Question for ticket/stub collectors

[perezfan]

To me, a "first" of any kind (first career win, first RBI, first home run, first stolen base, first appearance) would be worth more than a milestone ticket.

Nobody would know to save the "first", so the rarity factor is exponentially greater. Both because the ticket is older, and because the attendee would need to have ESP to comprehend its significance at the time.

For a "Milestone" Ticket (say a Perfect Game or Aaron's 715th HR), almost everyone in the stadium understands the significance, and most know to save that stub. Plus, there were probably far more people in attendance for the "milestone" game.... thus, a far greater inventory of tickets/stubs.

Perhaps the market values it differently, but that's how I would view it.

[Darner]

I agree with Mark. For example, a lot with a ticket stub to Mike Schmidt's first home run sold for $2247 on Ebay earlier this year. It might have possibly gone higher but the listing did not note the ticket's significance. In contrast, a stub to Schmidt's last home run goes for around $50.

[mcgwirecom]

I saw that Schmidt 1st HR go for that ridiculous price. I really feel that was high but as a ticket guy I am always glad to see strong prices.

As mentioned earlier, a milestone is usually far easier to predict and therefore tickets will be plentiful. Take a look at prices for the 3000th hits of Ripken, Molitor, Brett and Yount. Sometimes they sell for $5.

A debut ticket is becoming a big deal. 10 years ago it wasn't, but now there are more ticket collectors around. I believe the thinking is a debut is like a rookie card. Debuts nowadays are a known entity. They are announced ahead of time for a lot of players so again tickets are available. Older players can be tougher because as stated earlier, people did not think to save this new guys first game ticket.

The hardest modern tickets are for teams that no longer print season tickets. There are 7 teams not printing this year and the number will go up. Keep that in mind if you are collecting contemporary players. So the other day when JD Martinez hit 4 homeruns against the Dodgers, people got agita. Dodgers do not print season tickets. A 4 HR game is not something you know is coming so you can't purchase the ticket ahead of time. Now what? You sit and hope someone who walked up to the game and bought a ticket will part with it! And then you also hope he didn't stick it in his sweaty pocket all night!

[RedsFan1941]

you didn't ask about this, but i'll chime in on the recent trend over the past 5-7 years of sellers hyping season passes as "tickets" to monumental games from that season, i.e. a 1941 Yankees season pass as a ticket to games from DiMaggio's streak. at best this kind of marketing is a reach and at worst it is a flat-out misrepresentation. i don't consider passes to be substitutes for tickets to a specific game. i'm curious if the majority of ticket collectors -- not sellers desperate to make a buck -- feel differently.

[mcgwirecom]

A lot of times the pass did not get you into the game, it got you a ticket! In the 70's we knew someone at a local newspaper who let us use their press pass. We still had to go to a "Courtesy Window" and show the pass and were issued tickets.

Also some people try and sell Stadium Club passes as tickets. And watch out for "seat locators" which they have in Cleveland. Not a ticket!

[icollectDCsports]

Originally Posted by mcgwirecom

A lot of times the pass did not get you into the game, it got you a ticket! In the 70's we knew someone at a local newspaper who let us use their press pass. We still had to go to a "Courtesy Window" and show the pass and were issued tickets.

Also some people try and sell Stadium Club passes as tickets. And watch out for "seat locators" which they have in Cleveland. Not a ticket!

Interesting. I wondered how these season passes worked. Not sure if they all worked the same, but it makes sense that they would entitle you to a ticket -- otherwise you'd just be given entrance to the ballpark with no assigned, or theoretically assured, place to sit.

[conor912]

Interesting thoughts...makes total sense. Thanks guys. I'd love to hear how others rank them too. I like the idea of how collectors within such a tight niche of the hobby can still value things completely differently.

Has there ever been a study done to find out what percentage of games played in any given season end up having nothing historically significant happen in them? If not, someone feel free to use this idea for your statistics thesis and report back