Connor Bedard Young Guns mania is off and running.
Upper Deck Series 2 boxes arrived at hobby shops across North America on Wednesday and the foil was flying. Steel City Collectibles found one in the first box they opened.
Bedard may play in Chicago, but in Canada, hockey cards are king and Bedard chasing was in full swing Wednesday.
“Interest has been astronomical,” Stephanie Pettit of 306 Sports Cards in Regina, Saskatchewan, told CBC News for a story that aired Wednesday afternoon. “We’ve seen people lined up outside of the store this morning. We’ve been getting calls about this product for months and months.”
By evening, dozens of the big attraction—Bedard’s Young Guns rookie card—had been sold on eBay at prices that generally ranged from $800-$1,000 for the regular version. An Outburst parallel netted $2,375.
Blaster boxes, tins and Hobby boxes (around $300-$325) are now on eBay.
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Fanatics facing a challenge as it heads toward all of those exclusive trading card deals it brokered a couple of years ago: how to turn young people into collectors.
While there’s little doubt more are collecting—or at least buying and flipping—than did six or seven years ago, the majority of Gen Z are not interested.
AdWeek examines how Fanatics is trying to keep millennials while attempting to reach the next generation.
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Topps sold over 86,000 of the LeBron James 40,000 point cards offered through its NOW platform.
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Spotting sports cards in the backgrounds of TV shows and movies has been a hobby all its own for years. There are the baseball cards on Ralphie’s headboard in A Christmas Story, for one.
A long time ago, eagle-eyed viewers of Seinfeld spotted what appeared to be a 1990 Donruss box on Jerry’s fridge in an episode of Seinfeld.
The Wonder Years had a great scene where Kevin and Paul are involved in a contentious card trading session.
Now, writer Michael Salfino—an avowed Sesame Street fan—has spotted another cameo in an episode from over 50 years ago. This time it’s rack packs of 1972 Topps Football.
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What happened to the ball Drew Pearson caught from Roger Staubach in the famous Hail Mary Game against Minnesota back in the 1970s? That was part of the discussion between Mike Florio and Chris Simms on NBC’s Pro Football Talk where they discussed memorabilia they wouldn’t mind having.
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Fanatics Collectibles Hires Ken Turner for New Chief Marketing Role
Editor’s Blog: Fanatics Takes Its First Big Cut
NBA Writer Tweets Topps Branded Basketball Cards Next Season
Notes: Former Panini Employees Taking On Similar Roles Under Fanatics; Product Updates, More
Bedard’s Young Guns RC Drives Upper Deck Series 2 Hockey To Unprecedented Demand
Shop Talk: Bedard Bonanza, Business Kabooming, Donruss Mega Box Attack
Arturs Silovs Rookie Cards Drawing Interest During Unexpected Playoff Run
PWCC to Become Fanatics Collect While Fanatics Inks High-End Auction Deal with Sotheby’s
