The Brill Report: The death of the successful card shop, it's over

By Bob Brill

First, let's define "successful card shop." No, it's not "two whales a week," not it's not "I did a thousand dollars today so I 'made' a thousand dollars" and no it's not "I put in 20 hours at the store this week and we're still open." A successful card shop is a retail store which is open at least 40 hours a week, sells various products and when you count your money at the end of the month and you've paid yourself, there is product on the shelf, there is money in the bank and you have paid the bills. That, and only that is a successful card shop. Except for a few random cases in the USA today, they no longer exist. No they don't to answer your rebuttal.

Let's take a look at the history of the hobby shop and look back at what constituted what shop owners called a successful card shop over the past several decades. It has changed. And we'll look at some of the reasons;

(1980-1988) - Store owner buys four cases of the new Topps product, averaging 7.50 a box, opens two cases, makes sets which he sells in store and mail order for a very nice profit but which fits the consumers hobby wallet. He then sells singles for 5-cents to 25-cents to people to fill their own sets. he sells boxes for $15, packs for 25-cents and hot rookie cards for $5 and $6. At the end of the day he goes home pays the bills and enjoys life with his family. He gleefully gives his wife the grocery money and a little more for her to go to lunch with the girls. Life is good.

(1989-1991) - Upper Deck comes on the scene with new pack prices of $1 per pack. Store owner buys three cases of new Topps product, a case of Score, a case of Fleer, a case of Donruss and tries to buy a case of Upper Deck. He finally gets the Upper Deck at 50% more than the factory direct price because the market has caused the product to skyrocket. He breaks a case of the Topps to make sets which he sells for a nice profit, breaks a few boxes of the others and opens a box or two of Upper Deck hoping to hit that Dale Murphy reverse negative which is selling for hundreds of dollars. He finally sells out of all the products and is able to replace the Score and the Topps with no problem, the Upper Deck price is higher so he picks up a few boxes and decides not to break them but to sell packs for $3 each. In the winter he is now stocking football and basketball products which he'll break some but really can't afford to break too much of it because "distributors" are now breaking the products and selling 100-count box lots of those "hot" single cards. He hears rumors about the "back door" at Upper Deck being open and sees lots of former card shop ownes at shows selling these hot inserts much cheaper than he can and they look awfully clean.

The card shop owner starts going to shows to pick up products instead of ordering direct because he can buy as much or as little as he wants and usually at the same price as direct from the manufacturer, unless the product is hot. Then he figures it's hot, he'll pay more but he'll charge his customers more. Except he keeps seeing his customers at these shows as well in Los Angeles, Orange County, New Jersey and Michigan especially.

At the end of the day he goes home and sees less product on his shelf, less money in the bank and now in addition to five days a week at the store he does two shows on the weekend to try to make ends meet. He also hires a teen age kid to work the store when he's gone and the kid is stealing him blind, opening packs and selling off singles at the night time shows when the dealer is at home. The wife asks for the grocery money and he tells her she'll get it tomorrow after the show because he'll have the cash then.

(1992-1994) - The insert market remains hot but the store owner keeps seeing more and more of his former fellow store owners setting up at shows. He sees stacks of insert cards which "book" at $100 selling at show tables for $10 each with no limit and once the show dealer sells out, he reaches into a box behind his table and pulls out more. He then reads the trade papers on how several Upper Deck board members were allowed to buy cases worth of these "hot" inserts for pennies on the dollar and then dumped them onto the Southern California market for well below "book" price to these "distributors."

The shop owner decides he's can't deal with this anymore and wonders how long he can keep his store open. He decides the only way to stay alive is to play the wholesale game as well as the retail. Now he buys 10 boxes at $25 per box, sells 5 in his store for $35 on Monday, wholesales four to another card shop for $25 on Tuesday and sells the last box at a show for $20 on Wednesday. For the week he spent $250 and brought in $45 in profit. He is happy because he "made $45" but failed to put in the $50 in gas used to run around, the table fee of $25, $25 he spent on food during this time including at the show and the fact he opened four boxes of another product at the show which he bought for $100. He also put in 40 hours at the store mostly sorting because he didn't have many customers. So for the week he took in at total of $300 but spent $450, but hey "I made $45!"

He goes home at the end of the day and he has lots of single cards on the shelf but very few wax boxes and no good ones, no money in the bank, the unpaid bills are starting to mount and his wife wants the grocery money today not tomorrow. He tells her to take the money out of the savings this week.

(1995-1999) - The card shop owner, who was once one of 5000 shops in the country is now just one of 1000, opens his doors and is now buying less direct and more at shows and from secondary wholesalers who purchase their product from first line wholesalers. These are guys who travel around selling out of the back of their car and some are doing mail order. The problem is his customer base is dwindling, the product which used to sell direct for $7.50 a box is now $45 a box and while there are lots of shiny cards they are only limited to 5,000 of each card. There are also eight different products a week which he can order and he's not sure which ones he will order and which ones will be hot. He keeps asking the salesman at his distributor "is it going to be good?" to which the salesman replies to each product "it's going to be hot, smokin' and really limited."

All of a sudden the word "insert" is becoming a bad thing. It turns out all those hot rookie cards of players in the 1992-93 basketball draft are worthless. The card which was selling for $75 is now selling for $3 and the card shop owner sees more collectors with dozens of them coming into his store asking him to buy them. He has three on his shelf already and has had for two years.

The collector keeps trying to sell his cards to the dealer and the dealer has stopped buying. This is a watershed moment. So many "collectors" were buying in the previous period hoping they were buying investment cards they overburdened the market. They waited too long and now they want to sell and can't understand why the dealer isn't buying their cards. The dealer starts using the words "junk" and "garbage" in referrinig to the collectors cards. The collector keeps showing up with 5000 count boxes of 1990 Upper Deck Football, 1991 Hoops Basketball and 1992 Donruss Baseball which he wants to sell and no one is buying.

For the dealer he starts to open some of the more expensive products. He paid $75 for the box and gets three hot cards. He sells the three for a total of $35 and the rest of the cards he puts in a box and before he closes his store somewhere down the road will have sold another .50 from the box. He kicks himself for opening the box but realizes he now has $35 in his drawer which he didn't have when he opened the doors that day.

He hears from other card shop owners they are making more money selling Beanie Babies than cards. He quickly starts buying Beanies and sells through. He puts more effort into selling the plush toys than cards and now he's picking them up at shows. Several dealers who are no longer selling Beanies convince him to sell bigger plush toys including Disney. He grabs on and goes for it.

Then Pokemon gets hot. Now he's chasing boxes and cases of Pokemon. He's paying $4 per pack for a $1.89 pack and he's happy to get it because his customers are paying him $8 per pack. This goes on until the holidays when both the Beanie market (which has been dead for six months) and the Pokemon market die.

He sees many of those "sportscard shops" now turning into "gaming stores" but he doesn't understand the games and doesn't play Magic, DragonBall Z and Pokemon or Yu-Gi-Oh. He's sticking with sports cards. Afterall this game stuff is just for kids and kids don't have any money. And if they are in his store they will probably steal him blind, and when they are in the store, guess what? They do.

At the end of the day he has several expensive boxes on his shelf, a few cheaper boxes, his showcases are filled with expensive insert cards, his backroom is filled with scores of 5000 count boxes of singles, about 20 Beanie Babies for which he paid $7 each for and he'll sell for $6 if anyone will take them off his hands. Several kids keep coming in but they don't want Pokemon anymore, they want Dragon Ball Z and Star Trek and Yu-Gi-Oh and other gaming products. All of a sudden he looks at the end of the day and he has a couple hundred dollars in the drawer, he has a few dollars in the bank and he hands his wife the grocery money. His credit card bills are a little higher than he likes but hey he'll take care of that with the next crazy craze which comes along.

(2000-2008) - The powers that be at the leagues and licensors still haven't decided whether they want to sell trading cards to collectors or to fans. They keep talking about "little Johnny collector" who of course the card shop owner knows hasn't existed since 1991. His customers are now "whales" who come into the store and spend $500 on a box of cards and maybe will buy three of them. The card shop owner has paid $350 for those boxes of cards and makes a nice $150 per box profit. Of course he has problems trying to restock them because they are in "limited" supply and if he is able to get them his wholesalers are now charging $500 for the same box he previously bought for $350 yesterday. So now he must charge $650 for the same box he sold for $500 before. The collector says "no" and the dealer says "okay I have to just open it." He gets a total of four cards per box or 12 cards total. One he sells on eBay for $1000. The others he can't sell for squat. So he laid out $1500 and got back $1000 which means his $650 profit from the previous round is now down to $150.

Four more products are coming in this week which will cost him another $2500. He gets a second credit card to buy those products and uses the money he got from the previous sale to pay the electric bill on the shop. The credit cards? He'll make the minimum payment this month. Or better yet, he'll get a new credit card with no interest for six months and transfer the balance.

Someone tells him about "Pack Wars" and all of a sudden this becomes the rage to bring in new customers. Boy Scout troops are also being courted by the leagues and Players Associations. Wow a new way to bring in customers to your shop. Once in the store they'll buy and you'll have lots of new "young" customers. Remember the youth of today is the hobby of tomorrow. Get them while they are young. This despite the fact the store owner knows these kids will stop buying when they hit the 10th grade, girls and cars. Hormones? Who knew?

The store owner holds a Pack War Party. A total of 40 people come for the monthly event. The store owner spends $100 on advertising the event, $50 on pizza to give away at the event, $250 on prizes to give away at the event and he actually makes $200 on the packs he uses at the event as the gaming pieces. He uses very cheap packs which he sells for $1 each. Overall his profit on the packs is $200. He spent $400 putting the event on. His customers spend an extra $150 in the store that night brining his take to $350. So for the night he actually loses $50 but he got a crowd.

As they leave the store his regular customers say "wow this was a great event, I'll be back next month." He then realizes several of his regular customers who spent $75 a week are now only coming for the monthly Pack War where they spend $100 total. He lost those customers to the tune of $200 a month.

He goes home at the end of the day and while preparing to go to work at his new part-time job and between selling on eBay, he looks in the register and he has enough money to start the day, no savings account, his checking account is overdrawn, he owes the wholesalers $1000 and hands his wife his ATM card for the groceries hoping to put enough in the account before she tries to use it.

(2009-2010) - The store owner opens the doors waiting for the two whales he has left. The others have all left, quit the hobby and gone to the local Indian Casino to play. Monday his two whales come in to Pack War and drop $500. Tuesday they do the same and Wednesday it's the same. Thursday one is sick the other goes on vacation. The store owner panics. He now owes the wholesalers (three of them) $1500 each, he has closed his bank accounts and uses cash only, his credit cards are either maxed out or shut off, he has no product on the shelf and a back room full of old products no one will buy including some memorabilia, beanie babies and promotional items from the manufacturers.

There are no more regular customers although several people come in saying "back in the day I had that card" as they point to the cards in the showcases. The dealer realizes now eBay sucks and he is just giving his stuff away there so he stops that. He contemplates bankruptcy but isn't sure what to day. He can't afford a web site. One of the major card companies has taken his whales through some special club they set up to which the dealer foolishly agreed to provide information about his best customers.

At the end of the day, he has $20 cash to stop at the local fast food place because he doesn't have to buy groceries any more. His wife has left and filed for divorce, his house payments are in arears and his garage is full of 5000 count boxes of 1991 Donruss etc.

(2011) - Major league baseball and the other leagues are selling cards on their web sites, eBay still sucks, there are only three card manufacturers left and one is just about to fold and our card shop owner has decided to close his doors. He's now working at Wal-Mart as a greeter.

How do you spell success?

You can reach Bob at bob.pattiwaggin-AT-gmail-DOT-com.

Tags: cards baseball shop hobby upperdeck card donrudolph donruss trading topps pattiwaggin

The Brill Report: Upper Deck Counterfeit

By Bob Brill

Where does it all end? Court documents show Upper Deck counterfeited Yu-Gi-Oh cards after for years telling the hobby and the world they were doing everything they could to stop fake YGO cards from coming in from China. Oh by the way where were the fake UD YGO cards coming from? China, where else.

The only thing the courts have now to decide is how much UD must pay Konami for making the fakes. A US Federal Court judge in Los Angeles ruled on the case and said the two parties did not "dispute that UD caused the unauthorized manufacturing of unauthentic YGO trading cards." During the testimony five UD employees took their Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.

The fact so many of us, whether dealers, journalists or gamers stood by UD over the years; and actually rooted out fake cards and reported them to UD; and by the same token UD stood up and claimed they were going after counterfeiters is so much of a slap in the face to everyone associated with the hobby, it just stinks. No one in his right mind now would ever deny writer/author Pete Williams claim UD reprinted tons of French NHL cards during it's early years while denying the same.

No one in his right mind would ever doubt UD placed fake vintage autographs in many of it's trading cards, likely without knowing they were fakes. They did by the way settle after several years their case with Kevin Demitros who bought an UD card for $85,000 only to learn at least two of the autographs were fakes. Terms of the deal were not disclosed but Demitros lawyers did get him lots of product and we understand at least one really nice card it's believed he got was on eBay. Of course if he did get lots of high end product as part of the settlement he would have gotten some nice high end cards it is fair to say.

This particular case of YGO fakes and the admissions and the fifth amendment pleas serve to put another nail in the coffin of a once great hobby and certainly into the coffin of a company once known as "the collector's choice."

The current dispute over YGO and the court's ruling, despite UD counter suits against Konami, brings -- in the minds of collectors -- everything UD does into question.  

Tags: don konami rudolph williams fifth card sharks amendment waggin upper deck pete china patti

The Brill Report: UD lays off 33 Hires Shoeless Joe

By Bob Brill

Wow I hardly know where to begin. First of all let me catch up since it's been a few weeks since my last report. I was on a book tour for "Fan Letters to a Stripper: A Patti Waggin Tale," while finishing up two more books I've been working on. All this while trying to pay the bills by working at KNX News Radio and fooling around on eBay and getting consigments for Huggins & Scott Auctions. So it's been busy.

First let me say sorry to Upper Deck who kept their NFL license while Topps lost it. Then let me give Kudo's to Upper Deck for bringing back Shoeless Joe Jackson. Something they could not have done if they still had a Major League Baseball License. More on that in a moment because I need to point out UD is cutting 33 positions next year.

The company filed a statement with the State of California it will be laying off 33 people on January 11, 2010 including several people in the gaming department and some techs. Another 24 other positions will be layed off with the total coming in at 33. No names as we know of yet but with UD losing it's Yu-Gi-Oh contract the gamers were going to be likely hits. The company has held a large staff and now that the licenses are disappearing it was obvious something had to happen. It's too bad because jobs in this industry are more scarce than the overall economy.

Now the Shoeless Joe Jackson story. The MLB licenses say basically that a player cannot be in any baseball card set containing someone on the "restricted" list. The list isn't really long but does include the two most prominent names; Joe Jackson and Pete Rose. For years the loss of Jackson to trading cards has been a point of contention. Arguabley one of the greatest players to ever put on a pair of spikes, or take them off as is the case with Shoeless Joe, he fought for years to have his name disassociated with the 1919 Black Sox who threw the World Series. Joe had a great series including hitting the Series' only home run.

Rose's troubles of course are well documented and as far as most in the game feel he probably isn't coming off the restricted list until he's dead. Few writers who feel burned by Rose betting on baseball and now signing baseballs saying "I bet on baseball" will give Rose the satisfaction of getting his dream of going to the Hall of Fame. They did it to Leo Durocher so why not Rose. Durocher, despised by the writers, only got into the HOF when he was dead.

Upper Deck reached an agreement with Jackson's estate to put him on trading cards and also acquired a bat they are cutting up to put on "bat cards." The move is a great one as the legend of Jackson grows every year and after the Kevin Costner film "Field of Dreams" the legend was rekindled. It continues to grow well past what many thought would happen. The banning actually put Jackson's name out there even more than if he hadn't been banned.

There are countless books, movies and articles about him and even the film "Damn Yankees" gave it's key character the name "Shoeless Joe from Hannibal, MO." So the move by UD has to be applauded as a very good decision and good for trading cards as well as fans of baseball.

 (NEW YORK) -- The AP carried a story quoting Mike Heffner of Leland's Auction House as saying the sports memorabilia auction market is heating up due to the bad economy. We're not so sure. People are willing to get rid of vintage stuff because they need the money. I have personally seen this in trying to get items for auction. However, while many items due attain strong numbers, especially lots of vintage trading cards, many memorabilia items do not. Vintage remains where it is at and even the prices of some of this stuff has taken a major hit.

(FLORIDA) -- Speaking of a major hit. Try Tiger Woods, or maybe Elin Woods. Expect Tiger's endorsements to take the hit in the aftermath of his "accident" in the driveway backing out at 2:30 in the morning. If Tiger would only hold a news conference, make light of the situation but at the same time say something like "look every marriage has it's ups and downs and we had a fight, what else is there to say." He could refuse or even address the infidelity issue. Not speaking out, and not injecting some humor into the situation leaves this icon of sports hanging to dry.

(CLEVELAND) -- Then there is the latest story of selling baseball cards by the pound. Cardsone in Cleveland must be taking a page from the pitch I made about 1991 Donruss cards a few months ago. They are selling boxes of cards by the pound in their new ad. Randomly inserted cards from the 1960's to the 1980's and one autographed card per box. Now as all store owners know that doesn't really add value to the contents. Oh by the way, it's $40 for a 5 lb. box and $100 for a 25 lb. box. Shipping is $12 unless you spend $200 then it is free.

 (NEW YORK) -- Topps picked up another part of the package when it acquired the contract to produce minor league cards exclusively. This takes away from competitors Upper Deck and Panini who will figure out some way to produce cards of minor leaguers and retired veterans without having the key logo's or the line which says something to the effect of "exclusive rights to produce minor league trading cards."

(PATTI WAGGIN) -- For those of you who've asked the book thing is going well. The holidays are coming and the sales of my book "Fan Letters to a Stripper: A Patti Waggin Tale" are expected to pick up. The book details the life in photos and letters of the former Burlesque queen who was married to major league pitcher Don Rudolph. Yes, we have had some Hollywood interest as well. Keep your fingers crossed.

You can reach Bob directly via email at bob.pattiwaggin-AT-gmail-DOT-com

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The Brill Report: The NFL; Less is Good?

By Bob Brill

  First off, let me thank you the readers for the overwhelming response to last week's column! Wow. We've never had so much response to any column we've ever written and the amazing thing is it ran 9-1 in favor of the position we outlined.

  While some of the faithful were a bit surprised the column took a political tone (Meg Whitman former eBay chief running for California governor) they none the less responded and with fervor. A couple of readers were not even hobby folks but rather people who ran across the column for one reason or another and threw in their opinion. The California primaries are next year so we'll have to see where it goes and what the voters do. Oh, by the way, those opinions expressed here were totally that of the author and not Sportsbuy.com. Thought we'd throw that in just for grins.

  Now on to this week's topic; The NFL and when the next shoe drops. Any day now we expect to hear something from the football licensors regarding the number of licenses they will have regarding NFL football cards. Will it be down to one? Will there be three as there are now? Will it be only two? Let's delve into a little history.

  It was 1989 when Pro Set (the official card of the NFL) came into being with Lud Denny leading the way. He got himself tied to a couple of John's working for the NFL (under the old NFL Properties division) which handled merchandising. Eventually those two John's were fired in disgrace as the NFL allegedly found them dipping into the perverbial cookie jar. Now to this date no one has been convicted and no charges have been filed but there is some good circumstantial evidence basically showing a couple of guys making lots of money on the back end supporting Pro Set, while their bosses were kicking in money to a company heading into bankruptcy. It's not that the owners were clean either but we will leave it at this for the moment.

  In a previous column years ago I wrote and got comment from at least three card makers that they basically had their arms twisted to kick back some "extra" product to certain inviduals in return for these licenses. No names were given but the same people were targeted. Only the then-Fleer VP we spoke to called me a "muck raker" for reporting the story. Of course he was the guy who got the license for the then "Official NFL Trading Card; GameDay." Wow! No conflict there, huh?

  Well the real life story is the NFL and the NFLPA (the Players Union) were battling each other in court over lots of things and while the owners had lots of money to burn, the players did not. They figured out if they licensed trading cards they could basically finance their lawsuit against the owners. So they did. They gave a license to every Tom, Dick and Wild Card who wanted to print trading cards and the money rolled in.

  At one point there were no less than 16 companies making NFL trading cards. Some with only the permission of the NFLPA. Of course as time went on Wild Card, Pro Set, Pinnacle, Collector's Edge and even the Ted Williams Card Company fell by the wayside. Even unique Action Packed was swallowed up by Pinnacle which ended up owning many of those brands. Finally there were only three.

  We have Upper Deck, Topps and Donruss/Panini/Leaf et al. Somewhere along the way someone at Upper Deck really ticked off the guys at the NFLPA. One insider told me "The PA loves Donruss and Topps and if the PA decides to go down to just two licenses Richard (McWilliam CEO of UD) will find a big surprise waiting for him."

  Well it looks like decision time might be around the corner and Upper Deck keeps losing licenses. They no longer make MLB Trading Cards or NBA Trading Cards. They sort of have an exclusive on NHL trading cards and they make NFL cards, for now. If indeed, in a dwindling market for sportscards, there is a cut it is likely going to be the boys from Carlsbad.

  Now don't go feeling sorry for McWilliam and his team. They have worked hard and secured lots of licenses for collegiate sports, NCAA, minor league guys and of course hockey. And they still have exclusive rights to Jordan, Lebron, Sid the Kid and Ovechkin. Not bad, oh and of course the only golfer anyone cares about; Tiger Woods. So it ain't so bad.

  The NFL has never allowed players to be exclusive with any one company so while UD has the likes of Favre, Manning and more it's not like those guys can't sign for pay for someone else. Yes it could come down to the fact the company which started the "Hobby" trend by making cards "for collectors" might just be the first one out of the shrine when it comes right down to the big boys and trading cards for 2010 going forward.

(DENVER & THE STEELERS) -- For those of you who know me well you know I'm from Pittsburgh and an avid Steelers, Pirates and Penguins fan. Monday brings my annual trip to Denver where a friend of mine has season tickets for the Bronco's. Each year he invites me to see a game of my choice and the last couple years it has been the Steelers. The guys is a good friend and he puts me up, takes me to dinner and handles my transportation. Really though he loves me to come because I have never gone to a game in Denver the Bronco's lost. I can't stand any team which plays my Steelers and I hate to see them lose. I almost didn't go this year because my Steelers are holding tough in an effort to repeat for the Super Bowl. I can't not go though, so think good thoughts for the Doc (my friend) and my hook up with Stadium Cards owner Mike Fruitman who will be there too. May I go home with a Steeler win under my belt.

(PATTI WAGGIN BOOKS) -- Just an update on my new book "Fan Letters to a Stripper; A Patti Waggin Tale." I'll be doing signings in NorCal shortly. Oakland I'll be at the Uptown Theatre Nov. 16, Chico at the Barns & Knoble Nov. 17, Sacramento's Avid Reader Books on Nov. 18 and at Russo's Books in Bakersfield on Nov. 19. If you are close by please come on out, buy a book and have some fun. I'd love to meet you. Check the website for times and addresses. You can contact Bob at any time at bob.pattiwaggin-AT-gmail-DOT-com

Tags: deck steelers mlb nflpa letters broncos upper baseball donruss denny stadium lud patti sports fruitman company nfl fan topps ebay waggin meg whitman

The Brill Report: eBay Still Sux and So Does the Potential Governor

By Bob Brill

Not only does eBay continue to suck but are you just tired of hearing how former eBay CEO Meg Whitman is going to fix California when she's elected governor and Arnie retires? Since I sit behind a microphone at the only all news radio station in Los Angeles at least 14 hours a week I have to listen to her commercials and hear her stretch the truth through her teeth while I watch the trading card industry suffer more losses due to the likes of eBay.

First of all let's look at "eBay!" When it first started it was a pretty good thing and became an industry standard. Then came their lack of policing autographs -- try looking for bad stuff and you'll see the same old guys selling the same old fakes. Over the years eBay did bring more collectors back into the market by putting a death knell on retail hobby stores. The stores were forced to play the eBay game right out of business.

Even today it's terrible although the overall economy hasn't helped, but eBay's policies are getting worse and worse. Why on earth can a buyer leave negative feedback for a seller, but a seller cannot leave negative feedback for a buyer? The only solution is to "not leave feedback at all" because it doesn't mean anything anymore! If all the buyer can get is a positive no matter what kind of malicious, perverted, demeaning, thieving, scumbag he/she is then what is the point?

And the value? Drop it off the edge of the planet Mac. For instance, this week I listed a 1955 Bowman Eddie Lebaron rookie card graded BVG 7.5. That is basically an 8 for a key rookie from 54 years ago and a HOF player as well. I started the bidding at $9.99 figuring it would go to about $40. It's real true value is about $60 and it should be $75. Well how does $10.50 sound? SUX to me but that is where it ended up and to think I once turned down $30 for it in my store when I had one.

Well enough of that and onto Meg Whitman. She left eBay as CEO and as one of the richest women in the world. Let me say that again "one of the richest women in the WORLD!" Does the word billionaire come close. Her reported NET WORTH is $1.4 Billion. That is right, "Billion" with a "B."

So now she wants to the Governor of California. Well la-de-dah. Her pitch is threefold. Here it is, via the radio commercials which I've heard ad nauseum.

1. Create new jobs because as she points out she created thousands of new jobs at eBay while she was CEO, creating thousands of new businesses. That is true, businesses with no benefits and thousands of new businesses who don't pay or collect taxes creating the largest underground economy in world history.

2. Government shouldn't spend more than it takes in so she will freeze spending, cut taxes and take those government service departments which are out of control and eliminate them and lay off thousands of people who are government employees. Wow! Talk to the state legislature about that before you do anything because that is what you have to. Let's see lay off thousands of state workers? Doesn't that kind of conflict with No. 1 above? Put more people on the street who are paying taxes and paying their bills. Hmmmm, now that sounds like a plan. Oh and getting rid of those departments which aren't paying their way? Schools, roads, the State Board of Equalization (the guys who collect sales taxes) and all those government watchdog agencies who keep an eye on all those oil companies and other large anti-green and anti-government oversight firms. Wow that will work. Cut taxes? How long do you want to stand in line at the DMV? The EDD? Or any other state required agency? Cut taxes, cut jobs and make lines longer and have services only available three days a week.

3. Schools. "We're going to give more choices to parents and reward better teachers by paying them more." So let's see that means school vouchers for private schools and home schooling (more money out of public schools) and Merit Pay for Teachers. All Merit pay does is create greedy money hungry administrators and teachers in the classroom. Merit pay works if your kids are widgets but they are not widgets. They are indivdiual learners who learn at their own pace and more often than not there is nothing any teacher can do which will make a slow learner, learn faster. Now you can get all the smart kids into a few classrooms and no matter who the teacher is they will perform better on those tests. That teacher will get more money because of the better grades.

Now here is something which might work. Teachers might go for it if you let them draft their kids just like NFL teams draft their players. Let's say you have three first grade classes in a school. Each teacher the first year draws their position from a hat. They draft from the upcoming 2nd graders in an even mannered order as in a Fantasy Football Draft, but the second year and from then on they draft in reverse order of finish. If teacher no. 1 has the best overall student test scores in year one, she drafts last the following year and so on.

You can even let the teachers trade kids. You give me two better than average kids for one dumb one and one highly intelligent kid. And there are some dumb ones just like there are intelligent ones. Now don't forget the Non English Speakers. We have to spread them out evenly which sounds a little like discrimination but hey this is corporation here, we can push that under the rug for now.

Under this system each teacher has a chance build a winning team to make more money. Otherwise, under the way it's actually planned, what is to prevent a teacher from offering half of his/her bonus salary to an administrator in return for stacking her class with smart kids. And if an administrator doesn't like a teacher what is to prevent them from stacking her class with dumb kids and kids who can't speak English at all? Nothing. This is why running a classroom is not the same as running a corporation. It only works with widgets and you may want widgets from your loins but my kids were never widgets.

You see what you will get for teachers in the future is not caring teachers who want to help kids. You will get greedy salesperson types who only care about the almight buck, not the kids. And why not? You are paying them more to get higher grades and getting higher grades is not teaching them to learn, it is getting them to get more points on a standardized test, biased test or not. Heck I might become a teacher. Show me the money! Who cares about those little brats? Whip them into shape, memorize things, reward them with candy, whatever it takes to get those little brats to get higher scores. Who cares if they learn anything? I don't. Just SHOW ME THE MONEY! Now for those of you who know me you know I'd never become a teacher under any circumstances. It's a very difficult job and you have to care, which is why Merit Pay does not work.

So Meg, yes you built up eBay, but let me ask you this. You keep saying cut taxes. If you are elected governor of  California are you going to go after all those new businesses you created via eBay and make them collect and pay their California Sales Taxes? Oh, that's right go to her web site and ask Meg? I'll wait until I get her on the air instead.

         ---------------

Finally I can announce copies of my new book are on store shelves as we speak. I'm told sales are good for "Fan Letters to a Stripper: A Patti Waggin Tale." I will be signing copies of the book this Sunday afternoon at Book Soup, 8818 Sunset Blvd., in West Hollywood. You can also see a video of the making the book on YouTube. C'mon out and pick up a copy. I'll also be in four northern California cities in coming weeks. The week of November 15th I'll be in Oakland, Chico, Sacramento and Bakersfield for signings with one coming up in Ventura but it's as of yet not decided regarding a date. You can read more at my website.

Tags: whitman baseball grading merit waggin don ebay lebaron rudolph beckett california patti pay football psa meg governor

The Brill Report: Who Blew the Yankees?

By Bob Brill

Okay now here is the ultimate disaster for sports memorabilia. Was it Steiner? Was it the Yankees? Or was it the *&^xn&8#+-AT-! Mailman? But somebody blew it and someone needs to fess up!

The NYY and Steiner get together to offer seats for sale from the old Yankee Stadium. The price tag a whopping $1500 a pop! Now that is bad enough but for an extra $500 the collector/buyer can get the seat of his choice. So, John Lefkus decides he'll go for broke (which is an appropriate term here) and get the very exact seat he's sat in for 23 years. He's a freaking season ticket holder for gosh sakes! He ought to know where he parked his butt for 23 years and 81 games a season. He's sat in that seat for approximately 1863 games, or 16767 innings. He ought to know which seat is his.

Steiner and the NYY sent him a reburbished seat with new hardware! These are things Lefkus says they stated right in the ads they would NOT DO! HE showed his lawyer the ad and then added when he got the seat it had obviously been dismantled during demolition and reassembled without regard for what parts came from what chairs.

Now his rear end sat in that seat often enough to understand the seat ain't his. I'm sure he sat down, moved around to get his proper feel and it just didn't FEEL right. Again if anyone would know it would be Mr. Lefkus.

He filed a class action suit. You go GUY! Kill'em, nail'em to the wall. Get your butt in an uproar and put theirs in a sling. Aren't you just a little bit tired of those who can screw you in the collectibles world, will screw you? We're not talking a $1.25 baseball card here. We're talking $2000 worth of sitting down for 23 years. Plus Shipping & Handling which we're sure Steiner and NYY didn't throw in for the heck of it -- although for a 23 year season ticket holder they should have walked it to his house and threw him a party.

What a hack job! Oh by the way, Lefkus says Steiner put a different seat number on it and tried to pass off a non aisle seat as HIS Aisle seat. Now c'mon guys did you have to do that to the guy too?! If I'm paying $2000 plus the price of my season tickets I want the ^%&$*# right seat!

The guy wants $5 million. Brandon can afford it and so can the NYY! Pay Up or Go Away!

(LILLINGTON, NC) $40,000 worth of baseball and football cards were stolen from a home in Lillington, NC, as cards again are once again the target of thieves. Owner Bart Dillow says $400 in cash plus jewels also were taken. As the economy continues to be bad, thieves continue to look for easy to flip items and sports cards still are a sound investment for a thief.

(HOLLYWOOD SHOW STARS) Guess who appeared at the Hollywood collectibles show in October to sign autographs? Big names Debbie Reynolds, Mickey Rooney, Jackie Cooper and even Valerie Cartwright of Lost in Space and Make Room for Daddy fame. The show has really come on lately with the big name signers.

(CASH FOR CLUNKERS IN SPORTS) You read it right. Famed artist Don Marquess, who does lots of sports stuff for his Marquess Gallery, is offering a strange bit of twisting of the Obama Administration. If you turn in art, any art, posters or whatever you will get a one-third discount on any art you buy from him. It has to be at least an 11 x 14 size purchase to qualify and your art really doesn't have to be much of nothing to qualify. Check out his stuff at www.baseballfineart.com. Tell them you read it here. It won't get you anything special but thanx anyway.

(PATTI WAGGIN DON RUDOLPH BOOKS ARRIVE!) Yeah Baby! Finally. The books were delayed a month when the printer in China put the books on the wrong boat. Thank the Good Lord Somali Pirates weren't looking for a book on a baseball player and his stripper wife. Suggeted Retail Price is $49.99. Check it out on line at Amazon or the others, our own web site www.pattiwaggin.com, or at your local book store. Ask for it by name "Fan Letters to a Stripper; A Patti Waggin Tale," or by author name; Bob Brill. The Special Edition book is only available on our website and it's limited to 200 and sells for $199. It comes with an autographed item by the late Patti Waggin and a DVD of one of her performances and is signed by the author as well as numbered. You can also email me at bob.pattiwaggin@gmail-DOT-com

Tags: don waggin rudolph seats lefkus letters steiner patti yankees fan brill stadium stripper sports burlesque nyy

The Brill Report: Kobe in the fold

By Bob Brill

  There is no more perfect fit in sports marketing. Kobe Bryant and Panini. What more could you ask for after Kobe signed an exclusive deal with the trading card and sticker maker. Here are the facts as Panini sees them.

1 ) Panini is the exclusive maker of basketball trading cards in the world. Kobe Bryant is the no. 1 players in the NBA today, LeBron James notwithstanding Kobe has won championships.

2 ) Panini is an Italian Company with world wide distribution in stickers. Kobe was raised in Italy, speaks fluent Italian and collected Panini stickers as a child.

3 ) Panini knows how to market it's goods. Kobe is known world wide and is a very easy marketere. He is Marquee.

  It was only seen as inevitible and since UDA and UDC lost the rights to make NBA trading cards Kobe had to find someone to market with. His comments hold true.

  "I know from my own experience growing up, how fun collecting and trading these products can be. I really believe collecting these products has the power, through the unique emotions of sports, to unify and strengthen bonds within families and across social groups, no matter what age you are. Panini and I are passionate about developing this hobby in many new and exciting ways."

  It was a natural fit for the Italian company and the kid who grew up watching his father Jelly Bean Bryant play in the Italian version of professional basketball. Speaking Italian fluently means a great marketing tool for Italian TV as well. Kobe can address fans in their native tounge and this means a lot to those who have watched TV with subtitles.

  I like Panini and always have. They will bring a fresh new approach to the trading card game even though it will take some time. Having Kobe locked up shows they are serious.

                                        =========

(PANINI AMERICA) -- I'm sold! Panini just sent dealers and journalists a nice new packet and it actually included something usable. It was a large round basketball mouse pad with the word "Panini" on it. Finally something useful in the mail from a card manufacturer as a freebie outside of shopping bags. I've always liked Panini, my Italian is descent and I have friends and relatives in Italy. OK Panini I've given you a plug, now how about a job?

(RUMORVILLE) -- My how rumors spread. A former customer came up to me this week to pick up her annual Topps Factory Sets. I hold them while she's out of the state for months at a time. Her first question to me was "Is it true none of the card companies are going to make cards will the players on them? Are we still going to be able to get our Topps sets?" I explained the licenscing situation and how it evovled and how only Topps will have guys in their uniforms and logos. Her answer was "Good Topps will be the only real cards then?"

(1991 DONRUSS) -- Six weeks and counting. It has been six weeks since I unveiled my plan to make 1991 Donruss and other products of that era hot and valuable again. No one yet has taken me up on it. Darn it! I tried to get rid of that stuff for you guys but no one would listen. Another tree falling in the forest and lots of lumber was cut from 1986-1993 for trading cards.

(MCFARLANE LTD) -- McFarlane is taking the collector thing to the next level on it's prime action figure line. The Sportspicks figures will carry six different levels of collectibility including MVP which will be limited to up to 50 figures. In this instant collectible world no one yet has figured out what makes the thing collectible and desirable is time and the end user, not the manufacturer today.

(CORRECTION) -- Brad Abbott owns www.Rickeyhendersoncollectibles.com and contacted us to correct us upon stating it was Rickey's site. It is not but he has worked with the Henderson people regarding the site and products. Thank you for letting us know.

The latest Patti Waggin Tale. You have heard me talk about my new book about to hit store shelves on September 28. Well "Fan Letters to a Stripper; A Patti Waggin Tale" has been delayed about a month. It seems the shippers in China put the books on the wrong boat and it's still on the water. They will get to my publishers warehouse October 18. Now as long as Somali Pirates keep their hands off my ship we should be fine. Delayed, but fine. Our book signing at Book Soup in West Hollywood will be on November 1, at 2pm.

Sorry about taking last week off. Just too much to do and ran out of time. You can contact bob at bob.pattiwaggin-AT-gmail-DOT-com

Tags: baseball rudolph a to panini basketball burlesque fan waggin mlb kobe mcfarlane topps soup letters rickey nba book donruss stripper patti don

The Brill Report: Bummed on eBay

By Bob Brill

I'm Bummed, really Bummed. The only thing I really want these days is actually two things and one of them I will never see, let alone get. I just missed out on the second ever of such items and I'm bummed. The items in question are the Topps 1962 Civil War News Sets in both French and Spanish. I have the USA version and the UK version, but the other two are very, very rare.

I've only ever seen the French set twice in my life. I've spoken about it with other CWN collectors but the hallowed set has rarely ever been seen. Twice it has popped up on eBay in the last six months. The first one sold for around a thousand dollars from a UK seller. The second one, which closed this week with the owner from Canada, closed at $547. I bid $537 with 3-seconds left. The winner was obviously willing to go much higher. I would have but in the end it would have just driven up the price for him because he had more money to spend.

This wonderful set is based on paintings and came out shortly after Mars Attacks from Topps. It was the 100th anniversary of the War Between the States, or if you are from below the Mason-Dixon Line, the war of Southern Rebellion. Remember the cannons at the airport in Richmond, VA still point north.

The set is the most colorful and wonderful set ever produced by Topps and was the first box of trading cards I ever recieved as a child. My sister popped the $1.80 for her little bro for this one. I was a Civil War buff. I opened the box and bought a few packs and was finally only one card short of a a complete set. "Submarine Attack" tells the story of the CSA Hunley, the first submarine used in warfare and actually attacked an enemy ship, later made into a TV movie by Ted Turner starring Armand Assante. In 2004 a military funeral was held for those who died on her final voyage. The wreck was discovered a shorr time earlier.

I found that card on the final day walking out the door taking one more last shot at the last table at the 1991 National in Anaheim. The price? $2! I was more excited than a pig in s**t. Man this was it!

So later on I set my sites on 1) the UK set, 2) the never seen French set 3) and the very rare Spanish set. Oh and in the midst I collected the Confederate Money inserts and decided to put together a complete PSA 8 graded American Set.

I so far have all but 18 of the USA cards in PSA 8 grade. I have the UK set and would like to put together a graded set but not now. Funds being what they are. The UK set, which is made from Topps but distributed by a regional company and carries the tag name; A&BC cards. They are smaller in physical size and the back is more white than gray in it's back ground.

The French set is the same except the text of course is in French. The Spanish set is the same dimension and in Spanish text but all blood, guts and fire are removed and the set looks rather bland. I've only seen a few of the cards on line over the years and they are rather boring and ugly. What makes the set colorful, the fire and blood is all removed. Still it is the rarest of all the rares in this genre.

The story goes it was more of a test as was the French after the United Kingdom Set was actually a hit. The british are very interested in the American Civil War. I recently recieved a book about the war, written by a Scotsman, from a friend in Scotland. The take on the war is very interesting certainly and I read things I never heard of in USA books and studies.

The UK set is rather plentiful but the oh so nice and rare French is not. I tried to buy the set outright from the Canadian but it was his first attempt on eBay and he was playing by the rules. Good for him, bad for me. I didn't get it. The Spanish set? Now that is another story. Is it out there? Does it exist?

One of the unique items about this set overall is the fact there are "newspaper" stories on the back of each card, this Civil War News. The writers admittedly made it all up. In some cases they actually got it right. I read an article once where the authors of the cards were interviewed and they said several of the stories were complete fabrications but some of them were based on actual events. Either way they did a wonderful job. Too good perhaps.

                                          ==================

We are expecting our new book to be on book shelves any day now. "Fan Letters to a Stripper; A Patti Waggin Tale" is scheduled for September 28 but we understand it is a little ahead of schedule. The story of burlesque queen Patti Waggin and her husband former Washington pitcher, Don Rudolph is told through photos and fan letters as a coffee table style book.

Tags: topps fan 1962 letters mars french hunley brill waggin news baseball patti a&bc bob attacks uk war cwn rudolph don set spanish civil

The Brill Report: Roger Staubach Set Revisited

By Bob Brill

In 1994 friends of mine at the Ted Williams Card Company contacted me about writing the backs of a new trading card set they were producing. I had never done this before but I always longed to and immediately jumped at the job. I was handed the task of writing the backs of the 60 some odd base cards while my good friend Steve Ryan, I learned was chosen to write the insert card backs. The money was good too as I think I was paid about $50 per card. This became a lost art in the 1990's when card manufacturers in an attempt to save money decided to put no text on card backs. Instead there were stats and player details such at home towns and birth dates.

Since Steve and I both came from journalism backgrounds, he in newspaper me in radio as well as print, this seemed like a fun although somewhat daunting task. The end result turned out pretty good and unlike the initial offering of the Ted Williams Baseball Card Set, the Roger Staubach Set was pretty close to free of errors.

Well, I did put Bert Jones in the NFL Hall of Fame but aside from this mistake I think for my part it was error free. My biggest mistake was in assuming someone at the card company was going to be proofing everything I wrote. I learned very late in the game when I had to drop a player or two and add others, this was not the case. So for all my good intentions Bert Jones fans will be thrilled.

"It says right there in black and white on this football card, 'Bert Jones is in the NFL HOF,' and that counts," a fan might counter.

Well I'm here to say don't count on it. The only thing which might justify this error is if someday Bert Jones really is elected to the NFL Hall of Fame. His time may be passed. The first TWCC baseball set was loaded with errors and the company took some heat for it. Not so with what proved to be the only football set TWCC produced. It made one more baseball set, an attempt at basketball and then went out of business.

My real claim to fame in the set is the fact aside from cards produced by Signature Rookies, the O.J. Simpson cards was readily signed by the Juice while he was in jail. I took a strange sort of pride in looking down at a dealer's table noting the Staubach series Simpson card signed in jail, was "my handiwork," minus the signature of course. That was pretty cool.

I remember being instructed when it came to stats on the back I was to choose the players five best years which in most cases was pretty easy. Just look at the stats. There were some players we used however who did not have FIVE good years. Some did but not statistically. For instance Ray Nitschke has only three years of stats on his card while Buck Buchanan has none. What kind of stats do you put for a defensive lineman anyway?

The set was fun and it filled my need for research. I love research and while sometimes I don't do enough of it, finding the facts and putting together a story from them is just way too cool. I relish in it.

There were a lot of questionable guys in the set probably rather because the company could only afford certain guys, while others wanted way too much money. If you are picking the top 60 players of all time why on earth would you put Cardinals QB Jim Hart in this group? He was a four time Pro Bowler and a star during his time but he is not anywhere close to the top 200, let alone 60.

I had trouble with Hart who only completed 51.5% of his passes and threw 36 more interceptions than TD's. This just didn't add up. There were others as well but economics I'm sure played more of a part than sports reality.

There was also an insert set called "Dawning of a Legacy" which featured the Steeler's Neil O'Donnell. We all know how he turned out. He made it to the Super Bowl and became a goat then out of the NFL. Steve told me there were some insert sets he had trouble writing because he had to write so much and not be repetitive. This was surely one of them.

All in all it was a job I loved and would dearly love to do again. It was fun and profitable. And who knows maybe Bert Jones will make it to the HOF afterall. I know if I had a vote he'd be there if nothing more than to just prove myself right.

                                  =================

(RICKEYHENDERSON.COM) -- It had to happen. Everyone else is doing it so why not Rickey Henderson. Henderson now has a memorabilia website where he sells his signature and other items. He is "the greatest!"

(PURDOM DOES TWO) -- Celebrated Sports artist Bill Purdom is producing two new litho's for the Bill Goff galaries, celebrating Yankee Stadium. The first shows Mariano Rivera throwing the final pitch at the old stadium while the second offers up C.C. Sabathia tossing the first pitch in the new ball park.

(FANTASY NFL) -- Get your FFL picks ready, that is Fantasy Football League. The NFL season is underway officially and it seems as if 75-percent of American males are in a league or two or three. We've noticed the last two years it seems (it seems no hard stats here) as if fewer people are being drawn to FFL. The economy is likely one reason the other is "time."

(DONRUSS A BUST?) -- SO is nobody going to offer to take us up on our idea to rejuvinate the likes of 1991 Donruss and 1988 Topps. Read the last two columns if you don't know what we're talking about but we are serious here.

You can reach Bob at bob.pattiwaggin-AT-gmail-DOT-com. You can also visit his website www.pattiwaggin.com, to read about his new book coming out shortly, or to pre-order it. "Fan Letters to a Stripper; A Patti Waggin Tale" details the life in photos and fan letters of burlesque queen Patti Waggin and her husband, White Sox and Senators pitcher, Don Rudolph. Check it out.

Tags: hall purdom roger goff rudolph ted patti staubach jones fame henderson of bill waggin hof brill ryan steve bert rickey don bob williams

The Brill Report: September Best for Baseball

By Bob Brill

It doesn't happen as often as it used to but the Dodgers did something this past week which brought me back to my youth and put a tingle in my spine. First of all, I hate the Los Angeles Dodgers. I do. I've never liked them and being born in Pittsburgh I've always been a die hard Pirates, Steelers, Penguns, Wrens, Pipers, Condors, Panthers, Nittany Lions fan. Hard CORE! Never liked the Dodgers.

However, I spent most of my youth and young adult years in Los Angeles so there was no way I could get away from them. I listened or watched almost every Dodgers-Pirates game from 1964 through 1971 that I could. This was my era, my time and I can still tell you the batting order for the 1966 Bucs against both left and right handed pitchers.

The Dodgers did something this past week which I really enjoyed because I believe it ensured them the division crown because they went back to their roots. It's not every team in contention who goes out and gets a basically washed up player for the stretch drive and puts them to good use. They are just end of the season September veterans who are looking for a last shot at a World Series with a club on the edge.

When Los Angeles went out and spent "two players to be named later" for Jim Thome and Jon Garland it brought back the memories of the mid-1960's all over again. If the Dodgers win the division by one game and Thome gets two game winning hits -- it's all worth it.

At the tale end of 1966 the Dodgers went out and got Wes Covington as a free agent after he was released from the Phillies. Basically washed up he would finish the season with Los Angeles and never play again. In 37 games he batted 33 times mainly as a pinch-hitter. The slugger didn't do much but did drive in 6 runs and smack one homer. The Dodgers won the pennant by 1.5 games over the Giants.

That same year, at the same time they picked up Dick Stuart, the aging first sacker after he was released by the Mets. While Stuart would go on to play another year with the Angels, all he did in the last month of the season was hit .264, smack 3 homers with 9 RBI. Again the Dodgers won that year by 1.5 games.

Remember Ken Boyer? How about Rocky Colavito? In 1968 in the last 40 games Colavito drove in 11 runs with 3 homers while Boyer was picked up earlier that season and batted .271 in 83 games with 6 homers and 41 ribbies.

In 1964 when Tommy Davis broke his leg they had to go out and get a veteran outfielder. Lou Johnson had floated from Mexico to Pittsburgh and more than once to Chicago. He came to the Dodgers with $10,000 for Larry Sherry. In 1965 he led the team in homers and added two in the World Series to become the Series' hitting star.

The latter two deals are a stretch from where I started but they proved the point the Dodgers seem to value; a veteran player despite where he is at the moment can make the difference. These guys are usually at a spot in their careers where they go all out for one last shot and if the Dodgers win the pennant look for Thome to win a couple games all by himself.

Thome is 12th on the all-time homer list and has one of the coolest swings on earth. Garland will eat innings which is something more valued than wins and losses in MLB 2009. So the Dodgers locked themselves in pretty tight and this time both players are eligible for the post season.

It might even make a difference in their trading cards? Nah. Both Covington and Stuart, while $10 cards in late 1966 were both in the uniforms of their former teams and both are treated as $10 commons.  Today it might be a different story but who wouldn't want a card like that? 

By the way: 1966 Pittsuburgh Pirates Batting order:

Against Righties: M. Alou cf, Gene Alley ss, Clemente Rf, Stargell Lf, Clendenon 1b, Baily 3b, Mazeroski 2b, Gonder c.

Against Lefties: Gene Alley ss, Manny Mota lf, Clemente rf, Clendenon 1b, Baily lf, Mazeroski 2b, Pagan 3b, Pagliaroni c.

                                  ====================

(DONRUSS-TBR) -- Did you guys think I was kidding last week? I wasn't! We need a warehouse to store all those cases and boxes and singles of all those 1988-1993 Donruss, Score and Topps cards along with Fleer. We're going to destroy millions of them to make the price go up. Any volunteers?

(UPPER DECK EURO TOYS) -- Believe it or not Upper Deck International has a huge selection of toys and is going marketing crazy. It lost Yu-Gi-Oh and most thought that would be the end since trading card games held about 70-percent of UDI. The CEO of the division says its toy market is actually bigger than its TCG's. Disney is one of the favorites under license but there are many other Euro and Asian based toys in the mix.

(KILZ KILLS COLLECTORS) -- A new survey by the KILZ paint company says 39-percent of the women surveyed are turned off by sports memorabilia in a guy's home and 63-percent said the way a guy decorates his home reflects his maturity level. Mickey Mantle or my wife? Bill Mazeroski or my wife? Is the jury still out in your case?

($4 BILLION DEALS) -- Well if you were like us and wondering why on earth eBay would pay $4 billion for Skype when it happened a couple years ago guess what? So did they. eBay sold the VOIP service this week for basically what it paid for it; $2.75 billion. The company would have had to go to $4 billion when it bought Skype originally if profits increased. eBay could never figure out how to integrate Skype into the auction web site.

At the same time Marvel sold out to Disney for $4 billion. Remember when Marvel stock was .35 a share and several of you asked me if you should buy it and I said "yes." Marvel closed at $47 a share the other day.

(T206 WAGNER FOR $50) -- Want to read a great column, then read this link. We've been saying it for years and its good news the mainstreamers have picked it up.

(BOOK SIGNING) -- Bob Brill will be signing his new book "Fan Letters to a Stripper: A Patti Waggin Tale," September 24th at 5:30 p.m. at the Ventura Museum, 89 South California Street in Ventura, CA. Books will sell for $45 (less than SRP) with a portion of all sales going to the Museum. The coffee table style book details the life of the Burlesque queen and wife of former major league pitcher, Don Rudolph, in photos and letters from her fans.

Tags: honus ebay boyer thome garland udi skype patti rudolph brill colavito waggin kilz covington disney donruss marvel stuart jon dodgers