Interview: Netflix 'King Of Collectibles' Ken Goldin Speaks With OutKick

The sports memorabilia and auction world has grown immensely in recent years.

From diehard sports fans going through their home collections and finding rare gems during the Covid lockdown days, to the social media viral sensation of 'box breaks,' where fans have the opportunity to pull a rare card that could be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, the entire industry has seen a growth unlike never before.

Just how popular are we talking? The sports trading card industry alone is expected to grow by billions in the coming years. This is big money, which of course draws interest from the obsessive to the casual sports fan, athlete and celebrity out there.

So it wasn't a total surprise when Netflix announced the renewal of season 2 of its King of Collectibles: The Goldin Touch, featuring Ken Goldin of Goldin Collectibles Marketplace, although the streaming service did make him sweat it out a bit.

"They told me 'don't expect a renewal, only 10% of shows usually get renewed and if it does get renewed maybe 3-6 months down the road and the earliest they would do it would be 30 days but that's only for the super shows. I got the phone call on the 31st day and they said they wanted to pick it up and keep going with the show," Goldin told me during a recent conversation.

NETFLIX RENEWED KING OF COLLECTIBLES FOR ANOTHER SEASON

I've written before about how great I think the show is - from its mixture of a Pawn Stars-atmosphere to showing many cool and unique products while also incorporating celebrities from Mike Tyson, Drake, Karl Malone and Peyton Manning.

When asked to give his take on why the show connected with audiences, he gave an answer that sports fans everywhere could relate to.

"Everybody has something they either bought when they were younger or were handed down from their parents or grandparents... and I think the fact that the show shows so many diverse types of collectibles. You have a '52 Topps Mickey Mantle, or a T206 Honus Wagner or a Jackie Robinson jersey and people are going to say 'yes, that's going to be very valuable.' However, when you get in there and show things that people may not know like an Apple original computer, or Pokemon cards, or some kid pulling a card from a pack of cards in Canada that was issued three months earlier and suddenly he's getting $1 million dollars, I think that is now out there that people can say 'wow, what do I have? What can I find? What could be the next big thing?" Ken says.

CASUAL AND DIE HARD FANS ARE TAKING UP COLLECTING

Perhaps most importantly, it's educational, but in a fun way.

"I truly believe that people want to learn. I know in high school it's not supposed to be 'cool,' but if you can find something you gravitate to, and find a way to make learning cool or interesting, that's essentially what this show is able to do. When you're finding out the back story... it can light a spark..." I explained to Ken.

He agreed. "The reason people and I love collectibles is because I think every collectible tells a story. it's a piece of history. tells a piece of history. Whether it is the first Super Man comic book, or whether it's a sealed video game and somebody kept it sealed and now it's worth a lot of money or let's face it a 1919 document that sold Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees that changed baseball forever!"

ATHLETES WANT IN

Here's a little insight on celebrities, athletes and musicians for everyone out there, when they see someone else do something cool, they want in. I mean how many different energy drinks or home insurance commercials have people followed suit on? Oh you have a massive necklace with 39 diamonds? I'm going to get one with 40 just to show you up.

The same thing is happening here.

With the last season having so many big names, Ken says that fans can expect that and much more in the upcoming episodes.

Already he's being recognized by athletes from Tyrese Halliburton introducing himself during warm ups during a Pacers game to Giannis reaching out to him about wanting a particular card that Goldin had. A few months ago Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce reached out to Goldin during an event and said he would "love to do something" with the show (Hmm...) Meanwhile, I told Ken that I would love if he was able to get Hasbulla on - it'd be ratings gold.

And the beauty about memorabilia overall is that you literally can never run out of it. Whether it's a 1 of 1 card that everyone is looking for like its Willy Wonka's Golden Ticket or the 5,000 items that Ken says the company has come thru their doors every single week.

SEASON TWO IS CURRENTLY FILMING

King of Collectibles is a reality show, meaning it's non-scripted and not held back by the current writer's strike going on. And although no official Season 2 date has been announced, the memorabilia hype is only getting stronger and larger - especially with Fanatics now becoming the industry leader on what seems like everything.

My suggestion? While you're waiting all week for college and NFL football to start up, you may want to go thru that bottom drawer or back closets and see if you have any hidden sports gems.