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: eBay Still Sux and So Does the Potential Governor

By Bob Brill

Not only does eBay continue to suck but are you just tired of hearing how former eBay CEO Meg Whitman is going to fix California when she's elected governor and Arnie retires? Since I sit behind a microphone at the only all news radio station in Los Angeles at least 14 hours a week I have to listen to her commercials and hear her stretch the truth through her teeth while I watch the trading card industry suffer more losses due to the likes of eBay.

First of all let's look at "eBay!" When it first started it was a pretty good thing and became an industry standard. Then came their lack of policing autographs -- try looking for bad stuff and you'll see the same old guys selling the same old fakes. Over the years eBay did bring more collectors back into the market by putting a death knell on retail hobby stores. The stores were forced to play the eBay game right out of business.

Even today it's terrible although the overall economy hasn't helped, but eBay's policies are getting worse and worse. Why on earth can a buyer leave negative feedback for a seller, but a seller cannot leave negative feedback for a buyer? The only solution is to "not leave feedback at all" because it doesn't mean anything anymore! If all the buyer can get is a positive no matter what kind of malicious, perverted, demeaning, thieving, scumbag he/she is then what is the point?

And the value? Drop it off the edge of the planet Mac. For instance, this week I listed a 1955 Bowman Eddie Lebaron rookie card graded BVG 7.5. That is basically an 8 for a key rookie from 54 years ago and a HOF player as well. I started the bidding at $9.99 figuring it would go to about $40. It's real true value is about $60 and it should be $75. Well how does $10.50 sound? SUX to me but that is where it ended up and to think I once turned down $30 for it in my store when I had one.

Well enough of that and onto Meg Whitman. She left eBay as CEO and as one of the richest women in the world. Let me say that again "one of the richest women in the WORLD!" Does the word billionaire come close. Her reported NET WORTH is $1.4 Billion. That is right, "Billion" with a "B."

So now she wants to the Governor of California. Well la-de-dah. Her pitch is threefold. Here it is, via the radio commercials which I've heard ad nauseum.

1. Create new jobs because as she points out she created thousands of new jobs at eBay while she was CEO, creating thousands of new businesses. That is true, businesses with no benefits and thousands of new businesses who don't pay or collect taxes creating the largest underground economy in world history.

2. Government shouldn't spend more than it takes in so she will freeze spending, cut taxes and take those government service departments which are out of control and eliminate them and lay off thousands of people who are government employees. Wow! Talk to the state legislature about that before you do anything because that is what you have to. Let's see lay off thousands of state workers? Doesn't that kind of conflict with No. 1 above? Put more people on the street who are paying taxes and paying their bills. Hmmmm, now that sounds like a plan. Oh and getting rid of those departments which aren't paying their way? Schools, roads, the State Board of Equalization (the guys who collect sales taxes) and all those government watchdog agencies who keep an eye on all those oil companies and other large anti-green and anti-government oversight firms. Wow that will work. Cut taxes? How long do you want to stand in line at the DMV? The EDD? Or any other state required agency? Cut taxes, cut jobs and make lines longer and have services only available three days a week.

3. Schools. "We're going to give more choices to parents and reward better teachers by paying them more." So let's see that means school vouchers for private schools and home schooling (more money out of public schools) and Merit Pay for Teachers. All Merit pay does is create greedy money hungry administrators and teachers in the classroom. Merit pay works if your kids are widgets but they are not widgets. They are indivdiual learners who learn at their own pace and more often than not there is nothing any teacher can do which will make a slow learner, learn faster. Now you can get all the smart kids into a few classrooms and no matter who the teacher is they will perform better on those tests. That teacher will get more money because of the better grades.

Now here is something which might work. Teachers might go for it if you let them draft their kids just like NFL teams draft their players. Let's say you have three first grade classes in a school. Each teacher the first year draws their position from a hat. They draft from the upcoming 2nd graders in an even mannered order as in a Fantasy Football Draft, but the second year and from then on they draft in reverse order of finish. If teacher no. 1 has the best overall student test scores in year one, she drafts last the following year and so on.

You can even let the teachers trade kids. You give me two better than average kids for one dumb one and one highly intelligent kid. And there are some dumb ones just like there are intelligent ones. Now don't forget the Non English Speakers. We have to spread them out evenly which sounds a little like discrimination but hey this is corporation here, we can push that under the rug for now.

Under this system each teacher has a chance build a winning team to make more money. Otherwise, under the way it's actually planned, what is to prevent a teacher from offering half of his/her bonus salary to an administrator in return for stacking her class with smart kids. And if an administrator doesn't like a teacher what is to prevent them from stacking her class with dumb kids and kids who can't speak English at all? Nothing. This is why running a classroom is not the same as running a corporation. It only works with widgets and you may want widgets from your loins but my kids were never widgets.

You see what you will get for teachers in the future is not caring teachers who want to help kids. You will get greedy salesperson types who only care about the almight buck, not the kids. And why not? You are paying them more to get higher grades and getting higher grades is not teaching them to learn, it is getting them to get more points on a standardized test, biased test or not. Heck I might become a teacher. Show me the money! Who cares about those little brats? Whip them into shape, memorize things, reward them with candy, whatever it takes to get those little brats to get higher scores. Who cares if they learn anything? I don't. Just SHOW ME THE MONEY! Now for those of you who know me you know I'd never become a teacher under any circumstances. It's a very difficult job and you have to care, which is why Merit Pay does not work.

So Meg, yes you built up eBay, but let me ask you this. You keep saying cut taxes. If you are elected governor of  California are you going to go after all those new businesses you created via eBay and make them collect and pay their California Sales Taxes? Oh, that's right go to her web site and ask Meg? I'll wait until I get her on the air instead.

         ---------------

Finally I can announce copies of my new book are on store shelves as we speak. I'm told sales are good for "Fan Letters to a Stripper: A Patti Waggin Tale." I will be signing copies of the book this Sunday afternoon at Book Soup, 8818 Sunset Blvd., in West Hollywood. You can also see a video of the making the book on YouTube. C'mon out and pick up a copy. I'll also be in four northern California cities in coming weeks. The week of November 15th I'll be in Oakland, Chico, Sacramento and Bakersfield for signings with one coming up in Ventura but it's as of yet not decided regarding a date. You can read more at my website.

Tags: whitman baseball grading merit waggin don ebay lebaron rudolph beckett california patti pay football psa meg governor

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: TAKING IT TO AUCTION

By Bob Brill

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.

                                           ===============

(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.

                                         ===============

 (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