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Shane's Domain Auction Picks for Wednesday December 17th

Shane's Domain Auction Picks for Wednesday December 17th

Shane Cultra
December 17, 2025

One thing I did not see coming, but absolutely should have, was the graded card market.

When I was collecting in the 70s, 80s, and 90s, we did care about quality and centering. We were basically grading cards, but it was subjective. What changed everything was the creation of an entity that grades cards, acts as the official authority on quality, and tracks quantity. Now you know exactly how many cards of a given quality exist, or at least how many have been graded. There could be others out there, but until they are graded by that company, they essentially do not exist.

The wild part of the story is who ended up buying that company. PSA, through Collectors Universe, was purchased by Steve Cohen, the owner of the New York Mets. Cohen is worth around $23 billion and has an art collection reportedly worth $1 billion. He made his money running a hedge fund. That same hedge fund has paid roughly $600 million in fines related to insider trading.

My guess is his next purchase is Fanatics. He likes monopolies. Fanatics essentially has a monopoly on licensed sports apparel and merchandise. They control most of the exclusive licenses for the MLB, NBA, and NFL. It is extremely difficult for a new company, or any company, to produce licensed pro sports products without going through them. On top of that, they bought Topps and secured exclusive rights across the major sports, meaning no one can print licensed cards without going through Fanatics. They are about as close to a legal monopoly as you can get, and my guess is Cohen eventually buys them to complete the package.

I have mixed feelings about all of this. PSA has actually been great for the card market. It gave the hobby exactly what it needed, an authoritative grading standard so values could be established consistently.

Fanatics is a different story. I hate it. It drives up prices and kills competition. That makes sense in trading cards, where rarity is the point. But in consumer apparel and clothing, it makes no sense to me. I hope they eventually get broken up.

Quote of the Day: “A market does not really exist until someone defines quality and scarcity in a way everyone agrees on.” — Paul Graham

Domain of the Day: UrbanNetwork.com Exudes modern, connection, and community. Could be a social network, urban planning, design, fashion. An open vessel

Please Note: The list below contains affiliate links and/or names that have been posted for a fee. It is how we pay for our time since it is a free site. More details at bottom of page. Can go to any of the auctions by adding the names at the end like this one

Shane's Domain Auction Picks for Wednesday December 17th

Godaddy Domains with Bids

Godaddy Names Value Names (Low or No Bids)

Other GoDaddy Names With More Than One Bid