Buying autographed balls through players' web pages.

[TyrusRCobb]

I've been looking into players' web pages as another avenue for purchasing autographed balls. My thinking is twofold. 1) I know it's authentic. 2) Players sometimes use the money for their charities.

A Johnny Bench auto without inscriptions can be had for 69.99 whereas a Cal Ripken ball free of inscriptions will put you back 215.00. The Bench ball seems reasonable. The Ripken ball seems exorbitant.

What are your opinions regarding purchasing autos in this way? What players have you found to be reasonably priced and which players seem to be exorbitant. Thanks.

[cubsfan-budman]

Hey, at least Cal throws in the ball at that price!

215 for a ball is laughable, IMHO.

EDITED: sorry, I didn't even come close to addressing the question.

This is how I got Nolan Ryan TTM. I think it is a completely reasonable way to get a ball from a player. If you really want an auto, I think that $70 is on the high-end of fair, but its cheaper than you would pay at a card show. Nolan Ryan also puts a hologram on the ball (as did Musial, I hear) which presumably ups the resale.

I send a lot of stuff to guys who do private signings, which I feel is similar...you don't have the pride(?) associated with getting an auto via TTM or in person, but hey, it still looks good in my collection

[TyrusRCobb]

Originally Posted by cubsfan-budman

Hey, at least Cal throws in the ball at that price!

215 for a ball is laughable, IMHO.

EDITED: sorry, I didn't even come close to addressing the question.

This is how I got Nolan Ryan TTM. I think it is a completely reasonable way to get a ball from a player. If you really want an auto, I think that $70 is on the high-end of fair, but its cheaper than you would pay at a card show. Nolan Ryan also puts a hologram on the ball (as did Musial, I hear) which presumably ups the resale.

I send a lot of stuff to guys who do private signings, which I feel is similar...you don't have the pride(?) associated with getting an auto via TTM or in person, but hey, it still looks good in my collection

Thanks for the reply. How do you go about sending balls to private signings?

[cubsfan-budman]

http://www.net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=164399

[cubsfan-budman]

I see that maybe you meant, who do I send to, instead?

I use a guy who's name I'm happy to share with you via PM who holds 2-4 signings per month. I wish I knew more!

[drc]

It's fine to purchase autographs that way. Why wouldn't be? Good provenance. Obviously, price is a consideration.

The money Nolan Ryan's autographs (via the Nolan Ryan Foundation) all goes to his charity.