hit in the product and have it for sale in a couple days. So we try to be very current with our products, with who is going into it, so you’re chasing some of the top guys,” Hughes said. “Our buying power allows us to have a good inventory that, when something like that happens, we don’t have to go buy a Max Scherzer to put into a product. We just go to our inventory, pull out a Max Scherzer and put him in there. So I think just our ability to be very current is a big help.”
Bielec added, HP has a good baseline where the customers know what to expect, and as prices on certain boxes skyrocket in the market, HP gives customers a cheaper alternative where they’re still guaranteed a certain type of card, but not have to spend a ton of money.
Hit Parade has big plans for the National, as Bielec and Hughes said it will be the first time they have their own booth by itself. Additionally, they will have breakers at their booth and also feature a kids product that will be a lower priced product to not break the banks of parents and youth at the event.
Hit Parade products can be purchased on the Dave & Adam’s Card World website. The products are also listed on the Hit Parade website. You can also follow them on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and TikTok.
Also on “The Chase” …
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The crew looked a bit into the upcoming NHL Draft that is Thursday night. The projected top three are Shane Wright, Juraj Slafkovsky and Logan Cooley. The order is Montreal Canadiens, New Jersey Devils and Arizona Coyotes. The hometown Buffalo Sabres currently own three first round picks at nine, 16 and 28.
The projection of the group – Troy, David, Tyler and Tom – is that the Canadian Wright will be the first pick. With the draft being in Montreal, as well, it is hard to think the Canadiens don’t go with the man who had 94 points in the OHL for Kingston.
The Devils will likely welcome Slafkovsky with open arms, as he’ll join an offensive unit led by Jack Hughes and Nico Hischier. Slafkovsky has a deadly shot and flexibility as a center and winger. He scored seven goals for Slovakia in the recent Olympics.
Lastly, Cooley, too many, is one of the more underrated prospects of the draft. Many think he could truly become the top player out of the draft class. He recently played for the United States 18U National Team Development Program and was a commit to the University of Minnesota. In 51 games with the NTDP, he had 75 points with 27 goals and 48 assists.
Yarger’s prediction:
1. Montreal Canadiens, Wright
2. New Jersey Devils, Slafkovsky
3. Arizona Coyotes, Cooley
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