Sports memorabilia: from hobby to big business

What began as a hobby for Roger Jones more than 20 years ago has evolved into a solid business venture. Jones' Springfield Sports Cards & Collectibles now boasts a nearly $300,000 inventory of sports cards and memorabilia, much of which is autographed by past and present players.

Similar stories abound across the country and are at the heart of the multibillion dollar enterprise of sports memorabilia sales. Despite the dollars involved, Jones still treats it as a hobby.

"It sounds weird, but I'm not doing this to make money," said Jones, who also practices law in Springfield. "I'm doing it because I enjoy it."

There is money to be made, though.

Jones once sold a Babe Ruth-autographed baseball for $5,000. However, that's not near the dollars that Mark McGwire's 70th home run ball from 1998 commanded. The ball sold to Todd McFarlane, creator of Spawn comics, for $3 million. That record amount dwarfs the previous high, which was $500,000 for Eddie Murray's 500th home run ball, according to ESPN Magazine.

The values have escalated in a manner similar to players' skyrocketing salaries, and dealers are capitalizing on that fact.

Jones' highest dollar items are autographed jerseys of players like McGwire, Ted Williams and Mickey Mantle. They bring as much as $1,500, he said.

Forgery scandal

While autographed pieces generally bring more money, buyers should investigate their authenticity, according to Brian White, owner of Triple Play Sports.

The forgery issue dates back several years, but is best known from a two-year FBI investigation ending in early 2000 that turned up an estimated $10 million in counterfeit memorabilia, according to FBI reports.

The sale of forgeries has proliferated through mail-order catalogues, retail shops and Internet sites like E-bay, the report stated. The FBI found no dealers in Missouri who purchased from the ring of counterfeiters.

White said that most of today's popular players have autograph contracts with companies that distribute their signed merchandise. For that reason, he purchases autographs only from those few sources with player contracts.

"It's affected our business in the way that we can purchase," White said of the fake autographs. "For me to absolutely, positively know that it's real, we basically only buy from those sources that we know have exclusive deals."

White also warned that certificates of authenticity could be forged. "The letter of authenticity is only as good as the guy standing behind it," he said. "Just because there is a letter doesn't make it real."

Triple Play's inventory is spread between two spots: a kiosk at Battlefield Mall and a location in Bass Pro Shops.

What's hot

The most popular sport for memorabilia locally varies between dealers: from auto racing, to football to anything St. Louis Cardinals.

Bob Malina, owner of Fastbreak Sports in Battlefield Mall, said his best selling team sport is football.

However, the hottest selling player right now is ex-Cardinal and baseball Hall of Fame member Ozzie Smith. His recent induction into the Hall of Fame has sparked sales, Malina said.

"This is Cardinals' territory," he said. "And now with all of the talk, we are selling a lot of Ozzie Smith stuff."

He said increased sales are related to other significant occurrences, such as player retirements and deaths.

Anything with the Cardinals name sells well for Jones, but he agrees that Smith is the hottest item at this time. His business is built on the locally preferred team, so much so that a sign outside his store reads, If you're a St. Louis Cardinals fan, you've just found heaven.'

Jones claims to carry more than 1,000 pieces of Cardinal memorabilia as well as a large assortment of other Hall of Fame merchandise.

NASCAR is a sport that has recently built up steam in the area, according to White.

"The market has changed. NASCAR is by far the biggest for us ... over the last several years," he said. "It just kind of blew right by everybody else."

White said the collectible business is indicative of what the buying public wants, and to be successful dealers must adjust with the demand. "If you don't you will just be left behind," he said. "NASCAR has forced me to move into that market."

Evolution of baseball cards

Another change is in the collectible card industry. It used to be that kids were happy getting a piece of gum with each card pack they opened. Now, card companies are inserting game-used materials, like small portions of jerseys, bats and helmets, into the packs, Malina said. "You can pull a game-used jersey of say Joe Montana out of a pack of cards now." Malina once found a Babe Ruth card with a piece of his bat and sold it for $200.

In addition to the game-used materials, companies also are placing actual autographed cards in random packs. "It just kind of makes it a little more interesting than it used to be," Malina said.

More interesting, more complicated and more profitable.