BONUS STORY:
Niche collecting: Stadium Seats

A double set of chairs from old Yankee Stadium is listed in a telephone auction with a minimum bid of $250. After 23 bids the price for the seats is up to $1,900. The hammer falls at $2,300. During a recent telephone auction conducted by Leland's of New York, stadium seats, to hear auction officials describe it, are "weak." Leland's officials quickly add, however, that stadium seats tend to produce better bidding action during live auctions.

Seat collecting is a segment of the sports collectibles market that may be coming off a surge, having reached the upper deck in terms of price. Thousands of baseball fans have singles, pairs and rows of seats from America's legendary stadiums. Many of them who pick them up -- literally -- for a few dollars are bringing them back to market to fetch enough money to buy season's tickets at many ball parks. Others are warehoused by the hundreds by some owners who slowly bring them to the marketplace with the hope of propping up those prices. The vast majority of seats still soak up the sounds and lights of baseball, not to mention the winter elements, at quite a few minor league parks.