Balls, Bats and Other Items Up For Sale and Auction
If you are a baseball fan to any degree, there is no doubt you have at least some example of baseball memorabilia, even if it is only the free, promotional items handed out at the stadium during games. There are some people though who collect the stuff and have never seen the game at all. These people are serious collectors, bent on collecting a particular type of item. These are also the people who are selling other items as well. But, what kind of stuff do these collectors really look for when buying baseball memorabilia? And, if you are interested in starting your own collection, how do you get started? Where do you find the widest examples of baseball memorabilia to buy, trade or sell?
From the time they are very young, baseball fans start collecting baseball cards. In the old days, you got a set of cards and a stick of ultra hard, barely chewable gum in a package. You can get a collection of baseball cards now and hope for the best or look for a particular team, year or player. Some collectors will look for one particular player, collecting their cards from their entire playing career: rookie to retirement. Some cards for these players may be harder to find than others. You may have to work hard to find an Andy Van Slyke rookie card but not so hard to find the card of some guy who played three seasons, never hit a homerun, never caught a game winning out or pitched a perfect game. It is the players who distinguish themselves that have the cards that are hard to find.
There are other items of memorabilia, of course, including decorative items and of course, the Bobble Head. If you are not familiar with them, the Bobble Head is a small statuette of a player or team mascot that features a larger head on top of a spring that bobbles and nods with every slight movement as if they agree with everything being said around them. They are popular in many stadiums and are occasionally given away as promotional items as well.
Pennants, the small flags that you see waving around are also another great piece of baseball memorabilia and actually may be an easier and less expensive collection to start. You can find baseball card and memorabilia trade shows in almost every major city- and as long as you shop carefully, you might actually walk away with a real treasure.