Quote:
Originally Posted by David Atkatz
How absurd--you'd feel a "unique connection to the player" by erasing someone else's name. I feel a unique connection to the player when I hold in my hand the same card or photo or baseball he did.
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You are missing the point. The unique connection is not derived by the erasure. I'm talking about the difference between personalized and not personalized. Most people would rather have a signed item that is not personalized than one which was personalized to someone. This is not surprising because it is harder to make the personal connection that drives autograph value when the item screams that connection was intended for someone else.
If you enjoy collecting autographed items that were personalized to other people, have a good time. But many people do not and erasing the name Nick would be tempting for them. You view "Nick" as more valuable words written by a legend. Others view it as four letters they wish Gehrig hadn't written.
If the person who owns this Gehrig decided to erase "Nick" because it would increase his enjoyment of the item, I would not fault him for it. It's his item to do with it as he wishes. And if he's concerned about the economic impact of that decision, I think that's his right. It is naive to ignore the economic realities of the collectibles market when you are spending money on collectibles and you aren't likely to take them with you when you die (although I've heard stories).
To each his own. Sorry you view this item as the Declaration of Independence. If you want to be the Morality Police of how people should treat their sports collectibles, have fun. Get up on your soap box about how one of Ruth's jerseys has been cut up for more collectors to share and that it is an outrage. It's an easy ruse.
Finally, what the paper fiber of T206 cards has to do with this discussion is beyond me. If it was an attack on me for caring about card condition, it was as misguided as it was irrelevant. 99% of my T206 cards are raw PR-VG condition, including my Magie and Plank, the latter of which was owned by Lionel Carter, Mr. Condition-sensitive himself!
But I will take your advice and "stick to cards" -- I've never been interested in collecting memorabilia anyway. The only cross-over here is that I collect signed pre-war cards.