Thursday Sep 17, 2009
The Brill Report: Bummed on eBay
I'm Bummed, really Bummed. The only thing I really want these days is actually two things and one of them I will never see, let alone get. I just missed out on the second ever of such items and I'm bummed. The items in question are the Topps 1962 Civil War News Sets in both French and Spanish. I have the USA version and the UK version, but the other two are very, very rare.
I've only ever seen the French set twice in my life. I've spoken about it with other CWN collectors but the hallowed set has rarely ever been seen. Twice it has popped up on eBay in the last six months. The first one sold for around a thousand dollars from a UK seller. The second one, which closed this week with the owner from Canada, closed at $547. I bid $537 with 3-seconds left. The winner was obviously willing to go much higher. I would have but in the end it would have just driven up the price for him because he had more money to spend.
This wonderful set is based on paintings and came out shortly after Mars Attacks from Topps. It was the 100th anniversary of the War Between the States, or if you are from below the Mason-Dixon Line, the war of Southern Rebellion. Remember the cannons at the airport in Richmond, VA still point north.
The set is the most colorful and wonderful set ever produced by Topps and was the first box of trading cards I ever recieved as a child. My sister popped the $1.80 for her little bro for this one. I was a Civil War buff. I opened the box and bought a few packs and was finally only one card short of a a complete set. "Submarine Attack" tells the story of the CSA Hunley, the first submarine used in warfare and actually attacked an enemy ship, later made into a TV movie by Ted Turner starring Armand Assante. In 2004 a military funeral was held for those who died on her final voyage. The wreck was discovered a shorr time earlier.
I found that card on the final day walking out the door taking one more last shot at the last table at the 1991 National in Anaheim. The price? $2! I was more excited than a pig in s**t. Man this was it!
So later on I set my sites on 1) the UK set, 2) the never seen French set 3) and the very rare Spanish set. Oh and in the midst I collected the Confederate Money inserts and decided to put together a complete PSA 8 graded American Set.
I so far have all but 18 of the USA cards in PSA 8 grade. I have the UK set and would like to put together a graded set but not now. Funds being what they are. The UK set, which is made from Topps but distributed by a regional company and carries the tag name; A&BC cards. They are smaller in physical size and the back is more white than gray in it's back ground.
The French set is the same except the text of course is in French. The Spanish set is the same dimension and in Spanish text but all blood, guts and fire are removed and the set looks rather bland. I've only seen a few of the cards on line over the years and they are rather boring and ugly. What makes the set colorful, the fire and blood is all removed. Still it is the rarest of all the rares in this genre.
The story goes it was more of a test as was the French after the United Kingdom Set was actually a hit. The british are very interested in the American Civil War. I recently recieved a book about the war, written by a Scotsman, from a friend in Scotland. The take on the war is very interesting certainly and I read things I never heard of in USA books and studies.
The UK set is rather plentiful but the oh so nice and rare French is not. I tried to buy the set outright from the Canadian but it was his first attempt on eBay and he was playing by the rules. Good for him, bad for me. I didn't get it. The Spanish set? Now that is another story. Is it out there? Does it exist?
One of the unique items about this set overall is the fact there are "newspaper" stories on the back of each card, this Civil War News. The writers admittedly made it all up. In some cases they actually got it right. I read an article once where the authors of the cards were interviewed and they said several of the stories were complete fabrications but some of them were based on actual events. Either way they did a wonderful job. Too good perhaps.
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We are expecting our new book to be on book shelves any day now. "Fan Letters to a Stripper; A Patti Waggin Tale" is scheduled for September 28 but we understand it is a little ahead of schedule. The story of burlesque queen Patti Waggin and her husband former Washington pitcher, Don Rudolph is told through photos and fan letters as a coffee table style book.
Tags: topps fan letters 1962 mars french hunley brill waggin baseball news bob patti a&bc attacks uk war rudolph cwn don civil set spanish
Thursday Sep 10, 2009
The Brill Report: Roger Staubach Set Revisited
In 1994 friends of mine at the Ted Williams Card Company contacted me about writing the backs of a new trading card set they were producing. I had never done this before but I always longed to and immediately jumped at the job. I was handed the task of writing the backs of the 60 some odd base cards while my good friend Steve Ryan, I learned was chosen to write the insert card backs. The money was good too as I think I was paid about $50 per card. This became a lost art in the 1990's when card manufacturers in an attempt to save money decided to put no text on card backs. Instead there were stats and player details such at home towns and birth dates.
Since Steve and I both came from journalism backgrounds, he in newspaper me in radio as well as print, this seemed like a fun although somewhat daunting task. The end result turned out pretty good and unlike the initial offering of the Ted Williams Baseball Card Set, the Roger Staubach Set was pretty close to free of errors.
Well, I did put Bert Jones in the NFL Hall of Fame but aside from this mistake I think for my part it was error free. My biggest mistake was in assuming someone at the card company was going to be proofing everything I wrote. I learned very late in the game when I had to drop a player or two and add others, this was not the case. So for all my good intentions Bert Jones fans will be thrilled.
"It says right there in black and white on this football card, 'Bert Jones is in the NFL HOF,' and that counts," a fan might counter.
Well I'm here to say don't count on it. The only thing which might justify this error is if someday Bert Jones really is elected to the NFL Hall of Fame. His time may be passed. The first TWCC baseball set was loaded with errors and the company took some heat for it. Not so with what proved to be the only football set TWCC produced. It made one more baseball set, an attempt at basketball and then went out of business.
My real claim to fame in the set is the fact aside from cards produced by Signature Rookies, the O.J. Simpson cards was readily signed by the Juice while he was in jail. I took a strange sort of pride in looking down at a dealer's table noting the Staubach series Simpson card signed in jail, was "my handiwork," minus the signature of course. That was pretty cool.
I remember being instructed when it came to stats on the back I was to choose the players five best years which in most cases was pretty easy. Just look at the stats. There were some players we used however who did not have FIVE good years. Some did but not statistically. For instance Ray Nitschke has only three years of stats on his card while Buck Buchanan has none. What kind of stats do you put for a defensive lineman anyway?
The set was fun and it filled my need for research. I love research and while sometimes I don't do enough of it, finding the facts and putting together a story from them is just way too cool. I relish in it.
There were a lot of questionable guys in the set probably rather because the company could only afford certain guys, while others wanted way too much money. If you are picking the top 60 players of all time why on earth would you put Cardinals QB Jim Hart in this group? He was a four time Pro Bowler and a star during his time but he is not anywhere close to the top 200, let alone 60.
I had trouble with Hart who only completed 51.5% of his passes and threw 36 more interceptions than TD's. This just didn't add up. There were others as well but economics I'm sure played more of a part than sports reality.
There was also an insert set called "Dawning of a Legacy" which featured the Steeler's Neil O'Donnell. We all know how he turned out. He made it to the Super Bowl and became a goat then out of the NFL. Steve told me there were some insert sets he had trouble writing because he had to write so much and not be repetitive. This was surely one of them.
All in all it was a job I loved and would dearly love to do again. It was fun and profitable. And who knows maybe Bert Jones will make it to the HOF afterall. I know if I had a vote he'd be there if nothing more than to just prove myself right.
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(RICKEYHENDERSON.COM) -- It had to happen. Everyone else is doing it so why not Rickey Henderson. Henderson now has a memorabilia website where he sells his signature and other items. He is "the greatest!"
(PURDOM DOES TWO) -- Celebrated Sports artist Bill Purdom is producing two new litho's for the Bill Goff galaries, celebrating Yankee Stadium. The first shows Mariano Rivera throwing the final pitch at the old stadium while the second offers up C.C. Sabathia tossing the first pitch in the new ball park.
(FANTASY NFL) -- Get your FFL picks ready, that is Fantasy Football League. The NFL season is underway officially and it seems as if 75-percent of American males are in a league or two or three. We've noticed the last two years it seems (it seems no hard stats here) as if fewer people are being drawn to FFL. The economy is likely one reason the other is "time."
(DONRUSS A BUST?) -- SO is nobody going to offer to take us up on our idea to rejuvinate the likes of 1991 Donruss and 1988 Topps. Read the last two columns if you don't know what we're talking about but we are serious here.
You can reach Bob at bob.pattiwaggin-AT-gmail-DOT-com. You can also visit his website www.pattiwaggin.com, to read about his new book coming out shortly, or to pre-order it. "Fan Letters to a Stripper; A Patti Waggin Tale" details the life in photos and fan letters of burlesque queen Patti Waggin and her husband, White Sox and Senators pitcher, Don Rudolph. Check it out.
Tags: hall purdom roger goff rudolph ted patti staubach jones fame henderson of bill brill waggin hof ryan steve bert rickey williams don bob
Thursday Aug 27, 2009
THE BRILL REPORT; MAKING 1991 DONRUSS HOT AGAIN
We are going to start a campaign to make lots of older, crap cards valuable again --- even more valuable than they ever were. Are you ready. We will need everyone to participate and no cheating please.
What is a box of 1991 Donruss Baseball cards worth today? A dollar a box and you over paid? How about 1989 Topps Baseball? 1992 Upper Deck? 1991 Leaf? Or the ultimate 1990 Score Baseball? If you took a box of each and paid $5 for the lot you would be wasting your money as it now stands.
So how do we rectify this situation? The answer is easy. The basic rule of thumb when it comes to collectibles is as follows;
"If everyone can have it, nobody wants it but if few people can have it everyone wants it!" Very simple Brill 101.
So the way to make those products and everything else with few exceptions from 1986 through 1992 worth something is to make it scarce. We are prepared to do this with your help. You have to help or you will not benefit. There of course will be those who will try to take advantage of the situation and not participate hoping to score big. Screw them! They are the same scum bags who have permeated this hobby for decades and only when they die a fossil's death and are extinct will their foul stench drift off into the sunset and the word "flip" will be useless in modern society.
Here is what we will do. We will set up a warehouse (any volunteers?) with cooperation of someone in the hobby. A huge warehouse. The space will need to be donated. Then we encourage everyone who has a financial interest (all of us) in this hobby to send every box and single of all baseball products from 1986 throu 1992 to this warehouse.
You won't get paid, you are giving it up! You will pay the shipping. The people recieving it will not get paid for storing it. When the warehouse is full and only then we will destroy the cards. Crush them, burn them, drop them in the Mississippi River. I don't care just legally destroy them.
Then we will do it again and add in football products from 1990 Pro Set and Score and Topps thru 1991 Football with exceptions such as Stadium Club. When the warehouse is full again, we'll destroy those. Burn baby Burn, sink baby sink and chop man oh man, chop. Singles too remember?
This will make a pretty good dent especially if we get the 100,000 caseload target for the two warehouses. By destroying 100,000 cases of products including singles we will take so much crap off the market it will be unbelievable. Sets too, dump them for burning.
Of course some of those scumbags will hold onto a few cases hoping to make a big strike when there is a demand for this stuff but so what. People will remember who they are. Now if you have 100 boxes, keep a box or two, or say 5% of what you have. If we get 80% of this stuff includings singles and sets into the dumpster can you imagine what that will mean for the rest of the stuff. Can you imagine paying $150 for a box of 1991 Donruss Baseball?
It will be a great scenario. Now here is what we need; who wants to donate a warehouse? More than one is fine. Call me, or better yet email me at bob.pattiwaggin-AT-gmail-DOT-com Let me know if you have a warehouse you'd like to donate for this stuff. You can't keep it, you can only store it until we find a way to fill it and then destroy the contents when it is full.
As soon as we get the warehouse locked in, we'll start telling the public and dealers where to send the stuff. We are serious!
Lou Brown don't you have a warehouse we can use? Dave Bronson, how about it? Edge Man? Hamps? Dave & Adam? C'mon boys pitch in and win one for the hobby. Think of all the publicity we'll get for the hobby. Maybe just maybe someone can figure out a way to recycle the cardboard and save a tree.
C'mon and pitch in!
(UPPER DECK/TOPPS HOCKEY) -- Topps is coming out with a new hockey product licensed by the NHL in time for the coming season. It is not really a trading card product as Upper Deck still has the exclusive rights to the NHL. It is a licensed gaming product but we're sure fans of key players will collect their favorite player's game piece anyway.
(UD TO SUE TOPPS?) -- At least one publication, Sports Business Daily, is saying Upper Deck may sue MLB over the exclusive rights give to Topps to make baseball cards. As we reported here weeks ago the NFL is being sued over a similar decision when it comes to caps and the US Supreme Court is set to hear the case. A suit against baseball however has lesser legs to stand on due to MLB's standing with Congress. Congress long ago and the courts upheld it in 1972, ruled baseball is immune from anti-trust monopoly status because of its importance to America.
(CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU) -- Major league baseball has crossed the line by issuing a license for caskets and urns to stuff your ashes into. It's basically the ultimate fans way of saying "Yes I can take it with me." You'll be dead! You can't cheer from the grave and your team won't care anyway! You will be dead! MLB has licensed Eternal Image with the rights to offer team logo caskets for $4500, team logo urns for $800 and team logo headstone medallions for $200. The urn comes with a baseball on the lid which can be signed by your favorite player or you and kept for posterity. I repeat; YOU'LL BE DEAD!
(PENNEY'S FOR YOUR DREAMS) -- Dreams Inc., slash Mounted Memories is hooking up with JC Penney for an on-line sports collectibles presence sometime in October. The on-line deal will tie the two together for fan collectibles such as mugs and stuff to apparel where the real money is. JCP did at one time carry collectibles such as signed items from The Score Board but dropped out when everyone else did. Now they are coming back in the on-line arena at www.jcp.com. The hook will be so strong you will see World Series collectibles the night after the event.
(CARD STORE DAMAGED IN FIRE) -- It is St. Johns, Canada where Maverick Sports and Collectibles has been standing but not so much anymore. A fire in the building next door led to damage as well at the sports store. Owner Andrew Corbett said it was the second time in five years his store caught fire. He expected heavy damage to his merchandise in this one.
(LUG NUTS AGAIN) -- Press Pass announced it's bringing back race-used lug nuts for its Main Event card product. Lug Nuts were the very first ever "game used" items when Press Pass debuted it years ago. Victor Shaffer, who invented the concept, is no doubt laughing somewhere.
(TOPPS DISCOVERS CREDIT) It only took them 50 or so years but Topps is finally giving dealers something they've cried for, for years. A second credit card on file, and Discover. The company will now start taking Discover cards with dealer purchases and in addition dealers can have a second card on file in case the first is full. Dealers fought for this for years but Topps management refused preferring to lurk in the dark ages. The company still does not take American Express. Upper Deck does.
You can reach Bob Brill through his website www.pattiwaggin.com or via email directly at bob.pattiwaggin-AT-gmail-DOT-com. Patti Waggin is the name of a long dead burlesque queen and any day now Bob's book on her will hit store shelves. "Fan Letters to a Stripper; A Patti Waggin Tale" is basically Patti's story and that of her husband baseball player Don Rudolph through photos and letters from fans. Two other books are planned. Bob will be signing September 24th at 5:30pm at the Ventura Museum in Ventura, and at Book Soup in West Hollywood on Sunday October 18, at 2 p.m. Check the website for details.
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Tags: credit donruss dreams letters fan caskets pass nhl maverick score topps shaffer press deck patti inc. card mlb penney lug nuts to urns brill upper lawsuit don waggin dead discover jc rudolph anti turst logos a stripper bob
Thursday Aug 13, 2009
The Brill Report: Upper Deck Goes Back to School
If you needed more evidence the new trading card market is in the tank just look to the latest movements in the category. Consolidate, eliminate and now reach in places you would not have reached for if the market were strong. Upper Deck, on the heels of it's losing its Major League Baseball License, signed a deal to take over much of the collegiate card market with the Collegiate Licensing Company (CLC).
The tell-tale sign is the quote from CEO Richard McWilliam in the company press release.
"The move strengthens Upper Decks already firm position as the industry leader in delivering the most sought-after rookie cards in the market."
College cards have never ever been considered "Rookie" cards by anyone, especially the self proclaimed authorities on the subject, the price guide magazines. The term "RC" does not and will not appear in price guides for trading cards not licensed by the major sport and league. These cards have been and always will be "first" cards of a player, but never his "rookie" card.
The move shows the desperation of another card company trying to regain something it has lost. By adding college baseball players to it's package officially, Upper Deck is sending out the message it will look to try what Donruss has done somewhat sucessfully the last couple of years. Make baseball cards with draft picks and minor leaguers with no logo's and add in retired players.
The difference is Upper Deck has the right to use current major league playes in it's sets but without team logo's and MLB trademarks. It's license with the MLB Players Association allows it. Does it allow these major league players to appear in sets with non-union members however? This has always been a sticking point with the union.
Remember Barry Bonds dropping out of the union contract for baseball cards? The union said he could appear in any set the company wanted as long as no other current players were in the set. Well that says a whole lot. Topps eventually worked out a deal to bring Barry back as an insert somehow by himself with Barry as the ONLY player in the set. Remember the Barry Bonds chase to 714 cards? Topps overpaid a bundle for that mistake.
So what will Upper Deck do? Will they make players from college and retro college players (which they now have the right to do) and put them in stand alone sets? Yes, this is a given. These will be sold at stadiums, college book stores, college publications and more. Will the company also mix in some of those players into MLBPA sets it puts out? Without the logo's you might wonder if the union will allow it. No matter what UD does, the union will take a cut and with dwindling baseball card products on the market they will still be looking for their cut. We'll have to wait and see.
What does it mean for companies such as SAGE which is putting out a 2009 College Draft Picks Football Series, several of them? Sage basically with 6 autographs per box is selling autographs of players coming out of college who are willing to sign with a small company. With UD's autograph dollar power will Sage be on a short leash and will the company survive? It survived Press Pass because it created a niche. Upper Deck has the money to do that niche better.
A few years ago UD got the wrong idea when it got the license to make USA Baseball Player cards. They thought they could put these USA players into certain sets as "Rookies" but soon found out there are only specific uses for USA players allowed and what amounts to the Olympic team put a stop to it. Topps had already given up the license with USA.
Don't get this wrong because it looks as if UD will also be joining the draft pick market in a different way in both basketball and football. There will be other players too which means track, swimming and women's hoops. This all gives UD more autograph potential, cheap autograph potential as well as cards for "Americana" style sets.
If times were good Upper Deck, Topps and Donruss would not be going after college trading card licenses. The products were crap when they came out in the early 1990's and while it is believed UD will make much better cards than were made then, they are still college cards. Each college has a strong fan base who buy apparell, teddy bears, pencils and anything else with a logo on it. They do not necessarily buy "trading cards." It is a different animal and while they will translate into gift sales they will not translate into collector sales to any strong degree. The wide variety of schools will probably translate into a few big name schools.
You can count a dozen key places before you get to second tier. There are only so many Notre Dame, Penn State, USC, Michigan, Florida and Texas fans before you move into the next level of fans. Don't get me wrong all schools have their rabid fans. Will they be enough to warrant making trading card series or is "any additional money which comes into the pot good money," the stretch of an idea here?
The license kicks in during 2010. Upper Deck, Topps and Panini hope the market turns before then. If it does and dramatically, a collegiate license may just be history.
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(CARLSBAD) -- Another $50 pack of trading cards from Upper Deck. Prominent Cuts has 6 boxes in a case, 5 packs in a box and 4 cards in a pack. Cost for dealers is just under $30. Retail would normally be $50. This means there are 120 cards in a case. In the old days they wondered if people would buy cards if they jumped from 40 cents a pack to 50-cents. Then UD came along and broke the $.99 pack barrier and a new order was formed.
(TIGER WOODS) -- Does the renewed play of Tiger Woods in the majors mean a return to the good old days when his Rookie card shot into the thousands of dollars? Look out Tiger is on a roll and already his memorabilia is beginning to attract attention again. The cards should follow.
(WASHINGTON) -- The Supreme Court will look to the expertise of Sonia Sotomayor in an upcoming case involving the NFL. The case could but not likely reflect on the exclusive deal given to Topps over Upper Deck to make baseball cards. The justice, in earlier times, helped settle baseball's labor problems. Now she will help decide Needle vs. the NFL. Needle makes hats and the NFL gave another company the exclusive right to make caps. Sounds like anti-trust and what does it mean for Topps/Upper Deck? Probably not much since in 1922 Congress granted baseball anti-trust exemption as our National Pastime. It was upheld back in 1972.
(AFL) -- Does the demise of the Arena Football League mean those few trading cards Upper Deck and others put out will become valuable? Not likely except for a few guys who might make it in the NFL, but what will become valuable are things such as stickers and front office letterhead which were likely shredded on the way out the door.
(VENTURA, CA) -- For those of you who might be interested in getting a signed copy in person of "Fan Letters to a Stripper; A Patti Waggin Tale," Bob Brill will be doing a signing in Ventura on September 24th, a Thursday night at the Ventura, California Museum downtown on California Street. It will be at 5:30. Books will be available at a discounted price if you want to purchase and the autographs are of course, Free! Such a deal. You can contact Bob at bob.pattiwaggin-AT-gmail-DOT-com for more information or go to our web site www.pattiwaggin.com to find out more. The Special Edition books may not be ready by then, but if they are we will have them as well.
Tags: supreme afl mcwilliam deck fantasy us topps don footbal cards court football woods mlb waggin richard league college rudolph upper anti trust mlbpa arena trading donruss sotomayor tiger collegiate bob patti clc panini brill
Thursday Aug 06, 2009
The Brill Report: MLB Takes Chunk Out of Upper Deck
Upper Deck is exclusive with hockey, Panini is exclusive with basketball and for all intents and purposes now Topps is exclusive with baseball. Major League Baseball (the league not the players association) has in one swift blow relegated Upper Deck to the status of Donruss Baseball. In a surprise announcement, just one month after the MLBPA (Players Union) renewed the license for Upper Deck to continue to make baseball cards, the league (MLB) pulled the rug out from under UD by granting Topps an exclusive license for logos and trademarks.
Not in 30 years has one company had such exclusivity when it comes to baseball trading cards and the effects on Upper Deck could be just short of devastating. The top man at Upper Deck hasn't endeared himself to the leagues and PA's in many years and when UD lost the right to make basketball cards it became the last card company to handle licenses for all four major sports.
Evidently MLB likes Michael Eisner better than Richard McWilliams and with Eisner's track record and promise of returning collecting to younger collectors, MLB was sold. When Eisner first bought Topps over objections from McWilliams, he promised kids would again be the target ala Disney his old firm. Despite targeting kids in advertising, UD continued to make higher and higher dollar products aimed at Diamond Club Collectors and the dwindling base of well heeled collectors. The economy has not sustained such a move.
Donruss, and now Panini, has gotten away with making logo-less baseball cards by putting in lots of autographs from minor leaguers and retired players.
"It just proves you don't need the logos to sell baseball cards," one collector expressed to TBR. "Who cares about logos?"
Purists do and those purists will collect Topps any day over Upper Deck. So for the moment Upper Deck only has the NFL and NHL as full blown licenses. If the NFL chose to eliminate one of it's licensees, a possibility but not a probability, insiders tell TBR it would be Upper Deck. Such a move would seriously cripple the company in the trading card business.
Upper Deck and McWilliams are loaded with other ventures so don't cry any crocadile tears for the folks at Sea Otter Place. They still have a strong line of memorabilia, good gaming products and Upper Deck International. Although with it's European and Latin American distribution, Panini will give UD more than a run for it's money. Actually UD would be chasing Panini in most markets.
This is the not the first time the discussion of UD and no MLB came up. Over the years there were several instances where the league or the players union were not happy with the California card maker. Rumors persisted they would lose a license or at best be slapped with a fine or other restrictions. However, to see the company which founded itself as the collector's friend in 1989 actually lose out to Grandpappy Topps is pretty hard core.
For his part McWilliams is a multi-millionaire who among other things owns a small commuter airline and while he's had his personal problems, he does put in his days at the office. Unlike the early days, UD has become less of a revolving door for it's staff. Several key people have been there for a longer time than many others. With the fortunes of Upper Deck trading cards slowly dipping into the same Pacific Ocean it sees out McWilliams office window, one could not blame them if they began looking and deserting what could be a sinking trading card ship.
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(MALIBU) -- JAKKS Pacific inked a deal to sublicense a hot product. The company has the rights to make UFC toys and now is sub licensing the making of the MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) to Round 5 Corporation. Now both companies have the rights to the growing MMA pool of players.
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(MORRISTOWN, NJ) Upper Deck, the most litigous of the companies in the industry is being sued by a man who says he sent 6 Pin Flags to UD so Tiger Woods could sign them under the UDA program, and they got lost. Robert Zafian, co-owner of Green Jacket Auctions, is suing UDA for $40,000 after the company admitted, according to his attorney, the flags were recieved and signed but then probably lost. He says UDA promised to pay him $200 per flag which it considered the extent of its liability. He claims they were worth much more, and signed were worth around $40,000.
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(HOUSTON) HLT&T Sports is going after MLB charging Baseball is trying to put the company out of business and reneging on a deal made years ago. HLT&T repackages sports cards and has been selling them for decades including in sports stadiums. Since 2000 the company has sold it's wares at more than 15,000 games and even World Series. It claims it asked MLB Properties many years ago if it was okay and got the nod as long as it did not use logo's and trademarks on the packaging. Now MLBP wants it stopped. The company wants damages in excess of $200,000.
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You can reach Bob Brill at bob.pattiwaggin-AT-gmail-DOT-com and don't forget to look on line at your favorite bookseller, or in your favorite bookstore for Bob's new book, "Fan Letters to a Stripper: A Patti Waggin Tale." The book, about the life of burlesque queen Patti Waggin, who was married to former White Sox and Senators pitcher Don Rudolph, will be on book shelves within two weeks. If you can't find it you can order both the basic book and/or the limited collectible edition (only 200) through the web site www.pattiwaggin.com.
Tags: upper insiders brill players patti baseball bob deck fan cards panini tiger uda diamond donruss mlb waggin sports ud jakks nba richard union eisner woods don collectors topps mcwilliams letters nfl rudolph
Thursday Jul 16, 2009
Wal-Mart: The Great Satan or Hobby Guardian Angel?
The answer to the question above depends upon who you ask but you will probably get more votes for the man with the horns from business owners and suppliers while consumers will vote for the angelic hosts. The issue is "Green" today and while the word is so over used in our current society Wal-Mart is going gung-ho green. An announcement this week basically laid it on the line to suppliers, if you read between the lines, "Go Green" or "Go Elsewhere." The issue is really the power of the world's largest retailer to force the issue, and the hobby has already had a large taste of Wal-Mart's generosity. 
You may remember when the hobby was hotter than hot dealers would race to Wal-Mart for the latest Upper Deck version of it's trading cards. Wal-Mart was given the same cards with different packaging and a totally different insert set. Remember racing across the floor to beat other dealers to the few boxes the store had on the shelf of this "variation" of the current product.
The perfect example of Wal-Mart/Sam's Club power came in 1996 when the company got the exclusive on Topps Chrome Basketball. Wal-Mart went to the NBA and said they needed something different from the norm and the NBA said "okay."
"We went to our oldest partner and said what can you come up with," one NBA official told The Brill Report several years ago. "Topps said the only thing it had which could fit was the new 'Chrome' Basketball."
Done Deal! Of course this was the year of rookies such as Kobe Bryant and Allen Iverson. Those boxes peaked at the NBA All-Star Game week. They were selling for $800 a box!! Thank you Topps, thank you Wal-Mart. An exclusive for Wal-Mart driven by some key people in the industry set a standard no hobby store could imagine.
One card company official, who had previously worked in the commissioner office at MLB and is no longer in the industry told me something at that time which literally blew me away.
"One Wal-Mart official told me that Wal-Mart's plan was to become America's Hobby Store," said the former card company VP on condition of anonymity. "And they can achieve it if they push it."
Wow. Not only the power of such a company but the arrogance. The record of how many mom and pop businesses, retailers were forced out of business by Wal-Mart is long and proven. Small towns left in the dust when a giant Wal-Mart forced the small stores out of business by undercutting prices, only to be left with nothing when Wal-Mart bailed because the area was not profitable -- the news reports in history are filled with them.
In the 1990's a Wal-Mart in the South was fined heavily when the state attorney general realized and could prove the company was guilty of predatory pricing. In other words under cutting prices and losing money to undermine another competitor. There is nothing illegal about losing money in the USA, but there is if you do it to damage a competitor and drive them out of business. Wal-Mart paid a fine which likely put only a slight ding in that days profits.
Now Wal-Mart officials, advancing on a plan announced in 2005, are pushing forward. The idea they have come up with is a good one, an excellent idea. A new standard for clothing and other items now must list what went into the manufacturing down to the chemical. How much of what chemical was used in making the item, was there too much plastic packaging used to ship the diapers? Also each supplier must answer a 15 question survey about their business practices as it tends to reflect on the environment.
For instance a question such as "Have you set publicly available greenhouse gas reduction targets? IF So what are they?" There will be some balking because of proprietary concerns but this is Wal-Mart. You want to sell to Wal-Mart you play by their rules.
Case in point with the hobby. You knew we were going back there. In the 1990's Wal-Mart was finding an ever increasing amount of theft at it's sports card counters, including shrinkage. Shrinkage is an industry term which basically means "employee theft." Employees were stealing hot sports card items to sell to waiting dealers who in turn would jack them up to the consuming public.
Wal-Mart officials decided something had to be done. Either get the sports cards out or find a way to reduce the losses from shrinkage. They offered this solution to the card companies; Wal-Mart will only pay for what is rung up through the register. If someone steals it, including an employee, touch luck, the card manufacturer eats it. At a time of shrinking sales, closing card stores and fewer outlets this would serve to severely hamper the manufacturers. Most pulled out choosing to leave Wal-Mart behind.
It worked for a while too until more and more card stores started closing and the industry began losing buyers as fast as it could make more cards. One of the solutions to get the card company back into Wal-Mart was the invention of a little white trading card sized piece of cardboard with a detector device inside. Inexpensive this worked well. Trying taking an unopened pack of cards out of a Wal-Mart without paying for it and if this randomly inserted device is inside bells and whistles and sirens explode. If you paid for the pack and wondered what in the world this card was you'll now understand.
The new index Wal-Mart is going to use is just the beginning and it will save the company lots of money, should eventually cost consumers less and will take another bite out of suppliers. WM's answer to that is eventually they will save because the cost to make these items will eventually drop as well. The bottom line is they will have to comply because as one former president of Fleer told The Brill Report long ago, "I'm not going to ignore the largest retailer in America." That was then and this is now as they are the largest in the world.
So will Wal-Mart eventually decide trees are too important and force the manufactures to make cards out of something else? Too much cardboard and too much plastic is no good. How about cards made out of soy? Too much?
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JACKO LIVES: Upper Deck will put Michael Jackson insert cards into 2009 UDx Baseball. The cards will feature caricatures of Jackson's performing highlights. The pop icon died last month kicking off a world wide memorabilia sell-off and scramble for Jackson items. 
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UPPER DECK JOB OPENING: No Richard McWilliam is not retiring. The company does have an opening for a high end techie who can speak fluently in Dutch and English. The latter combination may be harder than the former. It involves UDI or Upper Deck International and is seeking someone with five years of experience with some of it in management. Salary? It doesn't say so lets move on, here to what it does say for the position; ASP .net developer (both front & back). Contact jobsude-AT-upperdeck.com Good Luck.
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BOB GIBSON FIRE BALLING AGAIN: During his playing days his job was to make a baseball look like a pea on it's way to the plate. Now he's getting on in years and because he says the market is strong for premium memorabilia he's giving some of his to Legendary Auctions to sell July 31st. It includes his championship ring and several awards. Some of the money will go to BAT-Baseball Assistance Team to help older players down on their luck.
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SPORTS SUPPLY: Never heard of these guys until now but they sure offer a lot of signed items as well as unsigned with the pitch not unlike "you too can be a cybersports memorabilia dealer." We saw the Autograph-Supply ad and went to the site to see thousands of signed and unsigned items by team and player name. The first thing you see is them selling you helmets and bats and balls to get signed, then they offer you signed items as well in case that doesn't work, or takes up too much time, or, more likely wasn't lucrative enough for the time you put in.
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PLAYBOY GRADED: Okay now they've done it! CGC or Certified Guaranty Company is going to start slabbing and grading Playboy as well as Sports Illustrated. Ralph of Ralph's Comics in Ventura, CA whose been here for over 35 years and who hates slabbing comics told me "it really defeats the purpose of the comic book; you can't read it." He's right and now you tell me you are going to slab Playboy? Sorry that is sacreligious. I own the rights to a famous burlesque star, Patti Waggin, who appeared in a 1955 issue of Playboy called "The Stripper Goes to College." It was about how a student running for student body president brought her in for a unique get out the vote campaign. The story appeared in Playboy that October. If you find it in mint condition you are telling me you will slab it so no one can read it? How about we go a step farther and create a plastic holder just to slab the centerfold?
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DR. PRICE WHERE ARE YOU: Not much of a story but we can't pass up this photo.
Yes this is Dr. Brian Price in his ad for the new Hockey Card series from In the Game. He asks where were you in "72 a great year in Canada for the sport on ice. He did become a dentist, found it boring and later became the owner and rebirth-er of Parkhurst and other products. He now owns ITG and splits his time between Toronto and Boca Raton, Florida. The hair is Price-less!
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DROTMAN ON THE NFL POD: My good friend Doug Drotman at Drotman PR continues to handle the NFL Player of the Day program as it enters what undoubtedly will be another winner year. It is THE best hobby shop program and the best supported. This is the 10th year the NFL has supported the program and if you own a hobby shop and don't participate you are missing out on a wonderful program which is easy to run. You have until July 30th to sign up.
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Don't forget to check out our web site, www.pattiwaggin.com and pre-order one of our new books; "Fan Letters to a Stripper; A Patti Waggin Tale. " We feel you will really enjoy this book and besides I need the money. So pre-order from our site or check it out on Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble or anywhere good books are sold. If we sell enough our second book in the series will be published as well. So go do it, now! NO hard sell, but place your order, operators are standing by and it won't cause any negative side effects such as heart disease, asthma, pink eye, IBS, excessive coughing, vomiting or any other rare disease. Buy Now, and Buy Often. The Holidays are coming. And Join the Patti Waggin and Don Rudolph Fan Clubs.
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Bob Can be reached at bob.pattiwaggin-AT-gmail-DOT-com
Tags: satan waggin michael game bob wal mart price walmart patti jackson brill gibson brian playboy don ud upper in great rudolph the deck jacko