About Jason

I've been collecting cards since 1999 and retro video games since 2008. Based in the Southeast US. I run Coastal Card Collective LLC on eBay, primarily graded cards and sealed video games.

How I got here

It started with a VHS tape from Toys R Us in 1998. A Pokemon preview reel covering the games, the cards, the toys, the anime. I was hooked before a pack existed in my hand. When the cards finally dropped in 1999, I had to have them. I still have vivid memories of pulling holographic Alakazam, Poliwrath, and Ninetales, and the big one: my sister pulled the Charizard. I still have that card today.

The retro game side came in 2008. Partly nostalgia, partly the pull of owning childhood memories in factory-sealed, brand-new condition — relics of a time that mattered a lot. Video games were my livelihood growing up. On NES: Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!, Legend of Zelda, Super Mario Bros 1 / 2 / 3, Ninja Gaiden II, RC Pro-AM. On SNES: Street Fighter II, Mortal Kombat II, Super Mario RPG, Super Mario World, Yoshi's Island, Ken Griffey Jr.'s Winning Run, Donkey Kong Country, Super Mario Kart, Super Punch-Out!!, Super Metroid. On N64: Super Mario 64, Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, GoldenEye 007, Donkey Kong 64, Mario Kart 64, Paper Mario, Jet Force Gemini, Pokemon Stadium, and more. Collecting them factory-sealed decades later is the same hobby, just with a PSA or WATA slab around it.

The collection

A few of the highlights:

• Favorite card: Charizard Shadowless PSA 7. The chase card that got my sister and me into the hobby 25 years ago, now in a slab.
• Favorite sports card: 2018 Topps NOW #RCB-1 — R.O.T.Y. Award Recipients, Shohei Ohtani and Ronald Acuña Jr. — PSA GEM MT 10. About 40 copies ever circulated; my PSA 10 sits at a total population of 2 with zero graded higher.
• Sealed Evolving Skies booster box. Held long, no plans to rip.
• 84 graded sealed video games, focused on the childhood library. Still hunting factory-sealed Super Mario World and Super Mario Kart for the SNES shelf.

What I don't collect

• No modern Panini baseball. I prefer fully licensed sets. Topps is home for baseball; the pajama cards kill the aesthetic for me. Panini's fine on other sports.
• No loose or CIB carts. Factory-sealed only for video games. The untouched artifact is the whole point.
• No raw cards long-term. I love the hunt for raw copies that grade Gem Mint, but I don't hold raw.

Grading

I've sent cards to PSA, BGS, and SGC over the years (SGC doesn't quite hit for me). TAG is on my list to try. Grading arbitrage is real math when you've got repeatable hit rates on specific sets — that's what turns it from a coin flip into a business.

PSA is my primary grader. CGC and TAG are up there too. My current focus is building out the grading-arbitrage side of the business: hunting raw copies with Gem Mint potential, submitting in volume, and moving the 10s through Coastal Card Collective on eBay.

Where I source and sell

eBay is primary, both for sourcing raw copies and for moving graded inventory. Local card shops and card shows when time allows. Every listing I sell goes through Coastal Card Collective LLC.

Why I built whattheslab.com

Every collector decision, should I grade this, is this card bottoming, is this set worth holding, hinges on data most sites don't actually show. Prices get quoted without dates. ROI math skips the grading-hit-rate discount. Pop reports get name-dropped without the current numbers. I built What The Slab to close that gap with verifiable comps, grading ROI with real break-even math, top-cards-per-set with current prices, and market trends. Informed collectors make informed decisions.

My philosophy on collecting itself is simpler: collect what you want, collect what makes you happy. The data side is about making sure you don't get ripped off along the way.

What this site covers

• Pokemon TCG: Set breakdowns, grading ROI, investment analysis, raw vs PSA 10 arbitrage math
• TCG/CCG: Magic: The Gathering, One Piece TCG, Lorcana, Yu-Gi-Oh, Digimon
• Sports Cards: Shipping, storage, grading, market reports
• Retro Video Games: Most valuable games per console in loose, CIB, sealed, and graded condition across 21+ platforms

Data sources

• eBay Browse API — active listings, affiliate-tracked URLs, real card images
• eBay sold-comp insights — 90-day medians, multi-grader pricing, weekly trend data
• PriceCharting — comprehensive catalog for TCGs and video games
• PSA population reports — graded card scarcity numbers

Editorial process

Every article on What The Slab is reviewed and fact-checked by Jason before publishing. Every price cited has a verifiable source and a date attached. We never publish articles with missing or fabricated data.

Related project I built

After spending too many nights manually listing my own graded cards on eBay, I built SlabSnap — scan a PSA barcode or CGC QR code, auto-fill the details, and post an eBay listing in under 30 seconds. Free on iOS, Android, and web. It's the tool I wish existed when I started submitting cards for grading.

Affiliate disclosure

What The Slab participates in the Amazon Associates, eBay Partner Network, and TCGPlayer Partner programs. When you click affiliate links and make purchases, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Affiliate relationships do not influence our editorial recommendations.

Contact

Got a correction, tip, or question? Email [email protected].