Weekly Market Report - December 29, 2005

A Fresh Look at Sports Collectibles News

When you click on the link at the end of this paragraph, you will read the headline "Heisman trophy sets record at Lelands.com auction." Don't let that fool you. The prime piece of meat in this article lies a few paragraphs down. It turns out that GoldenPalace.com purchased Pete Rose's 159th home run bat for $103,631. Why? Because it appears to be corked and they are going to raise money for charity by sawing the bat in half and exposing the cork. Now, I love all of GoldenPalace's crazy marketing stunts (streakers and boxers with "GoldenPalace.com" tattooed on them come to mind), but how is this going to raise money for charity? Does anyone care about this fool anymore? Are people really going to pay more than $103,631 to see that bat cut in half? Because, it seems to me, that they should just donate $103,631 to charity if that is the true purpose of this stunt (of course it's not). My guess as to what is going to happen - they are going to raise some number much less than $103,631 and give that to charity and pass it off as brilliant marketing AND a good deed, when, in reality, it is just brilliant marketing...but hey, what do I know. [read article ]

Todd McFarlane's bi-weekly radio show on MLB.com with co-host Seth Everett will return on January 6. The show airs every other Thursday from 5-6 PM EST. Fans can call in or email with their comments. OK, my first thought is - I didn't know Todd McFarlane had a radio show! I must have been living under a rock last year. My second (and probably more pertinent) thought is that this is just another example that Todd McFarlane "gets it". He makes himself accessible to his fans and puts out a product that truly reflects that. [read release ]

On January 16, a hearing will be held to determine if an anonymous prospective buyer will be able to buy off Fleer's remaining inventory. This company would then be required to fulfill the estimated 50,000 redemption requests with one autographed card and two game-used cards for every one redemption card submitted. That would follow the original plan submitted by the assignee for the benefit of creditors of Fleer. Big deal. How about someone coming along that will actually give collectors the cards they deserve, not just any "random" card. And get this - the buyer can keep any extra inventory and resell it! So what's keeping them from keeping all of the good stuff and reselling it? At least collectors will get SOMETHING. I suppose that's better than nothing. [read story ]