Kraken Sports & Media, 850 pages
Michael MacCambridge, editor
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For the football fan who has everything, or those that can afford anything, Kraken Sports & Media delivers the perfect gift for your fan, available for delivery before kickoff on Super Bowl Sunday in its recently released "Super Bowl XL Opus" Deluxe and MVP editions.
The 40th anniversary work was limited to 20,000 copies, all of which are hand stitched and leather bound. The 850-page opus includes more than 1,200 photos, more than 30 percent of which have never been published before. The 20-inch-by-20-inch work weighs more than 85 pounds and is delivered in two-days via DHL to your doorstep.
To protect your investment, the tome is triple-boxed during its trip and the work resides in an 8mm hand crafted silk clamshell box. For the owner, each individually numbered edition carries with it a certificate of authenticity as well as a pair of white gloves.
"Super Bowl XL Opus" has to be considered an investment, coming in with a price tag of $4,000 for the 19,600 available Deluxe Editions and a stunning $40,000 for the 400 produced MVP Editions.
What separates the two different productions is the exclusivity and value associated with the MVP edition.
The MVP edition is signed by all 35 living Super Bowl MVPs on the book's autograph page, making it very attractive to the collector and investor.
One of the goals of Kraken Sports & Media is to promote the exclusivity of the Opus ownership and those MVP members. Besides receiving the autographs of all 35 living Super Bowl MVPs, each owner will also receive a print of each one of the MVP's portraits taken by legendary Sports Illustrated photographer Walter Iooss last year at Super Bowl XL in Detroit, utilizing the limited edition Polariod portrait camera.
The camera stands five-feet high and weighs 235 pounds. Despite its size and bulk, the reproduction is remarkable in color or black and white, with its original 20-inch-by-24-inch prints.
It doesn't stop there; with membership, comes its privileges. Each "Super Bowl XL Opus MVP Edition" owner will have the opportunity to have a portrait sitting with Iooss on the 20-by-24 Polaroid portrait camera. The invitation is open to the MVP owners to have their family, friends, colleagues or business associates to be part of the once-in-a-lifetime experience.
Kraken Sports & Media isn't the first publisher to bring a four-digit sports publication onto the market. In 2004, Taschen released "GOAT - Greatest of All Time," a tribute to Muhammad Ali.
Editions from 1,001 to 10,000 were 792 pages long, bound in pink leather, the color of Ali's first Cadillac. Each edition is individually numbered and each one is signed by Muhammad Ali and artist Jeff Koons.
The work included 3,000 photos and writing from various writers over the past 50 years about the icon. It also was packaged in a silk-covered box with the 1966 photo of the Ali versus Williams fight.
The collector's edition sells for $4,000.
The Champ's Edition, numbers 1 through 1,000 has a white silk cover with pink lettering and also is signed by Ali and Koons. For $12,500 the purchaser receives four silver gelatine 20-inch-by-20-inch prints titled "Cassius Clay in Louisville (1963)," "Sitting on a Million Dollars (1963)," "Ali vs. Liston II (1965)," and "Muhammad Ali (1978)," each signed by photographer Howard L. Bingham and Ali.
According to the Kraken Sports & Media publicity office, more than one-half or 200 of the 400 MVP editions have been sold since its worldwide release two weeks ago and more than 25 percent of the Deluxe Editions have been purchased.
The "Super Bowl XL Opus" allows its 20-inch-by-20-inch size to allow the stories as well as the photos to come to life. Each page is printed on 200gsm silk paper, a process made by mottling silk threads in cotton pulp. The paper then becomes extra smooth, making it ideal for the 400,000 words printed on it and more than 1,200 photos. The series utilizes seven-color photo processing and light-resistant soy-based inks with spot varnished images for the highest available quality reproduced for the buyer.
Both editions utilize a double-gate fold that allows several pages to fold-outward becoming a four-pane center spread, across your display table.
Editor Michael MacCambridge whose previous works included "The Franchise: The History of Sports Illustrated Magazine" and "America's Game: The Epic Story of How Pro Football Captured a Nation," was also the editor of "ESPN Sports Century" and "ESPN's College Football Encyclopedia."
Executive editor Rob Fleder joined the project from Sports Illustrated where he started in 1986 and became executive editor in 1996. He was the editor of "Sports Illustrated 50: The Anniversary Book" and "Sports Illustrated: The Football Book."
Looking for a discerning eye, the project took on Dot McMahon as photo editor, whose credits include the photo editor for the "50th anniversary of Sports Illustrated." The staff looked at more than 2 million photos, paring it down to the 1,200 included in the work, allowing many to be seen for the first time without cropping.
"Super Bowl XL Opus" is the fourth work completed by Kraken Sports & Media, following up the "Formula One Opus" (5,000 printed), "10 Diego Maradona Opus" (5,000) and the "Official Manchester United Opus" (9,500), with all copies signed by Sir Alex Ferguson and Sir Bobby Charlton.
Kraken Sports & Media are committed to the exclusive Opus series with 15 subjects already secured for future publication, including the recently announced "The Wimbledon Opus.". Future deals include Ferrari's 60th anniversary, Disney and Major League Baseball.
While a review copy wasn't available of "Super Bowl XL Opus," Kraken Sports & Media have assembled the best team to create their tribute to "America's Game" in full color photo, word, statistics and detail. Despite its price tag, the book will make its way into the homes and places of honor throughout the world as quickly as a two-minute drill on Super Bowl Sunday.
"Super Bowl XL Opus" is available for purchase through the NFL shop at www.nflshop.com
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