| RECON // NEWSLETTER NO. 012 |
MON NOV 2, 2026 |
|
Know the market. Collect with conviction.
TCG · VIDEO GAMES · ANIME
|
 | | IMAGE: COLLECTIBLESNEWS |
The original 1981 Donkey Kong arcade flyer art, with Mario’s first public appearance as Jumpman, sold for $329,400 at Landry Pop
| SOLD | $329,400 · LANDRY POP AUCTIONS · OCT 28 |
| ESTIMATE | $100,000–$150,000 |
| ARTIST | LESLIE CABARGA · 1981 · FOR NINTENDO |
$329,400 +120% VS HIGH ESTIMATE
Leslie Cabarga’s original art for Nintendo’s 1981 North American Donkey Kong flyer sold for $329,400 at Landry Pop Auctions on Oct 28, per CollectiblesNews, more than double its $100,000–$150,000 estimate. A former Nintendo of America ad executive saved it from the trash in the late 1980s, and a c. 1985 Mario and Luigi production art from the same archive made $17,080 against a $6,000 high estimate. It is a one-of-one with no comp ladder, so the read is the gap to the estimate: bidding on early Nintendo art went well past what the house expected.
|
|
|
Collectors flag PSA slabs with relabeled certs, and the tell is a QR code link ending in “/psa”
An Elite Fourum summary on Oct 29 traced two different slabs carrying one PSA cert number, 65821932, one of them listed on Fanatics Collect; the theory is that real labels are stripped with solvent and reprinted. The suspected fakes’ QR codes link to the cert page with “/psa” on the end, and the poster found none in about 1,300 random slabs. PSA hasn’t commented; a relabeled slab passes a plain cert lookup, so unscanned older certs carry the most risk.
|
Whatnot expects its sales to more than double from $8 billion, with toy and hobby up 140% this year
Whatnot’s 2027 Consumer Trends Report expects sales to more than double from the $8 billion sold worldwide in 2025, with toy and hobby up 140% so far in 2026 and trading card games an important part, per ICv2. In the same week eBay, owner of TCGplayer and Goldin, said it is cutting about 1,000 jobs. More of the hobby’s supply now changes hands in fast livestream auctions, which makes those comps worth checking against slower venues.
SOURCE: ICv2 · OCT 28, 2026 |
|
| |
| TCG |
The FBI warned card shops after seven New Jersey stores were hit from Sep 2025 to Mar 2026 by buyers whose tap payment fails, then have a stolen card number keyed in by hand; no arrests yet. (Dexerto, Oct 31) |
| TCG |
We sent CGC evidence of undocumented first-print distinctions in the Harry Potter: Mystery at Hogwarts cards, and CGC passed it to its grading team for review. The cards came with Mattel’s board game, which its illustrator dates to 2000 and calls possibly the first art of Hogwarts and its cast, so some collectors call them Harry Potter “rookies.” We own first-print copies. (our post on X, Oct 31; McKelvey Illustration) |
| TCG |
A sealed box of 1977 Topps Star Wars Series 1 cards (36 packs, likely four or five #1 Luke Skywalker cards) sat at an $18,000 bid at Heritage on Oct 30; a PSA 10 #1 Luke holds the card’s $687,500 record. (ComicBook.com, Oct 30) |
| TCG |
Pokémon cards are 2,978 of the 6,451 items on PSA’s stolen-card list, or 46%; the most-listed is a 2026 Korean Mega Festa Magikarp promo, with 50 copies. (Collectibles On SI, Oct 28) |
| TCG |
The Pokémon Company confirmed the McDonald’s Happy Meal promotion for the US in November: two cards per meal from a 15-card set with seven foils, plus one of 15 mini Happy Meal box toys. (CollectiblesNews, Nov 1) |
| VIDEO GAMES |
A 2022 Pokémon Unite world champion listed the Worlds trophy for $400,000 on X, an asking price, not a sale; a 2024 Worlds trophy sold for $12,810 with fees at Goldin in May 2025. (Dexerto, Nov 1) |
| TCG |
The Mega Rayquaza ex Premium Tournament Collection reaches retail on Feb 12, 2027 at $49.99. (ICv2, Oct 30) |
|
|
|
| UPCOMING RELEASES |
DROP DATES |
| NOV 6 |
Delta Reign (Pokémon TCG, English): its Elite Trainer Box tracked at $106 and its booster bundle at $55 on Oct 27, per Chase Society
LIVE LISTINGS ON EBAY → |
ETB $106 ON OCT 27 |
| NOV 6 |
Cyberpunk TCG: Welcome to Night City (WeirdCo): the first full retail release, after pre-release events on the weekend of Oct 30, with weekly Night City Brawl events starting in Organized Play stores, per Cyberpunk TCG
LIVE LISTINGS ON EBAY → |
FIRST RETAIL SET |
| NOV 13 |
Magic: The Gathering – Star Trek (Wizards of the Coast): Play Boosters, Collector Boosters and Beam Me Up Bundles, with seven actor-signed headliner cards at 250 copies each in Collector Boosters, per ICv2 (Oct 20)
LIVE LISTINGS ON EBAY → |
SIGNED CARDS 250 EACH |
| JUN 11, 2027 |
Dragon Ball Super Card Game: Fusion World Story Booster 03 [ST-03] (Bandai): 12-card packs in 20-pack displays, 5 Leaders, 2 Secret Rares and new alternate-art cards; no price yet, per ICv2 (Oct 27) |
NO MSRP YET |
|
| THINGS TO WATCH |
UP AND COMING |
| TCG |
Cyberpunk TCG · NOV 6
Organized Play stores can start weekly Night City Brawl events as the Welcome to Night City retail edition launches.
Attention is rising: US search interest is at 46 against 8 before on Google Trends, and VGC is covering the franchise at 1.6% of its articles against 0.2%. (Cyberpunk TCG) |
| VIDEO GAMES |
Sonic Pico Park · NOV 12
Sonic Pico Park launches on PS5, Xbox Series, Switch 2, Switch and PC.
Treasure Hunters Podcast spent 2.4% of its talk on Sonic in the last four weeks, up from none before; other signals are flat. (Pico Park) |
| VIDEO GAMES |
Grand Theft Auto VI · NOV 19
Grand Theft Auto VI releases on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S.
VGC is covering GTA at 7.2% of its articles against 4.8% before, and US search interest is at 30 against 24 on Google Trends. (Rockstar Games) |
Stages: Early = a date on the calendar or attention starting to move; Building = attention rising into a dated event; Fading = the event has passed or attention is falling. Attention is podcast talk, news, search and video counts, each against its own past. A watch list, not a buy list.
|
|
FIELD NOTE
A one-of-one has no comp. The estimate is just the house’s guess.
The Donkey Kong flyer art had no earlier sale to anchor it, so Landry Pop’s $100,000–$150,000 estimate was a guess and the bidders set the real number. One-of-one pieces price on how many serious buyers show up that day, and a clean provenance brings more of them. The next comparable early Nintendo art sale will say more than this one result can.
|
|
|
|
Disclosure: Links marked eBay are affiliate links: Collector Recon may earn a commission if you buy, at no extra cost to you. Collector Recon doesn’t own the items featured and isn’t paid by auction houses or brands for coverage. Figures are from the sources named, checked the day they were reported; not investment advice. You’re receiving this because you subscribed at collectorrecon.xyz. |
|
