Jack of All Trades

[dmarren349]

Finally got to see it... its now on Netflix... For those that have watched it, thoughts on it?

[Peties Army]

Is this just a doc about baseball cards

[dmarren349]

Kinda... It’s about a guy who’s Dad owned a baseball card shops in the 80’s. This guys journey starts by going through his old cards, finding that theres not much value there, he visits Topps and chats with Jose Canseco. Its interesting..

[Triplelutz42]

I really enjoyed it.

It's not just a documentary about cards, so if that's what you're looking for than you may be disappointed.

I summarize it this way: "In Jack of All Trades, the junk wax era combines with the exploration of family dynamics, and shows how for many, real life and cardboard are forever connected."

[ThoseBackPages]

i really enjoyed it

[Triple B]

Dude used to own THE shop here in Toronto. Looking forward to seeing this.

[SaveMeTheGum]

Originally Posted by dmarren349

Kinda... It’s about a guy who’s Dad owned a baseball card shops in the 80’s. This guys journey starts by going through his old cards, finding that theres not much value there, he visits Topps and chats with Jose Canseco. Its interesting..

Mouschi???

[SDcardguy24]

I hope Topps creates a Foul Ball Paul card

[REGGIE206]

Because the cards brought back a lot of childhood memories, I enjoyed it. My wife thought it was decent.

[awz50]

It was ok, kinda drawn out but decent.

The reference to the wrestler was kinda spot on

[titletowncards]

Watched it last night, was decent. Drawn out a little bit, but I enjoyed it.

[Bowman1951]

I won't ruin why but I definitely cried at the end. I loved most of it and thought about doing my own review, 7/10.

[smapdi]

I thought it was pretty good, not what I expected. There's not a lot of actual baseball card info, only enough to explain to non-collectors what happened in the junk wax era, while the bulk of it is a personal story about fathers and sons, which felt pretty real. The blurb Netflix put on it about a "scandal that destroyed the hobby" is way overblown, but is indicative of what happened when the hobby turned into big business in those years.

[etherealsoc]

I bought it on iTunes. I applaud the effort, but ultimately it's trying to do two things at once and fails to do either of them really well. Stu Stone appears well-intentioned, but this film dwells so long on the "I thought I'd be rich on junk wax" messaging that it glosses over the fact that many people did get rich during the baseball card boom and the hobby is still alive and thriving in many environments. Stu reminisces about 1986 Donruss and how he busted 1000 packs and failed to pull a single Canseco rookie, but then reminds the audience over and over again that it isn't worth anything anyway. My response? What do you mean it's not worth anything? By your own admission baseball cards bring you back to the best times of your life, to the childhood and the family with whom you desperately wish to reconnect, and a booming family business. Stu spends the entire movie only recognizing value in terms of dollars and cents, and he misses the very point he was trying to make. A tender moment when he clearly uses baseball cards as catharsis and re-connection is relegated to a brief clip during the end credits, and the climax briefly shows how the hobby brought people together - and still brings people together - before Stu destroys this point for the sake on an end scene with a sense of finality.

A movie about baseball cards and broken families could not be tailored closer to me unless I wrote and starred in it myself, and I'm glad I bought it on iTunes and supported a Canadian documentary film-maker and former baseball card enthusiast. That said, it was such a missed opportunity, since the hobby is the one thread running through so many of the closest relationships in Stu's life - his mother, his sister, and his best friends (who largely make up the film-making team) - but all he sees are his broken dreams of getting rich from the stacks of unopened boxes in his mother's condo. I feel bad for Stu in one sense, since I feel like he ignored how much he has to be grateful for, but I have no sympathy for collectors who stashed cases of junk wax, changing the hobby from a youth-driven novelty to investment-style business, only to find their hoards are barely worth the cardboard they are printed on. When you make it a business you accept the risk that comes with it. If the hobby was responsible for enriching the most important relationships in your life you'd think you could look beyond monetary value and I suspect Stu does have an appreciation for baseball cards that goes deeper than that, it just wasn't captured very well in his story. Jack of All Trades will seem like a must-see for any baseball card collector, but after you watch it you'll feel like you've been shorted a hit.

[LVDan]

I enjoyed it thoroughly, especially the busted family dynamics. The card angle was a timely backdrop for the era where almost everyone had a hand in the card business. His father’s lack of genuine regret for leaving was a serious punch in the gut. I personally know of a few guys who through lucky timing became local “titans of the card industry” and without exception they all share or shared the same sense of inflated self-importance and selfishness that tore this guy’s family apart. Good watch IMO.


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[jason122883]

Thanks for this thread. I would have never seen it if I hadn't come across this.

Worth the watch for sure. The guy's Dad is just awful. No real regret. Traded in his family for another that he would then abandon

[mouschi]

I thought it was good! Stu has been saying it would be out for quite a while, so when it was available on google play, I bought it and watched the same day. They did a great job.

Originally Posted by SaveMeTheGum

Mouschi???

I really wish I could have been in it, but sadly, we didn't know each other yet when it was filmed

[pryantexas]

Watched it and really enjoyed it - but not award winning material here.

I forgot just how insane the junk era got - with cases of Upper Deck French selling for thousands and thousands of dollars. Dealers at show bumping up the price of packs of hot releases by the hour.

It was great that he was able to track down his father but would have loved for the father to have been more forthcoming around why the hell did he up and leave the hobby and his family in the middle of the night

[whitesoxfan3579]

I enjoyed this as well. Paid for it on AMZN (instant video) at the time.

[Bader]

I thought it was good, the super Canseco collector in Vegas wasn’t all that interesting to be in it when I thought of it when Canseco said super collector I immediately thought damn Tanner is in this but noticed this was filmed around 2015 before he met Canseco I believe.

I thought the most interesting was the fact Upper Deck denied re-producing the Griffey RC in 1990 when Stu’s dad admitted it and even the Sage guy who worked for UD kind of nonchalantly admitted to it as well

[delangley1977]

Dudes old man was a real *****

[FrazTHG]

Fantastic all around as a former card shop manager this was really good. As someone who didn't have their father in one's life in similar fashion it hits home pretty tough.

[Copeskey45]

I just added it to my watch list.

[Chrisyork33]

Watching it now

[gmarutiak]

It didn't do anything for me. Mainly because I found Stu to be annoying.