Months after the acquisition of Topps, the leader of Fanatics, Michael Rubin started to outline his vision for Fanatics Collectibles. His goal was to make Fanatics a one stop shop for the collector instead of the current model of collectors having to bounce around to buy, grade, and sell their cards. The acquisition of PWCC makes total sense with the vision Rubin and Fanatics have.

Rubin in October of 2021 said;

“To be quite frank, the trading card companies are good manufacturers but they don’t have the vision for building a much more direct-to-consumer model and then bringing all the pieces together to create a great collector’s experience."

A common theme with Rubin is direct to consumer and making the business and surrounding folk involve operate as efficient as possible. With Rubin being the head of a company evalued at $31 billion and a revenue of $3.5 billion, clearly he is doing something right.

He goes onto say;

“That’s all selling to distributors, who then sell to retailers, who then try to resale it, who then put them on eBay, who then sell them to collectors,” he said. “When you think about taking this model much more direct to consumer, and then adding in an integrated collectors experience of having the primary cards sold, secondary capabilities, with grading and breaking and insurance and storage and financing, this is a very massive opportunity.”

I highlighted the key sentence as the dominos have since fallen making this become a reality. Fanatics Live platform is soon to release which will likely surpass all other live breaking platforms. Now with the acquisition of PWCC, it gives Fanatics the ability to have a marketplace to buy and sell cards. It seems the acquisition of a grading company is what is likely next for Fanatics.

In the immediate, I doubt you will see any change for PWCC's current website or offerings on the platform. It will likely be a slow integration process over the next few years. Rumblings and worries about if your assets are safe in PWCC's vault should be put to rest. Fanatics taking over will likely void the potential bankruptcy PWCC found itself facing after many bad loans.

PWCC Marketplace has earned a solid reputation over the last few years as a trusted platform for buying and selling high-value collectibles, particularly in the sports card sector. The company has established itself as a go-to destination for collectors, leveraging its authentication services, extensive inventory, and seamless online marketplace. On the other hand, Fanatics Collectibles has emerged as a powerhouse in the sports collectibles industry. Acquiring iconic card manufacturer Topps, as well as the NBA and NFL trading card license come 2026. Their acquisition of PWCC Marketplace represents a strategic move that merges two influential entities within the collectibles ecosystem.