Autographed Baseball ???

I have always been a big fan of autographed baseballs. I have the opportunity to pick up a lot of 6 balls. Here is the rundown:

Nolan Ryan auto baseball (COA Score Board)
Pete Rose auto baseball "1963 ROY" (Online Authentics.com Hologram but no COA)
Jordan Schafer Auto baseball (UDA)
David Price Auto Baseball (UDA)
Lars Anderson Auto Baseball (UDA)
Evan Longoria Auto Baseball (UDA)

My question is. Is $279 a good price for this lot of autographed balls??? I have never bought auto balls, I have only got them signed in person. I have really been thinking of switching over to more Baseballs than cards and this seems like a good start.Please let me know what you think. Really need some advice.

Thanks,

Brian

NO...it would be if you send some to me for super cheap...jkjk it is an AWESOME DEAL

If I had the money I'd do it

I just looked for these prices and found..

Ryan $100
Rose $60
Schafer $80 (UDA's site)
Price $99 (UDA's site sold out)
Longoria $200 (UDA's site)

So yes, that would be a good price..

What about reselling purposes???

it ALL depends on the condition of the balls and location of the autograph. Please provide scans / pictures for better feedback.

Are all the balls OMLB, or are any of them something different? If you are going to get into collecting auto balls, that can be a big deal.

Big Mac McGwire said:

it ALL depends on the condition of the balls and location of the autograph. Please provide scans / pictures for better feedback.

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Greg Cleveland said:

Are all the balls OMLB, or are any of them something different? If you are going to get into collecting auto balls, that can be a big deal.

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pudge1760 said:

Big Mac McGwire said:

it ALL depends on the condition of the balls and location of the autograph. Please provide scans / pictures for better feedback.

Click to expand...

[quote="Greg Cleveland":u08ai80y]Are all the balls OMLB, or are any of them something different? If you are going to get into collecting auto balls, that can be a big deal.

Click to expand...

PM sent[/quote:u08ai80y]

I think what Big Mac and I are trying to say is that the type and condition of the ball and location of the sig is very important, especially if you may look to flip them someday. I'll try to show some samples of my own.

Chances are good that the UDA balls are OMLB. The Rose and the Ryan may be OALB or ONLB (American and National League) balls, depending on how old they are--The Score Board could be AL, since Ryan finished with the Rangers at the time Score Board was active. The young guys could be signing minor league balls or balls from something like the Futures Game, or something special like that. Here's a little bit about location...

Sweet Spot. Everybody loves the sweet spot. Pretty much the way to go.



Some autos come on the side panel.



Looks okay, but it's in the eye of the beholder. Plus, for resale value, Sweet spot rules.

This is my Albert Pujols ball. Got it in 2002 at the ballpark. Not on the sweet spot. I would love a sweet someday, but I'd have to take out a second mortgage. This is a good example of what the difference between value of Sweet vs. side panel.



Condition of the ball is important in this way. The Ryan and the Rose balls could be be from the mid-late 90's. The leather of the ball can begin to discolor. (not tomention the signature itself can begin to fade) Like this...



Might be hard to see in that photo, but the ball has browned here and there. Not very pretty. (but I'm a collector of that style of Gaetti auto.)

Being an OMLB (or AL/NL) is the best kind of leather. When you get other balls that are not, like this one...



you have the unsightly "Haiti" or "China" trademark. Ugh. The leather is not the same quality as the ones made by Rawlings. Plus the ink can bleed over time, thus ruining the signature.

Maybe a few others have some more or better examples of different types of signatures. Anybody can have a nice sweet spot sig, but you can just as easily have an ugly one. Reputable COA's like UDA help safeguard you from getting a bad ball, poor sig, or bad location. Hope this info is helpful from an aesthetic point of view. Price-wise, I can't comment, since I don't actively follow prices. If the other guys here say buy, then I think you should feel safe. But for you and others who are thinking about getting into autographed balls, maybe this'll be a little helpful primer as you get started.

I know you can get a Nolan Ryan auto'd ball for $50 on his foundations website.Actually I think you will find Nolan Ryan's sig very affordable.As for Rose...I got mine that says 73 MVP for $35 at a silent auction so I am not sure if that is a good price or what.It did come with a cert though and also from a reputable dealer here in town so I am not worried in the least.As for the other guys you mentioned...I am not sure what they go for but something to always keep in mind is: do they sign for free very often?There are a lot of people who love to hawk the astros signatures around here for outrageous amounts when a lot of them sign for free several times a year.So if its a good possibility that some of these young bucs do the same...you might be able to get them fairly cheap.When doing a little research...if you find a ball from a company for sale...you can bet they can be had way cheaper.Don't believe me...just check out Tristar's website and then look at all their astros prices and then just think about what I said about the free signings.Chances are there is somebody willing to sell them cheaper.

I sell a lot of autos. I don't know if this would be a good deal. I think the deal would be ok if your keeping but you brought up resell.

Ryan - Resells for $40-70 depending it looks like if PSA
Rose - I'm thinking $40 would be a good price
Schafer - None sold recent on ebay, BIN were set at $40 so lower than that... thinking 25 or so right now
Price - Selling for around 35 right now
Anderson - Looks like 15 to 20 is a good price
Longoria - Thinking 40-50 is a good price

So I'm thinking right now around 220 or so. Probably add some on for the UD auth and inscripts.