Sports Memorabilia

Yes Mickey Mantle signed autographs in 1961, and 1962. Although he signed many autographs during his career it has been noted that he did not like to sign team baseballs in the club house. He did state during an interview that players were required to sign a dozen baseballs for the clubhouse man, otherwise you would not get a clean towel.

In general the year a signature is signed will not effect the value much unless the date is inscribed.

A Mickey Mantle single signed baseball is worth about $400.-$600. Price will vary based on condition, and type of authenticity that accompanies the signature. Rare examples of pristine signatures or inscriptions like "The Mick" "HOF 1974" or 536 HR's" could raise the price to the $1,000. price range. Personal inscription like "Good luck Mike" could sell below $400. A rarely signed full name signature "Mickey Charles Mantle" will break the $2,000 price mark as it did in a May 5th 2007 live eBay auction selling for $2,390.

After condition the type of authenticity that accompanies the signature will dictate the price. Mickey Mantle was under contract with the Upper-Deck company before he passed away. Baseballs that have the Upper deck hologram could sell in the $1,000.-$1,500. price range. signatures that have not been authenticated could sell at half the market value or less.

Not really. During the 1960's as today Autopens (a mechanical device for signing signatures) were commonly used by Government officials, astronauts, and celebrities. Some popular sports figures might have used them as some others had secretaries, clubhouse officials, and spouses to sign autographs request by fans through the mail. Some players even used rubber stamps of their signatures. This was done to please their fans, and not for proffit.

Today, the sports memorabilia business is a multi billion dollar industry. where ever there is big money to be made you can be sure that there will be scam artists out to get a piece of the action.

Before the baseball card boom of the late 1980's & early 1990's there was not a great demand for autographs of sports celebrities, or memorabilia. At least not as it is today, and not the kind of money that today's market brings. Even in the early 1990's you could get Mickey Mantle to sign an autograph for $15. and that was top dollar at the time.

The more expensive the sports Stars autographs became the more scam artist appeared looking for way to steal your money. Back in the 1960's it would have not been lucrative enough to go through the trouble of using an autopen to forge signatures. even if you could get $10. a signature, the demand would have not been there, and then you would need a outlet to sell them.

Today you can market, and sell 1000's of autographs through the Internet, eBay, or sports memorabilia shows. back in the 1960's the resources were very limited, and the thought of paying for a signature did not exist in most minds. If you wanted an autograph of your favorite baseball ballplayer you stood by the foul line during batting practice, and hoped.

Below I will leave a link to my newsletter "FAKE SIMILAR AUTOGRAPHS - FACSIMILE" There might be some information there that you might be interested in.

This is a multi Billion dollar industry, and there are loads of scam artists out there trying to steal your money.

You will find a large number of them on his home page. Click link below!

There are two lists: Limited editions and All other editions.

The pennant you have could be from various years. Many New York Mets Pennants feature Mr. Met including the 1969 New York Mets National League Champions Scroll Pennant which sell between $75.-$150.

This pennant is from one of the most memorable World series in baseball history - 1969. the Miracle Mets would take on the heavily favored Baltimore Orioles and defeat them 4 games to 1.This Mets pennant features a scroll which lists the team members including Hall of Fame greats Tom Seaver, Nolan Ryan, and manager Gil Hogers. It measures 30" long.

Condition is important, and minor flaws could bring the price down significantly. Common flaws with pennants are missing ties, pin holes, frying, creases, and "crackling" on the printing. Sometimes people will trim down a pennant to rid it of the frying or other flaws like a flat tip (point) Caused by being pinned up and ripped off.

For more information on vintage pennants visit the link I left below. -Steven KeyMan

A Barry Bonds autographed baseball card is worth about $75.-$125.

Value is based on average prices of recently closed auctions. Prices may vary based on condition, and the type of authenticity that accompanies the baseball. Signatures that have not been properly authenticated could sell at half the market value or less.

Collectible items could add value to the price of a signature but not always. As in the case of a baseball card, generally a collector of baseball cards would rather have a baseball card without the signature. The signature would be considered as a flaw in the condition of the card and will lower the value.

A collector of signatures will not always pay extra for the "collectible" baseball card. The autograph collectors main concern is displaying the signature. This is why it is not a good idea to have an expensive baseball card signed. You could devalue the price of the card, and get less for it. Even if the baseball card has a low value today, if the price goes up in the future the value will be diminished by the signature.

Once a collectible baseball card is signed the value of the card dramatically goes down as a collectible. The card then becomes an Item to display the signature. The bulk of the value relies on the value of the signature of the player that signed the card, and how well the card displays the signature. A highly collectible card can add some value to the signature.