How did Sweet Spot begin?At the beginning of the 1990s, a significant part of my business involved producing target market publications for businesses, large and small. These niche publications proved very successful for my clients. They still do. In 1991, a friend of mine introduced me to card shows and noted how there were no quality publications that focused on sports autographs; that there was a serious need for a publication devoted to reporting on issues in the autograph arena. Well, to me, this sounded like another target market publication. During the next year, I studied the marketplace to determine if, indeed, there was a need for such a publication. After talking to scores of people who were introduced to me as reputable collectors or dealers, I was assured that such a publication would be welcome. From my research, I created an editorial mix that I thought would meet the demand, and produced a four-page prototype to reflect these ideas. This prototype was distributed to autograph collectors at the '92 National Sports Collectors Convention in Chicago. Shortly thereafter, I compiled a large list of names from a variety of sources and produced Vol. 1, No 1. It was well received, to say the least. Several supportive advertisers added their voices to those early issues, and, soon enough, I developed a distribution strategy to make the publication available to autograph show promoters who were eager to give something of quality to their autograph ticket buyers for FREE. This strategy continues today. From the beginning, we published bi-monthly and have maintained that schedule. Our biggest criticism is that we publish just six times a year. We've thought about increasing the number of issues. Sweet Spot is available by subscription and at select shows throughout the U.S. and Canada. People wish we were available on newsstands. We once made an attempto get distributed on newsstands. One distributor told us we were too much of a niche publication. Fine. I decided we'd continue doing what we're doing. In 1999, we began reaching significant numbers of people with our web version of the publication at www.sweetspotnews.com. The site has undergone iterations. I'm sure there are things we could do and could have done to grow this business more wisely, but we're still around and growing, while some publications have folded. Back to TopHow is Sweet Spot different from other publications in the memorabilia hobby?One of the ways Sweet Spot is different from other publications is we report exclusively on vintage items and sports autographs, not cards. We leave the card business to other publications. Compared to other autograph publications, we report on just sports, not movie stars, politicians, etc. Also, our coverage tends to be a bit different from some of the prominent sports collectibles publications. From the very beginning, our readers told us they weren't interested in columns; they wanted solid reporting, news gathering. So, instead of filling our pages with the opinions of individuals, we interview scores and scores of people concerning issues of the day. Part of our editorial mix is also to interview sports heroes of yesteryear for features, the type that would run in the most respected sports publications in the country. So our journalistic approach is more reportorial, and criteria for judging news might be considered a bit more stringent than in the other publications. Overall, I think it's important that we are different. The formula for our survival is to be different, if not better, at what we do. Our readers have been kind in assessing our role. They've thanked us for being to sports autograph collecting what Consumer Reports is to buying cars and what The Wall Street Journal is to the world of business. We're flattered by the praise, but it only motivates us to make the next issue better than the last one. Back to TopHow do you assess the autographed sports memorabilia hobby today?The current situation of today's autograph marketplace is quite exciting. The good news is that autograph shows give people a chance to meet their heroes and actually connect with them in a way that otherwise would be impossible. How else would great numbers of people have come in contact with Williams, DiMaggio, Mantle, Mays, Wilt, Russell, Magic, Unitas, Namath, Brown, Butkus and on and on. The hobby also has enabled countless players, including Negro Leaguers, to be remembered and make more than a few extra needed bucks. The access has given people a wonderful hobby for themselves and something they can use to bond with their children. My son appreciates Jackie Robinson and Brooks Robinson more than he does today's superstars. He loves the history, the lore and the old ball parks. If the hobby can touch people in this way, then standing in line and paying the money to connect with these guys is worth it. The bad news is that the marketplace has created opportunities for people to be greedy and act fraudulently. That is not unlike the real world. When the marketplace attaches value to something, someone will try to create an inferior (read: forged) product that somone will be willing to pay for. The most forged items are the items that are deemed by the marketplace to be most valuable. This is a force of nature in the collectibles world. Another negative is that some of the superstar athletes are putting too much value in the cost of their signatures. Of course, this has happened because they realize people view their purchase as an investment, and they want to capture some of that value for themselves. The result: inflated prices, and collecting becomes a rich man's sport. The hobby has become a microcosm of professional sports economy. Back to TopHow can the hobby resolve some of its problems?With great difficulty . . . the hobby has let bad behavior get out of control. The hobby, with some exceptions, has done a bad job of policing itself. Every show I've ever attended has dealers selling bad stuff. I've seen fathers beam with pride as they plunk down $495 to buy a 500 Home Run Club ball for their son. To me, the Mantle sigs were way off. I feel guilty that I didn't say anything. The organized hobby needs to police itself someho. There are too many different agendas attached to making a living at this hobby. Who's going to kill the goose that's laying the golden eggs? There's this conspiracy of silence going on, so that as long as people are making significant money, the crooks will be ignored or cover for each other or stay silent. Today, though, the problems have gotten exponentially worse because of the faceless storefront called the Internet. This is the free and open marketplace at its best and worst. The hobby runs with virtually no rules, so it becomes like the bad guy in professional wrestling. The Internet is great, though, because it makes the marketplace absolutely fluid for selling excess inventory. It also is the bane of the hobby as anyone who can write a passable Ruth signature and come up with plausible provenance can post an item for sale. Anyway, three things have to happen to clean up the hobby. First, education. Promoters, dealers, publishers, everyone has to reach out to help educate the public. I don't know, maybe every major autograph show should offer a short course outlining the major caveats in autograph collecting. At least such a move would make people less impulsive. Maybe they would spend more time looking and talking to dealers. Offer short courses every day of the show, twice a day (morning and afternoon). Secondly, further busts by the FBI should deter the crooks, but law enforcement has to work faster, prosecute forgers and penalize them severely. Third, people have to be less impulsive consumers. Quit gambling on items whose prices are too good to be true. Collectors may have to live with the fact that they'll never own a Babe Ruth or Smokey Joe Williams signature, if they cannot be absolutely certain that the sigs are real. Hey, it wouldn't be the end of the world. Back to TopWhat do you think the hobby will look like in five years?In five years, more of our heroes will have passed away. This fact means more opportunities for forgers to do their thing. Meanwhile, a more current generation of stars, those with the big salaries, won't feel compelled to do shows, and their items will become available for exorbitant prices from private signings. Or they won't sign at all and the forgers will have a major opportunity in the marketplace. Oh, sure, the good guys will still do shows and charge reasonable prices, but that next era of athlete will price themselves out of the marketplace. Instead of a high, guaranteed fee, the priciest athletes should get a lion's share of the percentage of what they sign, plus expenses. The National and most super shows have become too expensive. No collector is going to spend airfare and hotel to travel across the country only to be gouged by inordinately high admission prices and inflated autograph tickets. They can take that $1,000 and buy mail order items or from legit dealers on the web. Or attend a show nearby. The National and sportsfests have largely become swap meets for dealers, which is fine. Also, kids used to love the big shows when the card companies gave away free stuff. Unless, the major show promoters make changes and fast, the shows will continue to be mainly for dealers. The forgery market will become increasingly problematic. There are a whole lot of people who are going to wake up and finally realize that the Mantle, Maris, McGwire, DiMaggio, Williams, Clemente signature that they bought as unsuspecting consumers five years ago are bogus. There may be lots of lawsuits, recycled bad items, or items that are written off as bad. Frankly, I'm pessimistic. I guess that will give publications like mine plenty to write about. Back to TopWhat is your view of forensic examiners who have recently burst onto the scene?Forensic examiners are late to the party. They may bring certain skills to the table, but overall they have a lot of catching up to do in terms of studying sports signatures. Their overall performance has been inconsistent at best. I hasten to add that there likely are good forensic folks and bad forensic folks, just as there are good dealers and bad dealers. This business is filled with mistrust and jealousy. A handful of years ago, a number of hobby veterans wondered how someone who became intensely interested in the hobby six months ago became an "expert." Anyway, many forensic folks have made a bad name for themselves by having their names attached to items on the Internet that are obviously bad. If forensic experts believe their name is being misappropriated to vintage items on the Internet and elsewhere, then they should care enough about their reputations to contact the Internet auction company and simply remove all items that falsely bear their name. Legally, they should have that ability. Some dealers are absolute anti-forensics. This is sort of memorabilia hobby racism. Again, there are good and bad forensics and good and bad dealers. Honestly, I've noticed that some forensic people and some sports dealers have common enemies, if you will. Seems to me there should be some cooperation among both parties. But, everyone is fighting to protect their respective turfs. Back to TopDo you have any ideas to reduce authentication problems on such auction sites as Ebay?Sweet Spot has pointed out many, many irregularities on eBay. There are many problems there and other Internet auctions. The problems, however, are with consumers who are fraudulently using the Internet to make a buck. What can eBay do? Ebay has to post highlighted warnings on every page of their auctions. They also have to screen items, so that if it appears that a vintage item that's deemed to be worth more than what is being offered with, say, five hours to go in the sale, eBay would have the right to cancel the sale, and the seller would still have to pay the nominal fee to post the item. They also have to get rid of the private sales, where a buyer cannot communicate with the seller. This concept runs counter to the concept of an auction. Internet sales also should disallow items that cannot be pictured clearly, and if an item is pictured it must be visible to the point that a person can make a fair judgment. Overall, eBay, as the leader in this arena, is going to have to step in and get involved instead of offering a disclaimer that says it is just a medium for the sale of items. Yep, that dog won't hunt anymore. I hasten to add that eBay and other Internet venues offer a wonderful opportunity for collectors and dealers to buy and sell items. I applaud that aspect of these sites. Back to TopWhat general advice would you give collectors?Here are a few thoughts, and I am far from being the first person to say these things.
Back to TopDo you collect? And what are some of your favorite items in your collection?I do collect. I've followed my own advice in buying items at shows in person or from promoters who played host to players I've admired. Like many, many people, I've collected single-signed balls of HOFers (on the Sweet Spot, of course), but my favorite pieces, really, are odd ball items that mean something special to me. Before collecting became a business, I was fortunate to attend a minor league game in Little Rock, Ark., and got four surviving Arkansas-born HOFers to sign a scorecard (Bill Dickey, Travis Jackson, George Kell, Brooks Robinson). I have a photo of the players sitting in the Arkansas Travelers lockerroom. I love this piece. I've also gotten certain players to write milestones on balls. I remember the experience of getting Bert Campaneris to write that he "played 9 positions in one game" on a ball. I also collect things related to Bibb Falk. I wrote about his professional playing career for SABR's National Pastime magazine in 1999. He also was a successful coach at The University of Texas at Austin, where I played for a year ('71-'72), so I feel a certain kinship there. I have a lot of things that are special to me. Best of all, I collect nothing that I ever plan to sell. Also, I'm virtually certain that every signed item in my collection is real. I don't look at my collection as something that will help me financially in retirement or send my kids to college. I don't knock people for collecting as an investment. Nor do I envy them for having the resources to buy some phenomenal pieces. Well, maybe a little. Many of those folks are subscribers to Sweet Spot. The bottom line is that there are collectibles for every budget and every financial threshold. Back to TopWith all of the forgeries in the marketplace, do you think the hobby is doomed?The hobby is not doomed. As long as people can keep their emotions and buying habits in check, collectors will be okay, I think. People have to exercise greatest care in buying vintage items. Collectors can still have great experiences at shows and obtain wonderful items in person. People should focus on collecting themes: Super Bowl MVPs, for example, or 3,000 Hit Club members. I think some of the most fun items to collect are oddball milestone baseballs. Baseball fans might enjoy having that ball signed by Branca and Thomson or a ball signed by the pitchers who threw Maris his 60th and 61st home runs. There are simply too many positive experiences in collecting to talk in terms of "doom," despite the fact there are horrendous problems that I've mentioned. Collect what is real and I think people will still receive a lot of pleasure from collecting. The hobby is gloomiest when collectors look to profit from their acquisitions, when collectors buy impulsively. Remember, this is not a buffet line or a candy store. Back to Top |