NBA Cards Coming to Topps this Fall, Lewis Hamilton Exclusive with Fanatics
The sports card industry came together earlier this week in Atlanta for the 2025 Topps Industry Conference, and the team at Topps made a bunch of news, including the announcement that they'll take over the NBA license starting in October .
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The next major event on the sports card calendar? Fanatics Fest, which is returning to NYC June 16th-23rd. The Mantel team will be there, and we just announced we'll be partnering with Bleecker Trading on events, giveaways, content and more, so stay tuned for some exciting updates .
As tariffs raise the cost of imported goods, investors are turning to domestic alternatives — notably, trading cards, per an op-ed from Alt CEO Leore Avidar and Alt (and Mantel) investor, Alexis Ohanian. Once dismissed as mere hobbies, Pokémon and sports collectibles are now recognized as viable financial assets, with a $15B market value and growing credibility. The market's rise is fueled by nostalgia, savvy data-driven investing, and a desire for assets immune to global supply chain volatility.
Alt has filed a lawsuit against former auction house PWCC (now owned by Fanatics), alleging fraud and breach of auctioneer duties. The lawsuit claims PWCC orchestrated a widespread shill bidding scheme to artificially inflate auction prices for high-value sports cards. Alt estimates its losses at $13.7M due to PWCC's actions, though PWCC called the lawsuit baseless and lacking evidence. This lawsuit follows a previous eBay suspension of PWCC for shill bidding in 2021, and concerns auctions involving high-profile cards like Patrick Mahomes' and Kobe Bryant's rookie cards.
Lewis Hamilton officially opens the brand-new flagship Fanatics Collectibles store on Regent Street in London. Picture date: Friday April 25, 2025. (Photo by Bradley Collyer/PA Images via Getty Images)
(Bradley Collyer - PA Images via Getty Images)
Lewis Hamilton has signed a multi-year trading card and memorabilia partnership with Fanatics Collectibles. The deal includes autograph exclusivity and will feature premium items like 'relic' cards containing race-worn gear. Hamilton helped launch Fanatics' new flagship store in London last week, and shared that he owns around 400 race-worn helmets. With F1's existing Topps deal, this partnership positions Hamilton as a high-end draw — fitting, given that one of his 2020 Topps cards sold for a record $900K, the most ever for an F1 card.
A restored T206 Honus Wagner card sold for $1.98M at Mile High Card Company—just $12K more than its 2023 sale, sparking concern in the hobby. While technically not a loss, its Compound Annual Growth Rate dropped to just 0.37%, a stark contrast to the 17–50% CAGR of other recent Wagner sales. Some speculate the market is cooling or that the sale timing (with another, better-condition Wagner set to hit the market) diluted demand. While one sale doesn't confirm a trend, this result challenges the long-held belief that Wagners are bulletproof investments.
Nike's latest release, the Air Force 1 'Dirty Triple White,' blends two sneaker culture factions—those who want a fresh pair at all times and those who prefer a worn-in look. This version comes pre-distressed, with a sheer layer over the shoe that wears away over time to reveal a clean AF1. The shoe also features a unique 'toothproof' attachment, allowing wearers to start the process of un-distressing immediately. The shoe will be released on the SNKRS app next week for $130.
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A video posted on Saturday — the first day of the promo — showed two people dumping multiple bags of Happy Meals straight into the trash. #マクドナルド #ハッピーセット ハッピーセット転売したいんか知らんけど毎度のことやけど買い占めの度を超えてない？ほんでバーガーは捨てるってモラル欠如しすぎやろ、まじでどうにかして欲しいわ。もったいない😞 — みあき (@APEXsaikooou39) August 9, 2025 Some customers took to social media to gripe about snaking queues and hourlong waits. "There was a huge line, far surpassing the time of Chiikawa," X user "hinoko" wrote on X on Saturday, referring to McDonald's Japan's tie-in with the popular rabbit-like anime character. "I waited for nearly an hour, with people in line getting irritated," they wrote. In some cases, the frustration reached a boiling point. At one outlet in Japan, two men — one of them juggling armfuls of McDonald's bags — got into a heated argument. A video of the altercation, posted on Saturday, went viral on TikTok, racking up about 11 million views by Thursday. @satou19880303 マクドナルドでポケモンハッピーセット1人5セットなのに４０個買った人に注意してた人まぢ勇者 #バズれ ♬ オリジナル楽曲 - 三杯目ひかる⭐️⭐️⭐️ - 三杯目ひかる⭐️⭐️⭐️ The chaos also spilled into the online resale hours, the Pokémon cards — and even the untouched meals — were listed on resale sites for as much as 2,000 yen, nearly four times the original price. On Thursday, Business Insider saw dozens of Pokémon card listings on Mercari, Japan's largest online resale marketplace, with some priced as high as 3,000 yen. 朝マック買いに行ったらこれ。 店前にも100人以上並んでる。 あかんやろこれ。。。 ちなみに日本語は聞こえない。。。 #マクドナルド #ハッピーセット #ポケモンカード — プ〜やん🐷3連系ニキ🐷 (@pooh_yan0131) August 8, 2025 The frenzy moved from human hands to pigeon beaks. A viral post on Sunday showed pigeons on the usually impeccable streets of Shibuya pecking at food scraps on the pavement next to crumpled McDonald's bags. "Early morning chaos in Shibuya. McDonald's burgers and fries were scattered on the streets, turning into a feast for pigeons," the post on X read. 早朝の渋谷のカオス。 マクドナルドのバーガーやポテトが道にばら撒かれた結果、ハトの大宴会が開かれている模様。 買った食品は責任持って食べきっていただきたいし、ゴミは持ち帰っていただきたい。 — スミレンジャーZ（愛称スミレちゃん、元スラウザーです） (@iijNWqUQ7i41630) August 9, 2025 A home run collaboration Globally, McDonald's is no stranger to high-profile brand collaborations. Some promotions, like their BTS meals and Hello Kitty giveaways, have similarly resulted in massive crowds and a shortage of collectible items. In its most recent earnings call, CFO Ian Frederick Borden said McDonald's partnership with "A Minecraft Movie," which was held in more than 100 markets, had an "incredibly strong" response from consumers. Most of its Minecraft collectibles sold out ahead of the intended promotion window. Kieran Gibb, the founder of Monogic, a Hong Kong-based food and beverage marketing company, called the McDonald's Pokémon Happy Meal a "home run collaboration." He said it drew in customers of all ages, from children to nostalgic adult collectors. Frenzy is an effect that is "incredibly hard to achieve," said Gibb. "McDonald's has tapped into a brand with super fandom at a period in time where collectability is at its sheer peak," Gibb added. Pokémon has had generations of fans since its debut in the late 1990s, said Ryan Hoge, the president of Professional Sports Authenticator, a trading card grading company. "Now, those original fans are in their 30s and 40s, have disposable income, and are sharing their fandom with their children," Hoge said. "It's become a generational hobby and connection point." The promotion was launched shortly after McDonald's reported strong second-quarter results. Same-store sales in its international developmental licensed markets segment grew by more than 5.5%, led by Japan. Tapping into a booming collectible market Trading cards — and the collectibles industry at large — are red-hot now. Adam Goulston, Japan's strategic advisor for the Singapore-based public relations and marketing agency Ellerton & Co., told Business Insider that the real target of the Happy Meals trading cards was collectors and resellers, for whom the meals were a "very cheap way to acquire limited-edition inventory for resale." Buying and selling trading cards is made easy by platforms like Mercari in Japan and eBay outside Japan, Goulston said. The McDonald's Pikachu card will hold value because of collectors who chase specific characters, Hoge said. He said Pikachu is arguably one of the most popular Pokémon card characters of all time. There's also a sprawling industry to hold up the resale value of these cards — and big money in it. Some Pokémon cards have been sold for millions. In 2022, the YouTuber Logan Paul clinched a Guinness World Record for the most expensive Pokémon card sold in a private auction, having paid $5,275,000 for his PSA 10 Pikachu Illustrator card. Collectibles of all sorts are also flying off the shelves. A consumer group called "kidults" — who go all in on board games, figurines, and plush toys like Labubu — is fueling the growth of the toy sector. Madness might leave a 'sour taste' for McDonald's, brand experts say The Pokémon Happy Meal frenzy could still lead to trouble for McDonald's. The Japanese care about social etiquette and reducing food waste — and this isn't a good look. Gibb from Monogic said the chaos may have left "a sour taste" in the mouths of its Japanese consumer base. However, Guy Llewelyn, a professor at EHL Hospitality Business School in Singapore, said the collaboration was a net positive for McDonald's. "The equity gained from the promotion will outweigh the short-lived surge of negative press on wasted food and long lines," Llewelyn said. "Customers see the collaboration as a short-lived, isolated event, and not a systemic failing of the brand."
