Is Memorabilia on the decline?

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Posted By: leon

I think this is a relevent subject over here. I had Brian whip up this side of the Net54 board so there would be a dedictated place for talking about memorabilia, which I think is cool but don't collect myself. The first day there was quite a lot of involvement but each day since it seems it has slowed. This side only took a short amount of time to get made and doesn't take much time to moderate, so it's no loss, but what's the deal. Is memorabilia not hotly collected? Is there a big audience elsewhere and this isn't the place? Maybe memorabilia folks don't do chatboards or the internet? We have no intention of deleting this side....even if it gets one post a week as it really doesn't hurt anything....I just figured I would throw this question out here to ponder...regards

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Posted By: scgaynor

It is still new and not many people really know about it yet. Give it some time, it will come around. Something controversal needs to happen here, that will bring the traffic!

Scott

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Posted By: Greg Theberge

So far, there has been a lot more discussion here than on the game used forum in respect to the time that the site has been active.

I wouldn't go so far as to say "memorabilia is on the decline" based on a community talk forum. (It would be great if it was so this stuff would be more affordable). My guess is that people just don't know about the site, if, of course, it's something they're interested in participating in to begin with.

Off to home depot to pick up some propane....too nice of a day to sit here in front of the computer..

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Posted By: Rob Dewolf

I second Scott's notion to give it time; the site hasn't been live all that long.

Plus, I've enjoyed the fact that most all of the posts on this board have been on topic. I suppose if topics such as "Does Warren Spahn get enough glory?" or if bickering over whether to get your pennants slabbed or left raw started became more prevalent, it would appear that there was more activity on the board.

I'd rather not see that happen (the off-topic posts, that is).

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Posted By: Dan Bretta

There was a bit of discussion about this topic on the gameused site about 2-3 weeks ago...I don't think it's on a major decline, but it has slowed some in most collector's estimation. Most were unhappy with the offerings in this years Mastro/REA/Lelands auctions. There will be more discussion over here once people find out about the board....it is verboten to speak of other boards on Gameused so some of those guys that post over there have no clue this site is here and as far as I can tell there is no way to find someone's email on that site so it will take some time.

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Posted By: Jason Mishelow

I think the problem is the lack of any real catalog or price guide system. We all know exactally what our cards are worth and in some case how many of them there are, furthermore, we know exactally what is out there- there is a check list that we can work are way through. The problem with memrobilia is that there is no agreement what the value is and I think that turns people away. I have gone to major shows and seen items that I know I could pick up for 5-10 dollars selling for over $100. This lack of uniform value seems to put off dealers from having a large inbvetory as they probaly have losts of itmes that don't seem to sell and they don;'t realize its becuase they are simply pricing the time to high and they don;t educate themselves- on the same vein I have never gone up to a dealer and said you know that's really a high price- it just never seemed worth the time. I think that is also a space issue even at major shows most dealers just don't have enough room to ship larger items that don't kove quickly

How do we solve this- i think it is a compresnhive price guide- obviusly a lot of work but I think that it would invirogate the aspect of the hobby the same way that card price guides did in the early 80's- maybe this board is the place to start such- anyt ideas

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Posted By: Dan Bretta

I like the fact that there is no definitive price guide for memorabilia. Once a guide comes out then the deals are harder to find in my opinion. I prefer to keep the dealers in the dark about the prices of memorabilia.

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Posted By: scgaynor

Are we talking about memorabilia sales or traffic on the board? I don't think that sales have been slow, just the opposite. I think that the natural progression is from cards to memorabilia and as more people get priced out of the card market, they turn to memorabilia.

scott

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Posted By: Dave S

How can you objectively construct a price guide for real memorabilia? Some of this stuff..bigger money stuff..is so scarce and so unique that it can't be truly evaluated. Cardboard is completely different, while indeed there are a few real rarities, we must remember that cards were printed in numbers far greater than memorabilia; just look at some of the posts from earlier threads...alot of this stuff you'd search forever to try and find another (and would it be in like condition?!). In no way do I think memorabilia is on the decline, in fact just the opposite. The fact is that those that have it, hold on to it...knowing they'd probably never replace it! So yes, while a price guide in theory may sound appropriate, truly an impossible reality...

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Posted By: Clint

I believe the availability of quality memorabilia is down. The demand is stronger than ever for it though. I find it funny that Scott said more people turn to memorabilia when priced out of cards. I find myself being priced out of memorabilia. I'm not complaining, that's the way it is. I hope the next progression isn't to beanie babies.

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Posted By: barrysloate

Scott may or may not be correct that as cards continue to reach the stratosphere and many collectors continue to be priced out, other forms of memorabilia may be where they turn. But the fact is certain areas of the market have declined quite a bit over the last decade.

My first post on opening night was that book collecting was no longer popular, and many early historical documents, pre-1870 material, and other esoteric items were likewise losing popularity. With one exception.

If you can put it in a slab, it will increase in value. That is why Peck & Snyders, the recently sold Resolutes CdV, and related items have skyrocketed. If it can be made to look like a card it will sell like a card. If you had a letter that discussed the history of the Resolutes, it would sell for next to nothing.

Having been in the hobby for a generation, I've seen the baby boomers grow older and a new generation come in. With the advent of ebay and the grading services, the hobby has changed dramatically and will probably never look back.

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Posted By: mr. moses

right or wrong.
cards:
hard assets
easy to buy sell and store
established hierarchy for rarity and price
large pool of collectors and investors
in the news
you can carry one in your pocket
memorabilia:
often cumbersome to move around, store, display
smaller pool collectors
has many specific niches that become collecting areas of their own (bats, autos, gloves, photos, etc.)
harder to buy and sell overall - less liquid
more items that are somewhat unique therefore harder to price when buying or thinking about resale
requires more in-depth knowledge
expensive
fewer dealers (of course if there were more buyers then there would be more dealers)

(edited to add the following):
one or two weeks cannot define the success or failure of the site. People have to find their way here. It's likely to grow as people start to do the "look what I have and how it shows" although it's a bit more difficult to take the pix. Problem also is that bat guys may not be interested so much in trophies - trophy guy doesn't care about cabinet photos (unless there's one with a trophy in it , and so on. I have some great lemon peel baseballs, Heubach statues, advertising pieces, photos and more. They would take LOTS of work and effort to show and post to the board. What would be my motivation? A good deal of the posts on the card side are about populations of a set, who is good to deal with and who is bad, the history and evolution of the cards or the company, what to look for and whatever...... Memorabilia people SEEM a little less inclined to share certain specifics, have less information to go on that they haven't had to develop THEMSELVES, and other motivations I'm not quite clear about. Memorabilia also seems to be more about the unusual or usual aspects of the object itself. A card is after all is said and done just a card. Usually who held the card or why is less likely important than the card itself. Memorabilia is by definition quite different...... Oh yeah - it's a bit harder to encapsulate Cap Anson's traveling equipment trunk than a card.

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Posted By: barrysloate

"Requires more knowledge" is probably the most likely reason why 19th century memorabilia is on the decline (my area of interest).

We used to spend hours and hours studying early baseball history to learn more about a particular piece, and to understand why it was significant.

I think to a great degree that is a lost art. We live in a world of instant gratification, and a slab will give you that. Everything you need to know about a card is on the handy little label. That is what collectors want, and that's why the hobby has headed in that direction.

And I've learned to accept it for what it is.

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Posted By: scgaynor

The reason that prices on memorabilia are so up and down is that the market is relatively thin compared to cards. Using Barry's example of Baseball Books and 19th century documents,take one or two guys out of the marketplace and it can create a huge impact. The market is growing though in area's like photography where there are enough collectors to make sure that prices are pretty stable and if anything, there is pretty constant growth.

Collectors do tend to hold onto really nice pieces. Unlike most cards, once a piece is taken out of the marketplace, it may be a generation before it is sold again. With that being said, I have probably seen more great 19th century pieces in auctions in the past 6 months than in the past 2-3 years previous.

The rule with memorabilia is that if you like it, buy it, because you may never see it again.

Scott

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Posted By: Mike H

The market is absolutely NOT down. Availability may be down but not demand. I think we are missing an important point with regard to memorabilia. That being the magnitude of collecting options. Memorabilia could fall under hundreds of catagories and people collect different things. Just because the card board has tons of volume doesn't mean people love them more. There are simply more people who collect that specific niche of memorabilia. Cards are memorabilia. Quality scarce memorabilia and items with strong eye appeal are GOLDEN. Everything from rare bats, to pennants, trophies, and pinbacks sell with gusto when they are available. You can spend your $ on cards, put them into your safe deposit box or binders and that is fine. Nothing stops people in their tracks like a stunning piece of displayable memorabilia.

We don't have to debate folks, just enjoy.

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Posted By: barrysloate

I think the term memorabilia may be too broad.

Are we talking about a piece of 19th century color sheet music, an autographed baseball, a world series ring, or a player's jersey? I think we have to define the term to have a better discussion.

Obviously some of these areas are more widely collected than others.

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Posted By: Dan Bretta

Barry, is Ty Cobb's false teeth considered memorabilia?

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Posted By: Mike H

Part of the joy associated with memorabilia is the lack of a definition or narrow focus. I can't speak for all but most of the collectors I know and with whom I discuss memorabilia on a regular basis, lack a specific focus. Even those with focus like Greg T. who collects pre 1920 Red Sox lacks focus because he will buy any quality pieces associated with the Red Sox. I collect anything that catches my eye. I think most generalist go through phases. Perhaps a glove phase, then onto programs, photos, balls in the box, pennants, fans, jerseys, bats, nodders, pencils, cathcers masks, catalogs, pencil boxes, advertising, and on and on and on. It is just incredibly interesting to see different textures, 2 vs. 3 dimensional, game used vs. store baught, one of a kind or 1000 of a kind. Maybe it says something about the collector of cards vs. memorabilia. We are all pack rats and addicts.

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Posted By: Dan Bretta

I like the wide array of memorabilia because I like to make displays and decorate my house with it. I am at the point though where I have too many bats/gloves/balls that I don't really need any more of that kind of stuff and I have begun to focus on photographs again because I can store them a lot easier. I still run across some amazing things in my ebay searches that I think I just "need".

speaking of which, did anyone see that Fan-Taz pinback that ended yesterday? I was out of town and my snipe got overtaken well before it ended so I didn't have a chance to increase it, but I wanted this pinback badly and I can't even tell you why.

http://tinyurl.com/23u7a8

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Posted By: Mark L

One of the great attractions to collecing cards is that they are issued in sets. If I collect a set, then I have a clear goal. But there aren't many kinds of memorabilia that are issued in limited and well documented sets. Yes, some collect autographs, bats, and jersies (sp?) of HOFer's, 500 home run hitters, favorite teams, etc. but that is tough to accomplish. But how do you know you have a complete set of pennants? wire photos? Also, memorabilia is tougher to spell than cards.

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Posted By: Clint

I saw that button and thought about bidding on it but changed my mind. I wondered what it sold for.

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Posted By: barrysloate

Dan- you know the woman who bought Ty Cobb's dentures was absolutely thrilled with the purchase and said she had her heart set on getting them. I recall when I worked in Sotheby's warehouse I would walk past the shelf with the teeth and say to myself "why would anybody want to own those?" Let's just say they fall outside my own parameters of what constitutes memorabilia. And I also want to say I have tremendous respect for the way you collect and what you have learned about baseball history, and I find the pictures of your displays very impressive.

For me it is 19th century material that was issued pre-league (before 1876), such as letters, documents, photographs, books, etc. that illustrate the early history of the game. There are still collectors for this material, some quite avid, but as Scott cited the market can be thin. Take a couple of guys out and the landscape quickly changes.

Steve Cummings amassed one of the largest baseball libraries during the 1980's up until around 2000. When he was collecting and you had a book he needed, you were likely to set a record price with it. When he sold his collection, and a few other key collectors either dropped out or scaled back, that market took a precipitous fall.

On the other hand, if fifty guys decided to stop collecting E-cards, there would be seventy five new ones to take their place. There is no comparision between cards and memorabilia today. I can even see major changes in my own business. When I would put together an auction ten years ago, it would be 90% memorabilia, and I would stick a few cards in the back just to keep my card customers happy. Now they are almost 100% slabbed cards. That's what the market wants today. I know that others like Scott, as well as the major auction houses, still buy and sell items other than cards, but I'm sure they will tell you it's much different than it used to be.

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Posted By: Greg Theberge

I'm still high on an amazing walk off win in the ninth over the Birds today (a 9th inning 6 run comeback)....but now that the dust is settling...

The greatest thing about "memorabilia" for me is, like Mike said, it's displayability. Displays of anything can be a great source of enjoyment.

I can't for the life of me see any enjoyment of having something if you can't look at it, especially if it's stuck in a safe deposit box somewhere. But if that's enjoyable to you, who am I to argue.

The stuff I've accumulated gets displayed on the wall, or in a case, like a piece of art. Not everyone will enjoy it the same way, but that's what makes it all so fun. Those who do appreciate it, see it as much more than just a dusty old piece of memorabilia. I've always enjoyed looking at what other people have put together as a collection, no matter if it's something that I would personally want to collect myself, or it's an assortment of stuff I would die for.

The second most important part of collecting is, of course, the people you meet. While online auctions take out the personal interaction you get from going to a show, at least these online forums give us the opportunity to chat with folks of similar intersts. I get just as much fun seeing a friend grab something for his collection (even if I would want it as well) as I do for getting something myself (plus it's a lot cheaper ). I know Mike H and I have given each other the heads up on stuff that pops up if we know the other guy would be interested in it.

I wonder if I'm making any sense here. I really don't care, I can't stop thinking of what happened at Fenway today

By the way in terms of memorabilia on the decline or whatever...

"Memorabilia" will continue to be hot and expensive as long as I keep collecting. I will absolutely guarantee you that the market will fall out and go down the tubes the minute I lose interest in this stuff and go to sell it I don't think anyone can argue that memorabilia is losing ground based on all of the recent auctions that have gone down. I certainly don't see a lack of good material out there, I just see a general lack of $$$ in my pocket to be able to buy it

And I probably shouldn't say this, but what the heck, I will (someone said we need to controversy on here to get things active).

I think the memorabilia market is more grounded in terms of placing a price on an item based on availabilty/rarity than the card market. I can't for the life of me see how certain cards bring in ridiculous numbers when there are countless examples for sale at EACH and EVERY major auction or show, that comes up. I have a few Sox cards in my collection, but I will never purchase some of them as I just can't justify their price. Take for example a 1913 Fatima team card. There isn't a day goes by on ebay when you can't buy one for $500 to $750 in crappy condition. I would much rather have a program for that price in which there are probably less than 20 known examples that exist. I know there is a much higher population of people looking for cards, but I can also tell you there is also a pretty high number of cards out there in some inventory (or at least there are in the number of shows I've been to). Now this isn't to say I'm anti-card, I'm not. I just don't get it, that's all.

Anyway...nuf ced of this Have a good night guys.

GO SOX ! We've got a tough week ahead of us.

Greg

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Posted By: Mike

I don't like books or price guides for memorabilia. First, there are too many variables. Too much out there, no price guide could possibly hold even half of the things, and odd ball items out there. I collect things that appeal to me. I bid what I think they are worth, what I can afford, and how badly I need or want them. Do they fit my collecting area ? Sometimes I wish cards would go back to this also. It bothers me at shows, when the first thing a dealer does is dive for the price guide. I have a room of pre war memorabila, and I don't need a price guide. I pay or bid per how much I want it. Period. And I have never been disappointed.

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Posted By: Dylan

I'm sure with all the responses someones already said it but cards are much more liquid then memorabilia. There also much easier to store. Also many memorabilia pieces were produced in very small numbers, and trade hands very little, which makes it difficult for collectors to establish price guidelines. Somones who never collected a card in their life can check some prior auction sales on ebay for psa 5 t206's and within 5 minutes be placing educated bids for those cards. Memorabilia is a crap shoot, especially for the new collector who has no idea how to ascertain value on items.

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Posted By: Mike H

The liquidity of cards vs. memorabilia is very debatable. Dylan, you know as well as anyone how wildly the liquidity of cards can very. Obviously, it depends entirely on which card and which piece of memorabilia. The phrase I keep reading over and over among card collectors is set completion and accumulation. That isn't the focus for most memorabilia collectors because with many things that would be impossible. There are exceptions like pin sets, bats from particular teams, glove models etc.
Dylan is absolutely right on regarding determination of value for memorabilia and difficulty in bidding appropriately for inexperienced collectors. I can see why cards are less intimidating for the novice. While you can still be taken in a card deal, it's quite a bit easier to make an educated guess with cards. That fact however, doesn't bother me and actually makes the collecting of memorabilia more enjoyable.

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Posted By: Alan

Excellent thread !!!

The short version is that there is so much to what "memorabilia" can be such as

equipment (bats, balls, gloves, etc,...)
uniforms
autographs
programs
media guides
publications
photos
ticket stubs
pennants
etc,...

Many of these items have separate forums/message boards like the board for the game used uniforms.

Alan

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Posted By: Joe K.

I think everyone has had made some excellent and accurate points. First, IMO too memorabilia is most definitely not on the decline. Availability may be getting tighter, but demand continues to rise. As has been said memorabilia can mean so may dozens of niche areas. In any one area, the market can be quite thin.

Most references to memorabilia in the main stream refer to the Big Three: Cards, Autographs and Game Used items. Outside of these Big Three the fact is there is just a much much "smaller world" of collectors. I don't collect anyone of these Big Three, and often it seems that in some corners there is just no recognition of what I collect as even being part of baseball memorabilia collecting because it's not one of these three.

Within our "smaller world" people tend to focus in one or a few areas and have less in common with someone who collects something else – less in common than say someone who collects T206 v. N172. There are other Forums out there for specific areas too. For example there is a successful glove collecting forum and folks from this forum are not likely to contribute much to a more general forum like this.

For memorabilia there also isn’t much controversy so unlike the Card and GU forum there is just often less to debate.

Dan- I saw that Fan-Taz pin too. My snipe also got beat. I don’t even collect pins that much and I wanted that one.

Scott – Love your rule …”The rule with memorabilia is that if you like it, buy it, because you may never see it again.” Always have to think of that when I feel I have went a bit overboard on what I spend. Of course how objective can you be? . I would expect you to say that!! I bet you wished all your bidders followed that mantra!

-Joe

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Posted By: davidcycleback

I agree with Mike, in that I prefer that the area I collect in has no price guides. Price guides make you dull and flabby.

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Posted By: Jimmy

outside of eBay, sports memorabilia is very popular - I have sold many gloves , balls , bats, magazines and other items at shows. It still is slow compared to cards - but there will always be interest and maybe the internet can help, I think it will increase in interest in the coming years. I also collect much of what I buy and have gained experience and knowledge on the subject, just as I did with sports cards when I started collecting pre-war items 10 years ago.

Take Care

Jimmy

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Posted By: Corey R. Shanus

First, as has been recounted to me, the reason memorabilia became a taboo/discouraged topic on the main vintage card board a few years ago is because enough people were discussing it that it elicited reaction from the purist vintage baseball card crowd. Asssuming this is an accurate description of events, then I think it is reasonable to assume that with time people will learn of this new sub-board and begin to participate.

Second, price guides for memorabilia are next to worthless. Unlike identical baseball cards in identical grades, memorabilia by its very nature varies from piece to piece, making price-typecasting misleading. The most effective publication to describe an item's worth would be one that merely reports known transactions. And even that could be misleading. For some items, the market could be so thin that what sold for $50k last year could now sell for a fraction of that if one of the collectors left the market. Or it could sell more alot more if one or two new people entered the market.

Third, despite some recent spectacular price declines over recent years (e.g., some publications), it remains my view that for the really good stuff, the upside potential remains strong. Just as easily as a few big players left the market (causing prices on some items to plummet), some new collectors can enter. Also, I believe that for many people interest in memorablia is a progression. They begin with cards, then in time begin to branch to memorabilia. The influx of people into collecting vintage baseball cards seems to be never-ending. If only a very small percentage of them eventually gravitate to memorabilia, that gravitation combined with the extraordinary rarity of many pieces has the potential to result in spectacular price increases.

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Posted By: Mike

One of the things that interests me, are items that formally belonged to the players. I have things that belonged to gehrig, Foxx, etc. etc. These are usually one of a kind items. They pop up, and are gone. I collect anything relating to Jimmie Foxx. Tickets, in games which he played. An award he was given. news and wire photos. Books or magazines where he appeared on the cover. Odd ball things such as the well known mini bats, and pens and pencils which bore his name. I could go on forever. But over the years, I have seen his wedding ring, his personal belt buckle. Shotguns belonging to hall of famers. I saw a christmas card from the gehrig family. etc. Price guides do not work. Each and every item, brings what some one is willing to pay. Would I pay a million dollars for Foxx's wedding ring ? No. Would I pay 5 thousand Yes. In a heart beat. maybe more. Memorabilia is different than cards. For the most part, cards are a known entity. They are cataloged, and tracked. Personal items cannot be organized, cataloged and tracked on a spread sheet.

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Posted By: davidcycleback

I was the underbidder on Foxx's wedding ring when it was auctioned. It came from his daughter. The President of the auction house commented to me that he thought it a tad weird that someone would sell her father's wedding ring like that.

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Posted By: Mike

What did the ring go for? If I may ask?

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Posted By: davidcycleback

The auction was probably about 6 years ago, and the winner bid was perhaps $3,500. My high bid was just over $3,000 I believe, and was outbid in the wee morning. The solid gold ring had Foxx's name & wedding details engraved inside, and came with a LOA the daughter.

I once owned Reggie Jackson's diamond All-Star game ring and was threatened by Reggie's lawyer as he claimed it was stolen (it wasn't). And I also was once similarly contacted by the Director of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library over some Ronald Reagan items I owned, which he later agreed were not stolen. The Director of the Reagan Library came across as a nice enough guy, doing his job as legal protector of the Reagan legacy, but I didn't much of Jackson's lawyer.

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Posted By: Mike

$3,500. ? Crap..... I'd have won that item hands down. I'd gone $5,000 easy. One more thing, I find it so sad when relatives of athletes pawn off their family heirlooms. Some of them must be mighty desperate for cash.

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Posted By: barrysloate

I once bought a 1978 Yankee World Series ring from a pawnshop dealer! I forget who the player was, but he was one of these cup of coffee guys who just happened to win a series ring. He was down on his luck and his girlfriend brought it to a pawnshop and got like $500 for it. Just pathetic. I think I paid a couple of thousand and then flipped it for a nice profit. But as I think back, it's an awful story.

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Posted By: davidcycleback

I had a player's diamond championship ring from the Girl's Baseball League. That's the only women's league championship ring I've seen, and I wore it around as it fit one one of my fingers.

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Posted By: Aaron Cowan

I agree with what Corey said of card collectors gravitating to memorabilia. I started about 7 years ago with vintage cards (pre-70s) and eventually went to T-cards. Now that I am just a handful of cards away from completing my St Louis T206/205 sub-sets the reality of getting all the Ramlys and the two remaining T3s I need (Waddell and Bresnahan) is too expensive for me.

I have a friend who collects bats and another who knows St Louis Cardinals jerseys (and history) very well and this has influenced my decision to start focusing on collecting images with the Jersey variations. I know this isn't really really old like many people collect, but I'll agree with Barry that 19th century memorabilia is not as cut and dry as a slabbed card from any decade. I've always enjoyed history (of any sort) and being 24 yrs old I've had a lot of ground to make up. I guess the 19th century is the next place for me to head.

Aaron Cowan
http://s134.photobucket.com/albums/q102/acowan19/
acowan19@gmail.com

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Posted By: peter chao

Corey, Aaron,

I agree that going from cards to memorabilia is a natural progression. The problem is memorabilia is a broad term that covers too many subjects and time periods. Even if you are discussing prewar vintage memorabilia, you could be talking about a Ty Cobb autographed index card to a poster of Ted Williams advertising root beer.

Peter

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Posted By: Mike

Peter, that is what makes it fun. The wide variety. You never know what is going to rear it's ugly head.

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Posted By: peter chao

Mike,

Here's another word I like, Americana, would you say that memorabilia is part of Americana.

Peter

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Posted By: Max Weder

Peter


The rest of the world might quibble slightly with your definition that memorabilia is part of Americana.

Max

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Posted By: DMcD

Maybe Americana is a part of memorabilia, no?

Edited to spell memmorobbilia correctly

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Posted By: Max Weder

David

Be careful. You haven't landed on our shores for good yet

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Posted By: davidcycleback

Notice that most big Americana auctions contain quite a bit of foreign material. For example, the last time I checked The Beatles were British. I don't know that anyone, even the auction houses, have seriously thought over what Americana actually means. But it appears to mean memorabilia and collectibles that are a part of US culture, and many American kids listened to The Beatles.

Duly note that this wouldn't be my definition of Americana, but it appears to be what Mastro et al go by. So, according to some, Gordie Howe is as Americana as apple pie.

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Posted By: peter chao

How about serious paintings and artwork, do they go in a separate category or can they also fall under the rubric of Americana. Suppose we are talking about photos by Ansel Adams or sports art.

Peter

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Posted By: John Harrell

I agree with several points that others have made. I'm a long time card collector who got into bats about 7-8 years ago. Don't ask me why. One day I was cruising through Ebay and saw an old bat and I thought "That's really a neat looking piece and I'd like to have it.". For me it was like trying to eat one potato chip. Today I have about 80 bats.

The point that people migrate into memorabilia, I thought was a good one. I had gotten to the point where I was making slow progress on completing sets and I guess the collecting bug overcame me. I believe there is a huge cache of memorabilia out there that never is heard from.

John

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Posted By: Mike

I was chiefly into cards until 5 years ago or so. After virtually completing my "card" objective, (The cards I don't have for my project, are as common as sand, so I can get them any time) I got into memo. Partly as an extension of my collection objective. But mostly because the things out there are virtually without limit. Plus, I can search for personal items from certain players. To me at least, it is one thing to own a card of a player, and a completely different thrill in owning something the player owned, or was presented with. Or an original (one of a kind) photo of a pre war player. I still love cards though.