Sport Memorabilia is a large business today. There are lots and lots of collectors who make their money on these items. Collecting cards, game-used jerseys, helmets, uniforms, autographed baseballs…you name it.
The industry has become very diverse. Some manufacturers mass produce merchandise for sale and are able to pass them off as sport memorabilia even though they are not authentic. Then there is the game-used memorabilia channel where auction houses collect items that were actually a part of major sporting events and then auction them off on their websites or at live events. The rule of thumb is this: if a sports record is broken or a big game was played then all of the equipment and uniforms associated with that event are a market in of themselves. That means that there are people selling these items as well as a good amount of people willing to buy these items.
The people who collect sport memorabilia are an interesting bunch. They are known to travel all around the world, going from convention to convention in an attempt to further their collection. If there is a Mickey Mantle autographed baseball in New York or a Joe Montana game-worn jersey in California, many hardcore collectors won’t hesitate to jump on a plane in order to bid on the item they have their eye on.
The sport memorabilia industry as a whole is a debated one. It has lead to many hateful and corrupted collectors who have lost the spirit of sportsmanship and what collecting is really about. Many professional collectors will use children at games to try and sucker the players into signing as many bats or balls as possible, the old sympathy card method. It is pathetic, but a player now knows if a 45 year old man wants three bats and two balls signed, he is probably trying to make money and that is not what it is all about. People will wait as long as hours after games to get a glance at a player and maybe an autograph just to turn around the next day and flip it on the open market to make a quick buck.
The MLB is trying to authenticate things like a game worn jersey and other items as to stop all the fakes that are being produced. The same is true for autographs, many are fake, and regulating them is tough but they are currently finding new ways to make autographs official. It is business practices like this that has made it hard for kids to collect like they used to and just for the enjoyment of the sport. Now it has become corrupted, as most things, by the pursuit of money.