Pulled this Cal Raleigh Real One auto out of a Fanatics Fest blaster at the grand opening of my LCS—just two days before the Home Run Derby. Fast forward, and now he’s not only the Derby champ but also just the 7th player ever to hit 60+ home runs in a season. Crazy timing on this pull!

Today is the grand opening of the new LCS near me so of course I had to be there when they opened…lol. On the shelf they had one loan box of Series 2 from Fanatics Fest so obviously I had to buy it. I will say the box did not disappoint!! I’m a huge Reds fan, I am also building the HFA set for this year, and to top it off with the Cal Raleigh Real One auto I’m chalking this up as a win. Now hoping the Big Dumper wins the HR Derby tonight!! If you’re in or around the Jeffersonville, IN area be sure to stop by Key’s Cards, Matt and all the guys are awesome!!

Published June 25, 2025 | By Alyx E, Founder of Collectors MD

Fanatics Fest 2025 was nothing short of a spectacle. By every metric—attendance, transactions, energy—in only it’s second ever show it eclipsed The National—an event that’s been held annually since 1980.

The turnout was massive. With so many superstar athletes in attendance, ESPN and SportsCenter covered it throughout the weekend. Kevin Durant found out live on stage that he’d been traded to the Houston Rockets during a panel discussion. Tom Brady won the inaugural Fanatics Games and donated most of his $1M prize back to the fans.

Major athletes. Major celebrities. Major hype. It may have been the moment the hobby finally went mainstream.

And that’s exactly why we need to start asking some harder questions.

Because with growth comes risk. With excitement comes exploitation. And with tens of thousands of kids walking those show floors—why were FanDuel Casino ads plastered everywhere? Why were gambling promotions being served up in the same spaces we celebrate trading cards and collectibles?

This is how it happens. Slowly at first, then all at once.

Unchecked influence. Normalized addiction. Platforms and advertisers who don’t differentiate between 9-year-olds and 39-year-olds—just users, just conversions, just clicks, just revenue.

As the hobby goes bigger, we need to get louder. We desperately need guardrails. Education. Warnings. Opt-outs. Resources. With so many bad actors and predatory behaviors across the hobby, we must protect the young, uneducated children who are incredibly impressionable and deeply vulnerable.

Because if we don’t fight for that layer of protection now, by the time the spiral becomes obvious, it’ll already be too late. There is no one watching over this space. No governing body. No accountability. Just money and momentum.

Collectors MD exists to change that. To be the layer no one else is building. To reform the hobby before it reforms us into something unrecognizable.

This isn’t about canceling the hobby—or being overly cynical. We’re just refusing to look the other way. We love this space. We believe in its potential. But real love means protecting it, challenging what’s broken, and making sure the next generation can collect with joy, not regret.

Let Fanatics Fest be the wake-up call. This isn’t niche anymore. This is big business. And if we’re not careful, the soul of the hobby will be the price we pay for its success.

#CollectorsMD
As the hobby goes mainstream, the stakes get higher. Reform isn’t optional—it’s urgent.

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These are the cards we picked up at Fanaticsfest. Juju is numbered out of 50. The last card is my favorite because it’s a card of my son and I. We had a great time and we got the card for free thanks to Chipsahoy. We can’t wait to go back next year.

Haven’t seen a ton of long form content on this app, so I thought I’d use each Monday to post some of my deeper thoughts. Sometimes specific, sometimes more general. Today, we’re gonna talk about the state of The Hobby™:

A big topic this week is obviously going to be Fanatics Fest NYC and how it was more of a spectacle than a card show. I wasn’t there, but the videos have been all over. Huge celebrity buys, big pulls, and moments that all felt Truman Show staged. People have strong opinions on that event, and broader feelings on where the hobby is at in general, but allow me to share mine.

This all feels very… natural?

Any hobby that can sustain a decent market will eventually become hyperfinancialized. Doesn’t matter if it’s baseball cards, digital animal jpgs, or kids toys. The ability to make money doing something silly is too good of an arbitrage opportunity to pass up.

There’s no sense fighting it or being mad about it. I, personally, don’t buy much new product because I don’t enjoy the lottery aspect of it. Nor do I have the money to care whether Tom Brady’s $250,000 buy was authentic or not. Those are just parts of the hobby/business I don’t even partake in.

But new cards and products with overinflated values means the price of old cards has become more affordable, so that’s where I focus my time. Zig when others zag. It’s all cyclical, and eventually the bubble will come back to consume my part of the hobby again, and I’ll have to readjust. Is what it is. I just try to find enjoyment in what I’m doing, without caring much what everyone else is up to.

So where are we now in the cycle? I dunno for sure. It does feel like we’re somewhere near the top of the bubble though. May not be ready to pop just yet but Fanatics following around Livvy Dunne with a camera, Adin Ross pulling 1/1s, the Rizzler getting big hits from Gary V products… It’s definitely starting to feel like Steph Curry chiseling a Bored Ape ice sculpture in an FTX commercial.

Eventually though supply will outpace demand and everything will self-correct. Markets are undefeated in that respect. Till then, all you can do is find your place in what the market is giving you, adapt when it changes, and enjoy the ride.