Originally Posted by Jayworld (Post 1603137)

The loan is long-term, and I put a dollar amount in insurance on each item in the unlikely event that an item(s) is lost, stolen, museum burns, etc., then I will be reimbursed that amount.

Originally Posted by Scott Garner (Post 1603117)

I was approached in 1997 by Steve Harding, the curator of The Nolan Ryan Center which was to be built in Ryan's hometown of Alvin, TX. He had heard from other Ryan advanced collectors that I had the most complete collection of Nolan Ryan milestone tickets. He felt that this would make for an interesting wall display in the new museum and wanted to know if I would consider loaning my collection to the museum.

The opportunity to share my collections with thousands of visitors to The Ryan Center made it a no-brainer for me, & I immediately agreed as long as the collection was insured and I had documents in hand that guaranteed against loss and that I would loan them for one year. This was agreed to and I physically handed them off in person in 1997 to the curator Steve over dinner while on a business trip to Houston.
Over the course of the next couple of years (The Ryan Center finally opened April of 1999) I was allowed to collaborate on the design of the Ryan Milestone Ticket Wall. This was great fun & it also led to conversations about other items that I might loan out of my personal collection that would add value to the exhibit. In total I loaned or donated approximately 75-80 items to The Ryan Center. The loan actually led to them being on display for a total of three years from 1999-2003. I was also invited to attend a grand opening ribbon cutting ceremony and dinner associated with The Opening of The Ryan Center.

The overall experience was very positive for me. An opportunity to share what was a hobby labor of love over 25 years of collecting (in 1999)- now over 40 and counting.

I have shown these items before, but when The Ryan Center sent my collection back, Nolan and Ruth Ryan sent along two very unexpected gifts.
A facsimile Ryan jersey with Nolan's personal thank you & a limited production bronze statue by artist Toby Mendez (17") of the same statue of Ryan that is on display at The Ballpark at Arlington in TX.

Mr & Mrs. Ryan are obviously very thoughtful, classy people. Please feel free to reach out to me as well if you have any questions.

Originally Posted by billyb (Post 1603572)

The fear of donating items to the Hall and not having them display those items on a somewhat timely fashion scares me. Scott, your experience sounds like a winner all the way. Loaning the items with the agreement of displaying them sounds like a much better choice. What time duration would you recommend?

Originally Posted by Jayworld (Post 1603137)

I would suggest you get all your ducks in a row with whatever museum(s) you are considering loaning your items and make sure to read through the loan contract to your satisfaction.

Originally Posted by Scott Garner (Post 1603592)

1) All items be insured against damage or loss as another poster previously mentioned. When I did this I submitted replacement value for each item, and admittedly I hedged on the high side.
It's understood that many scarce items may not easily be replaced.
2) That the museum is absolutely solvent. Museum's do sometimes become insolvent for a number of reasons, including lack of traffic, etc. This happened recently with the Bob Feller Museum in Van Meter, IA.
3) They guarantee that the items will be displayed, the proper use of non-UV lights, etc.
4) Return of items at the end of the term will be via FEDEX Next Day and insured at the expense of the museum.

Originally Posted by bnorth (Post 1603627)

^^If donating or loaning this is great advice.^^ This was my biggest problem. The person who runs the museum also runs all the historic places in town. I owned a construction company for 20+ years and had easily done over 6 figures of work for them over the years with 0 problems. I was too trusting and believed everything she said and got nothing in writing.



^^More great advice.^^ I had a great talk with the lady behind the counter at the Bob Feller Museum not long before it closed. Actually it is MLB that screws these great little places over causing them to close. I don't get how this works or why it is done but this is how it was explained to me. I will use the Feller museum as an example. As long as Mr Feller was alive they are allowed to have former players come and do autograph sessions and other events. These events are their main income. As soon as Mr Feller passed they are no longer allowed to bring in any former players to do these events. Without Mr Feller or any former players doing events they quickly run out of $ and have to close.

I would highly recommend donating/loaning items to museums even with my horrible experience. Just don't do it as stupidly as I done, get every aspect of the transaction in writing.

Originally Posted by icollectDCsports (Post 1603718)

I'd want to know just who exactly was going to handle your items. The museum representative may be professional and inspire confidence, but the person or persons who handle, set up for display, remove from display, and package items for return may not always be as experienced or professional. And, let's face it, there are some folks who think of old sports items as nothing more than neat junk. I've heard of some bad experiences due to such folks, usually well-meaning but either not respectful or knowledgeable, making mistakes with sports memorabilia on loan. Odds are you'll be fine and you'll be doing a service to your community, but get the info you need to provide the appropriate level of comfort with the various issues raised by the insightful posts here.

Originally Posted by Scott Garner (Post 1603740)

Steve Harding, the curator of The Nolan Ryan center had curated other museums previously, so I was confident that the result would be good.
The final result was excellent. In many ways, I believe that the exhibit was much nicer than even Cooperstown.

PS
One final thought. I had custom acrylic ticket holders made for my tickets that were used in the exhibit by a guy out in So Ca. This eliminated handling errors because the tickets were protected.
The ticket on the right was from Nolan's 500th career strikeout. This was also his 1st pitching appearance with the Angels, 1st win, & ironically his career win # 30 which was his uniform number. Note the # 14 on the ticket. This was ticket # 14 in the Ryan Milestone ticket wall and the key for the display had the description of what the milestone was...

Originally Posted by icollectDCsports (Post 1603814)

Really like those acrylic holders for the tickets. Just the right size and they don't detract from the tickets.

Originally Posted by Scott Garner (Post 1603817)

Thank you. The guy that made these really did a super job on them.
Ironically, he went blind in both eyes shortly after making these for me and was never able to make any more of them. :o

Originally Posted by bigfanNY (Post 1603830)

About 4 years ago I was cataloging my collection and came across a photo of the Clemson baseball Team from 1903. I did a little research and found the John Heisman was the coach that year and was in the photo. I contacted the library and was told that they did not have an original photo of the team just a recent copy and they would be very interested in obtaining the photo. after a few emails I donated the photo to the Clemson Library in memory of my Dog who had passed away asking that when the photo was displayed that I be notified (so I could visit) and that my Dog always be mentioned as Donner of the photo. I was told that they would be happy to comply with both requests.
What I learned was that once they take possession of the item all bets are off they can do or not do whatever they want with the item. Sad in a way but I do not regret the donation. I tried to do a nice thing and what they do is completely on them.
Jonathan .