This is an unpublished staff draft for SADMIN review. It restates public, sourced facts about Gary Vaynerchuk’s trading-card work. Research is current as of 22 October 2026. Short quotations are his published words; everything else is NTCA paraphrase.
Who he is in the hobby
Vaynerchuk (GaryVee) owns the VeeFriends character IP and licenses it to Topps under a multi-year deal announced in October 2024. Sports Collectors Digest reported the launch at New York Comic Con. On 19 October 2024 he called the Topps Chrome partnership “one of the most substantial days of my career” and said the cards would sit alongside Disney, Marvel, Star Wars, Garbage Pail Kids and Pokémon on Topps Chrome, in hobby shops nationwide (X @garyvee).
Topps Chrome VeeFriends launched 7 May 2025 (100-character set). A larger 200-character 2026 set followed on 10 June 2026 and was sold at Target, GameStop, Dick’s and hobby shops (Tradercracks / Beckett checklist; GaryVee Substack, 9 June 2026; X, 31 May 2026). On 4 October 2026, asked about Panini, he wrote: “We have a deal with Topps so there's that.” (X @garyvee).
The first physical VeeFriends card set was released on Fanatics’ zerocool in March 2022 (Business Wire).
Local shops
In 2025 he told buyers to search for a sports-card store near them and call about the Chrome release, and said VeeFriends was “picking a card shop in every market to be exclusive” (11 March 2025; 17 February 2025). On 15 December 2024: “Can't wait for 2025 - these in every card shop in America.” (X @garyvee). At the 2026 National he posted a video “for those wanting to open a card shop, or expanding their card shop” (1 August 2026).
Shows he has attended (past)
Sourced National Sports Collectors Convention appearances: 2019 in Chicago as a dealer for four days, booth 309 per Radicards; 2023 in Rosemont; 2024 in Cleveland (24–28 July); 2025 in Rosemont (30 July–3 August), at the VeeFriends booth daily; 2026 in Rosemont (29 July–2 August), including a 30 July panel with Logan Paul. He also appeared at New York Comic Con in 2024 (booth #1217) and 2026 (booth #2835), at a 7 May 2025 GameStop NYC Chrome launch night, at Dave & Adam’s, 1350 Broadway, NYC on 9 May 2025 and 18 February 2026, and at Fanatics Fest NYC in 2025 (exact 2025 dates not in the source). Sources: DailyVee 572 / Radicards; Sports Collectors Digest; TSNN; VeeFriends blog; SI Collectibles; EventCreate; LinkedIn (Chris Toro, GameStop).
VeeFriends listed Fanatics Fest NYC (16–19 July 2026), San Diego Comic-Con (23–26 July 2026) and Card City Expo (30–31 May 2026) as team stops. Sources did not confirm that he attended those 2026 stops. An April 2025 post asking who was going to “the london card show” does not show attendance.
What he has put money into
Confirmed: equity partner and board member at Candy Digital (Fanatics NFTs) in 2021; investor in Sorare’s February 2021 Series A; VaynerFund participated in Courtyard’s $7 million seed in November 2022. No sourced ownership of a card shop, a grading company, a breaking company, or a card-show promotion business.
What he has said about the market
In a 10 June 2025 interview he said the COVID-era bubble bursting left a more educated buyer and called the hobby “probably in the best place it's been in a very, very long time” (Right About Now transcript). At the 2026 National, SI paraphrased him warning that no market goes up forever. On 22 August 2026 he wrote that “trading cards and NFTs and comics and alt collectibles are red hot” and told sellers to take some profits (X @garyvee). On 2 May 2026: “collectibles have exploded and will continue to with the ai world creating a need for analog and community.” He has been publicly bullish on non-sport and TCG share, vintage fictional-character cards, and live social shopping (Whatnot, TikTok Shop, eBay Live, Walmart Live).
Upcoming — and why nothing is on the NTCA calendar
As of 22 October 2026 the dossier found no confirmed upcoming card-show appearance. Items that exist in public calendars but do not meet NTCA’s bar (a real card show or event with date + location + source, and a confirmed role) are left out:
- 1 December 2026 Paley Center conversation with eBay CEO Jamie Iannone, 25 W 52nd St, New York — sourced, but the listing is about commerce, not a card show (Paley Center).
- VeeFriends Treasure Chest 2026 — dated November 2026 with no exact day.
- 21 November 2026 online VeeFriends TCG tournament — online only; no role for him stated.
- A 2027 “fun drop” mentioned on 25 August 2026 — no date or place.
Staff should re-check veefriends.com/calendar before publishing this draft or adding a show row.
Watch items (sourced, not editorialized)
In September 2026 he said VeeFriends had made “tough firings and reorganizations” and switched suppliers after product “hiccups.” In October 2026 he replied to collectors about Walmart cancelling VeeFriends comic orders. Hobby coverage of VeeFriends cards has been mixed (Cardlines).
Draft status: not indexed, not in /news, not in the sitemap. Publish only after SADMIN review.