This sums it up about Jeter and 3000

[xdrx]

Originally Posted by Big Dave

Foolish people worship the wrong things.

There is only one person that truly should be worshipped, and he will be back sometime to prove it.

I'm new here, but I'm sure I saw a rule about no "fairytale nonsense" sort of posts. Or politics.

[packs]

Jeter is a wealthy man. He does not need to be peddling over-priced Steiner crap. It is crap because all of Steiner's memorabilia is grossly over-priced and the man will do anything for a dollar. Just because people in the hobby will pay for some of the items he peddles, doesn't mean he should be producing them. Everyone has ethics. I cannot imagine dealing with him. Every year I go to Spring Training and I listen to Jeter and other stars on the Yankees talk about how much they can't stand the dealers, who are "dirtbags" desperate for autographs so they can sell them. Ten minutes later Jeter's in the clubhouse signing baseballs for Steiner. But that's different because HE gets paid.

If this was truly a special moment for Jeter and the culmination of his career, why was his first priority to sign baseballs for Steiner? If Jeter was a nice guy, he wouldn't have a deal with Steiner to begin with. And he wouldn't be taking baseballs from the hands of children and signing the side panel because he "can't" sign the sweetspot. A classy guy would have told the man who caught the ball to keep it like Roger Maris did.

[T206Collector]

My view is that there is $X available in the market for Jeter stuff. I do not think Jeter should apologize for taking a major percentage of that. If people want to pay $50 for a DJ3K Hat, like I did at the game last Saturday, that's their prerogative. Steiner is a mechanism for making sure athletes get the biggest share of the market value of their items. When Jeter signs for free -- and in my life, he has done that for me about a half dozen times at Yankee Stadium and spring training -- he gets nothing for it. That is called leakage.

What you are essentially saying is that you want free things, and that the truly rich should accept more leakage. It is that component of this argument that I find extremely hypocritical, particularly among a group of people on a baseball memorabilia board.

By the way, paid $250 for a Jeter 3000 ticket stub today on eBay (t-206collector). It has his image, unlike my two which have Arod. The person who profited was a ticket speculator. Jeter got nada from that sale. Just something to think about.

[packs]

Jeter gets to play baseball for a living. He is only able to do that because people will come out to the games. So yes, I do expect that a player can write his name for me in exchange for the millions of dollars he gets, which he will receive whether or not he is even playing (see Albert Belle). And I do feel as though I am entitled to free autographs. Do you disagree? Steiner is charging $599 for a Derek Jeter autographed baseball. My question is: why? And how can you justify this pricetag to a child? I don't think you can explain "leakage" to a 10 year old.

I'm having trouble following your argument. You think Derek should profit from eBay sales too? And every signature he ever signs? Why? And how exactly does a player get nothing for signing an autograph? Lifelong admiration, a job playing big league baseball, the support of an entire city; maybe players should pay to play. What am I getting out of the deal?

[T206Collector]

Originally Posted by packs

Jeter gets to play baseball for a living. He is only able to do that because people will come out to the games. So yes, I do expect that a player can write his name for me in exchange for the millions of dollars he gets, which he will receive whether or not he is even playing (see Albert Belle). And I do feel as though I am entitled to free autographs. Do you disagree? Steiner is charging $599 for a Derek Jeter autographed baseball. My question is: why? And how can you justify this pricetag to a child? I don't think you can explain "leakage" to a 10 year old.

I'm having trouble following your argument. You think Derek should profit from eBay sales too? the man has 3000 major league hits. This sense of entitlement is a major issue in this country.

Steiner is charging what the market will bear for a signed ball. What other industry requires you to dilute your brand by giving away freebies? The only sense of entitlement I see is yours.

Do you think Jeter can walk down the street in Manhattan without being stopped a zillion times per block? How many people should he stop for? Only the ones who are quick enough to video him at the time?

I explain the business of baseball to my six year old. I show him my T206 signed Walter Johnson, and my Jeter stuff. It's all cool to him. He will not grow up thinking he is entitled to free stuff from those better off than him.

[packs]

I edited my initial post. It is not an issue of getting something free from a person better off than me. It is an issue of mutual respect and appreciation. There are always going to be dealers and there will always be collectors. As a collector, I don't see getting an autograph from a player as expecting something for nothing from a rich person.

[T206Collector]

Originally Posted by packs

I edited my initial post. It is not an issue of getting something free from a person better off than me. It is an issue of mutual respect and appreciation. There are always going to be dealers and there will always be collectors. As a collector, I don't see getting an autograph from a player as expecting something for nothing from a rich person.

Have you ever paid for an autograph?

[David Atkatz]

Originally Posted by T206Collector

My view is that there is $X available in the market for Jeter stuff. I do not think Jeter should apologize for taking a major percentage of that. If people want to pay $50 for a DJ3K Hat, like I did at the game last Saturday, that's their prerogative. Steiner is a mechanism for making sure athletes get the biggest share of the market value of their items. When Jeter signs for free -- and in my life, he has done that for me about a half dozen times at Yankee Stadium and spring training -- he gets nothing for it. That is called leakage.

What you are essentially saying is that you want free things, and that the truly rich should accept more leakage. It is that component of this argument that I find extremely hypocritical, particularly among a group of people on a baseball memorabilia board.

By the way, paid $250 for a Jeter 3000 ticket stub today on eBay (t-206collector). It has his image, unlike my two which have Arod. The person who profited was a ticket speculator. Jeter got nada from that sale. Just something to think about.

Leakage!? Are you nuts?

Amazing. Every single Babe Ruth-signed ball, photo, scrap of paper, etc.--and there are hundreds of thousands of 'em--every damn one, is leakage. The man did nothing but leak.

If $20 million/year + endorsements aren't enough for a guy to sign every damn autograph he's stopped for in the street, than f%#k him.

[David Atkatz]

One more thing. Better think a bit before spending big bucks on the 3k game stub. You better believe if demand is great enough the Yankees will reprint them.

And yeah, a cap commemorating the big hit is, indeed, "crap memorabilia."

[Matthew H]

Originally Posted by David Atkatz

... a cap commemorating the big hit is, indeed, "crap memorabilia."

I bet some people are buying this stuff thinking that it's a good investment.

[T206Collector]

Originally Posted by Matthew H

I bet some people are buying this stuff thinking that it's a good investment.

So what if they are? Are they idiots for collecting modern stuff, any more than we're idiots for collecting stuff of deadballers? Who knows what will sell in the future? And just keep in mind, that the guy who sold me his ticket, bought it for $100 two days ago, before they started going crazy on eBay. Now the kind of ticket I bought for $250 this morning is up over $300 tonight. That's a pretty good investment, if only in the short term.

You guys spend so much time talking about whether kids today are going to be tomorrow's collectors. DJ3K is the kind of modern event that grows the spirit of all of our collections. Don't ignore that because the marketing is better today, or because Jeter is a once in a lifetime, Mickey Mantle-esque sports icon.

If you really think the modern ballplayer has to stop and sign every piece of paper that is shoved in front of him on the street, or in a restaurant while he is eating with his family, then you understand little about the perils of modern celebrity.

[T206Collector]

Originally Posted by David Atkatz

One more thing. Better think a bit before spending big bucks on the 3k game stub. You better believe if demand is great enough the Yankees will reprint them.

And yeah, a cap commemorating the big hit is, indeed, "crap memorabilia."

What do you collect? And who do you think you are to judge my awesome collection of DJ3K memorabilia?

Hey, everyone, this guy thinks he has the right to call what people collect "crap." Real nice guy, this one.

[David Atkatz]

There isn't a thing Steiner sells that ain't crap. And if, by saying that, I've offended your sense of "collecting tolerance," so be it.

[David Atkatz]

Originally Posted by T206Collector

Hey, everyone, this guy thinks he has the right to call what people collect "crap." Real nice guy, this one.

There isn't a thing Steiner sells that ain't crap. And if, by saying that, I've offended your sense of "collecting tolerance," so be it.