Best Buys For 40.00 and Under
 

Living and raising a family on a public school teacher's salary leaves little money for collecting. Still, it's something I enjoy and with some patience I've found a few balls within my price range. For example, I'm about to purchase a Johnny Podres ball with inscription for 30.00. With that in mind, I was hoping some of you could make some suggestions about autographed baseballs for 40.00 and under. I know it's a tall order, so thanks in advance for taking the time and having some patience for a novice.

I would just look in the Autograph B/S/T section on this website, there are some great deals to be had there.

Thanks!

If you are not stuck on baseballs specifically, you could collect many signed Hall of Fame Plaque postcards for $40 and under, including those from some players long deceased.

They are fun to collect, store easily in a binder and not too bad on the wallet. :D

There are a few HOFers (Doerr and Feller to name a couple) who signed a ton of autographs, and as a result are available for cheap. Just take some time with ebay to find out which guys are cheapest. If I didn't already have this picture of Feller (my favorite of him by far) signed, I would want one, and they are readily available at a low price:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Bob-Feller-s...item417fd718fc

disclaimer: not my item, and there are plenty of other sellers that have one for sale

Also, if I were to start an autograph collection from scratch, I wouldn't focus on just balls, or just 8x10s. When you get into collecting pre-war players, the autographs tend to be on smaller, oddball items like postcards, 3x5 index cards, programs, checks, etc. If you're ok with collecting smaller oddball items, you can find some good deals and build a fun, well-rounded collection.

If you're interested in current players Spring Training is a great time to pick up cheap baseballs. People are getting a ton of stuff signed during training and games so there's usually a nice influx of items that go cheaper because there's less supply and demand.

Similarly if you're interested in current players the off season is a great time to buy. People tend to curb their buying when baseball isn't fresh in their minds.

I'd like to thank all of those who responded. All of you have great ideas and I really appreciate your time and advice.
Adam

I would encourage you to send stuff in the mail to some of your favorite ball players. Podres signed for years for free and all it would have cost you was a stamp. Still lots of great players for very little. You can join sites like sportscollectors.net and similar that will provide addresses and rate of success or if the player charges they oftentimes list that as well. On top of that, checking the mail is like Christmas as you never quite know who responded. Take care, Jason

Another great idea. Thanks, Jason.

OOPS!!
Ken

Your right Ken it doesnt belong there. It would open everyone else to advertise there own site on ebay/That is whey there is bst section.

Thank you, Ken. I'll be sure to take a look. Also, my apologies if I posted in the wrong section.
-Adam