Interview with Brent Williams
By: Shane Salmonson
Have you ever opened a full case of any product? I’m not talking about a single box, but the entire case! I have been lucky enough to open a few different cases myself, but that pales in comparison to Brent Williams. Brent breaks large quantities of Topps products and then sells complete sets, team sets, big hits, etc. Brent has over 82,000 positive feedback on eBay, and 100% positive feedback at that! Brent was kind enough to answer some questions for me about his collecting, his case breaking, and his thoughts on the hobby!
BU: How did you first get introduced to the trading card hobby?
BW: My first cards I collected, to the best of my memories, were Topps Return to the Jedi back in 1983. I quickly started collecting other cards including baseball cards, but from 1985-1987 Garbage Pail Kids were my go to pack at the store. Late 1987 was when I really started focusing more on sports cards above all, especially baseball. I miss the days of seeing pallets of unopened wax in a Wal-Mart, like in 1988 and packs were 25 cents each.
BU: What do you currently collect? How has that changed over the years?
BW: I mostly collect on-card autographs of HOF guys. 90% of my collection is baseball, with the other 10% or so coming from other sports. I do also collect some on-card autos of current baseball stars and rookies. My collection mostly involves complete auto sets. My favorites are Allen & Ginter Red Inks, Topps Heritage Red Inks, Topps Museum Framed, & Topps Tier One Clear Acetate Reprints (which are no longer made). I do also collect a few complete sets each year such as flagship Topps and Heritage, as well as several singles and graded rookies.
My collection has changed a lot because I used to collect far more basketball and football than I do now, especially since Topps no longer makes these cards, but also because for a long time, the largest part of my collection were former Arkansas Razorbacks that went pro. I had to dial that back because I was obsessed at getting every card I could including 1/1s. 
It became time consuming and very costly. I never did it as an investment or to resell the cards, but it was getting depressing seeing such hype for drafted Razorbacks, especially in football that cost so much early on (Darren McFadden, Felix Jones, Ryan Mallett, Matt Jones, etc) only to drastically fall once their rookie seasons progressed, so my passion for each card died down after about 7-8 years of heavy buying.
I collect so many things not just cards. But also board games. Funko POPs. Disney and Star Wars figures. Movies. I’m addicted. Haha.
Funko Pop Box Protector
Displays up to 4-1/2 x 3-1/2 x 6-1/4″ Funko Pop box.
BU: Any favorite pieces from your collection that you would like to share?
BW: Some of my favorite pieces are actually on my office wall. Each is from Upper Deck and most are involving Michael Jordan. I do have 100s of cards/sets that are in my top tier, but if I had to pick one favorite card it would be my Michael Jordan Fleer rookie card. But again, I have so many singles/graded/auto sets/Razorback cards that are dear to me.
Ultra-Pro® GLASS DISPLAY CASES
Glass Displays
BU: I know you have broken tons of cases in the past. Can you give us an idea of the sheer numbers of the cases you have broken?
BW: I started breaking cases in 2000. From 2000-2007 I don’t think I ever broke more than 200 cases in a year. I don’t have all the exact numbers from those years. But in the past 5 years (2013-2017) I have opened over 500 cases each year. I estimate I have busted between 5600-5900 cases thus far. That may not sound like much these days with group breaking as large as it is and many breakers breaking 1,000 cases each year, but I rarely touch high-end cases which are group breakers bread and butter (for the most part). Those higher end cases often have only a box or two and very few cards. The products I bust are all the basic ones, for example I opened 245 total cases of Topps 1, 2, Update, which have thousands of cards per case, and I sort them all into sets (with some help of course). As a side note, we sorted nearly 1700 base sets this year from Topps 1, 2, Update.
BU: Breaking that many cases I am sure you have pulled some incredible cards. Do you have any that stand out in your mind?
BW: Way too many to list as I would forget some but I’ll give it a try.
- I hit a Tiger Woods Exquisite Rookie Auto Patch #/25 from UD Master Collection.
- A redemption for a trip to Michael Jordan’s basketball camp with a lot of star power and great coaches.
2001 Ichiro E-X Essential Credentials Rookie (I believe it was #d/24 and it sold on eBay almost the minute I listed it for $3k). - Last year I hit the 1/1 Auto Patch Mike Trout Topps Heritage.
- A couple years back I hit the jumbo box topper Signature Cut Ted Williams 1/1 from Allen & Ginter.
Again, so many great hits. From all types of products, even prospects like a Yoan Moncada Gold Refractor Auto #/50 Bowman Chrome, Kris Bryant Bowman Chrome Orange Refractor Prospect Auto #/25. 100s of 1/1s, and much more.
BU: From what you have seen, which products do you think sell the best currently?
BW: For me Topps Heritage and flagship Topps have the most demand for sure. It’s not even close for me, but 3rd place would be Bowman/Bowman Chrome/Bowman Draft.
People like high-end, and so do I…I collect much of it. But I’ve seen that often top autos from cheaper releases can command just as much as the higher end cards, often due to timing and set collecting, etc, but for me it’s the basics that command the most demand from me.
BU: What about players? Have you been surprised by any players that seem to fetch some high prices?
BW: I am more surprised by the players who get little to no love, such as a great pitcher like Max Scherzer or Justin Verlander. Or hitters like Giancarlo Stanton because of the market they play in, although, that will all change now, haha.
As far as higher priced guys…I’m always surprised to see how much people are willing to pay for guys who have not yet played a game, but I get it, although it still surprises me often.
There are several 80s guys that command higher premiums like George Brett, Don Mattingly, or even some semistars like Alan Trammell, Lou Whitaker, Cecil Fielder. We saw a lot of demand for these guys this year with the Topps Rediscover stamped buyback card program. Other hot sellers were Will Clark, Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire, and Kirby Puckett. Collectors ate those up, especially early on this year. I know that is not really what the question is asking, but I was surprised at the sell value of common 80s buyback cards especially of some of the lesser stars.
Bags Unlimited – Acrylic Holders
Acrylic Holders
BU: I know you do some group breaking as well, since I have bought into one. What is your opinion of group breaks, and how they fit in today’s hobby?
BW: I did a few group breaks this past year. But it was the first time I had in 3 years, as I simply don’t have time. I think group breaking is a wonderful option for so many. There are so few card shops around these days or even shows. Group breaking allows that gathering of the cardboard collectors to talk cards and get excited about pulls, just like you would at a shop or show. No, it’s not exactly the same, but it’s still very valuable and promotes the hobby. It has really benefited card companies and distributors who often struggled on many releases throughout the year where as now, group breakers will break just about anything and everything, and many people seem to love it.
Also, I think many collectors do like the chase or gamble of excitement of the unknown from busting wax, and group breaking can help fill that excitement and in a larger community experience. Group breaking has brought more folks into the hobby and has helped revive it along with case breaking, in my opinion. It is also something I have been offered to do full-time and may consider it very soon myself.
BU: It seems as though cards have been making a bit of a mainstream comeback. How would you describe the current hobby landscape?
BW: Exciting! Social media has helped. Group breaking has helped. Print on demand cards has helped. Digital apps have helped. Prospecting has helped. The onslaught of amazing young talent has really, really helped. There are so many options for collectors now. Yes, it is overload, in my opinion, but it is growing so different strokes for different folks, so why not print the stuff because everything seems to sell right now.
The hobby always goes in cycles, and usually by now we would start to see a down swing, but I just don’t see it happening yet, and I’m not sure it will dip in ways like it did for many products and distributors from say 8-10 years ago because of group breaking. As long as it is going strong, sales will remain strong from the top down.
BU: In your opinion, what is the best thing about today’s hobby?
BW: The community and it’s passion. This is mostly seen on the internet and social media, but it’s great to see so much excitement about cards. There is also negativity but I am seeing less of it and hoping that the complaints will be heard to only improve from here.
BU: Any negatives?
BW: Yes, social media and message boards are full of this, but I generally have tried to avoid it or not feed into it, at least not for very long. Often the negativity comes from lack of knowledge, which I blame the card manufacturers for. We need more transparency and more explanation/information from the onset. So often I see things that are based just on speculation or rumor, and that is not a good thing as it often just grows into something worse from there. It’s so hard to avoid because we are all so passionate and want our voice heard too, but often it’s best to ask the questions first and see if there is an answer, or perhaps just step back from some of the negative time drains. I have to avoid spending much time on message boards in particular because of this.
BU: I don’t really spend any time on message boards simply because of the negativity, so I understand that completely. Any predictions for the 2018 baseball card year? Anything you are most looking forward to?
BW: Well, I was going to say 2018 will be another great year with products on the rise like we saw last year, yet not as quite as high of a rise. However with the Yankees picking up Stanton, and the Angels signing Ohtani, and what appears to be another stellar rookie class for 2018, it very well could be another higher than usual cost on wax especially. The direct cost of most all Topps wax has increased for the first time in years and with products in high demand, prices are already climbing and may not slow down for quite some time.
I am excited about it for sure. I really enjoyed the last baseball season and with so much talent I can’t wait to see what 2018 will bring us.
Brent Williams
Twitter: @brentandbecca
eBay seller ID: brentandbecca
Trading Card
Trading Card
