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SLAMming Cards & 'Poo' Patches
Plus a Record Curry, Car Auctions Galore and Dual(ing) Washingtons
Evan Parker
January 22, 2026
Morning, Collectors.
You may have seen the clip this week — Golden State Warriors’ GM Mike Dunleavy, when discussing a trade request from one of his players, saying, 'When you make a demand, there needs to be demand'
It reminded me about a common theme in the collectibles world: Every card has a price. But not every card has a market.
The team at Mantel wanted to help collectors better determine which cards have demand, so we came up with a new metric, SLAM (Secondary Liquidity and Momentum), which is now live in the app.
SLAM score examples
SLAM measures how easily a card can actually be sold—how often it moves, how stable the price is, and whether you can expect it to move again tomorrow. The score runs 0–100. A 90+ SLAM card is cash. A 40 is inventory. A 10 is art. It doesn’t predict price; it proves liquidity. And if comps tell you what a card was worth, SLAM helps you negotiate what it’s worth now.
Take it for a spin and let us know your feedback. It all helps us deliver more features and tools for collectors.
A Jimmy Butler 1/1 patch card from 2024-25 Panini Immaculate has gone viral for all the wrong reasons. The card, pulled on camera, features a misaligned Miami Heat jersey patch from sponsor “Robinhood” that reads, upside down, as “poo.” It’s the latest in a long line of unfortunate patch cards and now ranks #2 on The Athletic’s “Unflattering Sports Card Power Rankings,” trailing only the infamous Tobias Harris “bum” patch.
Topps has announced it’s discontinuing the 582 Montgomery Club, wrapping an eight-year run that gave members early access to high-demand products like Sapphire and Museum Collection. Collectors had mixed reactions; some prized the exclusive card sets and early drops, while others felt the value declined in recent years. With the club gone, the question now becomes, how will Topps reward their most loyal customers?
A Stephen Curry jersey from Game 6 of the 2022 NBA Finals just sold for $2.45M, setting a new record for any Curry gamer. Previously sold in 2022 for $1.7M via Meigray, the jersey was worn during Golden State’s title-clinching win, where Curry earned his only Finals MVP. This now ranks as the most valuable Curry item ever sold, topping both his top game-worn and trading card comps.
Photo by Alyn Edwards
The 2026 Scottsdale auction week has kicked off in full force, with Barrett-Jackson leading the charge in its 55th year alongside high-end events from RM Sotheby’s and Bonhams. The scene is packed with luxury vehicles, private jets, and collector buzz, as 1,900 cars are set to cross the block during Barrett-Jackson’s weeklong sale. With record crowds, eclectic entries like a hydrogen-powered Bel Air, and heavy media coverage, Scottsdale has again confirmed its spot as the collector car world’s loudest and most lavish marketplace.
Courtesy of Christie’s / Sotheby’s.
As the U.S. enters its semiquincentennial (say that 3x fast), two near-identical portraits of George Washington by Charles Peale Polk—painted in the 1790s and tied to the Battle of Princeton—are set to hit the auction block on back-to-back days. Christie’s will offer a White House-displayed version (est. $200K–$300K) on Jan. 23, while Sotheby’s brings a previously sold variant (est. $400K–$600K) on Jan. 24. With a past record of $662,500 for a Polk Washington, collectors and institutions may seize the moment for a symbolic piece of Americana.
A rabbit hole from a $40 Jennifer Lopez “rookie card” led to a bigger question: who’s the more famous Euphoria star, Zendaya or Sydney Sweeney? Zendaya wins on followers, franchises, and awards. But Sweeney’s signature commands 2–3x the price, her bathwater soap sold out instantly, and she’s now embedded in everything from Euphoria to collectible markets. It’s a fame paradox: traditional metrics say Zendaya, but collectible culture and virality suggest Sweeney’s winning the moment. Which one would you pick for a selfie and an autograph? The answer says a lot about how we define fame now.
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