Logan Paul’s $3.5M Pokemon Dumpster Fire Says More About Us Than Him

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Third party authentication and grading has been around for decades. It has also been a frequent target of mine because the service element of the model is so insanely ripe with conflicts of interest. When a service that is built around trust and expertise has no accountability and no regulation, and functions solely as a vehicle to make money, it shouldn’t be put on a pedestal as a gold standard. Yet, here we are.

Today, Logan Paul posted a video that confirmed what many had already started to suspect – the sealed case of first edition Pokemon cards were fake. Now, this is likely far from the first time that a sealed and authenticated item has been proven to be something other than what it was presented to be. On the other hand, this might be the most high profile version of it, and a black eye for what was a very respected expert in the space. More importantly, it goes to reinforce most of what I have said on this site for almost 15 years – the entire third party grading/authentication business is only as good as the people’s avoidance of scandal. More importantly, Logan Paul is a recent entrant into the hobby in general, and was acting on advice from other high profile hobbyists who were acting on advice from some other people, who may or may not have been duped themselves.

You know what all of this says about Logan Paul? Nothing. You know what it says about the hobby’s general trust for people who do this work? A lot.

Like people trust PSA, BGS, and other companies as authorities, and add value to collectibles as a result, the same can be said about Baseball Card Exchange (BBCE). They are the foremost authenticator of sealed product in the world. They are trusted. They are experts as perceived by the people that use their service. However, they fell FLAT on their fucking face here. Not just because they were wrong, but because they chose money over due diligence. They chose to honor the words of people who stood to make six figures on the deal, rather than referring them to someone who knew what they were doing. They wanted to be involved with the highest profile Pokemon deal in history, over admitting that they lacked proper information to make an informed decision.

Here is their response, posted on the BBCE facebook page:

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If you go back through all the scandals that have befallen this part of the hobby, and there are MANY, each of them follow the exact same path. A business, masquerading as a service, offers advice and imparts value on an item, regardless if their resulting opinion is accurate or informed. Sometimes its both, sometimes its one or the other, sometimes its neither. Regardless, there is no grading review body, or authentication review body, so the market tends to decide if they are worthy of continuing to hold a spot as a worthwhile participant in the cycle.

Historically, stakes were always high, but never high profile. Stakes were expensive, but not this expensive. Now, there are decisions being made daily that can impact lives, businesses, and reputations all on the shoulders of a third party being paid for an opinion with no accountability or transparency behind it.

For many years, authenticating signatures, wax, and other collectibles has been big business, despite the fact that most of the main companies behind it have been targeted by authorities or indicted on federal fraud charges. This was before the hobby exploded, and before there were authentications and grades done in the millions of items each month. Similarly, just because the scale has changed, the giant conflicts of interest that existed then, still exist today. If anything, they have become more evident and important due to volume and value alone.

The companies will say that a market reaction is the only accountability they need, but this shows how far from the truth that is. It also showcases that maybe the people with the most to gain, also have the most to lose. To be frank, when new people enter a market with everything to gain and also everything to lose, weird shit seems to happen. This was the largest sale in Pokemon history, but it is preceded by two years of record breaking numbers representative of a speculative bubble.

Seeing that Logan Paul felt comfortable enough to spend 3.5 million dollars on this process is only representative of one thing, he was duped as much by the misrepresentation of a service as he was by the people involved. Watching his video, as well as the hundreds of Pokemon collectors who were speculating that this was fake all along, shows how out of their depth BBCE was. They didnt even do the simplest of research that others could do without even being in the room. Being that they KNEW the importance of this case, only further exemplifies the conflicts of interest that exist in the process.

I have written no less than a million words on the dastardly grading business and its lack of true accountability, but this one just makes my point in short youtube video. Enjoy the world we live in now, because it gets more and more complicated by the day.

A Necessary Revisiting of Altered Patch Card History

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When I started this blog back in 2007, I wanted to make sure that hobby coverage had a place to go for coverage that wasnt the rainbows and lollipops that Beckett peddled to thousands of collectors each month. I especially wanted to take a stand against scams and fakes that had spread through the hobby like a virus.

Fake patches were a special focus for me, as it was becoming evident that scammers were easily able to alter cards with little recourse or information available from major hobby news sources. Since that time, my blog has fallen victim to time constraints and children (Ive had 4 since the inception of SCU), but my attentiveness to the scam riddled world of trading cards hasnt become any less vigilant. Now that the stakes are 5000 times what they used to be, sometimes more, its time to spend another afternoon writing about the history of how this culture has changed.

More importantly, if you joined the card universe during the recent boom, we are very much back to a lack of information. Its been replaced with flex culture of Instagram, and thousands of new collectors who have missed the last 10 years of problems that I spent over a million words on this blog talking about.

Where It All Began

Lets go back to 1996 – back when the jersey card first started. Upper Deck put the first relic cards in a set with their 1996 iconic Game Jersey set. With that, a revolution kicked off, leading to a jersey card or more in every box by 2002. Most people who didnt live through that time in the hobby dont really realize that there wasnt technology to embed thicker types of relics until later on, likely starting around the first time Upper Deck SP Authentic offered their first patch set. As a result, most memorabilia cards were single color relics, or multi-colored jersey pieces that still had the same thickness.

When Exquisite was first conceived in 2003, it became apparent that things were changing. It was the first product to offer a premium patch card guaranteed, including logo patches that were embedded in ultra thick stock cards (comparatively to what was out back then). There were patch sets in products before that, but nothing like what Exquisite offered.

As Exquisite became a staple, so did multi-color patch cards, including logos and shields. Even with Exquisite changing the game, a three color patch with a piece of logo was such a premium example, it added extreme multipliers to the way the cards were valued. For most relics, cards were almost exclusively still single color jerseys for the next 5 to 7 years.

Panini wasnt part of the hobby quite yet, but their involvement in 2008-2009 was the primary factor for what current patch culture looks like today. They realized that the logos and multi-colored patches were the way to add exponential value to a set, and started finding ways to offer that more frequently to collectors. By 2012, they had made crazy patch cards quite common, often littering their premium products with some of the craziest patches people had ever seen. As more and more jerseys became player worn instead of game worn, the creep of logos into every product was to a point where single color jersey cards had to be phased out.

Similarly, as jersey cards became prevalent in the hobby after its inception, people found that switching out the single color relics with other, more colorful pieces of jersey, was very easy. Few card companies had any idea that their relics were easy to remove and swap, as most were only secured by a bit of glue. Now days, the relics are more secure in the card, but back then, you could swap a relic in seconds.

Manufacturers tried to die cut the relic windows to make it much more difficult to get at the single color pieces, but failed to understand how easy the cards were to split at the seam and do the same thing. Triple Threads was especially susceptible to this practice, to a point where NFL and MLB shields were showing up weekly on eBay numbered as high as 99.

Fast forward to today. Most of the major cards are well documented and the logos usually have their own subsets. Manufacturers have become more wise to the tactics, but they do not have the ability to go back in time to change mistakes. This leaves older cards as prime targets for scammers now that the stakes have changed so dramatically. A card that would go from $10 dollars in value to $100 dollars in value was one thing. But a card that would go from $1000 dollars to $50,000 is completely different.

Because the hobby population is now ripe with new eyes just joining the fray, many arent aware of the horrendous fakes and major issues from years past.

Today’s Issues

The Instagram hobby revolution is one that I understand. Its a platform that younger audiences flock to, and provides a perfect platform for showing off your personal collection. Old cards have an aura about them, mainly due to the fact that so many of them remain the top examples of a player, even today. Funny enough, all the people who are top targets now, were still top targets back then too. Players like Tom Brady, Michael Jordan, and Lebron James had major followings during the fake patch era, and still have insane value today.

Other players may not have the same following, but the fake patches were so insane back then, that today’s culture sees them as unicorns – regardless of who is on the front. This leads to giant prices on the secondary market, and even worse, many collectors who refuse to believe they are altered.

Grading companies make this whole situation more complicated, having authenticated or graded so many examples of altered patch cards. Many of the slabs are older than my children at this point, leading many collectors to believe even further that the cards are authentic. Old school tribal knowledge tells experienced collectors that the patches in the cards were never checked or authenticated, and most of what PSA or BGS did was just reviewing the cards themselves.

This puts newer collectors at a HUGE disadvantage for information, because much like 2005 – the hobby news sources and influencers dont have much dedicated coverage to the subject. In fact, most of the main hobby influencers wouldnt even know where to start, as they have joined the hobby so recently as well.

There are still old guards out there fighting the good fight, making sure to showcase the main concern whenever bad cards are put up for sale. The scariest part is that the altered cards have changed hands so many times, the original scammer is long gone at this point. Similarly, the before and after pictures that were readily available at the time of alteration are likely gone too. The fakes were so easy to spot that all one had to do was find the completed eBay auction buyer from the same account as the one selling the current fake. That’s how blatantly obvious these used to be. Now? All that information is lost to history. I tried digging up some old pictures from my blog, but with photobucket kicking everyone out who didnt want to pay – even that is gone.

Most of the current examples are being sold without knowledge and without understanding, so its hard to hold these individuals at fault. However, many refuse to accept their fate, as some of the cards are so “valuable” it causes even more problems to admit it might not be authentic. With many relics being player worn in today’s world anyways, does it even matter as much anymore? I think that it does, but to others, maybe not.

When you see a Tom Brady logo patch card out of 2008 Triple Threads that you covered on your site 10 years ago sell for a down payment on a house, facepalm doesnt begin to describe the feeling.

Fighting Against Fakes

So, with that, how can you identify a fake that isnt blatantly obvious? The answer isnt simple like it used to be but I do have some suggestions.

First, recognize the era before recognizing the patch. If a card from 2001 is showing a ridiculous patch, its likely not authentic, no matter how much the seller swears its pack pulled. Chances are, they bought it from someone, who bought it from someone, who bought it from someone, who bought it from someone, who bought it from someone that actually switched out the patch. Most logos werent prevalent in non-premium sets from that era, so be skeptical of anything crazy before the Panini era.

Similarly, look at the numbering. Most high numbered logo patches didnt happen until VERY recently. If a card has a high number from a timeframe like 2008, and has one of those shields or logomen, its automatically questionable. Although its true that manufacturers didnt really see what was going on when relic cards first started, they were limited by technology and time.

Lastly, just avoid the whole situation. Sets like Exquisite, SP Authentic, Playoff Tools of the Trade, Triple Threads, and other premium sets from the early 2000s were valuable then, just like they are valuable now. That made them prime targets for scammers to increase their value with altered patches. Sure the stakes were micro compared to now, but these guys were churning out 1000s per month. Not joking.

There are still a lot of guys who are around now who were around back then. Talk to them. Ask for opinions. I still look with a skeptical eye at EVERYTHING in this hobby, and the patch cards are at the top of that list. Its worth knowing the history before dropping the price of a Mercedes on a card.

Breaking Down Fanatics’ Acquisition of Topps From All Sides

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The last two years of trading cards has been historic. First, a value boom of epic proportion has brought trading cards and sports collectibles to the forefront of the national conversation. Then, as if things couldnt get more crazy, Fanatics secured a deal with the three biggest leagues to have exclusive licensing rights for 20(!!) years. Now, we have come to find out that Topps has been acquired, putting them at the top of the card mountain for the foreseeable future. Funny thing is, I dont even think we are close to being done. I want to look at this acquisition from the different sides of the hobby and industry.

Impact to the Industry

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Fanatics’ entry into trading cards is a new era, and that hasnt changed since the announcement a few months ago. The problem for Fanatics wasnt money or distribution, but the people needed to design and deliver the massive amounts of content needed for a trading card company. For people to expect Fanatics to just come up with a plethora of new brands that would continue with the hobby’s current trajectory is relatively laughable. They needed people, they needed intellectual property, they needed a crew. With Topps, they not only got all of that, but they got some of the best there is.

Flagship Topps baseball is a historic legacy that needed to continue. The hobby was in jeopardy of losing that history when Fanatics stepped in, and thankfully we arent going to lose the iconic aspect of that again. I doubt there were many industry professionals that wanted to see the end of Topps’ place in that part of the trading card world. Its rare that you have 70 years of history just wiped away, and this merger prevented that from happening.

In buying Topps, Fanatics also gains access to some of the top card designers around. Topps, for the most part, has brought together a collection of people that all have the chops to do what needs to be done. I believe when Upper Deck lost their licenses back around 2009-2010, Topps went and signed those people up. Since that time frame, the best looking cards in the industry have undoubtedly been on the Topps side of the equation. That’s why I have always gravitated towards their goods. Its not saying Panini and Upper Deck havent made improvements since that time, but Topps remains the benchmark.

Additionally, Topps has a digital division that might be unmatched across the entirety of the industry. With the recent inclusion of NFTs to their portfolio, it has only gotten stronger. We know that Fanatics sees digital cards as a huge frontier, and I think that of all the assets out there to buy, Topps is most mature.

This doesnt look like the last of Fanatics’ desire to consolidate, especially given what Michael Rubin has stated in different interviews since the announcement was made. I fully expect we start to hear more and more about this type of M&A pretty regularly as we get closer to 2023 and beyond. If consolidation is the plan, we could easily see them target more card companies that have staff and IP to give. I believe Panini is likely off the table now that Topps is under the Fanatics umbrella, but a company like Upper Deck still seems very attractive. Sets like Exquisite and SPA are still among the most valuable IP out there, because newer collectors have seen Jordan, LeBron and Kobe stuff shoot to the moon from those products. Similarly, the contracts with Jordan, Lebron and Tiger are all insanely valuable, especially because pro-uniform autographs are non-existent since the lost license to Panini took effect.

Impact to the Hobby

I have been a staunch critic of exclusive licenses since the first one was signed. However, now that the exclusives are here to stay for the next 20 plus years, there isnt much we can do. This feels different because of the length of time, and the potential to buy out companies that will bring their IP to an exclusive. Instead of locking people out, its possible we see Fanatics M&A plan work to the advantage of the collector. Owning these giant licenses for such a gargantuan length of time breeds new need to negotiate.

We all know that from their press release, the plan is to use the Topps name on products going forward. Good thing. We also should get collector favorites in NFL and NBA that have been gone for YEARS. Another good thing. The chance to continue collecting products around since we were kids? Yup, good thing. Is it possible that Fanatics buys the IP or ability to license it for their use given the timeframe of their relationship with the leagues? Who knows? All big question marks that we need to have sorted out over the next few years.

Similarly, we saw that the press release also mentioned Hobby Shops in their language, something that a number of pundits were wondering about. No one wants to see a neighborhood shop close their doors, most are family run, and some have been around since the last collecting boom in the 90s. If Fanatics buying Topps means they get to stick around? I love it.

There are aspects of the hobby I hope will change with this consolidation plan, as Ive mentioned in previous posts. I dont like that online retailers and distributors can collude to fix prices. They can artificially set a floor or raise a ceiling without much effort, and due to limited supply and overwhelming demand, right now there are no consequences. If Fanatics is going to remove that from their model, I think that’s a good idea. Similarly, Topps comes with baked in people that have decades of experience in this part of the industry. Im curious if this plan changes to accommodate the relationships Topps brings to the table. For collectors, this might be the most challenging part of the acquisition to understand, but its one that could hurt us the most. There are people in power right now that have exponential influence over a speculative bubble that seems to have formed. If Fanatics truly wants to move on from the way things are done today, this is the one thing I hope will change.

Where Do We Go From Here?

The next 4 years are going to be a whirlwind of change. Change in the way people look at cards, the values, and what Fanatics plans to do with their vision.

As mentioned, I think the M&A continues to a very high degree. I also believe that we arent done hearing about card company acquisitions into the Fanatics family of products. Upper Deck seems like the next logical choice, given their IP and ePack. If Michael Rubin’s philosophy of increasing access to product and going mainstream, they will need all the help they can get. Its a big vision to make work in practice.

Peripheral hobby businesses like COMC might be on the menu too. Fulfillment is a huge deal, especially for single card shipments, so this could be something that Fanatics wants to include in their plan. Same goes for things like group breaks or general crowd sourcing of product. All those things are on a white board somewhere, surely.

Lastly is the grading, and I think thats where this gets very complicated. Fanatics is climbing a mountain to get to a consolidated retail empire. Collector’s Universe (PSA) is climbing the same mountain on the grading and valuation side, acquiring businesses like Card Ladder and the like. I could see Fanatics take over Beckett to get BGS, and that might be as big a deal as getting Upper Deck under their watch.

Either way, this is going to be one of the most fun times we have seen in the hobby, ever. Hope you guys are ready!

The Importance of the NYT Luka Doncic Article

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Just wanted to take a minute, because this morning’s article in the New York times is a very important expose into an area of the hobby I have been screaming about for years. Apparently my screams were so loud that Jason Bailey, the author, reached out to get my take on the situation. Obviously my familiarity with the situation is understated, but my familiarity with the practices that could lead to inauthentic signatures being sold to the public in trading card form is extensive.

Here is what I didnt expect – the author had done research in a way that made me feel like he was coming from a place of knowledge. Not just knowledge, but understanding. Ive talked to a few reporters in the past, but this is the first time someone had come prepped with context and general familiarity beyond just reading a few articles online. Not only that, but Jason had talked to a bunch of people, most of whom are featured in the piece.

That’s not why this article is important, though. This article is important because for the first time in a very, very long time, there is genuine interest from the mainstream on trading cards. In addition to being exciting, this situation could and should be problematic for individuals and companies that have exploited the underbelly of the hobby for years.

It used to be that any shady dealings were swept under the rug, either by the hobby media or others, leaving the gross details to be hashed out in message board threads and blogs who werent beholden to the machine. Now, with some cards selling for prices that are akin to buying a house on the beach in California, the eyes are finally starting to open up to what has been going on for decades in the dark.

Ive said for many years that card industry people can be some of the worst people in any industry there is. Because the scale was always so small, but profits could be big enough to live a luxury life, too many keen students found ways to take advantage of the uninformed or the unindoctrinated. Even today, multi-million dollar sales go down regularly, selling cards that years ago I would have put smack dab in the middle of my weekly scam alert posts.

To think that we could go this long without some sort of federal interference is shocking. Sure, the government has raided NSCC shows, and eBay has finally banned well known shill bid aficionados, but there is so much that still needs to be addressed. A reckoning is likely already in process, and the fact that the NYT is dedicating its resources and talent to get to the bottom of it is refreshing and welcome.

For years, every card based story was how once booming shops or shows were now boring and dead, instead of focusing on the people who have made a career out of swindling or manipulating a naive population of collectors. Im not at all saying that Panini or Topps are in that bucket, but this venn diagram isnt two separate circles either. The article covers a few of the major scandals we have seen, but Panini and Topps both enable a cycle of abuse from the players that I hope is closed by Fanatics’ pending takeover.

Just a small example is covered here, with autograph signings being done through the mail instead of in the presence of a company employee. When authenticity is called into question, it takes a mountain of evidence to call out the misdeeds. Because the player signs the affidavit, and the player’s association stands firmly at their back, the players create a feedback loop between the accuser, the card company and their agents.

Basically, the card companies will go to the agents with the passive accusations from the hobby, not directly accusing them in most cases. The agent will go to the player or say they go to the player, who assures them the autographs are legitimate, regardless if that is true. The agent points to the affidavit, and the card company reports to the hobby that everything is kosher.

Its a situation where the punishment isnt even a big enough monetary situation for the athlete to care about the result of the investigation, either. If anything, for most athletes, avoiding autographs would likely be a relief rather than a punishment. The article even references this feeling clearly in a quote from people who know Luka Doncic and his regimen.

Sadly, sports cards and memorabilia has always been overshadowed by the felons and criminals that populate its midst, even if the ultra-majority of collectors and many industry people are nice and good people. I hope the NYT continues to shed light on these types of situations, unafraid that their piece will damage relationships with card company ad buys or free product from the manufacturers. This is what we need, and I am very happy to be a part of it.

Processing Fanatics’ CEO Michael Rubin’s Appearance on CNBC

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Yesterday I wrote about the consolidation path that was outlined across a few different pieces published in the Wall Street Journal and CNBC. Across those pieces, the industry was clued into the first list of priorities that are on the radar for Fanatics as they prepare their industrywide takeover in 2026.

To compliment the articles, Fanatics CEO Michael Rubin was a guest on CNBC to detail their recent Series A investment and $10.4B valuation.

During the video, there were a few interesting points that he seemed to be very up front about, and I want to take some time to offer some reaction and temper some assumptions based on what has been shared.

Major Question: Will this license exclusive across MLB, NFL, and NBA be reminiscent of what we have seen in the past exclusives from Panini, Topps or Upper Deck?

Rubin’s Explanation seems to be pretty explicit – these licenses are just a small piece of the puzzle, which I discussed in detail in the previous post. Its clear that he sees the creation of his new business as an opportunity to revolutionize the industry in a way that has never been attempted. Collectors to this point have had a predictable reaction of fear and anxiety, but also one of limited scope. Most collectors dont seem to understand the scope or scale of what is going to be happening here. Fanatics is about to become a world leader in collectibles and sports memorabilia, having already been a world leader in fan apparel. This isnt just about trading cards, this is about a creation of a new giant entity in our world that will permeate almost every area of our collecting consciousness. Looking at this approach with only trading cards in mind is like looking at Microsoft only from the context of Outlook Email.

Major Question: What happens if this fails?!?

Again, scope and scale. This isnt like we are looking at a tiny company making waves in an ocean. Fanatics seems to be positioning themselves with huge amounts of investors and league support to make this a long term success. The approach might be simple, but the execution is complex, just as it was for the last inflection point back with the creation of Panini America. Bottom line, looking at this not being successful is not only short sighted, but unaware of the general context of how they are going about this whole plan. First, they have 4+ years to get ready, which is a lifetime in business. More importantly, they have league support in equity and influence that is almost a guarantee that they will be able to do things that Topps and Panini could have only dreamed of. They are also going to be exploring more channels that break the decades old methods that almost suffocated the industry after the 1990’s collectible boom faded. Although I am not advocating that people give this a chance, what I am saying is that the current trading card market is only part of their success plan. That means that parts of this whole could fall flat on its face and it wouldnt sink the whole ship.

Bottom line, this isnt a discussion about whether or not Fanatics’ card products are going to sell as well as a comparable product from Topps or Panini. Although that’s a long term measurement metric of ongoing success, its one with too limited a representation of how Fanatics will integrate themselves into this industry at a core level. I dont think anyone is expecting that the first ever Fanatics Flagship MLB product will sell like Topps Series One out of the gate. I think that with the support of the league and the new channels they will explore, the measure of success will be far different than just the secondary market price of specific box, single or case.

Major Question: How will the industry change?

I expect wholesale changes by 2026 that will be implemented in pieces between now and then. The $350M in Series A funding looks to be set aside for startup costs, and it looks like they have a number of other investors in line. Although the average joe collector sees this as an apocalypse on the horizon, many investors are seeing this as a gigantic opportunity in one of the hottest goods available now. My take is pretty simple – if there are people out there who are involved in some sort of trading card business venture or adjacent service, they have the next few years to solidify their investments to sustain their existence when this eventually is executed in full. Although the wholesale changes might not sink everyone, its going to sink a number of people. Some bigger than others.

Scale is really the main thing here, because the main impacted parties will likely be the distributors and group breakers who rely on scale to make their operations work. If Fanatics removes that element from the supply line, some will adapt and survive, countless others will not. I read somewhere that the number of group breakers operating online and on Facebook has increased ten fold over the last two years. Not all of those people will have the access they once had, or the scale available they once had.

Rubin spent some of the interview outlining the priority around direct to consumer sales, which for decades in this industry was an afterthought. Manufacturers have started experimenting, but their ongoing dependence on distributors and shops to move product meant that they were limited in their ambition. Fanatics is clearly not taking that approach, and rightfully so. Retailers like Amazon and eBay will undoubtedly be looking for clarity on their potential role in the retail space, and it may be that Fanatics decides to move more of their sales to a digital format or an online storefront that provides complete access to more collectors and casual fans.

Similarly, when considering the adjacent businesses like Grading and Storage, those things may not change immediately, but its clear that everything is going to be different eventually.

Major Question: Should we support these new overlords?

Here is the thing. Its up to you, just like it always has been.

Right now a lot of people are complaining that prices are too high and the hobby has shifted to a point where they cant participate any longer. For those people, I would expect that this could be the breath of fresh air to get back involved. For others that operate on a premium plane or in an investment based experience, this will undoubtedly impact the way they participate. The good thing is, its not like all the old stuff just disappears. None of that stuff will automatically become worthless because there is a new game in town. The same fears were in place in 2010, and were generally proven to be incorrect.

I personally have no dog in this fight any longer, as I have sold every major sports trading card in my collection. I just find this whole situation fascinating to an exceptional degree. I feel as though I have become a student of the industry side of this hobby for the last 15 years, and it has given me a different perspective than collectors who are scared about the purchases they have made for their collection. Will your 50 year run of completing the annual Topps set be over? Absolutely – in 2026 it will be, unless Fanatics decides to purchase the IP. Will the enjoyment of your collection diminish because that yearly venture is no longer available? I dont think so, but its on you.

Fanatics is a business coming in with a fresh slate and one that I want to see in practice. I dont have any investment to want it to be successful or unsuccessful, but as an observer, it is a lot of fun to watch it play out. Advocating for change is something I have done since 2008, and for the first time ever, we are getting it across the board.