I want to start a trading card company

[PerfectStorm]

I used to collect football cards when I was a kid, and now I sometimes make digital art just for fun. It occurred to me that some of my designs would look way better on sports cards than the cards I bought in the mid to late 90s. I don't have any real business experience, and I want to do this not so much because I love the idea of starting a business but because I have an idea for a good product and and want to apply it. I also see an opportunity for immense wealth if I can succeed at this, which is why I'm not particularly excited by the less ambitious prospect of being a card designer for an existing company.

I asked around on a manufacturing forum and people there said a commercial printer would be able to handle all the production without much problem (not sure if they can do packaging too though). There are two big problems I have. The first is, in order to sell the cards I think you need a license from the league organization whose images are on the cards, for example the NFL. I downloaded the NFL's license application and it requires bank references, credit references, sale histories, etc., in other words you have to already have an existing and functioning business in order to get a license. For trading cards this is a catch 22 because I don't know how you can sell trading cards without a license from someone. And of course getting a license costs a lot of money including expensive insurance and a $100k royalties advance, but I'll worry about that later.

The other issue I have is I have no idea how the card companies acquire the images they put on cards. Do they get them from a third party like Getty Images and pay for them? Do they get them directly from the NFL? Or do they get them off the internet from sites like daylife, and if so do they still have to pay to use those images? And how much?

I emailed Upper Deck two days ago to ask about how they acquire images and have yet to get a response. Topps doesn't even have an email contact listed on their website. I'll have to wait until next week to place some phone calls and I'm not exactly looking forward to it because I know big companies like to give people the runaround who make inquiries like this, plus I can't imagine they'd want to divulge much information to someone whose intention is to compete with them.

I found a few companies online who will produce trading cards for you in small quantities for personal use, you just have to supply the .jpeg files. I am thinking of making ten cards or so to show as samples to the VC guys when I learn more about how to go about starting this business. Are there any kind of conventions for trading cards or maybe just sports collectibles where I could meet people who might be interested in joining up with me?

I am appreciative of any information, advice, or suggestions anyone can provide to help me pursue this venture.

[bbbjjjrrrplay]

i wud make u a website if u want

[jake_russell]

Just a couple of things perfectstorm. I love collecting sports cards and have for years and i have seen a couple of trends. The big manufacturers are getting away from the old market of kids with a little extra money and are focusing on adults and investors. I think that the future of this industry is going to be in high end, low numbered, memoriabilia cards. In this way you may be able to compete with the big manufacturers. Focus on doing specialty cards of big name players and market them as investment pieces.

It would be nice to see a new company come in and give the old companies a run for their money.

best of luck

[cg410]

Preface: Not a lawyer -- consult an attorney!

There are 2 issues that I see that would require the license: 1) trademarks, and 2) use of likeness.

You're not allowed to use someone's trademark to convey that your'e associated with them without permission. However, don't use their logos and use their trademarks nominatively (that is, only to describe a fact about the player, such as that they are a part of the NFL) and you're ok. That is, you could obtain an image of a player for a 3rd party photo source, and write on the card things like:

Name: Joe Shmoe
League: NFL
Team Name: Buffalo Bills
Position: etc. etc. etc.

...and get away with it AS LONG AS you don't do things like:

- Call your cards "NFL trading cards"
- Use NFL logos
- Otherwise convey that you are affiliated with the NFL

See also: Nominative use - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The second issue is use of likeness -- that is, you can't use someone else's image without their consent for commercial gain. There's a loophole: as with most things in life, if it's "art" you can get away with it. If your trading cards are instead "tradable art," you might be able to use that as a marketing tool as well as a way to fix your licensing issues.

See also: Tiger Woods -- The Use of Celebrity Images In Works of Art : The Right of ...

This may not be a complete list of your legal issues, and know that even if you're in the right, the NFL may try to sue you to shut you down anyway, so you should have a real attorney that understands the 2 subjects above review things. Then again, I once had a Fortune 100 company file a BS trademark infringement claim with my ISP and had my site taken offline and I sued them and came out with a 5 figure settlement, so maybe you want to go that route after all.

--J