Talking Business, Pleasure And Porn Chicks With Adult Trading Card Company

Talk about a stacked deck.

Trading cards have always held a beloved place in the wide world of sports.  Now these mementos are a companion piece to the porn game, thanks to an operation known as Adult Trading Card Company.  This void was waiting to be filled because folks are just as passionate, if not more fanatical, about their favorite porn stars as they are for their favorite athletes.  ATCC sells packages of collectable cards featuring some of the industry’s premiere porn starlets.  Charley Chase, Mariah Milano, Brianna Jordan, Sophie Dee, Nikki Delano, Imani Rose, Kendra Secrets and other adult film heavyweights appear on cards by ATCC.  Blond brickhouse Julie Cash, who was interviewed here not long ago, is ATCC’s flagship model.  A sexy pic of each viXXXen is displayed on the face of every card.  The flip side has a wealth of statistics such as Turn Ons, Turn Offs, Favorite Sexual Position and other tidbits of trivia.  Good stuff to know if you’re a contestant on Jeopardy someday.

JP Berkman, the mastermind behind ATCC, was cool enough to hook me up with two packs of cards.  Ah, the perks of gonzo journalism.  Each deck contains five hot cards and instead of a stale piece of gum, they also come with a small packet of WET® lubricant (geez, ATCC thought of everything).  I recently interviewed JP Berkman to discuss his unique product.

Black Pacino: Give me a lil’ background about yourself… and what inspired you to make these trading cards?

JP: Well, I guess you could say I am a jack of all trades. I’ve been a hustler since I was a kid. Been in a family business since I was 6 years old. My parents always taught me that hard work always pays off, believe in your dreams and anything is possible! You control your own destiny. I studied Architecture, Graphic Design, Business, Marketing, Psychology and Sociology in college. I really hated school but I wanted to learn everything about everything. I’ve never been able to just sit still. I currently own/operate 8 different businesses and all of them are completely different from one and other.

As far as my inspiration for ATCC, I saw a need for performers to not only brand themselves better but to also have a most cost effective way to keep themselves at their fans fingertips. Nowadays, if you buy an 8×10 from a performer it can cost up to $20. You tell me, where will that 8×10 end up… well I guess I’m being interviewed so I’ll tell you: In a box in the garage. That doesn’t help the fan or the performers. Fans will not keep going to dig for the 8×10 every time they need their “alone” time. But by having their ATCC trading card, they can simply keep it in their wallet or pocket at all times. Making it easy access when the “call of duty” comes to mind! They also make it soooo much easier for performers that travel the country to always have merchandise with them that don’t take up a whole extra suitcase!

Pacino: How have you recruited these porn starlets to be on your cards?

JP: I started our company on Twitter about 2 years ago. Did my research and started building a good, solid team of performers that believe in the product as much as I do. Once the industry saw that we were for real, the game switched from me having to recruit and them wanting to be a part. In the last year we have been featured in the February issue of Hustler® Magazine and taking home the 2012 AVN® Award for Best Party Gag Gift!

Pacino: How are the cards sold? Like, what type of packages and editions do you have?

JP: Essentially ATCC offers 2 products: Product 1 is a Limited Edition trading card that performers buy directly from us just as they would any other merchandise to resell to their fans. These cards are Limited Edition and will be worth more because once the card is printed it will never be reprinted again. Therefore once the performer sells out, they are gone.

Product 2 is our trading card packs. These are different trading cards then the Limited Edition cards and are mass produced. We place 5 random cards in a pack just like ol’ school baseball card packs… but instead of being accompanied by a piece of stale gum, we have placed a packet of WET® lubricant inside. And if you are lucky enough, your pack may include an autographed card as well!

Series 1 has already hit sex shops, comic book stores and convenience stores all over the country (including selected 7/11′s)!! So now we are working on Series 2 so we are ahead of the game! Series 2 is going to have some other cool and innovating sponsors etc.  We are going to make our packs the “Cracker Jack” surprise for adults!

Pacino: How did it feel to win the AVN Award for Best Party/Gag Gift?

JP: I have to be completely honest… I never in a million years thought we were going to win! ATCC was up against 9 other companies, 2 of which are huge in the industry (Pipe Dreams & Zero Tolerance). So we went to the award show but decided to leave and go to dinner to celebrate the nomination. A couple hours later my phone started blowing up with people asking where we were because we had won! I was and still am in shock. It was an honor just to be recognized and nominated by AVN® but to win?? Words can’t explain!

Pacino: Obviously you’re tight with Julie Cash.  What is it about her that’s so special?

JP: I set out ATCC to have the highest caliber of ladies as well as something unique in them. Let’s be real… I can’t have a series of trading cards with all the women being cookie cutter. I came across Julie on Twitter and instantly jumped out of my chair. She has the look of Jessica Simpson, the body of Anna Nicole and the sweet personality of Carrie Underwood. This girl has it all! The industry has changed so much in the last decade that it doesn’t seem that there will ever be another “Jenna Jameson”. Every girl nowadays calls themselves a “Porn Star.” The sad part is that a lot of them are fly-by-night girls… here today and gone tomorrow. Well, that’s not the case with Julie. She is a work-a-holic like myself, she’s loyal to the bone and believes in ATCC more than I do.

This girl’s work ethic keeps me on top of my game and 5 steps ahead of the rest! Everywhere she goes she turns heads and it’s not just her 48″ ASSet or her 34DD’s… It’s her confidence and the way she carries herself! This is a down home southern girl that knows how to do things right! She keeps in touch with almost all of her fans and appreciates every single one of them! So you ask, what makes her special… Everything makes this woman special and it’s my honor to have her rep ATCC, be our #1 and our official spoke model for series 2.

Pacino: What’s the best piece of business advice you ever received?

JP: No one will believe if you do not believe! If you give 110% you will get 110%! You are in control of your own success, it’s up to you how successful you choose to become!

Pacino:  What are ATCC’s goals as a company?

JP: TOTAL WORLD DOMINTATION!!! Ooops, I meant distribution! My dream is to become the next Maxim or Playboy type company. I’m so proud of what we have built in such a short timethat I just want to see it keep growing! There is nothing like our product and no other product/company will help performers get the mainstream exposure that we have been able to do so far! I mean come on.  There are adult magazines in 7/11, but they are covered up and not on the counter! Yes that’s right, ATCC trading card packs are on 7/11 counters right next to the Slim Jims!

We want every adult performer as well as every promotional model to have their own ATCC Limited Edition trading card as well as have the opportunity to be in one of our packs! You don’t see an athlete that doesn’t have his/her own trading card… so we feel the same about our product! I would love to be able to sit with Wicked, Adam & Eve, Digital Playground, Penthouse etc… and have their contract girls represented with ATCC trading cards! It’s a win/win for all parties! We want to be the official trading card company of the adult industry!

Pacino: Do you feel that adult entertainment, porn specifically, is becoming a lil’ more mainstream? Do you feel it’s still taboo?

I think with the help of social media it has become a little more mainstream but it is still considered taboo and frowned upon. It’s really a shame because I have seen so many things in mainstream that I find more disturbing, for example extreme violence in movies depicting gruesome murders etc… those are things that are never going to be ok, but somehow it’s accepted? But sex which is something natural and part of our daily lives is taboo? It just doesn’t make sense to me.

Pacino:  Any upcoming products or endeavors we should know about?

JP: Our series 2 trading card packs!! We are more then 1/2 way done shooting for it and can’t wait to get them ready to go! We hope that our fans love it!

Pacino: Parting thoughts, random words for our viewers?

Keep an eye out for all the new Limited Edition trading cards! We are growing daily! Just go to ATCCompany.com and click on the “Limited Edition” tab and you can keep track of all the ones out now, as well as being able to message the performers directly to find out how to purchase their L.E. card! Make sure to follow us on Twitter (twitter.com/atccompany). We love our fans! It’s so amazing to see your vision become a reality! The response from our fans when they open their packs and see what trading cards they got brings a smile to my face! We love feedback! And if you have done so already, go to ATCCompany.com click on the “store” tab.  Buy your series 1 pack and display cases now! Mention this article and we’ll include a free gift!