Hat Back Collective is a licensing and partnerships agency for pop culture. Music, anime, sports, toys, trading cards, gaming. We connect brands, artists, and IP with the partners who turn them into products that end up on shelves, in stadiums, and in collections.
Eighteen categories and counting. A trading card set for a touring band, a vinyl figure in a stadium giveaway, a capsule collection for a streamer with a fandom of millions. The twelve below are the ones we get called about most, and a good program usually crosses a few of them before it launches.












A rock band on a trading card.
A vinyl figure in an NFL stadium.
None of it happens by accident.
Behind every collab fans line up for, someone knew both sides of the table: the brand, the artist, the manufacturer, the retailer. They made the call. That is what we do. Whether you're a brand chasing new categories, an artist entering consumer products, or a manufacturer hunting the right IP, we turn the introduction into a program that keeps growing after launch.
Six ways to work with us, from a single introduction to a head of licensing on your payroll.
Which categories, which partners, which order. The roadmap comes before the deals, so every partnership builds on the last.
Brands, artists, athletes, entertainment properties, and manufacturers, matched for collabs fans believe in.
Twelve years of relationships across retail, licensing, and entertainment. We open doors a cold email never will.
Concept to shelf. Product programs built to move at retail.
Royalty models, minimum guarantees, deal structures. Terms that still hold up in year three.
A head of licensing on your team for as long as you need one, from first category to full program.
Partnerships and programs we had a hand in, as the press covered them.
Founder
Matt has spent more than a decade in licensing, partnerships, and consumer products, negotiating hundreds of agreements and building programs across entertainment, anime, music, toys, collectibles, apparel, and lifestyle.
Before founding Hat Back Collective, he held licensing leadership roles, building partnerships with many of the most recognizable brands and retailers in the world.
Today he works with clients from early-stage startups to global brands, turning ideas into partnerships that sell.


Every partnership on this page started with a conversation. Here's yours.
info@hatbackcollective.com