Start of press release from The Memorabilia Road Show:
Steve Geppi, a part-owner of the Baltimore Orioles and a prominent name in comic book distribution and collecting, has arranged to purchase a controlling interest in The Memorabilia Road Show, the sports auction house which leaped into prominence last year with its business plan of accepting consignments directly from athletes.
The company will be known as Geppi's Memorabilia Road Show and will be headquartered at Geppi's Timonium, Maryland headquarters of Diamond Comic Distributors.
With the purchase, Geppi (pronounced JEP-ee) will enter the sports auction category, bringing with him a lifelong love of sports and involvement with both the Orioles and the Babe Ruth Birthplace and Museum. Geppi's Diamond International Galleries division already owns Hake's Americana and Collectibles, the nation's premier pop culture auction house. With Memorabilia Road Show, he is acquiring one of the success stories of 2004, a company whose concept of "direct-from-athletes" (or their families, estates, or sports insiders) will continue to be its hallmark.
Click here for the full press release.
-Bob