Your Piece Of The ‘G is Ready….

Posted: April 20, 2010 | Comments: 0

I was at the framers yesterday who are putting together your unique piece of the ‘G yesterday, and we shot this really cool video for you…

Overpriced Sports Memorabilia

Posted: April 19, 2010 | Comments: 0

After the response to yesterdays email, I actually started looking around more Aussie memorabilia sites and found a bunch more overpriced (in my opinion) sports memorabilia.

Ouch – $2000 For Replica Cricket Memorabilia

Posted: April 18, 2010 | Comments: 0

I just stumbled across an online memorabilia store selling a series of Adam Gilchrist signed cricket bats for over $2000.00.

– and the thing that blew my mind was that IT’S NOT EVEN A BAT HE’S USED.

It’s not authentic at all, just another manufactured collectable – and they are selling it over over two thousand dollars – ouch.

[Click here to check the piece out]

I’m actually finalising the price of the MCG frames with the framers tomorrow as well – so keep an eye out for a full FAQ email in a day or two; which will announce the price…

BUT THE AUTHENTIC MCG CARPET FRAMES WILL BE A LOT LESS THAN HALF OF THAT PRICE !!!

I also wanted to let you know that I’m doing my best to answer all the emails you’ve been sending in…

… and I look forward to answering your biggest questions in the next few days in that full FAQ video.

There has also been lots of great comments sent in after my last email (keep ‘em coming). I read every one of them and truly appreciate your feedback and kind words.

Just to let you all know, if you are reading this email it does mean you are on the pre-notification list – and you will get FIRST crack at acquiring a piece of the MCG this week – most likely Thursday! (Thanks to Di for this question)

Elisabeth sent me this wonderful email:

“Thank you for the update. I had the pleasure of hearing about your initiative through your interview with Red Symons and thought wow, this is wonderful for us Melbournians who love the footy and the G, as when it comes to commercially available memorabilia there is no history and personality to it so I thought here is a guy who has a great idea and for the right reasons… so I wanted to be a part of it and good on you I say.

Looking forward to hopefully getting my piece of history which you will no doubt be a part of.

Best….”

This is what this project is all about.

Countless number of people have described how in the past they’ve been disappointed with the available memorabilia. It’s either been too expensive, too cheap and tacky, not authentic, too commercialised.

Here is one email that blew my mind about signed memorabilia

“…They might look good on the wall but they are totally unauthentic. If they are a premier sports team with squiggles for signatures who is to know that they are actually those of the players? I know this for a fact. My nephew is a member of the XXXXXX Sheffield Shield team. He has told me that if they do a signing of bats etc. and a player is absent and unavailable for sometime, someone else will sign for him!!

These bats will go for several hundred dollars. Admittedly the players see little of the money but that is not the point. It is downright fraudulent and a massive rip off…”

I do hope this doesn’t apply to the $2000 Gilchrist bat.

Well we’re doing our best to make this the Greatest + Most Authentic Australian Memorabilia Collection of all time.

Can’t wait for this week, it’s going to be awesome.

Cheers,

Pete

P.S. This is incredible. We’ve had another 80 odd people join the list since Friday. I had no idea it would get this big. And I’m flattered, but a little freaked out by it. I just hope that there won’t be too many disappointed people out there who miss out on a piece of the G.

P.P.S. if you have ANY specific questions you want answered, please shoot me a reply email so i can answer it in the FAQ video I’m putting together for everyone.

Tiger Woods Caught On Camera

Posted: April 16, 2010 | Comments: 2

It is interesting to see how most memorabilia is created.

This video shows Tiger Woods sitting in a room signing his name on a bunch of printed photos while a security guy looks on.

Thrilling. That’s some unique piece of historic memorabllia.

I suppose at least he knows the day and the experience of each picture.

I love the comment from whufcsignings – ” i think tiger is a joke. he speaks about doing these signings for his fans to stop fakes. however the prices upperdeck charge are outrageous and tiger rarely signs items outside of these signings. to me this just means that his fans have to pay hundreds of dollars for a tiger woods signature. in my oppinion these high prices will only increase the amount of fakes because everyone is looking for a bargain which gives the opportunity to fakers as not all fans can afford upper decks high prices. ”

What do you think of this. Is it acceptable for memorabilia to be so manufactured? Or do you prefer one off’s with a story behind them?

Please click here, leave a comment and share your opinion.

Selling The ‘G Cartoon

Posted: April 15, 2010 | Comments: 0

How awesome is this cartoon…

Big thanks to Dave Gibb for his awesome work – Check him out at http://www.davegibb.com.au/

The MCG Sent Me A Nasty Letter…

Posted: April 13, 2010 | Comments: 1

Hey Gang…

Sorry it’s been a few days between posts, and taken me so long to send out the first email keeping everyone on the pre-reg list up-to date with everything….This whole project has been a lot crazier than expected.

Not only is the media supporting the cause with a bunch of media interviews (click here to listen), pre-registrations going through the roof… but the MCG sent me a “nasty letter” late Friday afternoon.

Apparently, the MCG means so much to Australia, that the 1999 government decided that it needed it own Parliamentary ACT, just like the Goods & Services ACT of 2000 — a real set of parliamentary passed documents, called the Melbourne Cricket Ground Act 2009, that spells out a bunch of stuff specific to the ‘peoples ground’

The MCG people where real nice about the whole thing … and I’ve been real busy the last couple of days making a few changes to the site (such as moving it to this new domain) and project to comply with them and the ACT, which means we might have to push back the launch date…

BUT don’t worry everyone on the pre-release notification list will still get access to the opportunity to own a piece of the G before the general public… and having said that we are almost at 400 pre-registartions already. There are only going to be 400 frames available so, if you want to be one of the few to have a piece of the G hanging in their home, bar or office make sure you keep an eye out on up-comming emails, with all the details.

If you haven’t pre-registered yet, make sure you vist the homepage and register your interest here.

Speak soon,

Pete

P.S. Don’t forget to spread the word to win a piece of the G. There are links on the right side of this blog to help save the G’s memory on the blog, so if you are on Twitter or Facebook make sure you click those links.

P.P.Ps How crazy is that, the MCG is such an important piece of Australian Sporting History, that it has it own laws … and we’ve got an opportunity to own a piece of that history.

The Media Frenzy Begins…

Posted: April 12, 2010 | Comments: 2

Hey Gang…

I’ve just got off the phone with Red Simons on Melbourne’s 774 ABC Radio, had another radio interview last Friday, and have a few more media outlets wanting to cover this story… this is getting a lot more interest from the media than I expected.

Click the play button below to listen to the ABC Radio interview.

p.s. For those playing along at home, who noticed that I gave out a different a website address, I’ll have more details on why that is tomorrow.

Cutting The MCC Crested Carpet

Posted: April 9, 2010 | Comments: 0

Hey Gang…

Firstly, I’ve been blown away by the amount of people who have already pre-registered to own a piece of the peoples ground. The site has only been up for 3 days, and we’ve already had over 250 people join the early notification list – and we are still a week or so away from ‘opening day’ …

So as this project gathers momentum over the next week (I’ve had some media outlets keen to support this cause with some exposure early next week) we are going to have WAY more people registered than we will have frames.

Secondly, I was down at my Mums place beginning to cut up all the MCC Crested Carpet, for the framers to start work on the limited edition series, and thought I’d shoot a quick ‘behind the scenes’ video for you.

If you have any questions, thoughts or comments, please join in the conversation and leave them here on the blog.

Selling The Melbourne Cricket Ground…

Posted: April 4, 2010 | Comments: 10

“Thanks to my annoying mum, you have the opportunity to Own A Piece Of The MCG”

Here’s The Full Story…

The darnedest thing happened…A few years back when I was 21, I was reading the book,’The One Minute Millionaire’, and in it, it tells the story of a guy from New Jersey, who in the 1980’s sold old pieces of the famous Brooklyn Bridges walkway timber. He went about creating 5” x 11” certificates outlining the history of the bridge, attaching a small piece of the timber and selling them for upto $5000 each (yep, $5000 for a 1″ piece of timber) … and word around the campfire is that he made like $2 million from it…

Obviously as a young Trump-wanna-be I loved this idea, and started to think how I could rip this idea off and implement it here in Australia – it was a much better idea then pinching golf balls off the local pitch-n-putt to resell.

After racking my brain for about 10mins, I realised the Melbourne Cricket Ground was under reconstruction and the Ponsford Stand had just been ripped down… On the back of a few phone calls and newly-found entrepreneurial-confidence I was able to track down the wrecking company which was demolishing the Ponsford stand (at this stage the Members Pavilion had not been touched), who informed me they had a significant amount of timber from the seating and flooring as hoped…

However to my amazement they also had a considerable amount of the world famous MCC Crested Carpet – which originally lay in the members dining room. You know the world famous carpet, the one that has been walked on by the greats – Don Bradman and EJ Whitten etc etc… The same carpet that graced the MCC Members Long Room – the most loved watering hole in all of sport.

So after rushing down the western highway the following morning to view the magnificent carpet just lying in the corner of the wreckers’ warehouse I took all the remaining crested carpet, along with a mass of timber.

I know you’ve got better thing to do then read this tale… So to cut a long stroy short…

Since that venture a few years back, the remaining carpet has been living (safely and securely) in my mums garage which I am constantly reminded about every time I visit…. so as a ‘gift to mum’ I have decided to sell the remaining few pieces of the MCG’s famous crested carpet and clear out her garage…

As mentioned on the home page video, I’ve tried for about three years, on various occasions, to team up some of Australia’s leading sports memorabilia stores/dealers, but they either wanted to screw me down and buy the carpet at the same price they buy the printed posters they sell; or screw you guys and sell the frames for over $1200 !!

I wouldn’t have a bar of that, so I’ve decided, a with a little help from my friends (quick – name that TV show) to put together a final series of MCC Crested Carpet Frames and give everyone one last chance to own a piece of the G.

So whether you (or a family member) are a cricket or football fan, you would be aware of the importance and symbolism the MCG represents to all Australians and understand an opportunity to own a piece of the ‘Peoples Ground’ doesn’t come around every day – plus there isn’t that many pieces left at mums!!

Now you have the opportunity to own a piece of this authentic Australian sporting history, make your family and friends jealous and help me win some browny points with mum…

The really cool thing is that the MCC Crested Carpet isn’t another one of those pieces of sporting memorabilia that’s been manufactured simply to be collectable. This is a unique piece of the orginal & authentic carpet that graced the MCC Members Dining Room in the Ponsford Stand before its demolition in 2003.
Seriously, these last few pieces of history are not going to last long once they are re-released to the general public, so if you are either a collector, sports fan or just looking for that perfect gift you really MUST join the pre-registration lists so you can own yor own piece of the MCG.

Recording The Intro Video…

Posted: April 1, 2010 | Comments: 1

I was at the MCG the other day recording the intro video you see on the home page; and my mate Dave took this photo… He’s trying to convince me to put up an out-takes video as well – not sure about that though; the language when I stuff up is a little NSFW.