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Sports Collectibles Newsletter |
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Issue 12, 8/6/2005 |
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To remove your name from our mailing list, please click here. Questions or comments? E-mail us at newsletter@sportslizard.com |
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Need Tickets? |
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Team One Tickets is the world leader in providing premium seating and travel packages to sporting events throughout the world |
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How Large Autograph Authentication Companies are Hurting Small Businesses By Adam Riccardi |
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I have a small online company that I run out of Albany, NY. A huge portion of my business focuses on the sale of autographed memorabilia. The autographs that I sell are obtained in one of two ways. They are either obtained directly by me in the Albany area or they are obtained by my top associate who resides in Buffalo, NY. The autographed items that I typically get in the Albany area are New York Giants players (obtained at their University at Albany training camp facility), as well as other current or retired players who may be in the area for charity golf events and other NFL Alumni functions. My associate in Buffalo, along with having access to the Buffalo Bills summer training camp, also tracks down visiting teams who come into town for 10 home games per year (8 regular season and 2 pre-season) at Ralph Wilson Stadium. He is able to obtain autographs at the hotels when players get on and off the team bus or in the lobby area. He also has numerous times each year when Jim Kelly does signings at the local malls and golf tournaments to benefit his foundation. For example, last month, NFL greats such as Dan Marino, Joe Montana, Steve Young, James Lofton, and a number of others came into town and were all very good about signing autographs. In addition to all of that, my associate also takes a trip to the Pro Bowl every year in Hawaii. There he attends practice sessions and other player events throughout the week where he is able to get autographs from most of the big name players in the league today. Once my items are autographed, it’s time to give each of them a certificate of authenticity. All of my certificates include an item description, an item serial #, the date on which the item was autographed, my personal signature guaranteeing its authenticity, and my companies name. Also, I place a tamperproof hologram on the certificate that is sequentially numbered to match the items serial #. I then place a matching hologram with the same serial number on the item itself (i.e. a mini helmet). This insures that no one can remove the hologram and use it to sell a different item. In addition to the serial # on each hologram, it also includes my company’s name. I recently encountered my first problem with this process. [read more] |
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Fans of Bret Favre, Donovan McNabb, and Ladainian Tomlinson will be happy with McFarlane’s latest release. Each will be appearing for the third time. All Pro Receiver Marvin Harrison is making his second appearance. First time figures include Lavar Arrington, Kevin Mawae, Drew Brees, and Corey Dillon (in a really cool diving pose). |
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FEATURED ITEM: Marvin Harrison Autographed Photo |
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This is an autographed Marvin Harrison 8X10 photo which was autographed on February 10th in Hawaii at the 2005 Pro Bowl. If you would like this photo to be made into a plaque then simply add $15 to your payment total and you may choose the wood color and plaque layout. Be sure to check out the hundreds of other autographs that I am selling on SportsLizard.com and remember that every autograph that I sell comes with a COA from Adams Allsports Collectibles, featuring dual tamper proof holograms with matching serial numbers located on the signed item as well as the COA. [More Details] |