The ultimate Fanatics Fest review: Fun with numbers

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24-06-2025

There is a ton to cover from Fanatics Fest. I think the best way to do it is a thorough review of everything I saw and did. But there's no room here, so we're going to have fun with numbers!! JR Fickle bought a sum total of zero things there this weekend (I am an oddities guy, as you know, and there wasn't a lot of that), but I did get an 'in' on having my Vincent Price check authenticated — more on that another time! So personally, it was all wins for me.
Let's jump right in!
3: The number of new people I'm following on social media
MaryGambleGamble : Full disclosure, I followed and unfollowed a long time ago. I'm back to following. Screw it, I think she's fun. I have zero interest in the cards she deals with ($200+ modern Prizms are like 50x the price and 30 years older and 100% more sport-y I like to pay for cards) but she's enthusiastic, she seems to be enjoying herself, and her videos are very good. OH BUT SHE'S ONLY BEEN IN THE HOBBY FOR A YEAR! Are we suddenly gatekeepers? Who cares? Good content is good content.
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WhoKnewCollectors : I met him at the Mantel party at Bleecker Trading — and I'm not sure if he told me his Mantel username as just a dude talking to another dude or what, so I'll protect all that here — but what a fantastic guy who has scarily parallel interests to mine. On the way home from the event, I checked out his Instagram feed, followed his logic on this Richard Pryor Superman 3 post, and raced to ebay to buy a few . They're cheaper than you think!!
Michael Salfino : He was holding court in the back room at Bleecker, opining on vintage cards and then streaming shows to watch. He was quizzing people on how many HBO Max shows you can name (try it – you have 30 seconds). Michael came to the event with a stack of cards to do some trading with and let us rifle through them. They were fantastic. I held a very old Mickey Mantle in pristine condition. His big thing is 'centering' and you could see in his stack how they're all just wonderfully centered; it's a different feeling than seeing all these old cards – in near-perfect condition – online. Very cool. WARNING: His social account is most definitely not very cards focused, I have learned quickly.
0: The number of beers I had at the Mantel/Bleecker party
I was told where the beers were, to be fair. But I wasn't going to be the only one drinking in a card shop. Especially with Salfino letting people touch his old cards. I won't be the one spilling Coors Light on a Tom Seaver rookie.
10000: The amount of times I have almost bought a 'Pieces of Sh*t' box on eBay
I did not see these live in person. I heard about them, like a whisper, after. And now I'm stuck. I think I would pay $20 for one. I might pay $30. Once we start hitting $40, I'm out. They're small, as you can see. But I keep going back and forth – I am an annual Comic Con attendee, and 'exclusives' tend to get more expensive over time. But they have to hit just right. Is it too obscure? Maybe. What if the movie sucks — will anyone care? I could see this being worth $200 encased and graded, but a lot of these have dinged corners. Interestingly, most of the ones I'm seeing online have a dinged top left corner. No idea why. By the time you read this, I may have bought one. I don't know. I am completely perplexed by this.
14: the amount of seconds I cringed watching this video
'Autograph people' are like the monkey's paw cruel twist if you make a wish to be famous.
1: The number of movies I will recommend if you laughed seeing John Cena fake punch a punching machine
You may be able to tell this just from me being a normal person, but my wrestling knowledge ends around 1990. You know what I know John Cena from? That show with the Bella Twins (I was a passive participant in watching it), the movie Blockers (I cannot recommend this movie enough), and the TV show Peacemaker (instant classic). I love the guy. I'm telling you, watch Blockers. Tonight. It's incredible and he's really great. And so him doing this with the punching machine – and kind of half-heartedly doing the 'can't see me' hand thing – that's the John Cena I know!
7-10: The amount of minutes more that Aiden from Lil Pullman negotiates than I do
Jake Singman wrote a great piece from the Fest about the vendors at the show, asking them a series of questions about how they collect. One of the questions was how long they will haggle/negotiate on cards. One guy said he could go months over email. But Aiden said he knows right off the bat and will stop at 10 minutes. My negotiating runs about 0 minutes – I can't do it. I need to get better at it and if there's something I really want, I'll probably do it. Even my 'Best Offer' strategy on eBay sucks… I either go too low or just hit the heart and hope they come to me with something more than 8% off. I need a negotiating primer! Someone help me!!
Anyway, that was a quick review of the weekend. It was fun. I can see how if you love celebrity culture and follow former athletes you would leave this event having the best time ever. I'm not wired that way; but I can see it. Will I go next year? Yes. Will I probably have a better 'what I bought' recap from The National? Also yes. But there was a lot of thoughtful effort put into this event, and I truly appreciate the Herculean effort. The widespread praise from fans is well-deserved.
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On a final note, shoutout to Javits for blasting the AC – I've been to a bunch of NY Comic Cons where I just sweat and it was miserable.
Quick Hitters
I found this story on how to increase the holiness of your Pope card pretty great. I did not know you couldn't sell something that has been blessed.
I mentioned how I know nothing about wrestling. But I caught some buzz about Mr. Iguana on twitter and saw something about this being his first card … and I jumped in without knowing anything else. The good news? I bought it for $9.98 and it's already up to $14.98! INSTINCTS!!
We've heaped praise on Markie Devo here before. He tipped us off to the BK Advent calendars, after all!! Today's special? A Gatorade Shirley Temple flavor made especially for Paige Bueckers . I bet there's a 'limited run' of this in the near future.
Oh sorry, did you want actual card investing advice? Go buy Miguel Vargas autographed rookies . He is quietly having a nice season and was a monster in the minors . The White Sox suck so nobody's paying attention to anything but their occasional dysfunction, but Vargas, who is just 25, could be a stud.
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