Trading cards have been around for more than a century, but social media has rebooted the once iconic childhood hobby into a $50 billion global industry predicted to hit $90 billion by 2032.
Top influencers like Jake Paul and Livvy Dunne have lent their likenesses to card collections, turning their personal brands into tradable assets that can potentially broaden their fan bases.
The latest to bet big on cards is Gary Vaynerchuk. He’s just launched a collection with Topps Chrome that features his “VeeFriends” characters. They’re in good company, joining characters from Marvel, Disney, and Star Wars in Topps’ most prestigious non-sports tier.
In Vaynerchuk’s framing, trading cards aren’t competing with stamps or coins anymore. They’re competing with TikTok, Twitch and sports highlights — and somehow still winning.
“It’s ultimately about attention,” Gary Vaynerchuk told me. “The collectibles industry is getting wider, appealing to more people than ever,” he added. “It’s crossed over from not being nerdy to being cool. People collecting comic books or trading cards were previously looked at as nerdy. Over the last 10 years, it’s become much more accepted and much more viable — both financially and emotionally.”
Not everyone is convinced the boom is built to last — with some suggesting there could be similarities to the NFT craze, which had a brief moment before collapsing.
But Vaynerchuk believes this is something more lasting and that its roots and the nostalgia people feel about trading cards is driving it too. “So much of what’s going on with collectibles is nostalgia — fathers who collected are now bringing their kids into the fold.”
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