National 2024 Recap: The National in Cleveland is over and it was a very fun time. I was a media ambassador for The National again this year. It is so cool to film fun things that are happening and to help inform everyone of all the great things The National has to offer. I hope you enjoyed my coverage. I will be posting a recap video soon, so keep a watch on my socials.
The crowds were absolutely insane at this National, personally it felt like it was the most crowded National ever. That’s very good for The Hobby, its popularity is really strong. I loved the food trucks inside the I-X Center and that this year the National added tons of carpet!! My feet did not hurt for the first time in 6 Nationals! LOL
There was so much to do, to win, and to collect. I am going to highlight some of my favs.
The 1932 Babe Ruth called shot jersey was at Heritage Auctions and it was amazing to get to see that in person. It is estimated to sell on auction for $30 Million+. Heritage Auctions’ booth was very big and had some other unique items including the ruby slippers from The Wizard of Oz, the heads from The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles costumes, and all the original costumes from The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.
Topps Q and A
Great food, fun trivia and insider information from the big dogs at Topps! After an introduction from each of the 5 leaders from Topps/Fanatics, they then answered everyone's questions, even the tough ones, which I really appreciated. They are always open with the collectors at the Q and A and provide a lot of information on how things are thought about from their end. A few things I learned from the Q&A is that I’m encouraged about Topps reclaiming the WWE license. Also, Topps’ redemption numbers have gone way down from previous years which is promising for the future of redemptions and Topps’ Customer Service. They also promised there are some updates and improvements coming on the digital side as well which is exciting as I enjoy the Topps Bunt app a lot.
At the end they gave everyone a Topps Q&A special Jasson Dominguez auto /50 which was awesome. Thanks, Topps!
I always love going to this Topps event. When I was 9 at my first Topps Q and A, and I asked Dave, President of Trading Cards at Topps “How long until I could work for them”. It worked because the next year at The National they hired me to be Brody The Topps Kid. Check out the pictures in this article to see me with Topps execs then, and now!
Thanks to everyone at Topps for another amazing Q and A!
RBICru7 had personally, my favorite booth at the National as their high end wrestling collection was unbelievable. What a display! I recommended that booth in my preview for a reason! I ended up grabbing 4 awesome cards to add the WWE collection from Ryan at RBICru7. Wrestling cards are super hot in The Hobby right now, so if you want to add to your collection, RBICru7 is my go to shop for wrestling! The wrestling card panel on the main stage on Thursday of the show was also informative and those guys have done a great job with that the past few years.
The TRISTAR autograph pavilion was packed with excited fans as always.
When I saw the list of who they had signing this year, I knew exactly who I wanted to interview, Alan Faneca, an NFL Hall of Famer with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Alan also has Epilepsy, like me. I was pumped to talk to him about managing his Epilepsy while playing sports. To be able to talk to someone else that has had similar experiences to me and is an NFL Hall of Famer, was a big deal for me, and I was very grateful to be able to do it. We had a great talk, and I will be posting our interview on my socials soon.
I got to be on the main stage with Hobby Hotline for the 4th year which was a lot of fun. You can watch replays on GoGtslive’s youtube. Also, the VIP area was very different but in my opinion, a lot better than Chicago’s. It was much larger and was somewhere you could go to relax for a minute, or make some deals. Shout out to Ludex for making it happen. Upper Deck had an amazing display of some of their top signers and had awesome giveaways going on throughout the show. They also introduced a Free Card Wall which I thought was a nice addition to the booth. I got to visit PSA and talk to my friend Chris Carlin. Their booth was top notch this year as it was 2 stories! It was overall just a massive booth with a ton of area. Singles Club was 50-Cent club this year which was sweet. TopShelf Breaks was running cool things all weekend at their booth including a wheel. WhatNot was giving away a CyberTruck if you made an account and sold at least one card on WhatNot. These are just a few of my favorite highlights of some of the fun stuff in Cleveland this year!
How was your National Experience this year? Let me know!
College Football 25 is out and is one of the most hyped up sports games ever. It’s been fun to play as well as learning more about different College teams/players. I’m curious to see if people playing could intertwine this with the card market. Stud juniors or seniors that can be drafted next year, people can see what they can do long before they’re drafted and I think this could be something to look at with The Hobby. You guys playing College Football 25? Let me know!
Thanks as always for reading!Never forget to have fun with the Hobby!
Peace out!
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