[drc]

I agree. They are being collected as historical artifacts not original photos. Unless the moment is incredibly significant (ala Kennedy being shot) I wouldn't price it that way. As photos for viewing purposes, originals are better quality and they are, well, originals-- the original should be priced higher. Though, wirephotos are period and were made in limited numbers, so there may only be a handful in existence of a particular example. The other nice thing about wirephotos is the date in the image caption is the date the wirephoto was made. In other words, unlike with many other photos, it's easy for for anyone to determine the age.

I think with many sports collectors, especially baseball card collectors, the 'vintage' is one of the major components (if not the only one). If a collector collects 1930s Yankees items, he wants items to be from 1930s. He doesn't want a 1970s premium showing Babe Ruth in the 1930s. He wants a 1930s premium of Ruth. Thus, a 1930s AP wirephoto of Ruth isn't original photo but it is from the 1930s, and that satisfies a key quality to the collector. The collector is specializing in artifacts from the period.