Sports Memorabilia Fraud, Market Value Fluctuation, Reputable Companies
Identify Fakes, Autopen, Preprints, Secretarials, Rubber Stamps & Forgeries
Sports memorabilia buying tips will further assist you with information on sports memorabilia fraud, how to obtain sports autographs, market value fluctuation, reputable companies, and how to identify fake autographs including, autopen, preprints, secretarials, rubber stamps and forgeries.
Also included are helpful and important links to news transcripts, articles, FBI and U.S. Department of Justice info, sports collector's price guides, compare your sports autograph to a real autograph online, a sports collector's blog and more!
Obtaining Sports Memorabilia
A few years ago, a special task force, "Operation Bullpen", was formed by the FBI to investigate autograph forgeries and placed the value of celebrity and sports frauds at a half-billion dollars and climbing.. Today it's estimated that anywhere from 80% to 90% of celebrity and sports autographs are fake.
With that being said, the most reputable method of obtaining authentically autographed memorabilia is obviously by personally obtaining the autographs yourself, but this can be extremely difficult to do.
Better yet, purchase from well known, established licensed companies or their authorized dealers and affiliates. These licensed companies enter into contracts with the superstars who sign exclusively for their company for the duration of the contract wether short term or long term.
The company then provides certification, numbered and registered tamper proof holograms for the autographed items with a company witness at private signings or through publicly held, company sponsored major signing events.
Some items may also be authenticated further by a professional league representative such as MLB, NFL, etc. Because of the stringent standards applied to the autographs certification process by these companies, collecting signed memorabilia can not only be a fun hobby, sometimes it can also be a good investment.
Educate yourself!
Anytime you're looking to buy a piece of sports memorabilia, you want to make sure that you are not overpaying for the item. The market for sports memorabilia is constantly changing so it is very important that you are aware of market changes and values before you empty your wallet.
Respected price guides such as Becketts, Sports Collectors Digest or Tuff Stuff can further assist you in keeping up to date on current market values and information. For example, if a Mickey Mantle authenticated baseball averages around $1200.00, and someone is selling one for 50 bucks, what do you think? Remember, If the price is extremely low, and it's too good to be true, it's probably a fake!
The Following Examples Can Affect Market Value Fluctuation
- 1 - The popularity of an athlete
- 2 - Player performance value (season statistics)
- 3 - The quantity of an item that is made available in the open market
- 4 - An athlete retires from their sport or becomes deceased
- 5 - Players who are inducted into a Hall of Fame
- 6 - Won a championship event such as the World Series, Masters etc..
- 7 - Voted MVP in their league or championship event
- 8 - Players who set new or break long standing records in their sport
- 9 - Players who rarely sign publicly but will through licensed companies
Reputable Autograph Companies
It is also important to find out what company your favorite athlete is contracted to sign autographs, as guarantees and certificates from other companies may not be authentic. For example, Michael Jordon currently signs exclusively with Upper Deck, so Michael Jordon signed items will always be accompanied with Upper Deck authentication.
Some of the most well known licensed sports autograph companies are Steiner Sports, Tri-Star Productions, Mounted Memories, Superstar Greetings, Upper Deck, PSA/DNA, Pro Tour Memorabilia, Pro Sports Memorabilia and Schwartz Sports. There are other companies, so know before you buy and do your homework first!
