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Investing & Collecting Tournament Scorecards Investing in any commodity should not be done without ample knowledge of the targeted industry. Golf memorabilia and collectibles as a whole can be difficult to assess for both current and future values. As a general rule we would avoid items that are devised and manufactured specifically for the collectible market. Items such as these tend to be mass produced, intrinsically generic and of minimal historical value. Such items are hard pressed to retain their purchase value the second that you gain possession. Certainly scarcity is a major component in achieving value. Too common an item pretty much guarantees that its value will be insignificant. Too rare a category will at times reduce value as a vibrant collector base is needed to build value. Another major factor in determining value is authenticity. We would certainly be very skeptical of any autographed item that is without solid provenance and self documenting credibility. As some FBI estimates have noted that as much as 70% of autographed items are forgeries, it is truly buyer beware. Such statistics have led to the creation of many authentication services that offer COA's (Certificates of Authenticity) and product marking techniques (stickers, invisible inks etc...). Some of these outfits are legitimate and some are pariahs that merely prey on the uneducated collector's need for assurance, sometimes dubious assurance at best. As a rule of thumb, we only recommend using authenticators that are widely noted experts in their particular field/sport and only those that have impeccable credentials. There are plenty of outfits that are attempting to corner the authentication market. Following are links of interest for anyone that trades in autographed items: http://www.autographalert.com/news.html Do your homework and form your own opinions, however, don't get discouraged regarding the memorabilia industry just because of a few opportunists. The appreciation of signed historical documents with proven credentials will likely outperform many other investments. Much like buying a stock, buying an autographed item should not be a whimsical decision. There are Blue Chips and there exist the opposite. Please educate yourself thoroughly. Regarding authentication of our items, we include, at no cost a COA on Matted & Framed pieces. For a stock (unmatted, unframed) scorecard we can obtain a COA if desired at an additional cost of $35. All COA's for Tournament Scorecards are provided by Mr. Roger Gilchrist. Roger wrote the bible on Golf Collectibles and specifically on Golf Autographs. We highly recommend his book to anyone interested in collecting or dealing in Golf Memorabilia. To purchase a copy of Roger's book please follow the link below: http://www.iguide.net/golf/ Given the above, what makes Tournament Scorecards such a desirable product? First, the scorecards were not printed, filled out or signed with the intent of being a collectible. These scorecards are the daily work record of the golfer. Without them the golfer would be unable to post their official tournament scores. Unlike signed pictures, golf balls, programs etc... these documents detail a storyline in the career of the player. What other sport or vocation requires its professionals to document the course of their actions throughout a live performance and to attest to that record with their signature and the signature of a witnessing peer? Carried throughout the competition by the golfers, a more personal and illuminating collectible we have not yet seen. Many individual habits surface when comparing the scorecards of a specific player. From validating scores, to consistency of signature through good and bad rounds, to neatness or otherwise, these scorecard reveal much about the players. If you think that the "autograph" that gets scribbled on a hat or a ball is the player's true signature, you may be surprised at what you find on a Tournament Scorecard. In addition to the signatures and the hand filled scoring, most Tournament Scorecards will note the Contestant, the Round, the Starting Time, the Starting Tee and the Scheduled Date of Competition. Some also have Tournament, Sponsor and Course Logos. All are printed specifically for that event and all are signed by the Player and Marker. Show any golfer a picture of a hole from a course that they have played and they may well have some memories from their experiences on that course. Show them their scorecard from a particular round and they likely will be able to recreate the round shot by shot, such is the power of recall afforded by such a detailed record. Taking into consideration that all of golf's major bodies now retain the scorecards (with the PGA Tour being the only one that markets some of them), and that prior to the practice of retention that many scorecards got discarded, the number of scorecards in the public domain is very limited. Even the amount of scorecards retained by golf's major bodies is quite finite. Regarding an individual player, assuming that the player's career spans 20 years, that the player averages 20 events per year and that the cut is made in 3/4 of those events - the total number of Tournament Scorecards generated will be 1,400 for the entire career. Each one of those scorecards will be a completely unique and revealing record. Again, note that many of those scorecards will never enter the public domain. All of the above combine to make Tournament Scorecards an uncommon and highly prized product. When matted and framed with complimentary items, the resulting product can be most spectacular. Note that recently a Honus Wagner baseball card sold for 2.3 million dollars. There are approximately 60 of these cards known to exist and they are not even autographed. We would be shocked to find anywhere near 60 Tiger Woods (or any other professional golfers) Tournament Scorecards in the public domain. Given that baseball's fan base (as a percentage of the population) has diminished from its days as the National Pastime, and that Golf is growing not only in the U.S. but on a much broader global scale, the future for Golf Memorabilia of Historical Value seems extremely bright. We believe that we are in the infancy of a potentially massive memorabilia category with phenomenal worldwide demographics. Hopefully, this gives you some insight into investing in collectibles, golf memorabilia and Tournament Scorecards in particular. We will do our best to answer any questions that you may have. Please contact us at sales@tournamentscorecards.com to remit a question. Contact Us: sales@tournamentscorecards.com © 2007 Tournament Scorecards |
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