Treasure Chest: There’s Gold in Charlie’s Navel

If you think that new poster of the bare-chested Charlie Waters is all a lark, think about this: They’ve nearly sold out the first printing of 50,000 at $2.95 a pop, and a second printing of 100,000 is underway. Moreover, Charlie’s agent, Mike Kubiak, says that the exposure has been tremendous in terms of future endorsements. Seems there’s gold in Charlie’s navel.

Kubiak, who developed the idea at the prompting of the poster people (Bounds-Hammer & Associates), admits, “It was a great idea, I must say. We’ve been selling those things all over the country – LA, New York, San Francisco, Atlanta. It’s amazing.” How, one wonders, did the usually shy Waters decide to open up his shirt to public view? “Well,” says Kubiak, “Charlie wasn’t exactly gung-ho about the idea. In fact, it was like pulling teeth to get him to do it.” But now Waters, who fortunately has an unlisted phone number, is a sex symbol. “You wouldn’t believe some of the letters we’ve gotten,” says Kubiak. “They’re all from women and young girls and some of them are, well. . . hot.” At a recent baseball game, Charlie was so swamped by female autograph seekers he had to leave.

Now that football has started, is the fun over? Maybe for Waters, but not for Kubiak. He’s got another Cowboy poster in the works. (Any guesses? Kubiak’s not telling.) And just the other day he got an inquiry about a poster from Earl Campbell’s agent. Earl Campbell?