Sports memorabilia: something cool to have or waste of money?

[Djgb13 2,339]

I’m not talking about a foul ball you caught at a Yankees game. I’m talking about things like a pair of Mike Tyson’s boxing gloves, Wayne Gretzky’s autographed helmet, babe Ruth autographed baseball, etc. These things cost a good amount and 9 times out of 10 have been purchased. What do you guys think? Waste of money or something that would actually be nice to own? 

[Fireballer 2,640]

Ive got some autographed golf flags, baseballs, and a football.  All of it Ive personally gotten.  Its cool to have something to go with a photo to remember those times.  That said, I would never buy any memorabilia that I didnt have an attachment to. 

[5-Points 3,430]

Fock. I would think a foul ball that you caught at a game would be worth more to you personally than something anybody could buy. 

I have an autographed Tony Dorsett mini helmet. Had an autographed Jim Plunkett mini helmet but I gave it to my boy who is a life long Raiders fan.

I guess it comes down to what that piece of memorabilia means to you. 

[wiffleball 4,789]

If there's some memory, emotional attachment and you can afford it, great.  Last game with Dad, first with the kid, sure.

 

But to show off, or worse, as an Investment? No.

[Gladiators 1,964]

I wouldn’t buy something just to put in the closet. I have a few signed memorabilia in the man cave.

[jerryskids 6,620]

1 hour ago, 5-Points said:

Fock. I would think a foul ball that you caught at a game would be worth more to you personally than something anybody could buy. 

I have an autographed Tony Dorsett mini helmet. Had an autographed Jim Plunkett mini helmet but I gave it to my boy who is a life long Raiders fan.

I guess it comes down to what that piece of memorabilia means to you. 

Funny you mention Plunkett.  My dad, for reasons I don't know (I mentioned here that he died a long time ago), knew a coach on the Patriots and had a football with the entire 1971 team's signatures on it, including Plunkett.  Of course I was an idiot as a kid and played with it too much, to the autographs are pretty much unreadable at this point.  But it connects me to my dad, so I keep it around. 

I've got some other autographed stuff through auctions, bobbleheads which are fun, but nothing else that is particularly special.  I guess basically it is not my thing. 

[Djgb13 2,339]

1 hour ago, Gladiators said:

I wouldn’t buy something just to put in the closet. I have a few signed memorabilia in the man cave.

I wouldn’t put those things in a closet. But my man cave? Yea I would. I want a few autographed things from some of my favorite players, old and current. Autographs like Babe Ruth, Mookie Betts, Aaron Judge, Ty Cobb, Tom Brady, Wayne Gretzky, Michael Jordan, Meadowlark Lemon, etc. Just all the athletes I really liked I would love something autographed by them. That being said, by NO means am I paying 10s of thousands of dollars for them though. But I would still like them 

[shorepatrol 1,870]

I have a signed hat, football and a pic with Steve Young and my daughter. Pretty cool!

 

[Cdub100 3,864]

99.9% of it is a waste of money.

Magic the Gathering on the other hand is only 99.8% a waste of money.

[lod001 1,344]

Cool to have. Got a lot of mine from umpire Bill McKinley a few years before he died. Not the good valuable stuff though. Jesus,  his house was loaded. Got my Tigers, 1968 team signed baseball from him. That was the most valuable item I got. 

[Patriotsfatboy1 1,432]

I have a few things. All have some sentimental meaning. I have them in my home office.

- signed Larry Bird and Magic Johnson

- signed Ted Williams

- baseball signed by Curt Schilling

- signed 2011 Boston Bruins photo

[Djgb13 2,339]

8 minutes ago, Patriotsfatboy1 said:

I have a few things. All have some sentimental meaning. I have them in my home office.

- signed Larry Bird and Magic Johnson

- signed Ted Williams

- baseball signed by Curt Schilling

- signed 2011 Boston Bruins photo

Extremely jealous of EVERY single one of those. That’s quite a nice collection 

[Cdub100 3,864]

I have the menendez brothers basketball card

[jerryskids 6,620]

9 hours ago, shorepatrol said:

I have a signed hat, football and a pic with Steve Young and my daughter. Pretty cool!

 

Funny you mention Steve Young, a long time ago I was on a Southwest Airlines flight with him; he sat with two of his kids and I ended up in the row behind sitting next to his wife.  They had paid a little extra to get on early, and with that comes a free drink coupon.  Well, they are Mormon and don't drink, so she offered me their drink coupons, which had their names on them.  Steve's real first name is Jon btw.  Anyway, I thought it was kinda like sports memorabilia and tossed them in a home office drawer.  I just checked and decades later they are still there.

In hindsight I don't know why I didn't just keep the Steve Young one and use the others for drinks. 

[Patriotsfatboy1 1,432]

9 minutes ago, Djgb13 said:

Extremely jealous of EVERY single one of those. That’s quite a nice collection 

I could have more.  I have a friend in the memorabilia business.  Has had options for signed Patriots helmets post-SB and all sorts of other things.  I just don't think that I have the space for them and I don't think that they really appreciate in value that much.  As it stands now, I have had the Ted Williams for a while now and his signature is fading. 

[Mungwater 596]

I have a ton, my home office is full.

ernie banks autographed bat, ball, jersey, poster.

fergie Jenkins ball

bobby hull puck

about twenty various 8x10s

kris Bryant World Series ball

craig Biggio, geovany Soto, aramis remirez and Ryan theroot auto bats

ticket stub from 1945 World Series

brick from wrigley field wall

i like all of it, it isn’t for investment or anything like that, I just like it

[sderk 1,040]

1 minute ago, Mungwater said:

I have a ton, my home office is full.

ernie banks autographed bat, ball, jersey, poster.

fergie Jenkins ball

bobby hull puck

about twenty various 8x10s

kris Bryant World Series ball

craig Biggio, geovany Soto, aramis remirez and Ryan theroot auto bats

ticket stub from 1945 World Series

brick from wrigley field wall

i like all of it, it isn’t for investment or anything like that, I just like it

What is a Kris Bryant world series ball? Is it the one Rizzo shoved in his back pocket on the last out thrown from Bryant at third?

[iam90sbaby 2,518]

22 minutes ago, Cdub100 said:

I have the menendez brothers basketball card

I started that thread!

[Mungwater 596]

3 minutes ago, sderk said:

What is a Kris Bryant world series ball? Is it the one Rizzo shoved in his back pocket on the last out thrown from Bryant at third?

Just a ball he autographed with the World Series logo.  Also, forgot a Pete rose autographed ball, Lou Brock autographed ball, Harry caray with jack brickhouse ball, and a Clyde decker autographed mini ball

[Strike 5,311]

I'm not a big memorabilia guy but have collected a few things over the years:

- Signed Magic Johnson/Larry Bird picture.  Two of the greatest to play the game.  I"m wondering if PFB and I have the same one.  Mine is 25th out of a series of 33.

- NFL mini helmet signed by John Elway

- NFL mini helmet signed by Shannon Sharpe

- My ticket from a Lakers/Nuggets playoff game signed by Mychal Thompson.  We were seated right next to the booth where he was doing the radio play by play and my GF was able to talk to his producer and get him to sign it during a commercial break.  Thanks Mychal!

- Not sports but also have a copy of Tom Petty's Damn the torpedoes album signed by all members of the band except Stan Lynch.  Came with pictures of them signing it too. 

 

[frank 2,279]

Both cool and a waste of money. I would never buy anything. I would never be able to trust that it was real. I have a picture signed by Kevin Green. I got Wesley Person’s autograph on the back of a business card. 

 

If if you are familiar with the guitarist Buckethead, you might know that he passes out a few toys to the crowd during his concerts. He gave me one of these 

https://www.google.com/search?q=minimates+frankenstein&safe=active&client=safari&hl=en-us&prmd=isnv&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjSxsCZpu7iAhVEheAKHfGJC4sQ_AUoAXoECAoQAQ&biw=375&bih=549#imgrc=cd9YMxUE1XDomM

That is not for sale. Everything has price, but I wouldn’t sell it for any amount that a sane person would be willing to pay. I wouldn’t even consider $1,000. 

[Djgb13 2,339]

1 hour ago, Patriotsfatboy1 said:

I could have more.  I have a friend in the memorabilia business.  Has had options for signed Patriots helmets post-SB and all sorts of other things.  I just don't think that I have the space for them and I don't think that they really appreciate in value that much.  As it stands now, I have had the Ted Williams for a while now and his signature is fading. 

That’s pretty cool man. I’m not too familiar with it but don’t they have something that can slow or stop the fading of the autograph?

[kutulu 1,664]

Years ago my sister got me a signed picture of some no name offensive lineman who played for they Patriots.  I'm a NYG fan while she is a NE fan which she must of told him cause he wrote "To kutulu... Go Pats, Boo Gaints!" 

[Bier Meister 1,675]

I am not going out of my way to buy anything- possibly if it was an event that I had specific attachment to.  I have some items from the super bowls i've attended, a few decent baseball cards from when I briefly collected in the early 80's (rookie Ricky Henderson stands out).  Nothing is on display.  

[bandrus1 413]

Sports cards and are some proper investment memorabilia can be a very good investment.

 

It can also be a rather poor investment if not we'll thought out

 

My most recent memorabilia purchase was a full ticket stub to Mike trout's first game

[Patriotsfatboy1 1,432]

3 hours ago, Strike said:

I'm not a big memorabilia guy but have collected a few things over the years:

- Signed Magic Johnson/Larry Bird picture.  Two of the greatest to play the game.  I"m wondering if PFB and I have the same one.  Mine is 25th out of a series of 33.

- NFL mini helmet signed by John Elway

- NFL mini helmet signed by Shannon Sharpe

- My ticket from a Lakers/Nuggets playoff game signed by Mychal Thompson.  We were seated right next to the booth where he was doing the radio play by play and my GF was able to talk to his producer and get him to sign it during a commercial break.  Thanks Mychal!

- Not sports but also have a copy of Tom Petty's Damn the torpedoes album signed by all members of the band except Stan Lynch.  Came with pictures of them signing it too. 

 

I don’t know if mine is one of that batch. I could check on the back with the paperwork. It is not a common picture. Magic is defending Bird as he takes a shot. Bird is more from behind and you see more of Magic from the front. I can’t find the picture on Google.

[Strike 5,311]

1 hour ago, Patriotsfatboy1 said:

I don’t know if mine is one of that batch. I could check on the back with the paperwork. It is not a common picture. Magic is defending Bird as he takes a shot. Bird is more from behind and you see more of Magic from the front. I can’t find the picture on Google.

This is really similar to the pic in the one I have:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/LARRY-BIRD-MAGIC-JOHNSON-AUTO-8X10-PHOTO-PSA-DNA-HARDWOOD-AUTHENTICS-BEAUTIFUL-/362215619021

Mine is a closeup of Bird/Magic and doesn't include the basket.

[sderk 1,040]

5 hours ago, Mungwater said:

Just a ball he autographed with the World Series logo.  Also, forgot a Pete rose autographed ball, Lou Brock autographed ball, Harry caray with jack brickhouse ball, and a Clyde decker autographed mini ball

Gotcha. I was gonna ask how you scored the final ball of the Cubs world series. And you having a Brickhouse ball is awesome.Chicago legend.

[Patriotsfatboy1 1,432]

26 minutes ago, Strike said:

This is really similar to the pic in the one I have:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/LARRY-BIRD-MAGIC-JOHNSON-AUTO-8X10-PHOTO-PSA-DNA-HARDWOOD-AUTHENTICS-BEAUTIFUL-/362215619021

Mine is a closeup of Bird/Magic and doesn't include the basket.

I have a very different one.

[5-Points 3,430]

18 hours ago, jerryskids said:

Funny you mention Plunkett.  My dad, for reasons I don't know (I mentioned here that he died a long time ago), knew a coach on the Patriots and had a football with the entire 1971 team's signatures on it, including Plunkett.  Of course I was an idiot as a kid and played with it too much, to the autographs are pretty much unreadable at this point.  But it connects me to my dad, so I keep it around. 

I've got some other autographed stuff through auctions, bobbleheads which are fun, but nothing else that is particularly special.  I guess basically it is not my thing. 

I can't believe your dad let you play with that thing.

Or was he already gone when you started playing with it? 

[Alias Detective 1,390]

8 hours ago, jerryskids said:

Funny you mention Steve Young, a long time ago I was on a Southwest Airlines flight with him; he sat with two of his kids and I ended up in the row behind sitting next to his wife.  They had paid a little extra to get on early, and with that comes a free drink coupon.  Well, they are Mormon and don't drink, so she offered me their drink coupons, which had their names on them.  Steve's real first name is Jon btw.  Anyway, I thought it was kinda like sports memorabilia and tossed them in a home office drawer.  I just checked and decades later they are still there.

In hindsight I don't know why I didn't just keep the Steve Young one and use the others for drinks. 

Should have cashed in all of em.  Jon Young, and who the eff is Jon Young?

[Patriotsfatboy1 1,432]

My son has a signed Gary Woodland golf hat that may be memorabilia after today.

[Mungwater 596]

3 hours ago, sderk said:

Gotcha. I was gonna ask how you scored the final ball of the Cubs world series. And you having a Brickhouse ball is awesome.Chicago legend.

I got it myself when I was a kid, I carried it to every game until I got Harry to sign it.

thr final out ball is waaaaay out of my range

[Strike 5,311]

Oh, I forgot, I have a hat signed by BOTH Ryan and Martin Truex!!!

[jerryskids 6,620]

1 hour ago, 5-Points said:

I can't believe your dad let you play with that thing.

Or was he already gone when you started playing with it? 

No, he was around.  It was in my room and he didn't know that I would toss it to myself.  

[jerryskids 6,620]

1 hour ago, Alias Detective said:

Should have cashed in all of em.  Jon Young, and who the eff is Jon Young?

If I recall back in the day; Southwest gave away drink coupons like pretzels.  I probably had more than I could use at the time.  Otherwise why would I think there was value in drink coupons from Steve Young's kids? 

[frank 2,279]

1 hour ago, Alias Detective said:

Should have cashed in all of em.  Jon Young, and who the eff is Jon Young?

I’m sure Jon probably misspelled his own name. I know sometimes I spell Jerry with a g, and an i. 

[jerryskids 6,620]

31 minutes ago, frank said:

I’m sure Jon probably misspelled his own name. I know sometimes I spell Jerry with a g, and an i. 

Do you have a song lyric to describe this?  Better yet, one you got for free because you spend no money? 

[frank 2,279]

13 minutes ago, jerryskids said:

Do you have a song lyric to describe this?  Better yet, one you got for free because you spend no money? 

I’ve said nothing so far, and I can keep it up as long as it takes. 

[kilroy69 1,228]

I have a few things. Mostly they are not worth much or are just worth something to me like an 84 tigers pennant. 

 

I have a Micky Mantle signed ball I got when I was probably 7. He put me up his lap and asked me if I liked girls. I said no. He said probably better off that way till your in your 20s anyway and laughed hysterically. 

I did not get it at the time but I laughed anyway. It was Micky Mantle.