RIIP with Brody the Kid #13 Interview with Lou Geneux

Riiip with Brody the Kid

What is up everybody!? It’s Brody the Kid and I am back with another edition of Riiip with Brody the Kid! This month we have a fun interview and I want to lead off the Riiip with that.

Lou Geneux is a very cool guy and well respected in The Hobby. He works for Edison Cards and is very amazing at what he does. He also works for Vayner Media for Gary Vee, who I have talked about before and has been very active in The Hobby also.  I met Lou at The National this past summer and it was fun to talk to him. Here is the interview I did with Lou, asking him questions about The Hobby and his perspective on things. I hope you all really enjoy this interview.

1. How did you get into collecting, and how long have you been collecting? I got into collecting around 2003 when there was a big rookie class in basketball. It had LeBron, Carmelo, Bosh, and Darko (he didn’t work out as much ha ha). I was into it pretty heavily at that point for about 2 years but then faded away as I got older and got more into video games. I got back into the mix probably around late summer or fall ‘17 and have been getting more and more involved ever since then.
2. Can you tell the readers how you are involved in The Hobby and how you got started working with Gary Vee and Edison Cards? I’m involved in a few ways. As an observer to keep an eye on who and what is popping across sports from a popularity and skill point. As a way for me to bond with my dad. He’s the reason I got into cards in the first place and getting back into The Hobby gives us an excuse to hang out and go to card shows, rip boxes of baseball cards, or try to find good deals on eBay to flip. Finally, I also work for Gary at his agency VaynerMedia and he’s the #1 reason I’ve gotten back into cards recently. We used to all look for LeBron cards together back in the day so when he got interested again, I was more than happy to jump right back in with him. Edison Cards is Gary’s card company and I help him out with day-to-day buying and selling.
3. Who do you collect, favorite teams/players? And what is your favorite card in your collection? I only collect two players, Alex Bregman and Mark Sanchez. My two favorite teams are the Astros and Jets, so I’m always interested in cards from those teams but primarily those two guys. My favorite card in my collection is an Alex Bregman Bowman Chrome 1st auto, graded PSA10. I was looking for one for about a year and finally got one when we were out at The National this past Summer.
4. You’re an influencer in The Hobby, what do you think card manufacturers, Local Card Shops, Breakers, etc., can do to help get more kids into collecting? I wouldn’t consider myself an influencer but that’s very nice of you to say 🙂 That’s a tough nut to crack. The easy answer is hosting kids only events, etc., but, ultimately you can’t force kids to like cards. Most of the young kids I know don’t collect anything, let alone trading cards. That said I think if we as a collective showed kids that they can own pieces of their favorite athlete’s career, that might draw more in. Rookie cards and relic cards are cool, they just need to know about it.
5. What are some tips you can offer kid collectors that are wanting to get started selling cards online? I’d tell a kid that they have more time than ever to watch sports and get an edge. Being able to find the next Luka Doncic, Juan Soto, or Baker Mayfield and buying a lot of their single cards before they blow up is the quickest way to make money selling online. I’d also recommend they do their research on what cards hold value over time. There’s a lot of releases that come out throughout a given season, but in the end, only a few hold significant resale value over time. Knowing those will save you a lot of money along the way.

Thank you so much for doing this, Lou!  Very awesome! Just building off some of Lou’s answers now, I wanted to bring up the last part first. Looking at eBay or other online sites for rookies that are not very expensive for his auto or even base. It can be a cheap investment that could end up making you hundreds of dollars in the long run. It can also be fun to search out cards of guys you think may have good careers and then see their value go up. A couple guys I can think of in the NBA that you may be able to get cheaper right now, because they are both in the G League (and both Celtics!) are Tacko Fall and Romeo Langford. I think both have a lot of potential to be really good NBA players. I think they are both guys who you may be able to buy cheaper now. Please don’t outbid me on any of them though!!! Ha Ha!

Lou also talks about how he likes to collect with his dad and go to shows and talk about cards so they can hang out. I like to do the same thing and have a lot of fun with both my dad and my mom through collecting. I want to ask who do you collect with and how did you get into collecting cards? Did you get into it from friends or someone in your family? Do you just like to collect because you like sports or do you like the potential $ involved in The Hobby? It is kind of a fun thing to talk about.

Speaking of making some money in The Hobby, there was some basketball craziness this month with @KentuckyCards, who pulled a 1/1 dual auto of Zion Williamson and RJ Barrett from the new Panini Prizm Draft Picks basketball product. Jimmy Mahan (@KentuckyCards) sold the card on eBay for $15,200.79!!!! Not only that, he is donating all of the money he made to charity, which is so amazing! Way to go, Kentucky Cards! What an awesome story.

There are also a lot of cool new products that have come out or are coming out. Some of the ones I am most excited for are Panini Hoops basketball, Upper Deck Series One hockey and Topps High Tek baseball. Hoops will be a fun hunt for the big rookie class. Upper Deck Series One is always a sharp looking set. I opened a box on my YouTube channel (Brody The Kid), and they are some really nice cards. Are they maybe the nicest flagship set for any sport? Topps High Tek is a very shiny product and always gives nice autos and numbered cards for not too much money. This is a product I recommend. Have fun riiiping!

Anyone in the Chicagoland area, see me later this month at the Chicago Sports Spectacular in Rosemont from November 22^nd-24^th. I will be appearing at the Beckett booth with Steve Grad from Beckett Authentication and the TV show Pawn Stars. We will be making a HUGE announcement and we will be there to meet you all! Come say hi and get some free Brody The Kid swag! Also, don’t forget to visit my website, www.BrodyTheKid.com, for links and info about being a kid in The Hobby!

So that wraps up this month’s Riiip with Brody the Kid. Thank you for taking the time to read. Thank you again to Lou Geneux for taking the time to answer my questions. See you next month!

Riiip,

-Brody The Kid

Have a question?  E-mail me at brodythekid1@gmail.com

Find me on Twitter @BrodytK and Instagram at brodythekid1