Latest news with #HobbyAwards
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
QBs to watch (says AI), new releases and predictions coming true
I suppose I should address this up front, but I've been getting a lot of slack about my newsletter last week, as it may have been construed as me taking a swipe at The Hobby Awards and ultimately my boss, Evan Parker, who had omitted me from being a celebrity judge for the upcoming awards. I just want to clear the air: you interpreted correctly. Shove it, Evan. But also, check this out. Last Tuesday I wrote: Deep Sleeper Collectible of the Year Gina Carano is currently suing Disney and her acting star was on the rise before she got fired from The Mandalorian. She is probably in line for a comeback soon — and the Carano market has managed to stay remarkably strong despite her cancellation – autographed card prices aren't the deals you think they would be. Then, on Friday, this happened: 'Lucasfilm and Disney settle with actor Gina Carano following her firing from 'The Mandalorian.'' I am literally out here making lawsuits go away with my newsletter. I'm shaping culture! Your move, Buster. With football around the corner it seems like everyone is hype about the big-ish six sophomore quarterbacks. Drake Maye, Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels, Bo Nix, Michael Penix, Jr., and J.J. McCarthy are getting a ton of hobby love. Arena Club, the trading and 'slab pack' platform ran a high-end $2,500 per card 'legendary' slab pack over the weekend. Yes, that's $2,500 for one card from one of those six quarterbacks. The 'grail' card, which you have less than a 0.10% chance of hitting, was a Jayden Daniels Donruss Optic Downtown Gold rookie /10 graded PSA 9, which is comped at over $22,000. The law of averages tells us that not all of these dudes will and can succeed, so instead of researching who I think might be a good 'investment' I went ahead and asked Google Gemini's AI bot to tell me what to do. While the bot didn't want to provide financial advice it clearly favored Caleb Williams, still, despite his struggles last season and in spite of Jayden Daniel's incredible rookie season. Gemini insists that Williams has the 'highest ceiling' but it also favored, quite a bit, J.J. McCarthy due to him 'landing in the most favorable situation.' I'm not here to tell you that to follow the advice of AI— I'm mostly here to remind you of the following 'can't miss' 'high ceiling' quarterbacks: Zach Wilson, Trey Lance, Daniel Jones, Mac Jones, Landry Jones, Cardale Jones, James Earl Jones - oh, wait, sorry he wasn't a quarterback. My bad, it's hard to keep up with the Joneses. …That was a long set up for a not-worth-it punchline but just a friendly reminder that spending $2,500 (or more) on a sophomore quarterback rookie card doesn't always end up being a 'good investment.' Hope you didn't miss the pre-order of the Topps Chrome Boxing release on Monday. It's the first time in 74 years that Topps released boxing trading cards. I know that boxing isn't quite on the trajectory that it was 74 years ago, but if you've been reading this newsletter for a minute then you know I'm a sucker for new shiny things [a sentence I type will sitting on a chair made of 2023 Monopoly NBA Prizm blaster boxes that I bought as a retirement plan]. Speaking of Topps, the 2024 GPK Battle of the Bands - Green Day edition - pre-sales sold out respectfully fast. If you missed out, you still have a chance to buy on release day, which is August 27th. This product is quite the procrastinator's dream since this is a [checks the date on the box once again] twenty, twenty-FOUR release. Leaf, I love you, but you're bringing me down. It's not that I'm against whatever this is actually supposed to be - or should I say who this is meant for - but I feel like this is one of those situations where a release like this can instantly sink the entire Livvy Dunne auto market. I'm not sure we need any more Livvy Dunne autos. We have enough on the market already to satisfy every man woman and child and teenage boy. It feels like this is the WNBA Royalty version of Panini making you spend $2,000 on a Prizm hobby box to chase Caitlin Clark rookie autos only to, months later and pretty much under the radar, release the Royalty collection which made all those Prizm autos feel 'meh.' Maybe I'm being too much of a prude, but the absurdity of this card makes her normal cards seem too 'normal' to be anything special. On the pro-Leaf front, so you know I'm not hating on them - I think the Leaf Anime Nation cards are highly, highly underrated. They tap into generational phenomenon (anime) that in a decade from now will still be highly popular and desirable. Like the Panini Manga cards but, you know, affordable. Hey, now! This guy has over 95,000 unique Topps Now cards. I actually love the Topps Now set, but man that's a lot. Though, I guess if you ever want to look back at Jose Altuve's 9th double on a Tuesday while Mercury was in retrograde, you can thumb through the collection and look back fondly on that amazing feat. How did everyone hold up at The National? Tons of people are sharing their purchases, grails and stories over at Mantel. Come share!
Yahoo
31-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Mantel Launches 'The Hobby Awards' to Celebrate the Best in the Collectibles Industry
LOS ANGELES, Calif. — Mantel, the premier social platform for collectors, is launching The Hobby Awards, a first-of-its-kind digital awards program recognizing the most impactful companies, creators, products, and personalities in the collectibles space. Yahoo Sports, which delivers comprehensive collectibles coverage via a dedicated hub on its website, will serve as the awards' official media partner. Unlike film, sports, or music, the multi-billion dollar collectibles industry has lacked a central celebration of its most influential contributors. The Hobby Awards aims to change that, spotlighting excellence across a range of categories including Best Auction House, Innovation of the Year, and Creator/Influencer of the Year. The awards will feature a dual voting structure, with 70% of the results determined by the collecting community and 30% by an expert judging panel. Voting and nominations will take place online via with nominations and companion content published on the Mantel app and Yahoo Sports. Winners will be announced in November 2025. Confirmed judges include Alexis Ohanian (founder, 776; co-founder, Reddit), Brent Montgomery (CEO, Wheelhouse; executive producer, King of Collectibles), Ryan Spoon (president, Yahoo Media Group), Gary Vaynerchuk (CEO/chairman, VaynerX; creator, VeeFriends), Josh Luber (founder, ghostwrite), Darren Rovell (founder, cllct), Scott 'DJ Skee' Keeney (founder, The Realest), Geoff Wilson (founder, Sports Card Investor, CardsHQ), Michael Osacky (sports memorabilia appraiser), Morgan Jon Fox (award-winning director, The Hobby), Alex Giaimo, (sports and collectibles host), Annemarie Farrell (journalist and @ Frank Hrelja (co-founder, Trove), Mat Sposta (co-founder, and Trove), investor, creator and collector Buster Scher, Suzy Lulgjuraj (journalist and marketer), Jay Moslehi (founder, MojoSports LLC), Sarina Morales (senior media director, WeTheHobby) and more. 'The collectibles industry is full of passion, creativity, and innovation, but we rarely stop and take time to recognize the people and companies driving it forward,' said Evan Parker, CEO of Mantel. 'We created The Hobby Awards to give the community a platform to elevate what they love about collecting, and we're doing it in a way that's fun, inclusive, and built for the digital age.' 'We know how passionate collectors are – not just about the items they collect, but also about the stories behind the collections,' said Ryan Spoon, President of Yahoo Media Group. 'We're proud to partner with Mantel to bring The Hobby Awards to life and celebrate the people, products and moments that make the collecting community so special.' While the awards will be hosted entirely online, Mantel plans to honor winners, nominees, and judges with a special event in New York City this fall. Award recipients will also receive a custom-designed, limited-edition trophy to commemorate their win. Award categories will include: Best Auction House Best Hobby Shop Best Marketplace Best Collectible Show Digital Product of the Year Best Custom Art Card Artist Best Breaking Platform Best Live Stream Sellers Creator/Influencer of the Year Collectibles Exec of the Year Grading Company of the Year Innovation of the Year Best Sports Card Product Best Sold Memorabilia Item Best Non-Sports Card Product Best Media Platform (site, newsletter, podcast) Nominations will open late summer, and voting will begin in early fall. For more information, visit or follow along at @onMantel and @YahooSports.
