How Many Is Too Many? How Many is Not Enough?

Got into an interesting conversation with an Orlando fan Saturday night between periods at Amway Center.

She wanted to know how many different jerseys the team would be wearing that season. I told her that besides the two homes and two roads (first half and second half), the old alternate, the opening night special set with the unique Opening Night patch, the team would also be announcing a variety of special one-night jerseys.

1. Military Night, the camouflage jersey worn Nov. 10 and 11 and auctioned last Saturday.
2. Hockey Fights Cancer, a pink jersey.
3. Vintage Jersey
4. Old Time Hockey Jersey
5. St, Patrick's Day Jersey
6. Shirts Off Their Backs

While this might seem like a lot of different fabric, I pointed out that that Solar Bears Care, the team's lucky ticket holders, and a variety of charities will benefit from this inventory.

And I pointed out that in this era of collecting, there is a benefit to balancing the supply-demand ratio. I told her that if the team only wore one or two special jerseys, the auctions might bring crazy results from deep-pocketed fans who would outbid everyone else to get one of these rare sweaters.

And that's the key ... recognizing the balance between too few (which could prompt a dramatic increase in the price of one) and too many (which would flood the market).

MeiGray carefully ponders this with each team we partner with ... based on the size of the fan base, size of the collector base, and the charitable component of each deal.