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Current Status of the Sports Memorabilia Market

I'm interested in hearing thoughts regarding the current status of the sports memorabilia market. I constantly hear that this market goes through its "ups and downs", where an item might be worth more or less than it may have been in the past. Where does the market currently stand? Are we in a booming period? Will the price of some of my collectibles be likely to rise or fall in future decades? Is one particular sport more likely to remain constant regarding price value?

I'd love to hear some thoughts.

Thanks guys

Tags: autographs, baseball, memorabilia, sports

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Permalink Reply by Dom Vito Castiglione on October 13, 2014 at 3:05pm

Check out ebay for a few hours and you'll have your answer

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Permalink Reply by Robin Banks on October 13, 2014 at 4:56pm

A recent auction held by Heritage auction on sports memorabilia a couple of months ago was a tell tale on where the current market is. Most of the game worn/game used and personal items were being bid in the thousands. As far as the autograph industry, in my opinion, its a little soft right now. Unless you have some vintage signatures, they still hold their value. Baseball autographs are still the leader in all categories, basketball and football autographs are about the same followed by hockey based on their collectability. Again, this is just my opinion on the current status in the industry.

Robin

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Permalink Reply by Rich on October 13, 2014 at 9:36pm

Regarding modern autographs, I have to think that the price of most sports autographs will go down. Players get hot and charge accordingly, but I think that few actually retain their value. Most of these players become footnotes rather than superstars. Players get cut, traded, etc and the legacy they're building with a franchise and fan base stops dead in its tracks. Play declines in many instances. Players retire and, unless they're a true legend on their way to the Hall, collectors aren't as excited about shelling it out for their signature and prices inevitably go down.

Some of the prices I see at sports conventions are just absurd. I remember seeing Colt McCoy charging $80 a couple years back and wondering who was in that line.

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Permalink Reply by Dom Vito Castiglione on October 13, 2014 at 10:31pm

It's amazing Rich. I was at a sports show couple years back and Curtis Granderson was charging $99/flat. The same show had David Tyree starting at $139/flat and Greg Oden starting at $119 per signature

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Permalink Reply by Rich on October 13, 2014 at 10:46pm

Yeah, I've essentially abandoned sports autographs. For one thing, it's hard for me to get too enthusiastic about autographs of people I'm not a big fan of (i.e. outside of my favorite sports teams). But, in addition, the prices these people charge for their lazy, illegible signature at the very first sign of success in their careers is just absurd.

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Permalink Reply by Dom Vito Castiglione on October 13, 2014 at 11:00pm

I remember about 6-7 years ago being somewhere and they had a promotion that included a meet & greet with a former ball player. I asked one of the employees if he knew who it might be and he said he didn't know. I went over to the area and at a table was ex-baseball player Marvin Freeman. I didn't recall him even though I'm a big MLB guy. Mr. Freeman was there to greet people but taking photos with or of him were prohibited. Autographs could be had for $29, but only saw a few people in line for that before I took off.

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Permalink Reply by Rich on October 13, 2014 at 11:08pm

Yeah, I had to look him up. Good example of how dumb the sports market was. Looks like he had a pretty mediocre pro career. No idea what the deal with no photos and $29 autographs was.

A few weeks back, I saw a thread where some members were talking about a young MLB star and what the value of a signed jersey with a couple inscriptions was. The "value" was something like $700, according to one person. My immediate thoughts are 1) Player has three seasons under his belt. 2) Autograph (unsurprisingly) is totally illegible and the inscriptions aren't much better. 3) If this guy gets injured, traded, performance declines, busted for steroids, etc . . . what is the value then? Does that piece have anywhere at all to go but down?

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Permalink Reply by Dom Vito Castiglione on October 13, 2014 at 11:23pm

I blame the people that pay that amount for stuff just like I blame the people who buy all these forgeries, often times for big money. If you have no knowledge about something, why are you buying it? I have seen people learn that something they bought is a forgery and say "Well, that's ok. Still looks nice" I also like the people who TTM and say something like "I just found out these are ghost signed but it's still a success to me!"

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Permalink Reply by Rich on October 13, 2014 at 11:29pm

I mean, I get it. People get excited about their team and players and pay absolutely whatever for them. But, most of the time, their expectations of it being a good investment are completely laughable.