Ways of collecting game used MLB hologramed baseballs

[joelsabi]

seems like a new popular niche. pretty inexpensive.

i noticed a collector here complete a cycle baseball set of his favorite player

what are some creative ways to collect baseballs to make a set and what would you rate the difficulty level of completing the set.

[TJordan522]

seems like a new popular niche. pretty inexpensive.

i noticed a collector here complete a cycle baseball set of his favorite player

what are some creative ways to collect baseballs to make a set and what would you rate the difficulty level of completing the set.

In 2011, I decided to try to collect a set of "Four Aces" baseballs from the top four Phillies starters: Halladay, Hamels, Lee, and Oswalt.

I set two criteria for the balls I would try to buy. First, the ball had to have been thrown for an out (I wasn't interested in a pitch in the dirt, or a foul tip, or something like that). Second, I wanted to have been in attendance at the game the ball was used (I have a 17 game Phillies ticket plan, so I assumed I'd see each of the "Four Aces" pitch at least once or twice).

I ended up being able to put the set together, and now it's proudly on display in my home.

[jake33]

I put a 4-ball case together of my 4 all time favorite tampa bay rays. I am trying to get this to be a cycle set - meaning a single double , triple and homerun, but no idea if Russell Branyan will make the Majors again and get an authenticated hit. Likely I will be able to upgrade the Dan Johnson next season.

So far the breakdown goes....

Eric Hinske - Double
Ben Zobrist - Triple
Russell Brnayan - foul ball
Dan Johnson - foul ball

I also had a plastic tag made for all the ablls for $3 a piece, with the attribute of the ball/ at bat, and the date.

[dplettn]

I have found collecting game used baseballs very enjoyable. For those who haven’t yet delved into it, you might pick your own “set”, “focus”, or “theme” and really enjoy it.

My own focus has been primarily hits of Joey Votto and Jay Bruce, but I have also enjoyed building a modest broader collection. Some notions of set/focus/theme that I’ve seen as cool includes balls used in various stadiums, hit/pitched by teams/players in various years, and commemorative balls. In 2012, the Mets, Astros, Dodgers, Orioles, and Marlins all used special commemorative baseballs in their stadium. And, of course the Postseason balls were commemorative this year as well.

The easiest start to collecting commemorative 2012 balls to your collection is direct from the Mets (http://www.gameuseduniverse.com/vb_forum/gameused@nymets.com), the Astros (http://www.gameuseduniverse.com/vb_forum/macosta@astros.com), or Postseason balls from the Reds (http://www.gameuseduniverse.com/vb_forum/jcline@reds.com) or Cardinals Authentics’ webstore (http://www.cardinalsauthentics.com). Those four are readily available direct from the team and hyperlinks are embedded in this paragraph. Incidentally, Cardianals Authentics is also wonderful for those of you who want to collect balls from past years. You might notice they still inventory their commemorative GU balls from 2006 (http://shop.mlb.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3297765&cp=3302288.3302299).

My "tag":

I buy Joey Votto items. I am buying (preferred) and when required by the other party will secondarily consider trading for game used Joey Votto items (balls that are Votto hits or Votto HRs, game used bats, etc). If you have such items I’d appreciate to hear from you, even if you are not intending to sell. I am pretty private and don’t post much of my stuff so if you’d like to know what items you might entice from me for a Votto item I’d love you’ll need to start the dialogue. My e-mail is plettner@fuse.net (plettner@fuse.net).

If you (like myself) collect or want to collect Joey Votto items, please know you can buy direct from the Reds through Jon Cline of Reds Authentics. You can contact him at jcline@reds.com (jcline@reds.com) Reds Authentics’ proceeds go toward the Reds Community Fund. It’s a good cause and certainly a more productive choice than to enrich the small opportunistic reseller(s) who buy from Reds Authentics only to themself re-market it.