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I hope you can help me in any way by giving me your honest opinion
on this form of memorabillia.
� Remember, you asked for "honest". 8^)
Would you spend $100+ for an autographed litho (as an investment
or just as a collectable) of your favorite athlete.
� First, I have to say, if it was autographed, likely not. I have
� this big concern with forgeries, and I very much like seeing the
� player sign my item in person.
� I realize that forgeries aren't nearly the problem people think
� they are, but I *much* prefer to see my item signed in person.
� Of my favorite player/players? Litho -- likely. Because they're
� my favorite(s), and I like to collect memorabilia of theirs -- not
� as an investment. I always consider the money I spend on this
� "hobby" as disposable, else I wouldn't spend it. Sure, a lot of
� what I buy retains some intrinsic value, and maybe even increases
� over what I spent on it -- but that's NOT why I purchased it.
Have you seen any litho at card shows and is there any interest
by the average collector (small/large interest, are people fighting
over them)
� Sure, lots of lithos, and other autographed items. Many purchases?
� Hardly. Most everyone I know doubts the authenticity of the
� autographed items, and in most cases, since the players are living
� they'd rather get them signed in person anyway. And if they aren't
� living, $100 is a lot less than what the litho's going to cost
� anyway.
The name of the company i'm interested in is called SLUGGER ONE
PRODUCTION and the artist name is JOHN ZAPPOLA and he works out
of liverpool NEW YORK. Some of the known athletes under contract
are JIM PALMER STEVE CARLETON SAM SNEAD JEROME WALTON AND RICHARD
PETTY. Knowing that the company is somewhat new, has anyone
heard of it or the artist or seen any of his work.
� Nope, never heard of 'em. Palmer and Carlton are HOF's, but
� Carlton runs his own mail-order business, and Palmer's pretty
� accessible through card shows, so I'd never feel like I *had*
� to buy the autographed version from this company.
I read somewhere that sport art could be the collecting craze
of the ninties with card collecting lossing it's appeal
anyone agreeing with that notion.
� Collecting is not losing it's appeal. It's just getting harder
� to "collect" with all the investors in the way. We're slowly
� weeding them out though.
-rjk
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I agree and support what the previous noters had to say, here's some
additional comments:
** Would you spend $100+ for an autographed litho (as an investment
** or just as a collectable) of your favorite athlete.
At $100+ I would think you had a very limited market. The average
person in this hobby (card collecting) gets into it for $5, $10 or
maybe $30 for a box of cards that they start collecting. But it's
relatively small investments over time. If the $100+ Litho's really
increse in value you will have an even smaller market when it comes
time to sell them.
** Have you seen any litho at card shows and is there any interest
** by the average collector (small/large interest, are people fighting
** over them)
I see them as shows but very few people walking out with them. I don't
think this is a type of product you will move through the typical card
show. Maybe dealers, "Art type" studios, etc.
** JIM PALMER STEVE CARLETON SAM SNEAD JEROME WALTON AND RICHARD PETTY.
Good Luck picking the right Athlete to endorse. Everyone that I know
so far in this hobby have their favorites, but their are very few
"universal" stars. It's like college baseball caps. Walk into any
store that carries a alot of them and you'll find the Notre Dames,
Harvards' and a few other big names and then very little others. I
would think like one of the other noters just said, the biggies will do
it themselves.
** I read somewhere that sport art could be the collecting craze
** of the ninties with card collecting lossing it's appeal
** anyone agreeing with that notion.
For some one new into the card collencting hobby, it's pretty crazy
will the 15 varities of Hockey and 15 Baseball, etc., etc. But I can
pick and choose what I want to buy and it's still relatively cheap. I
do it with my son and have fun with him. There's no way an 11 year old
or even teenager is going to get into $100+ Litho's.
As long as you understand what market you're going after you should be
okay. Good Luck!!
Regards,
Denny
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| I have to agree with the previous sports collecting officianardoes, or
whatever you call them.
I think the most important aspect in your marketing approach is to
reach the consumer who has the need for this product. Kids and sport
card collectors are the wrong audience, and many times are turned off
by the product and the price. First, what do you do once you buy one
of these 2X3 lithos? There large, and frames are expensive, and how
many can you hang up until you run out of space? Second, you have to
determine who is your audience, who will buy this product. Possibly
sports bars, boys clubs, race tracks, country clubs, etc. Not real
attractive to your average home owner. Just my thoughts.
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In my opinion you are going to have to concentrate on the mega stars
and limit the number produced. Keep an inventory of 15-20 bb,fb,bsktb,
and hky. Such as bb: Ryan, Thomas, Ryno, Griffey jr, Clark, Canseco,
Clemens, Straw, Fielder, Mays, Aaron, Banks, Mantle, T Williams, Yaz,
Bench, Rose, Fisk. Limit production: have a series or produce different
lithos each year, but limit each version to 10k Ryans, Mantle, Mays,
Aaron, Griffey jr, Thomas ect, and limit Ryno, Straw, Clark, Canseco,
and Ripken to 5k, and limit Fisk, Banks, Yaz, and Fielder, to 2500.
This will interest collectors as well as investors. You need to
sell them as reasonably as possible. It doesn't cost much more to have
1000 done than it does to have 100 done. The costs should be about
$2-$3 ea for 1000, so if you can sell them for $29.99 you might see a
few kids hanging these up in their bedrooms.
I've looked into this somewhat, because my wife is an artist and she
has already done a Ryan ( her Dr. bought it) , Ryno (I have it) and
Griffey jr (my son has it). She doesn't feel good enough about any of
the ones she has done so far to do lithos on one. I've taken these
oil paintings to shows and have had alot of compliments and interest
shown. There have been quite a few kids very interested in their
favorite player and I believe they would purchase a framed litho
for $15-$20
In my opinion however, there is nothing like having the original
oil painting hanging in your house right next to the shelves and
cabinets that contain your favoite cards, autographed balls, and
other items.
Art is very subjective and is in the eye of the beholder. I've
had people say " hey, those are nice , I wonder if she could do
a painting of the '90 ud Ryno card", or this card or that card.
If I did open a card shop/gallery I would limit to originals
and special orders and requests. How much interest is there in
that type of thing is debateable. However I feel a guy like Rick
would love to have his favorite thought of Mickey hanging on his
wall to set off his collection.
Jim
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Thanks guys for all your input, it's much appreciated. It
looks like I'm about 99% sure about this venture. It's pretty
exciting being that I'm a collector of all sports memorabillia,
It's a good chance to mix hobby and buisness together in a part
time bases.
here's a quick run down of our game plan (in case your interested)
- limited editions of 3000 lithos only (for Canada and USA)
- letter of authenticity, with photo of athelete signing (no auto
pen)
- price will be between $100 to $150 (no higher)(probably about
$125)
- we will be selling at card shows ,art gallerys mail order and
magazines
If you guys are interested I could keep you posted as to how
things are going, what I'm learning and some of my experiences.
I'm not in to this to make millions (just to recover my inital
investment) but to learn more of the business world and most
importantly to have fun and meet some sport celebs.
thanks again for your time and input
Frank Hodgson
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