The Brill Report: The death of the successful card shop, it's over

By Bob Brill

First, let's define "successful card shop." No, it's not "two whales a week," not it's not "I did a thousand dollars today so I 'made' a thousand dollars" and no it's not "I put in 20 hours at the store this week and we're still open." A successful card shop is a retail store which is open at least 40 hours a week, sells various products and when you count your money at the end of the month and you've paid yourself, there is product on the shelf, there is money in the bank and you have paid the bills. That, and only that is a successful card shop. Except for a few random cases in the USA today, they no longer exist. No they don't to answer your rebuttal.

Let's take a look at the history of the hobby shop and look back at what constituted what shop owners called a successful card shop over the past several decades. It has changed. And we'll look at some of the reasons;

(1980-1988) - Store owner buys four cases of the new Topps product, averaging 7.50 a box, opens two cases, makes sets which he sells in store and mail order for a very nice profit but which fits the consumers hobby wallet. He then sells singles for 5-cents to 25-cents to people to fill their own sets. he sells boxes for $15, packs for 25-cents and hot rookie cards for $5 and $6. At the end of the day he goes home pays the bills and enjoys life with his family. He gleefully gives his wife the grocery money and a little more for her to go to lunch with the girls. Life is good.

(1989-1991) - Upper Deck comes on the scene with new pack prices of $1 per pack. Store owner buys three cases of new Topps product, a case of Score, a case of Fleer, a case of Donruss and tries to buy a case of Upper Deck. He finally gets the Upper Deck at 50% more than the factory direct price because the market has caused the product to skyrocket. He breaks a case of the Topps to make sets which he sells for a nice profit, breaks a few boxes of the others and opens a box or two of Upper Deck hoping to hit that Dale Murphy reverse negative which is selling for hundreds of dollars. He finally sells out of all the products and is able to replace the Score and the Topps with no problem, the Upper Deck price is higher so he picks up a few boxes and decides not to break them but to sell packs for $3 each. In the winter he is now stocking football and basketball products which he'll break some but really can't afford to break too much of it because "distributors" are now breaking the products and selling 100-count box lots of those "hot" single cards. He hears rumors about the "back door" at Upper Deck being open and sees lots of former card shop ownes at shows selling these hot inserts much cheaper than he can and they look awfully clean.

The card shop owner starts going to shows to pick up products instead of ordering direct because he can buy as much or as little as he wants and usually at the same price as direct from the manufacturer, unless the product is hot. Then he figures it's hot, he'll pay more but he'll charge his customers more. Except he keeps seeing his customers at these shows as well in Los Angeles, Orange County, New Jersey and Michigan especially.

At the end of the day he goes home and sees less product on his shelf, less money in the bank and now in addition to five days a week at the store he does two shows on the weekend to try to make ends meet. He also hires a teen age kid to work the store when he's gone and the kid is stealing him blind, opening packs and selling off singles at the night time shows when the dealer is at home. The wife asks for the grocery money and he tells her she'll get it tomorrow after the show because he'll have the cash then.

(1992-1994) - The insert market remains hot but the store owner keeps seeing more and more of his former fellow store owners setting up at shows. He sees stacks of insert cards which "book" at $100 selling at show tables for $10 each with no limit and once the show dealer sells out, he reaches into a box behind his table and pulls out more. He then reads the trade papers on how several Upper Deck board members were allowed to buy cases worth of these "hot" inserts for pennies on the dollar and then dumped them onto the Southern California market for well below "book" price to these "distributors."

The shop owner decides he's can't deal with this anymore and wonders how long he can keep his store open. He decides the only way to stay alive is to play the wholesale game as well as the retail. Now he buys 10 boxes at $25 per box, sells 5 in his store for $35 on Monday, wholesales four to another card shop for $25 on Tuesday and sells the last box at a show for $20 on Wednesday. For the week he spent $250 and brought in $45 in profit. He is happy because he "made $45" but failed to put in the $50 in gas used to run around, the table fee of $25, $25 he spent on food during this time including at the show and the fact he opened four boxes of another product at the show which he bought for $100. He also put in 40 hours at the store mostly sorting because he didn't have many customers. So for the week he took in at total of $300 but spent $450, but hey "I made $45!"

He goes home at the end of the day and he has lots of single cards on the shelf but very few wax boxes and no good ones, no money in the bank, the unpaid bills are starting to mount and his wife wants the grocery money today not tomorrow. He tells her to take the money out of the savings this week.

(1995-1999) - The card shop owner, who was once one of 5000 shops in the country is now just one of 1000, opens his doors and is now buying less direct and more at shows and from secondary wholesalers who purchase their product from first line wholesalers. These are guys who travel around selling out of the back of their car and some are doing mail order. The problem is his customer base is dwindling, the product which used to sell direct for $7.50 a box is now $45 a box and while there are lots of shiny cards they are only limited to 5,000 of each card. There are also eight different products a week which he can order and he's not sure which ones he will order and which ones will be hot. He keeps asking the salesman at his distributor "is it going to be good?" to which the salesman replies to each product "it's going to be hot, smokin' and really limited."

All of a sudden the word "insert" is becoming a bad thing. It turns out all those hot rookie cards of players in the 1992-93 basketball draft are worthless. The card which was selling for $75 is now selling for $3 and the card shop owner sees more collectors with dozens of them coming into his store asking him to buy them. He has three on his shelf already and has had for two years.

The collector keeps trying to sell his cards to the dealer and the dealer has stopped buying. This is a watershed moment. So many "collectors" were buying in the previous period hoping they were buying investment cards they overburdened the market. They waited too long and now they want to sell and can't understand why the dealer isn't buying their cards. The dealer starts using the words "junk" and "garbage" in referrinig to the collectors cards. The collector keeps showing up with 5000 count boxes of 1990 Upper Deck Football, 1991 Hoops Basketball and 1992 Donruss Baseball which he wants to sell and no one is buying.

For the dealer he starts to open some of the more expensive products. He paid $75 for the box and gets three hot cards. He sells the three for a total of $35 and the rest of the cards he puts in a box and before he closes his store somewhere down the road will have sold another .50 from the box. He kicks himself for opening the box but realizes he now has $35 in his drawer which he didn't have when he opened the doors that day.

He hears from other card shop owners they are making more money selling Beanie Babies than cards. He quickly starts buying Beanies and sells through. He puts more effort into selling the plush toys than cards and now he's picking them up at shows. Several dealers who are no longer selling Beanies convince him to sell bigger plush toys including Disney. He grabs on and goes for it.

Then Pokemon gets hot. Now he's chasing boxes and cases of Pokemon. He's paying $4 per pack for a $1.89 pack and he's happy to get it because his customers are paying him $8 per pack. This goes on until the holidays when both the Beanie market (which has been dead for six months) and the Pokemon market die.

He sees many of those "sportscard shops" now turning into "gaming stores" but he doesn't understand the games and doesn't play Magic, DragonBall Z and Pokemon or Yu-Gi-Oh. He's sticking with sports cards. Afterall this game stuff is just for kids and kids don't have any money. And if they are in his store they will probably steal him blind, and when they are in the store, guess what? They do.

At the end of the day he has several expensive boxes on his shelf, a few cheaper boxes, his showcases are filled with expensive insert cards, his backroom is filled with scores of 5000 count boxes of singles, about 20 Beanie Babies for which he paid $7 each for and he'll sell for $6 if anyone will take them off his hands. Several kids keep coming in but they don't want Pokemon anymore, they want Dragon Ball Z and Star Trek and Yu-Gi-Oh and other gaming products. All of a sudden he looks at the end of the day and he has a couple hundred dollars in the drawer, he has a few dollars in the bank and he hands his wife the grocery money. His credit card bills are a little higher than he likes but hey he'll take care of that with the next crazy craze which comes along.

(2000-2008) - The powers that be at the leagues and licensors still haven't decided whether they want to sell trading cards to collectors or to fans. They keep talking about "little Johnny collector" who of course the card shop owner knows hasn't existed since 1991. His customers are now "whales" who come into the store and spend $500 on a box of cards and maybe will buy three of them. The card shop owner has paid $350 for those boxes of cards and makes a nice $150 per box profit. Of course he has problems trying to restock them because they are in "limited" supply and if he is able to get them his wholesalers are now charging $500 for the same box he previously bought for $350 yesterday. So now he must charge $650 for the same box he sold for $500 before. The collector says "no" and the dealer says "okay I have to just open it." He gets a total of four cards per box or 12 cards total. One he sells on eBay for $1000. The others he can't sell for squat. So he laid out $1500 and got back $1000 which means his $650 profit from the previous round is now down to $150.

Four more products are coming in this week which will cost him another $2500. He gets a second credit card to buy those products and uses the money he got from the previous sale to pay the electric bill on the shop. The credit cards? He'll make the minimum payment this month. Or better yet, he'll get a new credit card with no interest for six months and transfer the balance.

Someone tells him about "Pack Wars" and all of a sudden this becomes the rage to bring in new customers. Boy Scout troops are also being courted by the leagues and Players Associations. Wow a new way to bring in customers to your shop. Once in the store they'll buy and you'll have lots of new "young" customers. Remember the youth of today is the hobby of tomorrow. Get them while they are young. This despite the fact the store owner knows these kids will stop buying when they hit the 10th grade, girls and cars. Hormones? Who knew?

The store owner holds a Pack War Party. A total of 40 people come for the monthly event. The store owner spends $100 on advertising the event, $50 on pizza to give away at the event, $250 on prizes to give away at the event and he actually makes $200 on the packs he uses at the event as the gaming pieces. He uses very cheap packs which he sells for $1 each. Overall his profit on the packs is $200. He spent $400 putting the event on. His customers spend an extra $150 in the store that night brining his take to $350. So for the night he actually loses $50 but he got a crowd.

As they leave the store his regular customers say "wow this was a great event, I'll be back next month." He then realizes several of his regular customers who spent $75 a week are now only coming for the monthly Pack War where they spend $100 total. He lost those customers to the tune of $200 a month.

He goes home at the end of the day and while preparing to go to work at his new part-time job and between selling on eBay, he looks in the register and he has enough money to start the day, no savings account, his checking account is overdrawn, he owes the wholesalers $1000 and hands his wife his ATM card for the groceries hoping to put enough in the account before she tries to use it.

(2009-2010) - The store owner opens the doors waiting for the two whales he has left. The others have all left, quit the hobby and gone to the local Indian Casino to play. Monday his two whales come in to Pack War and drop $500. Tuesday they do the same and Wednesday it's the same. Thursday one is sick the other goes on vacation. The store owner panics. He now owes the wholesalers (three of them) $1500 each, he has closed his bank accounts and uses cash only, his credit cards are either maxed out or shut off, he has no product on the shelf and a back room full of old products no one will buy including some memorabilia, beanie babies and promotional items from the manufacturers.

There are no more regular customers although several people come in saying "back in the day I had that card" as they point to the cards in the showcases. The dealer realizes now eBay sucks and he is just giving his stuff away there so he stops that. He contemplates bankruptcy but isn't sure what to day. He can't afford a web site. One of the major card companies has taken his whales through some special club they set up to which the dealer foolishly agreed to provide information about his best customers.

At the end of the day, he has $20 cash to stop at the local fast food place because he doesn't have to buy groceries any more. His wife has left and filed for divorce, his house payments are in arears and his garage is full of 5000 count boxes of 1991 Donruss etc.

(2011) - Major league baseball and the other leagues are selling cards on their web sites, eBay still sucks, there are only three card manufacturers left and one is just about to fold and our card shop owner has decided to close his doors. He's now working at Wal-Mart as a greeter.

How do you spell success?

You can reach Bob at bob.pattiwaggin-AT-gmail-DOT-com.

Tags: cards baseball shop hobby upperdeck card donrudolph donruss topps pattiwaggin trading

The Brill Report: The death of the successful card shop, it's over

By Bob Brill

First, let's define "successful card shop." No, it's not "two whales a week," not it's not "I did a thousand dollars today so I 'made' a thousand dollars" and no it's not "I put in 20 hours at the store this week and we're still open." A successful card shop is a retail store which is open at least 40 hours a week, sells various products and when you count your money at the end of the month and you've paid yourself, there is product on the shelf, there is money in the bank and you have paid the bills. That, and only that is a successful card shop. Except for a few random cases in the USA today, they no longer exist. No they don't to answer your rebuttal.

Let's take a look at the history of the hobby shop and look back at what constituted what shop owners called a successful card shop over the past several decades. It has changed. And we'll look at some of the reasons;

(1980-1988) - Store owner buys four cases of the new Topps product, averaging 7.50 a box, opens two cases, makes sets which he sells in store and mail order for a very nice profit but which fits the consumers hobby wallet. He then sells singles for 5-cents to 25-cents to people to fill their own sets. he sells boxes for $15, packs for 25-cents and hot rookie cards for $5 and $6. At the end of the day he goes home pays the bills and enjoys life with his family. He gleefully gives his wife the grocery money and a little more for her to go to lunch with the girls. Life is good.

(1989-1991) - Upper Deck comes on the scene with new pack prices of $1 per pack. Store owner buys three cases of new Topps product, a case of Score, a case of Fleer, a case of Donruss and tries to buy a case of Upper Deck. He finally gets the Upper Deck at 50% more than the factory direct price because the market has caused the product to skyrocket. He breaks a case of the Topps to make sets which he sells for a nice profit, breaks a few boxes of the others and opens a box or two of Upper Deck hoping to hit that Dale Murphy reverse negative which is selling for hundreds of dollars. He finally sells out of all the products and is able to replace the Score and the Topps with no problem, the Upper Deck price is higher so he picks up a few boxes and decides not to break them but to sell packs for $3 each. In the winter he is now stocking football and basketball products which he'll break some but really can't afford to break too much of it because "distributors" are now breaking the products and selling 100-count box lots of those "hot" single cards. He hears rumors about the "back door" at Upper Deck being open and sees lots of former card shop ownes at shows selling these hot inserts much cheaper than he can and they look awfully clean.

The card shop owner starts going to shows to pick up products instead of ordering direct because he can buy as much or as little as he wants and usually at the same price as direct from the manufacturer, unless the product is hot. Then he figures it's hot, he'll pay more but he'll charge his customers more. Except he keeps seeing his customers at these shows as well in Los Angeles, Orange County, New Jersey and Michigan especially.

At the end of the day he goes home and sees less product on his shelf, less money in the bank and now in addition to five days a week at the store he does two shows on the weekend to try to make ends meet. He also hires a teen age kid to work the store when he's gone and the kid is stealing him blind, opening packs and selling off singles at the night time shows when the dealer is at home. The wife asks for the grocery money and he tells her she'll get it tomorrow after the show because he'll have the cash then.

(1992-1994) - The insert market remains hot but the store owner keeps seeing more and more of his former fellow store owners setting up at shows. He sees stacks of insert cards which "book" at $100 selling at show tables for $10 each with no limit and once the show dealer sells out, he reaches into a box behind his table and pulls out more. He then reads the trade papers on how several Upper Deck board members were allowed to buy cases worth of these "hot" inserts for pennies on the dollar and then dumped them onto the Southern California market for well below "book" price to these "distributors."

The shop owner decides he's can't deal with this anymore and wonders how long he can keep his store open. He decides the only way to stay alive is to play the wholesale game as well as the retail. Now he buys 10 boxes at $25 per box, sells 5 in his store for $35 on Monday, wholesales four to another card shop for $25 on Tuesday and sells the last box at a show for $20 on Wednesday. For the week he spent $250 and brought in $45 in profit. He is happy because he "made $45" but failed to put in the $50 in gas used to run around, the table fee of $25, $25 he spent on food during this time including at the show and the fact he opened four boxes of another product at the show which he bought for $100. He also put in 40 hours at the store mostly sorting because he didn't have many customers. So for the week he took in at total of $300 but spent $450, but hey "I made $45!"

He goes home at the end of the day and he has lots of single cards on the shelf but very few wax boxes and no good ones, no money in the bank, the unpaid bills are starting to mount and his wife wants the grocery money today not tomorrow. He tells her to take the money out of the savings this week.

(1995-1999) - The card shop owner, who was once one of 5000 shops in the country is now just one of 1000, opens his doors and is now buying less direct and more at shows and from secondary wholesalers who purchase their product from first line wholesalers. These are guys who travel around selling out of the back of their car and some are doing mail order. The problem is his customer base is dwindling, the product which used to sell direct for $7.50 a box is now $45 a box and while there are lots of shiny cards they are only limited to 5,000 of each card. There are also eight different products a week which he can order and he's not sure which ones he will order and which ones will be hot. He keeps asking the salesman at his distributor "is it going to be good?" to which the salesman replies to each product "it's going to be hot, smokin' and really limited."

All of a sudden the word "insert" is becoming a bad thing. It turns out all those hot rookie cards of players in the 1992-93 basketball draft are worthless. The card which was selling for $75 is now selling for $3 and the card shop owner sees more collectors with dozens of them coming into his store asking him to buy them. He has three on his shelf already and has had for two years.

The collector keeps trying to sell his cards to the dealer and the dealer has stopped buying. This is a watershed moment. So many "collectors" were buying in the previous period hoping they were buying investment cards they overburdened the market. They waited too long and now they want to sell and can't understand why the dealer isn't buying their cards. The dealer starts using the words "junk" and "garbage" in referrinig to the collectors cards. The collector keeps showing up with 5000 count boxes of 1990 Upper Deck Football, 1991 Hoops Basketball and 1992 Donruss Baseball which he wants to sell and no one is buying.

For the dealer he starts to open some of the more expensive products. He paid $75 for the box and gets three hot cards. He sells the three for a total of $35 and the rest of the cards he puts in a box and before he closes his store somewhere down the road will have sold another .50 from the box. He kicks himself for opening the box but realizes he now has $35 in his drawer which he didn't have when he opened the doors that day.

He hears from other card shop owners they are making more money selling Beanie Babies than cards. He quickly starts buying Beanies and sells through. He puts more effort into selling the plush toys than cards and now he's picking them up at shows. Several dealers who are no longer selling Beanies convince him to sell bigger plush toys including Disney. He grabs on and goes for it.

Then Pokemon gets hot. Now he's chasing boxes and cases of Pokemon. He's paying $4 per pack for a $1.89 pack and he's happy to get it because his customers are paying him $8 per pack. This goes on until the holidays when both the Beanie market (which has been dead for six months) and the Pokemon market die.

He sees many of those "sportscard shops" now turning into "gaming stores" but he doesn't understand the games and doesn't play Magic, DragonBall Z and Pokemon or Yu-Gi-Oh. He's sticking with sports cards. Afterall this game stuff is just for kids and kids don't have any money. And if they are in his store they will probably steal him blind, and when they are in the store, guess what? They do.

At the end of the day he has several expensive boxes on his shelf, a few cheaper boxes, his showcases are filled with expensive insert cards, his backroom is filled with scores of 5000 count boxes of singles, about 20 Beanie Babies for which he paid $7 each for and he'll sell for $6 if anyone will take them off his hands. Several kids keep coming in but they don't want Pokemon anymore, they want Dragon Ball Z and Star Trek and Yu-Gi-Oh and other gaming products. All of a sudden he looks at the end of the day and he has a couple hundred dollars in the drawer, he has a few dollars in the bank and he hands his wife the grocery money. His credit card bills are a little higher than he likes but hey he'll take care of that with the next crazy craze which comes along.

(2000-2008) - The powers that be at the leagues and licensors still haven't decided whether they want to sell trading cards to collectors or to fans. They keep talking about "little Johnny collector" who of course the card shop owner knows hasn't existed since 1991. His customers are now "whales" who come into the store and spend $500 on a box of cards and maybe will buy three of them. The card shop owner has paid $350 for those boxes of cards and makes a nice $150 per box profit. Of course he has problems trying to restock them because they are in "limited" supply and if he is able to get them his wholesalers are now charging $500 for the same box he previously bought for $350 yesterday. So now he must charge $650 for the same box he sold for $500 before. The collector says "no" and the dealer says "okay I have to just open it." He gets a total of four cards per box or 12 cards total. One he sells on eBay for $1000. The others he can't sell for squat. So he laid out $1500 and got back $1000 which means his $650 profit from the previous round is now down to $150.

Four more products are coming in this week which will cost him another $2500. He gets a second credit card to buy those products and uses the money he got from the previous sale to pay the electric bill on the shop. The credit cards? He'll make the minimum payment this month. Or better yet, he'll get a new credit card with no interest for six months and transfer the balance.

Someone tells him about "Pack Wars" and all of a sudden this becomes the rage to bring in new customers. Boy Scout troops are also being courted by the leagues and Players Associations. Wow a new way to bring in customers to your shop. Once in the store they'll buy and you'll have lots of new "young" customers. Remember the youth of today is the hobby of tomorrow. Get them while they are young. This despite the fact the store owner knows these kids will stop buying when they hit the 10th grade, girls and cars. Hormones? Who knew?

The store owner holds a Pack War Party. A total of 40 people come for the monthly event. The store owner spends $100 on advertising the event, $50 on pizza to give away at the event, $250 on prizes to give away at the event and he actually makes $200 on the packs he uses at the event as the gaming pieces. He uses very cheap packs which he sells for $1 each. Overall his profit on the packs is $200. He spent $400 putting the event on. His customers spend an extra $150 in the store that night brining his take to $350. So for the night he actually loses $50 but he got a crowd.

As they leave the store his regular customers say "wow this was a great event, I'll be back next month." He then realizes several of his regular customers who spent $75 a week are now only coming for the monthly Pack War where they spend $100 total. He lost those customers to the tune of $200 a month.

He goes home at the end of the day and while preparing to go to work at his new part-time job and between selling on eBay, he looks in the register and he has enough money to start the day, no savings account, his checking account is overdrawn, he owes the wholesalers $1000 and hands his wife his ATM card for the groceries hoping to put enough in the account before she tries to use it.

(2009-2010) - The store owner opens the doors waiting for the two whales he has left. The others have all left, quit the hobby and gone to the local Indian Casino to play. Monday his two whales come in to Pack War and drop $500. Tuesday they do the same and Wednesday it's the same. Thursday one is sick the other goes on vacation. The store owner panics. He now owes the wholesalers (three of them) $1500 each, he has closed his bank accounts and uses cash only, his credit cards are either maxed out or shut off, he has no product on the shelf and a back room full of old products no one will buy including some memorabilia, beanie babies and promotional items from the manufacturers.

There are no more regular customers although several people come in saying "back in the day I had that card" as they point to the cards in the showcases. The dealer realizes now eBay sucks and he is just giving his stuff away there so he stops that. He contemplates bankruptcy but isn't sure what to day. He can't afford a web site. One of the major card companies has taken his whales through some special club they set up to which the dealer foolishly agreed to provide information about his best customers.

At the end of the day, he has $20 cash to stop at the local fast food place because he doesn't have to buy groceries any more. His wife has left and filed for divorce, his house payments are in arears and his garage is full of 5000 count boxes of 1991 Donruss etc.

(2011) - Major league baseball and the other leagues are selling cards on their web sites, eBay still sucks, there are only three card manufacturers left and one is just about to fold and our card shop owner has decided to close his doors. He's now working at Wal-Mart as a greeter.

How do you spell success?

You can reach Bob at bob.pattiwaggin-AT-gmail-DOT-com.

Tags: cards baseball shop hobby upperdeck card donrudolph donruss topps pattiwaggin trading

The Brill Report: The NFL; Less is Good?

By Bob Brill

  First off, let me thank you the readers for the overwhelming response to last week's column! Wow. We've never had so much response to any column we've ever written and the amazing thing is it ran 9-1 in favor of the position we outlined.

  While some of the faithful were a bit surprised the column took a political tone (Meg Whitman former eBay chief running for California governor) they none the less responded and with fervor. A couple of readers were not even hobby folks but rather people who ran across the column for one reason or another and threw in their opinion. The California primaries are next year so we'll have to see where it goes and what the voters do. Oh, by the way, those opinions expressed here were totally that of the author and not Sportsbuy.com. Thought we'd throw that in just for grins.

  Now on to this week's topic; The NFL and when the next shoe drops. Any day now we expect to hear something from the football licensors regarding the number of licenses they will have regarding NFL football cards. Will it be down to one? Will there be three as there are now? Will it be only two? Let's delve into a little history.

  It was 1989 when Pro Set (the official card of the NFL) came into being with Lud Denny leading the way. He got himself tied to a couple of John's working for the NFL (under the old NFL Properties division) which handled merchandising. Eventually those two John's were fired in disgrace as the NFL allegedly found them dipping into the perverbial cookie jar. Now to this date no one has been convicted and no charges have been filed but there is some good circumstantial evidence basically showing a couple of guys making lots of money on the back end supporting Pro Set, while their bosses were kicking in money to a company heading into bankruptcy. It's not that the owners were clean either but we will leave it at this for the moment.

  In a previous column years ago I wrote and got comment from at least three card makers that they basically had their arms twisted to kick back some "extra" product to certain inviduals in return for these licenses. No names were given but the same people were targeted. Only the then-Fleer VP we spoke to called me a "muck raker" for reporting the story. Of course he was the guy who got the license for the then "Official NFL Trading Card; GameDay." Wow! No conflict there, huh?

  Well the real life story is the NFL and the NFLPA (the Players Union) were battling each other in court over lots of things and while the owners had lots of money to burn, the players did not. They figured out if they licensed trading cards they could basically finance their lawsuit against the owners. So they did. They gave a license to every Tom, Dick and Wild Card who wanted to print trading cards and the money rolled in.

  At one point there were no less than 16 companies making NFL trading cards. Some with only the permission of the NFLPA. Of course as time went on Wild Card, Pro Set, Pinnacle, Collector's Edge and even the Ted Williams Card Company fell by the wayside. Even unique Action Packed was swallowed up by Pinnacle which ended up owning many of those brands. Finally there were only three.

  We have Upper Deck, Topps and Donruss/Panini/Leaf et al. Somewhere along the way someone at Upper Deck really ticked off the guys at the NFLPA. One insider told me "The PA loves Donruss and Topps and if the PA decides to go down to just two licenses Richard (McWilliam CEO of UD) will find a big surprise waiting for him."

  Well it looks like decision time might be around the corner and Upper Deck keeps losing licenses. They no longer make MLB Trading Cards or NBA Trading Cards. They sort of have an exclusive on NHL trading cards and they make NFL cards, for now. If indeed, in a dwindling market for sportscards, there is a cut it is likely going to be the boys from Carlsbad.

  Now don't go feeling sorry for McWilliam and his team. They have worked hard and secured lots of licenses for collegiate sports, NCAA, minor league guys and of course hockey. And they still have exclusive rights to Jordan, Lebron, Sid the Kid and Ovechkin. Not bad, oh and of course the only golfer anyone cares about; Tiger Woods. So it ain't so bad.

  The NFL has never allowed players to be exclusive with any one company so while UD has the likes of Favre, Manning and more it's not like those guys can't sign for pay for someone else. Yes it could come down to the fact the company which started the "Hobby" trend by making cards "for collectors" might just be the first one out of the shrine when it comes right down to the big boys and trading cards for 2010 going forward.

(DENVER & THE STEELERS) -- For those of you who know me well you know I'm from Pittsburgh and an avid Steelers, Pirates and Penguins fan. Monday brings my annual trip to Denver where a friend of mine has season tickets for the Bronco's. Each year he invites me to see a game of my choice and the last couple years it has been the Steelers. The guys is a good friend and he puts me up, takes me to dinner and handles my transportation. Really though he loves me to come because I have never gone to a game in Denver the Bronco's lost. I can't stand any team which plays my Steelers and I hate to see them lose. I almost didn't go this year because my Steelers are holding tough in an effort to repeat for the Super Bowl. I can't not go though, so think good thoughts for the Doc (my friend) and my hook up with Stadium Cards owner Mike Fruitman who will be there too. May I go home with a Steeler win under my belt.

(PATTI WAGGIN BOOKS) -- Just an update on my new book "Fan Letters to a Stripper; A Patti Waggin Tale." I'll be doing signings in NorCal shortly. Oakland I'll be at the Uptown Theatre Nov. 16, Chico at the Barns & Knoble Nov. 17, Sacramento's Avid Reader Books on Nov. 18 and at Russo's Books in Bakersfield on Nov. 19. If you are close by please come on out, buy a book and have some fun. I'd love to meet you. Check the website for times and addresses. You can contact Bob at any time at bob.pattiwaggin-AT-gmail-DOT-com

Tags: deck steelers mlb nflpa letters broncos upper baseball donruss denny stadium lud patti sports fruitman company nfl fan ebay topps waggin meg whitman

The Brill Report: Kobe in the fold

By Bob Brill

  There is no more perfect fit in sports marketing. Kobe Bryant and Panini. What more could you ask for after Kobe signed an exclusive deal with the trading card and sticker maker. Here are the facts as Panini sees them.

1 ) Panini is the exclusive maker of basketball trading cards in the world. Kobe Bryant is the no. 1 players in the NBA today, LeBron James notwithstanding Kobe has won championships.

2 ) Panini is an Italian Company with world wide distribution in stickers. Kobe was raised in Italy, speaks fluent Italian and collected Panini stickers as a child.

3 ) Panini knows how to market it's goods. Kobe is known world wide and is a very easy marketere. He is Marquee.

  It was only seen as inevitible and since UDA and UDC lost the rights to make NBA trading cards Kobe had to find someone to market with. His comments hold true.

  "I know from my own experience growing up, how fun collecting and trading these products can be. I really believe collecting these products has the power, through the unique emotions of sports, to unify and strengthen bonds within families and across social groups, no matter what age you are. Panini and I are passionate about developing this hobby in many new and exciting ways."

  It was a natural fit for the Italian company and the kid who grew up watching his father Jelly Bean Bryant play in the Italian version of professional basketball. Speaking Italian fluently means a great marketing tool for Italian TV as well. Kobe can address fans in their native tounge and this means a lot to those who have watched TV with subtitles.

  I like Panini and always have. They will bring a fresh new approach to the trading card game even though it will take some time. Having Kobe locked up shows they are serious.

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(PANINI AMERICA) -- I'm sold! Panini just sent dealers and journalists a nice new packet and it actually included something usable. It was a large round basketball mouse pad with the word "Panini" on it. Finally something useful in the mail from a card manufacturer as a freebie outside of shopping bags. I've always liked Panini, my Italian is descent and I have friends and relatives in Italy. OK Panini I've given you a plug, now how about a job?

(RUMORVILLE) -- My how rumors spread. A former customer came up to me this week to pick up her annual Topps Factory Sets. I hold them while she's out of the state for months at a time. Her first question to me was "Is it true none of the card companies are going to make cards will the players on them? Are we still going to be able to get our Topps sets?" I explained the licenscing situation and how it evovled and how only Topps will have guys in their uniforms and logos. Her answer was "Good Topps will be the only real cards then?"

(1991 DONRUSS) -- Six weeks and counting. It has been six weeks since I unveiled my plan to make 1991 Donruss and other products of that era hot and valuable again. No one yet has taken me up on it. Darn it! I tried to get rid of that stuff for you guys but no one would listen. Another tree falling in the forest and lots of lumber was cut from 1986-1993 for trading cards.

(MCFARLANE LTD) -- McFarlane is taking the collector thing to the next level on it's prime action figure line. The Sportspicks figures will carry six different levels of collectibility including MVP which will be limited to up to 50 figures. In this instant collectible world no one yet has figured out what makes the thing collectible and desirable is time and the end user, not the manufacturer today.

(CORRECTION) -- Brad Abbott owns www.Rickeyhendersoncollectibles.com and contacted us to correct us upon stating it was Rickey's site. It is not but he has worked with the Henderson people regarding the site and products. Thank you for letting us know.

The latest Patti Waggin Tale. You have heard me talk about my new book about to hit store shelves on September 28. Well "Fan Letters to a Stripper; A Patti Waggin Tale" has been delayed about a month. It seems the shippers in China put the books on the wrong boat and it's still on the water. They will get to my publishers warehouse October 18. Now as long as Somali Pirates keep their hands off my ship we should be fine. Delayed, but fine. Our book signing at Book Soup in West Hollywood will be on November 1, at 2pm.

Sorry about taking last week off. Just too much to do and ran out of time. You can contact bob at bob.pattiwaggin-AT-gmail-DOT-com

Tags: rudolph baseball to a panini basketball burlesque fan waggin mlb kobe mcfarlane topps soup letters rickey nba book donruss stripper don patti

The Brill Report: September Best for Baseball

By Bob Brill

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.

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(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

THE BRILL REPORT; MAKING 1991 DONRUSS HOT AGAIN

By Bob Brill

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

The Brill Report: Upper Deck Goes Back to School

By Bob Brill

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

The Brill Report: MLB Takes Chunk Out of Upper Deck

By Bob Brill

  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.

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