Documentary+ Reveals Trailer For Morgan Jon Fox’s ‘The Hobby’
by Brendan M. Allen
The culture and business surrounding collectibles has grown exponentially over the last couple decades. You don’t have to go very far to see it. At the grocery store, next to the gum and tabloids, you’ll find mystery figures, double poly-bagged inside little cardboard cubes with hologrammed, tamper evident seals. Pokemon cards are stored behind the counter at Target, with a limit placed on how many each customer can purchase each visit. Signed balls, game-used jerseys, limited edition enamel colors on Le Creuset cookware… The stuff is all around. Demand continues to rise, due in no small part to supply manipulation.
Remember the Beanie Babies couple? In 1999, Frances and Harold Mountain knelt on the floor of a courtroom, taking turns selecting Beanie Babies out of a massive pile. In their divorce, the couple was unable to divide their “assets” on their own, and were ordered to do a schoolyard pick in front of a judge and their attorneys. The first round, first pick? Maple the Bear. You can currently find Maple the Bear on eBay for $0.99 and $5 shipping.
My $0.02? Collect things that make you happy. If they don’t make you as happy as they once did, sell them or give them away. This is coming from a guy who has a signed and framed Mike Yastrzemski jersey on the wall next to 30 signed baseballs in a display case, original comics art, Funko Pops, about 30 sets of rare and antique dominoes… None of this stuff has intrinsic value. One hundred percent of the value is perceived, and perceived value is the tricky bit of the whole deal.
Anyway… Documentary+ has announced The Hobby, a new documentary film by Morgan Jon Fox that takes a character-driven, feel-good deep dive into the high-stakes, eccentric world of card collecting. The film runs 89 minutes, and will be available on TVOD on February 16, 2024. Check out the trailer below.
