DEALER SAYS O-J SIMPSON CONFESSED TO MURDERS
VOLUME 2, NUMBER 202
**HOT**BUTTON**STORY**
(TOPPS OFFERS MOST UNIQUE PRESIDENTIAL LOOK-SEE YET)
** DEALER'S BOOK SAYS O-J CONFESSED TO MURDERS
** STEINER LOOKING GLOBAL
** MOUNTED USING CROSS OVER JERSEYS
** NAXCOM, HERITAGE, MARVEL BUST OUT
** NBA STORE GOING STRONG
These stories and more in today's TBR: The Brill Report...
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(MIKE GILBERT RELEASES BOOK: O-J CONFESSES)
Many in the hobby industry remember Mike Gilbert as the guy who headed up O.J. Simpson's memorabilia company long before anyone ever heard of Nicole Simpson and Ronald Goldman. He was based in California's central valley and headed up Locker 32. He had private signings with and managed Simpson's memorabilia. Somewhere along the line he fell out of favor and doesn't talk to the media. Now he's released a book saying Simpson confessed to him he did indeed kill the pair and he confessed right after he was acquitted of the double murder.
(Simpson flanked by attorneys in a Las Vegas courtroom.)
Gilbert has written a book which releases this week entitled "How I helped OJ Get Away with Murder." In the book, according to the AP, he tells how shortly after the jury said he was not guilty, Simpson told Gilbert he indeed was guilty.
Gilbert also tells how he consulted with Simpson, telling him to stop taking his arthritis medication so his hands would swell and the infamous glove would not fit. Simpson defense attorney, the late Johnny Cochran, uttered his famous line about the bloody glove Simpson supposedly wore that night, "If the glove doesn't fit you have to acquit."
The jury agreed with him.
Simpson has not commented directly on the allegations but his attorney has. Yale Galanter issued a statement to the Associated Press.
"He is a delusional drug addict who needs money," said Galanter. "This stuff not only didn't occur but it's not factually supported by the evidence."
There were rumors as recently as a year ago Gilbert was ill, and accusations by some of the people involved in the Las Vegas case Simpson faces over a memorabilia sting gone bad, it was Gilbert who stole and sold Simpson's private memorabilia. This was the memorabilia the former star running back said he was trying to get back from dealer Bruce Fromong in a Las Vegas hotel room that night. Simpson faces myriad charges in the case. Gilbert's name at the time was only mentioned casually.
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(STEINER SENDING OUT GLOBAL WAVES)
Indicating what may be a further stretch into a more global market, Steiner Sports just hired two key people in what could signal a broader approach to an ever diversifying hobby. Both the hires have previous experience in large venues and marketing with some of it into the Asian and European market places.
Jason Teitler was named Senior VP of Marketing and Kiva Iscol is the new Marketing Account Executive. Iscol especially has spent a lot of time in the global part of the business. She handled $25 million in accounts while at Madison Square Garden and during the last year spent time working with philanthropic initiatives taking her to Viet Nam, England and South Africa. She also spent time working the same parameters in New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
"We are delighted to bring Jason and Kiva to our management group," said CEO Brandon Steiner. "They bring a wealth of experience to the Steiner team and we look forward to the exciting new initiatives and strategic capabilities that will continue the growth of Steiner Sports."
Steiner is part of the Omnicon Group which is a leader in marketing and advertising worldwide with an emphasis on corporate communications and branded networks. Omnicon has over 5,000 clients more than 100 countries.
As for Teitler he previously handled a lot of PR work and marketing with Porter Novelli, working in the fields dealing with major clients and sports marketing and branding. He'll be counted on to help brand enhancement as Steiner grows to new areas, as well as product launches, interactive programs and customer loyalty campaigns. Among the clients he's handled are Dupont, Nissan, Princess Cruises and Kellogg's.
Steiner has moved away from just offering signed memorabilia in recent years, although this remains the bulk of the firm's business. However, with the addition of athlete relationships Steiner has offered camps and group meetings with many of it's key athletes such as Derek Jeter.
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(TOPPS OFFERS MOST UNIQUE INSERT YET PERHAPS)
We've seen see-through cards, we've seen presidential cards but we've never seen the likes of a new Topps offering. How about the actual lenses from a pair of presidential glasses on a card which folds out. The idea is to look through the same glasses as President Woodrow Wilson looked through.
Releasing in Triple Threads in July the glasses card will truly be unique.
"The book card features an actual cut signature, a piece from the sunglasses case stating the date they were given to him and the actual lenses from the glasses," proclaimed a Topps official in an email. "One of the most unique aspects of the card is that it can actually be held up and looked through allowing the collector to see what President Wilson saw."
The Triple Threads product is expected to be loaded as it will be the first product to showcase items under a new contract for Topps in which a large number of Hall of Fame players will be available when it comes to their images and memorabilia.
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(1/1 FIVE STAR GENERALS CARD PULLED IN BURBANK STORE)
There were very few 5-Star generals in the United States military but four of them have their cut signatures on one card which was pulled at Sports Source in Burbank, California. The card is now on line taking offers with a price of just under $13,000.
"My best customer pulled this and he was ecstatic, high fiving and yelling and screaming it was great," store owner, Robert DeSantis told TBR in an exclusive interview. "This is a guy who rarely gets excited, I mean he'll pull a Jordan autograph numbered to 25 and he'll just set it aside in the box, but this he was excited, yes."
The collector, who isn't being named, is in his 50's and is an Upper Deck Diamond Club Member whom DeSantis says comes into his store every day. The card was pulled from a Topps pack of Co-Signers. The card features the signatures of George Marshall, Douglas MacArthur, Omar Bradley and Dwight Eisenhower. This is probably the biggest pull at Sports Source which has had some great ones.
"It all depends on what this one is worth because I've had some as high as $3,000 but if this one is more than that, then this will be the number one," added DeSantis. "Last week one of my customers pulled one of the randomly inserted redemption cards for a cut autograph of a president and he sold it for $2500."
DeSantis indicated the customer who pulled the General's card rarely sells anything but this one might be too good to pass up. Sports Source is on Hollywood Way in Burbank and has been in existence for about two decades.
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(READER FEEDBACK ON GAI FAKE JERSEY STORY)
"It came as no surprise to me this GAI fiasco occurred. I have always questioned why GAI was a pre-qualified authenticator on eBay. Here is the real kicker; why would someone who obviously knows nothing about autographs spend $7000 on such an obvious fake? If the 51 signature jersey was truly authentic the winning bid would have been much higher because judging by the final bid of $7000, real collectors stayed away from it."
Christopher Williams, NJ, eBay autograph watcher
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(NAXCOM OFFERS DISCOUNT-SPECIFIC DAYS)
Wax Box Wednesdays, Memorabilia Mondays and Vintage Sundays! Sounds like a soup de jour at a local eatery but actually it's the latest promotion from NAXCOM. NAXCOM has become one of the more innovative companies in the industry by using simple programs to try to promote new business.
(NAXCOM continues to innovate with simple ideas)
The latest has the company offering 50-percent off shipping for buyers and 50-percent off transaction fees for sellers. When collectors buy key items on those key days, they get the price break. Buy vintage on a Sunday and it ships for half off, memorabilia on a Monday same deal and so on. Nice innovation for this growing firm. In return dealers or sellers get half off their transaction fees too.
"These are three of our most popular categories so we decided to dedicate an entire day to each of them, and sweeten it even more with a very special offer for both buyers and sellers," said Eric Beckerman, COO of NAXCOM. "We anticipate these new features will accelerate our record sales growth even more in 2008."
NAXCOM recently reported record sales in the first quarter of 2008.
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(MARYLAND STORE WINS FIRST UD BOX BREAK CONTEST)
Breaking boxes of 2008 Upper Deck NFL Draft was worth the effort for customers and store owner of a Severna Park, Maryland hobby shop. The crew at Front Row Sports Cards entered their video of the box break onto Upper Deck's "Show Us Your Box Breaks" site and came away winners.
The group of Clint Legg, Bill Bryant and Ryan Schear were declared winners and now will be entered into the prize pool contest which includes boxes of cards and a trip to the World Series in 2008.
"We were excited to find out that Upper Deck would be hosting box break competitions because it's a great idea with some very nice prizes," said Legg. "We try to do box breaks every Friday and encourage customers to open their boxes on video."
You have to be 18 to enter the contest and just upload your video box break to the UD site. Viewers get to vote on their favorites and UD staffers judge for excitement and fun in the video to pick the weekly winners.
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(MOUNTED MEMORIES OFFERING CROSS OVER JERSEY FOR AUTOGRAPHS)
Mounted Memories, a leading company in autograph sales, announced it's offering a cross over or blend style jersey, the Reebok EQT for it's signings. It is a cross between the authentic jersey and the replica.
(Reebok EQT jersey now being used by Mounted)
"The best way to describe the Reebok EQT would be "Replitenic," said sales rep Adam Kramer in an email. "It's much nicer than the replica jersey but not quite on the field authentic."
Kramer says the EQT bridges the gap between the two with sewn on letters and numbers, but with silk screened sleeves. It has become the jersey of choice for autographs and sells for about $100 less per jersey.
"Under glass it is very tough to tell the difference because of the authentic look," added Kramer.
Among the signers on EQT's are Drew Brees, Eli Manning, Peyton Manning and Reggie Bush.
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(NBA STORE OFFERS MUSEUM OF BASKETBALL LOOK)
The NBA's own store in New York is offering a look back at the nostalgic world of the NBA. The NBA usually doesn't capitalize on it's heritage like other sports do. The arena's were dark and dingy, the excitement level was quite different and much of it was before the real marketing began with the advent of Larry Bird and Magic Johnson.
(A look inside the NBA Store in New York City.)
However, today the NBA is actually looking to beef things up by showing off it's heritage at the NBA store. Using the slogan "Where Trading Cards Happen" the store has set up a display of unheralded vintage cards showing off what the NBA says are cards most collectors have never seen, let alone people who are just fans of the sport.
The store is located at 5th Avenue and 52nd Street in New York and is open seven days a week.
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(POOR ECONOMY DOESN'T SCARE OFF COLLECTIBLES INVESTORS AT HERITAGE)
The latest Heritage Auction to close set a company record $3.68 million. The vintage collectibles sales were led by a low grade T206 Honus Wagner card. The holy grail of the industry brought $227,000.
(Low grade Wagner sells for nearly quarter million dollars.)
"Any potential consignors concerned that the stormy US economy might throw a shadow over the collectibles market should have had those fears eliminated by this event," said Chris Ivey, director of sports auctions for Heritage. "In both trading cards and memorabilia we saw estimates obliterated in some of the fiercest bidding wars we've ever witnessed."
A 1958 Duke Snider jersey brought over $65,000 while a Pete Maravich rookie season jersey sold for over $50,000.
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(IRON MAN SETS HEFTY DEBUT)
With over $100 million in ticket sales during it's opening weekend of release Marvel is already planning a sequel to "Iron Man." The Robert Downey Junior starring vehicle not only rebirthed the actors career but put Marvel in the driver's seat once again with it's tremendous cast of characters.
Now look for toys and memorabilia to really take off from the Iron Man Mode. Everything from Vintage to current action figures will be moving rapidly. There are currently 10,000 Iron Man items on eBay with less than 100 considered by title to be vintage.
Marvel says it will release additional Iron Man films in 2009, 2010 and 2011. The film could reinvigorate sales of action figures as well as other card sets, collectible card games and memorabilia sales. It will certainly up the demand for Downey autographs.
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