Fanatics is the new King of Cards

[GarnettFan4Life]

I'm not sure I'd call people broke. There's more money being spent than ever before.

There are far more people entering the Hobby than leaving. We're seeing card stores pop up and card shows now. Crazy compared to just a few years ago.

What do you mean competition for Panini? They'll be gone right? They'll be done in the next few years.

Fanatics needs to either buy Panini, or develop their own product. They have Topps. They'll need a lot more.

I'm still holding out for Upper Deck. If Bron and Jordan Autos come back we'll see crazy money entering.

Even if not, the money getting around is wild.

There's a lot happening in the Hobby. If we can call it that any more.

id say people are broke and taking a break or over the blood sucking and I’d also say more are now leaving than entering. Either going back to other things they did before lockdowns or have had enough of cards now they see negative returns.

i forgot that Fanatics isn’t going to overlap though with panini so that sucks , need some competition and not monopolies.

I would love to see some more Lebron and Jordan stuff but not too much. See Charles Barkley and even Iverson and Garnet, I think there’s too much of them around now especially sticker autos

 

[Iron Clad Lou]

id say people are broke and taking a break or over the blood sucking and I’d also say more are now leaving than entering. Either going back to other things they did before lockdowns or have had enough of cards now they see negative returns.

Yeah, can't sell anything atm. Tough times.

 

[drobfan8]

Yeah, can't sell anything atm. Tough times.

We've just had Christmas

This is nothing new

 

[drobfan8]

id say people are broke and taking a break or over the blood sucking and I’d also say more are now leaving than entering. Either going back to other things they did before lockdowns or have had enough of cards now they see negative returns.

i forgot that Fanatics isn’t going to overlap though with panini so that sucks , need some competition and not monopolies.

I would love to see some more Lebron and Jordan stuff but not too much. See Charles Barkley and even Iverson and Garnet, I think there’s too much of them around now especially sticker autos

I would massively disagree.

You only need to see on IG or Youtube how crazy it's gotten. I've never seen so many Admiral collectors pop up when his stuff was starting to die.

Hell there have been multiple card shows. Cards are still disappearing from retail stores.

There's even a vending machine in MT Gravatt for the 1st time in 25 years.

Far more people entering and coming back than leaving.

 

[sgt_pepper]

I said Soccer, but I do mean Football also, not so much the MLS, but everything to do with the game. You might not think cards will take off, but they already are.

Sure it has a ceiling, but what is the ceiling? There are new collectors every day.

So going back to my original point, Fanatics will be looking to grow the Hobby. A company that big doesn't buy in just to keep things the same.

my point was that soccer cards have been around for ages and has a following already. the question is why you think the numbers will increase now all of a sudden?
there are new collectors every day, sure. and there are collectors leaving the hobby every day. alot of the people coming in arent in it for the long haul. theyre trying to make bank or riding some nostalgia trip. youre also assuming everyone who enters the hobby will remain, when some will give up very quickly. alot of the young kids entering now will leave in a few years. then a percentage of those will come back a few years later, giving the hobby a boost, and a % of those will leave again. obviously i dont have exact numbers, but it ebbs and flows. right now we're at a high point. no reason to think it will just keep growing when history has shown us it will take a massive dip again within a few years...
and thats why i asked in what way you think theyll grow. and how? and why? the only way i can see them growing is in price. i can absolutely see them just chugging along, printing money. why risk losing billions when you have a winning formula?

 

[drobfan8]

my point was that soccer cards have been around for ages and has a following already. the question is why you think the numbers will increase now all of a sudden?
there are new collectors every day, sure. and there are collectors leaving the hobby every day. alot of the people coming in arent in it for the long haul. theyre trying to make bank or riding some nostalgia trip. youre also assuming everyone who enters the hobby will remain, when some will give up very quickly. alot of the young kids entering now will leave in a few years. then a percentage of those will come back a few years later, giving the hobby a boost, and a % of those will leave again. obviously i dont have exact numbers, but it ebbs and flows. right now we're at a high point. no reason to think it will just keep growing when history has shown us it will take a massive dip again within a few years...
and thats why i asked in what way you think theyll grow. and how? and why? the only way i can see them growing is in price. i can absolutely see them just chugging along, printing money. why risk losing billions when you have a winning formula?

Soccer has mainly been about stickers.
Cards are really just starting to gather steam along with formula 1, MMA and more. Hell even Pokemon is bringing out a new set each qtr.

You just need to follow the cards shows that have been happening to see the values in Soccer cards are booming. Not my thing, but it's happening.

There has been lots of chat about an old school approach to cards still hanging around. I'm not an innovator, but it seems Fanatics will be looking to expand in many ways. I don't know what they are and we probably won't know until they take over.

Funny, I remember so many having their doubts about Panini. They have been pretty successful.

 

[sgt_pepper]

Soccer has mainly been about stickers.
Cards are really just starting to gather steam along with formula 1, MMA and more. Hell even Pokemon is bringing out a new set each qtr.

You just need to follow the cards shows that have been happening to see the values in Soccer cards are booming. Not my thing, but it's happening.

There has been lots of chat about an old school approach to cards still hanging around. I'm not an innovator, but it seems Fanatics will be looking to expand in many ways. I don't know what they are and we probably won't know until they take over.

Funny, I remember so many having their doubts about Panini. They have been pretty successful.

without any actual info on what theyre plans might be, or any ideas on how its even possible to grow (much) larger, im not sure why you would believe it?
soccer CARDS have been around for ages. it started with stickers, yes, but its been well beyond that for decades now. and the value of them isnt necessarily tied to an increase in the amount of people collecting.
as for MMA etc, i dont think 'gathering steam' is correct. it was gathering steam 10 years ago...ditto for pokemon, only longer.
panini didnt do much at all in terms of innovation (or did they?), but still flourished. i never said fanatics wouldnt be successful. they will be. no doubt. but just like panini, they dont have to change much at all for that to happen.

 

[drobfan8]

without any actual info on what theyre plans might be, or any ideas on how its even possible to grow (much) larger, im not sure why you would believe it?
soccer CARDS have been around for ages. it started with stickers, yes, but its been well beyond that for decades now. and the value of them isnt necessarily tied to an increase in the amount of people collecting.
as for MMA etc, i dont think 'gathering steam' is correct. it was gathering steam 10 years ago...ditto for pokemon, only longer.
panini didnt do much at all in terms of innovation (or did they?), but still flourished. i never said fanatics wouldnt be successful. they will be. no doubt. but just like panini, they dont have to change much at all for that to happen.

Haha, ok then mate.

Might be time to quit the Hobby then? Seems you're fairly out of touch and just going off your own opinions without keeping up to date with the main players in the Hobby.

I pretty much disagree with everything you're saying off the top of your head.

And many more would also.

 

[sgt_pepper]

Haha, ok then mate.

Might be time to quit the Hobby then? Seems you're fairly out of touch and just going off your own opinions without keeping up to date with the main players in the Hobby.

I pretty much disagree with everything you're saying off the top of your head.

And many more would also.

fair enough. but arent you the guy who said he has heard nothing about how they plan to expand and has offered no suggestion as to how...? how is your prediction not just an opinion? give me some reasons and that will convince me, not the amount of people standing behind you. you say you disagree with everything, but offer nothing to counter. for example, have panini been innovative?
lets wait and see...happy to admit im wrong if/when the hobby explodes to never before seen numbers of people collecting.

 

[ozsportscardcollector]

Yeah, can't sell anything atm. Tough times.

Same here. Haven't sold a thing on ebay for nearly a month and the 2 sales just before Christmas I've just had to cancel because Australia post isn't sending to Canada. I wasn't aware of this situation at the time I listed the cards. Absolutely sucks. I had sold a Hockey card for $1200 but had to refund after 3 weeks because I couldn't post it and no idea of when the services will resume. I had sold quite a few cards into Canada last year so I've had to take down my hockey listings as they rarely sell in Oz.

I think I'm done with ebay anyway. I've just assembled a 600 card consignment for comc. Haven't done one since early 2020. I suspect a lot more cards are going to show up there with the ebay 1099 form.

To be fair the sales started drying up in October. There were a few red hot months before that and then nothing until a few sales before Christmas. I can't blame people for not buying. Lots of uncertainty economically. Interest rates will have to rise to curb inflation and the damage done by Covid is unquantifiable. If it weren't for the government printing money and handing it out we would be in the worst financial crisis ever. If money is tight, cardboard is/should be the first thing off the grocery list.

 

[GarnettFan4Life]

Yeah, can't sell anything atm. Tough times.

I would massively disagree.

You only need to see on IG or Youtube how crazy it's gotten. I've never seen so many Admiral collectors pop up when his stuff was starting to die.

Hell there have been multiple card shows. Cards are still disappearing from retail stores.

There's even a vending machine in MT Gravatt for the 1st time in 25 years.

Far more people entering and coming back than leaving.

lag time. tsunami comes in but the tide still recedes. Junk wax era 2.0. death by a thousand million slabs.

 

[suihon]

Dear Fanatics, please buy/partner with Upper Deck. That is all.

 

[ozsportscardcollector]

Dear Fanatics, please buy/partner with Upper Deck. That is all.

Only if they keep the UD Hockey Young Guns and SP Authentic hockey Future Watch autos. I love those two products and would be shattered if Fanatics messed with those products. I actually like that both those products do not have an rc logo and there are no FWA parallels. They are numbered to 999 with those numbered under 50 having an added inscription.

 

[TAB1980]

What are our thoughts on this peek into the future of basketball cards with Fanatics?

View: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=aXPR97yhXzM

 

[GarnettFan4Life]

I think they’re gonna be great. Cantering looks a lot better than Prizm and others. And I love the retro inserts they’re going to be able to use. I like these.

Panini was better on the quality control at first too then it started to slip so it depends on volume too. See how they go.

 

[taffster74]

Honestly don't know atm. But... I think hitting the market this far from the official license with something like chrome and featuring players straight out of high school is risky. I can definitely see the commissioners for nba, nfl and mlb watching fanatics releases very closely.

 

[SharpysSports]

As has been mentioned before, the problem we are going to have is that there will be another monopoly in the hobby. You could even call it a much greater monopoly.

Fanatics have paid a LOT of money to obtain control over the whole hobby. They are keen to show that they can produce exceptional quality cards and would have had more staff on quality control for these releases as they knew the scrutiny would be there. I'm sure this is no different to when Panini was announced as having the NBA licence all those years ago.

The challenge for Fanatics is maintaining the quality control throughout their time in holding the licence whilst providing exceptional customer service on redemptions and the like. I hopeful they can do it but I'm not sure they will be able to and it all comes down to the $$$.

What happens to the players who are contracted to Panini? I wonder if they have a clause in their contract which allows them to walk if Panini loses the licence?

As someone who is active in the hobby the whole scenario of a monopoly concerns me. Whilst Fanatics are coming across as being 'collectors' (and I'm sure they are), when you have investors who pay that much money for the rights, they will want a return on their money which has the potential to skew the traditional 'collector' mentality. This means we will see the hobby have no option but to go down the path they want to take us to get a financial return for their investors.

The only way to solve this is to have competition which will provide us as collectors different options...

Apologies if these points have been raised before (I haven't gone back to re-read the discussion). It was a question I was asked at the Hobby Hangout on the weekend as part of the panel and it has been playing on my mind since then. I want this to be good for the hobby but I'm not sure how it can be?

 

[Iron Clad Lou]

Fanatics going to run their "drop" model should be interesting. I always miss their drops, but i like the idea.

Ultimately, it'll be a monopoly mess

 

[Iron Clad Lou]

I set up and account and tried to order to my SMC and they canceled the order and blocked my account.

Great. This is going to be a shitshow for international buyers

 

[SharpysSports]

I set up and account and tried to order to my SMC and they canceled the order and blocked my account.

Great. This is going to be a s***show for international buyers

Why would they do that? They didn’t give you a reason at all??