Tom Brady Wants You To Vote

Collectors, voting for The Mantel Hobby Awards continues to heat up with two weeks to go.

Even the Greatest QB of All Time (GQBOAT 🐐 ⛵️) is paying attention. Listen, if Tom Brady thinks you should vote, who am I to argue?!

Voting for The Mantel Hobby Awards runs through November 21st, 2025, as we crown the best of the best of the collectibles industry.

Submit your vote now!

The Athletic: How Nachos and a Polygraph Test Led Shohei Ohtani’s NLCS Home Run Ball to Auction

Carlo Mendoza ditched his Dodger Stadium nachos just in time to dive into the bushes and snag Shohei Ohtani’s second home run ball from his historic three-homer, 10-strikeout NLCS performance, and that split-second decision could now be worth seven figures (incidentally, also the cost of a plate of nachos at Dodger Stadium). The ball, stamped at the stadium and backed by photos, a notarized affidavit, and even a polygraph, opened at $200K via SCP Auctions with expectations between $1M–$2M. Will polygraph tests become table stakes for high-end game-used auctions? We’ll be watching.

Sports Collectors Daily: Hall of Fame Collects Slew of Items from World Series

The National Baseball Hall of Fame made a big haul after the Dodgers clinched the 2025 World Series, collecting game-used artifacts straight from the field and clubhouses. Key pieces include Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s Game 7 cap, Will Smith’s spikes from his clutch plate-block and go-ahead homer, Mookie Betts’ glove from the title-sealing double play, Freddie Freeman’s Game 3 walk-off bat, and a base from the 18-inning marathon. Blue Jays highlights include Addison Barger’s pinch-hit grand slam spikes and a Max Scherzer game-used ball. Many of these items will debut in the Autumn Glory exhibit through 2026. The auction houses will be chomping at the bit until the exhibit ends.

Sports Collectors Digest: eBay Expands Partnership with PSA, Adds New Services

eBay and PSA are deepening their partnership with a new option that lets collectors buy a raw card on eBay, send it directly to PSA for grading, and then have it vaulted automatically. The service applies to individual raw cards priced at $250 or more and aims to streamline the path from purchase to authentication, grading, and secure storage. Eligible listings must include at least two images and exclude autographs, sets, and multi-card lots. The streamlined “buy to grade to vault” flow signals another step toward hands-off collecting for higher-end cards.

Complex: StockX Launches New Auction Platform

StockX is rolling out StockX Auctions, a new $1-start, no-reserve bidding format that opens Nov. 6 with 28 rare sneakers, including the Nike Mag, “MF Doom” SB Dunk High and unreleased Futura x Off-White Dunk. The first auction will run a week, with StockX leaning on live bidding and its authentication pipeline to court serious sneaker buyers. US users get first access, with global expansion planned. For collectors, the format could surface price discovery moments and the occasional steal on grails normally gated behind fixed high asks. For the 10-year-old StockX, this move looks like a response to competition from live shopping apps like Whatnot and TikTok Shop.

WSJ: They Tear Down Walls and Hire Architects to Make Room for Their Lego Worlds

Adult Lego has gone full lifestyle, with collectors tearing down walls, dedicating basements, and spending serious money (like tossing $100,000 into a sprawling Lego city with fingerprint access). Since 2020, Lego has leaned in with sleek, black-boxed “grown-up” sets, from a $1,000 Death Star to living-room-friendly botanicals and art (think Hokusai’s Great Wave). Architects now design Lego rooms with UV-safe lighting and glass cabinets; realtors even showcase builds to add character at open houses. The appeal blends nostalgia, display aesthetics, and stress relief, though many households still enforce the classic détente: you get the basement, the rest of us get the house.

Hodinkee: Top Collectors, Rivals, And Scholars Talk 'Grail Of All Grails' As Sale Of Extremely Rare Steel Patek Philippe 1518 Nears

Phillips is preparing to auction one of only four known stainless steel Patek Philippe reference 1518 perpetual calendar chronographs, a watch long viewed as a benchmark asset in high-end collecting. Scholars and dealers including Helmut Crott, Davide Parmegiani, and John Reardon, along with auctioneer Aurel Bacs, gathered to discuss its significance, case characteristics, and decades of provenance and pursuit. Last sold for CHF 11 million in 2016, the watch carries an estimate above CHF 8 million, with its result expected to influence top-tier auction sentiment. The video above is great if you want to really geek out, and FWIW, we’re betting the Patek sails way past it’s estimate.

cllct: Will Ferrell's 'Elf' Costume Could Fetch Six Figures at Auction

A screen-worn Buddy the Elf costume from Will Ferrell’s 2003 holiday classic “Elf” is heading to Propstore with a pre-sale estimate of $130,500 to $261,000. The outfit, photo-matched to the memorable elevator-button scene, originally came from producer Jon Berg and includes pieces labeled “Hero-3” and “Hero-2.” A comparable “Hero-1” costume sold in 2022 for around $270,000, giving this one strong seasonal heat as it hits the block. Like hosting a baseball auction during the World Series, having an Elf auction run up to Christmas is smart thinking by the sellers.