By BrunoPassos | Pounding The Rock (PtR), 2024-09-16 02:14:07
由生成式人工智能翻译，译文内容可能不准确或不完整，以原文为准。
作为 Topps 全球活动的组成部分，这位马刺队的新面孔与孩子们见面，交换球星卡，并为当地球迷留下了难忘的回忆。
上周六的 Topps 爱好者拆卡之夜是一项全球性的活动，体育和娱乐领域的顶级人物通过球星卡的视角与全球各地的粉丝互动。虽然该公司的新闻稿中不乏我们熟悉的运动员，但你很难找到比圣安东尼奥市西北部更引人注目的活动了。马刺队球星维克多·文班亚马(Victor Wembanyama)就在那里，突袭了 Boomtown 体育卡牌和收藏品店，与一群幸运的顾客见面，花时间回答问题，打开卡包，甚至还和当地孩子们交换了几张卡。
“我在视频里见过这种[卡牌店]，但这是我第一次来，”文班笑着说道。他承认自己也收藏了一些自己的球星卡，但他表示，他更专注于收藏星球大战的周边。
这次活动由 Topps 组织，Topps 是卡牌收藏界的翘楚，现归收藏品巨头 Fanatics 所有，文班与 Fanatics 签署了一份价值据报道每年 500 万美元的合作协议。这份协议包括亲笔签名的独家授权，以及大量独特发行的球星卡，这使得文班成为他们未来旗下的旗舰运动员之一。
周六下午，Boomtown 的大门只对一小部分顾客开放，他们被告知将会有一位神秘嘉宾到来。无论墙上那张与真人等高的文班海报是否算是一种暗示，当这位身高七尺的球员从后屋走到一群当地人面前时，现场的气氛还是十分热烈，这些人不仅会在文班上场比赛时为他加油，还会把收藏他的球星卡作为一种爱好。
11 岁的理查德就是其中之一，他自豪地认为自己是 Boomtown 的第一批顾客之一，能够近距离接触文班让他欣喜若狂。理查德最近刚抽到了一张他梦寐以求的文班球星卡，而与这位马刺队球星见面并握手更是让他今天的心情锦上添花。
“我这辈子都不会洗手了，”他开玩笑说。“太酷了，一生只有一次……我当时都惊呆了。”
孩子们是 Boomtown 这场活动的焦点，他们在文班到来之前参加了特别的赠品活动，然后被安排在最前面与他交谈。对于少数人来说，这也意味着可以用他们收藏的球星卡与文班在柜台后面的收藏进行交换；有人换到了一张勒布朗·詹姆斯的菜鸟球星卡，另一个人换到了一张 1960 年的吉姆·布朗球星卡，每一张卡都因为他们刚刚与谁讨价还价才得到它而更具纪念意义。
圣安东尼奥可能并不总是让人觉得是……嗯，任何事物的地理中心，但“文班效应”正在改变这一点。作为第一天就闻名全球的偶像，文班的“星途”已经吸引了广泛的关注，无论他是否在球场上。当世界各地的收藏家们花费四位数、五位数甚至六位数购买他最稀有的球星卡时，这群当地人却有机会与他们这座城市自己的传奇人物面对面交流，交换纸板，度过了半个小时。
“作为一名企业主，这简直是梦想成真，”Boomtown 的老板维克多·纳瓦(Victor Nava)说。“他是世界上最伟大的运动员……看到他出现在我们每天都来的这家小店里，这真是太不真实了。这就像做梦一样，我得掐一下自己……这种事情一辈子只有一次。太不可思议了。[我们的顾客] deserves it… 看到孩子们脸上的表情，我就想起了我每天早上为什么要醒来。”
点击查看原文：Victor Wembanyama made a surprise appearance at a local card shop
Victor Wembanyama made a surprise appearance at a local card shop
As part of a worldwide Topps event, the new face of the Spurs met with kids, traded cards, and gave local fans a memory they won’t soon forget.
Saturday’s Topps Hobby Rip Night was a worldwide undertaking, with top names in sports and entertainment interacting with fans in cities around the globe through the lens of trading cards. And while there was no shortage of familiar athletes on the company’s press release, you’d struggle to find a bigger splash than the one in San Antonio’s northwest side. That’s where Spurs star Victor Wembanyama made a surprise appearance before a lucky group of customers at Boomtown Sports Cards and Collectibles, taking time to answer questions, open packs of cards, and even trade a few with local children.
“I’ve seen these kinds of [card stores] in videos, but it’s my first time in one,” Wemby said upon arrival with a smile. He admitted to have grabbed a few of his own cards, but indicated his greater collecting focus was in Star Wars.
The event was organized by Topps, a staple in the card hobby now owned by collectibles giant Fanatics with whom Wemby has a partnership deal worth a reported $5 million a year. That deal includes exclusivity with autograph rights, and a plethora of uniquely released cards that make him one of their flagship athletes moving forward.
The doors opened at Boomtown on Saturday afternoon for only a select group of customers who were told to expect a surprise guest. Whether or not the lifesize poster of Wemby on the back wall was any kind of giveaway, there was still palpable excitement when the seven-footer appeared from the back room to a group of locals who not only cheer for him when he suits up but collect his cards as a hobby.
One of those is Richard, an 11-year-old who proudly considered himself one of Boomtown’s first customers and was overjoyed to get up close and personal with Wemby. Having recently pulled a desirable card of his, Richard’s day got even better by meeting and shaking hands with the Spurs star.
“I’m never washing this hand,” he joked. “That was super cool, once in a lifetime… My jaw was on the floor.”
Kids were the focus of the event at Boomtown, taking part in special giveaways before Wemby’s arrival and then placed at the forefront to talk to him. For a handful, that also meant trading cards in their collection with what he had behind the counter; someone came away with a LeBron James rookie card, another a 1960 Jim Brown, each with a bit more sentimental value knowing who they’d just bargained with to acquire it.
San Antonio may not always feel like the geographic center of, well, anything, but the Wemby Effect is changing that. A day one global icon, Wemby’s orbit already commands a wide focus whether he’s on the court or not. While collectors around the world spend four, five and sometimes six figures on his rarest cards, it was this group of locals that got to be face to face with their city’s own larger-than-life figure, talking and swapping cardboard for a half hour.
“[It’s] a dream come true as a business owner,” said Boomtown’s Victor Nava. “He is the biggest athlete in the world… To see him inside this tiny shop that we walk in every single day, and to have him in here is surreal. It’s a dream, I’m pinching myself… Something like this happens once in a lifetime. That was incredible. [Our customers] deserve it… To see the look on the kids’ faces reminds me of why I wake up every morning.”
By BrunoPassos, via Pounding The Rock
