Themes for Your Baseball Autograph Collection

There are plenty of different ways to put together a collection of baseball autographs.  If you’re into baseball cards,  of course you can separate them by which cards you have an autograph on and which ones you don’t. But maybe for the sake of division purposes you can showcase your collection and break it down into themes. Here are some tips and ideas to put a little something extra into breaking down and showcasing your baseball autograph collection.

1) MVP Autographs – Baseball has been handing out it’s Most Valuable Player Awards for many years and collecting autographs of baseball MVPs is a way to ensure you’ll have great players in your autograph collection. Trying to attain some of the cards and/or autographs might be tough because some of the greatest players of all time have passed away in the nearly 70 years the modern MVP awards have been presented.  MVP awards have gone to the likes of Joe DiMaggio, Hank Greenberg, Stan Musial, Yogi Berra, Jackie Robinson, Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays, Mike Schmidt, Barry Bonds and Albert Pujols.

2) Cy Young Award Winners- This baseball theme would present many challenges for any serious collector. The Cy Young award began in 1956 and there have been many multiple winners so you don’t need to buy hundreds of autographs to complete this collection. Only one winner was named from 1956-67 before the award was divided by league.  You can  have a blast looking for authentic autographs from Cy Young Award winners like Warren Spahn, Sandy Koufax, Whitey Ford, Bob Gibson, Tom Seaver, Greg Maddux and Randy Johnson.

3) Hall of Fame Members-It might also be fun to see how many autographs you can get from Hall of Famers. Out of the nearly 300 members, finding over 100 autographs might be a test for any baseball collector. Mustering over 200 would be another plateau.  Yet going this route  involves several attainable contemporary players that could put your collection off to a great start. Babe Ruth autographs aren’t cheap, but you can find a simple Ruth cut autograph—something affixed to a scrapbook or check for about the price of a nice one-month mortgage payment. Collecting autographs of Hall of Famers one at a time is a very rewarding journey through baseball history.

4) Team Themes-I am sure this is one of the most obvious themes baseball autograph collectors use. If you like the Yankees then it makes perfect sense to focus on Yankee autographs.  A Cub fan prefers Hack Wilson, Ernie Banks or Ryne Sandberg autographs. In some case, finding all of the autographs for a particular team for a given year might be as tough as some of the themes listed above.  You can collect team-signed baseballs from various seasons or collect individual signed items from players who suited up for the same team.

5) Autographs from One Authenticator- You can have a certain symmetry to your collection by obtaining only items authenticated by one specific company.  No matter if your choice is someone like James Spence Authentication or PSA/DNA or Steiner Sports, you’ll become familiar with the process and your authentication stickers and paperwork will have the same look.

Baseball autographs remain the most popular of any sport.  Fans have been chasing them for generations, at spring training, team hotels, the ballpark and through the mail.  How you choose to build your collection is entirely up to you.  A little creativity and organization can go a long way toward creating a collection that will stand the test of time.

Types of Signed Collectables

The best thing about signed collectables is that you’ve got plenty of options for what to collect and how to do it.  There are some variations of the theme based on the particular sport you’re collecting, but here are some options for advancing your sports autograph collection.

Baseball Autographs

You can buy a baseball autographed by a Hall of Famer.  You can purchase a team signed baseball.  Signed collectables from baseball can also include jerseys, bats, 8×10 or larger photos, baseball cards or programs.  Generally, flat items are going to be cheaper.  They’re easier for the athlete to sign and don’t have the premium attached to them that other items do when sports memorabilia companies enter into a contractual agreement with a player.  However, some prefer to make a splash with a larger framed autographed piece like a signed jersey or signed baseball collection you can display on shelves.

Football Autographs

Autographed footballs, of course, are very popular and they lend themselves to autographs better than baseballs because of their size.  Despite the pebble grain, a good Sharpie signature on a football (silver ink looks great, by the way) is a thing of beauty.  You can also buy footballs with special white panels to add multiple signatures (it is hard to buy a team-signed football because it’s difficult to write small on them.  Signed NFL jerseys are another hit with collectors.  You can buy jerseys with the signature on to the numerals.  Autographed helmets look great, too—full size or the newer mini helmets designed to hold just one or two autographs.  The mini helmets require a smaller shipping charge, of course.   Yes, you can buy authentic football autographs with no trouble at all.

Basketball Autographs

Signed basketballs are probably the most popular item in this category.  They’re great for individual signatures or for teams, since only about a dozen to 15 names are necessary.  Black Sharpie on an orange ball looks great.  Blue or another dark color works too.  Many collectors also like signed NBA jerseys because they are usually colorful and look great framed without taking up a huge part of your wall.  Again, 8×10 autographs are colorful, easy to store and very inexpensive signed collectables.   Signed NBA memorabilia is rapidly growing in popularity because of the game’s worldwide exposure.

Hockey Autographs

NHL players are usually very generous when it comes to autographs.  You can have them sign a hockey stick, a photo, a jersey or even a hockey puck.  Signed pucks can easily be displayed and look great with a light or gold colored Sharpie signature on the top.  They usually answer their fan mail so signed hockey cards are easy to collect and very cheap.  Buying authenticated hockey autographs via eBay or Amazon.com is easy and usually very inexpensive.

Be sure to do your homework and make plans when adding to your signed collectable stash.  It’s no fun having items you don’t have room to store, but it’s a lot of fun when you know what you’re buying is authentic.