I’m not sure if you heard, but Mantel is going to be at Fanatics Fest. And not only are we going to be there, but we’re partnering with Bleecker Trading for a week of trade nights and other assorted fun.

I found out about this on Instagram. I was then given a half-hearted invitation two weeks later. “Sure you can come! Maybe there will be drinks!”

So… come meet your Mantel friends the week of Fanatics Fest. J.R. Fickle may be there. Depending on the drinks situation. 

Speaking of NYC card shops, this was a neat post from our pals at Montasy Comics:

https://www.instagram.com/p/DKjv2VMMrq-/?hl=en

You love stories like this:

1. A regular of the shop pulled a Cheng Tsu Che Superfractor and understood how much it meant to the owner, Jimmy Chen. 

2. The regular sold it to Montasy without, it seems, blinking an eye. 

3. The card then unexpectedly graded out as a 10.

You want feel-good stories? There you go! A Cheng Tsu Che Superfractor isn’t going to get a Dave & Adam’s bounty; this card is more about the personal connection to Taiwan and the player/hobby than anything. And isn’t that why we do this??

Darren Rovell announced this week that he was selling his Ferris Bueller movie-worn vest on Sotheby's. It’s estimated to get between $300,000-$600,000 when the dust settles on June 24. 

I don’t really have much commentary here except I wonder if Darren Rovell would have invited me to a cllct.com party at Fanatics Fest before my extended family saw it on social media and then asked if that’s the company I painstakingly research and write a newsletter for each week and will I be at the party?

But maybe not, who knows!

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WHAT I’M BUYING THIS WEEK

I know you look forward to this. Away we go! 

1. Any non-base Cheng Tsu Che card I can get my hands on before I go to NYC for Fanatics Fest. Then I’m heading to the Montasy booth to negotiate hard and pull at heartstrings all day. 

2. Some iron-on printer paper and a comfy t-shirt to copy, print out, iron on, and create my own Bella Freud t-shirt, which is the cheapest thing Sotheby’s is selling under “collectibles” – at $135. 

3. I think I’m going to buy a Josh Berry Panini Instant card which technicallllllyyyy qualifies as a Caitlin Clark rookie. I can’t see this being worth more than $22 ever, but you never know. 

4. 2021 Mars Attacks cards. This may be dated by the time you read this (aka a few hours after writing it), but Elon Musk is doing a classic WWF “face” turn. At this point he’ll probably be revealed as the customer who sold the Cheng Tsu Che Superfractor to Montasy. And if you want a piece of Musk, who could emerge as a spurned, angry anti-hero (the kind of stuff that drives up card prices), look no further than this 2021 Topps On Demand set of cards. They’re already “not cheap” but four years after they were made, to see a line of Teslas ready to attack martians, led by Musk… or the “Electric Van of Terror”... it’s funny. And it’s weird. And it’s history! And I think prices may go up as this all plays out. 

5. The Olivia Dunne SI Swimsuit Issue ($17.99) — I know, I know. But hear me out. Livvy Dunne is still pretty much a slam dunk for collectors right now. Soap bars made with her and Paul Skenes’ shared bathwater would sell out in under a minute. She’s known about the Mantel party for months. I don’t think SI Swimsuit issues are going to rocket in value anytime soon, if history is any indication. But here’s the weird thing about 2025 — I’m not sure people know how to actually buy the magazine. Even someone as skilled as J.R. Fickle had to do several searches to find a suitable platform for the Livvy Dunne cover; I saw the Salma Hayek one in Wal-Mart and that’s what got me thinking about this. In other words, this could be a relatively rare piece of literature if there’s ever any demand down the road. 

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FAST FOOD PORTION OF THE NEWSLETTER!!!

https://www.instagram.com/p/DKf8BjjMxSo/?hl=en

I don’t think these will sell out like McDonald’s cups did last summer, but the Subway Happy Gilmore 2 cups might be cool to just own and drink out of and then be sad as the design fades after you send it through the dishwasher 3-4 times. 

They don’t actually look like they’re made for re-usability based on the photos, but you never know. 

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We had a good laugh about Sydney Sweeney’s bathwater soap last week…and then it immediately sold out and hit the resale market for $150-250. 

Rule 1 of “a run” is wait three weeks. That soap is going nowhere. As fun as it is to imagine people with the lights dimmed, candles lit… Sydney Sweeney soap is actually sitting in a box at a re-seller’s house, waiting to be shipped at $250. Which fantasy is more absurd?

And just to tie this “let the hype die down” up with a nice little bow, you may remember the praise I heaped upon Topps Celebration when it was released, and my plans to wait until resellers dropped prices to about $60. Wait no longer, people! Not only did I not have to pay $60, I also didn’t have to go through a reseller — I found a box at Target! And then the manager invited me to the Target Fanatics Fest party and said it would be weird not to, as we had just met and I seem like a nice hard-working young lad.   

Wish me luck as I open my Celebration packs! See you all next week!