By CARL CAMPANILE
June 16, 2008
Manufacturers, sellers and collectors are cashing in on the best presidential campaign ever for memorabilia.
Mort Berkowitz, owner of Bold Concepts in Times Square, has made 700 different buttons in a record-shattering year for his business.
"I have over 150 different Obama buttons. I've sold 110,000 Obama buttons, 30,000 Hillary Clinton buttons and 10,000 John McCain buttons," Berkowitz said.
Among his best selling buttons is one bearing an image of Chelsea Clinton with a word balloon saying, "Don't tell mama, I'm votin' for Obama."
Berkowitz sells most of his stock in bulk to political clubs, and many will be in circulation at the upcoming national conventions.
A mint-condition baseball autographed by Obama recently sold at auction for $2,700.
"There's not enough supply to meet the demand for Obama," said Brian Marren of Mastro Auctions.
On eBay, collectors have snatched up 21,394 pieces of Obama memorabilia over the past three months.
By comparison, customers bought 4,411 John McCain collectibles. An autographed Topps trading card of McCain sold for $2,276.
