Fans in suburbs cut back on sports memorabilia collections

Professional athletes may seem exempt from the nation's economic woes, but the value of their signatures, helmets and jerseys are not.

As the economy continues to leave more people facing the tough decision of paying the mortgage or buying groceries, sports memorabilia dealers are feeling the hit.

With few exceptions, national and local dealers alike say sales slumped in 2008 - some by as much as 75 percent - and there's no immediate turnaround in sight.

Tony Caraker, owner of Country Sports Cards & Fine Cigars in Schaumburg, moved into his new location last year and doubled the size of his store because business was growing at a rate of 22 percent annually.

Business began to tail off in June, he says, and fell even more during the holidays when sales plunged about 75 percent from the previous year.

"Overall, I'm seeing sales down by 60 percent and, without giving my numbers away, I can assure you that's a hefty chunk of change," Caraker said. "There's not a lot of guys buying (sports) cards or memorabilia because nobody has the expendable income anymore."

In St. Charles, Jeff Williams' Victory Collectibles and victorycollectibles.com ships autographed jerseys and helmets, among other things, across the country. In an average year, Williams says he'd pull in $3 million in sales. But not now, despite doing almost $500,000 business in December alone.

"People everywhere are tightening their belts and we've definitely felt it for the past eight months," Williams said. "Having a Web presence gave us a larger market and definitely helped us, but we were still down about 20 percent from recent years."

In Roselle, Glen Soustek, owner of Westlake Cards, Comics and Coins, said the memorabilia market is "as bad as a whole generation of people can remember."

In the past year, Soustek said, many dealers shuttered their doors, leaving those still in business to liquidate their inventory for a percentage of its worth.

"Another 30 percent to 50 percent of us won't be here next year at this time either," he said. "But I will be because I planned for it."

In a struggling economy, Soustek said, his rare coin selection increases in value and demand because coins and precious metals are a better hedge against inflation than sports collectibles.

"I'm a coin dealer that got into (sports) cards when they were hot, but it's my coins that carry me through times like this," he said. "I've been telling guys for 30 years that cardboard is only good for wiping your (posterior) when you run out of the Charmin."

There are dealers that still sell individual packs of baseball cards to teens and younger children, but those sales are dwindling with some specialty packs going for about $20.

"I try to be family oriented and carry the packs that still go for a buck or two," Soustek said. "But in most places, it's not possible for little Jimmy to come in with his $2 allowance and rip open a pack and find his favorite player."

Dean Bapes, owner of Dean's Dugout in Naperville, still has customers who come in regularly and like to open packs in the store to quickly see if they got one of the more valuable randomly inserted cards.

"Some of them used to come in once a week and maybe now I see them once a month," Bapes said. "I'm happy they still come in at all, but they do because I've treated them right since they were 4-feet-tall and buying packs for a quarter."

On the extreme other end of the spectrum, high-end auction houses that rely on wealthy collectors seem unfazed by the current economy.

Bill Mastro, chairman and CEO of Burr Ridge-based Mastro Auctions, said his auction house continues to do $50 million annually in gross sales of high-end merchandise that includes sports memorabilia.

"When we do our big auctions we're typically dealing with well-healed guys and this is what gives them pleasure," Mastro said, adding that his average lot value is $8,000. "If anything, I think guys are getting more choosy and discriminating about what they buy and how they buy it. But at the end of day a Mercedes is a Mercedes and if you want and have the means, you'll find a way to do it."

Just last month, a bidder paid $87,500 for an autographed and game-used 1924 Babe Ruth bat.

"Who knows what makes collectors tick? But everyone who buys this stuff looks at it as an investment of some sort," Mastro said. "I've seen guys get their (rear ends) handed to them in the stock market and still buy this stuff. When they get hit financially they gravitate toward tangible assets like a Babe Ruth game-used bat."

On the more affordable side of the business, however, dealers say there are a few factors that still prompt avid collectors to open their wallets. Those include the players' rookie status, the size of a team's home market and overall popularity of the team.

Bapes has hit the rookie jackpot in recent months. Since August, Cubs All-Star rookie catcher Geovany Soto, Bears rookie Matt Forte and most recently, Bulls rookie guard Derrick Rose all have done live signings in Bapes' store, bringing in as much as $80 per autograph and attracting hundreds of customers with jerseys and balls in tow. But he also has been hit with lower sales of his everyday merchandise.

"I'm very careful about who I have in my store and I think it's paid off in the six years I've had signings here," Bapes said. "I make it my business to get athletes in here who have good rapport with young people because I know my clients value the importance of name and reputation."

Caraker agreed, saying rookie cards and memorabilia are all that's in demand these days.

"Right now the only thing collectors are looking for is top rookies," Caraker said. "In football, anything to do with rookies (Falcons quarterback) Matt Ryan and (Ravens quarterback) Joe Flacco, and Forte is still hot. And everyone wants hometown kid Derrick Rose."

For Williams, his Web store allows him to carry and ship merchandise across the country, but he's selling to some areas more than others.

"Right now, the (Pittsburgh) Steelers, (Dallas) Cowboys, (Florida) Gators and (Oklahoma) Sooners are all hot and being sought out by fans," Williams said. "But it depends on the size of the city, too. I sell a lot more New York Giants stuff than I do St. Louis Rams stuff."

Regardless of the value of your collectibles or location of your favorite team, just about every dealer and collector agrees on one aspect of the collecting hobby.

"We're in the greatest hobby in the world," Mastro said, "because if you collect what you like, and it means something to you, it never goes out of fashion."