woodbuck27
07-17-2006, 03:54 PM
By Scott Venci / greenbaypressgazette.com
HOBBY NO MORE
AUTOGRAPHS BECOME SERIOUS BUSINESS
Collecting sports autographs used to be considered a hobby for children. Parents would bring their kids to games, where they would get a piece of paper or a program signed by their favorite players. It was a memory that would last forever, even if the autograph was thrown in the trash the next day. "It's a special thing," Brewers outfielder Geoff Jenkins said of being asked for an autograph. "When you were a boy growing up, it's something you never imagined would be happening. But it's something that is obviously an honor. Something you definitely cherish."
Times have changed
The sports collectibles industry has exploded over the past two decades, first with the baseball-card craze of the 1980s and early 1990s and now with autographs. "I think it is going to keep going higher," said Jeff Rosenberg, the president and CEO of Tri-Star Productions, a Houston-based company that is considered one of, if not the biggest, producers of autographed sports collectibles in the nation. "I predicted it 20 years ago. I predicted it 10 years ago." Tri-Star and other companies like it promote shows across the nation. They bring in current and former players to sign autographs, paying them a fee that can run from a few thousand dollars to six figures, depending on the star. Rosenberg, a lifelong collector of baseball autographs, formed his company with a few friends in 1987. One of the first shows he promoted featured former New York Yankees slugger Mickey Mantle. Rosenberg charged $10 for his autograph, which at the time, seemed absurd to people. The same year, Rosenberg brought in then rookie slugger Mark McGwire and charged $6 an autograph. That seemed absurd, too.
Why, after all, would anyone pay for an autograph?
Less than five years later, and by the time Mantle died of cancer in 1995, his autograph fee was more than $100. To get an authenticated, autographed baseball of the Hall of Famer now can cost up to $700. The same goes for McGwire, who told Rosenberg after his appearance at his show in 1987 that he never planned to do another one.
Oftentimes, promoters charge more for current  and at times unproven  players than they do for Hall of Famers, simply because it's more difficult to get an active player making millions of dollars to give up their free time on a Saturday afternoon. Many Hall of Famers who didn't earn much money while playing supplement their income by appearing at shows.
With the demand for autographs strong, player fees continue to rise. While paying more than $100 for Mantle in the early 1990s might seem high, it would be a bargain today. At the National Sports Collectors Convention  the Super Bowl of memorabilia shows  that will be held in Anaheim, Calif., later this month, it will cost a collector $99 to $149 for an autograph of New Orleans Saints rookie running back Reggie Bush, who is appearing at the convention on July 26. There is a difference in the autograph price for Bush and other athletes depending on what a fan wants autographed. The bigger the item, the more it costs. For example, to get a small item like an 8-by-10-inch picture signed by Bush (the collector has to provide the items) will cost $99, while a signed mini-helmet is $109 and a jersey or full-size helmet is $149. Yet Steve Carlton, who won more than 300 games and had more than 4,000 strikeouts during his Hall of Fame career with the Philadelphia Phillies, will cost considerably less than Bush  $45 on a small item and $79 on a large item when he appears at the convention on July 28.
"It's funny," said Rosenberg, whose company signed a five-year deal earlier this year to run the autograph pavilion at the convention. "I just heard from someone close to Bush that he has made more money in the first year than any player in the history of the NFL. What we have seen over the years is less and less current players doing the autographs. If they are making millions of dollars to play a sport, why would they charge so little for their time? That's the reality of the situation."
Forgeries are a problem
Even if they are paying a good sum of money for an autograph at a show, collectors at least get the satisfaction of knowing they got the chance to be close to their favorite athlete, and even more importantly, knowing the autograph is authentic. With the big money being generated by autograph sales, it only was a matter of time before forgeries became a problem. Fake autographs of the sport's biggest superstars constantly hit the market, with former Chicago Bulls star Michael Jordan and golfer Tiger Woods two of the most forged signatures being sold to collectors who sometimes can't tell the difference between a real autograph and a fake one.
The problem hit this area in January, when an Ashwaubenon sports memorabilia store was raided for selling forged autographs of Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre. While the percentage of fake autographs in the marketplace often is exaggerated, there is little doubt it has been, and will continue to be, a problem.
That's why companies such as Tri-Star and Upper Deck Authenticated have been able to make millions over the years. They are two outlets that have established a solid reputation within the industry for selling authentic autographs by dealing directly with athletes. Tri-Star has Houston Astros pitcher Roger Clemens and Packers great Bart Starr as two of its exclusive clients, while Upper Deck scored big in the marketplace years ago when it signed Jordan to an autograph contract that called for a number of private signings, where he signed everything from jerseys to basketballs to pictures.
Upper Deck has done the same with Woods. Athletes also have taken steps to provide their fans with authentic autographs. Many have their own Web sites on which they sell signed items, while others, like Favre, have had tamper-proof holograms produced that are put on every item they autograph at a signing.
Going old school
For most collectors, getting an autograph the old-fashioned way  for free  is the most rewarding. Serious collectors stake out hotels, practices, games and sometimes even restaurants, trying to get autographs. The fewer people that are around, the better success an autograph seeker likely will have. While some players will sign autographs while heading into the stadium or at their hotel, a throng of fans clamoring for a signature can make even the most accommodating athletes run for cover.
There is little question, meanwhile, that some athletes have soured on the process. What used to be a hobby for genuine fans has been at times taken over by people looking to make a quick buck. Athletes don't know if they are signing an item for a true collector or one who just wants to put the autograph on eBay an hour after getting it. In order to combat that, some athletes try to devalue an item when signing it.
Fans who collect autographed baseballs often want the signature on the sweet spot of the ball. Players know this, so some of them will sign on one of the side panels of the ball, which makes it worth far less on the market. Other players will rip or bend a corner off a card after signing it or insist on personalizing an item.
Then there are some who don't care, at least to an extent.
"If they need to make a little extra money, it doesn't bother me," said Jenkins, before pausing. "But some people bring up six or seven things, and it's just like, 'Come on, man.' It's like, get your autograph, one or two, and don't be greedy."
HOBBY NO MORE
AUTOGRAPHS BECOME SERIOUS BUSINESS
Collecting sports autographs used to be considered a hobby for children. Parents would bring their kids to games, where they would get a piece of paper or a program signed by their favorite players. It was a memory that would last forever, even if the autograph was thrown in the trash the next day. "It's a special thing," Brewers outfielder Geoff Jenkins said of being asked for an autograph. "When you were a boy growing up, it's something you never imagined would be happening. But it's something that is obviously an honor. Something you definitely cherish."
Times have changed
The sports collectibles industry has exploded over the past two decades, first with the baseball-card craze of the 1980s and early 1990s and now with autographs. "I think it is going to keep going higher," said Jeff Rosenberg, the president and CEO of Tri-Star Productions, a Houston-based company that is considered one of, if not the biggest, producers of autographed sports collectibles in the nation. "I predicted it 20 years ago. I predicted it 10 years ago." Tri-Star and other companies like it promote shows across the nation. They bring in current and former players to sign autographs, paying them a fee that can run from a few thousand dollars to six figures, depending on the star. Rosenberg, a lifelong collector of baseball autographs, formed his company with a few friends in 1987. One of the first shows he promoted featured former New York Yankees slugger Mickey Mantle. Rosenberg charged $10 for his autograph, which at the time, seemed absurd to people. The same year, Rosenberg brought in then rookie slugger Mark McGwire and charged $6 an autograph. That seemed absurd, too.
Why, after all, would anyone pay for an autograph?
Less than five years later, and by the time Mantle died of cancer in 1995, his autograph fee was more than $100. To get an authenticated, autographed baseball of the Hall of Famer now can cost up to $700. The same goes for McGwire, who told Rosenberg after his appearance at his show in 1987 that he never planned to do another one.
Oftentimes, promoters charge more for current  and at times unproven  players than they do for Hall of Famers, simply because it's more difficult to get an active player making millions of dollars to give up their free time on a Saturday afternoon. Many Hall of Famers who didn't earn much money while playing supplement their income by appearing at shows.
With the demand for autographs strong, player fees continue to rise. While paying more than $100 for Mantle in the early 1990s might seem high, it would be a bargain today. At the National Sports Collectors Convention  the Super Bowl of memorabilia shows  that will be held in Anaheim, Calif., later this month, it will cost a collector $99 to $149 for an autograph of New Orleans Saints rookie running back Reggie Bush, who is appearing at the convention on July 26. There is a difference in the autograph price for Bush and other athletes depending on what a fan wants autographed. The bigger the item, the more it costs. For example, to get a small item like an 8-by-10-inch picture signed by Bush (the collector has to provide the items) will cost $99, while a signed mini-helmet is $109 and a jersey or full-size helmet is $149. Yet Steve Carlton, who won more than 300 games and had more than 4,000 strikeouts during his Hall of Fame career with the Philadelphia Phillies, will cost considerably less than Bush  $45 on a small item and $79 on a large item when he appears at the convention on July 28.
"It's funny," said Rosenberg, whose company signed a five-year deal earlier this year to run the autograph pavilion at the convention. "I just heard from someone close to Bush that he has made more money in the first year than any player in the history of the NFL. What we have seen over the years is less and less current players doing the autographs. If they are making millions of dollars to play a sport, why would they charge so little for their time? That's the reality of the situation."
Forgeries are a problem
Even if they are paying a good sum of money for an autograph at a show, collectors at least get the satisfaction of knowing they got the chance to be close to their favorite athlete, and even more importantly, knowing the autograph is authentic. With the big money being generated by autograph sales, it only was a matter of time before forgeries became a problem. Fake autographs of the sport's biggest superstars constantly hit the market, with former Chicago Bulls star Michael Jordan and golfer Tiger Woods two of the most forged signatures being sold to collectors who sometimes can't tell the difference between a real autograph and a fake one.
The problem hit this area in January, when an Ashwaubenon sports memorabilia store was raided for selling forged autographs of Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre. While the percentage of fake autographs in the marketplace often is exaggerated, there is little doubt it has been, and will continue to be, a problem.
That's why companies such as Tri-Star and Upper Deck Authenticated have been able to make millions over the years. They are two outlets that have established a solid reputation within the industry for selling authentic autographs by dealing directly with athletes. Tri-Star has Houston Astros pitcher Roger Clemens and Packers great Bart Starr as two of its exclusive clients, while Upper Deck scored big in the marketplace years ago when it signed Jordan to an autograph contract that called for a number of private signings, where he signed everything from jerseys to basketballs to pictures.
Upper Deck has done the same with Woods. Athletes also have taken steps to provide their fans with authentic autographs. Many have their own Web sites on which they sell signed items, while others, like Favre, have had tamper-proof holograms produced that are put on every item they autograph at a signing.
Going old school
For most collectors, getting an autograph the old-fashioned way  for free  is the most rewarding. Serious collectors stake out hotels, practices, games and sometimes even restaurants, trying to get autographs. The fewer people that are around, the better success an autograph seeker likely will have. While some players will sign autographs while heading into the stadium or at their hotel, a throng of fans clamoring for a signature can make even the most accommodating athletes run for cover.
There is little question, meanwhile, that some athletes have soured on the process. What used to be a hobby for genuine fans has been at times taken over by people looking to make a quick buck. Athletes don't know if they are signing an item for a true collector or one who just wants to put the autograph on eBay an hour after getting it. In order to combat that, some athletes try to devalue an item when signing it.
Fans who collect autographed baseballs often want the signature on the sweet spot of the ball. Players know this, so some of them will sign on one of the side panels of the ball, which makes it worth far less on the market. Other players will rip or bend a corner off a card after signing it or insist on personalizing an item.
Then there are some who don't care, at least to an extent.
"If they need to make a little extra money, it doesn't bother me," said Jenkins, before pausing. "But some people bring up six or seven things, and it's just like, 'Come on, man.' It's like, get your autograph, one or two, and don't be greedy."