Profiting Off the Death of an Individual

I just read a great post over at The Card Chop that talked about a topic I find to be very interesting: Profiting Off the Death of an Individual.

This topic has been debated for years... with reasonable arguments from both sides.

Like most things in life... selling sports memorabilia comes down to supply & demand... and for one reason or another demand goes up when people pass away. Which is why some sports card enthusiasts (especially the ones who make a living off of selling cardboard) find the passing of an athlete the opportunistic time to sell their cards.

On the flipside... some find it to be "immoral", "disgraceful", and/or "disrespectful" to make money off of something so heavyhearted.

Until recently... I would have indubitably sided with the latter. Just saying... "profiting off the death of an individual" sounds wrong.

But a friend of mine is going through some very tough times financially and there are months when he has to sell off portions of his collection to pay the bills.

On Thursday, we talked about Gary Carter and his impact on the game & our childhood, along with his pieces of cardboard in our collections. He has a few autographs of Mr. Carter that he's picked up over the years and was considering putting them up on eBay.

I'm not sure if he has or not... but knowing his current financial situation... I wouldn't look down upon him if he did.

Personally... I have never tried to sell anything of a person in the wake of their passing, and although I can't say for sure... I'm fairly certain, I never will. But I understand why some choose to do so.

What's your take on this topic?

Happy Saturday everyone. Sayonara!

Extra Edition!

The Card Chop's post covers Topps' recent decision to open up the Topps Vault and sell some one-of-a-kind Gary Carter items... in which they plan on donating 10% of their proceeds to the Gary Carter Foundation.

I think it's pretty cool that they're willing to give collectors the opportunity to purchase these cool treasures... but agree with The Chop Chop 100%.

Topps... if you're reading this... please consider giving more than 10%. The fact is... you're not a struggling collector... you're a corporation that has vaults filled with assets. Give 100% of the proceeds to the Gary Carter Foundation and use it as a tax write-off.

If you love something, set it free...

Okay... so this is something you usually hear when you're talking about being in love with someone... but today I'm not talking about a girl... I'm talking about sports cards.

A few days ago, I was reading a blog post over at SEWINGMACHINEGUY on CARDS. In his post he mentioned that he found a 1998 Finest jumbo card of Jerry Rice. If you don't remember 1998 Finest, they had a protective peel on each card with the following words written on it:

TOPPS FINEST PROTECTOR

PEEL AND REMOVE COATING

Captain Canuck offered the advice... PEEL IT! PEEL IT NOW!!! and I supported the Captain 100%.

Card companies often add these additional protective measures to their products. Unfortunately, they often make the cards look terrible. So the dilemma is... should you set them free?

Six months ago, I brought this up with the autographs from Topps Retired products from the mid 2000's. Each of the autographs were encapsulated in a protective case with a Topps hologram seal. I had recently purchased some of these autographs off of Beckett and were disappointed to find that some of the cases were scratched. So... the question was... do I set them free?

If you've been following my blog for awhile, then you know that I opened two of the three cases that I purchased. I did it, because I feel that if a card is going to be in my personal collection, then it's important that I can appreciate their beauty. Obviously... there's a chance that they'll be less desirable to other collectors... but who cares? They're my cards and I have no intentions of getting rid of them.

So...when I received these in the mail yesterday, I faced the dilemma again. This time it wasn't Topps and their snap cases, but Sport Kings and their foil sealed top loaders.

I've been looking for the Bruce Lee for awhile and I'm pumped to finally add him to my PC. The Chamberlain will also be going into my PC, because he was a Los Angeles Laker. The other three will eventually be added to my trade lists. Which brings me to the point of this blog and today's question of the day...

Should I set them free from their holders?

Are you ready to find out what I did? Well... I kept the Craig, Sakic, and Berry in their protective top loaders provided by Spork Kings. I figure, it's up to whoever wants these to decide their fate. However the Lee and the Chamberlain are no longer prisoners in their semi scratched top loaders. Their new homes are perfectly new penny sleeves, fresh out of the box top loaders, and of course brand new team bags... because I take care of my peeps.

Anyways... I'm thankful that card companies take the time to add extra protection to their products... but like my momma once said... If you love something, set it free! And that's what I just did.

Happy Tuesday everyone!