Henry Yee Auction
 

The current Henry Yee auction is loading items. There are some very impressive photos up already.

http://www.ebay.com/sch/hyee_auction...1&_ipg=&_from=

WOW, Henry must be doing great with his consignments lately. I believe that he just had a great selection of items only a month or two ago, am I correct?

Henry told me (about 8 months ago) that he is auctioning off his own images now and for the most part not taking consignments.

Jeff

Same here.

Henry has partnered with John Rogers. He announced it in October of last year.


http://luckeycards.com/yeerogers.jpg

Lots of iconic photos included in this round... Ruth, Gehrig, Johnson, etc.
It does make you wonder how many more will re-surface as additional newspaper archives are released over future years.

Is it more likely that all of these newspaper archive acquisitions will depress the market prices for original photos or will they generate more and more collectors entering this segment of the hobby as more product will become available and, thus, ultimately increase prices? Of course, all of the hardcore photo collectors will say the latter but how do the non-biased board members feel?

Phil,
While speculation on prices of any collectible is a crapshoot at best, I think the most honest answer answer is a little of both scenarios.

As more archives are released, I think prices may drop a little initially, but In the long term I think the desirability and collecting of original pictures will rise. I don't see these as a fad that will go away if more are found.

IMO, the pictures at the higher end of value are the most vulnerable to an initial drop, as the rarity is a big part of the drive to outbid the other guys for them. Unless there is Black Rock Find equivalent, I think the price dip will be more along the lines of 20% and not 50%. Following this initial dip, I think it's possible that collectors will see quality photos as being more affordable. The rebound would likely start with the mid range photos increasing sale prices as more enter the collecting realm. The natural progression from there would be that mid range collectors expand into the higher end photos. Once that happens, the prices will go back up in that group as well.

Like with all collectibles, my motto is collect what you love and don't worry about the "value" the as we have no guarantees and no control over what will happen.

Best,
Mark

Sent from my Xoom using Tapatalk

I think both. The abundance of photos, especially the lower-to-mid-tier ones, is keeping prices down on those for now as more are coming into the market than collectors can absorb, even with more photo collectors being drawn in by the abundance/attractiveness of vintage photos. On the other hand, even with all of the archives opening up, there are still not enough top-tier photos to go around for the existing collectors, let alone the new collectors who are refining their tastes and working their way up the chain to the nicer material. Even with all of these archives opening up, there simply isn't the equivalent of a "Black Swamp Find" when it comes to top tier photos, and you're not going to see a collection of, say, 100 early-career original Babe Ruth photos hitting the market all at once and driving down prices. The Top Tier photos will remain top tier, and in my opinion, will only go higher as more collectors turn their eyes to vintage photos.

But enough talking about market prices of stuff. To modify what Mark said, collect what you like, but not what I like, and we'll all be happy ;)

There's a lot more interest, knowledge and collectors of news photos than there were eve 15 years ago, and finds and big sales like this likely contribute.

Highest example qualities (rarity, clarity, subject, poses, artistry, size, famous images, etc) will always be in high demand and limited.

I suspect there may be lowering of dime a dozen photos and certain subjects where tons more examples are found (which can be good for collectors on normal budgets), but rising in value of the primo examples due to the larger and more experienced collector base. When there are more photos available, the collector has to be more discerning.

I'm certain the single photos Yee picks out for his auctions are cherry picked as the primo examples from piles and piles and aisles and aisles of photos (see Leon's picture). He's offering the best he finds.

During my 30-plus years in journalism, I've worked at seven different newswpapers, ranging from a community weekly to a couple of major metropolitan ones. Because of my collecting interests, I've always taken an interest and explored the libraries and photo "morgues" where I worked. Based on what I've seen filed away, I would have reservations paying serious money for any photo touted as being unique or a 1 of 1.

My belief is that there is so much out there, and not just what was filed away by major newspapers. Midsize and smaller papers certainly can have jaw-dropping collections. What's more, even though it has been some time since papers entered the digital age, that doesn't mean they've made decisions to get rid of their stashes of hard-copy photographs. As an example, my current employer has a building full of vintage photographs stored off site, where they've been sitting since the 1970s. There simply hasn't been a need to do anything with them, so there they sit. But my guess is they eventually will come to market, as will other archives.

Also, at a major paper I worked at about 20 years ago, I was killing some time during my lunch hour one day looking through folders of baseball subjects. There were three, 2-inch-thick folders of Babe Ruth photos, including what we now call Type 1 examples of him as a Red Sox player. The Joe Jackson file was equally impressive, with multiple copies of some photos. Ty Cobb? Easily 200 vintage photos.

Given the fact that this paper is in a southern city where college basketball is king, I can only imagine what resides in the archives of newspapers where major-league baseball dominated the local sports scene.

I pretty much agree that the high-end, most desirable photos will continue to appreciate while the "middle of the pack" stuff may drop a little initially but could rebound over time.

Either way, there is some pretty nice stuff up for auction.

Even with baseball cards, buying "the only one in existence" usually means another one or two will be discovered within the next six months. I think that's one of Murphy's laws.

But if you follow auctions, collect and handle enough photos you'll know rarity and quality when you come across it. Just as an avid baseball card collector will know that the 1951 Bowman Mickey Mantle or the Old Judge King Kelly is the most valuable card in his neighbor's shoebox collection.

My Two Cents
 

I think high end photos done by the great photographers of stars will always be in high demand. No matter how many archives that are found there is a finite amount of photos that meet the following criteria:
1. Photos from the great photographers
2. Photos of the major stars of the day
3. Content that is baseball oriented.

If you take away those three factors then you have photos that may be subject to price fluctuations. Otherwise, people will always want photos of stars of the day by the great photographers that are not subject to new material coming to the market. My two cents

Both the supply of vintage photos on the market, as well as the demand for them, will increase, in my opinion. Where the two will intersect to determine prices at any given moment is unpredictable. Collect what you like and can afford, then you don't have to worry about the future.