VOLUME 2, NUMBER 137
HOT*BUTTON*STORY
(KOBE BRYANT TRADE DEMAND, HOBBY IMPACT!)
** TOPPS DISSIDENTS PLAN BLITZ OF BOARD
** TOPPS SIGNS GREG ODEN TO EXCLUSIVE
** KOBE GONE? MAYBE
** GWYNN, RIPKEN HIGHLIGHT NEW STAMPS
** ITG ULTIMATE DELAYED TO JUNE 19
** HALPER COLLECTING STILL ROLLING
THESE STORIES AND MORE IN THE BRILL REPORT...
EDITORIAL COMMENT: WHERE HAVE YOU GONE KOBE BRYANT?
MONDAY: GAI UNDER FIRE, DRAWS IRE, QUESTIONS FROM ALL SIDES
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(CRESCENDO GOES FOR THE FULL RUSH ON TOPPS)
Last week Topps fired the opening salvo and broadside in the battle for control of the company. This week Crescendo Partners is attempting to send a boarding party into the Topps board room. As the deadline nears for Topps shareholders to vote whether or not to accept a buy out offer from a group led by Michael Eisner, a dissident stockholders group is issuing an ultimatum; if the shareholders reject the deal, they are going to run a full slate of candidates to oust the old board and replace them with their own.
"If the ill-advised merger with Michael Eisner is rejected by stockholders at the special meeting scheduled for June 28, 2007, we will then seek to replace the entire Topps board with our slate of nominees," said Eric Rosenfeld, Crescendo Managing Member in a statement.
The shareholders group is a major stockholder with 6.6 percent of the shares held. Last year three members of the dissident group were put on the board and the board expanded to accommodate Topps Chairman Arthur Shorin. It looked as if Shorin was going to be voted off the board but the board was expanded by one seat allowing him to retain his position.
(Bazooka Joe may have new bosses in June)
The names selected to run for the board have some interesting backgrounds. They are Charles Huggins who is a specialist in turning around candy companies. Topps of course sells and markets Bazooka Bubble Gum and an entire line of confectionery products. The others include Rosenfeld, Michael Rowe of the sports marketing firm Positive Impact and the former CEO and part owner of the NJ Nets of the NBA, Thomas McGrath of Crossroads Media, Jeffrey Dunn former CEO of Nickelodeon Networks, Michael Appel of Quest Turnaround Advisors and Thomas Hyland a senior partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers.
The next step in the battle takes place in Delaware June 11 when a judge will decide whether or not to allow a lawsuit filed by the dissidents to proceed. Meanwhile Upper Deck has made an offer which if accepted will allow the cardmaker to look inside Topps books although board member Timothy Brog told The Brill Report last week there will be a limit as to what UD will be allowed to see unless a deal is struck.
Upper Deck originally was a candidate but an agreement wasn't reached at that time as to the question of the penalty for halting the deal. Companies such as these often have a clause imposing a stiff penalty if a company pulls out of a deal after getting the opportunity to see financial agreements the company being sold, has in place.
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(TOPPS SIGNS ODEN)
What do 19-year old phenomena and future first round NBA pick Greg Oden and Bill Russell have in common? A Topps basketball card. Oden signed an exclusive deal with Topps this week for packaging, autographs and memorabilia and will be paired on a card with the great Russell in Topps.
"I look forward to business partnerships with industry leading corporations and Topps is one of those companies," said Oden in a release. "I can't wait to see my first Topps rookie card."
(Oden & Russell. Topps hopes a pair to draw to.)
The move by Topps follows closely on the heels of Upper Deck signing the other player considered to be right there with Oden, Kevin Durant. He was signed to an exclusive package by the Carlsbad company. The two are expected to be the first two players chosen in the upcoming June draft, although who goes first is still up in the air.
Topps will ship in August and this marks the 50 year anniversary of the first Topps basketball cards although there were years in between where Topps did not make cards for the NBA. Part of the deal with the anniversary is the hiring of Russell, the all-time great Boston Celtic to be a pitchman with Oden.
"We are very excited to have one of the NBA's new young stars on our team," said Warren Friss VP and GM of Topps Sports. "We believe Greg has a great future in the NBA ahead of him and we want to be his partner every step of the way."
(Greg Oden already popular on eBay.)
One of those "steps" is the development of a Greg Oden website by Topps. There will be a joint marketing project between Oden's people and Topps to develop and run the official Oden site. This is something his agent really likes.
"Greg and Topps compliment each other well," said Mike Conley Sr., of BDA Sports Mgt. "Greg is a special young man with a successful career ahead of him and Topps is a class operation with a true vision for this partnership."
Others in the Topps stable include David Wright, Dywane Wade, Mickey Mantle, Alex Rodriguez, Barry Bonds and Ryan Howard.
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(KOBE GONE?)
Kobe Bryant cards and collectibles are being dumped on eBay in the aftermath of his interview early May 30 saying he is demanding a trade from the Lakers.
"Yeah, I would like to be traded yes," Bryant told ESPN. "I would like to be traded as tough as it is to say that, there is no other alternative."
When asked if there was anything the Lakers could do to change his mind and he said flat out, "no."
Within hours 200 new auctions were listed on eBay for Kobe items including anything showing him in a Laker uniform. Autographs on Laker jerseys were especially ready to be moved along with 8 x 10 photos. We know of several who already had items listed but immediately dropped the price to move them.
It is well known when a popular player is traded everything in his old team's uniform automatically loses value with the exclusion of rookie cards. Jerseys and photos are of particular interest since the old city fans lose interest and new city fans (the team the player goes to) want him in his new uniform.
"It will kill the LA market if he is traded," said Steve Aronson of The Baseball Card Company in suburban Los Angeles. "I could see collectors going 'oh man I'm done collecting.'"
For the hobby around the rest of the country the impact would not be as bad.
"I think it will have a positive impact on the hobby outside of Los Angeles," said Dave Bronson, of Sweet Deal, a major LA based distributor. "It's too soon to tell but I'm not so sure he'll be leaving but maybe that is just wishful thinking, too."
Aronson added Kobe is one of those special type of players which come along only so often.
"There will always be Kobe collectors, I think he's sort of like Roger Clemens who goes to several teams and is hated by many but lots of people still collect him," said Aronson. "As far as memorabilia goes though, unless it's a basketball, anything Lakers will be dead."
The L-A market suffered a similar fate when fan favorites Mike Piazza and to a lesser extent Paul Lo Duca were traded away. Sales of their cards and memorabilia plummeted to near zero in the region.
Expect a lot of action on Kobe memorabilia as we get closer to the Lakers actually looking to move their sullen star. Bryant says the Lakers have repeatedly lied to him and he wants out. This coming just days after he said he would stay if the Lakers brought back Jerry West as their General Manager.
Late in the day Kobe seemed a little less certain he wanted to be traded telling ESPN's Dan Patrick having West back "would definitely help out the situation."
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(PREMIER POSTAGE OFFERS NEW GWYNN, RIPKEN STAMPS)
Newly elected Hall of Famer's Tony Gwynn and Cal Ripken Jr., are the first players to grace the new 41-cent stamps. These stamps however you won't find as easily at your local post office as you will at collectible spots and on-line. Premier Postage has a contract with the US Postal Service and the Hall of Fame as well as the other licensing agencies.
"We couldn't think of a better way to launch our Major League Baseball postage products than to honor the incredible careers of these baseball legends," said Mike Samora, president and founder of Premier Postage.
(Framed and matted signed items up for bid at www.mlb.com)
These are limited edition postage stamps which are legal stamps for use on letters but few will be used this way. They are issued in sheets as well as in commemorative framed pieces with photos. The first batch was signed and is being auctioned off by MLB for the charities sponsored by Gwynn and Ripken. Those auctions are going on now at www.mlb.com.
The ten stamp sheets retail for $24.99 with only 15,000 sheets printed. The company promises it will not print more. They can be purchased at the HOF and its retail outlets, Ripken's Ironclad Authentics and Premier's own site as well as MLB's website.
The program is a newly developed partnership between the US Postal Service and Pitney Bowes to get new products into the mix.
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(ULTIMATE MEMORABILIA DELAYED TO JUNE 19, IN THE GAME)
In The Game, the other company making hockey cards, is delaying the release of Ultimate Memorabilia Edition 7 because some key athletes have not returned their autographed cards. The company has a policy of "No Redemption Cards."
"It is unfortunate that such an outstanding product has to be delayed but I think collectors understand that there are often circumstances beyond our control when we are attempting to secure autographs from some of the best players in the world," said ITG President Dr. Brian Price. "In order to maintain our policy of no redemption cards in our releases we have to make sure that all the autographs are in hand. We apologize for the delay and sincerely hope that collectors will find the wait worthwhile."
The delay is until June 19 and therefore the company is also delaying the final checklist until it gets back the signatures.
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(HALPER FOREVER)
You have to wonder how much stuff legendary collector Barry Halper really had. His estate keeps putting items up for auction several years after the hobby's super collector passed away. In a recent auction Halper items brought $1.4 million including $117,000 for his film library.
The Halper Estate put up 247 lots for the Robert Edwards Auction which had an overall dollar sales amount of nearly $9 million. The Halper items were some of the specific pieces Halper himself really enjoyed according to family members.
REA says it was the most successful auction of it's kind for the company with nearly 25,000 bids come from all over the world including Asia and Europe. A copy of the 1938 Olympic Constitution, a rare publication, brought in $141,000.
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