Sports Market Report

Going up the Wall

Space ... the Final Obstacle. These are the voyages of the addicted hobbyist. Their ongoing mission … to explore strange new websites, shows and dealers, to seek out new collectibles of all kinds, to boldly spend their life savings on what their wife cannot possibly understand or appreciate and, finally, to find out where the heck they’re going to put all their stuff!

Yes, I know. That was a very cheesy introduction but space is a serious problem for most collectors, there’s no question about it. Even if you live in a large home, no matter how much room you think you have, it never seems to be enough.

Here’s an example. Recently, I had the privilege of visiting with Gary Cypres, owner of a simply amazing Los Angeles-based sports museum. Even with over 30,000 square feet at Gary’s disposal, even he is running out of space and every single display was obviously planned in a thoughtful way.

So, no matter what your budget is; we all have space limitations. So, how do we cope with that fact?

The challenge differs depending on what type of items you collect. Here are just a few suggestions on how to address space issues from a collector that who shares your pain.

1) Stay within the confines of your collection theme. This is one of the hardest things to do as a collector. I have struggled with it my whole collecting life. If you don’t stay disciplined, you will end up being frustrated for a number of reasons.

2) If you don’t have a collecting theme, create one. Sometimes, constructing a game plan or theme is even more difficult than staying within a theme. It may take some time to come up with the right theme but it will be time well spent. Talk to collectors and dealers and gather as many ideas as you can before you decide to narrow your focus.

3) Stay away from making everything a wall display. I don’t care how much wall space you think you have, the wall space will run out quicker than you think. Think of creative ways to display your collectibles. For example, some people display bats on the wall, which take up an enormous amount of space. As an option, you could buy or create free-standing bat racks that can hold up to 24 bats per rack. They are reasonably priced, look great and make tremendous use of space.

4) Think quality over quantity when it comes to displays. Since all of us have access to limited space, this is a crucial point. Some collectors are focused on quantity and that’s alright but, instead of trying to hang all 20 of your Mickey Mantle signed photos in mediocre frames, find one or two that you like the best and frame them in a more ornate way, make the displays special.

These are just a few suggestions but I hope they might come in handy. Being a part of this hobby is a learning process for all of us so bouncing ideas off fellow collectors allows you to gain from their experience. We all want to enjoy the things we buy but, if we don’t keep collecting under control, we will drive ourselves up the wall.

Never get cheated,

Joe Orlando
Editor In Chief