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Overnight Briefing & General Reality Check
February 15, 2010
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President's Day:
Welcome to President's Day 2010.
Most valuable autograph? The signature of one of our lesser-known presidents, WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. A Harrison signature penned while NOT in office is worth around $1-thousand. But since he was in office for only 31 days before he died of pneumonia, fewer than 50 documents signed during his presidency are known to exist and are each worth at least $70-thousand!
Behind Harrison's 'John Hancock' in value are (in order), material from GEORGE WASHINGTON, THOMAS JEFFERSON, ABRAHAM LINCOLN and JOHN ADAMS. Value: from $2,500 to $10-thousand. (Lincoln is not higher on the list because he was a president in wartime and signed hundreds of official documents and sent hundreds of letters and cards, so there's a fair amount of his paper out there.)
Bottom line: the ultimate value of a piece of presidential paper is determined by three things: rarity, then popularity or historical ranking, and condition.Toy Fair buzz:
Marketers from around the world have gathered in New York for the annual Toy Fair. Marketing Daily expects the big buzz will be around:
--Fisher-Price's Bigfoot, an interactive monster with a child-friendly remote, so kids can make the legendary beast walk, talk, eat, throw a ball, and do somersaults.
--Hasbro's Beyblade: Metal Fusion Battle Top line, which come with a ripcord launcher and assembly tools, to custom-build tops for each battle.
--Two new versions of Monopoly --Monopoly: Revolution Edition, with a round game board and song and sound clips, and Monopoly: U Build, with a snap-together game track that lets users customize the board.
--Mattel's Puppy Tweets, "the new rage in social netwoofing." A tag with integrated motion and sound sensors attaches to the collar, which then connects to a USB receiver, and after the owner starts the dog's Twitter account, tweets capture the dog's "level of activity whether barking, sleeping or playing, translating it to humorous or poignant tweets that are sure to make dog owners follow, sit or stay."
Also: 50-year-old Barbie has unveiled her next career move --the 126th career for the brand. More than half a million consumers voted between architect, computer engineer, environmentalist, news anchor or surgeon... and the winner is (may I have the envelope please): Computer Engineer Barbie! She comes wearing an itty-bitty bluetooth unit along with a Barbie-sized laptop and smartphone.
However, most girls voted for News Anchor Barbie, which has also been done and comes with a pink suit and a news folder, camera and microphone. Guess Mattel doesn't realize no self-respecting news anchor ever carries their own camera!
And, lest we forget our roots, Mattel's new Dance Star Mickey will have a dance-off with DONNY OSMOND. (Kaye)Asleep at the switch:
The nation of Chile has fired the head of the Chilean mint after he misspelled the country's name on the currency.
The BBC says the 50-peso coins minted back in 2008 appear to come from a country spelled C-H-I-I-E instead of C-H-I-L-E. But, the error went completely unnoticed for nearly 2-years.
Now, general manager GREGORIO INIGUEZ is out of a job --along with several fellow employees. The mint says they will issue new coins with the correct spelling. But, they'll also leave the mispelled coins in circulation. Partly because they've become valuable collector's items. (Still)Top 10 Most Popular Dog Breeds:
With the annual Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show going on tonight and tomorrow night, here's the most recent (2009) listing of the most popular breeds (source: American Kennel Clubs).
10. Miniature Schnauzers
9. Shih Tzu
8. Poodles
7. Boxers
6. Dachshunds
5. Beagles
4. German Shepherds
3. Yorkshire Terriers
2. Golden Retrievers
1. Labrador Retrievers
Tomorrow: Most popular male and female dog names! -
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