Hobby Musings: Onyx’s Lance Fischer Teases 2023 products, First NSCC Guest – Lance Fischer and Onyx have been bringing collectors some of the best in baseball prospect autographs for over a decade now. In the past couple of years, the company has branched out into other sports and also added notable veteran signatures to its checklist. With 2023 upon us, I had the chance to catch up with Mr. Fischer to discuss some of his company’s upcoming products and his thoughts on NIL. He also revealed some early plans for Onyx’s VIP Party at the National Sports Collectors Convention later this year.
Hobby Musings: Onyx’s Lance Fischer Teases 2023 products, First NSCC Guest – Interview
Hobby Musings: Onyx’s Lance Fischer Teases 2023 products, First NSCC Guest – Interview Transcript
KS: Hey, everyone. Welcome to Hobby Musings. I’m Kelsey Schroyer. Here with Onyx CEO and founder Lance Fisher. Lance, thanks for coming on.
LF: Yeah, absolutely. Thank you for having me.
KS: So, 2023, a new year, new prospects, new cards. What do you have coming out soon?
LF: So, we’ve got our 2022 Nimbus. That will be our first release for 2023. Even though it’s 2022, if everything had gone perfectly, we would have released it last December.
But supply chain and other challenges just unfortunately back it off. We’re trying to make it where there’s zero redemptions in this because it is a high end product. There might be one, but if there is, we’ve got a very creative way to, I think, appease those who pull a redemption. And it should be something that I think other manufacturers take notice of because people should get something if they get a redemption. And I think we kind of come up with a creative way in order to do that.
So, it should be interesting if we have any. Of course, the other thing is 2023 Vintage, and that will release the first week of April. So, you know, those are the things that are coming up real quick.
And we’re excited. The designs came out great. Nimbus looks phenomenal, as always. Our on-card autographs and packaging is going to be really nice. I think people will be really excited for Nimbus.
KS: So one of the biggest things you’re known for is your prospect autographs, including those guys that people may not have heard of yet, but we’ll likely hear of in a couple of years. With that being said, who are some of the big prospects that we can find autographs of in Nimbus and Vintage?
LF: Yeah, absolutely. So starting with Nimbus, Nimbus is going to be interesting because it’s a multi sport product.
And the reason why we took that direction is there was an opportunity to get autographs of athletes that have nothing out there, and yet they are considered either upcoming global stars or global stars.
And when we were offered some opportunity with women’s soccer, which I think is beyond underrated, we jumped all over it. And the Women’s World Cup is this year. We saw what the Men’s World Cup brought to soccer.
The women’s sport honestly is even bigger in the sense for the US because they won the World Cup last time. In fact, I think they won the one before that too. So, they’re one of the favorites in this year’s World Cup.
And we were offered a few players like Trinity Rodman, Katerina Macario, and a few others. In fact, we just made an offer to Alyssa Thompson, who was the number one pick for the NWSL, who is, I think, the youngest player, one of the youngest players to ever sign for the Women’s soccer league.
So, we’ve got some really good upcoming stars. We think Katerina is going to be incredible. I mean, we’ve seen what her base cards have done that Upper Duck put out last year, and we were floored by what they went for.
And with her autographs on these cards, and in fact, they’re the only autographs who signed memorabilia, it’ll be her first autograph of anything out there once we get those in. And we’re hoping to get them in the next week.
She’s actually in Qatar right now rehabbing. There’s some challenges, obviously, with getting stuff back from overseas, but we’ve been assured that they will be on their way back in the next couple of days.
So, with Nimbus, those are kind of the biggies. We did put some NIL prospects in there. Like Will Levis, CJ. Stroud. Baseball wise. Chase Dolander, Dylan Cruz, who are both projected to be one two in this year’s draft for baseball.
Basketball, we got Mackenzie Mcbaco, who is doing so well. Right now is projected a top five pick for the NBA in not this coming year, but next year. So, some really good talent and first autographs of these athletes jumping in the Vintage real quick.
Not to be too long winded, man. We just signed Vance Honey Cut, who’s the projected number one pick for 2024. And this kid’s a monster, absolute beast for North Carolina. So, I would say definitely keep your eye out for him.
These will be first autograph cards for Dylan Cruz, Chase Dolander and Vintage Albert Pujols. Granted, he’s not a prospect, but he’s a pretty good hit, I would think. And jeez, what else we got?
Jackson Chourio, who really isn’t off the radar. He really exploded last year. I think we did his first signed cards a few years ago and it’s just a long list. So, again, not to be too long winded, but a lot of quality. And I’m not just in the prospects, but on the veterans, too.
KS: So, Lance, you talk about some of these people who are a couple of years away from even being drafted. One of the big things in college over the last couple of years has been NIL deals (name, image, likeness.) How is the ability of these athletes to sign these autographs earlier in their careers kind of impacted the card business here specifically?
LF: Yeah, it’s a challenge. If you’ve been following NIL, some of these numbers that have been thrown around are insane. Not saying that the guys aren’t worth it, but it’s big money for guys in college as those who are kind of used to the baseball prospecting world. A lot of these guys don’t pan out, and same thing in college, maybe even more so because at least in the minors in baseball, they’re professionals.
In college, you’re still that amateur status, and you got to be real careful on kind of what you build and project in the sense of value. And so one of the things that we’ve been doing and I know some of the other companies have been on the same page with this is really putting perspective with the different representatives or agencies out there that represent these kids and letting them know that, hey, yeah, this kid is projected first rounder, or he’s a projected first pick or whatever, but we’ve got to be reasonable.
If he could get hurt, he may fall out of the first round, have a bad season. We saw kind of what Spencer Rattler did.
He was the Heisman favorite two years ago and basically vanished. He wasn’t even start for Oklahoma.
And then finally he got it together with South Carolina towards the end of last year. But, you know, sometimes the money gets the heads of some of these kids, and that urge to play hard in practice and all that good stuff tends to fade.
And again, they got to keep perspective. So to what you’re saying, Kelsey, is we’ve got to make sure that the value is there on the amateur level and then obviously brought on to the collector. And one of the things that we did with Vintage is we actually lowered the price from last year.
So we know that the industry as a whole is kind of in a correction state right now. The economy is a little bit out of control. So we figured, you know what, let’s decrease the price instead of raising the prices every year, even though a lot of our costs went up, we figured we’ve got a little buffer in there and we’re going to pass it on to the collector community.
And that’s what we’ve always been about. It’s about the collector. So when it comes to NIL MLB or whatever, we really try to make sure that we keep the value with the product and we don’t price ourselves out of the industry.
KS: Lance, one thing I’ve seen with you over the last several years is mainly at the National Sports Collectors Convention. You always have a wide array of great game used memorabilia from these players. Have you been doing that with the collegiate players at all, getting memorabilia from them? Or is that something you’re not able to do given the college ties?
LF: Yeah, that’s a really good question. So the answer is no, we haven’t. Could we? It’s possible. Some of the items that the athletes are given are all from the school.
So, kind of like with professional sports, the jerseys don’t belong to the players, it belongs to the teams. So it’s the same thing in college and even more so, the sneakers, the gloves. Like when I recruit for Florida State, the guys after the game had to turn everything in.
We gave them a little leeway with the receiving gloves or the gloves that they had. They throw them in the stand sometimes. But all that stuff is school property and that’s a different type of an agreement.
And so if it’s something that the the athlete has purchased directly themselves or purchased from the school, then obviously it is something that we could look at. But yeah, collegiate sports is a little more of a challenge when it comes to game use.
Now, even before the NIL deals came about, we’ve seen some companies get some of these athletes to sign autographs very early on high school, I believe. I believe he had their USA thing. I know Brian Lee.
Brian Gray Leaf did some things. How far the rabbit hole do we go, though? Are we getting these kids when they’re Little Leaguers ten years old? I mean, it just seems like we’re getting younger and younger.
KS: You kind of allude to this. You know, there is that balance of trying to get these athletes when there is, for lack of a better term, appeal and value to the collectors, the people who are buying them, while also trying to meet that demand earlier.
LF: But what is that balance at this point? Yeah, that’s a tricky place. What is too young? And I asked with me again, I’m going back to my Florida State roots is we couldn’t directly contact kids unless they were juniors in high school.
Now we could invite them to the camps, like the summer camps for football, and entertain that piece of these kids had some potential as freshman or sophomores, but really the bounce was a junior in high school, which is 16-17 years old.
And that’s kind of my rule of thumb. I’m not going to really entertain anyone who’s under the age of 16 unless it’s just an absolute phenomenon. I’m eating my words now. I know we’ve done that on a couple of occasions where Felnin Celesten, who was just taken by the Mariners a couple of days ago, is one of the top international kids in the world, and I think there was one or two more, but we’ll make exceptions here and there.
But really, 16 is kind of that line that we want to stay on, because prior to that, there’s so much development going on, whether it’s physical or mental. And the risk is really, really high. And again, we’re about value to the collector, whether that’s short term or long term.
And for a kid that’s under the age of 16, you know, it’s more long term, and we’ve got to be really careful with that. So one thing I did want to ask you, bound this is way down the road for this year, potentially.
KS: A couple of years ago at the National Sports Collectors Convention in Chicago, you had your VIP party, brought some very notable guests, including Randy Johnson and Frank Gore. The National is back in Chicago this year. Are you going to have another VIP party?
LF: We are. We’ve already booked out the Dave and Busters in Rosemont, which is walking distance from the convention center. We’re going to have tickets on sale probably in the next few weeks.
They’re going to be listed at $599 a ticket. Now, some people are like, oh my god, $599 a ticket. Trust me. And Kelsey, you were there. It’s beyond worth it. I mean, the geek factor, it’s open bar, it’s buffet style food, and it’s not just garbage food. It’s good stuff. The professional photo session with the athletes, being able to play games with these guys. It’s not just, oh, I’m kind of shy to talk to them, or what do I talk to him about? Man, we already got the answer for you.
Ask them to go shoot some hoops or play on the motorcycle game or ski ball or whatever it is. But the memories that people are going to walk away from, that it’s then, and you can ask anyone who was there two years ago is insane.
It’s really a lifetime experience. The stories that Frank Gore Senior had for people who were sitting at the bar. Shooting hoops with Chad Johnson, “Ochocinco”, Randy Johnson doing the fast pitch game. It was crazy.
It was a lot of fun. And it’s not crowded. These guys are all very accessible. It’s not like you’re going to go in and like, well, I’m not going to be able to get near anyone because so many people are going to want to talk to them. Not the case. So, again, long story short, it’s going to be a good time. We’re kind of locking athletes down right now. Right now we’ve talked to Dwight Gooden, the Doc, who is an incredible person, and the people who are going to be at this event have to be sociable, approachable, willing to talk to and stuff like that.
We don’t want guys like, you know what? You’re just a bother to me. I don’t even want to be here. That’s not someone we want to bring to this event. But Doc, we’re looking at feeling really good on confirming him really soon.
And then we’re going to look at some NIL guys. We’re talking to Vance Honeycutt. I mean, who wouldn’t want to go with the number one pick for 2024? This kid is going to be special. I would. And some other guys that are going to be named.
We’re looking at some of the college quarterbacks. We’re looking at, obviously, a marquee name that we’re going to lock down here hopefully soon. So it’s going to be an amazing experience. And obviously, Kelsey, you’re invited again.
KS: All right, sounds good, man. I can’t wait to see it. But Lance, thank you so much for joining us today. If anyone else wants to get more information on you, where can they find more information at?
LF: Yeah, check out our website. We just updated it, I guess about four months ago. onyxauthenticated.com. And we’re getting better on the store front where you can purchase things direct. If you’re a store owner, you can definitely contact us and buy direct. We’ve opened that portal. And then if you’re looking for tickets for our VIP event, they’ll be for sale on the site here. Like I said, hopefully in the next couple of weeks. So stay tuned and follow us at @Onyx_Authentic on Twitter, and then Onyx_Authenticated on Instagram.
KS: All right, sounds good. Lance, thanks again.
LF: Thank you, Kelsey. Appreciate it.
KS: Thank you for joining us here at Hobby Musings. Have a great day.
Hobby Musings: Onyx’s Lance Fischer Teases 2023 products, First NSCC Guest
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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