The last 12 months weren't anything to crow about in the sports memorabilia industry. Retailers reflect on a disappointing year, and what some of the causes were.

Hobby Pioneer Stuart Evans, father of Lelands.com founder Joshua Leland Evans, died Jan. 4 at his home in Puerto Rico.

The combination of hall of famers from baseball and football helped propel Mastro Auctions second successful live sports auction of 2008. The event, held on Dec. 8 at The Sports Museum of America in New York City, featured two sessions, “Legends of the Diamond” which offered more than 80 premium lots of high-end baseball memorabilia and “Legends of the Gridiron” that presented more than 250 Hall of Fame-associated pieces of football memorabilia.

Huggins & Scott's next auction will feature a revolutionary concept, designed to save bidders money and increase the profits for consignors. A graduated buyer’s premium will be instituted for this and all future auctions. Read on for details on this news, as well as a preview of the sale.

Global Authentication's petition, filed Dec. 16 with U.S. Bankruptcy Court’s Central District of California, lists estimated assets between $50,000-$100,000 and estimated liabilities of between $1 million and $10 million.

Topps and CMG Worldwide have reached a settlement with Upper Deck regarding a licensing issue over the use of legendary players in baseball sets.

One of the defining moments in American history will take place with the inauguration of Barack Obama as the next president of the U.S. Jackie Robinson was the first African American to break the color barrier in Major League Baseball. Obama and Robinson will now be featured on the same card, with cut signatures in Topps American Heritage.   

A couple from Arizona enjoyed opening packs of cards from Upper Deck together. So Mike DeRose decided to propose using a Ultimate Collection pack of cards, with help from the Upper Deck.  

After two court rulings in the U.S. and overseas, Upper Deck still has the right to market, sell and distribute the Yu-Gi-Oh! trading card game.   

Memory Lane knew it had a good thing with the Mickey Mantle cards offered in its December Rarities auction. The Mantle cards from the Bruce Griggs Collection, helped push the auction total to $1.5 million.