A Taiwanese Collection Connection in NYC
Nestled on the second floor of an otherwise nondescript building in midtown Manhattan — a short walk from the Empire State Building — Montasy Comics is a cozy oasis for collectors of all shapes and sizes. The card section is the first thing you see when you walk in, before a tight alley of sports and TCGs opens up to an open back section featuring rows of comics and other collectibles.
The shop has two floors upstairs dedicated to hosting events. Check out the shop’s social media, and there’s a seemingly daily flow of TCG tournaments. It fosters a sense of community, which has always been the aim of its owner, Jimmy Chen.
When he opened the shop in 2012, “There wasn’t a Hobby shop in midtown Manhattan that had a dedicated space where people could come, sit down, interact with one another and be a part of The Hobby,” Chen says. “I thought it would be great to have a place where people from different backgrounds who otherwise wouldn’t necessarily cross paths can get together and talk about their common interests and passions in The Hobby.”
The name “Montasy” is a nod to Chen’s upbringing. He was born in Taiwan and moved to America as a child. “I took the Chinese/Taiwanese word ‘Mon,’ which means ‘dream,’ and ‘fantasy,’ to create Montasy,” Chen says. “I wanted a name that reflected me as a fan of comics, trading cards and sports.”
Pulling the Perfect Superfractor
Superfractors are not easy to find, thus the “record sales” stories and “bounties” placed on them by card shops. They’re special — truly unique 1-of-1 versions of cards.
Tsung-Che Cheng got his first card — and a Superfractor version of it — in the 2025 Bowman Baseball set. Cheng is a 23-year-old infielder with a career .257 batting average over five seasons in the minors. He has never hit more than 13 home runs in a season, but he does have 105 career steals. He has not appeared in any “top prospect” lists, outside of popping up within the Top 20 for Pittsburgh’s minor leaguers. In an April 2025 call-up to the Pirates, he went 0-for-7 and struck out three times.
But Cheng was born in Taiwan and plays in the U.S. — and that gives his card meaning for Jimmy Chen.
“I will pay special attention whenever there is a Taiwanese pro player in the US — such as Chien Ming Wang when he played for the Yankees or Jeremy Lin when he came to the Knicks,” Chen says.
In February 2025, Chen traveled to Taiwan on a trip to meet collectors. “We kicked off Topps Rip Night at a local Hobby shop in Taipei,” he says. “Whenever I visited Taiwan [as a kid], I would hang out in department store staircases watching and participating in trading cards every Saturday afternoon. I guess that was the earliest form of ‘trade night’ back then.”
This all culminates in a bit of Kismet, as Chen puts it. A regular Montasy customer bought a box of 2025 Bowman Baseball off the shelf and pulled the Tsung-Che Cheng Superfractor in the shop.
“I was very excited for him and mentioned that there might be some interest,” Chen says. “My first thought was that some of the collectors I met in Taiwan earlier this year might like the card.” But a week later, after some buzz off an Instagram post and offers from other collectors, the customer returned with an offer — he wanted to sell it to Chen.
“It didn’t cross my mind that I would have the opportunity to pick up the card given the interest it generated,” Chen says.
The two worked out a deal fairly quickly. Chen says there was some Bowman Jumbo product involved that made it feel more like a trade than a soulless sale. Plus, their relationship had already created a level of trust, which, Chen says, “made it a really easy transaction.”
This wasn’t the first Superfractor pulled at Montasy, but for Chen, it had deeper meaning. And just to put a cherry on top of it all, the Superfractor graded out as Gem Mint for both the card and the autograph. But this grading really was for encasing and protection, not to up its value.
The card now sits on the third floor of Montasy in a display case. Chen says he has “no plan” for it, but he’s considering going after a rainbow of the parallels.
And in a sweet coda to the whole affair? The collector who traded the card to Chen pulled another Superfractor from his Bowman Jumbo haul. Clearly, it was all meant to be.
