Fanatics Fest provided a huge opportunity for sports fans to meet their heroes and engage with the brands they love. It was also the place to be for card and memorabilia collectors. An entire wing of the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center was dedicated to card traders. Hobby Hall was truly the heart of the weekend-long event hosted by Michael Rubin.
Adam, who works at Bridgeport Hobby, the highest-rated card shop in Illinois, spoke on his experience at Fanatics Fest. “Fanatics Fest has been amazing,” he said, “I have been to many card shows and events like this. This is certainly one of a kind.”
To get an idea of the kind of pieces Fanatics Fest was littered with, the crown jewel of the Bridgeport Hobby collection was a Cincinnati Bengals uniform worn by star quarterback Joe Burrow during a playoff victory over the Tennessee Titans en route to a Super Bowl appearance. Grass stains and everything.
For those confused as to how trading card value is decided, AM New York was curious about that too. Tony, from Awesome Sports, explained it by using an example of Patrick Mahomes having one card worth $800 vs another one for $5,000. “The base card is probably the lower end. It really boils down to the rookies, the parallels, if it’s numbered, if it’s autographed. All of those things can affect the price, as well as the condition of the card, as well as the grade the card received.”
Tony also spoke on his experience at Fanatics Fest, saying, “Fanatics Fest has just been insane. Tons of new people. Tons of people coming in and checking out the sports card side of the hobby. It’s refreshing to see all the new faces, all the young faces, and kids getting excited, we’ve just been having an absolute blast. ”
In 2024, it is paramount that events like Fanatics Fest are fun in different ways to keep kids engaged in sports. There are other, more fulfilling, ways to interact with your own fandom outside of posting on social media.
Alex, who hailed from Japan, showed AM New York another side of the festival. He sold Pokemon cards, and brought a chunk of them in from Japan. “I tell people in Japan that we’re coming to New York for a card show and they send me their best cards,” he said. Alex also spoke on the importance of having an event like Fanatics Fest in New York City. “It’s great! It’s a great venue, great people are in the middle of New York City.”
This past weekend was the first-ever Fanatics Fest. Whether or not it will return, New York City was clearly the perfect place for it. Whether you were there to see your favorite wrestlers, football players, or a Bobby Witt Jr. card worth six figures (we actually saw one), there was a large community just like you somewhere in the Javits Center from August 16-18.
In a weekend that featured all kinds of celebrity and athlete interactions for fans, the real story was in Hobby Hall. It’s hard to grasp just how big the trading card and sports memorabilia community is until you see hundreds of vendors packed into a hanger, each with their own “white whale” item and a passionate story to tell.
