CYBER MONDAY & HOBBY CRIME
NUMBER 2, VOLUME 172
*HOT*BUTTON*STORY*
(HOBBY DEALER, MOVIE AND NEW GAME HOT FOR HOLIDAYS!!)
(Who is this well known hobby dealer?)
** POINT & CLICK IT'S CYBER MONDAY
** HOBBY DEALER OFF AND SIGNING FOR HOLIDAY
** GAI BACK IN BUSINESS
** MORE CHARGES COULD BE FILED AGAINST TEXAS DEALER ** UPPER DECK EX-ROD CARD FOR REAL? ** UDE TO GIVE AWAY A QUARTER MILLION DOLLARS THIS WEEK ** BECKETT'S MISSING LINK **
DETAILS ON THESE AND OTHER STORIES IN TODAY'S TBR: THE BRILL REPORT
EDITORIAL COMMENT: CYBER AWAY, PLEASE
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(CYBER MONDAY COULD BE GOOD FOR HOBBY)
It is called Cyber Monday and it is today, November 26 and it follows closely on the heels of Black Friday. Some experts say it will eventually pass Black Friday in the hearts of retailers - well actually etailer. Black Friday is traditionally the day major retailers make up much of their holiday business and even much of their annual business. It is the Friday after Thanksgiving and traditionally the busiest day of the year.
Then there is Cyber Monday. This is the following Monday and this year the days on-line sales are expected to exceed $700 million. Last year 77-percent of etailers said their business grew substantially on the Monday after Thanksgiving. In comparison last Friday sales posted over $530 million on the Internet or double what sales were on Thanksgiving Day. So far over $9 billion has been spent on-line since the holiday shopping season began and this figure is up 17-percent over last year according to a study from comScore.com.
"For all those who could not get to the stores or felt like waiting on those long Black Friday lines, mark your calenders now," shouts a Cyber Monday solicitation from hobby memorabilia king, Steiner Sports. "Don't forget to check your email for unprecedented never before seen pricing on over 100 collectibles."
The company promised exclusive and tremendous deals on the 26th for those who participate.
On-line shopping this holiday season is expected to grow to over well over $10 billion, according to a report from BizRate Research. A web site going for the gusto, www.cybermonday.com saw 300,000 people jump on the site on the Monday after Thanksgiving 2006. Figures show 68 million people will shop from the office on Cyber Monday, which of course shows a decrease in the amount of work done at the office on this holiday shopping day.
"As more people rely on the Internet for holiday shopping, retailers have stepped up their game to compete," said Scott Silverman, Executive Director of www.Shop.org. "This year promotions on Cyber Monday are extremely competitive as on-line retailers use an assortment of one day specials to attract on-line shoppers."
According to the survey 72-percent of on-line sellers will offer something special for Cyber Monday compared to 42-percent two years ago. In addition, nearly one fourth of on-line retailers surveyed said they are offering "free shipping" on Cyber Monday to attract new customers.
For hobby dealers is means likely strong eBay sales, especially if the sales are promoted such as through an eBay store. Regular on-line auctions should not be effected much, but an active web-site would be if promoted properly.
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(HOBBY DEALER SCOTTIE SCHWARTZ ON THE MOVE THIS HOLIDAY AGAIN)
If you happened to watch Fox News on Sunday you saw hobby dealer Scottie Schwartz all over the tube. Schwartz, a child film star, is the main promoter of the cult classic "A Christmas Story" in which he co-starred. He's also the son of Southern California Hobby Store owner Dan Schwartz and spends much of the non-holiday year at the store, Baseball Cards and Movie Memorabilia. Fox did several stories covering the actors signing autographs at large shows during the holidays.
"Things get really crazy around the holidays," Schwartz told The Brill Report. "We, the guys from the movie and I, travel to shows from California to Michigan and all over the country doing signings and radio and TV interviews."
The youthful looking former child actor does just about all the set up and lining up for the cast. Most of the key members of the cast join in although not all, and one of them hasn't been heard from in years. A long-time promoter and show dealer in both trading cards and movie items, Schwartz is gone for nearly three months during the holidays.
"It is exhausting but people really love the movie and we're excited to meet the fans," he said. "They remember the leg lamp and everything about the film."
Their favorite part of course usually is Schwartz (Flick) putting his tongue on the frozen pole in the school yard. It stuck there teaching kids a lesson around the world. The movie was filmed in Canada. The cast most recently lost Darrin McGavin, who played the father of the two boys who were the main focus of the film.
The picture seems to be everywhere during the holidays, often making more appearances than other holiday classics such as "It's A Wonderful Life" and "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer." After the holidays the boys, now men, will be back at their regular jobs getting a well deserved rest. During the year Schwartz often sells his own autographed photos on eBay.
"Once a guy called to pay for the photo and got me on the phone, I didn't tell him who I was and he just assumed I was some eBay seller," Schwartz told TBR. "The guy asked me how could he be sure the signed photo was genuine and I laughed and told him 'trust me I got it from a good source.'"
Schwartz other starring role was with Jackie Gleason and Richard Pryor in "The Toy."
Meanwhile USAOPOLY is releasing a new Monopoly version of the film and a jigsaw puzzle. The tokens of course feature the Leg Lamp, Dad's car, Ralphie's broken glasses and the infamous snowsuit. There is even an interactive web site www.thepinkbunnysuit.com.
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(MORE CHARGES BEING SOUGHT AGAINST BUSTED TEXAS DEALER)
Police in Jacksonville, Texas are seeking additional charges against busted hobby dealer Eual Brent Hallford. Hobby dealers around the country are familiar with Hallford who previously worked for www.tradingcardcollectibles.com. He is charged with taking what could amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars from unsuspecting collectors and not delivering on the product. He was arrested a week ago but authorities now say they are looking into additional Internet fraud charges.
"Because he was going outside the state of Texas with his sales he could also be brought up on federal charges for going inter-state," Detective Daniel Franklin told the Jacksonville Daily Progress. "The US Postal Service is also involved because some of the merchandise was shipped by mail."
Hobby dealers nationwide rejoiced upon hearing of Hallford's arrest as many say they had complaints lodged against him as well. In addition, he advertised items below what they could sell them for, which left a bad taste with them. He had been operating for years.
The Better Business Bureau said they had complaints from Michigan to California to Washington. Often, the customers settled with Hallford and then withdrew the complaints. Others just let it go while another group began to pursue him. This grabbed the attention of the authorities who took action.
Many of those complaints were against Trading Card Collectibles which went out of business in 2006 while others are against Hallford's web site. Authorities now estimate if all the complaints and allegations of fraud are filed upon the total could reach upwards of $300,000.
The investigation didn't begin until early September of this year. However, quick police work took place when the complaints started to pile up and a paper trail was likely easy to follow.
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(GLOBAL BACK IN BUSINESS FOR CERTAIN)
After an exclusive interview with GAI head Steve Rocchi The Brill Report has been assured Global Authenticating and Card Grading are fully back in business and consumers will get their merchandise. Rocchi reiterated to TBR it was a legal dispute with the landlord which ended up in court which led to the company closing temporarily.
"We had a problem with the landlord and we went to court and lost," he said. "Then we began negotiating with the same landlord then all of a sudden he broke off negotiations (then the eviction notice went up) and we were stuck."
Rocchi said they were forced to quickly shut down, put everything in storage, turn off the phones and the web sites. Those sites are still NOT fully operational.
"We were behind the 8-Ball and it was a mess," Rocchi told TBR. "I thought we could just turn the sites off and turn them on again, but I guess since we host our own sites the technicians said it was much more complicated than that."
The partial owner of GAI said he hopes to see the sites working properly again but could not give a definite time frame. He did say it will be soon.
"Everything is static right now with the sites," he added. "We are processing items, we are grading and we are authenticating autographs and we will continue to do this, we are still in business."
There was a fear amongst collectors and dealers who thought the company might be going under. Rocchi says that is not true and in reality for the mess that it left them, the move was a good thing for GAI.
"This actually turned out to be a good thing because we were able to get additional funding from our financial backer who said 'okay now you have a perception problem,' and they came through," he said.
The company did lose senior authenticator Justin Priddy who had been with GAI for four years. The change came well before the problem with the landlord. Rocchi says it was a mutual decision.
"It was mutual, we had some issues and it was better that we part," Rocchi said. "He really needed to be on his own."
Rocchi said GAI now has 10 full-time authenticators on staff and myriad who are independent contractors for the company. Global is now located at 232 Avenida Fabricante, Suite 109 in San Clemente, California.
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(UPPER DECK EX-ROD CARDS)
No official word from Upper Deck at this writing but it seems the company issued an error card. The card features Yankee slugger Alex Rodriguez on a 2007 SP Authentic base card with the name as "Ex-Rod" rather than the customary A-Rod. The insignia also says "Boston Red Sox" rather than "SP Authentic." The card signifying his almost going to the Red Sox rather than re-signing with New York.
(SPA "Error" card from Upper Deck)
The card has sold for as high as $51 but seems to be settling in for much less. The first seller of the card listed it for a "Buy It Now" of $299 and evidently collectors begged off that one.
Earlier this year Topps issued a card of Derek Jeter which featured Mickey Mantle in the dugout and President George Bush in the stands waving. The card was a regular, common card. Sellers on eBay listed it as "rare" and "error" and sometimes both. As a result non-hobby savvy folks were paying hundreds of dollars for this card which lists in the low double digits.
It was reminiscent of the 1989 craze surrounding the Billy Ripken error card which Beckett lists as the "Rick Face" card, replacing the "F" word with "Rick." The card was selling for hundreds of dollars but now is worth less than $100. Several versions were re-released with the word either blacked out or whited out.
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(BECKETT MISSING HOCKEY PAGES)
Speaking of errors, Beckett Media announced it's new Hockey Annual is missing some pages.Beckett Hockey Price Guide no. 17 was missing a lot of pages but the company is offering owners a download of the lost pages for free at the company site.
In all about 56 pages didn't make the book covering In The Game to 1993-94 O-P-Chee Premier.
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(UPPER DECK WOW TOURNAMENT EQUALS QUARTER OF A MILLION DOLLARS)
Big Time World of Warcraft players will be competing this week at the San Diego Convention Center for prizes totaling more than $250,000. Upper Deck, which issues the game, says it is the richest tournament of it's kind with the winner getting a check for $100K.
"We are excited to bring an event of this large a scale to the World of Warcraft TCG players who have dedicated themselves to the game," said Ben Drago, Organized Play Program Manager. "We will be awarding over $260,000 in cash prizes which makes this one of the largest TCG events ever."
Players are coming from all over the world after competing in their own national tournaments. The tournament officially runs from Friday, November 29 through Sunday.
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