The Aura of the Brooklyn Dodger Collectible Market

As a Southern California based Dodger fan in my late 30's, my only experiences with the team has been on the West Coast. I am far too young to have been a Brooklyn fan and have never personally ventured out there in my soon to be 40 years. Yet, I find myself having a strong connection to those "Boys of Summer." As a collector, this means that I have naturally gravitated towards Brooklyn collectibles, and the marketplace reflects that I may not be the only one.

Collectors Weekly explores this and wonders aloud why it is that Brooklyn memorabilia remains strong even after it left the borough over 50 years ago.

So why is Brooklyn Dodgers memorabilia so collectible? After all, Walter O’Malley turned his back on the city after the 1957 season and left for sunny Southern California, where there was less market competition and warmer weather but lukewarm fans, who, even today, routinely show up for games in the fourth inning. While the team played in Brooklyn, they won exactly one World Series Championship. Since their departure, they have won five in Los Angeles, yet the West Coast version of the team garners far less attention among collectors than “Dem Bums,” as they were affectionately known, from Brooklyn.

I do have a little bone to pick about the statement "lukewarm fans", nevertheless, it is an interesting question. Will Brooklyn material remain strong as former Brooklynites die, or will we see an inevitable decline in values over time? Read the story for their insight.

My thoughts are that LA based fans will probably pick up the slack. The history and majesty of the Brooklyn team has transfered to the West Coast as a part of our legacy. As I had written in my "About Me" section,

"The history of the team, that binds us all together, is vast and storied. It was born out of the Victorian Era, resided in an immigrant culture emblematic of our past and traveled across great lands westward like the settlers of old. When you watch the Dodgers it’s easy to see them as ourselves."

The mystic of the Brooklyn Dodgers, I don't believe, will ever die.