Thursday Oct 22, 2009
The Brill Report: Who Blew the Yankees?
Okay now here is the ultimate disaster for sports memorabilia. Was it Steiner? Was it the Yankees? Or was it the *&^xn&8#+-AT-! Mailman? But somebody blew it and someone needs to fess up!
The NYY and Steiner get together to offer seats for sale from the old Yankee Stadium. The price tag a whopping $1500 a pop! Now that is bad enough but for an extra $500 the collector/buyer can get the seat of his choice. So, John Lefkus decides he'll go for broke (which is an appropriate term here) and get the very exact seat he's sat in for 23 years. He's a freaking season ticket holder for gosh sakes! He ought to know where he parked his butt for 23 years and 81 games a season. He's sat in that seat for approximately 1863 games, or 16767 innings. He ought to know which seat is his.
Steiner and the NYY sent him a reburbished seat with new hardware! These are things Lefkus says they stated right in the ads they would NOT DO! HE showed his lawyer the ad and then added when he got the seat it had obviously been dismantled during demolition and reassembled without regard for what parts came from what chairs.
Now his rear end sat in that seat often enough to understand the seat ain't his. I'm sure he sat down, moved around to get his proper feel and it just didn't FEEL right. Again if anyone would know it would be Mr. Lefkus.
He filed a class action suit. You go GUY! Kill'em, nail'em to the wall. Get your butt in an uproar and put theirs in a sling. Aren't you just a little bit tired of those who can screw you in the collectibles world, will screw you? We're not talking a $1.25 baseball card here. We're talking $2000 worth of sitting down for 23 years. Plus Shipping & Handling which we're sure Steiner and NYY didn't throw in for the heck of it -- although for a 23 year season ticket holder they should have walked it to his house and threw him a party.
What a hack job! Oh by the way, Lefkus says Steiner put a different seat number on it and tried to pass off a non aisle seat as HIS Aisle seat. Now c'mon guys did you have to do that to the guy too?! If I'm paying $2000 plus the price of my season tickets I want the ^%&$*# right seat!
The guy wants $5 million. Brandon can afford it and so can the NYY! Pay Up or Go Away!
(LILLINGTON, NC) $40,000 worth of baseball and football cards were stolen from a home in Lillington, NC, as cards again are once again the target of thieves. Owner Bart Dillow says $400 in cash plus jewels also were taken. As the economy continues to be bad, thieves continue to look for easy to flip items and sports cards still are a sound investment for a thief.
(HOLLYWOOD SHOW STARS) Guess who appeared at the Hollywood collectibles show in October to sign autographs? Big names Debbie Reynolds, Mickey Rooney, Jackie Cooper and even Valerie Cartwright of Lost in Space and Make Room for Daddy fame. The show has really come on lately with the big name signers.
(CASH FOR CLUNKERS IN SPORTS) You read it right. Famed artist Don Marquess, who does lots of sports stuff for his Marquess Gallery, is offering a strange bit of twisting of the Obama Administration. If you turn in art, any art, posters or whatever you will get a one-third discount on any art you buy from him. It has to be at least an 11 x 14 size purchase to qualify and your art really doesn't have to be much of nothing to qualify. Check out his stuff at www.baseballfineart.com. Tell them you read it here. It won't get you anything special but thanx anyway.
(PATTI WAGGIN DON RUDOLPH BOOKS ARRIVE!) Yeah Baby! Finally. The books were delayed a month when the printer in China put the books on the wrong boat. Thank the Good Lord Somali Pirates weren't looking for a book on a baseball player and his stripper wife. Suggeted Retail Price is $49.99. Check it out on line at Amazon or the others, our own web site www.pattiwaggin.com, or at your local book store. Ask for it by name "Fan Letters to a Stripper; A Patti Waggin Tale," or by author name; Bob Brill. The Special Edition book is only available on our website and it's limited to 200 and sells for $199. It comes with an autographed item by the late Patti Waggin and a DVD of one of her performances and is signed by the author as well as numbered. You can also email me at bob.pattiwaggin@gmail-DOT-com
Tags: don waggin rudolph lefkus seats letters steiner yankees patti fan brill stadium sports stripper burlesque nyy
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 Sep 03, 2009
The Brill Report: September Best for Baseball
It doesn't happen as often as it used to but the Dodgers did something this past week which brought me back to my youth and put a tingle in my spine. First of all, I hate the Los Angeles Dodgers. I do. I've never liked them and being born in Pittsburgh I've always been a die hard Pirates, Steelers, Penguns, Wrens, Pipers, Condors, Panthers, Nittany Lions fan. Hard CORE! Never liked the Dodgers.
However, I spent most of my youth and young adult years in Los Angeles so there was no way I could get away from them. I listened or watched almost every Dodgers-Pirates game from 1964 through 1971 that I could. This was my era, my time and I can still tell you the batting order for the 1966 Bucs against both left and right handed pitchers.
The Dodgers did something this past week which I really enjoyed because I believe it ensured them the division crown because they went back to their roots. It's not every team in contention who goes out and gets a basically washed up player for the stretch drive and puts them to good use. They are just end of the season September veterans who are looking for a last shot at a World Series with a club on the edge.
When Los Angeles went out and spent "two players to be named later" for Jim Thome and Jon Garland it brought back the memories of the mid-1960's all over again. If the Dodgers win the division by one game and Thome gets two game winning hits -- it's all worth it.
At the tale end of 1966 the Dodgers went out and got Wes Covington as a free agent after he was released from the Phillies. Basically washed up he would finish the season with Los Angeles and never play again. In 37 games he batted 33 times mainly as a pinch-hitter. The slugger didn't do much but did drive in 6 runs and smack one homer. The Dodgers won the pennant by 1.5 games over the Giants.
That same year, at the same time they picked up Dick Stuart, the aging first sacker after he was released by the Mets. While Stuart would go on to play another year with the Angels, all he did in the last month of the season was hit .264, smack 3 homers with 9 RBI. Again the Dodgers won that year by 1.5 games.
Remember Ken Boyer? How about Rocky Colavito? In 1968 in the last 40 games Colavito drove in 11 runs with 3 homers while Boyer was picked up earlier that season and batted .271 in 83 games with 6 homers and 41 ribbies.
In 1964 when Tommy Davis broke his leg they had to go out and get a veteran outfielder. Lou Johnson had floated from Mexico to Pittsburgh and more than once to Chicago. He came to the Dodgers with $10,000 for Larry Sherry. In 1965 he led the team in homers and added two in the World Series to become the Series' hitting star.
The latter two deals are a stretch from where I started but they proved the point the Dodgers seem to value; a veteran player despite where he is at the moment can make the difference. These guys are usually at a spot in their careers where they go all out for one last shot and if the Dodgers win the pennant look for Thome to win a couple games all by himself.
Thome is 12th on the all-time homer list and has one of the coolest swings on earth. Garland will eat innings which is something more valued than wins and losses in MLB 2009. So the Dodgers locked themselves in pretty tight and this time both players are eligible for the post season.
It might even make a difference in their trading cards? Nah. Both Covington and Stuart, while $10 cards in late 1966 were both in the uniforms of their former teams and both are treated as $10 commons. Today it might be a different story but who wouldn't want a card like that?
By the way: 1966 Pittsuburgh Pirates Batting order:
Against Righties: M. Alou cf, Gene Alley ss, Clemente Rf, Stargell Lf, Clendenon 1b, Baily 3b, Mazeroski 2b, Gonder c.
Against Lefties: Gene Alley ss, Manny Mota lf, Clemente rf, Clendenon 1b, Baily lf, Mazeroski 2b, Pagan 3b, Pagliaroni c.
====================
(DONRUSS-TBR) -- Did you guys think I was kidding last week? I wasn't! We need a warehouse to store all those cases and boxes and singles of all those 1988-1993 Donruss, Score and Topps cards along with Fleer. We're going to destroy millions of them to make the price go up. Any volunteers?
(UPPER DECK EURO TOYS) -- Believe it or not Upper Deck International has a huge selection of toys and is going marketing crazy. It lost Yu-Gi-Oh and most thought that would be the end since trading card games held about 70-percent of UDI. The CEO of the division says its toy market is actually bigger than its TCG's. Disney is one of the favorites under license but there are many other Euro and Asian based toys in the mix.
(KILZ KILLS COLLECTORS) -- A new survey by the KILZ paint company says 39-percent of the women surveyed are turned off by sports memorabilia in a guy's home and 63-percent said the way a guy decorates his home reflects his maturity level. Mickey Mantle or my wife? Bill Mazeroski or my wife? Is the jury still out in your case?
($4 BILLION DEALS) -- Well if you were like us and wondering why on earth eBay would pay $4 billion for Skype when it happened a couple years ago guess what? So did they. eBay sold the VOIP service this week for basically what it paid for it; $2.75 billion. The company would have had to go to $4 billion when it bought Skype originally if profits increased. eBay could never figure out how to integrate Skype into the auction web site.
At the same time Marvel sold out to Disney for $4 billion. Remember when Marvel stock was .35 a share and several of you asked me if you should buy it and I said "yes." Marvel closed at $47 a share the other day.
(T206 WAGNER FOR $50) -- Want to read a great column, then read this link. We've been saying it for years and its good news the mainstreamers have picked it up.
(BOOK SIGNING) -- Bob Brill will be signing his new book "Fan Letters to a Stripper: A Patti Waggin Tale," September 24th at 5:30 p.m. at the Ventura Museum, 89 South California Street in Ventura, CA. Books will sell for $45 (less than SRP) with a portion of all sales going to the Museum. The coffee table style book details the life of the Burlesque queen and wife of former major league pitcher, Don Rudolph, in photos and letters from her fans.
Tags: honus ebay boyer thome garland udi skype patti rudolph brill colavito kilz waggin covington disney donruss stuart marvel jon dodgers
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 20, 2009
TBR: Vintage Clubhouse Signatures to the Pro's
I was listing a bunch of baseballs on eBay and on my website www.pattiwaggin.com this week in anticipation of finally selling them. They are all baseballs certified by JSA, Jimmy Spence, and all either team signed or single signed to people I own the rights to. In doing so it again occurred to me even in the 1960's when a player got a team signed ball he couldn't be sure all the sigs were real.
Case in point. As you may know I own the rights and most of the estate of Burlesque Queen Patti Waggin and her husband Don Rudolph. Rudolph was a journeyman pitcher who had a wonderful minor league record and a mediocre major league career. In the estate I found many autographed team balls from both the big leagues and the minors. There were all-star photos signed, baseballs signed and all sorts of great stuff. I had JSA certifiy all of it.
When it came to the 1961-63 NY Yankees signed baseballs I was appalled by the fact Don Rudolph, a major league pitcher was given baseballs with clubhouse signatures. Mantle, Maris, Howard and occassional others would not sign baseballs given to colleagues. Not always true because a couple of the items were signed by the likes of the M&M boys.
I did notice most of the bad teams, and Don played for some of the worst, didn't mind signing. The early 1960's Washington Senators were good. Gil Hodges, then managing, could have passed. However, his autograph on the one baseball I listed was one of the most beautiful sigs I've ever seen. The likes of Woodie Held, Rich Rollins and Dick Donovan usually signed and happily.
The 1962 Indians baseballs I had were similar. On one Sam McDowell, Johnny Romano and Barry Latman were clubhouse signatures. On another only McDowell wouldn't pen is name. A local friend of mine was the Indians clubhouse keeper in 1964 to about 1966 and he admitted he was the "clubbie" signer for that team.
"I usually signed for Birdie Tebbits, the manager and the starting pitcher," admitted Billy Malone. "For the most part the mid-60's Indians were good about signing but Birdie was usually too busy and the starting pitcher rarely signed on the day he was pitching, so I had to, management ordered me to."
Malone went on to explain it was part of his job and usually under direct orders from management to finish the team signed baseballs given to sponsors of the club. Car dealerships, furniture and department store executives all wanted a signed baseball. Some got a "Billy Malone."
Everyone in the hobby knows about Charlie "The Brow" for the Brooklyn Dodgers and Johnny the clubhouse boy in Boston among others. Few folks know some players wouldn't sign balls going to players. In the case of the minor league baseballs we didn't run into any clubbie sigs but then again in the minors it was something to do between long bus rides, I guess.
One thing about Rudolph he signed when asked. I recently got a call from a older man who heard about the book coming out, "Fan Letters to a Stripper; A Patti Waggin Tale," and wanted to tell me about Don's kindness. Elliott Caine said he met Don at a minor league game in Indianapolis and got an autograph. Don became his favorite player right then and there. He continued to write to Don and Don continued to write back, sending him a post card from the big leagues in 1963 and encouraging the youngster.
He said he was always very enlightened by the fact this major league player whom he'd met in the minors put his on his Christmas Card Mailing List. He said for years he continued to get cards at Christmas signed by Patti and Don! That was pretty cool.
The minor leagues are still probably the best place to get a signed ball finally surpassing Spring Training. You just have to hope some of the guys on the baseball make it and make it big. Even in today's world this is a tough proposition.
(NEW WEB SITE) Authentic Sports Collectibles is offering web sites affiliate like marketing similar to Google Ads. The site, which specializes in everything under the sun (some underpriced, much of it overpriced) offers competing websites the opportunity to flag some business for it and then pays a small commission if the sale is made directly from your site to theirs. Interesting concept if it works. However if you are selling the same thing as them how does it help you?
(UD OVECHKIN DEAL) Upper Deck still reigns in its element. The company inked NHL MVP Alexandre Ovechkin to an exclusive deal. Since it is the only company allowed to make NHL trading cards how exclusive can it be? It does mean when it comes to autographs and such stuff, he'll only be doing UDA for pay.
(QB WHO? WHERE?) Brett Favre in Purple and Mike Vick in Green? Now that is something I didn't figure on ever seeing in the NFL outside of a dream which turned into a nightmare. This last week we were treated to Favre coming out of retirement and signing with the hated Vikings and the hated Vick actually getting a contract in the NFL and inking with the Philadelphia Eagles. I always thought he should have signed with Cleveland so he could get boo'd by "the Dog Pound."
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You can reach Bob at bob.pattiwaggin-AT-gmail-DOT-com. His book "Fan Letters to a Stripper; A Patti Waggin Tale" is due out any day from Schiffer Books. You can order it on line or on Bob's Website at www.pattiwaggin.com where you can also see some of those wonderful baseballs he talked about.
Tags: waggin indianapolis held deck letters association cleveland the hodges report minor rudolph maris sam brill fans indians leagues team malone fan patti baseballs mantle upper woodie autographs mcdowell american gil billy signed
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
Friday Jul 24, 2009
The Brill Report: TAKING IT TO AUCTION
TAKING IT TO AUCTION
As some of you know I've recently been associated with Huggins & Scott Auctions out of Maryland and to say the least I've learned some things. I've also been pleased with the fact my hobby knowledge is paying off. There is also no shortage of people who don't understand the process. There is also no shortage of stuff from the hobby's most over produced era, 1982-1999. Let me help set a few things straight.
There are several good and legitimate auction houses in the hobby these days and more seem to be springing up all the time. Remember the number of grading companies formed during the heydey of grading? All want a big piece of the pie while there are niche's to be had, the pie has shrunk and the most competitive will survive.
During the grading heyday of course there were the two biggies; PSA and Beckett. SCG carved a niche since they graded oversized cards, GAI would grade packs while nearly everything coming from Mint, BCCG and others would be a 10 whether it had a bent corner or not. Eventually nearly all of them faded away leaving the market to the big three.
Auction companies sprang up after eBay starting taking much of the hobby business. People like auctions and while eBay still does a booming business changes and fraud at the internet auction site opened doors for other auctions on the internet. Mastro was probably the biggest but persistent rumors about improprieties and government investigations pretty much put them out of business. Their key staffers went elsewhere. Heritage remains along with Huggins & Scott, Mile High and a host of others. Several more have gone by the way side including Mr. Mint Alan Rosen's auctions. Now it is all about marketing and how much you can afford to spend to get buyers to your site.
There are more than enough hobby related items to be auctioned off and in this economy they are coming up daily. Vintage cards are still the best but good solid vintage autographs are right behind them. NASCAR, modern manufacturered memroabilia and cards post 1970 don't sell. Even wax boxes from the era turn sour?
A couple of tips about going to auction with your stuff. Vintage cards are always in demand and while condition will determine price, buyers are not really condition sensitive. I've personally taken in a large number of vintage off grade cards and when I say off grade, it's really more about quantity than quality. Quality will bring more money but a strong lot of off grade vintage cards will also do well.
Autographs? Jimmy Spence of JSA handles most of the certifacation for the auctions houses in the hobby and why not. He is the best. Many of the auction houses have deals with him and they usually take care of the certifacation. The company will usually charge you what Spence charges them for the service and it comes off the end of your sale.
The auction houses charge anywhere from 10% to 20% to the seller although this varies due to what the owner is selling, how much of an advance he'd like if one is offered, what the competition is offering and how good the collection is. A customer selling a complete T206 Set with all the cards in PSA 7 condition might be offered a 7% fee, while someone offering up 1500 boxes of 1988 Donruss in sealed cases would easily be giving up 15% to 20%. Those are hard to sell while the other will sell easily.
The buyer is also charged a commission and this is where the auction house makes its money. The commission taken from the seller usually pays for the representative of the company who found the collection, the shipping and some advertising. The buyer's commission is what pays for the catalog, employees and hopefully the auction house itself makes money so it can stay in business. Selling $2 million in merchandise does not guarantee the company a profit considering all the factors involved.
I've done very well with complete Topps Sets from the 1950's and 1960's, 800 count boxes of vintage baseball and football cards while bulk autographs don't seem to do as well. There is usually some interest in a bulk lot of autographs. What there is no interest in are inserts and insert sets. These are dime a dozen items and commonly manufactured.
Will this all change? Probably as things in the industry change we'll see changes in the auction process too, as well as customer tastes and new collectors coming to the auction market to buy. Some of the auction houses will fade away due to lack of financing not due a shortage of material. Personally I get calls almost every day but unfortunately much of it is for modern day baseball cards. The questions I get are usually from the uneducated...
"What kind of cards do you buy?" We don't buy we consign.
"What kind of cards do you collect?" We don't collect, we sell.
"Is Shoeless Joe Jackson still dead?" No, I heard him out back talking with Elvis last week.
"What is my Upper Deck 1996 Michael Jordan Rookie Card worth, I have three of them." A lot less than the 1986-87 Fleer Michael Jordan Rookie Card.
"I have lots of card from back in the day when I was a kid, I'm 22 now and found them in the garage. I'd like you to take a look at them to see if you are interested." I'm not, I want to talk to your father who collected cards back 'in his day.'
"I have lots of old Becketts I was going to throw out but I want you to put them up for auction." Walk them out your back door and head straight for the trash can.
"My grandfather died and left me a bunch of boxes of sports stuff and cards he collected when he was a kid. What do I do with them?" Nothing, what is your address I'll be over in 10 minutes.
One big name dealer years ago said there are no more great finds. Of course there are because people die and their collections usually go to their families who don't want them. They want the money the collection might bring but even then many of them don't care so much. They have no emotional attachment to them. This is what we are looking for. If you have an emotional attachment, keep it because chances are you won't get enough money for it to overcome your emotions.
We are trained to be conservative in estimating the value of a collection because we don't want you to be disappointed. We also would like to know what your expectations are. If you have a collection you paid $75,000 for and in today's market the value is $10,000 and you want $95,000 chances are you should try to sell it on eBay instead. It will take you longer, you won't get your money in one lump sum and you might get $12,000 for it. It's a hard lesson to learn but a lot of folks are learning it.
The one good thing about today's market with it's bad economy is there is always a great market for premium merchandise. Especially if that stuff is linked personally to a player. A ring worn by Ali, a check written by Babe Ruth or a bat owned by Joe Jackson. These are all premium items and will find a home with someone with expensive tastes and cash to burn. A bat signed by Hank Aaron while under contract to Score Board, a Willie Mays baseball signed in 2006 or a "Limited Edition" numbered litho signed by guys who all hit 50 home runs in a season -- well there are lots of them and they are not unique. Anyone who really wants one can have one and this is not good for the collectibles market or your investment.
Most auction houses don't deal with framed items. They would rather take the stuff out of the frames, ship them to their warehouse in a less costly matter and sell the items as they are. Few collectors, buying at auction, are buying them for the frames. If you walk into a store and see a framed piece and you want it, you buy it. You usually don't buy it at auction. At auction people are looking for "rare" or "a bargain."
Selling at auction is a great way to get the most for what you have and if you don't have a clue as to how valuable what you have is, it's a tremendous way to find out. Chances are you will be pleasently pleased although there are often disappointments. Like the man said selling anything anywhere, auctions, swap meets, eBay, garage sales -- it's a crap shoot. However if you use a legitimate auction house which advertises, publishes a nice catalog and has good reps come out to visit with you, you are halfway home to a good experience.
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(BURBANK) Hollywood Collectibles Show was good the last weekend in Burbank as a "Happy Days Reunion" themed show took center state. Even Erin Moran was there and she was previously estranged from the group. Henry Winkler (The Fonz) was a huge hit and we heard him remark afterwards "This was really a wonderful thing, certainly worth being here."
(DV Valkenburgh)
(In photo above, Happy Days stars; Donny Most far right,Henry Winkler far end standing, Marion Ross in Blue, Anson Williams looking away in black shirt)
Photo credit to Dave Rodriguez, Signatures.com. The free table area was loaded with about 60 or more signers. These are celebrities who get their table for free and can charge what they want. Most are former TV and movie stars, Playboy Playmates and working actors and actresses such as Deborah Van Valkenburgh seen below. The "Too Close for Comfort" star and co-star of the classic cult film "The Warriors" is constantly working and usually makes all the Hollywood Collectible Shows. She was there with co-star Lydia Cornell. Almost the entire living cast from the Bob Newhart Show was there. We were there to promote our new book "Love Letters to a Stripper; A Patti Waggin Tale" and pre-sold a few books in the process.
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(THE MOON) Mounted Memories is offering up framed pieces of the Apollo 11 Moon walk. The items feature text of the mission and photos of the landing, the walk and some of those famous shots NASA says it lost in the years gone by. There were no shots of anyone's forehead simulating the man in the moon for you conspiracy theorists.
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(ORLANDO) College Hunks Hauling Junk, a clean out company, cleaned out a storage locker and founds lots of sports memorabilia. Judging from the COA's, the holders and the names of the players who signed it looks like someone who collected stuff from The Score Board. Mays, Aaron, Schmidt and many more former TSB inkers. Some of the stuff was ruined by the poor conditions but some will go to charity.
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(EBAY) The recent deaths of star names has put a real boost into the memorabilia market, and it also continues to send shock ways through the fake autograph market. The deaths of Michael Jackson and Steve McNair pumped up the market as usual and as unfortunate as that is. At the same time the obvious fake autographs flowing out on eBay and other auction sites continues to show what is wrong with our industry, and the world for this matter.
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(PITTSBURGH) For the same likely reasons we have to also follow the news and scandal market to see where the value of our collectibles go. Case in point, another athlete accused civily (not criminally) of rape months after an alleged encounter took place. Ben Roesthlisberger of the Pittsburgh Steelers vehemently defended himself in a news conference this week, stating earlier the encounter was consentual. The woman who is making the accusations filed the civil suit but never filed a criminal complaint. The question is should athletes now have to fill out a form before and after having sex stating their intentions before and after? Imagine if Mickey Mantle and some of the other great players who were known to stray frequently were around today?
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Bob Brill can be reached at bob.pattiwaggin-AT-gmail-DOT-com. You can find his new book "Fan Letters to a Stripper; A Patti Waggin Tale" available on many different on-line book seller sites although the limited edition version may only be purchased from the web site, www.pattiwaggin.com. Patti Waggin was married to MLB player Don Rudolph and both have fan clubs on the the site. Special bonuses and discounts apply for those who join.
Tags: the don jimmy stripper beckett waggin van dancer burlesque jsa memories patti jordan scott spence strip elvis mounted and michael report steelers topps baseball rudolph winkler tease huggins psa heritage valkenburgh ebay brill exotic
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