It’s a big week, Collectors. Fanatics Fest opens today in NYC, and based on the bits and pieces we’ve seen, it should be a very entertaining show. And 3,000 miles from the Javits Center, the West Coast Card Show also opens today, giving collectors on that side of the country a top-notch event to check out.

Will you be heading out to a show this weekend? Let us know what you pick up!

I found this article fascinating, because with records being broken at auction seemingly every week, you’d think this ball, THE ball, would sell for unfathomable sums. The match ball from Diego Maradona’s legendary 1986 World Cup quarterfinal against England—photo-matched to both the infamous “Hand of God” goal and the iconic “Goal of the Century”—is headed to Heritage Auctions with an estimated value of $10M. So why is there any question heading into the auction? This ball was previously offered in 2023 without meeting its reserve, and failing to sell often puts stink on future auctions. But with Argentina beating England at the World Cup again yesterday and interest around soccer at an all-time high, we’re expecting to see a completed sale.

Shohei Ohtani’s game-worn New Balance Ohtani 1 cleats from the 2025 Tokyo Series are expected to become the most valuable baseball footwear ever sold when they hit auction on TheRealest.com. Worn during Ohtani’s first MLB games in Japan and signed with his rare Japanese Kanji signature, the cleats also feature custom artwork honoring his dog, Decoy, making them a unique intersection of sports memorabilia, sneaker culture, and Japanese baseball history. The Tokyo Series cleats are widely viewed as a museum-caliber artifact that could establish a new benchmark for baseball-worn footwear. And they should at least break the record for most-expensive-shoe-with-a-dog-on-them.

Lids is rapidly evolving beyond its roots as a sports apparel retailer, transforming its stores into destinations for trading cards and collectibles. At Fanatics Fest NYC, the company is showcasing that strategy with exclusive launches including a $200 WWE Mystery Box, premium streetwear collaborations, and expanded collectibles offerings. The initiative reflects a broader retail shift, with Lids carving out dedicated in-store space for products like Topps and Pokémon, introducing collector-focused promotions, and positioning itself as a one-stop shop for fans whose interests span apparel, memorabilia, and trading cards. Lids is no longer just for hats, I guess!

COMC helped solve one of the hobby’s biggest operational bottlenecks by centralizing the labor required to turn physical trading cards into searchable, sellable digital inventory. Rather than having individual collectors photograph, catalog, store, and ship every card themselves, COMC built an infrastructure that assigns each card a unique identity, captures standardized images and metadata, stores it in a warehouse, and fulfills orders on the seller’s behalf. As the collectibles market exploded, the company’s combination of software, logistics, and operations has a critical layer of the hobby’s infrastructure.

If you read these pages regularly, you know we’ve been tracking “Gus,” a 67-million-year-old Tyrannosaurus rex excavated in South Dakota, since we learned it was goinhg to be auctioned off. This past week Gus became the most expensive fossil ever sold at auction after hammering for $50.13M at Sotheby’s, surpassing the previous record set by the Stegosaurus “Apex” in 2024. Standing 12.5 feet tall and stretching 38 feet long, the specimen is among the largest and most complete T. rex skeletons ever discovered, with rare anatomical features that make it especially valuable to both collectors and researchers. Still no word on who the buyer was.

Occasionally card company Leaf strikes gold despite its uneven reputation, and the perfect example is their new Benihana. The cards are pretty random, featuring quirky subjects, recognizable names like Steph Curry, autographs, and affordable pricing. But where did Leaf miss? The set features a Benihana chef card, but no chef autograph and no relics! Maybe next year.