Why Ex-Red Sox Manager Alex Cora Quickly Turned Down Phillies Job
After being fired, Alex Cora quickly declines the Phillies job offer.
This week's collectibles power rankings highlight the top five items, starting with the Coca Cola/Panini World Cup collaboration. The rankings aim to guide collectors on trending items in the market.
Mentioned in this story
The Official Collectibles Power Rankings: This Weekâs Top 5
We have a lot of randomness to discuss this week. So weâre introducing the first official COLLECTIBLES POWER RANKINGS brought to you by Mantelâs Mail Day (Tagline: âWeâll eventually get you all to love Leafâ). This is kind of like âwhat Iâm buyingâ but David Gonos does that now so weâre pivoting out of respect and love!
On to the ranks!
1. The Coca Cola/Panini World Cup collaboration (last week: NR).
It should surprise no one here that I got served an Instagram ad last week for the Panini/Coca-Cola crossover, where the iconic World Cup stickers are attached to the inside of Coke labels. I immediately announced to the house that we needed unsalted butter and ran out to my local grocery store (nothing there yet), a SECOND grocery store (nothing there yet), and Target (an empty shelf that I assumed meant they had sold out but it turns out they just hadnât stocked them yet):
Image Credit: J.R. Fickle
According to Coca Cola and Panini, theyâve printed 1 billion stickers:
So these are essentially worthless. But still fun. And props to whoever came up with this genius idea (from the official Coca-Cola page):
The top five collectibles include the Coca Cola/Panini World Cup collaboration, among others.
Collectibles power rankings help collectors identify trending items and make informed purchasing decisions.
The Official Collectibles Power Rankings are introduced by Mantelâs Mail Day.
The Coca Cola/Panini World Cup collaboration is a collectible item that has gained popularity and is ranked first this week.
After being fired, Alex Cora quickly declines the Phillies job offer.
Jalen Duren's performance in the playoffs could cost him millions in contract negotiations.
Richard Cooper, a seven-time North West 200 winner, is eager for more success in the 2026 race.

Enzo FernĂĄndez y Bellingham en Madrid para el Mutua Madrid Open.
Iowa Basketball Ranked No. 26 in ESPN's Post-Transfer Portal Rankings
Alabama makes ESPN's updated way-too-early Top 25 for 2026-27!
See every story in Sports â including breaking news and analysis.
Peel off the sticker from the label and place it onto the dedicated CocaâCola page within the 2026 Panini FIFA World Cupâą sticker album.
In other words, if youâre one of those sticker collectors who HAS to finish off your album, youâre going to actually need all the Coke stickers, too.
Also⊠kudos to Coca-Cola in general. This is one of those fun promotions that will probably sell a ton of soda because itâs simply big dumb fun. Like the MagiCans of 1990! But without the accidental drinking of saline! (Hereâs the MagiCan Wikipedia page â itâs worth it).
2. The new InfoWars hat (Last week: NR).
The Onionâs purchase of InfoWars went through (we think itâs final) and they started selling gear with rainbow versions of the logo. The $30 hat sold out almost immediately. I guess they could make more of them⊠but will they? Or will it eventually hit the secondary market (it hasnât yet) for hundreds of dollars? TBD, but Iâm going with the latter.
3. The best $4.99 Iâve spent recently is this GPK wrapper magnet I got off eBay (Last week: NR)
I am always âantennae upâ on cheap eBay/etsy items that seem fun but are actually garbage, but this one delivered. It is exactly what you think it is â it looks and even feels like a pack of cards on your fridge. I will now be buying several of these and throwing them in my âChristmas giftsâ tub for later this year.
4. Paniniâs âFree Parkingâ parallels (Last Week: 122).
Iâve been harsh on Panini/Monopoly here in Mail Day â but itâs mostly because something that had such potential (Monopoly + Trading Cards) flopped so dramatically. Yet they persevere. Thereâs a World Cup Monopoly game out now, and the chase parallels are âFree Parking,â which is just incredible irony considering parking at MetLife Stadium, where the World Cup finals will be played, is banned. If you want to drive, you have to pay $225 to park at the nearby mega-mall.
Also, for one $150 round trip ride on NJ Transit to MetLife, you can almost own any of Monopolyâs railroads:
The cards themselves are actually pretty cool, though. I donât think Iâll buy them â I actually know I wonât, but I didnât want to pile on Panini â but there has to be an audience out there!
This is actually a good week for Panini in the power rankings! Elite sticker promotion, fun World Cup cards, and now these obscure-but-catchy Panini Instant cards.
I stumbled upon this while browsing the Panini site earlier this week, just for the sake of poking around to see what theyâre up to (I do that more than I should).
Pretty great picture, right? I donât know anything about EuroLeague, why these guys are all doing the same gesture, or who Sylvain Francisco is â and I wonât be spending $30 on the card, based on all that⊠but I thought about it. Itâs a great picture and I still naively believe that collecting cool stuff is what this is all about!
Correction: I didnât know who Sylvain Francisco was BEFORE I went down a rabbit hole on him. Now heâs my favorite player. Check out his twitter feed!