why do YOU collect sports memorabilia?

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Posted By: chris

???

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Posted By: dan mckee

The little bit I have is because it looks neat, or is very old, or is directly from my childhood.

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Posted By: peter ullman

I have a small collection of sports memorabilia...my neighbor growing up was Harold Rosenthal, sportswriter for the Herald Tribune. I was a huge baseball fan and card collector as a child and he used to give me cards, media guides, red/blue books, ws/super bowl press pins, autographs...some pee wee reese letters...all kinds of stuff. The majority of memorabilia I have was given to me throughout my life for free and it's special to me and reminds me of those days.

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Posted By: Bruce Dorskind

We have been collectors of ultra rare baseball memorabilia for more than three
decades.

We collect baseball memorabilia (in addition to our type card collection)
because of our life-long interest in marketing and advertising. Many of the baseball
pieces which grace the walls of our home were late 19th century and early 20th
century examples of classic American advertising.

We also enjoy player endorsed sheet music and colorful scorecards from defunct
leagues such as the Union Association, Players League, Federal League and Negro
League. A focused examination of said pieces will provide the viewer with great
insight into the history of America's sport as well as the history of our country.

In summary it is a love of advertising, marketing, history, and, of course, baseball
which serves as the foundation for our interest in baseball memorabilia

Bruce Dorskind
America's Toughest Want List

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Posted By: Fred C

Can anyone post any pictures of Federal League memorabilia?

I collect memorabilia because it provides another avenue to keep things interesting in this hobby.

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Posted By: Dan Bretta

It's a sickness.

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Posted By: Clint

I'll have to agree with Dan, It's definitely a sickness. Great display by the way Dan.

Fred I have a Baltimore Terrapin FL postcard.


Clint

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Posted By: Dan Bretta

Clint, if I ever get down to Andover that Wichita vs Lincoln sign is coming home with me.

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Posted By: boxingcardman

And a great stress reliever.

Sic Gorgiamus Allos Subjectatos Nunc

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Posted By: Clint

Dan, is that before or after I get that Western League ball with box from your house.

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Posted By: Marty Ogelvie

As a Huge Sports fan and history buff, sports memorabilia is a natural obsession. I love the history of the sport and what better way to appreciate it than to own some of the sports artifacts.

Marty

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Posted By: Bruce Dorskind

We have one of the largest collections of Federal League memorabilia

collections in the hobby.


It includes 4 pennants, 8 different programs, 2 pieces of sheet
music, three broadsides, 3 team post cards(not stadium) and 25+
high grade baseball cards.

We also own a Federal League ball, player contract and a letter
from the only FL pitcher to throw a no-hitter.



Whilst none of these items are scanned, we can refer you to the
three scans below which were items that we consigned to
Robert Edward Auctions in 2004.

We thought you would enjoy scans of these items:



http://www.robertedwardauctions.com/auction/2004/89.html>

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Posted By: Anonymous

and you guys and girls will get tired of seeing it but I look at this every single day and just admire it for a few seconds. I am in a tiny bit of awe every time I look at it. I think that is one reason. Then with the cards. Well, it's a heck of a lot of fun and etc...

And lastly, I think I am addicted to it.....(the composite is almost symmetrical but I can never get a good photo of it)

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Posted By: Greg Theberge

Leon,

Great seeing that composite again. That is an awesome piece. Did that come from Maine?\\\
greg

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Posted By: doug goodman

Leon -

I for one will never get tired of seeing that composite. It is quite simply fantastic. If I owned it, I would sleep curled up in it's shadow.

Doug

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Posted By: andy

Fred,

This button is from a Royal Arch Mason outing to a Whales game:

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Posted By: Fred C

That button is awesome.

I, for one, like the Federal League material.

Bruce, whose Federal League contract do you have?

The Federal Leagues first no-no came on September 19, 1914 - Ed Lafitte of Brooklyn defeated Kansas City, 6-2.

1915 saw a few no-no's:
Frank Allen - Pittsburgh threw a 2-0 no-hitter against St. Louis on April 24.
Claude Hendrix - Chicago threw one on May 15, a 10-0 victory over Pittsburgh.
Miles Main - KC on August 16, 5-0 win over Buffalo
Dave Davenport - St. Louis threw one on September 7, 3-0 over Chicago.

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Posted By: chris

First of all, thanks for everybody's input and photo contributions. Really coll stuff! I collect for a lot of the same reasons you do. It also helps that I'm a Cincinnati Reds fan. Being that they are considered the first professional team (1869). But I guess the number one reason is the "thrill of the hunt". There's nothing like uncovering an item you never knew existed...


Chris

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Posted By: Jason L

a few reasons:
1) My Mom told me to
2) I love the history of the game, and this increases the more I learn
3) I enjoy the artistry of the cards
4) I have always harbored an insane interest and desire to play the game itself. And since I was only marginally decent at the most basic level, I also harbor a jealous fascination of those who can play the game, and certainly of those who play at a high level. Collecting makes me feel childlishly closer to them and the game.
5) I enjoy the idea that I might someday look back and discover that I have built an important collection. Call it pride and competitive interest. this is where the PSA Registry feasts on my misfortune.

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Posted By: Alan Elefson

Hi-
I collect baseball memorabilia because you can still find items reasonably cheaply at flea markets, antique shops and antique auctions, places you rarely find similarly old cards at. A few weeks ago I won a Cobb 1920s store model bat very cheaply at a local auction, but pictured below is my favorite type of item to collect. It is an Oliver Optics Magazine from May, 1869 and it shows a boy with a bat and a game in the background on the cover. I paid a dollar each for this one and an earlier 1869 issue this past Sunday at a flea market. Each issue (I have many) has the same cover, limiting their value, but I love owning a piece like this from the dawn of professional baseball (scanned below is a small article about goings on in the 1869 season) for only a dollar. Also shown below is another page in the issue advertising an American edition of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland including a sketch of Alice and the Cheshire Cat (my favorite character) as well as the White Rabbit. This is only four years after the book was first published. When you collect memorabilia, you never know what you are going to find!
Alan Elefson
aelefson@hotmail.com

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Posted By: keith

I collected cards when I was younger, but these days strictly collect sports memoribilia, with an emphasis on 19th century and early 20th century football items, and Philadelphia Eagles items of all eras. I collect memoribilia because there are so many unique and diverse items, and you are more likely to be able to unearth a hiddern memoribilia treasure than a baseball card. I mean the average joe would know that a Ty Cobb or Cy Young tobacco card has value, where as a federal league pennant or Fred A Kail statue often doesn't register with the non-sport collecting world. Also to me an old melon style football or an old pennant is a much more tactile and interesting to display than a card. To each his own though obviously.

Here are 2 of my Federal League items (in response to the federal league post above)

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Posted By: Al C.risafulli

Bruce, I just noticed your post in this thread about the Federal League memorabilia.

I collect New Jersey baseball memorabilia, and it seems we've hit some common ground. Not realizing you were the consignor of that piece, I recently used that very auction as a frame of reference when bidding on this item, which I was pleased to win. It's an absolutely fantastic piece that I'm thrilled to own.



I collect what I collect for much of the same reasons as Bruce states, although I don't collect the same things he collects, or even the same way. I love baseball history, I love Americana, I work in advertising and thus love that as well, and I think that the things I collect tie all that together well.

-Al

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Posted By: Dan Bretta

I'll expand on my snarky comment about collecting because it's a sickness...while I admit I may have some OCD when it comes to my collection the main reason I collect is because it connects me to the past...when I pick up a new item I want to know everything about the subject of that item. I also like the focus of my collection because it is telling a story. A story I'd like to someday pass on to my son.

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Posted By: Lance

Because collecting food stamps, unemployment compensation, and free cheese never really lived up to all the hype!!!

But, mostly for the relaxation of going through my collection, the "night before Christmas" feeling at the mailbox, and knowing this great hobby/lifestyle will be passed to my children.

Lance

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Posted By: LenK59

because i suffer (in a good way) from collectors disease...plus being amazed at professional athletes who can rise to the top of the top-level....plus an appreciation for art/photography.....it's a deadly combination

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Posted By: dan mckee

Keith are you in PA? Dan.

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Posted By: keith

Yes, Dan I am in the Philly area, you?

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Posted By: dan mckee

near the line in Freeland Maryland, Dan

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Posted By: Rob D.

Because, for the most part, the memorabilia world is void of slabs.

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Posted By: Dan Bretta

Can you imagine your favorite baseball bat in a plastic slab?

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Posted By: Rob D.

Dan,

I'm kind of surprised Beckett hasn't started slabbing pennants. Seriously.

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Posted By: Max Weder

I collect because I like muffins

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Posted By: Dan Bretta

Rob wrote: "I'm kind of surprised Beckett hasn't started slabbing pennants. Seriously."

Uh oh! I hope they aren't reading this thread.

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Posted By: Brock G.

For starters I'm a bit of a history buff and have always liked antiques and older stuff in general. And I'm a little younger than most of you guys and collecting this stuff is the only way I can connect to the glory days of the game.

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Posted By: Alan

This is an excellent question, one of the questions that I will ask Josh Evans of Lelands, referring to his long time clients, at the Net54 dinner question & answer session if I make it to the National.

As a collector of cards & autographs of Jewish ballplayers, there are sociological and historical perspectives that are important in history. The mass influx of immigrants at the turn of the century made conditions more difficult for the Jew in every field, especially baseball, where there were repeated incidents of anti-semitism. Many athletes changed their names. Some of these men are today known to have been Jewish. How many others there were will never be known. So, I suppose I collect to honor these early Jewish players in history.

Alan