Under valued (or underappreciated autographs)
 

So as most of you may know, I delved into the hobby of autograph collecting about a year and a half ago... And as of yet, I have had very few negative experience because I choose to deal with reputable dealers and collectors who stand behind their product... I am also forever greatful for this board as the base of member here have provided me with an education that could not be achieved elsewhere...

So. I'll get to the point... I am looking for some opinions on under valued/under rated HOF autographs...

Who do you think are good buys at market prices and why
-is your opinion based on the players statistics? relative scarcity? or shadowing by other players???

I appreciate everyone checkign this thread out & contributing...

I'll kick it off: George Sisler 14 full seasons in the bigs, made over 2800 hits and ended his career with a batting average of .340. He has now been gone for 40 years and I find it amazing that you can scoop up an auto'ed 3x5 for $60-$100

Bill Terry - Last NL player to hit .400 who last played in '36. Nice autos available for less than 50 bucks. Great thread idea by the way

I think those two examples are good examples of autographs whose price doesn't seem to match the achievement of the players.

but i dont think that necessarily makes them a better investment than other autographs of hof'ers whose price is commensurate with their achivement simply by the observation that these players are dead, their numbers won't change, and their popularity probably won't either.

If their autographs haven't climbed up to what their numbers would suggest they should be at by now, several decades after their death, they probably won't in the future either.

Eddie Mathews....guy gets no love.

I'd even add Killebrew to the list....I've picked up at least 5 on-card auto's over the last 2 years and never paid more than $25

Definitely agree with Bill Terry...there is an auto'd '33 Goudey on ebay right now for $295.00....

I'd say Bob Gibson too....

OVERVALUED= Mays, Jeter, A-Rod...

+1

Ichiro is way over valued and the quality of the signature is really poor. There are a lot of vintage era HOFers that died in the late 1980's and earl 1990's that are still pretty cheap (Luke Appling, Billy Herman, Rick Ferrell, Carl Hubbel, Travis Jackson, Joe Sewell, etc)

I think some common characteristics for these guys are living a loong time and being willing signers.

This list could also include Waite Hoyt, Lefty Gomez, Burleigh Grimes, Edd Roush, Stan Coveleski, Jesse Haines, Cool Papa Bell, Lloyd Waner, Lou Boudreau, and a few others I can't think of right now.
Bill Dickey could be on the list, but his Yankee connections bumps up the prices a little.

Stan Musial!!!

Ken

Warren Spahn

Johnny Mize...

I just sold a very nice Joe Sewell single-signed ball for 35 bucks.

Ken

Got another for that price? :D

Got one, but not at that price (which was actually $38)! Geez, I had a Dale Murphy close on the same day for 10 bucks more. Sometimes ebay astounds me.

Ken

About 90% of this phenomenon is attributed to supply and demand. If Addie Joss and Rube Waddell both lived to be 90 years old, they would be valued similarly to Sisler, Roush, etc.

The other 10% applies more to current players, and involves inflated value due to a player's popularity, for whatever reason (i.e. Jeter, Ichiro, Pujols, etc.).

The unique thing about autograph values is that for current players they are determined by how much the player charges for an autograph. If you have to put down $250 for Hank Aaron to autograph a bat that sets the starting price point at $250. I think that, more than anything sets the value of any modern autograph from the 1980's thru today.

Older autographs from players that either did not sign a lot from the 1980s on, or were unable to because they were deceased, the value of their autographs are more dependent upon a true market value. That's whay many of these "under valued" autographs can be had for a price way under players like Aaron, Mays, Jeter, etc...

100% correct. One wonders how many Jeters are really selling at the $500+ Steiner retail price. I suspect the inventory is in no risk of being depleted anytime this decade.