Mantel's Mail Day: Skenes Skepticism

OK, let’s get the elephant in the room out of the way and talk about the absurdity of this whole Paul Skenes Debut Patch 1/1 pull by an (alleged) 11-year-old and his pops. 

First, I know there’s plenty of skepticism around whether or not Topps manufactured this whole 11-year-old boy in order to get massive amounts of publicity for their Fanatics Collect platform, and I join in the chorus of skepticism because I too exist in today’s hyper-guerilla-viral-marketing culture that you all live in. It seems too…obvious. 

However, I will say this up front: any normal, rational person would not reveal the identity of their 11-year-old son, nor would they necessarily reveal their own identity because, well, that in turn reveals the child’s identity. 

That said, releasing the young boy’s journal entries tipped this whole story into another realm of absurdity. 

Topps and Fanatics and all its properties has a massive marketing arm with PR, creative and other marketing-strategic agencies on its roster of vendors. Topps as a trading card product manufacturer doesn’t need stunty marketing, it’s doing just fine.

What does need this kind of stop-you-in-your-tracks attention is the Fanatics Collect platform which, does, well, one second let me Google what that platform actually does – OK I’m back! It’s like eBay. You can buy trading cards at auction or “buy it now” prices. I think. 

I have not been able to escape this story. Everywhere you read, every collector on social media, and even on the radio in the car this weekend, all the talk was about this 11-year-old boy who found the Skenes debut card and is auctioning it off on Fanatics Collect which is a site that, um – wait, let me scroll back up – does auctions. I think.

The alternative here, if you’re not a “yeah Fanatics totally made up an 11 year old boy as part of a marketing campaign to promote Fanatics Collect,” is that Fanatics took advantage of a first-right opportunity to “redeem” the card while turning all the levers to convince the boy and his dad to sell the item on their platform before even allowing the Ken Goldin’s of the world to get a crack at it. 

That feels advantageous and not great, but also not “wrong.” 

We’ll find out the real story, eventually. If it’s not marketing - great. If it is marketing - whatever. I just hope it isn’t door number 3. The hobby doesn’t need a door number 3 right now. 

The New York Jets signing Aaron Glenn to be the team’s next head coach is a cool story, especially given that he was drafted by the Jets back in 1994 and actually had a pretty great playing career. 

Of course after the hiring his autographed cards from his playing days started to go on a big run in the card market. Even now, it’s hard to find any Glenn auto for under $50. 

That had me thinking, with a number of current NFL coaches who were once players, which current coach/former NFLer will have the most sought-after autograph 10 years from now? 

Jim Harbaugh (who played 15 seasons in the NFL) might be the most obvious answer, since his autos already have some juice behind them (the non-Leaf ones). He’s universally popular at the moment, which is why his autos hold a decent price tag. 

Dan Campbell (11 seasons) could be an interesting one mostly because there aren’t a ton of his autographs laying around; but that also requires the Lions to actually do better than 2-2 under Campbell in the playoffs. 

DeMeco Ryans (10 seasons) autos can be had on eBay right now for under $20 in some cases - if he wins a title in Houston of course that will change, but he might be already oversaturated on the market. 

My pick might be Kevin O’Connell (5 seasons) for the simple reason that his playing career was pretty non-existent; he threw 6 passes as Tom Brady’s backup in 2008 for 23 yards, and ran for -6 yards. 

But he played in the “ooh those are dope”  RPA-era where he actually has some pretty sick looking cards with tri-color patches and autos. Like this dual-auto rookie with Joe Flacco which is pretty cool looking card. 

His cards have already hit around a $50 threshold on eBay so they’ve already jumped Ryans, Glenn and Campbell, all of whom were better pros. 

Is this his ceiling? Or is he a generational coach who can win multiple Super Bowls and we’ll look back 10 years from now and wish we had our hands on his rookie cards?

Alright, let’s get some quick hits in:

MLB.com just released their new Top 100 prospects list for those who love to prospect. Roki Sasaki (who I’ve talked about a bunch on here) is at the top of the list. No real major surprises in the top 10 other than we all might have missed the boat on Roman Anthony - if you aren’t already on the boat.

This card is the bomb!

Panini 2024-25 NBA Hoops is starting to hit the market and, let me put my glasses on – one second – the draft class remains one of the worst in NBA history. 

So maybe instead of buying boxes you just buy singles on Fanatics Collect, whatever that is. 

Some people are awful. But most people are great. 

Hot Wheels for dads are moving “like hot cakes!” That’s right, the Mattel miniature F1 cars instantly sold out on pre-sales. The $8 cars are already being listed for $80 on eBay. 

Finally, we have our Super Bowl match-up set and while Patrick Mahomes is looking to cement himself as one of the all-time greats, it’s awesome to see Saquon Barkley put together one of the most sensational seasons from a running back. 

What an awesome comeback season for Barkley.