How to Collect Football Memorabilia

Football is a rapidly growing segment of the sports memorabilia market. Trading cards, equipment, uniforms, pads and helmets make up the lion's share of the collector's market. Though the emphasis has primarily been on pro teams, collecting college memorabilia is becoming increasingly popular.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Know What to Look For

1. Collect up-and-coming young football stars and consistent top performers. A player's ability to continue to make headlines year after year will affect the value of his memorabilia.

2. Collect football cards and memorabilia in the best condition you can find. Cards are graded on condition, which can greatly affect its value.

3. Know the history of the memorabilia you are collecting. Determine how many similar or identical items are available. Is the player someone who signed a lot of merchandise or rarely signed anything? Know about important events associated with the memorabilia that might put it into context.

4. Consult price guides at CollectSports.com and Beckett.com.

Build Your Collection

5. Establish a goal to determine the type of football memorabilia you collect. Decide if you want to collect one team, one player or a group of players, like Hall of Famers.

6. Break down your card collection by vintage, singles, team sets, year sets or an entire run of a manufacturer's cards.

7. Collect helmets, throwback jerseys, game-worn jerseys, equipment and photos.

Collect Sports Memorabilia

8. Buy new cards at hobby shops and shop for memorabilia and cards through online dealers and auction sites, established memorabilia stores, auctions and collectors' shows.

9. Ask the seller for a Certificate of Authenticity (COA) or have items authenticated through an authentication service like PSA/DNA Authentication Services. Find out what you can about the seller and the item. Verify an online dealer's address and phone number. Ask about the item's history. Be prepared to pay market price, as drastically under-market prices are usually a sign of fraud.

10. Maintain your collection in display cases and protect from sun, extreme temperatures and moisture. Use air-tight storage bins for larger items not on display and PVC-free plastic sleeves to store cards.

Tips & Warnings

• Authentic throwback jerseys--replica jerseys of retired players--are sold only through authorized dealers. If you come across one sold through a street vendor or a very low price, it's probably a fake.

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on 4/28/2008 www.number1sports.com has all the NFL and NCAA collectibles you will ever need.