The Value & History of Sports Memorabilia
What is Sports Memorabilia
The term sports memorabilia usually refers to a souvenir, memento, keepsake or token of remembrance that is directly correlated to a famous athlete, team, sporting event or personality. These memorabilia items are usually collected by fans that find sentimental and/ or monetary value of the item presented to them. There has yet to be a set standard regarding the specific number of items, type of the sport, or the era it existed to follow as guidelines. Instead these items can be identified as specific collectors items. Sports memorabilia doesn't host a specific start date to its existence, rather many moments in time that create their own value based on the player/event/date. Though it hosts no start date, many have stated you can see some of the earliest signs of sports memorabilia collection happening during the first decades of the 20th century, where fans would collect baseballs from the ballpark, waiting for their chance to have Babe Ruth sign them. The beauty of sports memorabilia is what may not be valuable to you can be a priceless memorabilia piece for someone else.
Nowadays you see memorabilia collectors worldwide for a variety of sports, events, and people. The popularity of these collectibles have continued to increase since the start of memorabilia collecting as a hobby. Some of the most expensive memorabilia items sold are Babe Ruth's 1920 jersey for $4.4 million, James Naismith's 1891 Rule's of Basketball for $4.3 million, and Mark McGwire's 70th Home Run Ball for $3.0 million. These three memorabilia collectibles display how high the value of these items can go. The sports memorabilia market is labeled under the collectors industry which has a global value of $370 billion. According to some statistics released by Forbes, there are about 200 million people who are collectors today. Also 33% of these global collectors have purchased, owned, or previously owned at least one sports memorabilia collectible. According to an article by he most popular autographed item in the sports memorabilia market involves jerseys, making up 24% of total sales. Autographed photographs hold a 23% market share. These items are followed by autographed helmets (8%), autographed baseballs (8%), and autographed footballs (5%) With a variety of sports items to choose from shows there is truly an item for everyone to add to their own collection. With technology allowing fans to get closer to their favorite athletes through social media platforms, podcast, and 24/7 coverage on the current events of their favorite teams. This will go hand in hand in creating more value in the sports memorabilia industry which we hope encourages collectors to look for specific quality for their memorabilia.
What Memorabilia Qualities To Look For
We all have that one person, group, team, athlete, etc that drive us to buy a variety of collectible gear honoring them. Just like our variety of memorabilia needs, many things can create or add value for your memorabilia item. So you may ask yourself, what makes memorabilia valuable for me? Let's start with the basics of asserting value to these items. First you want to assure the items quality is pristine. Unless the item is game used or at a rarity where there are not many left of it's kind, you should ensure that the item is in pristine condition. If you're buying this piece of memorabilia online, there should be pictures of the same item you are buying that displays this same pristine quality. The second feature we feel is a must have for each memorabilia item purchase is your comfort level with that specific company/user you are buying from. Do your research!! With some memorabilia collectibles running high in cost, it is worth the extra time to research the seller. Don't hesitate to send them a message regarding any questions or concerns. No company or seller should shy away from a customers needs to feel more comfortable with a purchase. Now we want to discuss some Bonus Features to look out for as well. Though some of these features are a little more rare or in regards to COA's, companies have shifted to third party authenticators for their products. There is no difference or less value in using the third party authenticators, in fact some have add great value to your product because of their reputation. At Coast to Coast Collectibles we still use our own COA's because of our unique addition of proof photos. These COA's mentioned are our first feature we want you to look for. A certificate of authenticity is a signed document proving the authenticity of the work/item which contains details about the artwork/item for the collector's reference. This document needs to be on the inside of your box alongside your memorabilia item. These COA's are a great value for your purchased memorabilia to ensure the item is real. Unfortunately if you read our past blog we discussed the high levels of fraudulent activity that occurs in the memorabilia industry. We want you to establish the understanding of COA's for all future products so you have the comfort of the companies name standing behind the product/service you bought. Memorabilia can be expensive so taking the extra time to assure these qualities are there makes a big difference. Proof photos are another bonus feature we want to encourage you to pay attention to. These are pictures of the person/team signing your item. Proof photos are far more rare in the memorabilia industry. They are even less likely to be present with the majority of items purchased. We take pride at Coast to Coast Collectibles in pioneering the usage of proof photos in the memorabilia industry. Our proof photos allow you as the fan to dive deeper into the piece of memorabilia you purchased. With proof photos you are able to see the athlete/celebrity signing the item you bought. Collectors are a part of the great reason our sports leagues have grown as big and successful as they have. So why not continue to push the industry to fulfill the most unique desires of memorabilia collectors worldwide?
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