Is there a more comprehensive HoF site?
 

One of the difficult parts of collecting is finding like-minded folks to share in the fun with. For years I thought about putting together a website of my collection and finally got it done. The site is called CooperstownExpert.com. It has pages for every HoFer and 150 non-HoFers. Nearly every page has at least one autograph. Check it out, and give me your feedback, good and bad. Check out the stories section too! There's still more autographs I need to scan, more pages that are drafts right now, and much more work to be done, but at least it's a decent start...it took me long enough.

Anyway, I'd be grateful if you'd check it out and give me your suggestions and thoughts.

CooperstownExpert.com
:)

"An ESPN SportsTicker reporter from 1992-2007"

Yeah well I helped write scripts as an intern for C-SPAN. Where's my money so I can afford this kind of collection ;)

Remember it is not just money it is time and patience . Extensive and great collections are built over time while searching for quality items at prices you can live with without looking back .

Great observation and so correct. That's the essence of collecting.

The first autograph from that website was obtained when Ty Cobb's granddaughter had his canceled checks for $40. That was in 1984. One of the most recent pieces was the Frisch letter about doing a "thorough job" on the Vets Committee. LOVE the content on that simple piece. Then there's the most common signature of William Harridge. In it he tells Clark Griffith to give the annual pass to Ike and VP Nixon. Ten years later I found a wire photo dated a few days after the letter that featured Griffith giving Eisenhower the pass. Inexpensive but solid attention to detail.

It takes a ton of time and effort though it's lots of fun.

Working so close to the game can't hurt in building a collection either.

Lovery seeing other collections.

It absolutely helps. In the mid-1990s a few of the older scouts looked through the collection and helped out. Most or all of the pieces on Casey Stengel's page are from Mets scout Harry Minor. I stumbled onto the press release about the Colt 45's signing Joe Morgan then had dinner with him the next season. There are a few guys like that in the collection. Lots of fun memories. The connections have been good to me.

Oh I know. I was just joking.

When I look at what I've spent over the years on autographs of dead people it does make me kind of demoralized. The ESPN SportsTicker gig was a side job that provided connections, opportunities, and memories much more than money. Still fun though.