VOLUME 1, NUMBER 163
HOT*BUTTON*STORY
(TOPPS SAYS VICK CHROME RELEASE "UNINTENTIONAL!!!")
** VICTOR SHAFFER BACK IN THE SADDLE
** TOPPS SAYS VICK CARDS UNINTENTIONAL
** EBAY WARNS SELLERS ABOUT RECALL TOYS
** MILLER CASE GETS REHEARING
** NAXCOM PUSHING HARDER IN AUCTIONS
** EBAY SELLER OFFERING MONEY FOR TRIVIA
** TOPPS PUSHING ECHELON WITH NEW PROMO
** IN THE GAME WRAPPER REDEMPTION HIGH END ** SCOUT PROGRAM ROLLING **
** DAVID WRIGHT PROFILE ** TOPPS SELLING FOOTBALL SETS TO THE PUBLIC **
THESE STORIES AND MORE IN TBR: THE BRILL REPORT...
EDITORIAL COMMENT: THE SELLING OF WHOLESALE DIRECT.
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(VICTOR SHAFFER BACK IN THE DRIVERS SET BUT SITTING ON THE NET)
It's been a long time since Victor Shaffer sat behind a desk as CEO of a trading card company. The man who brought Press Pass and the first "Game Used" items to the hobby is at it again. After years of consulting himself out of a hobby job he's back with Ace Authentics; the company which makes tennis cards. And, he's back running the show as an owner.
"I had been working with Dreams Incorporated spending most of my time in the Mounted Memories division and had worked my way through my contract and was about to go pitching on my own in the trading card business when this opportunity arrived to buy into Ace Authentics," Shaffer said in an exclusive interview with The Brill Report. "I am the CEO and my partner, who is truly a partner, is John Reichel the president."
(Maria Sharapova is one of the darlings of tennis.)
Shaffer applauds Reichel who laid the groundwork and set up the contracts with the players. Shaffer has a long hobby history from his days at Pro Set when he brought in Parkhurst to founding Press Pass and then selling Press Pass to RC2. He stayed on to consult and transition the moved onto the Dreams. There came a time though when Shaffer got itchy to get back in the trading card saddle and tennis believe it or not, was a perfect fit.
"I actually grew up as a tennis player in my youth and worked as a teaching pro working my way through college," he told TBR. "It has always been a great passion of mine and I thought this would be a fun way to combine what I used to do a heck of a lot with my profession and it's been enjoyable."
Ace is currently making about three trading card products a year, tennis figurines and has exclusive contracts for signed and framed memorabilia with nearly all the big names and those trying to overtake them. It basically means, as small as the market may be, Ace is the Place.
(This figure of Roger Federer sold out quickly.)
"If there is a source for authentic memorabilia and there is only one real source to go to, then that is Ace," he said. "We are the only substantial source of tennis memorabilia in the world with our large number of in depth contracts with the players who we go to directly to sign."
Tennis may not be the hot mainstream item and in some ways compares to golf. Shaffer says however there is a big difference in what Ace is doing and what Upper Deck did with the lynx.
"We really are talking two different animals because Upper Deck has to support a much different business model due to their overhead," said Shaffer. "They are big we are not and we run things tightly, we don't have to generate big numbers."
Shaffer says the appeal for tennis much broader domestically and internationally.
"While there are a substantial number of really terrific golfers there really is only one who can have an impact on the trading card and memorabilia markets (Tiger Woods) and you can't say that for tennis," Shaffer added. "Although Roger Federer may go down as the greatest player in the history of the sport there are a number of great players who are meaningful to the market."
He points out Andy Roddick, one of the best known players on the tour isn't even no.1, Maria Sharapova is top ranked and is one of the hottest looking players on the tour plus she is one of the leaders in endorsements deals. Another is Rafael Nadal and these are just a few of the players who are comparable to the top players in other sports. But he isn't leaving out the past.
"In our card products we are recognizing the history of the sport and are tying up players in terms of three to six year contracts including legends of the sport such as Trace Austin, Pat Cash and Steve Smith," he said. "It is important to the history of the sport and to trading cards and the fan base because we had to create a sense of history with players from the 1970's and 80's who contributed so much to the growth of tennis."
(What tennis fan wouldn't like to have the signed match worn shorts from no. 3 Jeleana Jankovic?)
Some of the products will be high end, others not so high end. High end in Tennis is $25 per pack which Shaffer feels is about right. In December the company will release Grand Slam 2 which will feature four cards (2 autographs, a shirt card and another rare limited card with memorabilia). Although things can change this will be one of the cornerstones of the Ace trading cards series.
"This is a niche opportunity and although not an absolutely positive mainstream opportunity at Wal-Mart, still it is an opportunity," he said. "It is a sizable niche when you consider global sport and a global opportunity."
Shaffer realizes the international market is not new ground and says he realizes both Topps, Fleer and Upper Deck have had their failures internationally. He also realizes this is a new era and there are opportunities in the new global market which were much tougher to crack 10 years ago because the world is changing so quickly.
"Clearly the U-S is the main opportunity but the foreign market is ready to develop for both trading cards and memorabilia," said the CEO of Ace. "There are still so many avenues we haven't explored yet globally including international distribution and corporate arena's."
Shaffer founded the "game used" market at Press Pass when he was the first to offer "Race Used" Lug Nuts from Nascar vehicles through redemption cards in packs. Upper Deck later started offering game used jerseys with Shaffer countering with Race Worn fire suits, burning rubber from tires used in races and of course cut up hoods placed in trading cards from the likes of many great racers. He is the father of what is now known as Game Used Memorabilia.
Ace sets up at venues with the support of the sponsors of events such as the Open tournaments, selling their products directly to the public to gain exposure. One really cool product sold for $49 a box and included cards and even a match used Tennis ball. Some were signed. There were also highly regarded rookie cards, signed cards and 1/10 balls were autographed.
The future past tennis?
"Right now we have our hands full with tennis," he answered. "While clearly there are opportunities outside tennis in my mind, for the time being we remain dedicated to tennis."
Somehow TBR feels there is lots of room for growth for one of the brightest minds in the hobby to take tennis as the first step in the next evolution of the trading card industry. If anyone can make the hobby sing, it's Mr. Shaffer.
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(TOPPS SAYS CHROME VICK A MISTAKE)
A total of five 2007 Topps Chrome Michael Vick cards have sold on eBay with a sixth taking bids now approaching $200. The highest sold for $500 with the lowest in the $300 range. Not bad for cards which were never supposed to be produced. Last week TBR asked Topps for an explanation. Today we got it.
"This was obviously done unintentionally as we officially announced that 2007 Topps Chrome Football would be the first 2007 Topps Football product to not include Michael Vick," spokesman Clay Luraschi told TBR. "We are currently looking into the manufacturing process of the product to determine what happened."
The problem seems to exacerbate itself since not only did Regular Topps Chrome cards get out, Refractors were released and even a rare Blue Refractor. Four of the five sold were purchased by a CPA named Dennis who bought them as an investment.
The sellers included a dealer, a stay at home mom and a collector.
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(EBAY WARNS SELLERS OF RECALLED TOYS)
eBay issued a warning to sellers who are selling toys which have been recalled recently. The website told dealers they can be kicked off the site for selling any of the many recalled toys.
"Listing items on eBay which have been recalled is strictly prohibited and if the Consumer Product Safety Commission asks eBay to remove an item, we will take it down," said Catherine Schwartz, eBay's toy and gadget department leader. "eBay has been working with the CPSC for years as part of our commitment to to making eBay a safe place to trade."
(Some of the Thomas Trains under recall.)
One of the big ones is the Thomas & Friends Wooden Railway, an RC2 and there were over 100 listings on eBay for the item. eBay says it cannot police everything with over 30 million items on the site at any one time.
However, the company had to get serious with so many lawsuits being filed by consumers regarding the recalled toys. Over the past few months 21 million toys were recalled, many due to lead in the paint such as with the Thomas & Friends Railway.
"The rapid growth of on-line shopping exposes consumers to a different set of challenges in identifying potentially recalled or defective products being sold on-line," said Nancy Nord, acting chairperson of the CPSC. "In order to ensure consumers are not purchasing products which have been deemed hazardous, it is critical for us to work with e-commerce marketplaces such as eBay to educate consumers on these risks."
The web site is also providing links to recall information. Meanwhile CNN is reporting many of the hottest toys for this holiday season will be in short supply, sold out long before they can be remade. The holiday season is expected to account for about $18 billion in toy sales.
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(MILLER CASE GETS REHEARING)
The case of William Miller versus Collectors Universe will be heard again as an appellate court judge granted a motion for a rehearing. Miller won his case against CU but lost what he wanted most; damages.
The company continued to put the long-time authenticator's name on COA's after he left the company and Miller sued. He won a judgment based on the use of his name once, not the 14,000 or so times it appeared. He won $750, but wanted $750 for each offense or $10.5 million. The courts rejected his argument.
Now it looks as if Miller will get another chance to make his case. CU says it doesn't expect any impact on the company, standing by the court's previous decision.
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(NAXCOM AUCTIONS TO FEATURE MANY EBAY LIKE NUANCES)
As NAXCOM starts heading into the auction field there are going to be many similarities to the eBay site. There will be feedback, combined shipping, buy it now features. Two things which will be different are a private offer option. This is something eBay resisted for many years. The other feature differing from eBay is the feedback.
(NAXCOM ready to roll out auctions.)
"All negative feedback will go first through NAXCOM who will assess each one and then assign ratings accordingly," said the site. "In this way it will insure buyers can place negative ratings without fear of retaliation from the seller, while also protecting sellers from buyers that leave unwarranted negative feedback."
This feature alone should make people want to try NAXCOM for trading cards. NAXCOM officials say there are more listings for sportscards on it's site than on eBay.
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(EBAY SELLER OFFERS PERKS FOR JUST COLLECT)
An eBay seller (just_collect) is offering cash prizes for eBay watchers who want to try to guess the actual closing price of certain auctions. The Closing Price is a site which deals on eBay selling high dollar vintage items. As part of a grand scheme to gain new buyers to it's auctions it is giving away three prizes for watchers who are good guessers.
"Just like the Price Is Right each week we pick three auctions on eBay (a pre-war card, an autographed card and a vintage card) and you guess the closing price on one or more of them," said co-president Scott Greenwald. "For each auction the closest guess without going over wins $50, second place wins a $25 grading/authentication gift certificate and third place gets a Just Collect Polo shirt."
It is free to play. Guesses end 24 hours before the auctions close.
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(TOPPS ECHELON TO INCLUDE SAME DAY SIGNED MCDONALD'S CARDS)
In these days of signed stickers it is rare a player even touches a card he is supposed to have autographed. Topps has found a way to promote the "card touch" process with it's autographed McDonald's cards in the upcoming Echelon Basketball.
(Some of the high school cards signed.)
"These will include the much talked about same day autographed cards from the 2006 McDonald's High School Game," said Topps.
Among the players in the group are Greg Oden, Brandon Wright, Thaddeus Young, Spencer Hawes, Daequan Cook and Javaris Crittenton. All are numbered to 100 except Hawes who is limited to only 50.
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(TOPPS ON-LINE OFFERS 2007 NFL SETS)
With a direct cost to dealers of just about $30 Topps is offering it's 2007 NFL Factory Sets direct to consumers at $44.95. The sets are being sold from the Topps On-Line Store along with tubs of Bazooka Bubble Gum and boxes of 2007 Topps Total NFL. These boxes are $36.95.
Topps also has Jimmy Rollins autographed helmets but they seem to be sold out.
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(IN THE GAME GOES HIGH END ON WRAPPER REDEMPTION)
In The Game, the other company making hockey cards, is going very high end in its wrapper redemption program for the Canadian Fall Expo in November. The company announced a pair of redemption programs for the annual show in Toronto.
(One of the Ultimate 7 Redemption prizes.)
The first will feature the new product "Oh Canada." Collectors should buy boxes and bring them to the ITG Booth to open them. Once they do they will get either a Game Used memorabilia card designed for the show (limited to 25 of each player), or, a Game Used 1/1 card from the Oh Canada Series.
A second redemption program is even more high end. By opening packs of Ultimate Memorabilia 7 collectors will get one of 20 different cards designed for the Expo and which will contain game used and be sealed in the Ultimate Memorabilia holder.
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(MLBPA SCOUT OUTREACH PROGRAM STARTS ANEW)
New ads are hitting this month in Boys Life and Scout Magazines as Major League Baseball Players Association continues it's push to reach scouts for cards. The program started two years ago and has been successful with scout masters contacting hobby stores to set up field trips to the stores. Each kid gets a collecting goodie kit to take home sponsored by MLBPA.
"Thus far the response has been strong," said Josh Orenstein of MLBPA.
(Scouts can earn Merit Badges as well.)
Store owners are encouraged to have the scout troops come to the store, play some games with cards, hand out pizza and of course give a quick lesson on the history of trading cards. The idea is to get more kids interested in collecting and the local stores where they can buy cards.
Store or scout troops wishing to participate may contact Orenstein at www.baseballcardclubhouse.com.
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(DAVID WRIGHT BIG CARD AND AUTOGRAPH COLLECTOR)
(Input for the following is courtesy of Topps and Alan Narz)
David Wright of the Mets is what you might call a serious collector. Today he collections autographs.
"Today I'm in a position where it is a little easier for me to get autographs," Wright told Topps consultant, Alan Narz in an interview. "I met Donovan McNabb recently and we both wear no.5 so we are exchanging jerseys."
(David Wright Topps spokesman.)
Wright, a spokesman for Topps had the pleasure of watching a young New York girl get to pick out his next trading card as winner of a Topps contest. Wright told young Meredith Quiros her the choice was also won of his favorites.
"We have good taste, both of us," Wright joked.
As a collector growing up, he did all the right things.
"I went to shops and conventions and opened packs with my dad," he said. "My dad made sure I sorted them as I opened them to keep them in order."
His hero was Cal Ripken Jr., but his favorite card was a Nolan Ryan rookie.
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