Sport Memorabilia Blog Post
Sport Memorabilia is a large business today. There are lots and lots of collectors who make their money on these items. Collecting cards, game-used jerseys, helmets, uniforms, autographed baseballs…you name it.
Two types of collectibles are the kind that are made by sport memorabilia companies with the intent to sell at games, conventions, and online. Then there are the items used in the actual games called Game-Used Memorabilia. If an item is related with a big game or a broken historical record, someone is creating a market and trying to profit off it. There are a few ways sport memorabilia dealers go about this. They can sell an autographed baseball on the internet via their own website, or they can post items for auction EBay, or they might even post online advertisements on sites such as Craigslist for customers who will get their memorabilia mailed to them all over the world. A lot of dealers, in addition to selling game-used memorabilia online, have a traditional brick and mortar store where customers can come in and evaluate the items in person.
Some collectors dabble in every sport, some only focus a select few if not just one. Some collectors might specialize in certain teams or players too. No matter which collectibles the seller is into, there is big money to be made if they have the right stuff.
The sport memorabilia industry as a whole is a debated one. It has lead to many hateful and corrupted collectors who have lost the spirit of sportsmanship and what collecting is really about. Many professional collectors will use children at games to try and sucker the players into signing as many bats or balls as possible, the old sympathy card method. It is pathetic, but a player now knows if a 45 year old man wants three bats and two balls signed, he is probably trying to make money and that is not what it is all about. People will wait as long as hours after games to get a glance at a player and maybe an autograph just to turn around the next day and flip it on the open market to make a quick buck.
Major League Baseball is trying to authenticate memorabilia like a game-used jersey and other items as to stop the counterfeiting that is plaguing the industry. Now that it has become business instead of a hobby, it seems that anything goes with all of the money involved. MLB and other professional leagues should be applauded for stepping in and trying to insure that all items are authentic. Ideally this will keep everything on the level, but more likely than not the game of cat and mouse will continue.