Industry Consolidation — Cardboard Police

September 04, 2026

Topps Signs Arch Manning to an Exclusive Card Deal — His First Autographs Arrive in Bowman Football This Fall

Topps has signed Arch Manning to an exclusive trading card and autograph deal, and the first autographs land in Bowman Football this fall. The announcement went out on Topps' own social channels on Thursday, September 3, and it ends the partnership t...

Hobby Article Football Topps Fanatics Industry Consolidation

CASE #0305 Informational

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August 15, 2026

StockX Live Launches Trading Cards Sunday — Replay Sports Cards Debuts With a Pokémon Sealed-Pack Stream

StockX — the marketplace that built its name on verified resale — is finally entering the trading card live-selling race, and its first dedicated trading card seller goes live Sunday night with a stream built around Pokémon sealed packs. Replay Spor...

Hobby Article Pokemon Market Analysis Hobby Trends Industry Consolidation

CASE #0251 Informational

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August 14, 2026

Jay-Z, Aaron Judge and Dana White Just Invested in Tom Brady's Card Shop Chain

Jay-Z, Aaron Judge, Connor McDavid and Dana White are now investors in a chain of card shops. CardVault by Tom Brady announced its first strategic investor group on Thursday, August 13 — and the list runs well past the celebrity names into institutio...

Hobby Article Market Analysis Hobby Trends Industry Consolidation

CASE #0247 Informational

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August 13, 2026

Whatnot Raised $545 Million at a $20 Billion Valuation — Double Its Price From Ten Months Ago

Whatnot is now valued at $20 billion. The live-selling platform where a large share of the hobby's breaks, singles, and sealed product changes hands announced on Friday, August 7 that it closed a $545 million Series G — nearly doubling the $11.5 bill...

Hobby Article Market Analysis Hobby Trends Industry Consolidation

CASE #0244 Informational

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June 11, 2026

Video of the Day: The Topps Allocation System Leaked Four Months Ago — and Nothing Has Changed

CARDBOARD POLICE The newest round of "is this fair?" hobby discourse is once again about the same thing: who actually gets the product, and on what terms. The framing this time is whether Topps allocation has become a bidding war, but the underlyin...

Video of the Day Topps Hobby Trends Industry Consolidation

CASE #0080 Informational

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June 11, 2026

PSA Europe Opens in Frankfurt This August — Phase One of the $200 Million Build-Out

While American collectors wait out a 10-million-card backlog and a still-active Value tier pause, Professional Sports Authenticator is opening a new front in the war on submission wait times. PSA Europe will begin operations this August in Frankfurt,...

Hobby Article PSA Grading Hobby Trends Industry Consolidation

CASE #0079 Informational

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June 10, 2026

Fanatics Wins Major Legal Victory as Federal Judge Tosses Antitrust Class Action

On Monday, a New York federal judge tossed the class-action antitrust lawsuit that accused Fanatics, the NFL, NBA, MLB, and their players' associations of conspiring to monopolize the trading card market. The ruling is a procedural victory for Michae...

Hobby Article Lawsuits Topps Fanatics NFL Industry Consolidation Antitrust Panini

CASE #0070 Misdemeanor

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June 08, 2026

GameStop's $56 Billion eBay Bid Was Rejected — But the Play for the Collectibles Market Is Just Beginning

eBay's board didn't just say no to GameStop — they called the $56 billion offer "neither credible nor attractive." But Ryan Cohen isn't walking away. He's opening an eBay storefront. He's buying more eBay stock personally. And GameStop's collectibles...

Hobby Article Market Analysis eBay Industry Consolidation

CASE #0063 Misdemeanor

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the cardboard chronicle

Tagged: Industry Consolidation

Topps Signs Arch Manning to an Exclusive Card Deal — His First Autographs Arrive in Bowman Football This Fall

StockX Live Launches Trading Cards Sunday — Replay Sports Cards Debuts With a Pokémon Sealed-Pack Stream

Jay-Z, Aaron Judge and Dana White Just Invested in Tom Brady's Card Shop Chain

Whatnot Raised $545 Million at a $20 Billion Valuation — Double Its Price From Ten Months Ago

Video of the Day: The Topps Allocation System Leaked Four Months Ago — and Nothing Has Changed

PSA Europe Opens in Frankfurt This August — Phase One of the $200 Million Build-Out

Fanatics Wins Major Legal Victory as Federal Judge Tosses Antitrust Class Action

GameStop's $56 Billion eBay Bid Was Rejected — But the Play for the Collectibles Market Is Just Beginning