The AntiquesRoadshow Boston Red Stockings appraisal airs...

[tbob]

Originally Posted by ullmandds

say what u want...but I love Keith!

+1. He can be surly at times but he's right more than people want to give him credit for.

[ullmandds]

Originally Posted by tbob

+1. He can be surly at times but he's right more than people want to give him credit for.

yup! Agreed!

[the 'stache]

I know some of you have worked with Leila before. I do not doubt she has areas of expertise, or that she is well respected in her field. Otherwise, she would not be on Antiques Roadshow. That being said, she was absolutely terrible in this segment. As Keith Olbermann has already pointed out, she pretty much whiffed on everything she said. The worst part about her interaction with the owner, however, was her advice vis a vis insuring the collection. Typically, appraisers do not have what would be considered a fiduciary responsibility when estimating worth, or providing advice. But based on the owner's reaction, she had absolutely no idea that what she had so valuable. And unless somebody else tells her that appraiser grossly overvalued what was presented, the owner is going to overspend by a great deal. And that bothers me.

What would it cost to insure a million dollar memorabilia collection on an annual basis?

[the 'stache]

Oh yeah, and not to get lost in the shuffle, the collection itself, and the story behind it, are amazing.

Imagine if a letter showed up with the following: "hey Bertha, I am missing your home made hamburger stew. Even though the Yankees stay at some of the finest hotels across America, they don't know how to cook like you do. As such, I've had to survive on hot dogs and soda pop at the park. If this keeps up, I'm going to lose my girlish figure. How will I chase the dames then?" --the Babe

It's just a shame that this isn't getting more coverage. That the names A.G. Spalding and Harry Wright aren't well known across America (outside of hobbyists and baseball enthusiasts) is a real shame. These were the pioneers of the National Pastime. But then again, the average American can't name the three branches of our federal government, and if asked what kind of government we have, eight out of ten Americans would say "a democracy".

And while signatures of Misters Spalding and Wright may not be truly rare, having both of their signatures on one piece of paper is pretty darn cool. I'd certainly love to have something like that in my safe deposit box!

[ullmandds]

bill...i have to disagree regarding your comment on lack of publicity. I have friends...aquaintences...family members sharing this story with me...as they know I live and breath this stuff...it has permeated the public consciousness...like the black swamp find years ago...how much more publicity can one expect?

Originally Posted by the 'stache

Oh yeah, and not to get lost in the shuffle, the collection itself, and the story behind it, are amazing.

Imagine if a letter showed up with the following: "hey Bertha, I am missing your home made hamburger stew. Even though the Yankees stay at some of the finest hotels across America, they don't know how to cook like you do. As such, I've had to survive on hot dogs and soda pop at the park. If this keeps up, I'm going to lose my girlish figure. How will I chase the dames then?" --the Babe

It's just a shame that this isn't getting more coverage. That the names A.G. Spalding and Harry Wright aren't well known across America (outside of hobbyists and baseball enthusiasts) is a real shame. These were the pioneers of the National Pastime. But then again, the average American can't name the three branches of our federal government, and if asked what kind of government we have, eight out of ten Americans would say "a democracy".

And while signatures of Misters Spalding and Wright may not be truly rare, having both of their signatures on one piece of paper is pretty darn cool. I'd certainly love to have something like that in my safe deposit box!

[drcy]

The show is intended for the general public not SABR members.

I think it's an entertaining show and I know little about a lot of what is appraised. My only problem with the show is it is too $$-centric, so it becomes to be a bit of a game show after before long and that part can become a bore. But I enjoy seeing the different stuff I know little about.

I don't fully understand appraising-- 'appraising insurance purposes' or 'replacement value' apparently means for more than normal price. The show often uses 'retail price' and we all know what that means. They sometimes say 'value at auction' or 'value at auction on a good day.' I'm not sure they they use a single standard for pricing, and I've seen items within my realm of knowledge where I thought the appraisal was low. I've seen instances where the appraisal is based directly on past (and varying) auction realized prices, which is as reasonable a way to price as any. Also, appraising has to have a large margin of error, in part because as many of us know if you auction the same item twice it will sell for two prices . . . So I take appraising and appraisal prices with a large of grain of salt, and the show's appraisal standards seem to differ from item to item, from retail to what a real person might actually get.

Another thing is, a lot of the items shown on the show are unique historic items and appraising the value really is an educated guess. For example, no one here, nor Mr. Olbermann (nor REA nor Lelands nor Heritage nor etc), knows exactly what the Mort Rogers collection would sell for at auction. I've just listed numerous hobby experts (including many board readers) and they don't know. Know one knows to what dollar amount the collection's provenance will effect the final value of the score cards, in part, because the desirability of provenance varies greatly between baseball card collectors. Some think it's great that a 1958 Topps belonged to Sandy Koufax, while others don't care. And the exact ownership here isn't the estate of Harry Wright but of estate of the team's landlady. I know of no landlady provenance financial calculator. Though I'm sure the provenance of the collection will raise the value of the collection, as the items came from team members, comes from the estate who directly knew them and the story is interesting.

[Tao_Moko]

I too thought that this find was well publicized and agree with drcy's comments above.

1. It's a TV show
2. Replacement value and worth vs. Current auction price is a big difference for the sake of insuring. Good luck replacing this collection so even if you paid $200k you'd certainly insure for much more even if not $1 million.

The same as I credit cards like the Wagner for bringing troves of goodies from attics across the States; I think finds like this help draw attention to those family heirlooms not yet shared.

Fun piece to watch and amazing find.