Weekly Market Report - November 9, 2005

A Fresh Look at Sports Collectibles News

Beginning last Friday, collectors were able to log on to Leelands.com and bid on over 380 items from historic Bush Stadium in St. Louis. The auctions will last until November 23rd and will feature autographed lockers, player jerseys and equipment, and even the Cardinals World Champion banners. All of those things pale in comparison to the most unique item available: a urinal from the cardinals clubhouse. That's right, you can own your very own urinal used by Tony La Russa, Jim Edmonds, Albert Pujols, and many more. At last check there were 7 bids, with the current bid at $250! Imagine what that could do to your collection. You aren't a true Cardinals fan unless you have a piece of porcelain that Mark Mulder has urinated on. Do you think they sanitize it before they give it to you? The winner might want to pick up a bottle (or 50) of lysol. [view auction]

Last week McFarlane unveiled photography for the Sports Picks NBA 10 series. Figures include another Steve Nash, Tracy McGrady, Manu Ginobili, LeBron James, Rashard Lewis, and Vince Carter. According to McFarlane, the new NBA lines will have "smaller lineups of bigger stars guaranteed to garner national attention." Read between the lines: every line will include five of the following guys: Nash, McGrady, Ginobili, James, Carter, Yao Ming, Allen Iverson, Kevin Garnett, Dwayne Wade, Kobe, or Shaq, and then one other new guy to keep it fresh (I am assuming that guy is Rashard Lewis in the NBA 10 series). This is following the NBA 9 line that included Emeka Okafor, Jason Richardson, and Antawan Jamison. Apparently those guys don't "garner national attention." I hope you are a fan of the NBA superstars mentioned above, because that is all you are going to get from now on from McFarlane. [read official release]

Starting November 21, Canadian McDonalds will offer four card packs of Upper Deck hockey cards for 99 cents with the purchase of fries or hash browns. The cards will be part of a 58 card exclusive promotional set that includes 15 jersey cards, 14 patch cards, 12 goalie gear cards, 9 autographed cards, and 8 plexiglass cards (all limited to 120 or less). One question: how popular are McDonalds in Canada? Isn't McDonalds more of an American thing? It would seem that if Upper Deck really wanted to cash in they would include the cards in a case of Molson XXX. Think about it - beer and hockey in the same box, the two things Canada is known best for all in one convenient case. Someone should pay me to come up with this stuff. [read story ]