A London collector has set a bizarre world record by opening trading cards while strapped to the wing of a flying plane. Coby Bull managed to rip open seven packs in just 60 seconds as he battled the wind on top of a vintage biplane flying over the English countryside in Kent.
And while the stunt might look like fun, the daredevil admitted he felt totally sick throughout the challenge. He became the first person to hold the GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS™ title for the most trading card packs opened during a wing walk in one minute.
He needed to open at least six packs to qualify for the new record, but managed seven despite the wind and speeds of up to 120mph. The attempt took place on October 13 at Headcorn Aerodrome, near Ashford in Kent, where Coby was harnessed to the top wing of a 1940s Boeing Stearman biplane.
The packs opened for the record were 2025–26 Topps Chrome Update Series Basketball Hobby cards.
Talking about this world record, Coby said: ‘Everyone in this hobby knows the feeling of ripping a pack. I wanted to see what it felt like full of adrenaline.’
‘My heart was thumping and my hands went totally numb – I was trying my hardest to concentrate. The wind was pulling at every wrapper, and I only had sixty seconds. Seven packs felt like seventy!’
‘People must think I’m a lunatic for standing strapped to the wing of a moving plane just opening cards for the thrill of it’.
This isn’t the first bizarre challenge Coby has pulled, the eclectic collector has previously swum from the notorious Alcatraz prison island in San Francisco Bay back to shore and completed a seven-day sleigh challenge crossing Lapland.
After already taking on water and snow, he decided his next challenge should involve a plane and his obsession of trading cards. Coby wasn’t finished after setting the record and he returned to the skies for a second flight that day, this time opening trading cards worth more than $10,000. Among them was a rare Mike Trout baseball card featuring an autograph and a patch, with only five copies ever produced.
But Coby’s taste for the unusual doesn’t stop at daredevil stunts – he has built up a valuable collection of increasingly eclectic and rare collectables, including a used Viagra pill bottle once owned by Playboy founder Hugh Hefner, which he dispensed from. Coby began collecting unusual items because of their place in history, believing the stranger and rarer an object is, the more interesting it becomes over time.
He has even paid the highest recorded price for a Spider-Man comic book graded PSA 7.0 and has a first edition Harry Potter. What started as a hobby as a 12 year-old boy eventually led him to establish Edition One, a UK collectibles business specialising in Pokémon, sports cards and other rare collectables. He now gets to travel the world trading and he says collectors are among the most dedicated and diehard communities in the world.
Coby said: ‘Collecting to me is about getting people talking about something, it’s not just something people buy or a currency, it is ultimately about curiosity and owning a rare piece of history – that is real the thrill or the chase.’
Coby’s GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS™ achievement was officially confirmed on October 14, the day after the attempt.
