Important Links

• Society For American Baseball Research (SABR) http://www.sabr.org
• The National Baseball Hall of Fame: http://web.baseballhalloffame.org
• Uniform and bat authentication services:
• PSA/DNA Game Used Bat Authentication and Grading http://www.psacard.com/services/bat_authentication.chtml
• Memorabilia Evaluation and Authentication Services http://www.mearsonline.com
• Autograph authentication service:
• James Spence Authentication (JSA): http://www.spenceloa.com
• Professional Card Grading Services:
• Sportscard Guaranty http://www.sgccard.com
• PSA http://www.psacard.com
• BGS http://www.beckett.com/grading/
• Insurance:
• REA highly recommends the Collectibles Insurance Agency for coverage of collectibles (baseball cards, memorablilia, art, etc). In addition to providing insurance for auction houses such as REA, they also provide coverage for individuals (underwritten by Hartford Insurance): http://www.collectinsure.com
• News:
• I-Team Blog: New York Daily News Investigative Reporters often cover baseball card, auction, and memorabilia stories of national interest
• Sports Collectors Daily: The Internet's premier news website providing news stories daily about the world of sports collecting from many sources.
• Sports Collectors News: Internet news website devoted to sports memorabilia and trends in the sports collecting world sponsored by www.sports-rings.com
• Important Books That We Think Every Collector Should Read:
• The Card: Collectors, Con Men, and the True Story of History's Most Desired Baseball Card by Michael O’Keeffe and Teri Thompson (William Morrow, 2007). Extremely important book relating to the entire card and memorabilia hobby. This groundbreaking work is an all-time classic that belongs in every collector’s library.
• Mint Condition: How Baseball Cards Became an American Obsession by Dave Jamieson (Atlantic Monthly Press, 2010). This is a must-have historical account of both the history of card collecting and its role in American popular culture, from the days of the first trading cards to the big auctions of modern times, and presenting a great deal of exhaustively researched hobby history found nowhere else, including profiles of pioneers such as Jefferson Burdick, Sy Berger, and Woody Gelman.
• Operation Bullpen by Kevin Nelson (Southampton Books, 2006). This may be the most important book about autograph collecting ever written.
• Fake: Forgery, Lies, & eBay by Kenneth Walton (Simon Spotlight Entertainment, 2006)
• Leading Vintage Baseball Card and Memorabilia Collecting Message Boards:
• Full Count Vintage Baseball Card Forum
• Net54 Baseball
• GameUsed Forum