Baseball Hall-Of_Fame Autographs

[Klrdds]

Good luck on making the decision to start collecting HoFer autographs. It is a common thing to hear from people and see on this site, but in reality it is much more than just "collecting HoFer autos".
My best advice is to buy the best auto you can find and afford that way you will be less tempted to try to upgrade that HoFer later. Decide how you want to collect, that is on what mediums ( flats, pics, balls, etc... ) you want the auto on, if that is a concern. Also do I want to display or store them ( framing and matting costs can eat into a budget rapidly), do they have to be PSA or JSA certed ( the best advice is to educate yourself on the player's signing characteristics and not rely solely on TPAs but yourself first and foremost), are you going to start with a particular category of HoFer first ( Yankees, 500 home run HoFers, umpires, etc...) because having a focus will help avoid confusion when multiple HoFer autos that you want become available all at one time: additionally and importantly is how many will I try to get of the total number of HoFers (310) in the Hall and what is the top end price I can afford to spend on a HoFer auto ( you will be able to get approximately 1/2 for under $400.00 easily if you don't want balls, contracts, letters, or photos of those HoFers). You should be very aware of the values and availability for the top 75-100 HoFer autos if you are not already. That may very well decide how "deep" you will want to go in your HoFer collecting.
You will also need to decide is this for fun or as an investment, because you will also need to figure out is it better to spend $300 for 1 auto or $100 on 3 autos... that is do I want to buy a harder to find auto or do I want to just get numbers of HoFer autos.
Realize that you will make mistakes , that is inevitable . We all have done it and it always happens , sorry to say.
I say this NOT to put a damper on your enthusiasm because I truly love to hear people say that and get pumped for it but to give you pause to consider the journey you are about to undertake. You can't just wake up one morning and say I am going to collect HoFer autos to any significant degree any more than you can say one morning I want to climb Mt. Everest. HoFer autograph collecting is the Mt. Everest of all categories of sports autograph collecting and without proper knowledge and preparation it will be hard yet ultimately rewarding!!!!!
I started this journey approximately 25-30 years ago and I am in the 280s-290s with little hope to get a complete set (310) of HoFer autos.
I did not mean to ramble but want to wish you GOOD LUCK on a great pursuit no matter how deep into it you go.

[joed25]

I would start collecting single signed baseballs. They are more expensive and many hall of famers are very rare or don't exist on a ball. But nothing looks better on your shelf than a single signed baseball IMO. Good luck!

[parker1b2]

The autograph part of my collection is now really just focused on HOFers. Currently at 110. I pretty much collect anything, but for the older deceased players I really like the way 3x5 index cards frame up with a nice photo. Also they are usually less expensive then photo or ball.

[skyrunner]

Thank you guys for all the input. There are so many ideas and thoughts. I will give each idea a good look and I hope that in the very near future, I will start and I am pretty sure that I will adjust the way that I approach collecting these great ball players.

[mighty bombjack]

I know a guy who only collects them on 3x5s, and has a bit of ocd about that. Me, I prefer the variety and very much like unique items. I have a few baseballs, some cards and postcards, lots of books, scorecards, tickets, cuts, etc. I like GPCs because of the added history of the return address and postmark. I also love contracts and other documents.

I guess I'm just repeating what many others have said: buy what makes you happy!

[ocjack]

I spent the better part of 15 years taking two of these art posters from show to show. I was able to obtain 50 Hall of Famers on one display piece. (Well, 49 really because I had Pete Rose sign the bat - and I assumed he'd eventually make the HOF). Excuse the glare on either side of the poster from the holder I have it in. I was fortunate to obtain many signatures of now deceased players, including Mantle, DiMaggio and Williams. Every signature was obtained in-person.

[almostdone]

Originally Posted by ocjack

I spent the better part of 15 years taking two of these art posters from show to show. I was able to obtain 50 Hall of Famers on one display piece. (Well, 49 really because I had Pete Rose sign the bat - and I assumed he'd eventually make the HOF). Excuse the glare on either side of the poster from the holder I have it in. I was fortunate to obtain many signatures of now deceased players, including Mantle, DiMaggio and Williams. Every signature was obtained in-person.

That is a really cool piece. Great pen choices against the colors of the balls. What great memories you must have meeting all those guys. Very nice piece indeed.
Drew

[bender07]

Originally Posted by ocjack

I spent the better part of 15 years taking two of these art posters from show to show. I was able to obtain 50 Hall of Famers on one display piece. (Well, 49 really because I had Pete Rose sign the bat - and I assumed he'd eventually make the HOF). Excuse the glare on either side of the poster from the holder I have it in. I was fortunate to obtain many signatures of now deceased players, including Mantle, DiMaggio and Williams. Every signature was obtained in-person.

That's awesome. Who was the last one you added? Plans for more?