Posted By:
Rhett YeakleyJay, brings up a good point in regard to the information sharing thing. There is currently a good thread over on the Non-Sports side that I think is a good discussion about that.
I am against outing ongoing auctions for the same reasons described above in this current thread. In regard to information sharing, I am all for that as long as the person is willing to share. There is a fine line however when sharing information, as the info you share today may very well cost you money (or a tough item) down the road. I for one have never had major problems sharing SOME information, but I would be lying if I said I didn't also hold a little back for myself. It is very similar to those that were in the know in regard to the tough/rare Old Judge's up to the production of the recently published book.
Two examples in my collecting past being the Colgans Joe McCarthy card--the card was listed for years as "McCarty" in all the checklists, however a little research 5-6 years ago indicated it was in fact the future Yankee skipper Joe McCarthy, and I was able to purchase 4-5 of them prior to the cat being let out of the bag (I only own 1 E254 and the E270 Red Border presently). The same with the 1919 Zeenut "Paddy" Driscoll, although I was only able to pick up a small handful before it kinda came out that that was who was pictured on the card.
With the internet, knowledge about cards/memorabilia has grown quickly. The amount of info one can collect in a few years online previously would have taken dacades to collect the old way.
Anyways, it is an interesting debate.
-Rhett