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Permalink Reply by Stepeanut on April 1, 2022 at 10:59am

Generally speaking, prices tend to be at their highest in the immediate aftermath of the death of a celebrity.  On rare occasions, the market continues to rise — Kurt Cobain, e.g. — but for most it will settle down after anywhere between a few weeks and a few years.  Supply and demand are the deciding factors.

Taylor Hawkins was a famous musician for over 25 years.  He has signed a lot of stuff.  My advice would be to wait a while, unless you see something that particularly appeals to you and you just have to have it.

Be aware of forgeries.  This applies at any time, but particularly when demand is high, as it is right now.

Good luck.

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Permalink Reply by Eddy on April 1, 2022 at 11:15am

Stepeanut is right.  Here's a quick read about what happens when a celebrity dies with memorabilia (including autographs).  The phenomenon of  a "death bump" is right on the money.

https://medium.com/@aututhenticmemorabiliacompany/death-in-the-memo...

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Permalink Reply by Gabriel Lee on April 1, 2022 at 11:52am

Thanks for the advice! As Taylor Hawkin’s death was mostly unexpected since he died quite young while still in his career, do you see his value going up given his legacy with the Foo Fighters since I would expect most people wouldn’t be selling anything and would likely hold onto what they have given the popularity of their band, I see his value as only going to increase given his higher end stuff is selling for $1,000+ on eBay currently. 

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Permalink Reply by Eddy on April 1, 2022 at 11:58am

I don't know much at all about Taylor's value.  He looks to have had a simple signing style.   I would be extremely careful of forgeries......especially now.  

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Permalink Reply by Gabriel Lee on April 1, 2022 at 12:08pm

That is true. If I had to buy I would like try to find something authenticated or submitted before his passing since there would be less intention to forge his autograph since they were going for about $30-$40 before.

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Permalink Reply by Stepeanut on April 1, 2022 at 12:05pm

Fifty is young — something I tell myself every day — but it’s not that young.  No disrespect to Taylor Hawkins, but it’s not like he’s just joined the 27 Club.  And — again, no disrespect — he was a drummer, not a band leader.  The market will calm down over time, and the price of his autograph will fall some and level out.  Be patient.  Be prudent.  Don’t let the yahoos on eBay drive your worst impulses.  Buy when the time is right.

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Permalink Reply by Gabriel Lee on April 1, 2022 at 12:11pm

Great points! Yes I think I’ll just have to wait it out until everything settles, sometimes it’s tempting since you have the fear of missing out on some “potential good deals” 

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Permalink Reply by Steve Zarelli on April 1, 2022 at 12:09pm

Now is the absolute worst time to buy anything. The market is flooded with opportunistic fakes and emotion is driving prices way higher than they should be. If he was a good signer and the supply is good, the market will settle into a more realistic pricing in a few months.

The only time the price tends to stay really high is if the signature was uncommon and high priced to begin with. No way this is a $1,000 autograph once it settles down.

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