June 2003 (Newstream) -- The hottest new sports collectable is making its way to New York City and its name is Babooshkah™! The "creative factory" of Bensussen Deutsch and Associates (BD&A) that brought America the Bobblehead craze of the last 3 years is bringing the Russian-inspired stacking doll to the June 7 New York Mets' interleague game against the Seattle Mariners. The first 12,000 kids at Saturday's game will receive the Babooshkah™ featuring a fan favorite - Mike Piazza.
"It is so exciting to be involved in bringing the latest trend in sports collectibles to the Big Apple - a town known for its sports fans," says Jay Deutsch, president and chief executive officer of BD&A. "As fans we love to create truly unique tributes to some of our favorite players. We believe the Babooshkah™ is going to leave its mark on the sports collectible scene for a long time to come."
"The Mets always strive to add exciting and innovative giveaways to our promotional calendar," says Dave Howard, Mets Executive Vice President of Business Operations. "We believe our younger fans will really enjoy this new collectible."
The June 7 Mike Piazza Babooshkah™ is a unique collectable opportunity as it is represents the first New York team to offer the stacking doll that is already taking the sporting world by storm. There are three Mike Piazza dolls in this stacking set, in both home and away uniforms. The Babooshkah is accompanied with a Certificate of Authenticity sized to match the dimensions of a baseball card, these 12,000 are sequentially numbered for added value. But how did they come up with that name?
"We decided to trademark our sporty version of the Russian Matryoshka doll as Babooshkah™ for two main reasons," Deutsch explains. "First, though the Russian nesting dolls are more commonly known as 'Matryoshka' (and 'babushkas' are actually Russian grandmothers or scarves worn by grandmothers), they are sometimes endearingly referred to as 'babushkas'. As a term of endearment, 'Babooshkah™' echoes the same kind of affection people have for their favorite sports stars."
"Secondly," Deutsch continues, "Babooshkah is just more fun to say!"
The Babooshkah™ barometer is already on the rise as their MLB debut at a recent Texas Rangers game flooded eBay with bids. Following that game, Kansas City saw fans lining up for the George Brett Babooshkah on May 31.
ABOUT BD&A
BD&A, the country's first full-service merchandise agency, extends brands for Fortune 1000 companies around the world with custom, three-dimensional merchandise-based marketing campaigns. With 2002 revenues exceeding $100 million, the Woodinville, Washington-based company is the leading promotional merchandise agency in the United States and employs nearly 250 in 14 locations nationwide. BD&A's extensive client list includes some of the world's most recognized brands including adidas, Agilent Technologies, AOL, Bank of America, Dell, Delta Air Lines, DreamWorks, Eli Lilly and Company, ExxonMobil, Microsoft, Nintendo, Pepsi, Texas Instruments and Yahoo. Additionally, as the number one in-stadium sports promotion agency in the United States, BD&A provides merchandise and promotions for the NFL, NBA, NHL and MLB. The Bobblehead and the rally rag are two of the more popular sports crazes they are responsible for fueling. For more information, visit the BD&A Web site at www.bdainc.com.
