Willie’s passing
 

Has anyone seen a bump or drop in his collectibles, or is it too soon to assess? He was the one player I always assumed collectors were expecting a huge bump on the publicity associated with his passing. Of course we’ve all seen exactly the opposite happen as well.

Short term I expect and uptick....like it happened when Hank Aaron Passed. Unfortunately most of Hank Aarons stuff has come down a lot since then. I expect Long term for Willie Mays cards little to no affect on price.

It's sad that some will use his passing as a reason to jump their asking price.

That jumps happens with everybody, and it's always a short-term spike. You don't even have to be a great player. Mike Brumley had 26 Ebay sales over the last three months before he passed away a week ago. He's had over 100 sales in a week, including signed balls for $45-$50.

I never understood the rush to get something of a player on the day that they die. If 99% of people waited, the prices wouldn't jump for any amount of time.

I was trying to assess the same thing. I have a 1960s Mays game used bat that I will be listing soon that I'm trying to time just right. I'm a pre war collector so I have no real ties to it...

Little to no change in my opinion. The player speaks for himself.

I feel many people.bought looking to sell when he passed. I just don't get that sentiment..

As the sportscaster, Phil Wood would always say when a player passes away, "He doesn't sign autographs anymore" :D

I have seen little if any bump. I think it was priced into his cards already -- at least that was the consensus I saw this weekend at the Northeast Card Expo in Marlboro, MA.

Bill Walton's recent passing was considerably different. His cards went up quite a bit. But I always felt his RC was undervalued so maybe that plays into it.

What I thought would happen totally did not happen .
I thought accolades would still be pouring in , there would be talk about a movie,
Casual collectors and non-collectors start looking into his cards and
“ er .. why is Mantle worth 10 times Mays ? “
And his cards would spike

I would second that. I do not buy into cards for the sole purpose of their going up but a players' death should have no impact on the value of their cards so this is just one more man made "flaw" in collecting, imo. There are a finite amount of their cards and a death or anticipated death should not elevate the value.

If anything, the value of their autograph could spike since they can no longer sign.

422. Mourning Track Power
Buying up cards of a very old former player for the sole purpose of selling them at exorbitant prices on the gigantic bubble that will surely come after he passes away.

I believe there have been "studies" that typically show a slight-moderate increase for a few weeks or months after a player's death, then drop back down to what they originally were. Long-term I think Mays will go up, but not because of his death