Value Opinions

[Wilsing]

I'm hoping I can get some opinions/advice from some autograph experts and I apologize in advance for the long post. I am mostly a card collector, but like most, have autographs and other memorabilia augmenting the overall collection, so anyway...

I have an autographed baseball (gotten in person thru the years) that includes Warren Spahn, Eddie Mathews & Red Schoendienst including inscriptions with their HOF induction year. My plan all along was to someday, when the opportunity presented itself, get Hank Aaron to go along with the Milwaukee Braves HOF theme. The opportunity presents itself next month...at the cost of $508. That was not part of the plan.

The cost seems really high. It would be quite the con job getting my wife to agree to paying that...plus in my opinion, it's just simply a staggering amount of money for an autograph. So the question is, if I decide to do it, and this isn't for resale or investment, mostly value upon my death in hopefully 40-50 years...but does a ball with those 4 HOF's on it (assuming I get the Aaron) automatically carry a value close to $1,000 the minute Hank signs it?

[TAVG]

Originally Posted by Wilsing

I'm hoping I can get some opinions/advice from some autograph experts and I apologize in advance for the long post. I am mostly a card collector, but like most, have autographs and other memorabilia augmenting the overall collection, so anyway...

I have an autographed baseball (gotten in person thru the years) that includes Warren Spahn, Eddie Mathews & Red Schoendienst including inscriptions with their HOF induction year. My plan all along was to someday, when the opportunity presented itself, get Hank Aaron to go along with the Milwaukee Braves HOF theme. The opportunity presents itself next month...at the cost of $508. That was not part of the plan.

The cost seems really high. It would be quite the con job getting my wife to agree to paying that...plus in my opinion, it's just simply a staggering amount of money for an autograph. So the question is, if I decide to do it, and this isn't for resale or investment, mostly value upon my death in hopefully 40-50 years...but does a ball with those 4 HOF's on it (assuming I get the Aaron) automatically carry a value close to $1,000 the minute Hank signs it?

not really. I was always under the assumption that single signed baseballs were usually more valuable than one signed by multiple people.....depending on who signed it.

if you got the ball signed, i would recommend getting it graded, because ip/ttm autographs are looked at not as fondly as certified autographs.

[Ryan1125]

Considering you can get 500 HR Club balls with Ted Williams, Willie Mays, Mickey Mantle, Hank Aaron etc. for $550-$900 I don't think adding just Hank to this ball with those guys you have makes it a $1,000 ball IMHO. I would never pay that much for an autograph...

Furthermore, I'm not a huge fan of adding modern signatures to a vintage baseball. (Not sure how long ago you were getting these done.)

You would be better off just getting a sweet spot single auto from Hank IMO, but even then it's a pretty bad investment at $500+ considering you can get on eBay and get a Steiner one for probably $250...

For $500+ I'd be getting a bat or a jersey signed, and that's ONLY if you just really want to meet the man. Otherwise just buy his stuff online way cheaper.

[Scott Garner]

It should be noted that the topic of the current deteriorating quality of Hammerin' Hank's autograph has been discussed on net54 at length in the past.

Not only is $500 a boat load of money, as other posters noted, it likely will not boost the value of your ball to the level you described. The signature quality will be very poor at best if you add him to the ball at this point.

Consider looking at examples of recent Aaron sigs on eBay before even contemplating it...

[travrosty]

a hank aaron single signed ball is going to be worth more by itself than an aaron ball with these other gentleman on it. its never going to be worth 1000 dollars. aaron signed a lot of balls already so a single signed ball is going to be more desirable by almost every collector and they can be had for waaaay less than 508 dollars let alone 1000 dollars. I can't imagine how many years in the future a single signed aaron ball will be worth 1000 dollars on its own. probably never. This ball will never be worth 1000 dollars.

Only get an aaron sig now for that kind of money if you have an object that just HAS to have his signature on it, and there is a good chance you will be disappointed in the very shaky and sloppy signature he signs nowadays anyway. If you get the aaron sig on this ball, you will never get your money back.

[Bpm0014]

Bad investment.

[egri]

I echo everything that has been said. Aaron's signature as of late looks like crap, and you're probably not going to get your investment back. The only way I'd go for that is if you can spare the money and really, really want to have Aaron on that ball, regardless of cost.

[7nohitter]

Originally Posted by egri

I echo everything that has been said. Aaron's signature as of late looks like crap, and you're probably not going to get your investment back. The only way I'd go for that is if you can spare the money and really, really want to have Aaron on that ball, regardless of cost.

Exactly! Aaron's crappy signature, plus other guys on the ball, plus the fact that you can buy a SS Aaron ball for half the $508 = Don't Do it!

[Wilsing]

Thanks for all the responses. I actually have an Aaron single signed ball and it was significantly cheaper as all have touched on. For me, the thinking was more having all the Milwaukee Braves hall of famers on a single ball together. I thought this would almost make it a one of a kind item and maybe worth the $508.

I defer to the collectives expertise. Thanks again

[itjclarke]

Don't want to hijack the thread, but am curious if anyone has recent examples of his sig on flat items. I've seen his very sloppy sigs on baseballs, but was told by the card shop hosting this signing that his flats were relatively clean, saying that all 8x10's on their site were from a signing only a year ago (see below).

Does this sound accurate, or was this maybe a little salesmanship?

[Duluth Eskimo]

Your ball will be worth exactly what someone else is willing to pay for it with no emotional attachment to the item. My thought is about $75-100. It will never be worth anywhere near $508 so please use common sense and don't pay some ridiculous price for a guy who has signed for years. You could buy single signed balls of all of those guys for under $200 give or take. I have a hard time believing that people actually consider paying $500 for anyone unless there is some really incredible piece they specifically collect and are willing to pay any price to fill the void.

[djson1]

If you wanted those Braves HOFer's on one ball, why not go hunting for a late '50s Braves team ball? Even though the team ball would have a lot of "fluff" signatures with many players you may not want on there, at least it would have all 4 that you mentioned and on top of that, knowing that they signed it during those playing years just adds that much more nostalgia to it (at least for me). I've seen Braves team balls with those players going for less than $1,000 easily....possibly even around $500 if my memory serves me right.

[dspuria]

In response to itjclarke's post, you are correct - Aaron's signature on flat items is still clean (albeit expensive). I had him sign the attached photo last month at the private signing in advance of this upcoming public signing. I justified paying $350 for this signature because I own the negative of this photo and most likely this is the only signed copy of this photo in existence. Otherwise, there are very few items that justify his current price.

In contrast, I had him sign the attached ball last year (@$325), and it did not come out as good. So it is clearly not worth getting him to sign balls now.

[itjclarke]

Originally Posted by dspuria

In response to itjclarke's post, you are correct - Aaron's signature on flat items is still clean (albeit expensive). I had him sign the attached photo last month at the private signing in advance of this upcoming public signing. I justified paying $350 for this signature because I own the negative of this photo and most likely this is the only signed copy of this photo in existence. Otherwise, there are very few items that justify his current price.

In contrast, I had him sign the attached ball last year (@$325), and it did not come out as good. So it is clearly not worth getting him to sign balls now.

Thanks for your input dspuria... and thank you Waukesha sports cards for being very helpful and straight in your explanation.

[itjclarke]

Well, just got my card back from Waukesha sports cards and here it is. His auto seems to be changing a little, a little shaky, but I'm very happy with it.

[Leon]

Originally Posted by itjclarke

Well, just got my card back from Waukesha sports cards and here it is. His auto seems to be changing a little, a little shaky, but I'm very happy with it.

Very nice. Congrats on that one!