Top Social Media Trends From The National and the Card Show Social Playbook

[ASFN Admin]

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The 2026 National Sports Collectors Convention wasn’t just a massive week for the hobby in Chicago, it was also one of the biggest weeks of the year on the hobby’s social feeds. Between July 29 and August 2, the hobby’s top brands, auction houses, breakers, and creators generated over 3,000 posts, pulling in 46 million views and over 1.5 million engagements.

Rather than relying on guesswork, we looked at the data to see what actually broke through the noise. Here are the top social media trends from The National, the actionable playbook proven on the floor, and the new technology powering these insights.

All of data was surfaced via the Cards & Collectibles Social Index, a category-specific intelligence product built on MondoTrends.

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The MondoTrends Cards and Collectibles Index provides social account rankings based on platform, date and content type.

Where the Attention Lived​

Matching content to the right platform was crucial:

• Instagram was the main event: Accounting for roughly two-thirds of every like, comment, and share, Instagram averaged 1,124 engagements per post across the top 40 accounts.
• Facebook provided reach: Card-world accounts posted heavily to Facebook and generated massive view counts, though engagement per post was lower (~149 average).
• TikTok punched above its weight: With under 400 posts, TikTok generated nearly 380,000 engagements. It was also home to the single most-engaged video of the week:
  • Watch:KING OF THE KARDS – “THE BIGGEST CARD I’VE EVER SOLD AT NATIONAL CARD SHOW” (1.4M views / 113,175 engagements)
• X and YouTube served supporting roles: These platforms delivered real-time updates and long-form value, respectively, but were secondary drivers for raw engagement.

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MondoTrends provides industry specific social insights for all social platforms.

What Worked on the Floor​

If one account mastered short-form video, it was KING OF THE KARDS, who racked up 6.76 million views and 367,000 engagements across just 16 posts. This comes as no surprise given Kyle was recently named Creator of the Year at the Mantel Hobby Awards. Still, creators and brands alike can learn a lot from his playbook: naming real dollar amounts in titles and framing posts around first-person superlatives.

• Breakout Format 1 (Dollar-figure negotiation):“$200,000 Sports Card Negotiation for GHOST GOAT GRAIL” (1.14M views / 44,147 engagements)
• Breakout Format 2 (Personal superlative):“Biggest card I’ve ever sold”

However, video wasn’t the only winner. Fanatics Collect dominated engagement by publishing real-time hobby news during the National as clean “BREAKING” graphics.

• Breakout Format 3 (Static Graphic News):One Piece × SpongeBob × McDonald’s leak (94,404 engagements—the most-engaged non-video post of the week)
• Breakout Format 4 (Record Sale Graphic):$11M Shohei Ohtani sale (41,720 engagements)

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Rank posts by views, engagement rate, engagements, or over-performing.

The Card-Show Content Playbook​

Based on post-level performance data from the event, here is the step-by-step playbook for brands, breakers, and creators looking to maximize engagement at the next big show:

1. Name the Number: Build posts around a real dollar figure and a named grail. The price is the ultimate hook.
2. Go First-Person Superlative: Biggest, best, insane! Frame titles around personal stakes (“craziest thing I’ve ever seen”) rather than neutral product shots.
3. Sell the Feeling, Not Just the Card (~17× median engagement): Highlight raw emotional reactions and “life-changing” moments over polished b-roll.
   • Example:Fanatics Collect – “‘That’s life-changing'”
4. Treat the Show Like a Main Event (~11× median engagement): Borrow sports broadcast language to hype marquee matchups on the floor.
   • Example:The National – “Tonight’s main event on The National fight card”
5. Break News as a Clean Graphic: Record sales and surprise collabs packaged as fast, legible “BREAKING” images often out-engage heavy video editing.
6. Put a Famous Face in Frame (~3× median engagement): Booth cameos from celebrities and top creators act as instant reach multipliers.
   • Example:Alt – “Logan Paul himself stopped by our booth”
7. Chase the Pop-Culture Crossover (~2.2× median engagement): Pokémon, One Piece, and anime collabs import massive audiences from outside traditional sports cards.
   • Example:Goldin – “WE GOT A CHARIZARD”
8. Showcase the 1-of-1 (With Good Lighting): High rarity combined with crisp, well-lit visuals and key figures on camera consistently delivers. The photo of the $250k card inside a glass case with a massive glare in the middle isn’t going to cut it.
9. Shoot Raw and Handheld: Authentic, in-the-moment footage was the #1 cross-platform style trend across the entire event.
10. Tag the Moment: Use event-specific tags (“At The National” / #NSCC) to ride built-in search traffic and momentum.

The Tech Behind the Trends: Meet MondoTrends​

All of this data was surfaced via the Cards & Collectibles Social Index, a category-specific intelligence product built on MondoTrends.

Officially launched today, MondoTrends is a market-intelligence platform developed by Mondo Metrics founded by analytics veteran Nick Cicero. Built as the spiritual successor to CrowdTangle, MondoTrends provides cross-platform leaderboards that allow sports properties, media networks, and brands to see where audience attention is moving and why.

“CrowdTangle gave journalists, analysts and media operators a simple way to see what stories were moving,” said Nick Cicero, Founder and CEO of Mondo Metrics. “MondoTrends brings back that spirit of discovery, but built to make sense of the modern sports and media market: what is moving, why it matters, who is gaining influence and where attention is being underpriced.”

At launch, the platform offers cross-platform post search, video length and format analytics, audience momentum tracking, and AI-powered trend detection. The platform offers numerous pre-built lists with the ability to make your own custom tracking lists to fit your social team’s needs. MondoTrends is already being utilized across sports and media by organizations including the Arizona Cardinals, the United Football League, Underdog Sports, the Los Angeles Chargers, and League One Volleyball (LOVB).

For more information on MondoTrends visit MondoMetrics.com/Trends

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Disclaimer: Mike Metzler is a consultant for MondoMetrics.

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