They came up with an idea that even caught the attention of a star hockey player, but they miscalculated. Although the idea of selling hockey collectible banknotes seemed attractive, mainly due to the design and exclusivity, customers did not share the enthusiasm as the creators expected. That is why the Czech startup Top Legends has now filed for bankruptcy and has to deal with debts that amount to almost 250 million crowns. As his boss Radomír Sabela tells CzechCrunch, “making a name for yourself in the global market is harder than we thought”.
Everyone knows the collectible sports cards that can be exchanged and, with a bit of luck, good money. The Czech startup Top Legends wanted to take this passion to a new level. Instead of paper cards, he bet on commemorative banknotes for hockey fans. And he went big: for the main issue of hockey notes, he chose Wayne Gretzky, one of the greatest players who ever lived, to introduce the new product to the United States in an official campaign.
Today, the 63-year-old Canadian became one of the two athletes that Top Legends printed on banknotes. The other one was Jaromír Jágr. Hockey enthusiasts thus had the opportunity to purchase a collectible product consecrated by the icons of the sport. But it turned out that it was not enough. Although the company led by Radomír Sabela had an objectively pleasing thing in its hands, it failed to promote it sufficiently, people did not know about it – and that is often the road to hell in business.
Collectible banknote with a drawing of Wayne Gretzky
“Getting it sold on the global market is harder than we thought,” introduces Sabela now. “Ignorance of the Top Legends brand and lack of awareness of the value of the memory stick among customers – be it emotional, investment or collectible – were barriers that could not be broken despite several marketing campaigns,” continues the creator of the project. Therefore, he decided to close the startup and face the pressure that now awaits him in connection with almost a quarter of a billion in liabilities.
As it comes from finding Diary N, Top Legends had only sold a fraction of what it had planned to sell in the past year. Sabela confirmed for CzechCrunch that only 250 of the lower tens of thousands of printed, already finished collector’s banknotes were sold for approximately one million crowns. The rest is in storage. “It was the period from last July, when we launched the campaign with Gretzky, until May of this year,” clarifies.
The biggest interest, although still small in the context of the volume of preprinted banknotes, was during this year’s World Championship, which the Czechs won and caused euphoria in the country for a few days. During May, Top Legends managed to sell 43 products with an illustrated likeness of Gretzky. But in reality it didn’t change anything, the commitments were too high.
“The total volume of obligations of Top Legends is 213 million crowns in principal and 25 million crowns in interest, i.e. 238 million crowns in total,” clarifies Sabela. And he owes several entities. Among them is, for example, the State Printing Office of Valuables, which produced the banknotes – it has claims against it in the amount of less than eight million crowns. He also owes the American company WDG Enterprises, which represents the aforementioned Gretzky, more than 22 million crowns.
He also owes over 11 million crowns to the company that represents, for example, the famous sprinter Usain Bolt, Pace Sports Management. “We state everything transparently in the insolvency application,” adds Sabela. Despite the problems, he still believes in the project, where the owner of Česká dukaty Vladimír Olmr is in the role of executive, and has no intention of resenting him.
“We are trying to find a partner who would ensure sales through their sales channels. The potential of the collectibles market is huge, and according to estimates, it could grow to a value of over $200 billion in eight years.” complements.
Wayne Gretzky with a commemorative banknote
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