GUEST: My mom used to have dinner with the Hoffas. And one time, when my mom was over there having dinner, Jimmy offered her a signed copy of the book. And she, she liked Jimmy Hoffa, and said, "Absolutely, I'd love to have a copy of it." And that's what I brought in to the ROADSHOW today.
APPRAISER: Well, let me show you first the title. It's "The Trials of Jimmy Hoffa." And when he says, "the trials," he definitely means the trials.
GUEST: Right.
APPRAISER: Because Jimmy Hoffa, obviously, was the union leader of the Teamsters, built it up to where it was one of the most powerful unions in the country.
GUEST: Right.
APPRAISER: And also, he had a lot of connections with mobs, gangsters, and so on. And then he ends up... The Kennedys, in particular, went after him.
GUEST: Right.
APPRAISER: And he went to trial a few times, was found guilty, and then was sentenced to jail. Eventually, he was pardoned by Nixon. Now, in addition, he signed it.
GUEST: Right.
APPRAISER: And this is the signature, "Good luck, James Hoffa." Everybody is still wondering where Jimmy Hoffa is.
GUEST: Right.
APPRAISER: What actually happened. And as time has gone on, of course, anybody who might have been related-- if, which, it seems probable that he was murdered--
all of those people are dying. So who knows if we'll ever find out?
GUEST: Right. I did take it to a book appraiser back in '97, and he gave me appraisal of $300 on it at that time.
APPRAISER: When collectors are looking at books like this, they really want not just the cloth book, but they... and the signature, but they also want the paper dust jacket.
GUEST: Okay.
APPRAISER: So 20 years ago, you said it was $300. I would say now it's probably Still that $300 to $500 in a retail setting. If something gets solved, if something happens, if there's a great news story about it, the price might go way up.
GUEST: Right, right.
