Rip and Pull – The Card Show

Interview with Rip and Pull, the Card Show

Today we have something different. We did a little e-mail interview with Robert Fourriel, the host & all around producer of the YouTube Card show Rip and Pull. The show’s basic premise is Robert opening a box of cards–including Baseball Cards– and showing us what cards the box yielded. There’s more to it than that, but you get the point. Now, on to the questions!

Q: The whole Mop Up Duty crew enjoys your weekly card show. We were wondering, what made you decide to start Rip and Pull?

First, thank you all for watching! I had the idea of Rip and Pull a few years ago. I wanted more “real life” information about collectable cards. Lets say someone wants to Rip a box. After seeing what’s available from their local card dealer, what should they expect to pull from the box or pack? You could read the information provided by the manufacturer to see what your odds of pulling certain cards are or you can read a price guide but you don’t “see” what cards you could potentially pull. Things like the look, the feel, the texture, the color, what kind of inserts or parallels and general characteristics of the cards you could pull. I think a good example of this is a price guide doesn’t tell you whether the cards stick to one another which we have seen in a couple of episodes of Rip and Pull. I am a regular guy opening regular boxes and pulling what I feel an average collector would pull. I like to think of what I do as contributing to the collecting community.

Q: The show has greatly evolved since the first episode. What changes have you made and can we expect to see any more changes in the future?

The show has evolved which I think is a normal occurrence in such a dynamic hobby. I try to listen to suggestions from the viewers and fellow collectors. People wanted more detailed information about the sets and inserts so I added that. Recently, I thought it would be great to see samples of what we could pull so whenever possible I provide sample photos before I actually Rip the box. I also included pictures of the actual box and pack so you can recognize the product when shopping for it. I’ve always included scans of the actual cards pulled but I have added close-ups of things like jersey swatches and serial numbers.

As for the future, I want to add some features like special guests, more viewer participation. I think it would be fun for the show to be taped at remote locations and special events for in person shows. Who knows where Rip and Pull could show up for a taping?

Q: It seems like everyone collected cards at one point or anther during the early 1990’s. Could you give us a quick update on what’s going on in the industry today?

It appears that the card companies are getting a better pulse on what the collectors want. As we all know, we are seeing more memorabilia and autographed cards and I feel that’s what collectors want now. But the numbered short print cards in the “extended” sets are an interesting twist on set building. Mostly because someone could go broke buying enough boxes to complete these extended sets. So what has happened is these short printed cards are driving set builders to find these cards through other collectors, card shops and online auctions. All of this has stimulated the secondary card market, which I believe is a step in the right direction as far as the hobby goes. Building and collecting your sets in the privacy of your own home is nice but meeting other collectors and trading information is what helps the hobby to grow. It gives us all a chance to learn and share experiences that can benefit all collectors.

Q: You’ve ripped 14 boxes on camera so far, which product yielded the greatest results?

I suppose the viewers overall favorite was the 2006-07 Fleer Reflections Basketball box we opened in Episode 12. That dual sided multi colored Tim Duncan / Elton Brand patches card was really nice. Great colors, serial numbered to 50 and 2 great players. Then we got the Ricky Davis triple jersey card, autographed Denham Brown and the numbered cards including rookies.

Q: Which card would you rate as your best pull of all-time (on or off camera)?

Great question! Several viewers have asked me this question and I suppose it depends on the era. I mean back in the day I hit the roof when I opened a pack of 1984 Donruss and pulled a Don Mattingly. Then there was a time when I was with a group of collecting buddies and we had a tradition of Ripping a pack of cards provided by the host when we visited each other’s home. My friend Ben handed me a pack of 1989 Upper Deck Baseball and I pulled a Ken Griffey Jr Rookie. But more recently I twice pulled Barry Bonds Autographed Home Run Kings redemption cards numbered to 73 from 2002 Fleer Triple Crown packs. And yes I was able to get them redeemed before Fleers assets were sold off.

Rip and Pull episodes can be seen on the Rip and Pull YouTube Channel

Robert also has his own home page at www.RipandPull.com

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2 replies on “Rip and Pull – The Card Show”
  1. says: Callum

    Wow. Baseball card ripping parties. When’s the first mopupduty card ripping party gonna go down? Kman you can be the host, but I don’t want any fleer, score, donruss or o-pee-chee. Only Topps or Upper Deck.

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