All About Sports Memorabilia Auctions

There are a lot of people who are interested in collecting sports memorabilia, but they don't really know where to start. Fear not, friend, we've got you covered! We're going to cover all the basics with this blog post — from what it is and who usually collects it, to how to get started and different sources for memorabilia.

So let's get on with those basics, shall we?

Sports stars have long been the idols of our society. Kids grow up dreaming of one day becoming a star athlete so that they too can be revered by millions. In the past, we have had the chance to look to athletes like Michael Jordan, Jim Brown and Joe Montana when we wanted inspiration.

In modern times, that's no longer necessary. Today's all-star athletes are much more accessible. You can find out all you need to know about a particular star with a simple google search.

For example: If you really want to know all about this year's (or any other year) Super Bowl Champion Broncos, just do a Google search for 'Denver Broncos'. This will bring up everything you need — images of the players, the highlights from games, links to the team website and news reports from the week of SB XLVIII.

Sports memorabilia is also very popular with collectors. The fact that people can buy sports collectables at such a low cost means that your average collector can assemble a collection of their favorite players, teams and events in a very short space of time.

There are two main types of sports memorabilia to collect — records (like football cards) and team jerseys. There are many other kinds of records in existence too, but they're not as common and tend to be more expensive.

The most common records are official game used balls or jerseys. These items come from actual games in which the athlete played — like Super Bowl XLVIII or even Street Fighter X Tekken (don't ask).

It's totally normal to collect game used footballs and jerseys, but what if you want something a little more unique? Just how do you go about buying something like that?

Well, let's take a trip to the Oakland Coliseum!

Let me introduce you to Gabriel Davila. Gabriel is the Director of Marketing for Macklemore LLC, which operates True Giants Fan Shop at the Coliseum. That shop has an entire section dedicated to sports cards and memorabilia. It's also where they keep their best items — which are authentic helmets and jerseys. The store also sells one-of-a-kind items such as game used bats or balls.

"Authentic helmets and jerseys are the most sought after items. A Super Bowl helmet or jersey is a pretty rare item — it's been proven to be authentic and will never be on display again at the stadium. Those two items are really hard to get."

Gabriel also mentioned that the officially licensed shops of the different NFL franchises sell authentic game used memorabilia, but they cannot source their own items — they have to buy them directly from the teams themselves. This means that they cannot sell game used collectables from certain games. For example, you won't find any Super Bowl memorabilia from previous years because only this year's participants can sell them.

"We can't sell game used jerseys from the 2009 NFC Championship game between the Packers and 49ers because that was a playoff game, not a Super Bowl. The same goes for the 2011 AFC Championship game between the Giants and Patriots — we won't be able to sell any of those items."

You may be thinking, "I've seen some Super Bowl XLVIII game used helmets for sale on eBay!"

Those are not official NFL helmets — they are goalie helmets from that year's hockey playoffs. You'd have to be lucky to get one of those nowadays because they're extremely rare. If you're looking for an official Super Bowl XLVIII helmet, your best bet is to keep and eye on the NFL store or any NFL related websites.

Don't get your hopes up about finding a game used jersey though. Those are the most expensive items out there — and you can expect to pay around $5,000 to win one.

"The helmets go for $500 – $1000 each, but the jerseys go for anywhere from $5,000 – $15,000."

There are also some common collectables that can be had for a pretty low price. These items include t-shirts that were left behind in celebrity dressing rooms at events such as award shows or concerts. Gabriel was scouting some items for their store at the Billboard Music Awards in Las Vegas.

"We have a lot of nice items that we've gotten from different events — like t-shirts that were left behind by celebrities. We had some that were signed by Chris Brown, Justin Timberlake and will.i.am from The Black Eyed Peas."

Another category of sports memorabilia to get into is game used bats and balls — although Gabriel advises you to get into those only if you really want them:

"Some people want bats or balls because they're just fans of the sport and like those kinds of things, but for most people it's about the names on there or something special about the item itself. You might get some items signed, but they won't be unique or valuable to collectors."

If that's the case, then you should stick with getting game used jerseys and helmets. They're not too expensive and there's a lot of variety in availability — so you're bound to find something that you like.

That said, I can confirm what Gabriel said — Gabriel has one of the coolest collections in the game used memorabilia game. His display case at the Coliseum contains his rarest items. He showed me some of them and they are incredible. Here's a photo gallery of Gabriel's collectables from his collection:

Would you like to join the ranks of sports memorabilia collectors? To find out how, check out our list of sports collectable sites! If you want to know more about game used baseballs and hockey bats, then be sure to read our list of game used baseballs and game used hockey bats for sale.

All About Sports Memorabilia Auctions

All About Sports Memorabilia Auctions

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