CardVault by Tom Brady Takes Over Fanatics Fest 2026 With Brady, A-Rod, Daymond John, Travis Scott and the Hobby's Biggest Collectors

Two days on the show floor at the Javits Center delivered rookie autographs, a seven-figure Star Wars sketch pull, a live Travis Scott card break, and a state-of-the-hobby message from CardVault's own leadership.

CardVault by Tom Brady set up shop in the middle of the floor at Fanatics Fest 2026, the industry's biggest convention week, which organizers doubled in size from 2025. Over two days at New York's Javits Center, the CardVault booth hosted Tom Brady, Alex Rodriguez, New York Yankees pitcher Cam Schlittler, Daymond John, Grant Williams, Karl-Anthony Towns, Logan Paul, Wesley Snipes and Travis Scott for live pack breaks, autograph moments and a widely watched Collectors Panel. CardVault also used the week to announce a new automated-retail vending partnership with Daymond John. Below is a full recap of both days, plus CardVault leadership's take on what the record-breaking week at Fanatics Fest — and at The National two weeks later — means for the hobby heading into 2027.

Day One: A-Rod, Cam Schlittler, Tom Brady and Daymond John Hit the Booth

Day One opened with Alex Rodriguez ripping a box of Bowman Finest basketball, pulling an autographed Cooper Flagg rookie card that the group immediately put in the "keep pile" — Rodriguez called it a card for the "future Hall of Fame pile" before the box also produced a Dylan Harper rookie and multiple Spider parallels.

Cam Schlittler, the Walpole, Massachusetts native and American League Cy Young contender, followed with a Smuggler's Bounty Star Wars box, pulling a Chewbacca card numbered to 50, an Admiral Ackbar autograph, a numbered Moff Gideon art card and an unexpected sketch card. Between pulls, Schlittler talked about growing up a few minutes from CardVault's Gillette Stadium store and choosing the Yankees over his hometown Red Sox: "You know, they're really good at the pitch development... the Yankees are always involved."

Tom Brady then sat down with Austin Wells for a football pack break built around a rapid-fire Q&A — fans learned how Brady's avocado-based ice cream came together with longtime collaborator Alex Guerrero, and Brady weighed in on how physicality in the NFL has changed since he entered the league in 2000. The segment ended with Brady signing cards and a helmet for young fans at the booth.

Daymond John closed out Day One by unveiling CardVault's new automated-retail vending machine — a first-of-its-kind partnership for the brand's national expansion — before breaking a box of Topps UFC Royalty. Highlights included a Dustin Poirier card numbered to 99, an Islam Makhachev card numbered to 10, and a redemption that later revealed a dual autograph of Valentina Shevchenko and Merab Dvalishvili. The day wrapped with a fan activation: free packs and a football toss for the crowd on the show floor.

Day Two: Grant Williams, the Collectors Panel and a Surprise From Travis Scott

Day Two began with CardVault's third annual VIP family event, where Boston Celtics forward and noted collector Grant Williams brought a surprise guest: Tom Brady. The pair joined VIP families for a group pack break that produced a Cam Ward rookie, a Jordan Love card numbered to 50, and a 1-of-1 Fernando Mendoza draft autograph that Brady revealed he had personally purchased earlier that day.

The afternoon's marquee moment was the Collectors Panel, moderated in front of the Fanatics Fest crowd and featuring Wesley Snipes, Tom Brady, newly crowned NBA champion Karl-Anthony Towns, and Logan Paul. Highlights from the conversation:

• Logan Paul teased an unrevealed Pokémon card he called "the biggest gamble of my life," promising to peel it live on his YouTube channel at The National.

• Tom Brady showed off his newly acquired 1-of-1 Fernando Mendoza autograph — his first NFL rookie autograph in the card — calling it a card he had been chasing "for a couple months."

• Karl-Anthony Towns named his own rookie-year Bowman Chrome Refractor as his favorite card in his personal collection.

• Wesley Snipes detailed a WWE and UFC collection that includes a Prizm Black /101 John Cena, a Conor McGregor rookie numbered to 5, and a triple autograph of Anderson Silva, Georges St-Pierre and Jon Jones.

• Grant Williams recalled trading three courtside NBA Finals tickets, plus cash, for a single card from a collector on Instagram.

The day closed with a surprise appearance from Travis Scott, who discussed his Cactus Jack x Topps partnership before ripping brand-new MLB Cactus Jack 2026 Topps cards live for the crowd, followed by a WWE box featuring John Cena, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, Dominik Mysterio and Batista.

CardVault's Take: Is the Hobby's Hot Streak Sustainable?

Days after Fanatics Fest wrapped, Chris Costa, who oversees core operations and platform execution at CardVault by Tom Brady, addressed questions circling across the hobby: is this growth real, and can it last? His answer, in short: yes, and it looks healthier than past boom cycles.

"Transactions are at an all-time high. Foot traffic's at an all-time high. Revenue is at an all-time high," Costa said, adding that Fanatics Fest and The National, held just one week apart this year because of the World Cup calendar, did not cannibalize each other as some in the industry predicted. "The sentiment before all of this was, hey, Fanatics Fest is going to kill the National. That is not the case. The National was the best National we've ever had... highest attendance they've ever had."

On pricing, Costa's take was that the market is maturing rather than overheating: record prices are concentrated in genuinely rare, iconic cards, vintage, patch autographs, early chrome refractors, rather than speculative rookie prisms. "Gone are the days of Zion Williamson based prisms," Costa noted, pointing instead to record-breaking prices on players like Shohei Ohtani, Michael Jordan and Steph Curry as a sign of "smart money" entering the space with targeted, long-term investments.

Costa also flagged two supply-side pressure points worth watching: PSA's grading backlog, reported at roughly 14 million cards, with lower-tier submission levels shut down entirely at The National due to demand; and CardVault's own rapid retail expansion, which he says will grow from 17 locations to as many as 40 by the end of next year, opening roughly one new store per month.

About CardVault by Tom Brady

CardVault by Tom Brady is a first-of-its-kind retail experience focused on buying, selling, trading and grading sports cards and collectibles. Founded in 2020 and backed by Tom Brady's personal passion for the hobby, CardVault has been named America's Best Card Shop and is rapidly expanding its national footprint one city at a time. Learn more at cardvaultbytombrady.com, and follow along on YouTube and Instagram.