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Sports Memorabilia Collecting Guide

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Sports Memorabilia Collecting

Sports memorabilia has transformed from a little known hobby into a multi-billion dollar global industry that is showing no signs of slowing down anytime soon. Vintage sports memorabilia has maintained its monetary value through the recent worldwide depression, adding further credence to it as a legitimate investment vehicle. Oh, and did I mention collecting sports memorabilia is a ton of fun?

On the same token, the sports memorabilia industry can be a bit intimidating to new collectors. As such we've put together this collecting guide to help point you in the right direction.

Index

  1. Collecting Sports Memorabilia: Getting Started
  2. Sports Cards: To Autograph or Not to Autograph?
  3. The Sports Memorabilia Museum of Los Angeles

Collecting Sports Memorabilia: Getting Started

Babe Ruth Autographed Baseball

Collecting sports memorabilia is a growing industry, one that is already at the multi-billion dollar level. All over the globe, sport fans enjoy this profitable hobby. Sports memorabilia collectors range from children who dream of one day making the big leagues, to profit-minded business mongols all around the world.

If you are new to collecting, here are some tips:

1. Determine how much money you are willing to invest in sports memorabilia as well as the kind of memorabilia you are interested in collecting. There is a wide variety of sports played today, and each sport has some degree of memorabilia collecting base. Baseball memorabilia is by far the most popular, with football memorabilia following a distant second. Formulate an understanding of the general area you want to collect, as well as the monetary investment you will spend.

2. Stay immersed with hobby goings ons by finding a good website that has news and info on whatever sports you collect. For example, if you are a MLB aficionado, find a good online resource on baseball memorabilia.

3. Invest in a pricing guide. In order to know the true value of your sports memorabilia pieces, you will need to good price guide to consult. Beckett.com features some of the best guides on the market. When choosing a pricing guide, be sure that it is related to the type of sports memorabilia that you want to collect.

4. Begin your collection with less costly sports memorabilia items. There are several venues that sell sports memorabilia, like online auctions, card shops, and trade shows.

5. Ensure proper storage and display for your collection. Sports cards of value can be kept in sleeves or hard plastic casings. Other sports memorabilia pieces should be kept in cases made of wood or high-end plastic that protects the contents from harmful UV rays.

6. Catalog your sports memorabilia collection inventory. As your collection grows, it will become very important to catalog your inventory; thankfully, there are computer programs designed to fill this need.

Sports Cards: To Autograph or Not to Autograph?

Autographed Sports CardsThere are many people that will call it altered or destroyed if they see a sports card with an autograph. When a big time player's card is a autographed, its actually harder to sell then if it is not autographed - at least to sports card collectors. Sports memorabilia collectors, however, still may have the same, if not more, interest in buying an autographed variation of the card.

When you want to get a player's autograph, try to have something besides the card signed. You can use an autograph book or carry around small index cards so that, if given the opportunity, you can have it signed. If you buy autographed sports cards, or other autographed sports memorabilia on the secondary market make sure to compare it to images of the players signature as an added precaution.

Some collectors feel that coming across an autograph is a lot harder than it was. You used to be able to mail a request to the player of your choice and receive their autograph but that was before the 90's. To get an autograph during these times from your favorite player, you will have to find a collectible show or show up early to the sports field.

The more modern sports cards sets that feature inserted certified autographed cards are another story, however. These cards are highly valued and much more sought after their unsigned counterparts.

The Sports Memorabilia Museum of Los Angeles

The Sports Memorabilia Museum of Los Angeles features one of the largest, most impressive sports memorabilia collections in the world. The collection consists of over 10,000 pieces, most of which is baseball memorabilia.
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