(HAYN quote removed)
I mean no offense HAYN, but this is the same thing most disgruntled people have been saying about the autograph industry in general for well over two decades. I've been in this hobby a long time, and everyone says that the players are going to price themselves out, and the promoters are going to end up bankrupt tied to these huge contracts and stuffed with a warehouse full of unsellable merchandise, and then they never do because people still pay them anyway, and people still pay outrageous prices to finish their prized pieces like 500 HR balls, HOF helmets, and the like. It was true for guys like Joe Montana and Dan Marino in the past, and is happening now with Emmitt, Brett Favre, Vick, Aikman, and a bevy of others, and will continue to happen even more. Want to see a joke? Look at what Steiner Sports is charging for a "pre-sale" on Peyton Manning items from a signing they are going to do...something like $350 for a mini helmet and $750 for a FS helmet...then everyone gets outraged, screams bloody murder, swears up and down they are never going to buy a Steiner product again, and then they do it anyway because they think that if no one else is paying it, their item will hold its value.
A perfect example of this was the pro football HOF last year. For years, the HOF had "tent" signings, where several HOFers (usually between 8-13)would sign one autograph per person for a flat fee. When I started going to those the fee was only $75...two years ago it was $100, but still considered quite a bargain as the sigs rounded out to about $7.50 apiece, and guys like Shula, Ditka, and headliners like that regularly participated. It took over 3 hours to get through a line usually, but it was worth it in the end for the sigs we all got. So last year another big promoter, Mounted Memories, took over at the Hall, and immediately did away with the tent concept, charging individual prices for each player along the lines of what you see at today's mega-shows...150 for Montana, Staubach, Jim Brown, etc. So of course everyone screams outrage, and swears up and down that Mounted Memories isn't getting a dime of their money, and that they will go to the smaller shows during the weekend instead where fees are 20-30 per player, that they'll never go back to Canton again, and all that stuff. So, I went last year to the smaller shows (I myself didn't spend anything on MM at the Hall) and people start rolling in. Not surprisingly, their tune had changed. It was "Man, I'm SO pissed at what they did...but, er, I needed Roger Staubach to complete my Cowboys helmet and Montana for my Notre Dame mini, so I dropped the $350 for those 2, but NO MORE!" It was obvious that most of it was feigned outrage...the promoters knew it, and milked it. Were there players that sold 10 tickets or less? Yes, there were. But they also sold well over 300 tickets for Montana at 150-200 a pop, and Staubach at 100-150, etc.
All of this does sort of apply to Troy and Ginn and the like...people swear they'd NEVER pay $100 for Troy on anything, but then, er, they have this sweet Heisman display he needs added to, or they have this great OSU mini with Eddie and Hop and Archie, and wow I just need one ticket for that, so...and the cycle repeats itself. You are correct in assessing that if people didn't pay it, they would stop charging it...the problem is that there is absolutely no indication that people will stop paying it...not for OSU guys, and not for the hobby in general.
I mean no offense HAYN, but this is the same thing most disgruntled people have been saying about the autograph industry in general for well over two decades. I've been in this hobby a long time, and everyone says that the players are going to price themselves out, and the promoters are going to end up bankrupt tied to these huge contracts and stuffed with a warehouse full of unsellable merchandise, and then they never do because people still pay them anyway, and people still pay outrageous prices to finish their prized pieces like 500 HR balls, HOF helmets, and the like. It was true for guys like Joe Montana and Dan Marino in the past, and is happening now with Emmitt, Brett Favre, Vick, Aikman, and a bevy of others, and will continue to happen even more. Want to see a joke? Look at what Steiner Sports is charging for a "pre-sale" on Peyton Manning items from a signing they are going to do...something like $350 for a mini helmet and $750 for a FS helmet...then everyone gets outraged, screams bloody murder, swears up and down they are never going to buy a Steiner product again, and then they do it anyway because they think that if no one else is paying it, their item will hold its value.
A perfect example of this was the pro football HOF last year. For years, the HOF had "tent" signings, where several HOFers (usually between 8-13)would sign one autograph per person for a flat fee. When I started going to those the fee was only $75...two years ago it was $100, but still considered quite a bargain as the sigs rounded out to about $7.50 apiece, and guys like Shula, Ditka, and headliners like that regularly participated. It took over 3 hours to get through a line usually, but it was worth it in the end for the sigs we all got. So last year another big promoter, Mounted Memories, took over at the Hall, and immediately did away with the tent concept, charging individual prices for each player along the lines of what you see at today's mega-shows...150 for Montana, Staubach, Jim Brown, etc. So of course everyone screams outrage, and swears up and down that Mounted Memories isn't getting a dime of their money, and that they will go to the smaller shows during the weekend instead where fees are 20-30 per player, that they'll never go back to Canton again, and all that stuff. So, I went last year to the smaller shows (I myself didn't spend anything on MM at the Hall) and people start rolling in. Not surprisingly, their tune had changed. It was "Man, I'm SO pissed at what they did...but, er, I needed Roger Staubach to complete my Cowboys helmet and Montana for my Notre Dame mini, so I dropped the $350 for those 2, but NO MORE!" It was obvious that most of it was feigned outrage...the promoters knew it, and milked it. Were there players that sold 10 tickets or less? Yes, there were. But they also sold well over 300 tickets for Montana at 150-200 a pop, and Staubach at 100-150, etc.
All of this does sort of apply to Troy and Ginn and the like...people swear they'd NEVER pay $100 for Troy on anything, but then, er, they have this sweet Heisman display he needs added to, or they have this great OSU mini with Eddie and Hop and Archie, and wow I just need one ticket for that, so...and the cycle repeats itself. You are correct in assessing that if people didn't pay it, they would stop charging it...the problem is that there is absolutely no indication that people will stop paying it...not for OSU guys, and not for the hobby in general.
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