A friend of mine once told me, The art of collecting old athletic goods or sport memorabilia takes us all back to a different time and different world, when life seemed so simple.
Chasing through antique shops and down expressways or dirt roads looking for old sports stuff, in its own way, is a game or competition. Our blood has a tendency to flow a little faster looking around for sports stuff just like it did back in the old days when we were shooting free-throws at the end of a basketball game or when we were getting ready for kick-off for a football game.
Collecting sporting goods and memorabilia can really touch the heart and soul of any person who has ever played, coached, or been a fan of a particular sport. We go back to that time or particular game in a flashback. It can actually be a dream-like form of time travel.
To begin, it is a wide field. There are hundreds, if not thousands of different sporting collectibles. Trying to collect everything is next to impossible, so let us suggest narrowing the field.
The neat thing about sports collecting is a person can do it on a fairly fixed budget or they can expand it to higher priced items and spend quite a bit of money.
Standing in an antique shop, I often pick up an old wooden bat or an old baseball glove, and quickly my mind flashes back to a day many years ago when I played or witnessed a game. Most wooden bats and baseball gloves can be found between $5 to $75. Occasionally, the old Hall of Fame store-bought item can inch up into the hundred’s of dollars. If the item to be purchased was actually used or worn by a famous player, the price rapidly multiplies.
Many kids and adults have spent their childhood collecting baseball cards. What was once a very expensive hobby saw some peak years during the 1980’s and 1990’s! Cards were selling anywhere between a penny and thousands of dollars.
The card business is not quite what it once was, but it still draws plenty of attention at shows and antique shops. Because of the large number of young collectors in the 80’s and 90’s, I expect the sports card industry to rebound when some of these youngsters become oldsters.
For those who are new to sports collecting, I would recommend looking for some of the following items at sales, auctions, and antique shops. These seem to keep their value and actually have shown a decently increased value over time. Keep in mind to always buy the things that you enjoy and like looking at, because we never know when trends can change and values decrease. Purchase something you would like even if it had no monetary worth. That way you will be always be happy with it.
Remember, more often than not, the older the piece is and better shape it is in, the more you might have to pay for it.
Old vintage football helmets range from inexpensive old children’s helmets from the 1950’s – 1960’s to vintage leather helmets pre-1960. Most good old leather helmets run in the $75 to $250 price range.
Footballs and basketballs can be found easily in the $10 to $100 range. Look for old basketballs that especially have strings to grip. Mostly these balls have shoestrings or leather to grip when shooting or passing and were in the pre-1950’s era. A basketball from this era can fetch $100 to $250 if it is in good condition. Signed or player endorsed basketballs can increase the price.
Many serious collectors enjoy looking for sports programs. There is a tremendous array of these programs on the market and a person might want to focus on one or two teams.
Individual game programs can bring between $5 and $50. Old world series baseball programs and scorecards often cost hundreds of dollars.
Autographed baseballs and memorabilia can be excellent investments. Baseballs with autographs can be purchased for a wide variety of prices. Most balls signed by a major league player can be found for $50, but Hall of Fame signed balls go for $50 to $150 and a Babe Ruth or Lou Gehrig ball can expect to bring thousands of dollars on the open market.
Interestingly enough, old tickets and stubs are a great piece of sports history that don’t take up a lot of space and can bring back memories. You can start your collection with tickets from events and games that you have actually attended and then venture out to antique shops and buy tickets that others have used. Some old World Series tickets go for $650 to $800.
Sports nodders or bobble heads have been around for many years. They look great on a shelf or in a cabinet. Nodders pre-1965 can fetch $125 to $300 and nodders from the 1970’s to the present can bring $10 to $50.
Old Sports Illustrated and sport magazines are certainly worth collecting. Each issue usually has a famous player or team on the cover along with the date it was published. These magazines can be fun to flashback to and they also look great framed in any den or basement wall. Even though some collectors despair at the thought of cutting advertisements out of old magazines, these ads can also be framed and displayed. Many dealers will frame old advertisements and sell these in their shops.
Collecting old pennants, such as college, professional and high school team banners, is also interesting. These pennants can be displayed on a wall and can brighten any room. Vintage pennants can be found from $15 to $100, depending on the team, the age, and the condition of the pennant.
There are many post card collectors who look specifically for cards with sport teams and individual stars on the postcard. These usually run between $5 and $50 and can enhance any sports collector’s world.
Sports trophies and awards from the past can be fun to pursue. From the 1920’s to the present time, schools and colleges have awarded pins, medals, letters, and trophies to their athletes. These small tokens of achievement are fun to collect and they do not take up much space.
Old chenille varsity letters, sports jewelry, spirit pins and medals, old pencils and pens with sport advertising, wooden golf clubs, hockey sticks and equipment, and old vintage uniforms are just a few of the thousands of items a person can collect.
Truthfully, searching shops and sales and enjoying the chase itself is what sports collecting is all about. You will find yourself going down many roads and talking to many interesting people as you enjoy your chase of vintage sports collectables.
My advice is, Enjoy the journey. May it bring you extreme enjoyment.
from Chas W House http://ift.tt/2aYaA8g
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