Inspiring Conversations with Daniel Wulkan of The Wulkan Group, Inc.

Today we’d like to introduce you to Daniel Wulkan.

Hi Daniel, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
As a 7 year old, I got the bug in collecting baseball cards. I played all sports and idolized many athletes growing up. Another reason for my collecting was due to my grandpa’s gifts-boxes of baseball cards he would bring my brothers and I from his candy store in the Bronx. 36 packs, each with a stick of gum and back then, the cost for the boxes was around $7.20. That same box of unopened cards today would set you back over $4,000. Nice ROI if you saved them! Talking about other ROI’s, if you put away a 12 box case of 1986 Fleer Basketball cards that cost $120 back in 1986, you’d be sitting on close to $2,400,000 today. Basketball cards weren’t popular back then and due to this occurence, cases didn’t sell so they were send back to the distributor for a refund. Imagine forgetting to return them and years later, finding 5 cases in your warehouse. So I collected and as the years went by, I started a card business with my dad. I told my dad if he were to match my collection which at the time was worth about $400, then I would spend his $400 on more cards and we would accumulate an $800 collection and we could start setting up at card shows. Tables were about $35 back then in 1984. I was 13 at the time. So we continued to buy and sell cards but while setting up at these shows, I met the most famous dealer in the industry, Alan Rosen, aka. Mr. Mint. When I walked around the show, he would see me and hand me a case of cards to sell for him and once I brought back the money, he would hand me a $50 bill. At that point, I knew something in the financial world was my goal. Wall Street was always on my mind. Cut to, my parents get divorced, I move away to Long Island with my mother, and start teaching tennis at a local club. Within 2 weeks, I was teaching a kid and became friendly with his parents, later to find out his father had a seat on the New York Stock Exchange. So I got the invite and got to see the stock exchange from behind the thick glass pane window overlooking heaven. To me it was one of the most exciting times of my life. But as I followed the stock world, I began to realize the stress they went through and why would i put myself through that when I could buy and sell baseball cards and memorabilia, which to me was the same thing as buying ansd selling stock. You’re buying on margins, you have your cost, your profit margin and your retail #. As long as you sold the items for more than you paid, and did it over and over, I was actually doing better than a stock broker. So pulling out my hair and working 23 hours a day quickly left my radar. Then as time went on, I traveled the United States starting around the age of 16 and setting up at baseball card shows with friends of mine. And then entering the late 1980s to early 1990s, I encountered the “junk wax era” where prices started to drop. Manufacturers like Topps, Fleer, Donruss, and others mass-produced cards in immense quantities, aiming for investment-minded adult collectors rather than children. This flooded the market and destroyed the perceived value of these modern cards due to a lack of scarcity. So what else could I pick that was just as cool, just as fun, just as exciting and just as comprable to still experience the art of the deal. The movie industry. I decided to get my associates at Suffolk Community College and then transfer out and get my 4 year degree at New York Tech in Communication Arts. That led to the internship in internship history, working on a movie titled A BRONX TALE. I got school credit for hanging out and working for Robert DeNiro. during the filming I even got to bodyguard Joe Pesci while he filmed his cameo for 2 days. In snow, in rain and in clouds and sun, I made it there every day. Again, a view of heaven. After that stint, I packed my bags and moved west and got a job working at Warner Bros. on the TV show Step by Step. They said it would take me about 2 years to get a job in the film industry. I got my job in 2 weeks. Art of the deal-be yourself, follow your passion not the money, and inevitably you’ll be very successful and last but not least, believe in yourself. I then jumped back in with every bone in my body to the sports card and memorabilia industry because making $325 a week at Warner Bros. wasn’t going to cut it. On weekends, I spent time going to flea markets, estate sales, garage sales and card shows, trying to find deals to buy and sell so I could pay my bills. And it wasn’t cheap. But I wanted the nice apartment, nice car and since i didn’t cook, I wanted to eat at nice places. How can you achieve that? WORK HARD! BUT, again, don’t chase the money. Chase your passion and the money chases you. After Step By Step, I was an orderly on the show ER for 6 epsidoes, worked on other TV shows, music videos and more. Then I thought I could do it myself so I produced a couple feature films and short films that went to cable and DVD. I won film festivals and got the beautiful crystal trophy that was worth about $50, I decided to work less in the film industry and go full throttle into the card industry. That took off again and hasn’t gone had a lul up until today. Around the late 90’s I was traveling everywhere setting up at shows, advertising in magazines and getting online to a site called EBAY, a newer site for the anything goes marketplace. Made money there buying and selling deals, breaking them up like stock and selling individual items to maximize my profit. I started advertising in an industry magazine that ruled our industry at the time by the name of SCD. (Sports Collectors Digest). I got it as a kid which is why I wasn’t the greatest student because I would read the SCD over and over looking for deals and learning more and more about what would most likely turn into my future. My 4 year degree was important to me but making money also aligned every one of my decisions. Eventually I was able to buy an ad in the SCD for $100. A small classified ad that advertised that I was buying and selling cards, autographs, documents in all sports and non-sports capacities. That led to a 1/4 page page which made me feel I was on top of the world. My ad agent gives me a call one day and another dream comes true. She had a remnant ad. What the heck was that? She said, “You have 2 hours to do the ad but it will cost $500 instead of $4,000 for a full page”. I got that ad done in 45 minutes and the next thing you know, I had a full page B&W page ad in the magazine I dreamed about advertising in. That led to a color full page remnant ad and then the BACK COVER ad. Remnant was my new friend! As time went on, I was bidding in an auction in 2005 and outbid everyone to win an 8×10 photo signed by the enitre 1927 New York Yankees including Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. They were the greatest team not just in baseball, but in sports history. Famously nicknamed “Murderers’ Row,” they were considered the greatest sports teams ever, largely due to their incredible lineup led by Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. The month I won that photo, I set up at a card show and this guy approached me and said, how much is the Babe Ruth signed check and the photo? I told him the check was $5,000 but what photo was he talking about becaue I didn’t have a photo in my showcase. He said you know what photo, the one you outbid me on. The auction house was supposed to call me if I got outbid and I fell asleep. How much is the photo. I said its not for sale. We were enemies for 10 minutes and then he came back and asked me if I wanted to join him with his company. I thought about it and said yes. We knew of each other very well but didn’t know know each other. I bought the photo for around $80,000 in 2005 and in 2006, after joining my friends company Memory Lane, we sold the photo in 2006 for around $200,000. I knew at the point, I was with the right guy. I told him I didn’t want a paycheck, I wanted a little ownership and I also wanted my freedom to do more than cards. My passions lay in the clothing industry, the film industry and other facets of life. In 2017, I got multiple emails on EBAY from a show looking to find people that would walk into a pawn shop and sell items to the owners. It was called PAWN STARS. Being saavy about the film industry and how reality TV is, I said as long as you treat me right, and don’t creatively edit me in a negative way, I would be glad to go an episode. That led to 5 more and before you know it, I get a call from the Production Coordinator and they want to interview me for the Sports Expert on the show. They said it would take 10 minutes. 2 hours later, they edited together 5 minutes of my interview, showed the Executive Producer and offered me the job as the Sports Expert on the show PAWN STARS. I did 50 episodes over a 5 year period. It was one of the best times of my life. So in a huge nut shell, I hope that explains how I achieved my success.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Every life has potholes. If someone tells you it’s been smooth as a babies bottom, they’re lying to you. Potholes are gifts. Failure is a gift. Fail big, fail hard. Get dirty because the dirtier you get, the stronger you become and the better success feels. We live in the land of 1,000 NO’s. Get all those “no’s” early and get them out of the way, because if you can do that, you will live a long smooth sailing life. I’ve been rejected in film, I’ve lost money on deals, but if you don’t take the leap of faith, you might as well cave and go work a 9-5 job. if a 9-5 job works for you, maybe based on needing stability then I am all for it and applaud you. BUT if you are trying to be your own boss, DON’T GIVE UP. Put in the work and don’t be soft. Be strong, My motto in life in strongly, IF SOMEONE ELSE, WHY NOT YOU?

Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
We buy and sell Sports Cards, Non-Sports Cards and Signed/Unsigned Memorabilia and collectibles as well as invest in Real Estate. Being an expert in the collectibles business has enabled me to be an expert witness on different court cases, guest appearances on Pod Casts, TV shows and more.

What was your favorite childhood memory?
Meeting Tommy Hilfiger, Muhammad Ali, Pele, Mel Gibson, Nobu Matsuhisa, Michael Jordan, Aaron Judge, Mike Tyson, Mickey Mantle, Joe DiMaggio, Robert DeNiro, Joe Pesci, Joe Namath, Wayne Gretzky, Denzel Washington, John McCenroe, , playing tennis with Boris Becker, Stefan Edberg, and becoming friends with the extremely humble Johnny Depp among many other memories. To me, thats what lifes all about. Building memories. Save enough money for a rainy day, save enough for a thunder storm, save enough for a tsunami, and spend all the rest building memories.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.memorylaneinc.com
• Instagram: pawn_stars_sports_expert
• Facebook: Daniel Wulkan