Muhammad Ali Info - REAL CHECKLIST AND INFO

[nyc3]

Got to love that one company's bad habits is another's improvements. But only certain ones of course.

I dont understand how asking for a print run is badgering (on topic question from a paying customer) but talking randomly about what topps and donruss does is ok. Where we not talking about leaf? How is what topps do or dont do relevant? This is different.

 

[RITM]

I applaud BG for being active on FCB as well as other reps. However, being here does not mean they should be immune to fair concerns.

 

[Sean_C]

Question; how many of the autograph signings were witnessed in person? From your post below, you've indicated that Dunn and London "are sending cards back next week", indicating that they were shipped cards to sign and that the signings were not witnessed by anyone at Leaf. Please correct me if I'm wrong. If I'm not, please advise as to which of the signed cards were witnessed or signed in presence, and which ones were shipped and returned like Dunn and London.

Also, was there ever any chance or consideration of getting Antonio Inoki to sign for the set? While the history between the two of them was poor, it would have made for an interesting item for the set.

Ok... here is an update....

Jürgen Blin & Karl Mildenberger will NOT be able to sign the cards for the upcoming ALI release.... These will be replaced by 12 additional fans of ALI...

Richard Dunn and Brian London (originally thought to be deleted from the checklist) are sending cards back next week!

So below is the final checklist of names for the ALI release:

Muhammad Ali (one per pack from below list):
- ON CARD fight worn autographs
- fight worn (parallels)
- event worn (and parallels)
- cut signatures
- printing plate 1/1's


Autographs (2 per pack from below list):

ALI Associates (on-card) -- each associate has 2 different cards:
ANGELO DUNDEE
WILBERT MCCLURE
RUBIN "HURRICANE" CARTER

ALI opponents (on-card) --- each has 2 different cards:
JOE FRAZIER
EARNIE SHAVERS
GEORGE CHUVALO
ALEX MITEFF
LARRY HOLMES
LEON SPINKS
RICHARD DUNN
RON LYLE
BOB FOSTER
BRIAN LONDON
CHUCK WEPNER

Fans of Ali (on-card):
HULK HOGAN
DONALD TRUMP
ROY JONES JR.
NOLAN RYAN
MAGIC JOHNSON
MICKEY ROURKE

Fans of Ali (not on-card) -- ALL ARE SHORT PRINTED :
DENNIS RODMAN
ERNEST BORGNINE
BRUCE JENNER
CHERYL TIEGS
BO DEREK
LOU GOSSETT JR.
CHRISTOPHER JUDGE
MIA ST. JOHN
CHUCK ZITO
ICE T
MARY WILSON (SUPREMES)
KEVIN SORBO

plus, 100 card base set which fall 5 per pack.

****
We are pleased to share the above information with you. We are confident this release will definately be shipped in March.
Your patience and understanding is appreciated. This product has not gone without challenges, however anyone who has seen these in person is well aware of the work that went into bringing you guys a killer item.

As we are willing to share on this site relevant information, we do ask that posts in this thread be limited to relevant information/questions regarding the above checklist...

Hopefully, our transparency is adequate to answer relevant questions.
Regards, Brian Gray

 

[Leaf]

Great idea on Inoki for Metal ALI, we would just have to make sure ALI Enterprises is ok with that..

In many cases, we have a representative witnessing the signing. In other cases, the player's agent and player will sign an affadvit attesting to the authenticity of signatures. While we don't generally provide that sort of detail, we have someone in Europe facilitating those two athletes.

BG

p.s.- I flew home next to Reggie jackson on the plane from Philly show where I watched him sign 400-500 stickers for another company. No representative present, yet the company states that all are witnessed.
I dont personally care either way so long as all are legit.

Question; how many of the autograph signings were witnessed in person? From your post below, you've indicated that Dunn and London "are sending cards back next week", indicating that they were shipped cards to sign and that the signings were not witnessed by anyone at Leaf. Please correct me if I'm wrong. If I'm not, please advise as to which of the signed cards were witnessed or signed in presence, and which ones were shipped and returned like Dunn and London.

Also, was there ever any chance or consideration of getting Antonio Inoki to sign for the set? While the history between the two of them was poor, it would have made for an interesting item for the set.

Ok... here is an update....

Jürgen Blin & Karl Mildenberger will NOT be able to sign the cards for the upcoming ALI release.... These will be replaced by 12 additional fans of ALI...

Richard Dunn and Brian London (originally thought to be deleted from the checklist) are sending cards back next week!

So below is the final checklist of names for the ALI release:

Muhammad Ali (one per pack from below list):
- ON CARD fight worn autographs
- fight worn (parallels)
- event worn (and parallels)
- cut signatures
- printing plate 1/1's


Autographs (2 per pack from below list):

ALI Associates (on-card) -- each associate has 2 different cards:
ANGELO DUNDEE
WILBERT MCCLURE
RUBIN "HURRICANE" CARTER

ALI opponents (on-card) --- each has 2 different cards:
JOE FRAZIER
EARNIE SHAVERS
GEORGE CHUVALO
ALEX MITEFF
LARRY HOLMES
LEON SPINKS
RICHARD DUNN
RON LYLE
BOB FOSTER
BRIAN LONDON
CHUCK WEPNER

Fans of Ali (on-card):
HULK HOGAN
DONALD TRUMP
ROY JONES JR.
NOLAN RYAN
MAGIC JOHNSON
MICKEY ROURKE

Fans of Ali (not on-card) -- ALL ARE SHORT PRINTED :
DENNIS RODMAN
ERNEST BORGNINE
BRUCE JENNER
CHERYL TIEGS
BO DEREK
LOU GOSSETT JR.
CHRISTOPHER JUDGE
MIA ST. JOHN
CHUCK ZITO
ICE T
MARY WILSON (SUPREMES)
KEVIN SORBO

plus, 100 card base set which fall 5 per pack.

****
We are pleased to share the above information with you. We are confident this release will definately be shipped in March.
Your patience and understanding is appreciated. This product has not gone without challenges, however anyone who has seen these in person is well aware of the work that went into bringing you guys a killer item.

As we are willing to share on this site relevant information, we do ask that posts in this thread be limited to relevant information/questions regarding the above checklist...

Hopefully, our transparency is adequate to answer relevant questions.
Regards, Brian Gray

 

[jubei777]

i agree that BG gets props for at least being up front on a lot of things that the other companies won't. i'm really looking forward to the Ali product. hoping for a couple of nice hits out of my boxes.

 

[sportscardtheory]

Great idea on Inoki for Metal ALI, we would just have to make sure ALI Enterprises is ok with that..

In many cases, we have a representative witnessing the signing. In other cases, the player's agent and player will sign an affadvit attesting to the authenticity of signatures. While we don't generally provide that sort of detail, we have someone in Europe facilitating those two athletes.

BG

p.s.- I flew home next to Reggie jackson on the plane from Philly show where I watched him sign 400-500 stickers for another company. No representative present, yet the company states that all are witnessed.
I dont personally care either way so long as all are legit.

So you are making "Metal Ali"? Didn't you learn anything about releasing a product that hurts the value of the last product you released with the Razor Signature Series Metal debacle? So it's, "Hey, buy this ultra high-end Ali product." Then, "Hey, then buy this ultra ULTRA high-end Ali product."? Not trying to be nasty or anything, just curious.

 

[ljw29]

Great idea on Inoki for Metal ALI, we would just have to make sure ALI Enterprises is ok with that..

In many cases, we have a representative witnessing the signing. In other cases, the player's agent and player will sign an affadvit attesting to the authenticity of signatures. While we don't generally provide that sort of detail, we have someone in Europe facilitating those two athletes.

BG

p.s.- I flew home next to Reggie jackson on the plane from Philly show where I watched him sign 400-500 stickers for another company. No representative present, yet the company states that all are witnessed.
I dont personally care either way so long as all are legit.

So you are making "Metal Ali"? Didn't you learn anything about releasing a product that hurts the value of the last product you released with the Razor Signature Series Metal debacle? So it's, "Hey, buy this ultra high-end Ali product." Then, "Hey, then buy this ultra ULTRA high-end Ali product."? Not trying to be nasty or anything, just curious.

And hey they wont be sticker autos, until it is too late for people that purchased them.

And I am a man of my word unlike Topps, but I bait and switch too.

 

[Leaf]

Great idea on Inoki for Metal ALI, we would just have to make sure ALI Enterprises is ok with that..

In many cases, we have a representative witnessing the signing. In other cases, the player's agent and player will sign an affadvit attesting to the authenticity of signatures. While we don't generally provide that sort of detail, we have someone in Europe facilitating those two athletes.

BG

p.s.- I flew home next to Reggie jackson on the plane from Philly show where I watched him sign 400-500 stickers for another company. No representative present, yet the company states that all are witnessed.
I dont personally care either way so long as all are legit.

So you are making "Metal Ali"? Didn't you learn anything about releasing a product that hurts the value of the last product you released with the Razor Signature Series Metal debacle? So it's, "Hey, buy this ultra high-end Ali product." Then, "Hey, then buy this ultra ULTRA high-end Ali product."? Not trying to be nasty or anything, just curious.

LOL... we showed this off before the basic set. At FCB atlanta show, we had both sets on display.

The Metal set is VERY different than the ALI first set. #1 it is metal with totally new design... #2- it is driven by parallels: blue, red and super prismatics..... #3- it is all on-card (lol, as we plan today).....

MOst importantly, it is NOT a clone of the first set.... WAY DIFFERENT as anyone who say in Atlanta can attest... BG

 

[Leaf]

Great idea on Inoki for Metal ALI, we would just have to make sure ALI Enterprises is ok with that..

In many cases, we have a representative witnessing the signing. In other cases, the player's agent and player will sign an affadvit attesting to the authenticity of signatures. While we don't generally provide that sort of detail, we have someone in Europe facilitating those two athletes.

BG

p.s.- I flew home next to Reggie jackson on the plane from Philly show where I watched him sign 400-500 stickers for another company. No representative present, yet the company states that all are witnessed.
I dont personally care either way so long as all are legit.

So you are making "Metal Ali"? Didn't you learn anything about releasing a product that hurts the value of the last product you released with the Razor Signature Series Metal debacle? So it's, "Hey, buy this ultra high-end Ali product." Then, "Hey, then buy this ultra ULTRA high-end Ali product."? Not trying to be nasty or anything, just curious.

And hey they wont be sticker autos, until it is too late for people that purchased them.

And I am a man of my word unlike Topps, but I bait and switch too.

It is not a bait and switch if you state something in advance and offer to let people cancel...
plus, I would argue a $50 sticker auto is better than a $4 on-card...but, you would take the opposite of this (or any) argument just to argue so I wont bother arguing that... BG

p.s.- how dare topps release 15 baseball sets in one year... each hurting the value of the one before...
How dare Panini make 15 football releases in 1 year... each hurting the one before...
How dare press pass make 6 racing sets... each hurting the one before...
How dare we make 2 sets in 1 year.... completely different...

If you had your way, topps would print only topps I bb.... and they would only print $50,000,000 of revenue worth to meet league minimums (thats 1,000,000 hobby boxes or 83,300 hobby cases).... and you guys were pissed about bowman chrome????

 

[ljw29]

Great idea on Inoki for Metal ALI, we would just have to make sure ALI Enterprises is ok with that..

In many cases, we have a representative witnessing the signing. In other cases, the player's agent and player will sign an affadvit attesting to the authenticity of signatures. While we don't generally provide that sort of detail, we have someone in Europe facilitating those two athletes.

BG

p.s.- I flew home next to Reggie jackson on the plane from Philly show where I watched him sign 400-500 stickers for another company. No representative present, yet the company states that all are witnessed.
I dont personally care either way so long as all are legit.

So you are making "Metal Ali"? Didn't you learn anything about releasing a product that hurts the value of the last product you released with the Razor Signature Series Metal debacle? So it's, "Hey, buy this ultra high-end Ali product." Then, "Hey, then buy this ultra ULTRA high-end Ali product."? Not trying to be nasty or anything, just curious.

And hey they wont be sticker autos, until it is too late for people that purchased them.

And I am a man of my word unlike Topps, but I bait and switch too.

It is not a bait and switch if you state something in advance and offer to let people cancel...
plus, I would argue a $50 sticker auto is better than a $4 on-card...but, you would take the opposite of this (or any) argument just to argue so I wont bother arguing that... BG

Ive rarely debated you, and rarely debate on here so that Characterization is very amusing. I have actually defended you at times on here.

And I think it is funny that all of a sudden these amazing Autos you were having in this product became $4, so better replacements were used.

And again Individual Buyers can not cancel and Shops can not cancel.

 

[Leaf]

Great idea on Inoki for Metal ALI, we would just have to make sure ALI Enterprises is ok with that..

In many cases, we have a representative witnessing the signing. In other cases, the player's agent and player will sign an affadvit attesting to the authenticity of signatures. While we don't generally provide that sort of detail, we have someone in Europe facilitating those two athletes.

BG

p.s.- I flew home next to Reggie jackson on the plane from Philly show where I watched him sign 400-500 stickers for another company. No representative present, yet the company states that all are witnessed.
I dont personally care either way so long as all are legit.

So you are making "Metal Ali"? Didn't you learn anything about releasing a product that hurts the value of the last product you released with the Razor Signature Series Metal debacle? So it's, "Hey, buy this ultra high-end Ali product." Then, "Hey, then buy this ultra ULTRA high-end Ali product."? Not trying to be nasty or anything, just curious.

And hey they wont be sticker autos, until it is too late for people that purchased them.

And I am a man of my word unlike Topps, but I bait and switch too.

It is not a bait and switch if you state something in advance and offer to let people cancel...
plus, I would argue a $50 sticker auto is better than a $4 on-card...but, you would take the opposite of this (or any) argument just to argue so I wont bother arguing that... BG

Ive rarely debated you, and rarely debate on here so that Characterization is very amusing. I have actually defended you at times on here.

And I think it is funny that all of a sudden these amazing Autos you were having in this product became $4, so better replacements were used.

And again Individual Buyers can not cancel and Shops can not cancel.

Yes... any shops that ordered direct can call and I will cancel their orders right now.... Any individuals can call me and ill call their supplier and arrange a cancellation...

This product is solid and we have people waiting in line to buy it...
BG

 

[sportscardtheory]

So you are making "Metal Ali"? Didn't you learn anything about releasing a product that hurts the value of the last product you released with the Razor Signature Series Metal debacle? So it's, "Hey, buy this ultra high-end Ali product." Then, "Hey, then buy this ultra ULTRA high-end Ali product."? Not trying to be nasty or anything, just curious.

LOL... we showed this off before the basic set. At FCB atlanta show, we had both sets on display.

The Metal set is VERY different than the ALI first set. #1 it is metal with totally new design... #2- it is driven by parallels: blue, red and super prismatics..... #3- it is all on-card (lol, as we plan today).....

MOst importantly, it is NOT a clone of the first set.... WAY DIFFERENT as anyone who say in Atlanta can attest... BG

Okay, thanks for clearing that up for me. Good luck with both Ali products.

 

[Leaf]

Great idea on Inoki for Metal ALI, we would just have to make sure ALI Enterprises is ok with that..

In many cases, we have a representative witnessing the signing. In other cases, the player's agent and player will sign an affadvit attesting to the authenticity of signatures. While we don't generally provide that sort of detail, we have someone in Europe facilitating those two athletes.

BG

p.s.- I flew home next to Reggie jackson on the plane from Philly show where I watched him sign 400-500 stickers for another company. No representative present, yet the company states that all are witnessed.
I dont personally care either way so long as all are legit.

So you are making "Metal Ali"? Didn't you learn anything about releasing a product that hurts the value of the last product you released with the Razor Signature Series Metal debacle? So it's, "Hey, buy this ultra high-end Ali product." Then, "Hey, then buy this ultra ULTRA high-end Ali product."? Not trying to be nasty or anything, just curious.

And hey they wont be sticker autos, until it is too late for people that purchased them.

And I am a man of my word unlike Topps, but I bait and switch too.

It is not a bait and switch if you state something in advance and offer to let people cancel...
plus, I would argue a $50 sticker auto is better than a $4 on-card...but, you would take the opposite of this (or any) argument just to argue so I wont bother arguing that... BG

Ive rarely debated you, and rarely debate on here so that Characterization is very amusing. I have actually defended you at times on here.

And I think it is funny that all of a sudden these amazing Autos you were having in this product became $4, so better replacements were used.

And again Individual Buyers can not cancel and Shops can not cancel.

The "you" was collective for all the critics out there.

The $4 autograph line refers to the cheaper autos in the product. I never said every auto was amazing.
But few can argue against the fact that many of them are... BG

 

[Sweetness]

And hey they wont be sticker autos, until it is too late for people that purchased them.

And I am a man of my word unlike Topps, but I bait and switch too.

Topps would have just put in a redemption and then not filled it. BG openly admitted not being able to get the auto's so he replaced them.

Would you rather have a card or have a redemption for a card that does not exist? Either way you guys are going to piss and moan, it's as sure as death and taxes.

 

[matchpenalty]

Another great thing BG did for this set, that I have never ever seen any other company do. He showed where he got the fight worn trunks from and who he bought them from. The best source for Ali boxing used stuff on the planet. Anyone ever seen anyone else do that. I for one hate game used cards with a passion. But I plan on getting one of these ALi game used fight worn trunks cards for my collection. Just because you know exactly what they are and where they were gotten from.

 

[George_Calfas]

Leaf/BG,

Many thanks for the checklist.

 

[Captain Feathersword]

Never been a big fan of BG's products, but I do have to respect him for sticking his chin out (ironically) and letting everyone take shots.

 

[matchpenalty]

here is the video preview. Also shows what future metal cards look like...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRUpuyTppv4

 

[ChasHawk]

here is the video preview. Also shows what future metal cards look like...
[youtube:1dpvpu3c]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRUpuyTppv4[/youtube:1dpvpu3c]

 

[sabrgeek]

I think any checklist like this is a "no-win" for Brian and Leaf. The reason I say this is that while I would be impressed if he got a "Sonny Banks" auto for the set --- I don't know how many other people would note or care. FYI -- Sonny was the 1st of 4 fighters to knock down Clay/Ali and he died from injuries sustained in a fight in 1965. Now come up with cut autographs of people like him, Tunney Hunsaker and some other earlier Clay/Ali opponents and you'd get gray hairs looking for those autos.

My point is, the checklist looks darn good as it is, and while it might always be better, I think Brian realizes how much is on the line for him with this and other upcoming sets and wants to make this work

Regards
Rich