Krause Publications / Sports Collectors Digest (March 22, 2002); www.collect.com


 

 

 

 

 

T E X T   A N D   P H O T O S   B Y   R O S S   F O R M A N T ri-Star Productions concluded its five-show bobble head giveaway promotion at the annual San Francisco Collectors Showcase, held Feb. 15-17 at the Cow Palace. It gave away a future Hall of Famer, Jerry Rice (in his Oakland uniform). More than 1,000 collectors lined up Saturday for the rare collectible, given to the first 100 collectors on Friday, the first 250 on Saturday and Sunday. “The Jerry Rice Bobble Head promotion was great, very effective,” said Tri-Star’s Mandy Fuerst, director of events and marketing. “The admis- sion line wrapped around the parking lot, espe- cially on Saturday. “The promotion as a whole was phenomenal. We were extremely pleased with it and are now looking into other similar promotions in the future. Attracting large early crowds is great for the dealers. This way, the collec- tors are there, already in the building and they have time to shop before getting any autographs.” Said dealer Bob Marcy of Scottsdale, Ariz., “The crowd was good all three days. I’ve been doing this show for five years and Friday has always been average, at best.  This time, it was crowded on Friday, so I was real happy with that.” Added Mike Philpott of Home Run Sports, Inc. (Burbank, Calif.): “The crowd was awesome. This show definitely met my expectations, and I had high expectations going in. We do shows all over the country, and this definitely was one of the better ones.” More than 7,000 attended. Hall of Famers Johnny Unitas, Steve Largent and Dick Butkus headlined the three-day show, which also featured appearances by Willie Brown, Don Newcombe, Ronnie Lott, Fergie Jenkins, Roger Craig, Randy Fasani, Kevan Barlow and Jeremy Newberry. Also appearing: Tony Dorsett, Troy Aikman, Bob Lilly, Jack Tatum and Lou Brock. “This is an outstanding show for Tri-Star,” Fuerst said. “This was our sixth February show at the Cow Palace and the sixth time we sold out of exhibitor space, with 175 dealers. The show is always geared toward football fans, and this was no exception.  And the football fans came out in droves. We definitely saw the popularity of the Dallas Cowboys in the Bay Area with Aikman, Lilly and Dorsett.  And, without question, the weekend’s most popular guest was former 49er Roger Craig. He had never done a formal autograph show, and signed more than 500 free autographs for the public. The line for Craig wrapped around the building. That was great to see.” Craig headlined the show’s free signing lineup, which also included Hall of Famer Brown and mega- popular Tatum. “The wrapper-redemption program works out great for dealers,” Fuerst said. “We had such interest in Craig (three wrappers from any 2001 football card product) and Kevan Barlow (two wrappers) that we had to cut off each line. The interest in both was extremely high. “Actually, all free autograph guests were extremely popular and each had very long lines.” Marcy, who specializes in non-sport cards, said the show was “very good.” In fact, he added, “This show didn’t just exceed my expectations, it doubled my expectations. I’ve sold every- thing from car cards to Beverly Hillbillies.” Other hot non-sports products, according to Marcy: •1959 Fleer Three Stooges, selling for $10-$15 per card. He sold more than 50 cards. •1964 Topps Beatles ($5 per card). He sold more than 40. •1962 Mars Attack ($25-$30). He sold more than 10. •1938 Gum Ink Horrors of War ($10-$400). He sold more than 40. “These are very graphic cards, but people like them for that reason.” Kyle Boetel of Kyle’s Sportscards (Aurora, Colo.) the vintage card market was solid in San Fran- cisco, perhaps too solid. “Friday and Saturday were more than could be expected. I did more business those two days than I could handle by myself. It was a good crowd, a great crowd that came with want lists. And when they come with want lists, and the intention of filling them, I usually do well. It was no exception here. This show definitely falls into the above average’ category of shows. It definitely is one of the better regional shows of the year, both this and the Labor Day show in San Francisco. This is a good sports town and, well, people here collect.” Boetel said cards from the 1955, 1967 and 1971 Topps sets were the hottest. “Collect- ing vintage cards seems to go in cycles and right now these three sets are hot.  If I break open a ’55 set, in six months or less, I will have sold every card,” he said. “I keep hearing that the economy is supposed to be bad, that the stock market is falling, that people don’t have money to spend anymore. I keep hearing that, since 9/11, the card market is going south and prices dropping. Well, I’ve been waiting to see those things happen at the shows, but they haven’t. Instead, what I see is people are trying to find things no one can find. “Maybe other areas of the hobby are affected by the current economy, but haven’t seen that from the vintage card market. The cards that are under $1,000 are still hard to find and easy to sell. That’s great for business.” What about the current card market? Well, it too was hot in San Francisco, said Philpott, who offered more than 100 different current packs at his table. Here’s a look at Philpott’s hot picks: •“Upper Deck products are hot.” •Topps Heritage 2002 Baseball. “That’s the hottest thing here.” Packs sold for $4.50. •Upper Deck Ultimate Collection Basketball, selling for $150 per pack. Philpott sold out of two boxes.  “The product is moving pretty strong.” •Upper Deck 2001 Rookie Update ($4.50 per pack).  He sold two packs while answering questions for this story. “The stuff sells everywhere we go.” Upper Deck SPx 2001-2002 ($6 per pack). Tri-Star’s next show is in April near Boston. In March, the Houston-based company will conduct private signings with several baseball superstars, including Randy Johnson, Luis Gonzalez, Mark Grace, Jeff Kent, Mark Mulder, Kerry Wood, Mark Prior and Juan Cruz. Plus, Tri-Star also will hold a private sign- ing in March with Super Bowl XXXVI MVP Tom Brady. “We decided it made more business sense to conduct private signings as opposed to conduct a show in March,” Fuerst said. “Everyone I spoke with in San Francisco, from collectors to dealers, was excited about the show, and just as excited that we’re returning to San Francisco for an inaugural Memorial Day Show, to be held May 25-27 at the Cow Palace. San Francisco is such a great sports city and such a great collecting market. There are so many pro teams in San Fran- cisco that are doing well, so many playoff caliber teams and the collecting base is as solid. The demand in San Francisco definitely is there for three shows this year.” SF show has items for young and old YOUR TURN To contribute to this section, please send an email to lehmanb@krause.com, write to Bert Lehman, SCD, 700 E. State St., Iola, WI 54990,or call the SCD Hotline at 715-445-4612,ext. 789 ShowCircuit ••• Steve Largent Jack Tatum Fergie Jenkins Johnny Unitas Ronnie Lott Don Newcombe ••• REVIEW 76 S C D