Sports autograph seekers have aspirations of acquiring that rare sports autograph and adding it to their collection. However, for many collectors, these autographs are priced far out of their collecting budgets. These rare autographs can range in price from hundreds of dollars to hundreds of millions of dollars. There is no argument that rare autographs of sports celebrities are highly prized and sought after treasures. The sports autograph can fall into two distinct categories; past and present. The factors that drive the market value of any autograph’ s are as follows: Age – Has to do with when and how long ago the player was alive and playing, Scarcity – The amount of autographs actually signed by the player (many players were known to have only given their signature on rare occasions) Desirability – More successful players are more popular players, which are more highly sought after, driving up the market value of a particular autograph. Item Signed – For example, a Babe Ruth autographed baseball has a market value of $2500-$12000 while the bat that The Babe used to hit his first home-run in Yankee Stadium had recently sold for $126,500,000. When discussing rare sports autographs, there are two periods to discuss, past and present. Rare past sports autographs include players such as Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle, Muhammed Ali. Baseball legend Ruth’s signature is considered the most important sports autograph in the sports autograph collecting hobby. The Babe’s signature can go anywhere from $2500 for a baseball in poor condition to $126 million for rarities such as his first home run bat. The Bambino’s autograph’s changed during his career. In the early years, the Babe signed his name as Babe Ruth with the first name enclosed in quotation marks. George Herman Ruth changed this practice later in his career, at times signing with his full name George Herman Ruth or with GH Ruth. Babe Ruth was never reluctant in signing autographs during his time. Even though Babe Ruth signed as many items as he could during his time, the mass appeal and highly sought after autograph is still in demand much more than the market can provide. This is based on the popularity of Ruth. Being able to acquire one of these autographs is thought of as the holy grail of sports autographs. Mantle is a National Baseball Hall of Famer. Making his signature even more prized is that during his professional career, he rarely signed autographs for Category:Home › Home • Will higher gasoline prices mean lower sales for new cars? — part 2 • Will higher gasoline prices mean lower sales for new cars? — part 1 • Should the crew of the Sea Shepherd board whaling ships? • Which makes a better pet: A dog or a cat? — part 13 • Grandparents: Can blogging chronicle your genealogy? • Which makes a better pet: A dog or a cat? — part 12 • Are teachers unions the cause of public school problems today? • Which makes a better pet: A dog or a cat? — part 11