We covered a Facebook dispute between Tidewater Cards & Collectibles promoter Michael Campbell and another show organizer over competing event dates in North Carolina. After that story published, we received an overwhelming number of messages from vendors who’ve worked Tidewater shows. The complaints weren’t about scheduling — they were about how the shows are run….
Earlier this week, we reported on Fanatics giving breakers cases of 2025 Bowman’s Best Baseball while collectors got “sold out” messages. Now collectors are raising questions about what those breakers are doing with their inventory. According to a tweet circulating in the hobby, FilthBomb—a breaking operation that was allocated hundreds of cases from Fanatics at…
This week, we published an article about fake Beckett authentication stickers being sold on eBay, allegedly by someone connected to the company. The story detailed suspicious eBay accounts and collectors losing thousands on items with forged COAs. Steve Grad—who recently left Beckett Authentication after 24 years—responded. In a video posted to Sports Card Radio Clips‘ YouTube channel, Grad…
Junk Wax Sal—ranked on SCR’s Hobby Influencer Rankings—posted what thousands of collectors are thinking: “Fanatics, can you suck any harder? I add Bowman’s Best to my cart the second it goes live. After numerous errors, get a 20 minute wait to checkout. By the time my 20 minutes is up, says 10 boxes aren’t available, your…
An authentication specialist is calling on federal authorities to investigate what he says is a massive counterfeiting operation involving fake Beckett certificates of authenticity. Roman Pioner, who runs CheckCOA, posted a detailed thread on X documenting what he describes as “the largest single fraud case I have ever seen in the hobby.” Pioner claims a…
A customer is raising concerns on social media after cards from a WeTheHobby break disappeared following PSA grading. VWSmaltz posted on X that he participated in a WeTheHobby break on Fanatics Live on January 9. His cards were sent to PSA for free grading, but he didn’t realize until February 9 that he never received…
A photo of Mets owner Steve Cohen appears in the DOJ’s Epstein files. Cohen’s spokesperson denies any relationship. Cohen now owns PSA, Beckett, and SGC through Collectors Holdings.
The 2026 Topps Collector Kit Wave 1 sold out fast at .99 SRP, creating an immediate secondary market. Here’s what’s in the box and whether it’s worth the markup.
A card breaker is suing a customer who spent $24,000 on breaks, then charged back $18,000 through TikTok’s payment system. The Ballers Bank filed suit against Nicholas Albin in North Carolina court, seeking $42,000 total. The complaint was filed February 25, 2026. What Happened Albin bought boxes and packs through The Ballers Bank’s TikTok breaks…
Sports card collectors are hitting a breaking point with grading companies, Fanatics pricing, and breaker practices, according to a YouTube creator whose recent video is resonating across the hobby. Mike, who runs the channel “Baseball Collector,” argues the hobby itself is healthy and growing, but the industry side is pushing collectors toward a revolt. “The…
Cooper Flagg just set a new personal record: a Topps Chrome Sapphire Edition auto sold for $366,000 on Goldin Saturday. It’s the highest price ever paid for a Flagg card. It’s also not even half of what Wembanyama’s top card went for. The Gap Flagg’s top 5 sales: $366k – Chrome Sapphire auto (March 7,…
A group breaker on TikTok posted a warning this weekend after buying what turned out to be an entire lot of fake PSA slabs. ACBreakz posted to Discord Saturday evening that he bought the cards in person, only to find out every single slab was counterfeit. “Every card is counterfeit,” he wrote. “The PSA numbers…
A hobby shop owner’s frustration with the retail vs. hobby product divide sparked debate on X this week after a high-end hit from a Target blaster. Alex Altenhof, owner of Michiana Sports Cards in Granger, Indiana, posted his complaint Tuesday morning: “As a hobby shop owner, it bothers me so much when a product hit…
Topps NBA MVP Buyback Program: How It Works — What Is the Topps MVP Buyback Program? Topps is buying back 2025 Topps Chrome Basketball cards featuring the player who wins the 2025/26 NBA MVP award. If you pull a card of the MVP winner, you can trade it in for store credit at participating hobby…
A Whatnot seller is defending himself after Boston Card Hunter (Nick Andrews) and @lememe_james posted a viral clip showing him cracking open a PSA 10 Panini Prizm and telling the recipient they were getting a “damaged raw card.” The video shows @yojackdylan breaking the protective case with his hands and removing the blue Prizm card…
Layton Sports Cards pulled a Cooper Flagg 1/1 from 2025-26 Topps Finest Basketball with a major manufacturing defect — the card is missing its back layer. The card, numbered 1/1, came out of the pack as only the front foil layer. The back cardboard layer separated during production, leaving what appears to be an incomplete…
It was a dumpster fire. In November 2025, Rick Probstein launched Snype, an independent auction platform designed to compete with eBay. The site shut down after its first auction cycle, and Probstein has never publicly addressed what happened. In the lead-up to Snype’s launch, Probstein granted interviews to multiple hobby news outlets promoting the platform….
We tracked the top 20 sellers from 2025 to see how they’re performing in early 2026. Using data from each seller’s last 30 shows as of March 1, we analyzed buyer activity, show frequency, and engagement patterns. This report builds on our 2025 Fanatics Live Annual Report, which analyzed the full year of breaker performance…
A North Carolina card show promoter is claiming “competitors” tried to sabotage their Raleigh event by scheduling a Charlotte show on the same weekend — but the alleged sabotage appears to have backfired. Tidewater Cards & Collectibles posted on social media Saturday that their Feb 27-March 1 show at the NC State Fairgrounds broke attendance…
A Whatnot breaker with over 150,000 completed orders is accused of keeping a valuable rookie card and shutting down operations after telling a customer it would be shipped “ASAP.” Zach Mayes posted in the Facebook group “Sports Card SCAMMER TRACKER” on March 1 that Whatnot seller 808picknpullz never shipped a Konnor Griffin/Seth Hernandez Bowman Draft…
Steve Grad, the longtime Pawn Stars cast member and autograph authenticator, announced he is stepping back from his full-time role at Beckett Authentication after nearly a quarter-century with the company. “It was announced today by Beckett Authentication. I will be coming more of an advisor consultant role with them. No longer going to be on…
Victor Wembanyama’s Panini Prizm PSA 10 sells for $155 while Cooper Flagg’s Topps Chrome PSA 10 goes for $455. The market has this backwards — and the pop count data proves it.
Jared and Jacob West, owners of Case Hit Kings, have acquired Forensic Card Grading (FCG) effective January 2026, signaling a renewed push for collector-focused card grading services. The Mansfield, Texas-based brothers built a national following through live-stream sales on Whatnot and an active card show presence. With the FCG acquisition, they’re positioning the company as…
The 1990 Topps #414 Frank Thomas rookie card is easy to find. But one version of that card — with his name missing from the front — is one of the most valuable errors in baseball card history. What looks like a simple printing mistake is actually the result of plate damage during production. And…
Brian Gray ran Leaf Trading Cards for 13 years and left in August 2023 citing burnout. The timing told a different story.
Influencer Babz (@BabzOnTheMic) has shared a detailed breakdown of his recent face-to-face meetings with Fanatics Founder and CEO Michael Rubin in New York City. The meetings spanned Sunday and Monday after Babz arrived early due to a blizzard, giving him several hours of direct access to Rubin and his executive team. Babz (right) with Fanatics…
2003 Topps Chrome #111 Rookie – PSA 10 Current price: $7,000 If you’re looking at LeBron cards and you don’t have $50,000 to drop on an Exquisite patch auto, this is the move. The 2003 Topps Chrome #111 is LeBron’s flagship rookie. When people think “LeBron rookie card,” this is the image that comes to…
A California-based sports card wholesaler is suing a Michigan card shop and its owner for $253,000 in unpaid merchandise, according to a federal lawsuit filed in October 2025. Sords Card Emporium LLC (San Francisco) claims it shipped $435,000 worth of sports and Pokémon cards to House of Hits Sports Cards, LLC and owner Mike Karjo…
The complete deep-dive on the 1989 Fleer Bill Ripken ‘FF’ card — every known variant decoded, current market values, PSA pop data, and the truth behind one of the hobby’s greatest mysteries.
Dappz Sports owes a vendor ,275 from an August 2025 invoice. Six months later, they’re still ghosting—while launching Dappz Kicks. Here’s the timeline of how not to run a business.
In 2003, Darko Miličić went #2 overall — ahead of Carmelo Anthony, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh. His Topps Chrome RC once traded for . Today a PSA 10 barely clears . Here’s the full story.
2026 Topps Series 1 Baseball dropped February 11. We went to Reddit so you don’t have to. Here’s what collectors are actually saying. 2026 Topps Series 1 — Topps 75th Anniversary THE VERDICT ON THE PRODUCT The reception has been mixed — leaning negative. Collectors who got boxes in hand are not holding back. “I…
The #1 pick in the 2007 NBA Draft over Kevin Durant. Greg Oden’s rookie cards once traded for hundreds of dollars. Today they trade for less than a fast food meal.
Cooper Flagg base RC is up 59.5% in 30 days. PSA just raised grading prices on five tiers. The raw-to-graded spread is widening. Here’s what the data says.
On Sunday, Logan Paul sold a Pikachu Illustrator card for $16,492,000. It’s the most expensive trading card ever sold. And the hobby should be furious. Logan Paul wearing the PSA 10 Pikachu Illustrator — the card just sold for $16.49 million. Not because a Pokémon card broke the record. Because of everything that happened before…
One company now controls 80% of card grading — PSA, Beckett, and SGC under one roof — and just raised prices for the second time in six months while a congressman demands FTC action.
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Leaked internal documents have pulled back the curtain on Fanatics Collectibles’ private meetings and partner strategies during the 2025 National Sports Collectors Convention (NSCC). The documents, labeled “Privileged & Confidential,” detail the company’s aggressive focus on a hand-picked group of breakers, hobby shops, and distributors. The leak includes a “Participants Sales” leaderboard, ranking Fanatics’ top partners by their…