Hey Andrew and Derek - Thanks for taking some time out of the podcast to answer my question! Definitely enjoyed hearing both of your opinions on the concept and website. Despite seeing the appeal and temptation of "virtual card collecting," it sounds like neither of you will be on the platform any time soon.
For me personally, this scratches my itch for basketball card collecting. Unlike you two, the idea of digital cards and collectibles doesn't bother me too much. Granted, I never had a physical basketball card collection so perhaps that's where some disconnect may lie. However, I'm excited about collecting these moments and would love to see releases of more iconic, historical NBA moments in the coming months.
As a user, it's clear to me the website has a lot of work to become "mainstream" but the future of site looks promising to me. There's certainly an aspect of making "investments" in cards which conflicts with the collector mentality. For example, the first moment that caught my eye was Golden State Warriors rookie James Wiseman's first dunk. The idea of owning a copy of that moment, although digital, probably gives me the same excitement as either of you opening up a pack of physical cards (or ripping off your friend for a rookie Shaq card).
That being said, I just wanted to say thanks again for putting this question on the show and thank you for the compliments on my topic suggestion. I can appreciate the quality that goes into the podcast so I wanted to present the topic in a way that reflects the work you both put into this. Trust me, I know this is a niche podcast. It certainly can't be easy running this on a weekly basis while competing for listeners with other podcasts that address broader basketball or video game topics. However, it's still nice knowing this community for basketball gaming exists and I'm glad to have been a part of the NLSC community for a few years now. I'm just one listener, but I'm sure many of your other listeners feel the same way. Keep up the good work and I'll look forward to tuning in each week!
By the way, you both definitely sounded like old heads! Typical boomers...