George Costanza, $3K Caitlin Clark Rookie Royalty Breaks & the $80 Popcorn Bucket Craze
Metz here again, filling in for our glorious leader.
This past week had everyone asking the same question: will the Houston Rockets win the 2026 NBA Finals in four games or five? No? Just me? Anyway…
Durant's arrival on the Rockets gives him the card collector's equivalent of a rainbow. Naturally, we had to dig in and find his best cards from each of his teams.
The other thing I couldn't stop thinking about was how mispriced Panini's Rookie Royalty set was, dropping all the way from a $30,000 starting price to around $3,000. As a huge Caitlin Clark fan and WNBA collector, I'd love to buy in, but I can't even afford a break, let alone a full box. Break pricing for Rookie Royalty spots is popping up on various apps, and it looks like some shops are splitting two-card boxes into up to 58 spots, perhaps the worst odds to hit of all time. Still, with multiple Caitlin Clark cards selling for six figures in the last few weeks alone, a few people are going to have their lives changed by this product in the next few weeks — if not already.
With that off my chest, let's dive into some of the other news we found interesting this week.
Remember that crazy-looking Dune 2 sandworm popcorn bucket? The one that kinda looked like a… uhh... yeah. Well, it's kicked off an entirely new line of collectibles. It's popular on both sides of the spectrum. Designer groups are begging theaters to let them create something iconic, and moviegoers are begging to own them. These novelty containers cost anywhere from twenty-five to eighty dollars and sell out on opening weekend, if not opening day. Fans even camp outside theaters for midnight shows, hoping to snag limited runs that later fetch hundreds on eBay. Do you own any popcorn buckets? We would love to see them on Mantel.
There's something utterly 2025 about a white hedge-fund billionaire dropping the average person's dinner money on Lincoln's 13th Amendment. If it belongs in a museum, odds are it'll fetch a small fortune at auction later this year. Remember when a Twitter crypto community tried to buy the Constitution and mint it into a coin? Well, this is the same guy who outbid them and spoiled everyone's fun. So if you ever unearth a piece of American history in your grandfather's basement, tuck it away, one day a billionaire might be willing to pay handsomely for it.
A ballpark bobblehead taps into the sports fan inside us all. It's a time-honored tradition even your parents remember fondly. But today's collectors want more than a run-of-the-mill player figure. No doubt, the Yankees front office knew this would be a smash hit the second it was suggested. Jason Alexander cards (yes, George Costanza himself) fly off the auction block and are nearly impossible to track down . They fetch high prices for the same reason Netflix's 'Pieces of Shit for Breakfast' cereal boxes from Fanatics Fest sell for $40 bucks on eBay . Millennials love nostalgia and they love collecting.
MLB All-Star voting resumed Monday, and while Ohtani and Judge are locks, the real market movers may be the breakout stars. Pete Crow-Armstrong's 1st Bowman Draft auto has jumped from around $300 to $550 this season, and a big All-Star performance could make the perfect time to sell. Jacob Wilson's Chrome 1st auto surged 218% in three months, making his red rookie a bargain entry at $50-$60 IF he wins ROY. Keep an eye on Acuña Jr for a Home Run Derby spike, and don't sleep on Javier Báez's redemption narrative fueling his rookie autos.
Collectible Grading Authority, best known for its AFA toy grading and VGA video game grading, just passed into new hands, led by Kenner Star Wars toy guru Tom Derby. In 2025, as graded collectibles soar in value, reliable authentication has never mattered more. CGA, spun out of Diamond Comics' bankruptcy, will stay in Georgia with its expert team and aims to expand services and innovate grading standards. For toy and game collectors, this means greater stability and confidence when investing in rare pieces. If you are a toy and game collector, you should be thrilled with this news.
Now for some business. We are always looking for ways to improve Mantel and we want YOU to be a part of it. Please take our latest feedback survey and help shape the future of Mantel.
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