BOB BRILL'S BLOG

Time [GMT -7] : 06 Sep , 13:08:28


30 Sep 2005 11:48:36 pm
FILM REVIEW: HISTORY OF VIOLENCE CLUNKS ALONG, AND ALONG ETC


“History of Violence, if you believe the trailers, is a really hot film. Hot enough after seeing it to believe Viggo Mortensen should burn it from his resume. I almost walked out but being the kinda guy I am, hoping for some redeeming features or plot twists, I stuck it out. Not such a good move. Viggo wasn’t bad. He’s usually so good in everything even if he’s become a little stilted lately. Not like his earlier work in Ruby Cairo, or the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Maria Bello was terrific everywhere along the way showing a very strong sense of emotion to her ever confused character. Even Ashton Holmes who plays their teen-aged son was good. Daughter Heide Hayes didn’t have much to do so it’s hard to judge. The script was lackluster, the editing purely was atrocious and there was so little emotion to the writing it just left you flat and wondering why? The premise was strong. A small town and well liked family man who runs a diner goes Stallone on two murdering thugs who threaten to kill everyone in the place. He kills them both and becomes an American hero. The television crews show up. Well sort of. His story is on local TV, the networks and CNN (you see this as he flips channels from his hospital room) but there are no crews waiting for him at the hospital. WRONG! One TV crew is waiting at his house. WRONG! And they never come back again. WRONG! C’mon a common guy does this and the networks are seen covering the story on television but no news crews show up? Where was this director? The guys who do show up are Ed Harris (typically cool) and his mobster buddies. Turns out our perfect local is a long lost hit-man for the mob in Philadelphia. Of course he denies it and the rest of the locals are not really involved except the town sheriff. He asks “Are you in a witness protection program?” Viggo ends up killing these killers too. In all, he kills 11 people in the film in between two not so bad sex scenes with wife Bello. Both are pretty gratuitous as is the violence but the first one is pretty well done. If you play the numbers game 69 sex in an R rated movie is pushing the envelope. It was nicely done though. In the second the women get a treat by seeing a lengthy shot of Viggo’s naked butt and afterward the guys are treated to a full frontal nude shot of Bello. If any of that is offensive to you, I must remind you they were probably the best shot scenes in the film. The movie drags, and while the director may play it off as people being confused and going through a wide range of emotions the viewer sees it as, “will somebody please get to the point in this clunker?.” The tell tale sign is when the audience gets up and leaves at the beginning of the credits not half way through. William Hurt pulls off a role as an aging gangster very well. Viggo continues to play Stallone though as this kid from the streets of Philadelphia who has been living in small town Indiana for 20 years uses Jackie Chan-like quickness in disposing of the 11 guys he kills. This is the same guy who races home limping as he goes because in the first scene one of the guys he kills stabs him in the foot. He’s out of the hospital in a few hours and the next day is running a couple miles to his house to save his family. The cold hearted killer didn’t even think about grabbing a vehicle? The film ending leaves you with lots of questions the director wants you to think about. Well here are some questions I want answers to. First, if Viggo owns a diner and wife Bello is a local hot shot lawyer, why do they live in a dumpy house and have only a pick-up truck. Why does Viggo walk a mile or so into town along a country road to work carrying his soft brief case? Second, why after Viggo and son kill Harris and his two thugs in the family front yard is there no crime scene wrap up or more TV crews, and why is the local sheriff talking to him about these Philadelphia gangsters as if he doesn’t know they are dead. Did Viggo and son dispose of the bodies and act like nothing happened or did they leave out the police coming and taking care of the bodies, and the investigation afterward. And finally and most importantly, why did I spend $9.50 to see this piece of junk? Oh yea, I like Viggo. I like Bello even more but I doubt I’ll ever see another David Cronenberg film again.

		Category : General \| Posted By : kckings \| Comments[0] \| Trackbacks [7217]


29 Sep 2005 11:44:07 pm
RESPECT, OR LACK THEREOF, NOT JUST AN EBAY THING


Sometimes on eBay you just have to suck it up. eBay is often like life. People there at times show a real lack of responsibility. Most of the people you meet in the on-line world of auctions are just fine. They bid, they pay and they leave feedback if the deal went well. There are other times when you just wonder “what is going through this person’s mind?” It comes down to a real lack of respect. Not a lack of respect for just the individual but for the entire process of how you go through life. Here is the most recent scenario. A guy bids on one of my auctions. The card is a $15 card but he buys it for $5 when the auction ends. We send the payment info right away and give him a week or so before we send a second reminder. More times goes by and still no word from the guy. So we decide to send him a message through eBay. We get an email back saying he won’t be buying the card because someone else gave him one as a present. We email him back and ask if we understand this properly. “Are you saying you won’t be fulfilling your obligation because someone gave you one of the items you bid on and won? The answer was a simple “yes.” Obviously we left a negative feedback but this is not the point. The point is simple. How is this person going through life and how can anyone trust him to fulfill his obligations with family, work, or friends when he can’t (or won’t) even fulfill a $5 promise. The $5 isn’t even the point here. It is the lack of respect. Perhaps if he had done a couple of things differently. For instance sending an email: 1. “Hi I’m sorry to trouble you but I just received the same card as a gift. Would you mind terribly if I passed on the auction?” 2. “Hi I’m really sorry but someone gave me the same card as a gift. Would you mind if I pass on our deal. I’ll offer to pay the shipping charge.” 3. “Hi I’m sorry to trouble you but I just received the same card as a gift. I’d like to pass on the auction but if you want me to hold to the deal, I will and will send the payment.” Any of these scenarios would be wonderful and probably we would have said, “Hey we understand we’ll just re-list the item. Things happen.” Not this time. We are seeing more and more of this not only with on-line auctions but in daily life. Whatever happened to honor, and a deal is a deal? I guess it went out with the handshake. Too bad.

		Category : General \| Posted By : kckings \| Comments[1] \| Trackbacks [2420]


27 Sep 2005 10:06:21 pm
AN ARTIST IS AN ARTIST IS AN ARTIST AND DESERVES TO BE PAID


An artist certainly has the right to his own work and what he should do with that work should he so desire. Any artist, whether the artist works in water color, pencil, or film – or even the written word, has the right to his work. This brings us to the case of the photographers who worked for Fleer Trading Cards for the past several years. Based on what one photographer we’ve spoken with is telling us, and we have little reason to doubt him, an injustice is being done to these artists. Some people would not consider “shooters” as they are called, “artists.” They are. They work behind the lens and take pictures of moving things. Sometimes they will shoot 500 photos to capture one great and usable shot. This takes time, patience and a lot of talent. It also takes a good deal of luck. One photographer who worked as a contract employee for Fleer, as they all did, not only did not get paid for the last six-plus months Fleer was in business, but now he has to watch as his images are sold at auction. He signed on as a work for hire employee, as always but never got paid. So he feels, and rightfully so in the eyes of many, those images still belong to him. Fleer didn’t pay for them so why should they own them? This isn’t sitting well with these photographers or others in the know. There is more however and this “more” centers around photos the photographers shot years ago while not working for Fleer. Fleer was in the process of making retro sets featuring retired players and asked the photographers to submit pictures taken decades before. They did. They were never paid for the use of the images and now they want them back. This is personal property. They are up for auction with the rest in a 1.1 million photo catalog. These photographers should see these photos returned and returned without cost to them. Instead what will happen is any money raised through the auction, after payment is made to the auction houses, the attorneys and for expenses will go to the creditors. First in line is Alex Grass who basically ran the company after his son Roger bailed and as the company was heading into debt amounting to $30 million. Grass secured a loan of $12 million for Fleer which he personally backed. He is listed at the top of the creditors list and stands to get some of his money back but not all. Adding insult to injury the photographers are fighting with UPS for the shipping charges dating back to when they submitted the photos to Fleer. According to one of them they were told to submit them on the Fleer company UPS account. When the company shut down they refused to pay UPS so the charge is being made back to the photographers and UPS wants its money. Not only is the photographer we talked to not going to get paid and not going to get his images back, now he has to pay bills owed by Fleer; the very company which stiffed him in the first place. No one said life is fair, but it doesn’t have to be criminal.

		Category : General \| Posted By : kckings \| Comments[0] \| Trackbacks [4134]


22 Sep 2005 10:50:37 pm
BASEBALLS NEW HOBBY BEGINNING: A POSITIVE THING


Pardon the length of this Blog but there are a lot of key issues discussed and we felt it important. Thank you for bearing with us. When the Major League Baseball Players Association came up with new rules for the 2006 season regarding trading cards there were lots of upset people. There were also some happy ones who said 'someone finally listened.' The rule changes are only a few and full details have not been worked out but basically there are three key elements which are taking place. 1. The issue of no new baseball before baseball season. Collectors have been getting the upcoming years first baseball cards five months before the season starts. No more. Instead of 2006 Topps and Upper Deck Baseball Series One coming out in November, 2005, the cards will be released in the spring 2006. Good news for two reasons. This means baseball cards are going to be released when excitement for baseball is at its peak. 'Spring when every young mans fancy turns to baseball' – well almost. There is something about girls there too, but suffice it to say for arguments sake it IS baseball. This is a very good thing because more sales should occur during this time than previously. Then there is the hobby store’s budget. Take a look at all the new products released in the fourth quarter. Football, basketball and hockey are all playing, plus it is the holiday season so hobby stores are stocked with new memorabilia and other gift or impulse items. Hobby store owners are laying out a lot of money during this time and while they make good money they are spending a lot of their profit on the new 2006 products. No more. This means the store owner should be able to keep more of his profits from the holidays and improve cash flow. This is a VERY good thing. Those who didn’t like the move point out they need these products because holiday 'gift buyers' want something new and savvy collectors are trained to come in during the holidays to buy the new products. To counter this is simple. 'Gift buyers' will still buy. In fact, they will likely buy more 2005 or older products simply because they are buying a gift. This gives those older products a longer shelf life and should keep dealers who are cash strapped from dumping the products because they need money to buy the next product down the pike. Those savvy collectors? Are they not going to buy the product they want in February? Of course they are and they may buy something when they come to visit the first few times in November. It is a win-win situation. It also creates the opportunity for the manufacturers to create gift products. Although these have not faired well in the past it may be time to try them again. 2. This revolves around Rookie Cards or RC’s. The new rules from MLBPA state something to the effect (and we’re not sure they have decided exactly how this will be laid out) RC’s will only be RC’s for players who are 'actually playing in the big leagues.' In other words if a guy is a candidate for Rookie of the Year honors his rookie card (at least once the program is instituted) will be from that year. This was shown to be a positive in 2001 when Albert Pujols and Ichiro were both rookies without previous Bowman or Topps cards. The market for them went crazy, baseball card sales soared and 2001 boxes are still commanding a premium on the secondary market. This is definitely a good thing and will lead to more such instances in the future causing excitement among collectors and casual fans. The key centers around Topps and Bowman cards. Bowman has traditionally been the Home of the RC. Topps signs the players to a professional contract long before they play in the big leagues if they ever do. Topps has had a special relationship with MLBPA due to the nature of the beast. Topps says it helped the union get started in the early days showing the players they could make money for their licensing rights. It is not clear how that relationship has changed but we do know these newly signed players, which Topps may still sign, may not appear in the base set of Topps and perhaps Bowman. Bowman has been a great brand but with the new rule regarding RC’s this will change. Collectors will have to ask themselves 'do we want a first card of a player or do we want his RC?' Chances are they will want the RC and if Bowman cards won’t be considered RC’s on a go-forward basis, they will eventually die. The brand will go away or at least the reason for it will. 3. There will be fewer brands on the market. This is a very good thing. When there were only Topps, Upper Deck, Score, Donruss and Fleer each company could make 40,000 cases of a product and make a nice profit. As they fought for greater market share they developed new product lines. There was Stadium Club, Finest, Elite, Select and tiers were created. They fed low end collectors, higher end users and very high end users. Those wanting a Ford could pay .79, those looking for a Mark IV could spend $2 and if you wanted a Rolls Royce try $3.49 a pack. These brand breaks will still exist but not as many we are told. The reason this hurt was because collectors became confused. In 1993 Drew Bledsoe had 63 different Rookie Cards! Why?! As collectors backed off the companies still had bills and royalties to pay to the licensors. They could no longer make 40,000 cases of a product but still needed the income 40,000 cases made them. So the obvious move was to produce 10 different products each designed to sell 4,000 cases, or, in effect the same 40,000 cases. They just had to make more brands and less of each. There were not enough collectors anymore to absorb 40,000 cases of one product. This won’t change drastically with the new rules but it should cut down on collector confusion and this is a move in the right direction. The wheel has been broken for a long time and while you can’t re-invent the wheel you can fix it. This is a like fixing the hub. It is this reporters considered opinion all these moves are positive. There is a third issue which also took place and is history now, but too was a positive change. MLBPA chose not to renew the license for Donruss/Playoff. Now only two companies will be making baseball cards in 2006. There really isn’t room for three to make a reasonable profit in all of this and Donruss was the weak sister. They made great cards and dealers did well with them. MLBPA wasn’t going to cut Topps with its rich heritage and it wasn’t going to cut Upper Deck because it pays them a lot of money. There is a missing link. MLBPA and MLB want more kids in the hobby. Kids are ready to come in despite the fact baseball cards don’t do anything. They are not video games. We have seen many more kids entering the hobby lately and this is a good thing. At the same time those supporting the hobby currently are adult men. These men, who are successful and have money, and are not necessarily 'whales,' enjoy the older retired players. Many of them in our store don’t want new players. The reason is simple. Let me throw out a few names; Barry 'who can I blame today, oh Congress should be looking at important issues rather than steroids' Bonds Rafael 'let me point my finger and tell you I never took steroids' Palmiero Jason 'I’m sorry for what I did, somebody please tell me what I did' Giambi Sammy 'I need an interpreter in Congress but not to read my paycheck' Sosa Mark 'I’m not here to talk about the past' McGwire They actually like Jose '*let me tell it like it was' Canseco again. These older collectors who spend hundreds of dollars a week at hobby stores want Babe Ruth, Rogers Hornsby, Ernie Banks and Josh Gibson. They remember growing up idolizing Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale and Willie Mays. Hank Aaron should hold the HR record and Ruth should be number two. These are the men supporting the hobby now. No matter how many little kids come into my store, I can’t pay the bills with them only. There must be a balance. High dollar products are needed. We just need to limit them. Maybe one product which costs $100 per pack per sport. We don’t need three at $100 and UP and the rest between $30 and $75. I’d like maybe one at $100, and one each at $50, $30 and $10. Will it work? Yes. Give it a chance and enforce it. 'Little Johnny card collector' is a misnomer. Little Johnny wants the good stuff too and he will buy it when he is able to afford it. Having packs at $1.99 and $2.99 for him at the hobby level is a good thing. Having .99 packs at any level is not. If he can get the same thing in a .99 pack he can in a $2.99 pack what is the point? Manufacturers can produce a less expensive pack in slightly larger quantities to meet the need but just giving it to retail giants such as Wal-Mart helps kill the new traffic of youngsters to hobby stores. In 1973 no one believed there could be a store selling sports cards only. This was 32 years ago. Now the general public understands these stores exist. There is no longer a reason to believe the first pack a kid purchases is at Target, K-Mart or Wal-Mart. He is usually introduced to trading cards by his father or a friend at a traditional hobby store. We see it all the time. Those fathers know full well the packs at Wal-Mart won’t get the kid anything really cool unless he’s lucky. The odds are better at the hobby store. So to cater to the retail giant with better prices and better profit margins is ludicrous. A hobby store owner works hard for a living. It is one of the most difficult businesses in the world in which to make a living (especially in the world of the Internet) and manufacturers traditionally give these store owners a 30-35 percent profit margin. Try living on this at any other retail outlet. It doesn’t work. These same manufacturers give the same products to retail giants for a 50 percent profit margin. What this means is simple; The hobby store pays $48 a box direct for Product A. He is expected to sell it for $72. Retail Giant pays $36 for the same Product A. He is expected to sell it for $72.Is there something wrong with this scenario? Yes and it is obvious. Now the manufacturer and the spin doctors at all levels of the hobby will tell you, no there are differences in the product and we’re fighting for shelf space. The differences are subtle, if at all, and many times there are NO differences. You are fighting for shelf space in my store too. The other basic problem with this issue is hobby stores do not get returns and we pay months in advance for the products. With Topps we usually pay two months in advance and sometimes three months. We are basically floating Topps a multi-million dollar, interest free loan every month and we can’t return the product if it fails. We can’t even order more of it from Topps if it’s a winner. The same return policy exists with the other manufacturers too. The retail giants get returns, they pay on terms or whenever they want and in the case of Wal-Mart they traditionally only pay for what is scanned through the register. If someone steals it they don’t pay for it. I’d love to be a new car dealer and have that in my contract! There are a lot of inequities in all of this and there are some minor differences in the way the companies do business. It basically is the way we’ve described it above. And what MLBPA, NFLPA and the NBA don’t seem to understand is one simple but very true statement. Hobby store owners are not masters of their own fate because our lives, our sales depend on what professional athletes do on or off the field. If Barry Bonds is hot and everything you put out with Barry Bonds on it sells quickly things are great. Let him go down on a steroid case and we’re stuck with everything Barry Bonds. We used to sell Palmiero signed baseballs for $110. Today we can’t give them away for $20. We’ve had some of his items to give away in promotions and people give them back. They don’t want them. Every change the leagues and PA’s make, affects us. Every player who does something good or bad affects us. It affects how much we sell and how much food we put on the table. It is this important, make no mistake about it. It really is. So when a change is made we want to know everything about it. Talk about the “public’s right to know,” this is it. Information is key in any business, more so in ours. A lawyer wouldn’t go into court without doing discovery* and a contractor wouldn’t build a house without knowing what permits he had to get first. Information is vital to the hobby dealer as well. If MLBPA wants to make further changes there are ways to do it. Take a tip from the NFL and don’t allow player exclusives. Upper Deck signs players to multi-million dollar long term contracts for autographs and memorabilia. The NFL, the strongest card market alive, doesn’t allow exclusives. This would be a positive change. It would also mean more money at Upper Deck for other things. The signing of Lebron James to a long term deal for NBA trading cards effectively killed the other companies during his rookie year. There are a huge number of collectors who will only buy UD basketball because they can get autographs of James, Jordan, Kobe and a few others who are exclusive. Fleer had an exclusive with Vince Carter, a bad move, and went out of business. Not to say there weren’t other issues involved because there were. Put a case limit on the number of memorabilia and autographed cards allowed in packs. The market for these was strong in 1996-1997 when they were maximum two per case. Now the market on them is in the tank. Card manufacturers said 'collectors say they want more of them.' No, collectors said they 'wanted more value' knowing if these cards were one per pack they would become very worthless. Less is More and it always has been in collectibles. Fleer killed the insert market single-handedly when VP Jeff Massien announced they would place an insert in every pack, when inserts were hot. He turned a huge winner into a loser and started the downhill road for Fleer in 1993 with this move. People make mistakes. People who don’t understand collectibles and what it means to be a collectible, make stupid mistakes. Remembering the bottom line in collectibles, any collectible is very easy. The bottom line is this: 'If only a few of an item exist everyone wants one, but, if there are a lot of the item in existence, no one wants one.' You want people to want the item. 'If few people can have it, the value soars and everyone chases it, but, if everyone can have one, no one wants it and you’ll find it in the bargain bins.' It is really simple.

		Category : General \| Posted By : kckings \| Comments[0] \| Trackbacks [4243]


20 Sep 2005 10:51:09 pm
MICHELLE WIE TURNING PRO WITH GREAT POWER TO BOOT


Michelle Wie is going pro. No dah! Finally. She turns 16 on October 11th and sometime between then and now she will declare her professional status and begin earning serious money. Not so much from the tour (she can’t be an LPGA member until she’s 18 years old) but from endorsements. Rumored is an $5 million deal with Nike and anything else her new management agency, William Morris, can conjure. The buyers are waiting with baited breath in the wings. Here is the scenario; 16 year old Korean/American/Hawaiian beauty who plays golf like a member of the PGA. She attracts crowds and fans wherever she goes and she goes with grace. She becomes an instant millionaire many times over and you will soon see her in TV ads for cars, planes, gum, you name it. They are lining up. The interesting thing is she signed with William Morris. This Hollywood talent agency tries to go beyond the player and into the entertainment world. You can bet aside from golf she’ll likely be in a movie or two along the way. The expectations for her first year, not including her course winnings is about $10 million. She will make a ton of money on the Asian scene as well. Her naturally good looks on a 6’1” frame notwithstanding, they are welcoming her in Asia where believe it or not women’s golf outpolls men’s golf for TV ratings. Speaking of TV ratings this is a 15 year old girl who missed the cut in a recent TV tourney and because she was so close NBC kept the telecast going past its scheduled time. What kind of power does she hold over the marketing world? A lot. We’re just hoping Upper Deck can sign her to a deal for their golf products. They have Tiger and they have Annika. Bring on Michelle too. Oh, and when she finished high school she plans on going to Stanford. Wow, Tiger Woods went there. Funny.

		Category : General \| Posted By : kckings \| Comments[0] \| Trackbacks [5568]


19 Sep 2005 09:56:08 pm
TOPPS CARRIES A GOOD THING TOO FAR. AGAIN.


I have to take a shot at The Topps Company here because they had a really great product in Pristine Legends only to follow it up with Retired Signature Edition which is pretty much crap. When I opened my first box of Pristine I thought “Topps you really have come up with something great here.” The cards are great, the player mix is good, an autograph per box and five relics if you like those sorts of things. Retired Signature followed this by two weeks and it has the same configuration; five packs; $30 per pack. The difference is R-Sigs has an autograph per pack. The unfortunate thing is that it seems there is a John Candelaria autograph in every box. C'mon John Candelaria? Or Mike Cuellar? Why would I pay $30 for an autographed card of these guys? Autographed baseballs maybe, but not a card and I don't care how it is encased. The rest of the pack has four cards of which one is a gold card and numbered to 500. A pack I just opened had Robin Yount, Paul O'Neill and Gary Carter. All general cards which are really, basically Topps Base brand cards. The gold card is Dave Winfield. The hobby dealer direct cost from Topps for this product is $98 per box. Suggested Retail Price is $30 per pack. It's not anywhere near that. Maybe, a $20 pack at best. This just does not wash. This is the reason we have so many customers backing off Topps higher end products in the past several years. Topps just does not get it when it comes to the high-end and more expensive products. The bottom line is if you can't make it right, don't make it at all.

		Category : General \| Posted By : kckings \| Comments[0] \| Trackbacks [5004]


18 Sep 2005 11:17:02 pm
THE NFL AND KATRINA; DOING IT RIGHT


You have to hand it to the NFL. There is no better marketing machine in the world of sports – maybe in the world itself, than professional football. Take a look at what the NFL did this past weekend; raise millions of dollars for hurricane victims just by getting involved. The NFL Hurricane Relief Weekend began with collections at all NFL games on Sunday. It followed with an unprecedented and unheard of double header on Monday Night. Two games, a telethon on ESPN, jazz musicians and whatever they could come up with. Toss in a little more and you have a ready mix for success. The New Orleans Saints play the NY Giants in the first game followed by Washington and Dallas. Dallas of course has been America’s Team but now it is New Orleans as the Saints go marching into New York to play Eli Manning and the Giants. Manning of course calls New Orleans home as does big brother Peyton. Throw all of this together in the Big Apple and you have the things marketing genius’s are made of. Genius is the NFL. There is no doubt about it. The money by the way is not going to the usual recipient of NFL fund money, the United Way, but to the main fund for Katrina Relief. What more could you ask for than the Bush-Clinton Relief Fund headed up by two former and popular presidents. The NFL has always been the cream of the crop when it comes to promotions. NFL Films makes a ton of money as does NFL Properties which handles the merchandising of jerseys, helmets, toys and everything else. These two units are just a small part of what brings in hundreds of millions of dollars to the NFL coffers. And most of the time, the NFL comes out smelling like a rose even if they make some mistakes, which they don’t do very often. Kudos to this league and its association of players, Players INC. They do it right. **

		Category : General \| Posted By : kckings \| Comments[0] \| Trackbacks [6642]


14 Sep 2005 10:11:28 pm
KATRINA LEAVES HOBBY STORE OWNER IN DIRE NEED


I just got off the phone with a fellow hobby shop owner in New Orleans. Well, right now he’s Lafayette, LA, which is a three hour drive from New Orleans. His store and home were destroyed by Hurricane Katrina and he’s living with a man who is kind enough to help him out with a place to stay for the time being. Steve Campo has worked at Bradford Cards in Kenner, LA, a suburb of New Orleans for 10 years. For the past five years he’s owned the place. For the past 43 years he’s collected baseball cards and memorabilia, mainly Boston Red Sox stuff. Right now, he’s homeless, jobless and pretty much out of it. Like so many displaced persons in the aftermath of the Katrina tragedy, Campo is trying to figure out what is going to become of his life. He has no income, has a little savings and at the moment no prospects. He told me there are no apartments or hotel rooms within a 150 mile radius of Lafayette. “There is a waiting list two pages long for hotels and apartments,” Campo told me. He was allowed only a few hours to go back and get what he could out of his store and apartment. He convinced someone to rent him a truck for the day and went back to find utter devastation. The roof on his store split as did the ceiling to his apartment. Standing water was the order of the day and mold had been moving at a record pace in the heat and humidity for a week. You don’t have to even guess what this does to cardboard, memorabilia and anything with an autograph. There was almost nothing he could salvage from his personal belongings, and little more from his store. Most of it he had to leave after he was given only a few hours to get in and get out again with what he could load into the truck. Locked showcases were filled with moisture and everything inside them was of course history. He had an extensive personal collection dating back to the 1950’s and he says he grabbed what he could, threw it into a box and will worry about it later. Campo knows he left about $5,000 worth behind never to be seen again. Clothes? Gone. His car? Flooded and totaled. His personal belongings? Pretty much the same. His inventory in the store? Not much more can be said. Campo is in the same situation as tens of thousands of other New Orleans folks, many who may never go back. Some will to rebuild. He is not sure he will. If not for the kindness of a gentleman who is allowing him a place to stay for the time being, there is no telling where this man would be. He’s just one of the stories shared and you can read the full story in The Brill Report The heartbreak of Katrina for one card store owner, like many business owners in the region. Read the latest updated story in The Brill Report. http://www.kckings.com/hobbynewsandfun.php

		Category : General \| Posted By : kckings \| Comments[0] \| Trackbacks [5153]


13 Sep 2005 10:04:31 pm
CHUCK CONNORS, THE RIFLEMAN, GOES UP FOR AUCTION


In these days of auction mania I guess there is something out there for everyone. There has to be or why else would people auction off some of the most personal items an individual would ever have. We all know the enormous prices paid at auction for Elvis Presley’s driver’s license or other things. Elvis is an icon. I guess too, so is Chuck Connors. You know; the Rifleman? He was known before as a first baseman with Brooklyn who couldn’t hit a curve ball. I remember Dodger announcer Vin Scully saying something to the effect “that was a good thing” based on how his career turned out. The movies, TV, comic books, a board game, meetings with presidents, you name it. Connors also played professional basketball. What brings us to this is his Estate, offered by his secretary and companion, ponied up with almost anything and everything at auction this month. The AmericanMemorabilia.com offering is quite unique and as some might say, disgusting. His Rifleman TV show gun is going up for sale. Ok. Photos signed to him by presidents, athletes and celebrities. Ok. Even his driver’s license. Sure why not? Now how about his Reserve Sheriff’s Department Badge, his gun permits, his social security card, his Kern County Pistol Permit, thumb cuffs and DEA badge, his Bear Valley signed Pistol License with Badge, several of Connors’ passports, his license plate from his car, his military ID and documents, his membership card for the Motion Picture Academy (which the Academy would really frown upon), his personal gun cabinet, a copy of Playboy Magazine he owned, and my personal all-time favorite; his plaque commemorating his getting a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. I was actually there and interviewed Connors while at UPI Radio Network. I remember having difficulty with my tape recorder which decided to be fickle at that moment and Connors telling me, “c’mon kid I have to get going.” I got it going and we did the interview. But my point is; is there nothing sacred anymore? Is an auction the pinnacle of one’s life? Is money the end of it all when it’s over, or, is there anything left of the dignity of a human soul? I mean c’mon – a copy of Playboy? It doesn’t’ get any worse than this. Why is the Playboy there by the way? It included a photo layout of one of the actresses who happened to be in “Beyond The Valley of the Dolls” (one of the worst pictures ever made by the way). The actress was the daughter of Connors’ secretary. I changed my mind. It did get worse.

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13 Sep 2005 08:32:14 am
eBAY PURCHASE NEEDS REGULATORY OVERSIGHT


You have to wonder where eBay is going. With the announcement this week the auction company bought Skype for $4 billion (yes you read right FOUR BILLION DOLLARS), one third of it in cash, eBay is becoming a major player not just the world’s swap meet. Every time eBay raises fees we wonder why? Oh sure, the fees are only going up a nickel for an auction, or maybe .10 for a special feature. But remember millions of people use eBay every day and while they pass on a .10 fee increase to users like candy, multiply that .10 by two million every day. All of a sudden eBay is one of the most powerful companies in the world. Skype is the fastest growing player in the voice over the internet industry. Based in Luxembourg, Skype is the company which offers computer users the chance to talk directly (without email) to other computer users anywhere in the world for free. Basically, it is turning your computer into a telephone. The end result is, it is a major threat to standard telephone companies and eBay will now be in control of one of the biggest players in the world. ebay says it will use this technology to help sellers, sell more. If you can talk to a buyer directly minutes before an auction closes you will close more sales. Everyone wants this. This deal may turn out to be subject to regulatory approval and we can only say “yes” to such hearings. The world’s technology is too important to entrust to the likes of eBay. ebay is already putting many mom and pop businesses, out of business. Sure there are many positives but none of them involve really helping the standard of business. ebay has caused nearly every company in the world to change the way it does business simply because the line between wholesale and retail is gone. eBay has made every buyer a seller and every seller into a scrambler. Small and large firms around the world are scrambling for how to deal in the new age of eBay while eBay, without regulatory conditions, goes about its merry way. In the autograph field for instance there are so many problems. There are so many fake autographs selling on eBay to unsuspecting buyers it will make your head swim. Yet, the courts have ruled eBay is not responsible for this in any way, shape or form. They are the provider of the means to sell and have no obligation to police what is real and what is not, no matter how illegal the sale is. This must change. eBay must take responsibility for its actions or lack thereof instead of just raking in millions and raising the price to rake in billions more to every tom, dick and harry in the world. There must be regulatory control. eBay must be forced to follow the rules of integrity and not just the rules of business, whatever they are.

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09 Sep 2005 10:38:47 pm
MARCH OF THE PENGUINS IS MARCH OF THE STUPID BUT CUTE


‘The March of the Penguins’ or ‘How Much Cute Can You Really Handle?’ I’m not sure which title is more appropriate but let me put it this way, my wife dragged me to see this film after just too much prodding and plodding. I’ll admit it was a cute little film and I certainly learned a lot about penguins. I’ve had a tender spot in my heart for the cute little guys for some time. They teased me in my junior high days because my feet point outward when I walk just like guess what? A penguin. Nuf said about that. What I really got from this film was one basic question; who is more stupid? The penguins who each year go back and forth to their nesting ground 70 miles away from shelter, food and the sea? Or, the film making crew who lasted through the blizzards of the Antarctic winter for nine months making this film? The film shows the penguins basic mating routine. They come ashore, hike 70 miles inland (or waddle inland) to an area where there is nothing. During the next several months mom and dad hike back and forth the 70 miles to get food. They hang out for a month stuffing themselves to get enough food on their bodies to waddle back another 70 miles to feed the newborn chick. Now c’mon. Is there no beach front property? For goodness sakes this is the South Pole! No one lives there. The ocean view properties are free. Okay, okay. So maybe living near the water is a little too dangerous as possibly a sea lion can get on shore, slide across the ice, snatch a little live bait and head back into the water. Hello! How about moving five miles inland? I mean 70 miles is quite a trek for a guy who can only waddle and slide. Mom goes off to get food, comes back, feeds the family and dad takes off to get some grub. Two months later they come back. Meanwhile junior is growing bigger, or dying as in some cases or getting snatched by some bird of prey. Some mom’s die, some dads die and some chicks die. Live near the beach guys!! Don’t get me started on the camera crews who braved this ordeal with the penguins. They stayed through temperatures which got to 80-degrees below zero plus 100 mile per hour winds. This isn’t fun. I sort of believe the producers are just loving it because the film made bank at the bank. New numbers show it brought in $70 million so far. Morgan Freeman narrated the film but he didn’t go to the South Pole now did he? All in all it was a pretty nice little 90 minute respite and was shot beautifully. You know what though? I paid $9 to see what I can see for free on National Geographic television or the Discovery Channel, or heck even Animal Planet. So who really was the most stupid one here?

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08 Sep 2005 10:28:26 pm
IT'S FALL AND THE FANTASY BEGINS


Remember when we used to say ‘It’s spring time and every boys fancy turns to thoughts of love’ or something like that. Well as of today you can change this to ‘it’s fall and every boy’s fancy turns to thoughts of another Fantasy – Fantasy Football.’ I played the current version of NFL Fantasy Football last year for the first time by joining a local league through ESPN.com. I ended up winning the league and some cash but more than this I was hooked. I had played in a Strat-O-Matic Table Top Football League for 21 years ending in 1991. It was great and I still prefer it over FFL but in today’s world where no one has the time anymore to compete one on one for three hours a week, FFL will have to do. It boggles the mind how much this stuff has become a part of real world life. There are paid experts who write blogs, web sites, books and do videos. There are television shows on networks dedicated to FFL. The NFL, knowing what it has in this whole thing, encourages it watching as the fan base and the TV audience grows because of it. Make no mistake about it, FFL is big business. It has replaced the office pool as the thing to do and it just keeps growing. Did you know you can buy Fantasy Draft Charts which cover a wall in multi-colors? What will we see next? Commercials eschewing the local league winner getting a visit from an NFL Player? Oh, yea, that commercial debuted on the Thursday Night Game between the Pats and the Raiders to kick off the season. I found myself glued to the game to see how my guys were doing. I have Tom Brady and Randy Moss on one of my two teams and they both played important roles in the game. My opponent had Corey Dillon, Kerry Collins and Deion Branch playing in the game as well. Now we have to wait for Sunday for the rest of our guys to make an impact to determine who wins in week ONE! I’m a Steeler fan and I never would have even watched an Oakland/New England game two years ago. Now, I have a vested interest and because of FFL I’ve become a statistic. The kind of the statistic the NFL and the networks like. I have become a more dedicated viewer. Oh my gosh.

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05 Sep 2005 04:17:30 pm
THE BRILL REPORT IS OFFICIALLY BACK 2


We are back 'on the air' as we used to say in my previous career as a radio announcer many moons ago. We are referring to The Brill Report this time though. The Brill Report is the updated version of the fax newsletter we produced before we sold it 10 years ago. TBR, as it was known for short, was a news publication featuring hard news and some features. We did investigative reports and broke news stories. In fact, we broke hard news stories long before SCD and Beckett got into hard news. Hard news is what we learned at UPI and at other news outlets where I worked but the hobby had never had such a thing. The hobby publications were supported by advertising dollars. They were not about to bite the hands that fed them by reporting stories critcal of those companies and advertisers. They still shy away from it unless forced into it by having no other choice than to report the story. We always did. Being supported by subscriptions (like Associated Press and UPI before it) we learned while manufacturers and other hobby outlets may not have liked what we reported they still subscribed. They needed to know exactly what we were reporting. We were threatened, both physicaly and legally, but we pushed on. We did the job we had to do and we did it properly. This is our intent with the new on-line version of TBR as well. We won't be doing any muck-raking but we will report hard core news stories as they effect the collectibles field. We will also do positive stories such as the one running right now in the first volume of The Brill Report. In reading it at www.kckings.com you will notice the service is free for the moment. We will need to charge for the service at some point and this will be a minimal fee. It might be as low as $5 per month. Obviously the more subscribers the more extended effort can be put into the project. In no way will a lack of paid subscribers cut down on the quality of what we do. We ask for your support by clicking on every day to see what's happening. Parts of TBR will be updated daily. Stories will be left up on the site for up to one week at the most, many of them will come down sooner.Sometimes we will update a current story with fresh information or new quotes. All of this is part of what we will do to keep TBR fresh and to keep you coming back. We hope you will. Bob Brill Editor, Publisher The Brill Report at www.kckings.com

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01 Sep 2005 09:16:43 pm
ACTION PERFORMANCE SOLD


In 1993 I traveled to Phoenix, Arizona to visit a little growing company which made die-cast cars. Action Performance had only been around for little more than a year but the company was very interesting. The PR guy convinced me to fly down to meet with CEO Fred Wagenhals and visit the place, so I did. I remember being very impressed. The company had just gone public and its main source of income was RCCA (Racing Collectibles Club of America). This was a program where a member would buy one of each and every issue of a new die-cast NASCAR racing car. The items were limited and many of the RCCA members wanted more than one so they signed up for multiple memberships. One man had 63 memberships or some such number as that. Action also produced gasoline powered vehicles (kid sized) to be used for Super Market Promotions and other things. They made them and the promoted them. It was a nice sideline. The stock was only a few dollars a share and after writing the story for Sports Collectors Digest, I remembered being so impressed by the staff and the company, I bought stock. When it was $2.45 a share I spoke to my brother-in-law and tried to convince him to buy in. He said he had $50,000 in disposable income and would check it out. My feeling was ‘if you talk to your broker you won’t buy because this is a hobby company, but go ahead.’ He did and as expected, he didn’t (buy that is). When the stock hit $53 a share a couple years later he told me something about how he was kicking himself for not listening to me. I wasn’t doing well myself though since I had sold at $5 per share. Easy come easy go. Well this is exactly what began happening to Action Performance not long after. Easy come, easy go. It wasn’t long before AP was buying other companies related to NASCAR. They bought local companies and foreign companies and apparel companies and you name it. Soon AP looked more like a chicken running around without a head. There was so much going on there was little way of controlling it effectively. Then came the big boondoggle. The folks at AP decided to build a NASCAR Internet Mall. With lots and lots of money invested and more time than anyone ever thought it should take, the thing fell flat on its face. The large investment took its toll and so did the rest of the acquisitions. Soon AP began to unravel and many of the purchases were sold off. All this time NASCAR die-cast was flooding the market. You couldn’t go into a Wal-Mart without seeing jam packed shelves just full of NASCAR. With so much competition and minimal margins, combined with collector confusion and lack of interest, the market and the profits fell. They continued to fall. It looked as if Action was poised to come back and actually had some nice quarters. In the end things had to change and this week the company was sold for $245 million. The buyer? International Speedway Corporation and Speedway Motorsports, Inc. The new firm will be called Motorsports Authentics which will offer apparel and souvenirs. All this is of course based on shareholder approval. It is expected the key executives will remain with the new company. There is still some growth for NASCAR at some level in the hobby. Like the trading card industry however, it must shrink to grow demand and this will be the key in watching where the old AP now the new company will move in the coming year. Oh where are the days of the RCCA with limited and desired production.

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