just a thought as a lot of posters on this forum have an association with collecting Inkworks cards ( what happened to the Inkworks records )
printing getting permits and licences etc there must of been a massive pile of information etc.
Were these all dumped or destroyed or did the liquidators get them and destroy them ? it would be interesting to find out .
As Allan Caplan is still around dose anybody know how to contact him ,if so can they put up a contact number or E mail address and I will make enquiries and see what can be attained
Thanks

Hi Piko,

I would think that after seven years (or whatever the legal limit to maintain company records is), everything was shredded by the liquidator of Inkworks assets or its legal representation. Who wants 10 years' worth of fileboxes of a company that went out of business over 10 years ago? You don't want that in your garage.

Jess

quote:

Originally posted by piko:
just a thought as a lot of posters on this forum have an association with collecting Inkworks cards ( what happened to the Inkworks records )
printing getting permits and licences etc there must of been a massive pile of information etc.
Were these all dumped or destroyed or did the liquidators get them and destroy them ? it would be interesting to find out .
As Allan Caplan is still around dose anybody know how to contact him ,if so can they put up a contact number or E mail address and I will make enquiries and see what can be attained
Thanks

I don't think Caplan has had any connection with the trading cards industry since Inkworks folded. There was a rumor a few years ago that he was coming back with something, but either it didn't pan out or it was never true in the first place. I'm sure some people know where he is, but I can't recall anyone putting out any information on it. Like Jess said, I doubt there is much of a paper trail left for anything that went on.

Well, I imagine there is probably some effort to keep the private workings of a privately held company out of the limelight.

Of all the things that did get out, I'm surprised the contracts for stars to sign cards didn't make it into the wild. I know some from Fleer did when liquidated, and Topps sells some of theirs through the Topps vault.

But reams of paper about how many cards were printed, who designed what, and what was sold and the prices thereof are probably not going to be found. That's what bulk shredding is for.

Allan is alive and well.

He stopped by the Chicago Show several years ago when he lived in Chicago. But he's moved on to warmer climates now I believe.

Some people hate on Allan. I miss his creativity and willingness to take chances. Miss having him in the hobby.

Ed

Caplan's contributions to modern non-sport cards cannot be understated.

He was actively involved in the hobby in ways we haven't really seen since.

His efforts to promote non-sport cards at major conventions is legendary. Massive booths, huge promo card giveaways, celebrity signings, live sketch cards. . . and appearances outside of just Philly and SDCC.

He was always trying new licenses, always trying to find the next hot property, and I think was one of the first to bring A-list celebrities to autograph cards -- Angelina Jolie comes to mind.

The Inkworks website still ranks as one of the best (if not the best) manufacturer websites ever created. They had scans of every sketch card, which hasn't been done since.

Behind the scenes -- when I was writing for NSU -- Inkworks was always one of the best/easiest manufacturers to work with getting information for articles. Caplan even set up interview an with JJ Abrams for the magazine.

As to this thread -- even if Caplan or someone still has Inkworks' records and trade secrets I am sure they are not going to just make them public.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: webjon,

Allan was great. He promoted like no one else in the industry. He hired great staff, I was sad when Doug left. I am sure all the records are long gone. If they exist, they are sitting in a storage area. There are two hospitals in my area and there is a 10 story building that rents record space that is almost full of old medical records and business records. The yearly rent is base on the amount of space you take up. At the appropriate time they dispose of it for you.

Yeah all that's true about the legacy, but everybody remembers endings, and a lot of people got burned that didn't expect it. Not me, because I wasn't invested in their sets that much and actually got most of my Inkworks autograph cards after the liquidation.

Still, if so many bridges weren't burned, I'm sure he could of opened something else or joined someone else in the industry and we probably would have been better for it. Shame really.

quote:

Originally posted by webjon:
Caplan's contributions to modern non-sport cards cannot be understated.

He was actively involved in the hobby in ways we haven't really seen since.

His efforts to promote non-sport cards at major conventions is legendary. Massive booths, huge promo card giveaways, celebrity signings, live sketch cards. . . and appearances outside of just Philly and SDCC.

He was always trying new licenses, always trying to find the next hot property, and I think was one of the first to bring A-list celebrities to autograph cards -- Angelina Jolie comes to mind.

The Inkworks website still ranks as one of the best (if not the best) manufacturer websites ever created. They had scans of every sketch card, which hasn't been done since.

Behind the scenes -- when I was writing for NSU -- Inkworks was always one of the best/easiest manufacturers to work with getting information for articles. Caplan even set up interview an with JJ Abrams for the magazine.

As to this thread -- even if Caplan or someone still has Inkworks' records and trade secrets I am sure they are not going to just make them public.

Allan was great and it was such a shame that things went sour at the end. Met Allan a couple of times in the UK - once at Birmingham where Lost was released in the UK first and again in London. Lovely man who did so much good for the hobby

Allan was nothing but a gentleman whenever I interacted with him over the years. Sadly, he made some business mistakes, in my opinion, the most significant of which was the "stick on" autographs towards the end. I did manage to find the unreleased Supernatural Connections Autograph sticker promo cards of the 2 main actors and they are tucked away in my collection, sticker signatures or not.

I also liked much of what Alan did. Rising in the card boom as business it could be tough waters to sail. It is always a bit sad to see a card manufacture who stretches out to more unique titles not get rewarded in the end.

Number one complaint will be that it always bothers me when a company built on selling limited collectibles shies away from releasing production numbers.

I did not want their operating records just if it was available the issuing and printing of certain cards ,and if and how and who they were distributed too.
Over the years I have seen unusual Inkworks cards for sale EG uncut pairs sheets of 4, 6, 9,.I myself have about 40 unusual blocks pairs etc .
Example uncut pair of cards I have a few of these.
2003 Robots H2003 Alias 3 AR1 unmarked as a joined pair
Serenity AR1 unmarked Charmed Conversations AR1 marked Dorian Gregory as a joined pair. Plus other joined pairs of redemption cards .It would be interesting if we could find out the reasoning behind this type of cards Or why they were printed like that.
As far as i know we now do not have access to the Inkworks web site as these might be mentioned on it and it could be more enlightening than we think it would be

Try the wayback machine:

http://web.archive.org/web/201...//inkworkscards.com/

To quell any apparent fears that I would post a malicious website here is the Wikipedia page on the wayback machine:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wayback_Machine

If you want to see an archive of Inkworks website it is on there -- if you don't like my URL feel free to search the Wayback machine yourself.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: webjon,

Although information can linger on the internet long after it becomes obsolete, websites don't remain when the owner stops paying for them. Watch those Java downloads. I don't know if that site is good.

When Inkworks folded up, it had way more stuff in the Vault than anyone expected. That was one of problems with the liquidation sale, but those never expiring, always honored redemption cards could have been some sort of a tipoff, if people didn't like it so much.

Anyway, I think you have good questions, but I don't think you will find much by way of real answers.

The only Inkworks cards I collected were James Bond and X-Files. I really enjoyed them at the time, and still do. Always very colourful and the base and chase sets were imaginatively put together with some strong design work.

I think a great strength of theirs was that set compositions were not too intimidating for most collectors, but the 9 + 6 + 3 chase card forumla got a bit stale by the end and had it's critics. If I was to be really critical, I would say some of the card stock used was a bit cheap (a bit thin). On the other hand, they were always keen on their foils, etched foils and embossing which always made their chase cards feel a bit more exciting. I think their binders were the nicest in the business also.

All that said, if Inkworks had just folded or ceased making cards like Artbox or Cryptozioc did, I think people would haven almost exclusively positive things to say. However, two things stick in my mind that soured me on them in particular.

I once specifically asked Allan, to his face, what happens to un-redeemed cards after a certain time or remaining cards for licences that had expired. He said that they were all destroyed, as per the licensor agreement. Well the liquidation inventory proved that to be a big fat lie. I don't think that we should collect for investment purposes but 'Uncle Allan' did leave a lot of the value of people's collections in the toilet because he backdoored a HUGE amount of stock, the majority of which should have been in sealed product in the first place. As a customer I don't expect to receive the unadulterated truth regarding business practices but to be bare-faced lied to, erodes a lot of previous loyalty and goodwill.

Secondly, when Inkworks introduced sticker autos at the very end I think it was the final nail in the coffin.
Collectors on here were always very vocal about their almost universal dislike for sticker autos but Inkworks ignored those feelings and plowed on regardless - adamantly asserting this move was for 'security' purposes, when we all know that stickers are primarily used as a cost cutting exercise. Not only was the argument insultingly unconvincing, the silver stickers they used looked absolutely horrendous. It was disappointing and frustrating in equal measure that they could not see this backlash coming. I still can't believe they misjudged this one so badly. It was an obviously poor business decision from a company that always strove to be one of the most customer-centric of manufacturers.

Piko, I think you are a bit optimistic to hope to find previously confidential production data, but I agree some production quantities and distribution lines would be interesting to know. I don't necessarily think such things would always be recorded formally anyway.

I think you meant Artbox and maybe Breygent. Cryptozoic would be upset.

I think the backlash really came from many people who trusted what they were told and held on to sealed product with redemptions and the redemptions themselves because they thought they would be honored. Then when the end came with no announcement and everything was sold off fast, not only were they stuck with having the cards they held redemptions for sold out from under them, the bulk sale crashed prices on every one who had the cards. Average hits were dirt cheap and many of the rare hits dropped because they were a lot less rare overnight. Even the well connected didn't know how much stuff was in the Vault.

People who were the most loyal Inkwork customers lost money, both on paper and in hand, and they didn't expect it. I think that's it in a nutshell.

Let’s not forget that Allen did a lot to promote the non-sports hobby, spending large sums to have a booth in the center of comic con for many years with free signings and sketches, along with the standard promos and other giveaways. Other manufacturers rode on his coattails, and benefitted from it. He also was at most all major non-sports shows promoting and giving out cards to show attendees. It was not cheap to do that but he did. His downfall was he produced things he loved but they just didn’t make it for collectors. Even just a couple of the projects that didn’t work proved successful, things could have been quite different.

As far as selling off the left over inventory, he was under no obligation to disclose anything. If it was your financial future and well being at stake, would you have cut your losses and did what Allan did? Be honest. He clearly was in bad financial position and did what was best for his company and himself. Most of us would do the same thing. Yes, we lost some value with our collections, but I still have many Inkworks cards that have good value and that should never be why you collect in the first place.

quote:

Originally posted by Batman:
Let’s not forget that Allen did a lot to promote the non-sports hobby, spending large sums to have a booth in the center of comic con for many years with free signings and sketches, along with the standard promos and other giveaways. Other manufacturers rode on his coattails, and benefitted from it. He also was at most all major non-sports shows promoting and giving out cards to show attendees. It was not cheap to do that but he did. His downfall was he produced things he loved but they just didn’t make it for collectors. Even just a couple of the projects that didn’t work proved successful, things could have been quite different.

As far as selling off the left over inventory, he was under no obligation to disclose anything. If it was your financial future and well being at stake, would you have cut your losses and did what Allan did? Be honest. He clearly was in bad financial position and did what was best for his company and himself. Most of us would do the same thing. Yes, we lost some value with our collections, but I still have many Inkworks cards that have good value and that should never be why you collect in the first place.

Well said

quote:

Originally posted by piko:
I did not want their operating records just if it was available the issuing and printing of certain cards ,and if and how and who they were distributed too.
Over the years I have seen unusual Inkworks cards for sale EG uncut pairs sheets of 4, 6, 9,.I myself have about 40 unusual blocks pairs etc .
Example uncut pair of cards I have a few of these.
2003 Robots H2003 Alias 3 AR1 unmarked as a joined pair
Serenity AR1 unmarked Charmed Conversations AR1 marked Dorian Gregory as a joined pair. Plus other joined pairs of redemption cards .It would be interesting if we could find out the reasoning behind this type of cards Or why they were printed like that.
As far as i know we now do not have access to the Inkworks web site as these might be mentioned on it and it could be more enlightening than we think it would be

The reasoning behind the pairings is actually quite simple...

Redemptions and promos were printed on whatever set's sheet that might be printing that week. I imagine almost all redemptions were printed at least 1 or 2 sets prior to the actual set, because they had to to be prepared prior to the actual product.

Promos were the same. New license, new promo on whatever product is being printed. And most promos were printed in the thousands because they were printed with base cards. Some, like Alias or Charmed foils, might have had to be printed in a special run due to the cardstock. But the majority of promos were printed on the uncut sheet with another product.

Now, why uncut pairs and larger uncuts exist I cannot say. It actually would take a special cutting to get those cut that way so it would cost more to do it. Probably aren't a huge number of those because of that alone.

Ed

quote:

Originally posted by X:

I once specifically asked Allan, to his face, what happens to un-redeemed cards after a certain time or remaining cards for licences that had expired. He said that they were all destroyed, as per the licensor agreement. Well the liquidation inventory proved that to be a big fat lie. I don't think that we should collect for investment purposes but 'Uncle Allan' did leave a lot of the value of people's collections in the toilet because he backdoored a HUGE amount of stock, the majority of which should have been in sealed product in the first place. As a customer I don't expect to receive the unadulterated truth regarding business practices but to be bare-faced lied to, erodes a lot of previous loyalty and goodwill.

This in a nutshell was what killed Allan's legacy in this hobby and i take no pleasure in saying it. I try to remember all the good things which he did and there were lots of them over many years but i just keep coming back to this at the end, very sad all round.

Liquidations at at the closing of trading card manufacturers is pretty normal. Immediately liquidations from Collect-a-card, Comic Images and FPG come to mind. There are certainly others.

Despite the liquidation I think largely the Inkworks cards from the late 90s and early 2000s have fared as well as similar cards from Topps and Rittenhouse . . .

When FPG liquidated you could buy cases of what seemed like any FPG product for $5 a box for what felt like forever. I just checked eBay and there are STILL cases of FPG product available for $5 a box. I think the sticker products were like $3 a box.

Comic Images was selling autographs and case hits directly to collectors at conventions for if I recall correctly $5 each. I certainly paid way less than $5 a card for large lots of CI autographs and unsigned autographs I was buying on eBay.

I think Inkworks autographs have largely recovered because they were liquidated in a product sold directly to collectors -- well that and the fact that this liquidation was over a decade ago.

If people are still angry a decade later nothing I say is going to change their mind. . . Which is unfortunate. As I said earlier Inkworks contributions to modern entertainment cards cannot be understated.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: webjon,