Tuesday Tips: An Introduction into the World of Sports Memorabilia

Replica. Mini. Authentic. Certified. JSA. COA. PSA. These are just some of the terms one will find when venturing into the world of sports memorabilia and collecting autographed items.

It can be a daunting task for newcomers as there are a myriad of terms and concepts to understand. Luckily, there are reputable companies such as ourselves and others that help make the collection process as streamlined as possible. We're also looking to not only make collecting items from your favorite team or players as painless as possible, we want to make sure our customers are making informed decisions.

Part of making informed decisions is having a solid base of knowledge about our favorite hobby. We're going to put together some informative media for our customers to ensure that everyone from a novice to an expert get some insight into the sports memorabilia world.

The start of this series will cover the basics and help those who may feel uneasy about diving into the sports memorabilia world. We checked around the office and this was the consensus among the team here at Ultimate Autographs.

Q: What are the best/most sports to start with when starting my personal collection?
A: Start with what you are proud to display. If you have pride and interest in them, odds are most will as well. When it boils down to it, this is art and art collectors have been successful over time, even through the down points in the economy.

Q: What are the best/most popular items for each sport?
A: Jerseys are the most popular item across all sports. But helmets are starting to overtake them in football

Q: When looking for items that are already signed, what's your strategy for finding quality items?
A: We'd suggest looking for reputable companies that travel for signings, hold public & private signings and always have a third party company onsite to witness the signing. It's a lot of fun to collect these items but there are also a lot of people out there looking to pull a fast one. Always do you research on the company and make sure there is some certification from a third party company.

Q: What are the best companies in regards to COAs/LOAs?
A: JSA, PSA, Beckett, Steiner, and Upper Deck are the best, most well-known. Sometimes you can even use player holograms and items certified by the MLB. We'd also like to briefly explain the difference between witnessed certifications (where the certification company watched the item get signed) vs. an examined item (the certification company's opinion that its legit).

Q: What is the best way to display autographed items?
A: In most cases, we'd suggest a display case that has UV protection.

Q: Are there any resources out there for researching autographed items?
A: Honestly, not really. It's all dependent on supply and demand.

Q: If you could provide a single tip to someone just getting started, what would your piece of advice be?
A: Not to have items personalized and protect item from the sun, kids and anything else that could damage them.

Have any additional questions we may have not covered in our "Intro to Autographs" post? Drop us a line across our social channels or email us at marketing@ultimateautographs.com. Stay tuned, we'll have more informative pieces coming down the road!