Bi-Weekly Market Report - November 29, 2006
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| McFarlane Unveils Cooperstown 4 Photography |
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From McFarlane: "McFarlane Toys salutes six legendary ballplayers in the fourth edition of our Sports Picks Cooperstown Collection. The upcoming series honors a pair of pinstriped legends, the leader of the Big Red Machine, perhaps the most dominant left-handed pitcher ever, one of the all-time best fielders and the greatest hitter who ever lived. As always, enjoy the photography. Cameraman, zoom it! " My take: The set includes figures of Joe DiMaggio, Johnny Bench, Ted Williams, Roger Maris, Steve Carlton, and Ozzie Smith. As usual, the choice of players is phenomenal and the poses are priceless. The DiMaggio, Williams, Maris, and Carlton poses are instantly recognizable as their likeness. The Bench pose is an amazing shot of him diving over a fence in foul territory to catch a pop-up. But the Ozzie Smith pose takes the cake - it's him doing one of his famous back flips. McFarlane never fails to truly capture the athlete in their signature pose.
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| SAGE Extends Design a Card Contest |
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From Beckett: "On the heels of last year's wildly successful Design-A-Card contest, hobby partners SAGE Collectibles, Inc. and Trader Retreat have teamed up again to give collectors the chance to show off their creative talents by creating a card design to be used as an insert set in SAGE's HIT 2007 Football product, releasing in April. Collectors of all ages are welcome to join in the challenge of seeing their work immortalized on the front of an insert set, with their name being credited on the back of the cards." My take: I was unaware of last years contest, but it's a great idea. For one, it saves SAGE some work and yields them a great design, but it also offers budding designers and sports fans a chance to get their name out there. I know a graphic designer who could blow away the designs on most cards, and I think we've just touched the tip of the iceberg on how amazing the artwork on cards can get.
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| McFarlane Announces Matt Leinart Figure |
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From McFarlane: "McFarlane Toys presents their first-ever 6-inch NFL Sports Picks Collector's Club Exclusive, featuring Arizona Cardinals rookie quarterback Matt Leinart. We planned to make Matt Leinart as a surprise figure in NFL 13 and his figure was sculpted and ready to be painted prior to the NFL Draft in May. When Leinart was taken by the Arizona Cardinals, we decided to make an alternate version (in addition to the surprise version in NFL 13) to sell to our hometown fans here in the Phoenix area." My take: Leinart is having an OK rookie season, but I personally don't think we need an additional figure of him. This is clearly a "local" move by McFarlane (who resides in Phoenix). But you know what, that doesn't bother me that much. Todd McFarlane's personality has always come out in his figures. He's an Oilers fan and we always see more unique Edmonton Oilers figures than we really need. I think it's cool as a business owner he keeps his personality in his products, and I think his openness to his customers results in a loyalty that other companies don't have.
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