Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Bonds’ Memorabilia Market

So the Bonds indictment is here, Roger Cossack has a job again saying absolutely nothing, and some holding Bonds’ memorabilia are asking, “now what?”

I heard someone on ESPN radio over the weekend suggesting that the Bonds memorabilia value will decrease. I don’t see it happening.

The best historical example of memorabilia pricing following a baseball scandal this big is Pete Rose. Rose’s card values dipped when he was banned from baseball and subsequently sent to jail for tax issues. However, I think the betting on baseball scandal was somewhat of a surprise to many collectors. Although he was investigated for some time, the collecting industry (still in a somewhat premature state) didn’t react to the brewing scandal. When Giamatti finally made a decision and many were surprised… his value dropped.

Bonds’ link to steroid use isn’t a surprise to anyone. Bonds testified that he didn’t “knowingly” take them. Collectors knew what they started collecting if they bought Bonds memorabilia after 1998.

I don’t think anyone is surprised by the perjury charge regarding Bonds’ steroid use. And because no one is surprised, I don’t think collectors will look to dump their Bonds memorabilia. They’ll hold their cards and wait for Bonds to finally break down to Charlie Gibson on an upcoming “20/20” special.

5 comments:

Troy said...

I personally don't have any Bonds' Memorabilia to speak of. I might have his rookie card in a Topps complete set in the attic. But as you can tell by my use of the word "might", I'm not really concerned if I have it or not. I guess if I see some story of how the card increased in value or I see it priced at a show I attend, I may become interested in looking for it. For now, I have other things I would rather spend my time and money on.

James said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
James said...

I screwed up my last comment (deleted)..

It's very possible that baseball's All-time Home Run King and Hit King will never get into the Hall of Fame.

Sad.

LaLoosh said...

Bonds will never make the Hall of Fame now that he was indicted(? spelling). Look at McGwire. I sell some of his cards on Ebay. They still sell. Maybe not as fast as you would think but they still sell. It is too much of a foregone conclusion that he used HGH. Your body parts don't grow that much later in life(besides the gut) to not be on something.

James said...

I'm not defending Bonds, but he hasn't been found guilty of anything. What if he's found innocent? How would that change his HOF future?