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- Jan 3, 2001
Pixar Stock Certificates to Be Collectable
By MICHAEL LIEDTKE | AP Business Writer
Posted March 20, 2006, 12:32 AM EST
SAN FRANCISCO -- Pixar Animation Studios Inc.'s upcoming sale to Walt Disney Co. has inspired an audience of investors more interested in buying a piece of paper than a piece of the $7.4 billion deal.
All these people really want is one of Pixar's stock certificates, the commemorative scrolls given to shareholders of the computer animation pioneer behind hit movies like "Toy Story" and "The Incredibles."
Once Disney absorbs the company later this spring, Pixar will stop issuing the colorful certificates decorated with "Toy Story" stars Woody and Buzz Lightyear -- just one of the reasons why this particular piece of paper is so treasured.
"It's like a piece of art," said Brian Giboney, who recently added Pixar to his collection of stock certificates from about 100 different companies. "And it's not something that you are going to be able to buy down the road."
Giboney, 35, keeps his Pixar certificate in a safe place, just like the rest of his collection, because he believes the documents will become more valuable as computer databases increasingly replace paper records of stock ownership. He prizes his collection so much that he asked The Associated Press to withhold his home city to thwart potential thieves.
Other people like San Francisco resident Lily Chang want a Pixar certificate purely for emotional reasons. She bought five Pixar shares shortly after the Jan. 24 announcement of the Disney sale just so she could get a stock certificate, which she tucked into one of her old college textbooks in hopes of getting the wrinkles out.
"I feel like a dork because it feels a bit obsessive," said Chang, 36, who once dreamed of working for Pixar. "I am never going to be selling this (certificate) on eBay though. You can't put a price on sentiment."
With the Disney deal looming, many people are buying just one share of Pixar stock because that's the least expensive way to get certificates before they become obsolete.
Pixar's stock price recently has been hovering around $65, but getting a certificate costs another $35 to $40 in additional fees at places like OneShare.com and Frame A Stock Inc., which specialize in the service. Throw in the frame that many people have been buying to memorialize the Pixar certificates and the total cost is closer to $150.
That price hasn't scared off buyers at San Francisco-based OneShare, where orders for Pixar stock certificates are running 35 times higher than the same time last year.
"It's been like Christmas all over again for us," said Byron Beach, OneShare's vice president of marketing.
Pixar sales have tripled at Frame A Stock, and the Fort Myers, Fla.-based company expects demand to accelerate even more as it steps up its promotional efforts during the next month, said President Tim Stockton.
Stock certificates used to be the standard way of denoting ownership in a publicly held company, but that has changed dramatically during the past decade as the securities industry has shifted to electronic record-keeping to reduce costs. The Depository Trust & Clearing Corp., which settles most U.S. stock trades, now has just 3.4 million stock certificates in its vaults, down from roughly 30 million in 1990.
Certificates are expected to become even more rare with the passage of a new law last year in Delaware, where more than half of the nation's publicly traded companies are incorporated because of the state's favorable business rules. Delaware has dropped a requirement forcing all companies to issue stock certificates, making the choice optional.
The rise of paperless record keeping is helping to popularize scripophily -- the collection of old stock and bond certificates.
Some of these collectors are strictly in it for the money, hoping to come across something as valuable as vintage Standard Oil Co. stock certificates issued in the 19th century.
Some of Standard Oil's 1873 certificates, signed by John D. Rockefeller, have fetched anywhere from $8,500 to $130,000 apiece, said Bob Kerstein, who runs Scripophily.com, which has become a magnet for collectors.
Other collectors are just looking for a memento that sums up a particular era. That's one reason why the stock certificates of Enron Corp. -- an emblem of corporate scandal -- were recently listed on Scripophily for prices ranging from $49.95 to $375. Enron's stock disintegrated in late 2001 when the company went bankrupt.
It also helps to have a flashy certificate. That factor seems to be driving demand for eToys Inc., a relic of the dot-com boom that went bankrupt in 2001. Its ornate certificate, featuring toys alongside its red-and-blue logo, demands $125 to $250.
Even before the Disney sale, Pixar was among a handful of companies whose stock certificates have been a perennial favorite.
Other high-demand stock certificates include Harley-Davidson Inc., Ford Motor Co., Dreamworks Animation SKG Inc., Tiffany & Co., Coca-Cola Co., Starbucks Inc., Microsoft Inc. and Apple Computer Inc.
Except for a few brief periods, Disney's stock certificate has been the top seller at OneShare since former bond trader Lance Lee started the company a decade ago. Since then, OneShare has sold more than $20 million in stock, Lee said.
Disney's stock certificates are adorned with drawings of Mickey Mouse, Tinkerbell and several other pop culture icons, making the documents popular gift items for parents and grandparents shopping for children's gifts with an investment twist. Because Disney is buying Pixar with its own stock, Pixar shareholders will be eligible to receive a Disney certificate after the deal is completed.
Pixar supplanted Disney as OneShare's most popular certificate as soon as the sale was announced, Beach said. It's the longest stretch that any company besides Disney has topped OneShare's sales charts, which didn't surprise Lee.
"If you are a Pixar fan," Lee said, "there's something a lot more substantial about buying the company's stock certificate instead of getting some figurine of a character in one of Pixar's movies."
By MICHAEL LIEDTKE | AP Business Writer
Posted March 20, 2006, 12:32 AM EST
SAN FRANCISCO -- Pixar Animation Studios Inc.'s upcoming sale to Walt Disney Co. has inspired an audience of investors more interested in buying a piece of paper than a piece of the $7.4 billion deal.
All these people really want is one of Pixar's stock certificates, the commemorative scrolls given to shareholders of the computer animation pioneer behind hit movies like "Toy Story" and "The Incredibles."
Once Disney absorbs the company later this spring, Pixar will stop issuing the colorful certificates decorated with "Toy Story" stars Woody and Buzz Lightyear -- just one of the reasons why this particular piece of paper is so treasured.
"It's like a piece of art," said Brian Giboney, who recently added Pixar to his collection of stock certificates from about 100 different companies. "And it's not something that you are going to be able to buy down the road."
Giboney, 35, keeps his Pixar certificate in a safe place, just like the rest of his collection, because he believes the documents will become more valuable as computer databases increasingly replace paper records of stock ownership. He prizes his collection so much that he asked The Associated Press to withhold his home city to thwart potential thieves.
Other people like San Francisco resident Lily Chang want a Pixar certificate purely for emotional reasons. She bought five Pixar shares shortly after the Jan. 24 announcement of the Disney sale just so she could get a stock certificate, which she tucked into one of her old college textbooks in hopes of getting the wrinkles out.
"I feel like a dork because it feels a bit obsessive," said Chang, 36, who once dreamed of working for Pixar. "I am never going to be selling this (certificate) on eBay though. You can't put a price on sentiment."
With the Disney deal looming, many people are buying just one share of Pixar stock because that's the least expensive way to get certificates before they become obsolete.
Pixar's stock price recently has been hovering around $65, but getting a certificate costs another $35 to $40 in additional fees at places like OneShare.com and Frame A Stock Inc., which specialize in the service. Throw in the frame that many people have been buying to memorialize the Pixar certificates and the total cost is closer to $150.
That price hasn't scared off buyers at San Francisco-based OneShare, where orders for Pixar stock certificates are running 35 times higher than the same time last year.
"It's been like Christmas all over again for us," said Byron Beach, OneShare's vice president of marketing.
Pixar sales have tripled at Frame A Stock, and the Fort Myers, Fla.-based company expects demand to accelerate even more as it steps up its promotional efforts during the next month, said President Tim Stockton.
Stock certificates used to be the standard way of denoting ownership in a publicly held company, but that has changed dramatically during the past decade as the securities industry has shifted to electronic record-keeping to reduce costs. The Depository Trust & Clearing Corp., which settles most U.S. stock trades, now has just 3.4 million stock certificates in its vaults, down from roughly 30 million in 1990.
Certificates are expected to become even more rare with the passage of a new law last year in Delaware, where more than half of the nation's publicly traded companies are incorporated because of the state's favorable business rules. Delaware has dropped a requirement forcing all companies to issue stock certificates, making the choice optional.
The rise of paperless record keeping is helping to popularize scripophily -- the collection of old stock and bond certificates.
Some of these collectors are strictly in it for the money, hoping to come across something as valuable as vintage Standard Oil Co. stock certificates issued in the 19th century.
Some of Standard Oil's 1873 certificates, signed by John D. Rockefeller, have fetched anywhere from $8,500 to $130,000 apiece, said Bob Kerstein, who runs Scripophily.com, which has become a magnet for collectors.
Other collectors are just looking for a memento that sums up a particular era. That's one reason why the stock certificates of Enron Corp. -- an emblem of corporate scandal -- were recently listed on Scripophily for prices ranging from $49.95 to $375. Enron's stock disintegrated in late 2001 when the company went bankrupt.
It also helps to have a flashy certificate. That factor seems to be driving demand for eToys Inc., a relic of the dot-com boom that went bankrupt in 2001. Its ornate certificate, featuring toys alongside its red-and-blue logo, demands $125 to $250.
Even before the Disney sale, Pixar was among a handful of companies whose stock certificates have been a perennial favorite.
Other high-demand stock certificates include Harley-Davidson Inc., Ford Motor Co., Dreamworks Animation SKG Inc., Tiffany & Co., Coca-Cola Co., Starbucks Inc., Microsoft Inc. and Apple Computer Inc.
Except for a few brief periods, Disney's stock certificate has been the top seller at OneShare since former bond trader Lance Lee started the company a decade ago. Since then, OneShare has sold more than $20 million in stock, Lee said.
Disney's stock certificates are adorned with drawings of Mickey Mouse, Tinkerbell and several other pop culture icons, making the documents popular gift items for parents and grandparents shopping for children's gifts with an investment twist. Because Disney is buying Pixar with its own stock, Pixar shareholders will be eligible to receive a Disney certificate after the deal is completed.
Pixar supplanted Disney as OneShare's most popular certificate as soon as the sale was announced, Beach said. It's the longest stretch that any company besides Disney has topped OneShare's sales charts, which didn't surprise Lee.
"If you are a Pixar fan," Lee said, "there's something a lot more substantial about buying the company's stock certificate instead of getting some figurine of a character in one of Pixar's movies."
