VOLUME 2, NUMBER 190
**HOT**BUTTON**STORY**
(TOPPS BARACK OBAMA CARD SELLS FOR $3100!!!!)
** CIVIL SUIT FILED BY O-J DEALER OVER TAPES
** HIGHLAND MINT OFFERS TY COBB AUTOGRAPH
** EBAY DRAWING HEAT FROM INVESTORS
** BARACK & HILLARY AUTO'S SELLING FOR TOPPS
** UPPER DECK REDEMPTIONS GETTING QUICK ** SPORT KINGS B DATE KNOWN **
THESE STORIES AND MORE IN TODAY'S EDITION OF TBR: THE BRILL REPORT...
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(DEALER IN O-J CASE FILES CIVIL SUIT BUT DOESN'T NAME SIMPSON)
According to a lawsuit filed in Orange County, California by memorabilia dealer Alfred Beardsley, he was "set up" by another dealer who orchestrated the entire event in hopes of getting a book and movie deal. The book deal is in the works and you can bet when it's all over a movie will be forthcoming too.
"Beardsley was in fear of his life or great bodily injury," the lawsuit claims of the night the disputed sting operation went down in a Las Vegas hotel room last September 13.
Beardsley, an associate of Bruce Fromong, the main target in the so-called "sting" operation, says a third dealer set them up. Tom Riccio audio taped the entire event in a Las Vegas hotel room last year and according to Beardsley now has a six figure book deal. Beardsley claims this was the intent all the time and Riccio was just trying to capitalize on Simpson's notoriety.
(Alfred Beardsley who is suing Tom Riccio and naming 100 people in his case)
The suit seeks a restraining order and injunction prohibiting Riccio and others from using Beardsley's likeness, quotations of statements and summaries of those statements. The suit names 100 people but missing from the list is Simpson. Simpson has always claimed the memorabilia brought to the room by Fromong was originally his and stolen from him by a former business partner.
The entire thing went down as a sting operation according to Simpson who told police the meeting was set up by Riccio to meet with Fromong to get his stuff back. Several people in the case on Simpson's side, now have flipped and are testifying guns were involved. Simpson faces life in prison if convicted of some of the charges. He was charged with kidnapping in the case as well as armed robbery. Trial is set for later this year.
What Beardsley claims is as bizarre. He alleges Riccio, hoping to capitalize on Simpson, told him (Beardsley) he had a buyer for the stuff Fromong had; a software kingpin who lived in Nevada and the deal had to be done in Las Vegas.
"Riccio intentionally made false statements to Simpson which would cause Simpson to become extremely angry in the hope that this would result in a more profitable recording for Riccio to sell," the lawsuit states.
The suit goes on to describe what happened that fateful night.
(The Juice in not so happy days.)
"Riccio led in five men, two of whom were armed with handguns," claims the suit. "All of the men were yelling at Beardsley and Fromong, shoving them, searching them, and threatening them with weapons."
All the while Riccio was recording the incident with his audio recorder. Beardsley says he knew nothing about that at the time.
Both Riccio and Beardsley were granted immunity in the case and Beardsley is hoping he'll be removed from the case forever.
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(HIGHLAND MINT OFFERS BY COBB AUTOGRAPH)
It is highly unusual for The Highland Mint to offer anything other than signatures of current or recently retired players. While the company at one time did offer signed photos on their traditional plaque with a coin of players from the 1950s, never before has THM offers a prize such as a slabbed Ty Cobb autograph.
(Ty Cobb Slabbed autograph from Highland Mint.)
The Cobb, not in the usual green ink, is certified by PSA and is slabbed. The company plans to put it on a plaque as usual with a coin and a laser engraved name plate. It seems there is only one available and the direct dealer cost for the item is $3000.
The Highland Mint is taking dealer inquiries at the moment and a call to 800-544-6135 needs to be made quickly if there is any interest. Cobb traditionally signed in green ink but there are other examples in other colors.
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(EBAY DRAWING HEAT FROM INVESTORS)
While still the Cadillac of auction sites, eBay has lost its luster and investors and analysts are pulling back. The stock actually declined 18-percent in the past year and the decision of Meg Whitman to step down has hurt the company in the view of Wall Street, especially as the company was not expanding as it had been.
(Whitman's departure has left a hole on Wall St.)
There has also been a major slowdown in Germany and the United States; the two biggest eBay markets and entrances into the Orient were not as hoped for. This past week a boycott by major eBay dealers who were angry at the increase of fees, did some damage, but has been hard to assess.
MedVed.net, which tracks such things says there was a decline of 17-percent during the first part of the boycott but several spikes in the latter few days. There are about 13 million listings currently which is about 10-percent lower than normal...so the strike did likely have some effect on eBay intake.
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(BIG BUCKS FOR BARACK CARDBOARD CUTOUT FROM TOPPS)
An autographed Topps card signed by leading presidential candidate Barack Obama sold for $3100 while another inked by his opponent Hillary Clinton pulled in $1300. It just seems she can't catch him in anything these days. Both cards were numbered to less than 20 and were pulled from Topps 2008 Series One.
(Clinton signed cards look like this in Topps One.)
Five different candidates signed cards for Topps including John Edwards, John McCain and Fred Thompson; two of whom have since dropped out of the race. All were numbered to 15 with the exception of the Senator from New York. There were 18 Hillary Clinton signatures. So far none of the McCain signatures has turned up on eBay per our own check of the site.
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(UPPER DECK BLACK BASKETBALL KEY AUTOGRAPHS NAMED)
What do Michael Jordan, Lebron James, Kobe Bryant, Bill Russell, Kevin Durrant, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson and Julius Erving all have in common? Upper Deck Black Autographs. These players are named as A-Listers in the new two-card-per pack UD Black, due out soon. With a suggested retail price of $250 per pack or $125 per card it had better be good.
(UD Black Basketball changing so quickly not even the UD web site has the answers.)
Fans and collectors were not thrilled with UD Black Baseball which featured two autographed cards per pack. Two of the above named A-listers will feature an autographed card per 10-box case. In six box hobby cases collectors will find either the autograph or a 1-of-1 autographed card.
This means the first solicitation which went to dealers is wrong and is being updated. The difference is the overall odds for a 1/1 autograph is one in two cases not the advertised 1-in-six packs. UD sales is allowing dealers to make adjustments in their orders due to the change.
Each pack will contain two cards, one of which will be signed by either an A-Lister or other players.
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(UPPER DECK REDEMPTIONS SETTING NEW RECORDS IN POSITIVE WAY)
It seems the era of long waits for redemption cards from Upper Deck is over at least for the most part. Most collectors we've spoken with and via personal experience are indicating the cards are being redeemed within a week or two and sometimes even faster. Much of it is determined by whether the cards of course are in house when the product hits the street and just missed the pack out deadline but the good news is UD seems to have fixed the problem.
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(SPORT KINGS SERIES "B" DUE OUT IN LATE JULY)
Dr. Brian Price considered Sport Kings such a hit, the planned release of Series "B" (rather than series 2) is set for July 24. The product will again feature athletes from all sports including Tennis, Golf, Track and the regular mainstream sports of baseball, football, basketball and hockey. The beauty of Sport Kings it truly recognizes stars and HOFer's from all sports.
(A Vintage PaperCut of boxer Gene Tunney.)
"The number of cut signatures will be increased in Series B," said Price. "The inserts will include 1933 The Year Sportkings at the Movies, and President and Players along with the return of Vintage PaperCuts and PaperCuts."
The company will also capitalize on a new trend; the make your own card craze. Both Topps and Upper Deck have offered collectors who win certain sweepstakes the opportunity to pick player autographs from a list and to design their own card using multiple signatures.
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