Mr. Ricky Eckhardt, Publisher

The Publisher

NORFOLK, Va. — Ex-Navy man turned entrepreneur, Mr. Ricky Eckhardt has spent the last eight years commanding marketplace ventures from conception to scale. Where others see scattered buyers, tired sellers, and broken infrastructure, he sees routes, rails, and systems waiting to be laid.

By The Numbers

The Story

For too long, collectors have wandered a wilderness of fragmented platforms—sports cards sequestered here, Pokemon isolated there, vintage toys scattered to the digital winds. Each niche built its own little island. None built the bridge.

Mr. Eckhardt has seen enough.

The thesis is disarmingly simple: every collectible vertical deserves its own dedicated marketplace, yet all should share a common backbone.

One system to run many markets. Not through tyranny, but through efficiency. Not a monolith, but a rail network.

Out of that thesis emerges Nerdbase:

an Operating System for Collectibles — a single backend powering infinite frontends, each tailored to its community and its quirks.

Where the old web offered "one generic marketplace for all," this new order offers many specific markets, one shared brain.

Current Ventures

Building the rails, the brain, and the ecosystem for collectors:

• Nerdbase — The Operating System for Collectibles; a multi-vertical engine powering specialized markets from a single core.
• Nerdworth — Art card exchange for slabbed artists and serious collectors. Live at nerdworth.com.
• Sugrworth — Candy toys and character collectibles; PEZ, candy dispensers, and sugar-adjacent icons.
• Yoyoworth — Yo-yos and skill toys for collectors and throwers.
• Figworth — Action figures, vinyl toys, and parts, built around completeness and accessories.
• Slabsworth — TCG and sports slabs, built for real "what's it worth?" answers.

Each appears as its own world. All of them run on the same machinery.

The Approach

Vertical Marketplaces Beat Horizontal Platforms

Horizontal platforms cast wide nets and catch nothing well. Vertical marketplaces step into the community, learn its language, and respect its rituals.

eBay is for buying and selling. These rails are for collecting.

Ship Fast, Ship Often

In this newsroom, code ships, not decks.

Every version one teaches more than a year of research. Founder-written systems and hands-on operations are treated not as a phase, but as a durable advantage.

Community First

Collectors do not flock to platforms on command. Platforms go to collectors.

Discord servers, SMS lists, shows, and group chats are treated as first-class infrastructure, not afterthoughts.

Contact

Wire: ricky@rickyeckhardt.com

LinkedIn: rickyeckhardt

Twitter/X: @rickyeckhardt

Headquarters: Norfolk, Virginia

All opinions are in beta. Markets are not.