Leading Off It’s the dead of winter and that means one thing for me in the collecting world — it’s a great time to have an eye on spring training and start purchasing baseball cards while prices remain depressed in the offseason. Back by popular demand, you’ll find below a snapshot of some of the players I am buying up and staying away from. Like what you’re reading? If … [Read more...] about Mint Condition: Buys and Sells Ahead of the 2024 MLB Season
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Mint Condition: MySlabs’ Success, Outlook and New Fundraise
Leading Off Over the last five years, a number of new collectible marketplaces have popped up in hopes of taking share away from legacy platforms like eBay. The boom in sports cards that happened during COVID accelerated this trend, as seemingly every new company entering the space had on its roadmap to develop their own marketplace. While strategies about how to get enough … [Read more...] about Mint Condition: MySlabs’ Success, Outlook and New Fundraise
Mint Condition: A Brief Look at the Panini vs Fanatics Cases
Leading Off Coming out of The National, the hobby has not been short of headlines as some bombshell news hit the tape over the last few weeks with Fanatics and Panini both filing lawsuits against one another. First, Panini launched an antitrust suit against Fanatics, claiming they engage in anticompetitive activities and behave like a monopoly. In response, Fanatics … [Read more...] about Mint Condition: A Brief Look at the Panini vs Fanatics Cases
Mint Condition: Breaking Down Fanatics’ Acquisition of PWCC
Leading Off Just a few weeks after PWCC announced employee layoffs, the company was acquired by Fanatics on May 22. This was just the latest ball to drop in a hobby that has come to expect that change is occurring and there are many unknowns around what the future hobby may look like. There’s a lot to break down here so let’s get into it… Mint Condition’s … [Read more...] about Mint Condition: Breaking Down Fanatics’ Acquisition of PWCC
Mint Condition: Key Tasks for Start Up Collection Management Apps
Leading Off There haven’t been as many startups raising money in the hobby as compared to the last few years, but one caught my eye recently — Ludex, a collection management and pricing tool, raised $8 million in new funding to help accelerate growth. Use the app to scan a card and the company’s AI identifies what type it is (sport, player, product), its condition, and … [Read more...] about Mint Condition: Key Tasks for Start Up Collection Management Apps
Mint Condition: What’s Ahead for the Hobby in 2023?
Leading Off 2022 was an interesting year in the hobby — Fanatics acquired Topps, eBay acquired TCGplayer, startups like Altan Insights and Arena Club raised funding, the first MINT Collective was held in Las Vegas, most card prices declined, and more. So as we turn the calendar — new year, same hobby? In this edition of Mint Condition, I lay out my thoughts on what to … [Read more...] about Mint Condition: What’s Ahead for the Hobby in 2023?
Mint Condition: Goldin Expands Offerings; Collectable and eBay; Arena Club Looks for Niche
Joel Belfer's monthly "Mint Condition" newsletter offers perspectives on the business side of the hobby. Leading Off Over the last few weeks, there have been a couple of big announcements from key companies across the hobby. This edition of Mint Condition will be a ‘quick hitters’ of sorts where I give my take on each of them. Let’s get into it… Goldin … [Read more...] about Mint Condition: Goldin Expands Offerings; Collectable and eBay; Arena Club Looks for Niche
Mint Condition: Key Elements in Building a Big Hobby Business
If you take a step back, it is really interesting to think about how the hobby has evolved over the last decade, or even just the last two years. Not that long ago, eBay was the end all be all if you wanted to sell your cards quickly and safely online. Now, there are a number of reputable platforms that can facilitate transactions just as securely. Ten years ago, there … [Read more...] about Mint Condition: Key Elements in Building a Big Hobby Business
Mint Condition: Perspectives on Hobby Stability Against Potential Recession
Leading Off A few months ago, I wrote a piece about how a potential economic downturn could impact the hobby and what companies and collectors alike should do to prepare. Fast forward and it still seems we are in a bit of an interesting place today with the hobby specifically and the economy overall. We are seeing record-breaking prices for cards ($12.6m for a ‘52 … [Read more...] about Mint Condition: Perspectives on Hobby Stability Against Potential Recession
TCGplayer Accelerates Growth with Key Acquisition
Joel Belfer makes his SC Daily debut with this edition of Mint Condition, his newsletter focused on the business side of the hobby. Leading Off We don’t talk about the trading card game (“TCG”) piece of the collectibles industry (think Magic, Yu-Gi-Oh!, or Pokémon), but when the lines begin to blur between the players in the TCG and sports card spaces, it feels … [Read more...] about TCGplayer Accelerates Growth with Key Acquisition