Aug 31, 2026 · 41 min
Gary Vaynerchuk links collectibles to culture, creativity, and patience
The "Missing Ingredient" You Need to Build Your Brand
The conversation frames collecting as both a disciplined market activity and a vehicle for building inclusive, durable intellectual property.
- 1Disciplined collectors preserve cash during market frenzies and focus on proven cultural icons when attention fades.
- 2Fictional characters can outlast athletes as collectibles because their value is less exposed to injuries, scandals, or performance.
- 3VeeFriends reflects a broader ambition to turn personal creativity, inclusion, and cultural fluency into a lasting entertainment universe.
Don't miss
Gary explains why he sees VeeFriends as a potential entertainment universe, connecting his childhood cartoon influences to original characters, comics, and rare cards.
The brief
At a live sports card convention, Gary Vaynerchuk treats collecting less like a hot-tip market and more like contemporary art: most items fade, while a few culturally durable icons endure.
His practical rule is patience. Save cash during booms, buy when attention recedes, and separate informed risk from the FOMO that turns enthusiasm into overpayment.
Gary also argues that fictional figures such as the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and SpongeBob may be sturdier collectibles than athletes, whose careers can change through injury or scandal.
That logic extends to VeeFriends, the original universe Gary drew himself: a project built around rare cards, comics, empathy, and the ambition to create enduring intellectual property.
The conversation widens from cards to culture, with calls for more culturally fluent ambassadors, stronger representation, live shopping, and renewed interest in analog experiences.