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Who should I collect for the long term??

That was a question posed to me abt 25 years ago...and The article was published in The Autograph collectors magazine abt 20 years ago.

I stated this...Walk down 5th Ave New York and ask 10 people who will still be remembered 200 years from now ?.....The answers will vary but A.Einstein,Thos Edison,Abraham Lincoln,Neil Armstrong,Charles Lindbergh,Elvis Presley,Hitler ect will surely be among the names they will give you.

Madonna,M Jordan,Prince,Michael Jackson ect....will long be forgotton

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Permalink Reply by werner feiter on April 29, 2015 at 6:03pm

My son is 38 a Doctor my other son 36 an attorney and when I mentioned Clark Gable Vivien Leigh or Joe Louis they had no idea who I was talking about...but they did know the name Babe Ruth, Hitler,George Washington,Abe Lincoln,C.A.Lindbergh....get my point!!!!!

The short lived stars are only a flash in time then gone and forgotten!!!!

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Permalink Reply by James on April 29, 2015 at 8:24pm

I appreciate your opinion, Werner; however, I think Michael Jackson is as big an icon as Elvis. But that's just my opinion. But I will give you this: a few years back, when pollsters asked Americans who the most famous non-presidential Americans were, the top two were Babe Ruth and Elvis Presley!

Steve has a good list there. I think JFK will always be desired. And the only way to get my Babe Ruth autographed baseball away from me would be to pry it from my cold, dead hands!

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Permalink Reply by Joe W. on April 29, 2015 at 9:10pm

There's a market for Clark Gable, Vivien Leigh, John Wayne, and other stars of Hollywood's Golden Era. They may not be the flavor of the moment but there is still strong demand for these. It comes down to preference. Become an expert in the specialization that interests you the most. Quality always finds a buyer.

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Permalink Reply by Josh Board on April 30, 2015 at 8:10am

What a fun discussion this is. Wilt, to me, has always been the best basketball player ever. Sorry Jordan, you are second in my book. And, I'd even take a 20-year-old Magic Johnson, over a 20-year-old Jordan, but that's another debate for another day.

And I TOTALLY DISAGREE with that guy about the cricket player. He was an average cricket player, at best (okay, okay...calm down. I was just joking. I don't know anything about cricket).

But...I do know this. You CANNOT gauge what youth of today know about Clark Gable or Joe Louis. Non boxing fans won't know Joe Louis, but his signature will always command a big price in the sports market. I was once at a party...about 10 years ago, and a man walked in that looked just like Burt Reynolds. These two 20-year-old girls I was talking to laughed when they saw him. I said, "Are you laughing at the Reynolds look alike?" They had NO IDEA who Burt Reynolds was. It was because the guy looked exactly like their high school English teacher. Point being...younger generations often don't know about pop culture icons from another era. It means very little.

I will tell you this, though. With internet and all that...it is less likely that ANYBODY that ever had an impact on society (whether that's Madonna, Michael Jackson...or a no-talent like Justin Beiber), it's less likely they'll be forgotten in 20 years, or even 200 years...because people are always Googling stuff. Internet websites are always doing stories on various pop culture things (Who was Popular in the year 2000? etc). So, in the future, it's not going to be like if you took a famous movie actor from 1940....who none of us would know now....versus a famous movie actor we all know now...and we (and our kids and grandkids), will probably know in 75 years.

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Permalink Reply by Ian Baldock on April 30, 2015 at 6:34pm

For the long run you want Historical figures. Movie stars and musicians come and go. Presidents, heads of state, Armstrong (the modern Lindbergh), Napolean, Hitler etc. I also consider Wilt the greatest bb player with Gretzky and Ruth in their sports respectively.

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Permalink Reply by James on April 30, 2015 at 11:09pm

You are so right, Josh. Learning by Googling! I have nephews ages 9 and 11 who are HUGE baseball and basketball fans, especially baseball. And they are extremely interested about knowing who the greats of the past were. They told me all their friends know all about Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. They also already knew about Wilt Chamberlain as well. Surprisingly though, they did not know who Mickey Mantle or Joe DiMaggio were, but I clued them in.

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Permalink Reply by Dane on May 1, 2015 at 12:01am

20-yr-old Johnson = professional basketball player at MSU. He allegedly never attended classes, and his professors were told to give him As. This is hearsay from my friend who had a history professor that taught at MSU during Johnson's tenure. He told the class that everyone would be receiving As, since Magic Johnson, who never attended a class, would be getting an A.

So, Magic Johnson at 20 would have been far better than Jordan at 20. Now, the better question is if you would have taken Johnson at 20 over Christian Laettner at 20, since most students of the NCAA game would say Laettner in college was better than Jordan in college, as well.

As for Bradman, although he dominated his era (much like how Babe Ruth and Jim Creighton dominated their respective eras in baseball) for Test batsmen rules, it's debatable whether he was truly the greatest of all time for Cricket batsmen; that title might belong to Sachin Tendulkar. That aspect of Bradman's legacy, coupled with the lack of popularity of the sport outside of Commonwealth nations, likely have a greater impact on the low values associated with Bradman signatures than the sheer volume of supply.

Cricket, in many ways, is like soccer. If the US were any good at it, it would gain in popularity, and the demand for cricketers' autographs would increase geometrically. This is also being slowly seen in the sport of lacrosse.

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Permalink Reply by James on May 1, 2015 at 10:07pm

Interesting and likely true about Johnson, as well as many other basketball players. The issue is to what extent. Although things like this are never good, if it's just a couple of players that this is done for at a university, that is one thing. However, when it gets out of hand and becomes part of the institution like at the University of North Carolina, then it must be dealt with. Many, many athletes apparently have been receiving A's while not attending classes at North Carolina for at least two decades. That can't be allowed, and must be penalized.

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Permalink Reply by James on May 1, 2015 at 10:25pm

Popularity, relevancy, and demand are obviously the keys. The relatively low prices for some historical autographs really amazes me sometimes. For instance, you can get an official, authentic appointment document signed by US President James Madison from the early-1800s for around $600, depending on condition. Yet a cut signature of John Lennon signed less than forty years ago can command over $2000! In many ways, you would think that a historical document signed by a U.S. President 200 years ago would garner much more money than a simple signature on a piece of scrap paper by a relatively modern musician.

Don't get me wrong, I love Lennon, but still when you think about these things, it's kind of surprising in many ways.

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Permalink Reply by werner feiter on May 2, 2015 at 2:56pm

Good point James...Popularity is definitley a factor..I personally would rather have a James Monroe on my wall than a John Lennon....but then again I own Ford stock instead of Facebook stock...what do I know ....?????

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Permalink Reply by James on May 2, 2015 at 8:37pm

All that brings to mind is that I wish I were Mark Zuckerberg. Then I could own every autograph I ever wanted!

I hear you, though, about Monroe vs. Lennon. I would be torn. I admire John Lennon, but I love the really historical stuff. Now I would definitely take a Washington, Jefferson, or Lincoln over a Lennon.