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Game, Set, Collect: Coco Gauff is Your New Favorite Collector
- Story by
- Game, Set, Collect: Coco Gauff is Your New Favorite Collector
If you've been scrolling through TikTok lately, you might have noticed a surprising new face stepping into the unboxing space: tennis star Coco Gauff .
While she's obviously best known for her dominant play on the court, Gauff has recently been testing the waters of the collectibles world. She's been posting casual TikToks ripping open blind bags and mystery boxes, and while she's brand new to the space, her early numbers suggest she could be a legitimate force in collector content if she chooses to stick with it.
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The US Open Spider-Man Hunt
The highlight of her recent unboxing run came days ago during the US Open, where Marvel and the USTA teamed up on a special Spider-Man comic release . While 40,000 free copies were distributed to fans, the real chase centered around blind bags containing 5 rare NYC variant covers limited to just 1,000 copies each.
Gauff wanted them so badly she took to Instagram during the tournament with a hilarious plea:
"If someone can get me like 5 of those Spider-Man comics at US Open it would be greatly appreciated. Or if you guys can pretend you don't know me for like 30 mins I can get them myself."
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She eventually secured her stash, and her subsequent TikTok featured her tearing into the US Open Spider-Man blind bags, hunting specifically for the elusive /1000 "butterfly variant."
A Familiar Face
While Gauff might be a relatively new face in front of the camera opening blind bags, she is certainly no stranger to the hobby itself. Collectors have been chasing her rookie cards, patch autographs, and 1-of-1s for years.
Her top-tier cards regularly command thousands of dollars at auction. For example, her 2024 Topps Royalty Collection Platinum Regalia Patch Auto 1/1 recently fetched an impressive $7,200. Similarly, a 2025 Topps Chrome Tennis Sapphire Edition Padparadscha Auto 1/1 pulled in $4,800, and several of her 2021 Exquisite Collection Rookie Patch Autos consistently clear the $2,400 range.
Source: 130Point | Coco Gauff recent top card sales
What the Social Data Says
While Gauff is far from a full-time collector, her casual foray into collectibles is a breath of fresh air for those of us tired of watching breaker highlights for cards we'll never touch. According to data from the MondoTrends Cards and Collectibles Social Index, which tracks the biggest accounts in the Hobby across all social networks, her unboxing videos are performing very well.
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Over a recent 28-day sample, her themed collectibles posts averaged:
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Posts:5 videos (Mysterybox / Marvel / Blindbag)
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Average Views:~260.5K
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Average Engagements:~27.7K
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Engagement Rate:~10.6%
To put those numbers into perspective within the hobby ecosystem, Mantel Hobby Awards winner for Creator of the Year, and hobby juggernaut Kyle Kravitz (known as King of Kardson social) averaged 253.1K viewsand 18.2K engagementsper TikTok video during that exact same timeframe.
A Budding Crossover Star
Naturally, a blind bag unboxing isn't going to pull the massive viral numbers of a Grand Slam victory post. But in the world of specialized collectibles content, Gauff's engagement puts her in rare air alongside established, full-time creators.
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She isn't dominating the algorithm as a full-time hobbyist just yet, but she doesn't need to be. Having a mainstream athlete authentically enjoying the thrill of the rip, without a paid sponsorship forcing it, brings a fresh, organic energy to the community. If she decides to keep opening blind bags on her channel, she has all the momentum to become one of the most influential crossover figures in modern collecting.
Will we see Coco ripping ghostwrite's
at next year's Fanatics Fest? Let us know what you think on Mantel.
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