Saturday Nov 07, 2009
The Brill Report: The NFL; Less is Good?
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
Friday Jul 24, 2009
The Brill Report: TAKING IT TO AUCTION
TAKING IT TO AUCTION
As some of you know I've recently been associated with Huggins & Scott Auctions out of Maryland and to say the least I've learned some things. I've also been pleased with the fact my hobby knowledge is paying off. There is also no shortage of people who don't understand the process. There is also no shortage of stuff from the hobby's most over produced era, 1982-1999. Let me help set a few things straight.
There are several good and legitimate auction houses in the hobby these days and more seem to be springing up all the time. Remember the number of grading companies formed during the heydey of grading? All want a big piece of the pie while there are niche's to be had, the pie has shrunk and the most competitive will survive.
During the grading heyday of course there were the two biggies; PSA and Beckett. SCG carved a niche since they graded oversized cards, GAI would grade packs while nearly everything coming from Mint, BCCG and others would be a 10 whether it had a bent corner or not. Eventually nearly all of them faded away leaving the market to the big three.
Auction companies sprang up after eBay starting taking much of the hobby business. People like auctions and while eBay still does a booming business changes and fraud at the internet auction site opened doors for other auctions on the internet. Mastro was probably the biggest but persistent rumors about improprieties and government investigations pretty much put them out of business. Their key staffers went elsewhere. Heritage remains along with Huggins & Scott, Mile High and a host of others. Several more have gone by the way side including Mr. Mint Alan Rosen's auctions. Now it is all about marketing and how much you can afford to spend to get buyers to your site.
There are more than enough hobby related items to be auctioned off and in this economy they are coming up daily. Vintage cards are still the best but good solid vintage autographs are right behind them. NASCAR, modern manufacturered memroabilia and cards post 1970 don't sell. Even wax boxes from the era turn sour?
A couple of tips about going to auction with your stuff. Vintage cards are always in demand and while condition will determine price, buyers are not really condition sensitive. I've personally taken in a large number of vintage off grade cards and when I say off grade, it's really more about quantity than quality. Quality will bring more money but a strong lot of off grade vintage cards will also do well.
Autographs? Jimmy Spence of JSA handles most of the certifacation for the auctions houses in the hobby and why not. He is the best. Many of the auction houses have deals with him and they usually take care of the certifacation. The company will usually charge you what Spence charges them for the service and it comes off the end of your sale.
The auction houses charge anywhere from 10% to 20% to the seller although this varies due to what the owner is selling, how much of an advance he'd like if one is offered, what the competition is offering and how good the collection is. A customer selling a complete T206 Set with all the cards in PSA 7 condition might be offered a 7% fee, while someone offering up 1500 boxes of 1988 Donruss in sealed cases would easily be giving up 15% to 20%. Those are hard to sell while the other will sell easily.
The buyer is also charged a commission and this is where the auction house makes its money. The commission taken from the seller usually pays for the representative of the company who found the collection, the shipping and some advertising. The buyer's commission is what pays for the catalog, employees and hopefully the auction house itself makes money so it can stay in business. Selling $2 million in merchandise does not guarantee the company a profit considering all the factors involved.
I've done very well with complete Topps Sets from the 1950's and 1960's, 800 count boxes of vintage baseball and football cards while bulk autographs don't seem to do as well. There is usually some interest in a bulk lot of autographs. What there is no interest in are inserts and insert sets. These are dime a dozen items and commonly manufactured.
Will this all change? Probably as things in the industry change we'll see changes in the auction process too, as well as customer tastes and new collectors coming to the auction market to buy. Some of the auction houses will fade away due to lack of financing not due a shortage of material. Personally I get calls almost every day but unfortunately much of it is for modern day baseball cards. The questions I get are usually from the uneducated...
"What kind of cards do you buy?" We don't buy we consign.
"What kind of cards do you collect?" We don't collect, we sell.
"Is Shoeless Joe Jackson still dead?" No, I heard him out back talking with Elvis last week.
"What is my Upper Deck 1996 Michael Jordan Rookie Card worth, I have three of them." A lot less than the 1986-87 Fleer Michael Jordan Rookie Card.
"I have lots of card from back in the day when I was a kid, I'm 22 now and found them in the garage. I'd like you to take a look at them to see if you are interested." I'm not, I want to talk to your father who collected cards back 'in his day.'
"I have lots of old Becketts I was going to throw out but I want you to put them up for auction." Walk them out your back door and head straight for the trash can.
"My grandfather died and left me a bunch of boxes of sports stuff and cards he collected when he was a kid. What do I do with them?" Nothing, what is your address I'll be over in 10 minutes.
One big name dealer years ago said there are no more great finds. Of course there are because people die and their collections usually go to their families who don't want them. They want the money the collection might bring but even then many of them don't care so much. They have no emotional attachment to them. This is what we are looking for. If you have an emotional attachment, keep it because chances are you won't get enough money for it to overcome your emotions.
We are trained to be conservative in estimating the value of a collection because we don't want you to be disappointed. We also would like to know what your expectations are. If you have a collection you paid $75,000 for and in today's market the value is $10,000 and you want $95,000 chances are you should try to sell it on eBay instead. It will take you longer, you won't get your money in one lump sum and you might get $12,000 for it. It's a hard lesson to learn but a lot of folks are learning it.
The one good thing about today's market with it's bad economy is there is always a great market for premium merchandise. Especially if that stuff is linked personally to a player. A ring worn by Ali, a check written by Babe Ruth or a bat owned by Joe Jackson. These are all premium items and will find a home with someone with expensive tastes and cash to burn. A bat signed by Hank Aaron while under contract to Score Board, a Willie Mays baseball signed in 2006 or a "Limited Edition" numbered litho signed by guys who all hit 50 home runs in a season -- well there are lots of them and they are not unique. Anyone who really wants one can have one and this is not good for the collectibles market or your investment.
Most auction houses don't deal with framed items. They would rather take the stuff out of the frames, ship them to their warehouse in a less costly matter and sell the items as they are. Few collectors, buying at auction, are buying them for the frames. If you walk into a store and see a framed piece and you want it, you buy it. You usually don't buy it at auction. At auction people are looking for "rare" or "a bargain."
Selling at auction is a great way to get the most for what you have and if you don't have a clue as to how valuable what you have is, it's a tremendous way to find out. Chances are you will be pleasently pleased although there are often disappointments. Like the man said selling anything anywhere, auctions, swap meets, eBay, garage sales -- it's a crap shoot. However if you use a legitimate auction house which advertises, publishes a nice catalog and has good reps come out to visit with you, you are halfway home to a good experience.
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(BURBANK) Hollywood Collectibles Show was good the last weekend in Burbank as a "Happy Days Reunion" themed show took center state. Even Erin Moran was there and she was previously estranged from the group. Henry Winkler (The Fonz) was a huge hit and we heard him remark afterwards "This was really a wonderful thing, certainly worth being here."
(DV Valkenburgh)
(In photo above, Happy Days stars; Donny Most far right,Henry Winkler far end standing, Marion Ross in Blue, Anson Williams looking away in black shirt)
Photo credit to Dave Rodriguez, Signatures.com. The free table area was loaded with about 60 or more signers. These are celebrities who get their table for free and can charge what they want. Most are former TV and movie stars, Playboy Playmates and working actors and actresses such as Deborah Van Valkenburgh seen below. The "Too Close for Comfort" star and co-star of the classic cult film "The Warriors" is constantly working and usually makes all the Hollywood Collectible Shows. She was there with co-star Lydia Cornell. Almost the entire living cast from the Bob Newhart Show was there. We were there to promote our new book "Love Letters to a Stripper; A Patti Waggin Tale" and pre-sold a few books in the process.
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(THE MOON) Mounted Memories is offering up framed pieces of the Apollo 11 Moon walk. The items feature text of the mission and photos of the landing, the walk and some of those famous shots NASA says it lost in the years gone by. There were no shots of anyone's forehead simulating the man in the moon for you conspiracy theorists.
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(ORLANDO) College Hunks Hauling Junk, a clean out company, cleaned out a storage locker and founds lots of sports memorabilia. Judging from the COA's, the holders and the names of the players who signed it looks like someone who collected stuff from The Score Board. Mays, Aaron, Schmidt and many more former TSB inkers. Some of the stuff was ruined by the poor conditions but some will go to charity.
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(EBAY) The recent deaths of star names has put a real boost into the memorabilia market, and it also continues to send shock ways through the fake autograph market. The deaths of Michael Jackson and Steve McNair pumped up the market as usual and as unfortunate as that is. At the same time the obvious fake autographs flowing out on eBay and other auction sites continues to show what is wrong with our industry, and the world for this matter.
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(PITTSBURGH) For the same likely reasons we have to also follow the news and scandal market to see where the value of our collectibles go. Case in point, another athlete accused civily (not criminally) of rape months after an alleged encounter took place. Ben Roesthlisberger of the Pittsburgh Steelers vehemently defended himself in a news conference this week, stating earlier the encounter was consentual. The woman who is making the accusations filed the civil suit but never filed a criminal complaint. The question is should athletes now have to fill out a form before and after having sex stating their intentions before and after? Imagine if Mickey Mantle and some of the other great players who were known to stray frequently were around today?
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Bob Brill can be reached at bob.pattiwaggin-AT-gmail-DOT-com. You can find his new book "Fan Letters to a Stripper; A Patti Waggin Tale" available on many different on-line book seller sites although the limited edition version may only be purchased from the web site, www.pattiwaggin.com. Patti Waggin was married to MLB player Don Rudolph and both have fan clubs on the the site. Special bonuses and discounts apply for those who join.
Tags: the don jimmy stripper beckett waggin van dancer burlesque jsa memories patti jordan scott spence strip elvis mounted and michael report steelers topps baseball rudolph winkler tease huggins psa heritage valkenburgh ebay brill exotic