Collecting Game Used Tickets And Stubs
Collecting Game Used Tickets & Stubs
Have you ever come home after attending a sporting event and emptied your pockets, tossing the program and ticket stub out into the garbage bin along with the other junk you may have carried home from the game? Wait, stop, and don’t be so hasty in getting rid of that seemingly useless little piece of paper. Tickets, and ticket stubs are more valuable than you may have thought. Remember like the old adage says’ “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.”
A slightly lesser known area of sports collectibles is the full ticket or ticket stub which was used or purchased for a particular game or event. The vast majority of sports collectors seem to be interested in chasing the more main stream items, such as cards, game used clothing, equipment and autographs. But there are many ways in which you can build your personal sports memorabilia collection, and purchasing or saving ticket stubs is one way in which to do so.
The great thing about collecting tickets or stubs is that there is such a variety of tickets to collect. Whether it is Football, baseball, hockey, basketball, Soccer, or major events like the All-Star game, World Series, World Cup, Super Bowl, or the Olympics there is something for every collector. Another appealing aspect to collecting tickets or stubs is that these little pieces of paper mark a specific piece of time in sporting history. Because the tickets are connected to the games, it is a tangible piece of memorabilia which is attributed to that particular game, match, event, or race. If say for example you are a New England Patriots fan you may want to collect all the tickets or stubs related to their games. Or perhaps you are a Roger Clemens fan, and you may want to add the ticket from his record breaking twenty strikeouts game to your existing collection, by doing that you are broadening your personal collection, and at the same time it gives you a piece for your collection that brings back a special memory of an achievement accomplished by your favourite team or player.
One of the main reasons tickets or stubs can not only hold an emotional value to them, but also a monetary value is due in large part to the scarcity of the tickets themselves. Remember there are only so many tickets sold for any given event, and when you think about how many of them are actually still in relatively good shape and available for sale or trade, but usually for sale, it’s really a fairly small amount that one is left with.
If you are interested in picking up tickets or stubs just be aware that some of them depending on what event it was for and how old it is, can get a little pricey. One other factor to take into consideration is that there is no official price guide as of yet that denotes the monetary value of any particular ticket or stub. A rule of thumb you as a collector can use is that usually the ticket will increase by $25 every ten years or more, so be prepared. For example a World Series ticket from 1960 could fetch approximately, $125.00, say, and so a World Series ticket from the 1950’s could average around $150.00. It is also more common now to find that seller’s will have their tickets authenticated by a reliable industry third party such as PSA/DNA. This is very helpful for the buyer because you are assured that the money you are spending is guaranteeing you the product that you want. Please remember since there is no set pricing guide ticket prices may vary, use your own discretion prior to buying. The method that has been used to come up with the pricing scale has largely been determined by tracking previous records from auctions, ad’s, and online purchases, which have occurred with in the hobby community.
Some places that you can go to seek out tickets or stubs are, online auctions such as eBay, or ioffer, you could post an ad on Craigslist stating what you are looking for. Sometime you may even be able to come across them in estate sales if they are part of a person’s private collection already. If you are bold enough you may even want to try and wait out front of a stadium after a game is over, and just ask random people if they are willing to part with their stubs, you may be surprised at the answer.
In closing, I would like to say that it is important to give scope to your personal collection. Collecting tickets and stubs is a great way to enhance the collection you have already amassed thus far. Keep your eyes open for interesting pieces, and always remember, collecting is not about the money one may or may not achieve from it. It is really about the passion and love of the game or the item.
Cami Berardi
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