Collectors Universe, the parent company of PSA and PSA/DNA, made a big purchase recently, although it doesn’t have anything to do with the sports card side of their business.
CU purchased the assets of Coinflation.com, for cash of $550,000 and stock of $200,000 for total consideration of approximately $750,000. Coinflation.com is an informational website providing precious metal values and the intrinsic values of individual coins. The website and related domain names has shown strong revenue growth during the past 12 months, due to the rise in precious metals.
The business plan for the acquisition estimates a payback period of less than three years.
“While not a large acquisition, strategically, the combination of Coinflation.com with the various Collectors Universe web properties is expected to create numerous opportunities to drive incremental traffic, incremental advertising dollars and add to the Company’s position as a service provider of valuable information and content to coin market participants,” the company stated in announcing the acquisition.
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There’s some big business associated with being baseball’s all-time saves leader. Mariano Rivera broke the record Monday and commemorative items are already being produced. We hope he still has a wrist left after signing a whopping 3,602 baseballs for Steiner Sports, which is selling them for $199 a pop (it beats their $399 regular price), and you get a free vial of Stadium dirt.
“Mariano wanted as many fans as possible to participate in the collection,” said Steiner Sports founder and CEO Br
andon Steiner.
Other items Steiner is selling include hand-signed photographs from the record-breaking game against the Twins at Yankee Stadium, dated September 19, 2011; a plaque with featuring a capsule of dirt taken from the Stadium mound; replica lineup card plaque featuring an actual game ticket; game used mound, bases and home plate; a 14×18 Timeline collage; signed jerseys and cleats.
For the really big spender, how about a game-worn Rivera road jersey? $10,000 and it’s yours.
The 1992 Bowman Rivera rookie card was brisk seller on eBay on eBay with three PSA 10 examples selling for $199. Actually doesn’t seem like a bad investment, considering his popularity and the fact that he could lead the Yankees to another World Series title before he’s through.
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Friday’s release of the movie version of the best-selling book Moneyball has drummed up some online interest in a once docile rookie card.
Billy Beane may never have become a superstar after these were issued in 1986, but he’s done pretty well as a GM. The fact that Brad Pitt is playing him in the movie won’t hurt interest–at least in the short term–and buyers who aren’t necessarily big collectors will likely plunk down a few bucks for his rookie cards that were once tough sells at less than a buck.
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Baseball–and life—in the early 20th century was a lot different. The ‘bad boys’ of 100 years ago were pretty bad. Management wasn’t much better. There was a lot of drinking. Players and management were almost always at odds.
Did we mention there was a lot of drinking?
Here’s a great story on a player who had the world by the tail but just couldn’t shake his demons–or his distaste for bosses.
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