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: 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.

Tags: upper insiders brill players patti baseball bob deck fan cards panini tiger uda diamond donruss mlb waggin sports ud jakks nba richard union eisner woods don collectors topps mcwilliams letters nfl rudolph