Why do you do it? Ramblings from a bored man...

[toddhead]

Some day, my grandchildren will pick up a Jorge Posada bat from my collection and will be in awe. Then we'll go to Cooperstown and see his HOF plaque.

Pieces like that in my collection will be worth thieir weight in gold.

Jim

I hear you there. I have a 49ers great football signed by Montana, Clark, Rice and Lott that I feel the same about. Someday I hope my daughters will like football enough for me to explain how great these guys were and then we can go to Canton...

[mr.miracle]

I too worry about the price of things not from the perspective that I am necessarily looking to sell now in fact that is not usually the case, but more so from the what if perspective of what if this market crashes five years from now and I need to move some items to pay bills etc. and I am stuck selling at a 50% loss. I agree that quality game used items will continue to go up in value. That is why I have been slowly trying to streamline my own collection with quality over quantity to have the very few select best pieces that I can get my hands on instead of buying everything in sight. My theory is, if I can acquire very difficult to obtain pieces they will always be in demand if the time comes that I need to move them in the future.

[mvandor]

I fear the OP is right, as I collect the same stuff, NFL signed items, mostly helmets, mini helmets, footballs, jerseys.

Too many big players have oversaturated the market. Joe Montana, for example, must sign a thousand items a day 7 days a week, it's insane. There's so much stuff out there that it's cheaper to buy stuff from volume sellers he's signed than to go to a show with an item you bought and get his signature. A Proline helmet my brother bought 10 years ago is actually worth no more today than then.

As I rotate items out of my two year old collection (I just started as the outfall of an office redecorating project), I've taken a loss on nearly every item. It's frustrating.

Supply and demand, it controls all. As OP states, I expect to take losses when my collection is sold in 20 or so years, especially with what I've spent on displays - cases, nameplates - which are worth little at resale.

[steeltownjerseys]

Overall I agree that the autograph market is getting flooded. Here's what gets me....why are some autographed pieces marked up higher than others. For example an index card signed by Favre would be tough to sell for $20, yet a Favre auto jersey might sell for $550!
The cost of the jersey is about $250, so in essence youre paying an additional $300 for the sig. That's what is crazy to me!
I like game issued/worn pieces because I know that I have something rare and unique. If I can get them signed, it's a bonus!
As far as autographs, I now mostly collect auto 16x20 photos. Reason is they look great when displayed, and at that point you are viewing it more as art. I don't buy things in hopes to make money usually, but game memorabilia, in my opinion, will never flood the market.
It's like buying stocks...if the demand does go down, I will be able to buy more for my dollar...either way I'm in!