TCG sales have been booming in the Covid era, with record prices and brisk trading.  To get a better handle on the situation, ICv2’s Milton Griepp interviewed Chedy Hampson, Founder and CEO of TCGplayer, the largest online platform for trading card games, about how the platform has weathered the COVID pandemic, trends in the surging market for collectibles, and how retailers are using online sales as an adaptation to COVID.

Chedy Hampson is the founder and CEO of TCGplayer, a Syracuse-based technology company that powers the largest online marketplace for trading card games.  Over the past three decades, Hampson has grown TCGplayer from a two-person web design firm into a pillar of its industry with over 250 employees and a stunning headquarters in The Galleries of Downtown Syracuse—complete with life-size castle walls and turrets.  He’s managed that growth by fostering an award-winning corporate culture.  Under his leadership, TCGplayer has earned spots on statewide and national lists, including the Top 50 Companies in New York and Fortune’s 100 Best Workplaces for Women.  Its employees have consistently named it a Great Place to Work.  As a Syracuse native, Hampson is committed to helping new businesses grow and thrive in Upstate New York.

Milton Griepp is the founder and CEO of ICv2, which covers the Business of Geek Culture, and consults on geek culture business topics.  He was previously CEO of early geek culture e-commerce retailer NextPlanetOver, and was co-founder and CEO of Capital City Distribution, one of the largest distributors of comics and pop culture products through the formative years of the comic store channel.  He’s served on the boards of directors of comiXology and the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund.