Some follow-up on a couple of recent industry happenings…

 

Mastro Auctions has ceased operations.

 

Imagine Christie’s (or Sotheby’s) auction house shutting down one day and announcing it was going to reopen under a different name.  What about all the goodwill behind the name and all the past business associated with their brand?  Has this all now become worthless?

This is what it seems has happened to Mastro Auctions.  Three of its principles have taken possession of Mastro’s assets and will be reopening under the pedestrian name of Legendary Auctions.

 

While the press release spun this changeover as an evolvement for the betterment of the company, that mistruth is far from reality.  The fact is that the sports memorabilia industry’s largest auction house is still at the center of an FBI investigation into shill bidding, card doctoring, and other allegations of fraud that have damaged the company’s image, obviously beyond repair.  While the company was recently quoted as saying they will continue to generate $50 million in annual sales, industry sources have reported the company had crippling credit line and cash flow problems.  Consignors have complained they have not been paid for items sold at auction several months ago, and one can only guess how many lawsuits the company is facing from deceived past bidders.

 

Imagine placing a $10,000 ceiling bid on an item and winning it for $9,500, only to later find out that next legitimate high bid was $1,500 and it was company employees themselves that bid it up in order to generate higher profits.  It would be extremely difficult to prove such an allegation, but this is obviously what the FBI is investigating.  How can a company that charges a 20% buyer’s premium on $10 million auctions, and sells their own items at considerable mark-up, be having such serious cash flow problems?

 

I have written this before but it bears repeating.  Do not think this is an isolated case of an auction house bidding up its own items.  I have spoken to several past and current employees of the larger auction houses in the industry, and apparently this kind of activity is prevalent.  Always keep in mind when bidding in such an auction that you may, in fact, be bidding against yourself.  The exception to the rule is auction platforms such as eBay or NHL.com, where the sellers have no access to the proprietary software and do not know what is going on behind the scenes (they do not know how much a customer has bid over and above the current amount).  Whenever a company uses their own auction software, they have full knowledge of all bids placed and have the ability to manipulate the end results.

 

Pocklington Arrested

I chuckled when I heard that former Edmonton Oilers owner, Peter Pocklington, was arrested last Wednesday on allegations he concealed assets during bankruptcy proceedings.  He is accused of making false statements in bankruptcy and making false oaths and accounts in bankruptcy. If convicted, he could face up to 10 years in federal prison.

Pocklington filed for personal bankruptcy last year. He is accused of failing to disclose to a bankruptcy court two bank accounts as well as the contents of two storage units. He claimed to have debts of nearly $20 million and assets of only about $2,900. To partially satisfy a court judgment, Pocklington gave a creditor a piece of art, a rug and desk that were collectively worth about $80,000 and located in one of his storage units, court documents said. 

I have not seen this reported, so I thought I would share the information.  Brad Sullivan, who played Mo Wanchuk in the movie “Slap Shot”, passed away on New Year’s eve at the age of 77.

What made Sullivan’s portrayal of the foul-mouthed Wanchuk all the more ironic is the fact that he was an unwavering Christian and hated the character he was playing.  Hopefully he is relaxing at a Palm Isle on a nearby cloud.

It was just pointed out to me that Colorado goaltender, Peter Budaj, has a drawing of Ned Flanders on the back of his mask.  Budaj is apparently a devout Christian and the team trainer gave him the nickname “Flanders”.  If you look closely, you can see that Flanders is waving the Slovakian flag.

 

International Medical Corps recently held a charity auction where a celebrity would record your outgoing voicemail message on your behalf.  The message would be recorded within six months and could be up to one-minute long.  You would not get to speak to the celebrity directly, but you could make suggestions as to what they could say.

 

Here are some of the prices realized:

 

Chris Rock - $1,005

Borat - $777

Brooke Shields - $551

Elizabeth Banks - $542

Jennifer Garner - $453

Deion Sanders - $132

Marshall Faulk - $53

The reason I was paying attention to this auction is because another celebrity being auctioned was Hank Azaria, the voice of Chief Wiggum, Apu, and dozens of other Simpson’s characters.  I was, of course, the underbidder for the lot which closed at $259.  How cool would it have been to have Moe or Comic Book Guy recording my voicemail?  “Worst Answering Machine Ever”.  Or Dr. Nick Riviera – “Hiiiii Every-body.  You’ve reached Hersh.”

 

Letters to the Editor.  When I get a chance, I am going to try and answer a question or two that we have received from an interested collector.

                       ——————————————————————-

Do players appreciate the hobby and enjoy signing autographs or do many consider it somewhat of a chore?

 

This is a bit of a loaded question.  Some players truly appreciate their fans and go out of their way to meet them and sign autographs.  Fan popularity can only lead to good things down the road, such as endorsement deals and contract offers, hence it is in the players’ best interests to meet as many admirers as possible and make sure they go away with a positive experience.

 

Other players only do autograph sessions because they are contractually obligated to do so, or their agents are advising it.  We have had players signing that make it very obvious they do not want to be there.  Luckily these occurrences are the exception rather than the norm.

 

What both examples have in common is money.  It is never considered a chore when they are being paid.  While many players do free appearances for charity, it is doubtful they would be doing any hobby signings were it not for the almighty greenback.  Time is money, and if they are going to be on the clock, someone will have to pay for it.

 

 

Do you think that lasting fame changes a player’s attitude? 

Yes – definitely.  The first player that told me fame would not change him has probably changed more than any player I know (he will remain nameless).  When a player is a rookie, he appreciates the limelight and the attention being thrust upon him.  He is fan friendly, eager to please, and knows his time in the spotlight may be short-lived.

 

Success and money change people though.  Soon these players have precious little free time and have enough money to be able to do whatever they want.  They no longer have the desire to please everyone, nor to do the little things that used to be such a big part of their existence.  So the niceties and pleasantness that existed earlier in their careers are now a thing of the past.

 

Not all players are like this.  There are some that are still amazing with their fans and receive a lot of press for it.  Mike Modano, Jeremy Roenick, Joe Thornton, Vinnie Lecavalier, and Martin Brodeur are some of the nicest guys you will ever meet.  This does not mean they will stand and sign autographs for hours each day, but they definitely have not forgotten where they came from.

 

Someone had to watch it, so it may as well have been me.

 

Okay – firstly, I can not be completely objective when I talk about something concerning The Hanson Brothers.  I had a personal and business relationship with them that goes back a number of years and did not end well.  Let me start at the beginning.

 

I first met the Hansons at breakfast in a Toronto hotel in the mid-1990’s.  When I first walked in, I thought it was the funniest thing I had ever seen.  I mean – here were the Hanson Brothers – eating breakfast.  These guys were my heroes and two of them looked exactly the same as they did in the movie.  I was in my mid-20’s and was hanging out with the stars of Slap Shot.  How cool was that?

I met the boys through their manager.  I had been quoted in an article in The Hockey News as saying that one of my best selling products was a photo signed by The Hanson Brothers.  Their manager called me directly and asked if I wanted to do some business.  Shortly thereafter, I was part of the Hanson Brothers enterprise.  I developed a line of merchandise, including Chiefs jerseys and caps, t-shirts, pucks, pins, etc.  I started promoting them in my catalog and booking appearances on their behalf.  The guys were a lot of fun.  They were fabulous entertainers, great with people, and had no trace of ego.  They also opened a lot of doors for myself and Frozen Pond.

 

The Buffalo Sabres booked them for an appearance and Lindy Ruff asked if they could come into the dressing room and give a pre-game pep talk.  The Hansons had all the players sitting in a semi-circle on the floor and told them the other team “called them names” and the only way to retaliate was by playing “old time hockey”.  Pat LaFontaine asked if he could get his picture taken with them, then gave me his address where to send it.  That’s where Pat and I became friends.  Similar occurrences happened in a number of other cities, as just about everyone wanted a piece of The Hanson Brothers.  Budweiser stepped up to the plate and made them spokesmen for their new Bud Ice beer, and the Hanson phenomena was in full swing.

 

There was a big problem though.  Their manager was a con man.  He didn’t pay his bills, didn’t pay the Hansons, and didn’t pay me.  He booked the Hansons to appear at his brother-in-laws’ restaurant, and they no-showed.  He was a Canadian who lived and worked illegally in the U.S., and eventually the Brothers decided they had had enough.  Steve Carlson (#17) asked me to be their agent. 

 

I told Steve I did not have the time nor the ability to give the fiduciary responsibility of an agent, but I would continue to do bookings on their behalf.  This went on for a number of years, and I never once took a commission on my end.  Whatever appearance fee was arranged was divided by three and each guy was given a check.  We did make money selling merchandise at events, and I also did very well selling Hanson Brother autographs, which I purchased from them on a regular basis.

 

The Hansons though, were far from easy to work with.  Dave Hanson (#16) was an extremely difficult individual.  He would matter-of-factly cancel appearances the day before he was set to appear.  I would plead with him that these promoters had paid long before and had been advertising their appearance for months, but Dave would just tell me that I can’t tell him what to do and he would not show up.  The promoter would be on the hook for his flight as well.  This got to be so routine that I just started booking two of the three Hansons to appear, and would suggest that the team have a promotion whereas a lucky fan would win the right to be the third Hanson Brother and perform on ice with them.  I mean – if you were only able to book Moe and Curly for an appearance during the Stooges heyday, would anyone really care if Larry was unable to attend?  Eventually Dave Hanson promised to behave and I started booking all three players again.

 

But they were still troublesome to work with.  I used to say that “You guys are responsible for 2% of my revenue and 98% of my grief.”  Soon – Steve Carlson asked if he could borrow money to start a new life in Wisconsin.  I even went to his wedding party.  But these nuptials were the beginning of the end of my relationship with the Hansons.  Steve’s wife thought of herself as an intellectual when there couldn’t be anything further from the truth.  Eventually, when Steve talked to me, I noticed the tone in his voice was very different; a lot more abrupt and not nearly as friendly.  After all, Steve had been my buddy for a number of years now.  I would ask him what was wrong and he would always reply that nothing was.  I would ask him if he noticed a deterioration in our relationship and he would respond he did not.

 

Eventually, my phone calls stopped getting returned and I learned that Steve’s wife had now taken over their management.  There was no discussion, no “thanks for your efforts”, and no goodbyes.  Just unreturned phone calls from all three Hansons.  Talk about professional.

 

A short time later, I was told that the Hansons had put up their own website to promote appearances and sell merchandise.  On the FAQ section of the site was a supposed quote from a website that did not even exist, stating that they had never signed autographs before and everything circulating on the aftermarket was fake.  I called and Steve’s wife (finally) picked up the phone.  After I berated her to the point of tears, she passed the phone off to Steve.  I questioned how he could take tens of thousands of autograph dollars from me over a number of years, and then state publically he had never signed autographs.  I had hundreds of pictures from dozens of locations of the Hansons doing just that.

 

Believe it or not, Steve’s response was that he had just read a news story on Operation Bullpen which stated findings from the FBI that up to 90% of autographs circulating the sports collectibles marketplace were fake.  He then concluded that meant 90% of his autographs that I sold were fake too.  Yes – because of this report, largely based on the sale of vintage Babe Ruth and Mickey Mantle autographs and with no mention of hockey whatsoever, Steve Carlson was accusing me of selling fake Hanson Brothers autographs.  I almost got a pain in my side from laughing so hard.  My Gordie Howe and Wayne Gretzky and Patrick Roy autographs were legitimate, but I was forging Steve Carlson signatures???  The funny thing is that I bought autographs from them every time I saw them, whether I needed stock or not.  They were a good investment (at the time), they didn’t cost a lot, and at least two of the three really needed the money.  I was sure treated fairly in exchange, wasn’t I?

 

The Hansons did not just burn a bridge with me though.  They also disrespected their biggest fans and supporters.  Steve’s wife once ordered me to stop selling merchandise to a Hanson Brothers fan site just because “there’s something about him I don’t like.”  Another fan site and their biggest supporter were told not to make any further contact because of an unsolicited quote posted on the site’s chat room, one that was quickly removed.  Under the guidance of Steve Carlson’s wife, the Hanson Brothers had alienated everyone that had supported them over the previous decade.  It seemed no one was allowed to be part of the Hanson Brothers promotion team, except for them.  That attitude continues to this day.

 

I still receive emails asking why Steve’s wife won’t return phone calls or emails from people looking to book them for an appearance.  Does this sound like the actions of an intelligent person?  Is making money now a bad thing?

 

Yet, they continue to lie.  In interviews, Steve Carlson greatly exaggerates the number of appearance requests they receive annually, in fact giving two entirely different numbers in interviews printed only weeks apart.  Recently, the We’re on the Road section of their website had an upcoming appearance listed for April/2008.  Does that sound like someone that gets 285-385 appearance requests per year?  To put things into perspective, we were doing 25-30 appearances a year during their heyday, so the numbers they are throwing around now are truly fictional.  Dave Hanson has just released an autobiography and is on a book tour and I honestly hope it does very well.  Apparently he no longer is being represented by Steve’s wife and must be booked on his own for any potential appearance.  But good luck getting autographs from them, as they don’t sign in quantity and there have been few available in the marketplace for a number of years.  Who exactly are they hurting with this attitude?  They had a good thing going for a number of years; I wonder what made them change their attitude (to their own detriment) so radically.  Their following is way down, as is their income, and they have turned their biggest fans into sworn enemies.

 

Oh – and I never did receive that money back from Steve Carlson.  When I asked about it in that last phone call, I was hung up on.

 

——————————————————-

 

Which brings us to the review for Slap Shot 3 – The Junior League.  The key here is the word “Junior”.  This is nothing more than a kid’s movie, trying to capitalize on the name Slap Shot and The Hanson Brothers, as well as guest starts Doug Gilmour and Mark Messier.  It played like a ninety-minute version of Saved by the Bell, complete with a weak plot, poor dialogue, tons of loose ends, an obvious conclusion, and some horrible acting.  The first hour almost put me to sleep.  I was not inspired, I felt no association with the characters, and except for one scene, I did not so much as chuckle.  The Hansons are starting to look old as well. 

 

The championship game had literally every classic line and scene from the original movie worked into it, with obvious results.  How many times do we need to see a member of the Chiefs skate by the visiting bench with his stick out, and how obvious was it that they were going to refrain and then get back to playing “Old Time Hockey”?  If other sequels could take the basic premise and continue to be successful, why could this one not?  They even stole from another movie, with the winning goal coming on a completely “Youngblood-esque” penalty shot.  I give it two thumbs down, zero stars out of four, and as rotten a tomato as I can possibly give.

 

But the movie was not meant for me, it is meant for children.  And I’m not objective anyways, so who cares what I have to say?