I think an unspoken fear in the collectibles industry is becoming more and more prevalent over the years.
Theft is obviously a crime and should not be condoned.............however, it seems a family member only has to claim an item was stolen, whether it be 10,20,30 or more years down the road..............once they realize it has value, in order to make claim to that item.
If there was initially a police report I understand it's pretty cut and dry............but items are sold off by relatives, given away by the celebrity themselves and sometimes even tossed away or forgotten and sold off from defaulted storage facilities all the time.
I'll probably get bashed for this but I don't agree to an automatic title down the line to something because you are a blood relation to the person in question. I think it's disengenuous and sets dangerous precedent.
I don't know if the letter in question was stolen or not..............but it doesn't seem like anybody made claim on it until there was a value attatched to it.
Last edited by D. Bergin; 09-13-2009 at 10:31 AM.
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