Hobby Musings: Joe Johnson on His New Card Company – The hobby community was introduced to Joe Johnson through his design work for Onyx. Now, he’s branched out on his own, bringing collectors some notable collegiate autographs on his unique designs to start 2023. I had the chance to talk with Joe to find out why he started his new company, as well as what’s next.
Hobby Musings: Joe Johnson on His New Card Company – Interview
Hobby Musings: Joe Johnson on His New Card Company – Interview Transcript
Editor’s Note: Some text has been altered from original audio for clarity.
KS: Hey, everyone. Welcome to another edition of Hobby Musings. I’m Kelsey Schroyer, joined today by graphic designer Joe Johnson. Joe, thank you for joining us.
JJ: Yeah man, thanks for having me on.
KS: Joe, so we’re about a quarter of the way through 2023. You’ve already had a pretty busy year, though. What have you been up to?
JJ: Oh, man. Trying to get the whole Johnsocreative brand launched. It’s been an eye opener on the other side of the card world where it’s not just designing, it’s trying to find agents and players and try to make those connections. So, it’s certainly a learning experience step by step you know.
KS: Well, so you kind of got introduced to the hobby community, in a way by the design work you were doing for Onyx. Some really nice designs there. What inspired you to kind of branch out on your own and start your own company?
JJ: Me and Onyx had a great year, and at the end of the year, they were going a different way. And I was like, what do I do? I fell in love with designing these things last year, and we were at the Met, we were at the National, and meeting the hobby community was really nice. And I was like, I’m just going to keep going. And so, I know the NIL world is new, and I was like, not a whole lot of people are in that market, so let me see what I can do with it.
KS: So, you kind of alluded to some of the challenges that go with making these cards, having to deal now with agents, with players, the additional fees. What has been the hardest part of kind of getting this off the ground?
JJ: I would probably say trying to make the connections with the agents. And, you know, obviously, you know, it costs money to play the game, so you’re trying to spend your money wisely where you can and hope for the best return on, you know, whoever you’re speaking with, which kind of led to having the Garnet Trust on the back of the latest soccer card that we did for Gamecock women’s soccer. It was just a different idea. I was, like, in a true NIL space, what if I could come up with a concept to where we could actually get the back of the card sponsored, like you would see with a football poster or something like that? Is there a better ROI for the investors on the back of these trading cards, and the Garnet Trust were the first ones on board, and so far, so good. They really like the cards. They saw them today for the first time in person. They saw the foils, and they were super excited about the look of them.
KS: That’s awesome. So aside from that, what are some of the designs and the athletes that you’ve done this for so far?
JJ: So, we did Trey Benson at Florida State. We did Tatum Bethune down at FSU, Fabien Lovett, and then talking to a SEC wide receiver right now. So hopefully sooner than later, we can have a card to show that we’ve got another guy coming on.
KS: Overall, what has the feedback been to these cards so far? I’ve seen you post them a lot to your social media.
JJ: They’re very positive. The college market is a lot different than the professional market. It’s a different niche. So, I’m trying to get the local fan bases involved. We’ve seen some good feedback from the Florida State fan base, and they’ve been supportive with their guys. They’ve been picking these cards up, and I think we know in the hobby that as each season is starting to kind of see a wave right where kickoff starts, then you start to see it kind of come up, and that’s where we are now with spring ball, and that’s why we’re trying to lead into that. But I’m open to doing different sports basketball, football, baseball. I don’t want to just be a one stop shop for college football.
KS: Now, you talk about doing this with collegiate athletics. Do you think you could see yourself doing it in the professional ranks as well?
JJ: Absolutely. Yeah, absolutely. That’s certainly the goal is to continue to build up the collegiate side until we can get into the pro side because, again, another market, and I really enjoyed what I did with Onyx last year and I would love to continue that. And the discovery of these foils and things like that, they just lead to better cards. You always try to be better and keep learning and keep building.
KS: So, when you’re doing your designs, because your designs are fairly unique and very eye popping. Especially with these cards now trying to kind of take that next level, what goes into your design decisions on them?
JJ: Well, I mean, it’s really just, I try to figure out what’s going to connect with the fan base, right? Like with the Gamecocks, if you’ve never been to Columbia, they have these really cool things called Cockabooses that sit out behind the stadium, and they’re train cars where the big boosters have their parties and stuff. And so, we may put a Cockaboose on this SEC receiver that we’re talking to. Or with Florida State, it might be the Flames or something like that. It ties into the game day traditions. You saw that with some of Onyx’s stuff. Like when we did Bobby Witt Jr. We had the crown; we had the exit for the ballpark. Same thing with Shohei, with the cherry blossoms. So, it’s just stuff that connects directly with that particular player.
KS: So, looking at the future of this, how many athletes are you hoping to kind of have for the next college football season if you can roughly ballpark it?
JJ: I mean, in a perfect world, four or five just to get started. You have to crawl before you walk. And starting off on your own is definitely difficult because, honestly, it’s a little terrifying. You’re trying to make a name for yourself in the hobby against people that are already established. You’re trying to build a following up of your product and. At the same time, you’re trying to make sure that you remain friends with the people that helped you out in the industry, because that’s part of it too. I try not to overstep and at the same time, I’ve still got to do well for myself because it is a business.
KS: So, you have the athletes sign these cards after you design them. What about with memorabilia? Do you think you could ever see yourself incorporating any of their game-used or any type of memorabilia on the cards as well?
JJ: That’s actually in the works. We’re looking at some stuff now like receiver gloves, things like that because I think the market does need game-used material. I think it’s very sought after, and it’s hard to come by these days, like we always see player-worn or things like that, and game-use just takes it to a different level. So, I think there’s an opportunity for sure.
KS: So especially with collegiate players, even with the kind of looser restrictions now with NIL, how does that work with the memorabilia though? Do you have to go through the school on that? Do you go through the player? Both?
JJ: We’re going to go through the school just to make sure that everything is done by the correct guidelines. I don’t ever want to step in the wrong direction, so I’d rather be safe than sorry.
KS: So, with NIL opening up all these new opportunities, how do you feel? Like the school approaches kind of or the athletes approach trading card deals versus something else like TV commercials or something like a Gatorade?
JJ: I mean, I don’t really know that they approach it differently. They see NIL as a way to create revenue for themselves in whatever manner possible. But I mean, I think that the guys that have seen the cards really like them. They say that it’s a lot different than anything else that they’re doing growing up as a kid and possibly you as well, you always love trading cards and so these kids that are seeing themselves on cards now. They really like it and they really enjoy it. They think it’s cool, and it kind of helps for them to push their own stuff because they’re like, hey, I want people to go in and buy this because this is a cool product. And so I’ve seen a lot of excitement from the athletes, and like I said, we’re still in our infancy, so it’s learning every day.
KS: So, the designs you do, as we’ve talked about, are very cool. Would you ever consider doing custom designs if someone was like, hey, I want a custom one-of-one design of this player you’re doing? Is that something you would entertain doing?
JJ: Possibly. It’s hard when it comes to printing and things like that because you have to print in bulk, and that’s one of the tougher things to do. So, one-of-one would be kind of tough, but we’re exploring some options to where we could print more than one type of card, but it could be a true one-of-one. And I’m hoping to kind of reveal that with this next guy if we get him on board. A lot of things in the works, but I don’t want to tip my hand too early.
KS: All right, I’ll get you out of here on this. If anyone want to learn more about your cards, your designs, or where to potentially purchase them from, where would they go to?
JJ: Johnsocreative.com and they’ll see a button for shop. With us going trading card heavy, I think there is going to be a point in time to where we go to just a card website where you can purchase them directly and you don’t have to go through my design site. So that’s in the works right now.
KS: Awesome. That all sounds great. Joe, thank you so much for joining us today.
JJ: Hey, man, thank you for having me on.
Hobby Musings: Joe Johnson on His New Card Company – Resources
- Website – Johnsocreative
Hobby Musings: Joe Johnson on His New Card Company – Image Gallery
Kelsey’s ability to bring hobby coverage to the mainstream sports fan has been a true asset. GTS is happy to feature his thoughts on collecting in Hobby Musings. The opinions expressed are his and do not necessarily reflect those of GTS Distribution.
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