I worked in Morrisons but now I’m chasing Lionel Messi and Jude Bellingham in $14.9billion industry

12/19/2024 12:00 PM

We all love re-living our youths and the current yearn for nostalgia has seen a boom in the sports trading card industry.

Nothing ever beat that feeling of opening a pack of stickers and finding the player you needed to complete the set – imagine if that was a job?

Well, for some lucky YouTube stars it’s become exactly that.

Those like GBW – otherwise known as Jack Whyte – are now living out our dreams as they showcase the latest stickers and cards from Topps and Panini.

He’s got 189k subscribers on YouTube, while his most popular video – his attempt to complete a FIFA World Cup 2022 sticker album has one million views.

He’s also a star attraction on Topps’ Match Attax tour, and is making appearances at the brand’s pop-up shop at Westfield London.

That has also seen him rub shoulders with superstar collectors Tosin Adarabioyo and Dominic Solanke.

And his story will have punters reaching for their cameras having gone from fan to creator.

“Well, I guess like quite a few people, I was collecting the sticker books back in the day and the Match Attax collections as well,” said Whyte on his beginnings.

“Then it just sort of carried over and I once picked up a camera to film a video, the rest is history.

“So yeah, here we are, 2024, 12 years later.

“It sort of blew up when I was at university. So I went to university not expecting anything to come off the YouTube channel.

“I thought it might peter out a little bit. But that first year at uni, it just went crazy.”

So crazy, in fact, that Jack ended up going full-time.

“I just had a job at Morrison’s behind the tobacco kiosk,” he added on his humble start. “A pretty standard retail job.”

Now on his YouTube channel he’s ripping packs instead of selling them.

And as you might imagine, he’s amassed an impressive collection.

“I’ve had quite a few one-of-ones, which are the only ones of that kind in the world, which are very exciting to pack,” he explained.

“I’ve had a few nice Lionel Messi cards in my time as well. And obviously in the Match Attax collections, there’s some nice big chase cards as well you can get at the moment.

“I think there was an Erling Haaland one a couple of years ago, which was one in 500 packs, which we hit on the channel recently – that was very good.”

The hunt never ends, though, with Jack currently attempting to land some of the most sought-after cards around.

He continued: “In Match Attax, it’s the Jude Bellingham Maestro de Madrid card. It’s him doing his iconic celebration. So I’m looking for that. That’s again one in 500 packs.”

One card in particular has proved the most elusive and it’s one everyone would love to own.

He added: “I just want to add a Messi autograph to that collection.”

Even if that Messi card arrives, though, it’s not the one he will treasure most.

One already holds a special place in his heart.

“My grail card is a Charlie Austin superfractor, one of one. It’s the only one in the world and I’m a big QPR fan. He’s my hero. Absolutely.”

With the sports trading card industry currently valued at around $14.9billion but tipped to grow exponentially in the coming years, Whyte believes the sky is the limit.

“Every year it’s changing,” he said. “When I first started 12 years ago, there was nothing. You wouldn’t have even dreamed of stuff like this. It’s crazy.

“I’m just excited for the future, especially after this Topps store opening.”

Jack is a big hit on tour with Topps, and delighted fans at the store as he ripped packs and admired their collections at its launch event.

“They’ve been crazy,” he said. “Very surreal. Because you’ve got you’ve got fans lining up to see me. And I don’t see myself as a celebrity, but they get very excited when, you know, my name is called out.

“I come up on stage and they cheer my name. And it just feels surreal for someone who was working in, you know, as I said, in a retail job five, six years ago now.”

It takes talent and charisma to build a career like Jack’s but you can at least get yourself some packs at Topps’ Westfield store, which is open until early January.

“I think the pop-up is absolutely fantastic,” he said. “I mean, you’ve got a bit of everything, every collector, you know, new and old. You can come in here, start your collection, extend your collection. It’s unbelievable.

“I mean, there’s too many tempting boxes in here that I want to open, but yeah. There’s a lot of nice cards in here as well.”