Upper Deck Wins Fleer/Skybox Rights
Axtell
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Upper Deck Wins Auction to Take Over Fleer
MOUNT HOLLY, N.J. - Sports card company Upper Deck has won an auction to take over rival Fleer's name and its toy car business.
The Upper Deck Co., a privately-held company based in Carlsbad, Calif., bid $6.1 million for the intellectual property and die-cast toy business of debt-ridden Fleer, according to the Web site of Warren J. Martin Jr., a lawyer overseeing Thursday's auction.
Saddled with nearly $40 million in debt, Fleer went out of business in May. Lawyers for the Mount Laurel-based company said that the rising costs associated with putting sports memorabilia into packs of cards, coupled with dwindling interest in the hobby, led to the company's demise.
A state Superior Court Judge in Mount Holly was to be asked to approve the sale to Upper Deck.
Upper Deck burst onto the scene in 1989, when the hobby was at its hottest, and introduced $1 packs of cards on high-quality stock with top-notch photographs.
In 1995, as baseball and baseball card collecting were smarting from a strike, the company started putting premium goodies, such as swatches of uniforms, into cards. Card-watchers say the move revolutionized collecting.
Fleer's remaining memorabilia — items ranging from a uniform from Japanese home run king Sadaharu Oh to a box of baseballs signed by retired pitcher Sparky Lyle to pingpong balls used in an NBA draft lottery — is to be auctioned later.
The proceeds from that auction and the one held Thursday will go to a list of creditors that includes dozens of professional athletes.
Linky
MOUNT HOLLY, N.J. - Sports card company Upper Deck has won an auction to take over rival Fleer's name and its toy car business.
The Upper Deck Co., a privately-held company based in Carlsbad, Calif., bid $6.1 million for the intellectual property and die-cast toy business of debt-ridden Fleer, according to the Web site of Warren J. Martin Jr., a lawyer overseeing Thursday's auction.
Saddled with nearly $40 million in debt, Fleer went out of business in May. Lawyers for the Mount Laurel-based company said that the rising costs associated with putting sports memorabilia into packs of cards, coupled with dwindling interest in the hobby, led to the company's demise.
A state Superior Court Judge in Mount Holly was to be asked to approve the sale to Upper Deck.
Upper Deck burst onto the scene in 1989, when the hobby was at its hottest, and introduced $1 packs of cards on high-quality stock with top-notch photographs.
In 1995, as baseball and baseball card collecting were smarting from a strike, the company started putting premium goodies, such as swatches of uniforms, into cards. Card-watchers say the move revolutionized collecting.
Fleer's remaining memorabilia — items ranging from a uniform from Japanese home run king Sadaharu Oh to a box of baseballs signed by retired pitcher Sparky Lyle to pingpong balls used in an NBA draft lottery — is to be auctioned later.
The proceeds from that auction and the one held Thursday will go to a list of creditors that includes dozens of professional athletes.
Linky
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The losing bidder was a joint venture of Topps of New York, N.Y., and SHEL-TAM LLC. .
Their best offer was $5.7 million.
"We are looking forward to integrating these assets into our business," said Michael Hulme, lawyer for California-based Upper Deck.
Upper Deck submitted the highest bid during an 11-hour auction of the trademark, copyrights and collectibles division of Fleer, which closed in May with $30 million in debt. It is liquidating all assets.
One creditor's lawyer described the bidding, which began at 2:30 p.m. Thursday and ended at 1:30 a.m. Friday, as "spirited."
The judge approved the auction after a conference with 12 lawyers to work out objections and sale language.
The auction brought a higher price than the $2 million initial offer Upper Deck made several weeks ago.
Fleer was purchased in 1999 for $26 million.
"We will have enough to pay off the creditors for that part of the business that we sold," said Warren Martin Jr., a lawyer appointed to handle Fleer's assets in an estate proceeding in state court so creditors could be paid.
Martin told Superior Court Judge Ronald Bookbinder he expects proceeds will be used to pay creditors by the end of the year.
Some of those creditors are current and retired professional athletes.
Lawyer Neal Colton, who represented the Major League Baseball Players Association in court on Friday, said he was satisfied with terms of the sale that will ensure proper distribution of the products.
He also said more than $1 million is owed to players who provided Fleer with autographs and equipment.
Another auction of the company's sports cards and authentic memorabilia is to be held by the end of August if the judge approves.
Martin told the judge he is also working on a plan to redeem 30,000 special sports cards promised to card collectors. They bought redemption cards that were to be exchanged for future cards but have been unable to redeem them.
Link 2
<< <i>Martin told the judge he is also working on a plan to redeem 30,000 special sports cards promised to card collectors. They bought redemption cards that were to be exchanged for future cards but have been unable to redeem them. >>
Ax
UD is no dummy, they just bought themselves a ton of good will!
You can't buy that kind of advertising - score one for their "spin doctors!"
mike