Baseball

Baseball Memorabilia Must-Haves by Michael Shapiro

If you are not familiar with the term memorabilia, then you must know that memorabilia refers to individual items of historical value such as programs, posters, brochures, clippings, buttons, pennants, cards and stickers.

So, baseball memorabilia must-haves refer to baseball souvenirs.

And, when it comes to baseball souvenirs, the most common things that people collect are baseball balls and baseball bats, most of the times with original autographs of some players on them. Autographed jerseys, collectible items have grown into a huge industry.

There are hundreds and hundreds of places where you can buy baseball memorabilia. The easiest way to find baseball memorabilia is by surfing the internet. Just type "baseball memorabilia" on a search engine and you will instantly find hundreds of websites that deal with these items. You can easily find balls, jerseys, cards, photos, helmets, bats, gloves or any other sports related pieces of equipment. All you need is the money to buy them.

Next, there are specialized sports memorabilia stores, where you can find really interesting stuff. There are numerous people that prefer to sell such items for some extra money. Unfortunately, the market is also full of fakes. And still, there are some things that you can do to avoid buying fake baseball memorabilia. The first thing you must do is to make sure you purchase baseball memorabilia from reliable dealers. Try to look for people who carry the big name dealers on the sports market. For example Steiner Sports, Upper Deck, and a few others can really be considered trustworthy. Really valuable autographed sports memorabilia is hard to find so if you see a no-name vendor with every athlete in the book, be wary (especially if he is printing Certificates of Authenticity on his home computer). Another method of ensuring authenticity is by only buying collectible items with a PSA/DNA authentication. PSA/DNA is a leader in the sports authentication marketplace and they issue certificates of authenticity for a fee.

An important aspect to remember is that sports memorabilia, and especially signed sports memorabilia, always come with proper documentation and holograms. So, a Certificate of Authenticity (COA) issued by a well-known, credible and reliable company in the sports memorabilia industry is a must. Just use the internet, and you can easily locate a seller you are considering doing business with and you might get some information that could save you a lot of time and money. Specialized forums are also reliable sources of information. You can discuss with other seasoned collectors about baseball souvenirs and get advice for places and people to buy from. You might even want to consider dealing with a small handful of people whom you trust doing business with to limit any chance of getting cheated.

In general, when you are looking to purchase baseball memorabilia that will increase in value, buy only valuable items. There are several factors that count here: the popularity of the baseball player, the quantity of a certain item available on the market, whether the player is/was inducted into the Hall of Fame, whether they are still alive, etc. Lastly, ensure that the condition of the memorabilia you are collecting is in good condition. Many times, humidity and UV light can damage items displayed in a home or in a store.