Shift to GU Basketball or GU Football

[joelsabi]

You think Game Used Baseball will ever become less popular than GU Baseball or GU Football. Right now baseballl seems to be king but seems that football is more popular on the tube than baseballl now.

Any thoughts ?

[reed1216]

I think this is an excellent question. While baseball does appear to be the sport that is most heavily collected, I do think football can catch it, in terms of popularity. I also really think collecting game used stuff depends on a lot of factors.

I like baseball because of the history. No other sport can touch baseball there, but there are drawbacks to collecting game used baseball jerseys. The biggest one is the difficulty in photomatching them. I have a couple that are matched to photos, but I've given up matching several. There just aren't as many marks on them and it's often tough to find photos with the clarity needed to match loose threads and the like. However, I bet 95% of us played little league and wanted to play for our favorite team when we grew up. I doubt any other sport has enjoyed such wide-spread appeal amongst kids that are now grown up and have the funds available to purchased jerseys that are valued into the thousands of dollars.

Football, while lacking some of the historical significance of baseball, is the new national pastime (in my opinion). The jerseys are quite easy to photomatch, especially the more recent ones that have been introduced to the hobby via companies like Game Exclusive, NFL Auctions and MeiGray. I wouldn't be at all surprised if NFL jerseys become more collectible than baseball, but time will tell. Who knows whether or not tomorrow's generation of collectors will be significantly impacted by the NFL video games, such as Madden. As a 37 year old, I must admit to enjoying playing with the Chicago Bears and looking up at my 2006 Muhsin Muhammad and Lance Briggs game worn jerseys, whenever one of them makes a big play during a Madden contest.

I just can't get into basketball jerseys. Like baseball, they are more difficult to photomatch and although MeiGray will likely bring more integrity to that sector of game worn jersey collecting, todays players just aren't what they were when I was growing up. I might sound like a tired old man, but I don't think I'll live to see another Dream Team era, with the likes of Magic, Bird, Jordan, Barkley, Malone, Ewing, Hakeem, etc. The game just doesn't excite me like it once did. I have a great deal of difficulty trusting the authenticity of game worn basketball from what I consider the glory days of the NBA.

Hockey jerseys are AWESOME!!! The jerseys are probably the easiest to photomatch and for several years there have been controls set forth by the collectors of that sector. Plus, with MeiGray's knowledge and the fact that they work with so many of the teams, authenticity is much more of a sure thing than with the other sports. Of course, hockey suffers from limited appeal. I think Sponge Bob Squarepants reruns rated higher in the US than the Stanley Cup Finals did, a few years ago.

In the end, it's all about what the individual collector wants to pursue. I think baseball will always hold a special place in peoples' hearts, but with the popularity of the NFL and it's video games, I could see their jerseys catching up to baseball in popularity.