Some questions on the sports cards & memorabilia business/hobby

FoundingFather

Hi all, I'm a coin guy who is not familiar with sports cards (and I am not a sports fan) so I am fairly ignorant about this forum to say the least. I have a few questions if I may.

1) In the coin world, there are coin dealers, shops, and businesses that are common and make up a bulk of sales to consumers/collectors. Is there an equivalent or similar dynamic in the sports card/memorabilia world?

2) Do the entities that sell cards tend to sell memorabilia as well, or do they tend to specialize in just one or the other? I'm looking for perspective on the memorabilia part - i.e. is it really mostly card collecting that goes on in this industry.

3) Who do you consider the most reputable or favored to deal with? I understand that you may have multiple picks - that's fine. And I understand they may post here and you wouldn't want to publicly pick, so a Private Message would probably be most appropriate and appreciated.

Thanks in advance for the education and opinions!

AlanAllen

<< <i>Hi all, I'm a coin guy who is not familiar with sports cards (and I am not a sports fan) so I am fairly ignorant about this forum to say the least. I have a few questions if I may.

1) In the coin world, there are coin dealers, shops, and businesses that are common and make up a bulk of sales to consumers/collectors. Is there an equivalent or similar dynamic in the sports card/memorabilia world? >>


Not nearly to the extent there is in the coin world. There are a few dominant auction houses that handle the high end stuff: Mastro, Robert Edward, etc. There are a handful of "name" dealers as well, but there's no way that they do a majority of sales in the hobby. This is speaking as a small fish... I understand the heavy hitters buy a good percentage of cards directly from dealers before they hit the tables or the auction block. I probably speak for most on this board when I say I buy most of my cards on eBay from a very wide variety of sellers. Some big name dealers, but mostly weekend warriors and other collectors.



<< <i>2) Do the entities that sell cards tend to sell memorabilia as well, or do they tend to specialize in just one or the other? I'm looking for perspective on the memorabilia part - i.e. is it really mostly card collecting that goes on in this industry. >>


They usually specialize. Many brick and mortar strip mall shops will carry both, but not a wide variety and rarely anything a serious collector would be interested in. In addition, most dealers specialize within cards. A few I deal with sell only oddball football. If you've collected for 30 years but never touch oddball football, you wouldn't know these guy's names. There are over 300,000 different baseball cards listed in the latest "standard catalog," with many thousands more uncatalogued, and other sports, and derivitives like unopened packs, so specialization is a must. >>





<< <i>3) Who do you consider the most reputable or favored to deal with? I understand that you may have multiple picks - that's fine. And I understand they may post here and you wouldn't want to publicly pick, so a Private Message would probably be most appropriate and appreciated.

Thanks in advance for the education and opinions! >>



Despite complaints you hear, the vast majority of dealers are reputable and easy to work with. The names that pop to mind are Mike Hattley at Touchdown Treasures, Jeremy at The Football Card Store, Joe Colabella, 4 Sharp Corners... there are many good guys I'm leaving off this list.

Hope that helps a little,
Joe

Stone193

Hi FF

You will get plenty of good info - I will defer to later.

But, I will tell ya - if you back to the late 80s to early 90s - many really saavy coin and stamp dealers also sold - in the spirit of business diversity - sports cards and some memorabilia. Brigandi in NYC comes to mind.

One thing - do you have any special areas that you are interested in?

We can hone in a some really good dealers that way.

mike

FoundingFather

AlanAllen, that was superb! Thanks so much for the education and taking the time for such great thought-out answers!

Stone, I was interested in getting a basic perspective about the sports card industry a little. I had no idea if there was anything like "coin dealers" or "card businesses" for example, in this arena. I knew they sold cards at hobby shops and on Ebay and the like, but I had no idea if there was something more along the lines of a "dealer" if you know what I mean. I've been out of touch. The last time I dealt with cards was as a kid, around 25-30 years ago, collecting and trading baseball cards and engaging in "flipping" challenges - anyone remember THOSE!?

Stone193

FF

I didn't check but I would imagine that the coin grading side has authorized dealers just like PSA.

There are a wealth of great dealers throughout the country who no longer have stores but deal "out of a suitcase" in a way. They go to bigger shows and run auctions on ebay and of course, there are numerous great auction houses that are very trustworthy.

Just to name a few auctions: Mastronet, REA, Goodwin, Memory Lane, Mile High, Lelands, Superior.

In the areas of game used, there are great dealers like Zane bats, JT Sports e.g.

Wow, I can just imagine how vast the coin world is - I promise the world of sportscards and collectibles is no different.

mike

Wizardsguildcards

As far as actual card shops, those are fading out slowly. In the late 1980s and early 90s every average town had 2 or 3 shops, now those same shops might have one shop if they are lucky. The market crash of the mid 1990s and the rise of the internet has brought the majority of the market online.

FoundingFather

Thanks again guys, appreciate it.

Enigma

FoundingFather

I've built a beautiful autograph collection exclusively through Coaches Corner auction.

your friend,
schmuck193

Stone193

<< <i>FoundingFather

I've built a beautiful autograph collection exclusively through Coaches Corner auction.

your friend,
schmuck193 >>


Enigma

I'ld hardly think you were a schmuck.

Coach's Corner has a mix of good and bad.

mike