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Join the Brian Vickers Fan Club – It Will Almost Pay for Itself!
Look for the official NASCAR sticker
How Do I Choose Between Current and Past Merchandise?
Why Are Some 1:24 Scale Diecast $20 Versus $65 for Others?
AUTHENTIC AUTOGRAPHS AND MERCHANDISE – IS IT GENUINE?
We strongly encourage race fans to join the official Brian Vickers Fan Club before they invest in any officially-licensed Brian Vickers/No.
25 GMAC Racing merchandise. Why? Because the BVFC membership fee is only $19.95 (shipping and handling included) and official members automatically
receive a 10% discount off the normal retail prices from designated vendors. These vendors include the "Official Merchandise Store" of
brianvickers.com, as well as the trackside souvenir trailer and other vendors listed in the "Additional Vendors" section of our website. PLUS,
you get a $5.00 "Purchase Certificate" applicable towards your first purchase of $25 or more through the "Official Merchandise Store" of
brianvickers.com.
That means if you plan to buy $100 or more in Brian Vickers/No. 25 GMAC Racing merchandise in 2006, your BVFC membership will basically PAY FOR ITSELF!
Plus, fans receive a lot for their $19.95, including a complete kit of "hard items" such as a BVFC Koozie® beverage insulator and exclusive access to BVFC
On-Line.
 NASCAR, in partnership with their teams and approved licensees, has introduced a new holographic identification tag; the tag helps race fans quickly and
easily identify genuine officially-licensed merchandise that bears the NASCAR mark(s). Look for this new ID on any new items that include one or more
NASCAR trademarks.
There is no "right" or "wrong" methodology to buying officially-licensed merchandise. The "Official Merchandise Store" of brianvickers.com offers
customers a wide variety of items, from the latest products to special access to merchandise produced in past seasons. Such merchandise should have some
form of notation in the information listed on the product, such as "HMS 20th Anniversary Item" – which was from 2004. For example, the only minor design
features of a 2004 T-shirt that might distinguish it from a 2005 model T-shirt are the HMS 20th Anniversary logo, if present, and subtle car/driver suit
graphics such as the yellow rookie stripe on the rear bumper, or associate sponsors that may have changed. For many race fans, merchandise from past
seasons often tends to retain as much or more "personal value" as present-day offerings. It is simply a matter of personal choice and preference. You
can often find special sale prices on certain past merchandise as well, making it an even better value! In many cases, diecast will retain or even
appreciate in value from past seasons. For example, only a limited number of the HMS 20th Anniversary "Platinum-style" No. 25 GMAC Chevrolet 1:24 diecast
were produced by Action Racing Collectibles for distribution in the fall of 2004. These diecast are still available but will likely become increasingly
rare and begin appreciating in value. Occasionally, a vendor will offer past merchandise that is no longer available through other retail outlets and
will never be produced again. The "Official Merchandise Store" of brianvickers.com offers several such examples of licensed merchandise from the 2003
NASCAR Busch Series championship season of Brian Vickers and GMAC Racing.
The retail price of various diecast is generally a reflection of the amount of detail and quality available in both the product itself and the
packaging. The choice really depends on what you, as a race fan, are looking for. If you would like to purchase a diecast with multiple moving
parts, such as the hood, trunk and suspension, then premium diecast such as that offered by Action might be your best choice. The details on these
models will often distinguish them from the more affordable alternatives. For example, the paint on Action-produced No. 25 GMAC Racing Chevrolets
accurately reproduces the metallic blue base paint and "neon" yellow/green car numbers, while more affordable diecast uses more plain paint and
graphic colors. The packaging will often differ as well; premium diecast will usually include higher-quality packaging for presentation. But for
many race fans who simply want a nice conversation piece, the more affordable diecast allow you to "get a piece of Brian Vickers and the GMAC
Racing team" that can be autographed or displayed for enjoyment with some savings. Both the $20 and $65 diecast are good options for race fans;
it is ultimately a matter of personal preference.
We would like to encourage Brian Vickers fans to educate themselves on basic steps you can take to
avoid becoming the victim of malicious individuals and/or entities who falsely represent either
merchandise and/or autographs as being "authentic." Brian Vickers, LLC. and Hendrick Motorsports
actively review and monitor marketplace conditions for illegal merchandise-related activity and
will reserve the right to prosecute offenders to the full extent permissible by law.
- Officially Licensed – What does it mean?
In general, this term refers to the fact that the persons and/or entities represented by, or through,
a certain product have agreed to work with that product’s manufacturer to design, develop and approve
its production, distribution and merchandising in a formal business and legal capacity. When a product
displays the name, likeness, picture or similar marks of that person and/or entity, they typically retain
the legal right to ownership and control of such marks, but grant limited approval to that manufacturer to
utilize the marks in/on the item(s) produced for retail sale in exchange for a royalty or commission on the
sale of the item(s).
- Genuine Merchandise – Understand and look for the details!
Look for the official corporate marks of the individuals/entities represented by the item, such as Hendrick
Motorsports, BVLLC. and the manufacturer. If the quality of the item, its packaging, related literature
and/or any similar material is of poor quality, this can often be an indication of an imitation product.
However, with the accessibility of today’s technology, it has become simpler to falsely reproduce a logo, tag
or similar identification used for the purpose of authentication. Individuals and/or entities who risk doing
so are in violation of additional commercial trade laws and thus subject to prosecution and conviction of
further criminal acts. The best insurance for protecting your investment in a collectible item is to educate
yourself on what you are looking for – and buying.
- "Certificates of Authenticity" – Not always a guarantee!
We have discovered this is a common way for people to fraudulently sell racing collectibles to unsuspecting
fans on the basis of a claim that the item has been autographed by a personality. With today’s technology,
it is increasingly simple to design and produce a forged "certificate of authenticity." Please remember that
just because a 3rd party seller claims or offers a certificate of authenticity DOES NOT necessarily guarantee
that the autograph is genuine; the certificate itself might be a forgery or misrepresentation. The on-line
internet auction sites appear particularly prone to this practice. In general, the only effective methods
to ensure the validity of your autograph are the following:
- Purchase a "factory-direct" autographed item from a recognized and trusted supplier
(for example, Action Racing Collectibles offered two diecast models in 2003 that included autographs
of Brian Vickers – the Looney Tunes special edition model of the Nextel Cup racecar Brian drove at
Phoenix International Raceway (autograph on packaging sleeve) and the limited edition "1st Win – Raced
Version" model of the racecar Brian drove to his first Busch Series victory at IRP (autograph on hood).
These items will include some type of documentation that the driver’s autograph is genuine.
- Visit the driver in person, or ship the item directly to the driver for an autograph request
– obviously, if you follow either of these steps, you should be assured of receiving your own authentic
autograph. Please see "Autograph Request"
on our website for additional details and requirements.
- Verify the "certificate of authenticity" – Brian Vickers, LLC. and Hendrick Motorsports may
periodically make autographed items available for purchase by the consumer public. In some cases, these
items will include some form of certificate of authenticity. If you are presented such a document,
contact the firm represented by the certificate to verify its accuracy.
- If the price, or nature of the item or autograph seems "too good to be true", it probably is.
The most common type of diecast used when forging autographs is the standard-style models that retail for
approx. $25 (1:24th scale). This is because sellers offering forged autographs usually will not want to
invest any more in the diecast than necessary to make a profit. If the asking price, or the "minimum bid"
in the case of on-line auctions, seems artificially low, it may be because the seller really does not
have the true investment in the item that a genuine article would require. Does the item have multiple
autographs, such as the driver, crewchief and car owner(s)? If so, it would be correspondingly rare on
the marketplace and should command a higher price.
- Ask the seller specific questions (who/what/when/where/why/how?) When did the seller secure
or take ownership of the item? How and where was the autograph(s) secured? A lack of clear answers to
such basic questions should raise concerns over your proposed purchase.
- Actual Examples of How to Avoid Questionable Purchase/Investment
For illustrative purposes only, we are providing the following examples of actual situations BVLLC. and
its legal representatives have documented:
This situation involved a diecast "reproduction" sold via a popular on-line auction service. The person(s)
involved began with a standard Action 1:24th scale diecast of a Casey Mears No. 40 Dodge from Mear’s rookie
season (which already included some red/orange paint) and then took several steps, including paint and
application of water-soluble decals, to emulate the look and appearance of the No. 40 entry driven by Brian
Vickers during his 2002 rookie season in the NASCAR Busch Series. The unsuspecting buyer purchased the item on
the mistaken impression that the car was an "authentic diecast." In fact, if the buyer had taken care to do
some basic research and scrutinize the details of the sale, he/she might have avoided paying as much for this
illegal reproduction as the genuine article. Here’s a list of specific observations:
- Who manufactured the diecast? By researching any common collectibles resource, such as
www.beckett.com,
the buyer could have verified that the only Brian Vickers diecast made in 2002 was produced by Racing Champions.
This diecast is clearly marked as being manufactured by Action. Furthermore, the seller correctly referred to it
as an "Action diecast" in the description.
- Is the item visually correct? By simply verifying the physical appearance of the genuine diecast,
the buyer could have determined that the graphics presented on this item do not match. The quarterpanels of the
authentic diecast display ARMY graphics – in this case, that location is blank. The style of the car number 40
on the doors is also noticeably different from the genuine article.
- Are the various associate and miscellaneous logos, and other small details, accurate? Such items are
much more difficult to correctly reproduce than the basic paint scheme or car number on a diecast. For example,
in this case, none of the white logos displayed on the front or back of the rear quarterpanels – NAC, Stewart,
EMP and Mahle, accurately represent those entities’ respective corporate logos.
- Read the copy and fine-print on the item’s description. We have noted that many sellers,
particularly those using on-line auction sites, frequently use similar terms to attempt to describe
the item being sold in a manner that is arguably misleading. For example, in this case, the description
included the phrase "Custom Made from an Action (diecast)..." within the copy on the item. It is easy to
overlook the meaning of that phrase because it does acknowledge that the unit is an Action diecast and
that it was "custom made", but nonetheless can easily be misinterpreted by an unsuspecting buyer.
These are two separate situations involving genuine officially licensed merchandise (1:24 scale diecast) that
was presented for sale via a popular on-line auction service. Upon discovering the active auction/sale of these
items and conducting a thorough and detailed review, legal representatives of BVLLC. and Brian Vickers immediately
notified the respective sellers that the authenticity of the autographs was being contested and further requested
a "cease & desist" action response. The signature mark of Brian Vickers is a federally-registered trademark,
and thus is protected by United States trademark law. Should the parties involved have refused to respond, BVLLC.
would have reviewed its rights to take additional legal action against the individuals and/or entities involved.
In these cases, here’s a list of specific observations:
- In both cases, the seller utilized a basic diecast model that would normally retail in the $20-25 range;
however, the seller’s minimum bid was no higher than $25, begging the question; why would someone sell an item
with a genuine autograph for potentially no additional premium?
- In comparing the alleged autographs to detailed records on file of Brian Vickers’ actual signature mark(s),
there were obvious discrepancies that led representatives to conclusively determine that the autographs, as
presented, were in fact NOT those of NASCAR driver Brian Vickers.
 In the case of the second example, the sales description alleged that it also had the autographs of Vickers’
team owner and crewchief, and further, that all three autographs were acquired during the "victory lane celebration
at Homestead-Miami Speedway" - when Vickers won the 2003 Busch Series championship. Again, such circumstances as
described by the seller appeared highly questionable and in fact, were established as not taking place.
- Both items were offered with a "certificate of authenticity" – however, said certificate was nothing more
than a statement from the seller (allegedly) that they had purchased the item from another 3rd party source that
claimed the autographs were authentic.
PLEASE NOTE: the information and images associated with the examples contained herein are provided for reference purposes only.
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