It was a sports and entertainment carnival rather than a card show and whether the buzz of it all boosts the traditional hobby is hard to say for now. Either way, there was no denying the size and scope of the first ever Fanatics Fest and the crowds that turned out.
According to Fanatics, attendance was over 70,000 between Friday and Sunday.
Some of the 200+ current and former athletes and celebrities who were paid to attend over the three days were just there for panel discussions or other events. Derek Jeter talked about his Arena Club business while chatting about current athletes and more.
Some did come to sign autographs for a fee, just as they would at a card show.
Peyton Manning chatted with Stephen A. Smith and also joined his brother and father in signing autographs. Prices started at $325.
Grant Williams of the Charlotte Hornets, an avid Pokemon collector came Friday, signing and chatting with fans and collectors.
Williams also got his basketball card collection started…
Grant Williams having a pretty rewarding offseason. From a $10k investment to well into 6 figures in a few minutes. https://t.co/5WzCoOgj23
— Sports Collectors Daily (@SportsCollector) August 17, 2024
Fanatics client Tom Brady was there and seemed to be having fun with former teammate Rob Gronkowski. He even made a deal to buy some cards…
Tom Brady buys a collection of football cards from a lifelong fan… pic.twitter.com/83y2NV7cB5
— Topps (@Topps) August 18, 2024
Mike Trout wasn’t present but popped in during the weekend via Facetime to negotiate a deal…
Mike Trout negotiates for a baseball card over FaceTime… pic.twitter.com/i4T1OQxq9A
— Topps (@Topps) August 18, 2024
The show included a few exclusive Topps products, including the Topps Chrome Cosmic X Cactus Jack collaboration project with popular rapper/singer/record producer Travis Scott that was very limited (Cactus Jack is Scott’s record label).
The set contains 49 MLB players and Scott himself. Each box has 2 packs of 4 cards, and 2 parallels numbered to 25 or less.
Fans who won a sweepstakes received an email confirmation with a barcode and a time slot during which they could pick up their box. Only 1,000 boxes were produced with only 8,000 total cards made based on the quantity of eight per box.
Scott was there signing cards and talking about the product.
Cards and boxes have made their way to eBay with plenty of interest.
Topps indicated that its upcoming ‘Midnight’ basketball product will include the first autographed jersey cards of Victor Wembanyama.
There were high-end cards to look at–some for sale and some just for display.
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