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From: [email protected] (BOB BRILL)
Newsgroups: clari.sports.misc,clari.sports.top
Subject: A Sports Collector's Guide
Keywords: misc sports
Message-ID: <[email protected]>
Date: 25 Mar 92 18:49:42 GMT
Lines: 79
Approved: [email protected]
ACategory: sports
Slugword: brill
Priority: major
Format: regular
ANPA: Wc: 815; Id: z4347; Sel: xxsz.; Adate: 3-26-145pes; Ver: sked
Codes: ysz.rxx.
Brill-iant Ideas:
United Press International
The average card collector is an 18-year-old, white male from a
household with a higher than average income, according to a survey
commissioned by Action Packed, a line of trading cards. Of those who
collect cards 90 percent are teenage boys.
The survey, conducted by the NPD Research Group, polled 21,000
collectors and covered only new products. Nearly 18 billion cards were
purchased in the year ending June 1991, at a cost of $1.4 billion.
``One of the exciting aspects of the survey was to find that it's
still a kid's thing,'' said Laurie Pearlstein, spokeswoman for LDC
Sports, Inc., which makes Action Packed Cards. ``A lot of the media
perception has been that it's been taken over by these cigar-chomping
types who are wrestling it away from the kids.''
Research shows nearly 13 percent of U.S. households collect cards. Of
the 16 million collectors, 15 million collect baseball, 4 million
football, 3 million basketball and 1.6 million are deeply into hockey
cards. White Americans collect baseball and hockey in greater numbers
while basketball is more popular with non-whites.
Women make up 12 percent of collectors and seem to like baseball the
most, football the least. ``It's been considered a male-dominated
industry but that seems to be changing,'' Pearlstein said.
Hockey card buyers make more money with an average annual income of
$39,300, while football households are at the bottom of the spectrum.
Hockey leads in the Northeast, baseball is tops in the South and in the
West it's basketball.
Nearly 30 percent of all cards are given as gifts. Almost half of the
$207 million dollars spent on football went for gift cards.
UPPER DECK HIGHS: Upper Deck high series basketball should be
available in mid-April. High-number boxes feature the Jerry West subset.
Two more Dikembe Mutombo and Larry Johnson cards will be included, while
the major card will be Billy Owens, who was not in the first 400. Upper
Deck will produce factory sets for both the regular series and the 100
card update.
SKYBOX: While Sky Box 1 continues to drop, Sky Box 2 is hot. The key
rookies are Mutombo (No. 516) at $5.25 and Johnson (No. 513) at $3.50.
Mutombo's Upper Deck card keeps going up and is now at $12. Johnson is
$7.
FOOTBALL: While most new football sets are going down Topps Stadium
Club and Score Pinnacle are rising. Stadium Club jumped another $10 this
month to $130 for the set. Emmitt Smith is $17. Beckett shows a jump of
$10 in the Pinnacle set. It now lists at $55. Of the 415 cards, 24 are
over a dollar with Emmitt Smith (No. 42) at $5. Look for dealers to jump
the pack price to $2 for this high quality product which Score said it
will not over produce.
SHOW TIP: Vendors usually are more willing to make deals near the end
of a show. They normally pay $30 to $40 for tables at neighborhood shows
and most figure they must sell three times their table fee to make a
profit. If the show has been ``slow'' or ``poorly attended'' dealers
will bargain. Spend time shopping and wait until the last 20 minutes of
the show to make your move. You'll find many $10 cards for $7 if you
wait until late in the game. If the card is gone before you make your
pitch, don't worry, it will come around again. Maybe at a better price.
ORIOLE COINAGE: Look for silver coins featuring Oriole Park at Camden
Yards to be hot items in Baltimore. Only 48,000 were minted to
commemorate the new stadium. Mailed in December, they may pop up in
Baltimore when the park opens. They sold for $29.95.
NOLAN 2: Nolan Ryan has autographed 1,000 cards in Pacific's second
Nolan Ryan, 110 card ``Texas Express'' set.
STADIUM LIST: Topps released its 1992 Stadium Club Series 1
checklist. It does not include Frank Thomas. Cal Ripken is card No.1.
Other key cards are David Justice (No. 182), Robin Ventura (No. 70) and
Eric Karros (No. 236). The new Stadium Club features three series of 300
cards each.
YAMAGUCHI SPECIAL: Hats off to Kellogg for placing Olympic gold medal
skater Kristi Yamaguchi on its commemorative Special K boxes. Yamaguchi,
a native American, has been the subject of news stories about companies
passing on her because she is of Japanese descent.
Q & A: I miss the gum in Topps wax packs. Will Topps put gum with
cards again or is that just a bit of history?
M. Myles, Northridge, California
The gum will return in packs of ``Topps Kids.'' Designed for younger
collectors, the 132-card set features photos and illustrations of big
leaguers along with trivia questions. Topps, which produces Bazooka gum,
will put the 35-cent, seven-card packs on the market in late April.
Send your questions to Bob Brill, Brill-iant Ideas, P.O. Box 807, San
Fernando, Calif., 91340.
Go to a show today, and have fun with your hobby.
|
| Me? With an opinion ... nah! 8^)
The average card collector is an 18-year-old, white male from a
household with a higher than average income, according to a survey
commissioned by Action Packed, a line of trading cards. Of those who
collect cards 90 percent are teenage boys.
� Not from what I see at card shows. Maybe it's different at dealer stores
� and retail shops ...
The survey, conducted by the NPD Research Group, polled 21,000
collectors and covered only new products. Nearly 18 billion cards were
purchased in the year ending June 1991, at a cost of $1.4 billion.
� How do get their 21,000 participants? Through CIRCUS magazine?
� Beckett's subscribers? Mail-in offer from Clearasil?
Women make up 12 percent of collectors and seem to like baseball the
most, football the least. ``It's been considered a male-dominated
industry but that seems to be changing,'' Pearlstein said.
� I don't believe it. In the notesfile here, unless there are a lot of
� read-only female noters we don't know about, it's a very small pctg.
� Same with what I see at shows. More like 3-5% maybe.
Hockey card buyers make more money with an average annual income of
$39,300, while football households are at the bottom of the spectrum.
Hockey leads in the Northeast, baseball is tops in the South and in the
West it's basketball.
� Since hockey is the most expensive sport to play, it follows that people
� who can afford hockey equipment make enough money to buy hockey cards.
� When I lived down South, FOOTBALL cards were the big thing. Baseball
� was the sport everyone played more than any other, but football cards
� were the pre-eminent card.
Nearly 30 percent of all cards are given as gifts. Almost half of the
$207 million dollars spent on football went for gift cards.
� And what percentage of that is Grammie or Uncle Joe buying the Score
� hottest 1,000 set or the Toy's R US/Topps Rookie set, for "billy"?
� Too much, I'm afraid.
UPPER DECK HIGHS: Upper Deck high series basketball should be
available in mid-April. High-number boxes feature the Jerry West subset.
Two more Dikembe Mutombo and Larry Johnson cards will be included, while
the major card will be Billy Owens, who was not in the first 400. Upper
Deck will produce factory sets for both the regular series and the 100
card update.
� Two cards of Johnson and Mutombo EACH, or two cards; one Johnson and
� one Mutombo.
SKYBOX: While Sky Box 1 continues to drop, Sky Box 2 is hot. The key
rookies are Mutombo (No. 516) at $5.25 and Johnson (No. 513) at $3.50.
Mutombo's Upper Deck card keeps going up and is now at $12. Johnson is
$7.
� You look at their stats, follow their season, and LJ is having one heck
� of a year as opposed to DM. LJ's cards will eventually be worth more.
� However, I fully expect that Billy Owens will end up being the best ball-
� player of the three!
FOOTBALL: While most new football sets are going down Topps Stadium
Club and Score Pinnacle are rising. Stadium Club jumped another $10 this
month to $130 for the set. Emmitt Smith is $17. Beckett shows a jump of
$10 in the Pinnacle set. It now lists at $55. Of the 415 cards, 24 are
over a dollar with Emmitt Smith (No. 42) at $5. Look for dealers to jump
the pack price to $2 for this high quality product which Score said it
will not over produce.
� Hey John! Emmitt Smith is $17. 8^) I saw it pretty readily this
� weekend for $1-$1.25/pack, $30-35/box.
SHOW TIP: Vendors usually are more willing to make deals near the end
of a show. They normally pay $30 to $40 for tables at neighborhood shows
and most figure they must sell three times their table fee to make a
profit. If the show has been ``slow'' or ``poorly attended'' dealers
will bargain. Spend time shopping and wait until the last 20 minutes of
the show to make your move. You'll find many $10 cards for $7 if you
wait until late in the game. If the card is gone before you make your
pitch, don't worry, it will come around again. Maybe at a better price.
� Well, duh.
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