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With its “Ring Kings” set, Donruss, one of the leading names in the trading card industry, is looking to make a major impact on the burgeoning MMA memorabilia market, which many experts believe is going to explode within the next 12 months. The company considers it the first significant MMA-related venture into the trading card arena. “We know there is a need out there and we’re trying to fill it,” according to Scott Prusha, Donruss’ marketing and public relations chief.

The company is relatively well-positioned to accomplish its ends. While it indeed lags behind Topps in terms of baseball, Donruss is a market leader in football. And unlike Topps, which is coming with a set of International Fight League trading cards, Donruss’ card issue is not being launched in conjunction with one particular promotional organization, but will cover 25-40 champions and contenders who fight under various banners.

It would appear judicious that Donruss would be more intent on focusing their attention on the stars themselves, and not tie the success of the Ring Kings set to any specific MMA brand. It gives the company a higher degree of control - in terms of quality and otherwise. It is also more reflective of the upward mobility of the competitors, who may go from one organization to another but retain their fan appeal across any promotional lines.

Perhaps it is more than a coincidence, then, that Donruss has at the forefront of its efforts the name of Randy Couture, the former UFC heavyweight and light heavyweight champion who has since left the organization. The company will soon announce more names as part of its first collection.

The MMA cards are being positioned as part of Donruss’ “Americana” line, which includes many celebrated, historical and pop culture-related figures. That is an illustration of where mixed martial arts now exists within the mainstream landscape of sports and society. “We’re including it in the Americana program as a showcase of something that’s very popular right now,” says Prusha.

Obviously there will be specials within this launch. Swatches of actual memorabilia, such as shorts or T-shirts, will be attached to some of the cards. Some of them will be autographed editions. Some will feature both, giving the entire set a special attractiveness.

Prusha also hopes that this will be the start of something much bigger; that Donruss will be instrumental in literally helping to create an actual trading market that it will continue to expand upon over time.

“We expect them (the cards) to be changing hands pretty well because nothing has ever been done in this aspect.”

A question many people are asking: are Pride collectibles going to be more valuable since the UFC acquired the brand? Whether additional value will be placed on Pride memorabilia that actually results from the new union probably remains to be seen. But there is almost no question that the newbie collector or new fan of mixed martial arts is going to become aware of Pride where he or she might not have before, and if that brings new participants into the hobby, that will invariably increase the market.
 
Certainly the memorabilia for Pride in its previous incarnation has value. One of the reasons is that in a way it is the principle that is applied to real estate, that is, they’re not making any more of it. What we mean is that Dream Stage Entertainment, which controlled Pride until the UFC bought the assets, is obviously not issuing any more of it because they signed away those rights. Pride is kind of unique in that it was a major MMA organization and exists no more. That can’t really be said about any other group in mixed martial arts.
 
Of course, it remains to be seen how the UFC itself will handle the production and packaging of that which will become Pride memorabilia. The brand still exists, under the auspices of the UFC, and so there would appear to be an effort to maximize all the value that brand has.
 
Pride had something of a consciousness of collectors’ items, and tailored some of its offerings in that direction. The UFC has not really been very strong in its interest in catering to the hobby in that regard although all signs point that is going to change in ‘08. Don’t forget also, in addion to PRIDE, there is a big Japanese market for the items, and should continue to be with groups like M-1, World Victory Road making headway in that market and with K-1 running as strong as ever, there will always be a huge market in Japanese MMA collectibles.

Randy Couture, former UFC light heavyweight and heavyweight champion, auctioned his Hummer on eBay recently, and didn’t have all the success in the world the first time around.

Couture put his 2006 black Hummer on the block on November 12, and received one offer - for $69,999. Bidding ended on November 22 and according to the eBay listing, the reserve price (i.e., in this case the pre-established minimum price Couture would accept) was not met.

According to the vehicle description posted by Couture on eBay, “This H2 is a one of a kind custom made H2 Hummer that Randy took home after coaching the first season of The Ultimate Fighter show (TUF).” It is also described on the website as a “UFC Edition.” The amenities that were determined to be especially appealing to the UFC fan was a sound system “that can be heard blocks away with a deep bass that can bump,” which would seem to rule out most bidders from retirement communities.

Part of the sale price was set to go to Couture’s GI Foundation (www.xtremecouturegifoundation.org ), a 501(c)3 non-profit which is designed to offer support of all kinds for veterans of America’s armed forces.

The vehicle, which also has a black interior, features a wide variety of options, including automatic transmission, a sunroof, leather seats, cassette and CD players, four-wheel drive, anti-lock brakes, driver and passenger airbags, side airbags, cruise control, power door locks, windows and seats, navigation apparatus, advanced security system and On-Star. It has been stolen and recovered twice.

Reportedly the Hummer had been given to Couture by Dana White, the president of the UFC. Considering Couture’s ongoing legal dispute with the UFC, in which he has left the organization, explains why he wants to get rid of it.

If you’re interested, and you missed the bidding, maybe you’ll have some luck contacting the seller through the following email: scott@xtremecouture.tv

The latest entry in the effort to capture the hearts and minds of the MMA collector is a series of collectible action figures that are being introduced to the market by the Ontario-based Round 5 company.Round 5 has released the first line of these figures, entitled “World of MMA Champions,” which are scheduled to be distributed into at least a thousand stores in the United States and Canada in plenty of time for the holiday season. Spencer’s and Toys “R” Us are two of the chains in which the figures will be carried.

That historic first line (”Series 1″) features four legends of the UFC: Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, Tito Ortiz, Matt Hughes and Randy Couture - four names that are easily recognizable to any mixed martial arts fan. What is interesting is that since this is an “official” set, each of the MMA stars were actively involved in the design and development of their individual figures, including the actual pose the figure is in. And there will be accessories attached to them; for example, Jackson’s trademark junkyard chain that he commonly wears around his neck.

The sculptor is David Cortes, who is world-renowned for his work on other figures such as Spawn and the Incredible Hulk. The figures are six inches tall and are characterized by painful attention to detail. Round 5 is expecting that for fans in the younger demographic, this will be one of the hottest tickets for this holiday season.

In addition to the presence in stores, they will also be available through Round 5’s online presence at http://www.round5mma.com/.

Each of the figures is priced at $16.99, and are available for pre-ordering, with shipping slated for December 1.

Taking a page out of “G.O.A.T.,” an illustration book about the life of Muhammad Ali that sold for as much as $7500, Zuffa, the owner of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, is rolling out “OCTAGON (TM),” a full-length fine art book that comes in limited edition. Printed and leather-bound by hand in Italy, OCTAGON is heavy enough (over 50 lbs.) that it would seem to require an introduction by Bruce Buffer, and a price tag ($2500 for the Collector’s edition and $3500 for the Deluxe) that will require it to be introduced to a demographic a bit more “uptown” than the typical UFC fan.

It is a substantial work, photographed by Kevin Lynch, a long-time commercial artist who is widely known for his conceptual portraits. Lynch, whose work has appeared in such publications as Vibe, American Photo, Camera Arts and harper’s Bazaar, not to mention museums and galleries throughout the world, has put more than 800 color and black & white photographs into the oversize volume; generally they are portraits of the UFC competitors before and after they engage in action.

OCTAGON features an introduction by Zuffa/UFC owner Lorenzo Fertitta, an afterword by current UFC president Dana White, an essay by noted art historian and critic Dave Hickey, and a foreword by David Mamet, film director and screenwriter who is also one of the most celebrated playwrights of the 20th century.

A gala event to launch OCTAGON is scheduled for December 6, appropriately enough at the Setai Hotel on Miami’s South Beach, known as a mecca for gatherings of the art world. For more information on this landmark book, please visit the official website, at http://www.octagon-book.com.

MMA is not a sport so old that any collectibles are really worth very much if they are not in mint or near-mint condition. A case in point may be the more dated UFC posters, which can be worth up to ten times more if they are in mint condition than if they are in good condition. Sometimes a major factor is simply how old the poster is. For example, everyone would have an interest in an item from the first Ultimate Fighting Championship, simply because it was, well, the first. As the years go by, the condition will be important, but might take a back seat to the event.
 
Of course, for some promotions, there are many more posters printed than for others. That will dilute the value, because there are likely to be many more in circulation. And the “attrition” of that circulation, so to speak, won’t really set in for years. In other words, they will not become “rare.”

Dan Severn Rookie Card, Graded by Beckett.
 
As the hobby, as it applies to MMA, matures, the UFC memorabilia from its pre-Zuffa days will begin to appreciate more and more in value. At the beginning of the UFC, the logo was different, the owners were different, and their methods of promotion were different, meaning they did not have a chance to flood the market with promotional material or merchandise and so there won’t be as much of it as a widely-promoted UFC event as you would see it today. Back then, the UFC owners were not thinking out what was going to become a collector’s item; they were just trying to launch a successful promotion. Not that they were unsophisticated, but they were not all that concerned with creating a collectibles market.
 
Key factors may also include the competitors that were on some of the early cards. Something with the Gracies on it, or Ken Shamrock, or even Dan Severn, is going to worth more than something with, say, Patrick Smith on it. But be careful about all of this. When there is the smell of money in the air, that’s when the unscrupulous people come out of the woodwork. Be on the lookout for dealers or individuals who are touting a poster as something that is “original” when in fact it is just a reprint. The reprints or reproductions that took place years after the fact are NOT authentic. As if we had to tell you.

When a kid gets an autograph from an athlete, there is often a consciousness about how much that autograph is worth, or what it may become worth in the years to come. But there is a big difference between a fan, or what we will refer to for purposes of this conversation as a “collector” and the memorabilia “investor.”
 
The collector is largely interested in the aesthetic value of an item, which may be the content of an event program, the autograph on the picture that is signed, the logo of an organization, the names that appear on a poster, or whoever used what piece of equipment in what match. Sometimes it comes down to what “looks cool,” because more often than not it is going to become a display for a home or office. In other words, these are keepsakes.
 
The collector often attaches a certain amount of sentimental value to an item, which means that there are some things he will not sell no matter what. Don’t get us wrong; there are things the collector will sell, but it might be for the purposes of acquiring something else. there is not necessarily a big profit motive.
 
The investor is a little different. He wants to do just what the name implies - invest. That means everything, or nearly everything, is bought with the specific objective of selling it one day for a profit. Those profits can be used to purchase other items that are in turn re-sold, in the pursuit of wealth building. It is a BUSINESS.
 
Of course, there are various kinds of investments in memorabilia. It is not so dissimilar to the way people look at the stock market. Some investors will buy an item with the specific idea of holding it for the long term, with the expectation that it will appreciate a great deal in value for one reason or another. Some will also buy items in bulk, with an eye toward having a great quantity of something that is going to worth a lot more in, say, five years than it is now.
 
There is also a “wheeling and dealing” aspect to it as well. Investors may buy items from collectors or fans or others with the idea of getting a bargain, then turning around and “flipping” it for a profit rather quickly. Since the investor, as a tool of the trade, would develop contacts or “outs” where items can be sold, there is also an expectation here, much like someone who is flipping houses might look at it. In other words, they know they can sell it somewhere before they buy it.
 
With some of this there is a lot of speculation. If we can use baseball for example, it is not uncommon to load up on the rookie card of a player who is projected to be a big star, in the hope that the card will become extremely valuable if, say, the player becomes an All-Star or Hall of Famer. That’s a long-term proposition, and it can be very hit-and-miss.
 
Investors often sell to collectors, because it presents an opportunity to unload an item that was bought at “wholesale” or lower for a retail price. that is a fact of life. The bottom line is that, by and large, the collector is engaged in a hobby, while the investor is involved (and immersed) in a business.

In June of 2007, the International Fight League (IFL) engaged in what they termed a “multiple strategic partnership and licensing agreement” with Topps, whereby a set of IFL trading cards would be released to the public starting in early 2008. This certainly was a landmark event for the hobby; the first deal of its kind. The cards will feature the coaches associated with the IFC, as well as the fighters. The coaches are particularly significant, since several of them carry some name value, including Ken Shamrock and Pat Miletich.
 
Gareb Shamus, now Former chief executive officer of the IFL, was understandably effusive. “It will be a great way to showcase our stars through a combination of traditional trading cards, unique collectibles and new media projects.”
 
According to the press release issued in conjunction with the June 11 announcement, a vice-president and spokesman for Topps, Ira Friedman, says his company was contemplating an involvement in mixed martial arts for some time. “We have looked for the right entry point for the MMA category from a collectible standpoint,” he said, “and feel the IFL model is the best fit for both now and the long term.”
 
We understand how this becomes a great marketing coup for the IFL - after all, since they are not the market leader (taking a distant back seat to the UFC), it becomes a very prestigious association to be involved with a manufacturer such as Topps, which has a long tradition as the most prominent company in the trading card industry. That helps the brand enormously. But what does it do for the hobby of MMA collecting? And how might it wind up affecting the UFC?
 
If the inclusion of Randy Couture in the Topps Allen & Ginter set in 2006 brought mixed martial arts into the mainstream of the collectibles industry by putting it next to a big-time trading card company, then the deal Topps has made with the International Fight League signals a giant leap in terms of further mainstream acceptance and exposure. Here there is not an emphasis on single competitors, but players within teams, which Topps is well accustomed to from its activity with baseball. It is obviously a big winner for the IFL, but what will it do for Topps?
 
We are not here to offer editorial commentary on the qualitative value of one MMA organization against another, but suffice it say that there are some people who are not all that optimistic about the future of the IFL, and therefore feel the series of cards they are producing with Topps is going to have very little impact on an overall basis. That may well happen, but the deal is significant anyway, because it serves as a barometer of the interest of a major market mover (Topps) whom others follow. If Topps is entering MMA in a big way, that will open everyone else’s minds to it.
 
That will unquestionably have a long-term benefit for the UFC. As the most popular MMA promotion, it is inevitable that the UFC will make a deal with a major trading card company. There are rumors of a pending deal with Topps, but even if it doesn’t come down that way, there is the presence of a company like Upper Deck, which is a legitimate competitor of Topps, not to mention Fleer. At that point in time, it can be argued without prejudice, the company that makes the deal with the UFC is going to take the lead in terms of MMA collectibles. Topps has shown a proclivity to deal with the UFC, with its Couture issue, and so they should not be discounted at all from this derby. The others in the market space are going to structure something as well. So perhaps it was wise for the UFC to let the IFL do a little price-setting here.

There is a tremendous amount of potential value placed on rookie (more…)