Big news, Collectors.

Today it was announced that Alexis Ohanian’s 776 bought ONIT Athlete, the collegiate trading card company, and I’m stepping in as CEO. You can read more about the news in this article from The Athletic.

ONIT makes officially licensed cards for 60+ schools like Ohio State, UCLA and Michigan across multiple sports (including football, basketball, baseball, softball, volleyball, wrestling and hockey).

Every autograph is on-card. Everything is designed, printed, cut and packed in the US. Every sale results in revenue going directly to student athletes and the university partners. And the cards are affordable and built to be in the hands of real fans, not just flippers.

Something I really love about ONIT is that we give every athlete on the team a chance to be on a trading card—from the star QB to the long snapper. The thing I keep coming back to: for a lot of these athletes, we make the only trading card they'll ever have. That means something to me, and I'm honored to play a part in it.

So what does this mean for Mantel?

Mantel is moving forward with full momentum, and this announcement doesn't change that. I will remain deeply involved in the business, and you’ll keep seeing my name on these newsletters every week. We also have a great team in place and investors like Brent Montgomery & Wheelhouse, and Alexis & 776, who still deeply believe in this business. Our annual Mantel Hobby Awards will return later this year, and we also have new content series, events and partnerships in development.

I'll be out at The National in July with ONIT and Mantel, and I'm excited to see many of you out there.

The Women’s Pro Baseball League will launch its first officially licensed trading card program through a partnership with The Realest ahead of Opening Day on Aug. 1. The cards are expected to feature players, historical imagery, game-used relics, and authenticated memorabilia from the league’s inaugural season. For collectors, the release offers a chance to own the first cardboard tied to a new professional baseball league before a single game has been played, which is not an opportunity that comes up very often! Congrats to Scott Keeney + team at The Realest on a very cool deal.

In a show of impeccable timing, Upper Deck has signed a multi-year licensing agreement with U.S. Soccer and the U.S. National Soccer Team Players Association, becoming the official home for premium memorabilia tied to both the USMNT and USWNT. The launch is centered around Alex Morgan and Trinity Rodman, with signed prints, jerseys, and limited-edition collectibles available for pre-order, while real-time World Cup photo drops are already being released throughout the tournament. If the USMNT continues to play quality futbol, expect this deal to crush for Upper Deck.

Topps added another major soccer license in June, signing an exclusive agreement with the Saudi Arabian Football Federation that begins in 2028 and runs through the 2034 men’s World Cup. The deal is Topps’ seventh exclusive collectibles agreement of 2026, joining recent partnerships with FIFA, Brazil, Argentina, England, Germany, Italy, and the NFL. Meanwhile, Panini announced plans to bring official English Football League trading cards to the U.S. for the first time beginning this July, giving Ryan Reynolds fans a chance at pulling Wrexham cards.

The Jacksonville Jaguars are turning a viral social media moment into a collectible giveaway. The team announced it will give away the wig Trevor Lawrence wore in its schedule-release video, which briefly convinced fans the quarterback had cut his signature long hair. The original video has generated 3.8M views since May, with the Jaguars later releasing behind-the-scenes footage confirming the haircut was a fake. A very cool 1:1, though a wigged mannequin sitting on a mantel might look strange.

Lord, I hope not. I just started working for a card company, after all… It seems like every other week the industry debates if a crash is coming, and it honestly reminds me of predictions around The Big Earthquake that has been seconds away from hitting in Los Angeles since I was a kid. Will it happen eventually? Maybe! But we’re still waiting! In this week’s Mail Day, J.R. Fickle gives his take on if a crash is coming, while also spotlighting a few names drawing collector attention, including WNBA rookie Olivia Miles and newly crowned NBA Finals MVP Jalen Brunson (though the Brunson call wasn’t exactly going out on a limb).

A screen-used lightsaber from Luke Skywalker’s climactic duel with Darth Vader in The Empire Strikes Back is expected to headline a July Heritage Auctions sale, with bidding opening at $1M. The auction also includes John Lennon’s handwritten lyrics for “If I Fell” (opening at $500K), Gene Wilder’s Willy Wonka hat ($50K), a Wicked Witch hat from The Wizard of Oz ($100K), Rocky’s boxing boots ($100K), and two rugs from The Big Lebowski ($15K each), which isn’t that expensive given how well they tie a room together.