[jimjim]

I think Puckett was a perfect storm due to a number of reasons. Historically, Kirby had a been a great in-person and TTM signer for his fans. Not too long after his induction, a scathing article was written by Frank DeFord in SI about the 'real' Kirby Puckett. Kirby went into pseudo-hiding and the Twins distanced themselves from Kirby after the article was published. He stopped showing up at Spring Training and doing public appearances for the Twins. He was still officially on the payroll, but that was about it. So I think most collectors weren't used to paying such high prices for Kirby, since he was so fan friendly before the article. I remember thinking that $75 was very high, and I would just get him another time in-person or TTM. Obviously, that never happened! Kirby did do a signing with the Iowa Cubs minor league team not too long before his death, and they were charging $20 or $25 per auto. I tried to find someone to hook me up, but never did. They also wouldn't take mail orders!

I think with today's players, this is not as much an issue, as we all know they don't sign TTM or give away autographs for free. And if they do, then they aren't show autographs, they are usually some chicken scratch initials. So most of us HOF plaque collectors just pony up the $$ and get them done sooner than later.