Mark Hasson recalls the days before he graduated from high school in 1990 when kids stuck trading cards in the spokes of their bikes to make them sound like a motorcycles.

The sound the Ahwatukee man is hearing from them these days is “ka-ching.”

Not only has the 24-year Air Force veteran plunged into the lucrative world of sports trading cards, but he also has started a podcast with his brother-in-law, RJ Watters, that shares his passion for a hobby that has become an industry worth billions.

Called “Behind the Breaks” and available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, Amazon Music, and YouTube, the podcast is a second job for Hasson, the communications director for a large aerospace company.

He and Watters dedicate it “to sharing stories, providing insights, and celebrating the people who make the trading card hobby what it is today.”

When he recently announced the fledgling effort, he wrote:

 “Trading cards have always been about more than just the cardboard. It’s about the stories, the hustle, and the people who make this hobby what it is…This podcast is a way to give back, highlight incredible stories, and help others navigate the hobby.”

The podcast’s title refers to “breakers,” people who open sealed boxes or cases of trading cards and sell them to collectors, typically through live-streamed event.

While Hasson wants the podcasts to become a go-to source of tips on buying, selling, and breaking cards to help hobbyists grow their collections or build a business, he also aims to provide “a deep dive into market trends, new releases, and the biggest hits in the industry.”

For Hasson, the podcast seems a natural evolution of a passion that has gripped him since 2022.

That passion swept him up along with thousands of other sports fans – and their idols – as the pandemic forced people to stay at home and find something to do with their time.

 And turning to trading cards seemed a smart thing to do, considering one card can be worth tens of thousands of dollars if it bears the image of a distant or current start, like a Yogi Berra or Tom Brady.

Hasson started his trading card journey when he met an Ahwatukee man who had owned a card and was holding a garage sale.

“He had some cards out and I asked him if he had more. He took me into his house, and the rest is history, because I bought a ton of cards,” he said. “And in that collection were some 60s and 70s – we’re talking about Wilt Chamberlain, guys like that.

“So I bought those cards, and then what you do is you go online and you basically flip them,” he said.

With Watters’ deep knowledge of sports and trading cards, he said, “We made some extra cash and then RJ and I – having that entrepreneurial mind – we were like, ‘this could be something.’”

  While card traders had been using YouTube and eBay to conduct their business, Hasson explained, the whatnot app, a live shopping platform, “really opened up the entire online presence for guys and gals interested in selling cards.”

“So we looked at that, and we said, ‘Hey, there’s an opportunity here; let’s jump in and give this a try’ and we did that. We just started out small, trying to see what we could do. You have to grow an audience, meaning customers. So, we did that, and we just kind of ticked along, and we’re doing that.”

While he and RJ are just ‘ticking along,” Hasson said, “I still have a job, but the ultimate goal is to go full-time.”

He paused, then added, “Well, I shouldn’t say that, because I am full-time. I mean, I work basically two full-time jobs. I go home from work at 4 and by 5 and I’m doing my trading card business and then all weekend long.”

“And it’s a pretty remarkable business venture,” he added, noting that it’s not just sports legends of yore whose cards are valuable.

For example, he said, when Diamondbacks outfielder Corbin Carroll was named Rookie of the Year two years ago, the value of his cards zoomed up from a few bucks to several hundred dollars.

And it’s not just the legacy sports – or male-dominated ones – where players become coveted. Hasson said there’s a profit to be made in Formula 1 and other racing as well as women’s sports.

But it’s not just about money, Hasson stressed.

Card trading can make watching a sporting event even more exciting if the viewer holds a particular player’s card – or if the  trader has a card featuring a promising but relatively untested athlete.

“That’s the gambling piece of it, but it’s also the excitement, because then you watch a game from a different perspective. …You’re watching a baseball game, and you’re like, ‘Oh, hey, I got that guy’s card. I hope he does well. 

“So you’re just kind of watching it from a different perspective, and it adds a little bit of excitement to the game.”

Or take a promising pitcher, for example. A trader will be keeping an eye on his budding career, hoping for his card value to rise.

 “If a pitcher blows his arm out and never pitches again, then you just lost all your money. It can go both ways.”

Hasson brings to the podcast the same kind of passion he devotes to trading cards.

He spends hours researching players from a wide variety of teams and sports, keeping up as well with industry trends.

Besides spotting up-and-comers in sports, he shares tips on things like how to improve the value of a card by encasing it in plastic. He knows who to go to and what to ask for.

And he isn’t just in it for himself. He wants the podcast to help others in the trading card industry.

“I’ve interviewed a guy who is a police officer by day, and he’s into trading cards at night. So he’s selling cards. He doesn’t have a marketing background. So if we can get him on the show, give him a little bit a bigger audience, help him get some of that side hustle money – that’s a win for us, it’s a win for him, and it’s just a lot of fun.

“It gives me a chance to get away from the grind of my day, talk about something I’m passionate about. Have some laughs with some guys and gals that I wouldn’t otherwise talk to.”

Ultimately, he said, it’s a matter of working – and playing – hard.

“I get up really early and I stay awake late because I’m always reading and I’m always listening to what other people in the industry are talking about,” Hasson said. “You just got to stay informed, right? 

“Yeah, it’s exhausting, but it’s fun. I mean, I get to play with trading cards, like I did when I was a kid, but from a different perspective.

“I’m not putting them in my spokes on my bike anymore. Now I’m casing them in class plastic and hoping that the market shifts and I make some money.”

Find more information: behindthebreaks.com.