There are big card shows, and then there are the two that the entire hobby plans its year around: Fanatics Fest in New York and The National in Chicago. This summer, Magic City Collectibles made the trip to both. With a booth in the middle of the action and both shows a few weeks apart, Magic City returned with a case full of pickups to show for it. Some were trophy cards. Some were fun, weird, one-of-a-kind oddballs. Plenty of them are already listed and ready to shop. Here's the recap.
Fanatics Fest at The Javits Center in New York
Fanatics Fest has become the hobby's summer kickoff, and the shop leaned into what it does best. Formula 1 set the tone early. F1 has quietly become one of the most exciting corners of the modern hobby, and the New York haul reflected it: Lewis Hamilton green sapphires, numbered Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri rookies, Charles Leclerc Ferrari parallels, and a run of Kimi Antonelli rookies — timely, given the young driver's rise up the standings.
Football's Downtown craze was in full effect too. Patrick Mahomes and Nikola Jokić Downtowns anchored the veteran side, while a wave of rookie Downtowns tied neatly to the trip itself, a Jaxson Dart Giants card that felt right to grab in New York, and a Caleb Williams rookie picked up with a plan to flip it a few weeks later in front of a Chicago crowd. The booth stayed busy with trades, which is how some of the heaviest cards changed hands: a Drake Baldwin Topps Dynasty rookie patch auto, a Jalen Hurts Swoosh Flawless numbered to five, a Saquon Barkley gold prizm /10, and a Lando Norris team relic with a patch so rare it barely has a comp.
There was something for every kind of collector. A David Ortiz Tier One logo-tag one-of-one. A Lamine Yamal Dynasty rookie autograph riding the World Cup wave. A 1996 Kobe Bryant rookie refractor with five-figure interest. A signed 2013 Novak Djokovic US Open credential, event-worn and unlike anything else in the case. And for Cardinals fans, a 2025 Donruss Larry Fitzgerald Downtown, his first Downtown since 2018, graded in a PSA 10.
The National in Chicago, Illinois
The largest card show on the planet with pickups scaled up to match. The wildest stretch of the weekend happened at the table, when two Tom Brady Bowman rookies, a PSA 8 and a PSA 9, walked up independently in the same show. Landing both graded copies of one of football's most iconic modern rookies in a single weekend is the kind of thing that only really happens at The National.
The centerpiece was a single blockbuster lot loaded with high-end ink. National Treasures Notable Nicknames led the way with a genuine murderers' row of Penny Hardaway, Michael Irvin, Karl Malone, David Ortiz, a Steph Curry Treasure Moments auto, and a Dirk Nowitzki "German Wunderkind" among the crown jewels. Around them sat a first-year Immaculate Kevin Durant logo-tag patch numbered to five, a Satchel Paige Flawless cut signature, a game-worn LeBron James gold National Treasures patch /10, and a James Harden one-of-one autograph pulled straight from the 2025 National's own black-box release.
Victor Wembanyama was everywhere, a silver rookie, multiple rookie patches, and back-to-back Noir sneaker spotlights, a reminder of how quickly he's become one of the most collected players in the game. The lineup ran deep across sports, too, from Yamamoto and Ohtani rookies for the Dodgers wave to Ja'Marr Chase laundry-tag and rookie-patch autos. And then there were the pure fun pieces the shop loves to hunt: a Stan Lee X-Men autograph, a Chris Hemsworth "Strongest Avenger" inscription, and Disney-Pixar chrome from Elemental and Cars that you simply won't find sitting in most cases.
The most meaningful pickup wasn't the most expensive. After years of searching, Brooks finally tracked down the Larry Fitzgerald 1/1 ticket autograph needed to complete a full rainbow, a chase that started back in 2020 and came together the same summer Fitzgerald was enshrined in Canton. It's the rare card where the story is worth as much as the slab. The weekend closed out with a 2018 Topps Chrome Ohtani purple rookie autograph, bought raw at the show and sent off to grade, that came back a PSA 9 with a 10 auto.
Go shop the haul
Two shows, two cities, and one very full display case. Whether you collect F1, chase Downtowns, or want a graded rookie of your favorite player, most of what came home from Fanatics Fest and The National is live right now!
Come see it all at magiccitycollectibles.com — new pickups get listed as fast as we can process them, so check back often. The good stuff moves quick!
And if it isn't on our website, you can find it STARTING AT $1 this Saturday, August 8th at 8am CST. Bookmark the show now!