Mark,
I was at the Daytona 500 when Dale Earnhardt was killed. Within minutes and continuing today, anything associated with Dale Earnhardt was marked up exponentially. I feel as you do, this is a sad reflection on our society. The practice of getting "Whatever the market will bear" permeates all our transactions and extends beyond collectables into the entire retail market. Those without ethics will always take advantage of those who are caught up in the emotion of the moment and "must have" a item at any price.