OT: Roberto Clemente & Kobe Bryant

[Exhibitman]

I'm from LA and a Lakers fan but the two are not even close. A humanitarian mission for EQ victims...crashing to attend a kids game isn't even worthy of comparison. The only point of similarity is that they were air crashes.

Kobe apparently was a nice man and a good father, and had his act together to an extent not often seen among superstars. His loss is a tragedy for his family and friends and sad for his fans. Clemente's death was a selfless charitable act. His death was a loss for humanity.

As for the cards, no comparison, really. You can't compare 1950s-1970s cards with junk wax cards. Kobe cards skyrocketed in the wake of the death. A year from now they will be back to earth: there's just too many of them. I know ardent collectors who sold their Kobe RCs immediately because the prices went up tenfold overnight. I would have done the same if I had any.

[samosa4u]

Some excellent replies. Thank you.

[bbcard1]

A fairly recent phenomenon is that we are mean to people in live and generous to them in death. Gerald Ford, who was one of the lesser respected Presidents in life, was compared to Lincoln in death. When Tony Gwynn dies, I heard a reporter say,"He was not only one of the best baseball players of all time, he was one of the best people of all time." I don't think there's a lot wrong with that, but maybe we should just be nicer to folks while they are alive.

[Fred]

Originally Posted by bbcard1

A fairly recent phenomenon is that we are mean to people in live and generous to them in death. Gerald Ford, who was one of the lesser respected Presidents in life, was compared to Lincoln in death. When Tony Gwynn dies, I heard a reporter say,"He was not only one of the best baseball players of all time, he was one of the best people of all time." I don't think there's a lot wrong with that, but maybe we should just be nicer to folks while they are alive.

Gwynn actually was a nice guy. 8 batting titles does kind of qualify him as a pretty decent player.

[bbcard1]

Originally Posted by Fred

Gwynn actually was a nice guy. 8 batting titles does kind of qualify him as a pretty decent player.

Don't disagree. But Greatest person of all time is a pretty big claim.

[Mike D.]

I think that fact that Clemente retired with EXACTLY 3,000 career hits, and the fact that he was still active, add to the draw for collectors.

Obviously, the reason he was flying when he died is a huge part of it, as others have mentioned but I think the other two are contributing factors as well.

Roy Halliday died young too, in an aviation accident. It may have contributed to him getting into the HOF a little earlier than he otherwise might have, but I don't think it'll have any long-term effect on card values.

[Mark17]

Originally Posted by Mike D.

I think that fact that Clemente retired with EXACTLY 3,000 career hits, and the fact that he was still active, add to the draw for collectors.

For the past 20 years, I have been working with John Miley, selling his original radio broadcasts on CD. The game from 6/28/1970, the final game played at Forbes Field, includes an interview with Roberto. It sends chills listening to it, when he says his ultimate goal in baseball is to achieve 3,000 hits. Two and a half years later, on his final at bat, he did. And then he died.

[Fred]

Originally Posted by bbcard1

Don't disagree. But Greatest person of all time is a pretty big claim.

Greatest player of all time is a stretch, but the guy was a pretty good person to the fans. Probably not the Greatest person of all time, but a pretty good guy for sure.

[vintagewhitesox]

Originally Posted by Exhibitman

I'm from LA and a Lakers fan but the two are not even close. A humanitarian mission for EQ victims...crashing to attend a kids game isn't even worthy of comparison. The only point of similarity is that they were air crashes.

Kobe apparently was a nice man and a good father, and had his act together to an extent not often seen among superstars. His loss is a tragedy for his family and friends and sad for his fans. Clemente's death was a selfless charitable act. His death was a loss for humanity.

As for the cards, no comparison, really. You can't compare 1950s-1970s cards with junk wax cards. Kobe cards skyrocketed in the wake of the death. A year from now they will be back to earth: there's just too many of them. I know ardent collectors who sold their Kobe RCs immediately because the prices went up tenfold overnight. I would have done the same if I had any.

I would jump in only to say Kobe' cards are not "junk wax." There are several issues, mainly inserts, that are extremely difficult to find.