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Informative Articles

A little history of Bell Helmets!
Do you know that the company that makes Bell helmets did not start out making helmets? It was a company that sold auto parts -- Bell Auto Parts -- started by George Wight in Bell, California, in 1923. In 1933, Rogy Richter went to work for Wight....

A Look at Youth Baseball Bats
When selecting youth baseball bats it is important to consider the bat's length, weight, barrel width, and league requirements. While wood bats are available, most people select aluminum or cutting-edge alloy bats for youth baseball. A general rule...

Balance Your Checkbook and Golf Swing
We all search for it. Balance in our daily lives. Balance while riding a bike. Politicians are always debating a balanced budget in Washington, and most of us could use a little balance in our checkbooks. Balance is a term used in golf quite often...

Golf Swing Instruction - The Athletic Motion
There is one basic athletic motion which is used in all of athletics. The golf swing is golf's version of this athletic motion. It is the same basic motion that is used to hit a tennis ball, throw a football, kick a soccer ball, or break a rack in...

The Rise Of A Racing Empire
In 1947, the sport of stock car racing was becoming extremely popular and beginning to draw large crowds of spectators. More drivers began taking an interest due to the increasing fan popularity. Cohesiveness, however, did not exist as rules...

 
How to Care for Sports Memorabilia

IT'S NOT JUST A HOBBY, IT'S AN INVESTMENT!

Many collectors of sports memorabilia have their collections in their homes or offices without really showing regard to the preservation and the protection of the items.

I was watching an old black and white movie recently and the scene was a newspaper guy's office in the fifties. A visitor walks in and as he chats with the news-guy, he casually picks up a baseball from an eggcup type of stand on his desk and turns it over in his hand and glances at it. I think the conversation went something like this " Freddy where did you get this, it looks like it's got Yankee signatures on it?" Freddy catches the ball that the visitor tosses over to him and says, "Yeah I think it's from the late forties, my Dad had it and I sort of inherited it." I'm watching and even though it's a movie I'm saying YIKES, Freddy, put that thing in a proper container, you keep throwing that ball around the office and before you know it, bingo, no signatures left!

WHAT'S AVAILABLE TO PROTECT COLLECTIBLES?

1. If Freddy had that ball in his office today, he could buy an acrylic display case similar to the ones found on www.sportsplayer.net, and he could then show the ball to visitors without fear of harming the signatures or the


ball itself. 2. Watch the lighting where you display your collections. If fluorescent lighting is nearby, consider replacing it with regular household lighting as fluorescent lighting has ultra violet rays that may damage your display, especially if it carries an autograph. Natural sunlight is even more likely to harm your display, so be sure to keep your collection as far away from direct sunlight as possible. 3. Store your collections in an area that is as close to normal room temperatures as possible. Have you ever been to a store that sells old books? Notice that smell? Often they will take delivery of books that have been stored away in a box in someone's dank and dark basement. Smells like mould, right? Humidity kills collections!

If your hobby collection is not quite a big investment yet, it has the possibility in the future of being worth quite a bit of money. Be sure to pay attention to the physical protection of your sports memorabilia. Also, talk to your insurance agent to see if he can offer a rider to you that will cover the loss or damage of your collection.

About the author:

John Paul writes for Sports Player Network (SPN). SPN specializes in Authentic Sports Memorabilia. For more tips and information, visit the SPN website at http://www.sportsplayer.net