One of our Save Your Stuff Fans from Australia asked to “give it go” as a guest blogger and so, here is her excellent write up to share with you her passion for Sports Memorabilia…

Sports Memorabilia – A Passion, Preserve it!

By

Belinda Darling

We Australian’s are an unapologetically sports mad people. Come Winter, we immerse ourselves in AFL, rugby union and rugby league, often forgoing social events of a weekend to stay indoors, shouting at the television and imploring our team to ‘CARN!!’ Post footy blues are assuaged by the promise of long summer days of one day, 20/20 and test cricket. And then there’s those two weeks in January when we all studiously watch little green balls being whacked back and forth at great speed. There’s nothing quite like the Australian Open to inspire you to work on that feeble backhand.  I will never cease to be amused and touched by the sight of my rather wobbly, un-athletic friends enthusiastically hitting the courts during the Open. That’s the beauty of sport. You’re never too old, too young, or too out of practice to get into the spirit of it all and have a go. It’s the great equaliser, appealing to people of every age, political leaning, and social standing imaginable.

Naturally, given our love of all things sport related, Australian’s are also keen collectors of sporting memorabilia. Starting a collection of sporting memorabilia is a wonderful idea for the true sports tragic. But there are important things to take into consideration before you begin to build your collection. Foremost- how do you intend to preserve it? Football jerseys, autographs, photographs, medals, cups, equipment and posters are all subject to the ravages of time without careful care. A valuable collection of memorabilia can be significantly devalued without proper preservation.

Framing Memorabilia: To ensure your pieces preserve their value and continue to give you enjoyment for many years to come, it’s worth enlisting the services of professional custom sports memorabilia framing services. Let’s look at the best way to preserve a football jumper. To preserve and add value, a custom framing service can pin and frame the jersey, while offering optional extras such as commemorative plaques, photos, medallions, and laser lettering cut into the matt. It might seems like a canny idea to just buy your own frame and DIY- but cheaper materials can damage your memorabilia. Professional framers use high quality papers for matting to ensure your items are not faded and damaged by some of the harsh substances found in cheaper paper. *1

Where you show off your memorabilia: Keeping your memorabilia in the correct environmental conditions within the home is also essential in helping to preserve their value. UV Rays will damage and age your collection with devastating speed. Ensure your memorabilia is never exposed to direct sunlight.  Fluorescent light bulbs can inflict similar damage, albeit at a slower pace than UV rays. *2

Using your memorabilia?!: Tempting as it may be to get out there on Grand Final day in your signed James Hird jersey, it should be avoided at all costs if you are committed to preserving the value of your sports memorabilia.
A well preserved collection of sporting memorabilia will not only be a source of pride and joy, but can provide you with a nice little earner down the track should you decide to sell. *3

To learn more about preserving your sports memorabilia, get a copy of How To Save Your Stuff From A  Disaster (see “products” at the top of this page) and get in touch with the team of experts at Fine Art Conservation Laboratories for additional coaching (805 564 3438).

* From the editor: I think Belinda did an excellent job on this article! Thanks for sharing Belinda!

*1 Not only the types of papers used in framing can hurt your memorabilia but more likely to do damage are the improper adhesives that you/framers use. The wrong adhesives can quickly diminish value and ruin memorabilia.

*2 This comment is tied into the paragraph on framing. Use UV filtering glass or Plexiglas type materials. While they can filter out all or most of the UV light, that will NOT take care of ALL THE FADING. Intense light will continue to fade somewhat even after you filter out the UV. See my article at http://tipsforfineartcollectors.org/impact-on-value/regarding-faded-prints-and-paintings-can-they-be-restored/

*3 While it is the dream to buy low and sell high and make money when collecting, there are many circumstances that play into this “game.” Do NOT assume you will make money and this web page/blog and any writings of Save Your Stuff LLC do not give investment advice. None of the information in this article or blog should be construed as encouragement, coaching or teaching investment strategies. Having said that, a good bit of advice is to become friends with an art or memorabilia appraiser to get information pertinent to your specific interests. And finally, Belinda is correct when she says that the state of preservation is very important to the value.

An invitation to you: If you would like to write an article for this blog or any of Save Your Stuff’s other blogs, feel free to contact me to be a guest blogger. Belinda happens to be an excellent writer but if you are not, I will help “adjust” your article before we post it. You are encouraged to write articles often. I almost never refuse a guest writer’s work. You may include URL’s of your websites if they are compatible with the message of SYS and you may include photos. The writing and the photo must be of your creation and you must have the authorization to publish it/them. This is a chance for you to get published and contribute to a world wide audience of memorabilia, collectibles and art collectors. You don’t get paid and you don’t pay me. Inquire at scott@saveyourstuff.com or call me at 805 564 3438

Art conservation/Save Your Stuff questions? Call Scott at 805 564 3438

Art appraisal questions? Call Richard Holgate at 805 895 5121

Friend us on Facebook at “Save Your Stuff””Scott M. Haskins”Fine Art Conservation”

Subscribe to our How-To videos on YouTube at “Preservationcoach” Channel

Check out Belinda’s Sports memorabilia website at http://www.htfm.com.au/ . She’s an expert when it comes to knowing her “stuff.”