Koufax’s prices are even higher from a year ago

[Topnotchsy]

Originally Posted by Exhibitman

Or maybe we who buy and sell these items obsessively stop judging what others do? How am I going to tell some kid not to sell a Wemby jersey that might net him a college tuition?

This all reflects who we are as a society and as a subculture of collectors. The idealized innocent experience of meeting a hero and getting a valueless autograph as a memento is a fantasy that hasn't really existed for decades (except maybe in children's cancer wards), ever since the card collecting and memorabilia boom began in earnest. We are to blame, of course, for creating, enjoying, profiting from, and evangelizing collecting. It's capitalism, baby: we cannot expect to create a huge market for these items and then tut-tut anyone else for figuring out how to cash in using methods we never even considered. I'm just sorry I didn't get the idea first.

I largely agree. I don't know if the Dad had a bigger plan, but it could definitely be that he's a fan who wanted the jersey experience for his kid, and then when it actually happened, he stopped and realized he could pay off his credit card debt, or school debt or mortgage or pay for his kids braces and summer campe etc or whatever.

The freedom to get valuable items like that and not be in a place where the responsible thing to do is sell the item is a blessing. (Of course, the Dad might have had the whole thing planned and my rose-colored glasses might be being overly favorable, but I'll lean in this direction faster than assuming the worst when there is another explanation.)