Memorabilia Shows and Conventions

Over the years I have found it very useful in my hunt for celebrity autographs to visit memorabilia shows and conventions. There are many shows across the UK and it’s well worth a visit if you are selling autographs or buying autographs to take a weekend out and visit a show or autograph convention.

In November I will be going to the Memorabilia show at the N.E.C. in Birmingham. The main reason for my visit is to collect sporting memorabilia, namely golf memorabilia, tennis memorabilia and to increase my collection of historical autographs. If I have any money left over after my search for the above I will more than likely spend it on vintage autographs as there are several renowned dealers of very high standing at this show.

The November show also has several boxing world champions who will be there to autograph sports memorabilia and I will be paying them a visit to increase my stock of boxing memorabilia and boxing autographs. I will definitely be increasing my collection of signed boxing gloves and signed boxing photos, as Thomas Hearns and Iran Barkley are attending. 

At the show it is not all sports memorabilia, there are lots of stands that sell collectible memorabilia, autographed posters, movie autographs and even authentic autographed beatles autographs! I would exercise caution when buying a beatles autograph and suggest that you only buy beatles memorabilia from a reputable dealer, namely a UACC registered dealer or an AFTAL approved dealer as AFTAL and the UACC are always checking the dealers stock to make sure that there items are genuine. 

For those of you who like to get an autographed photo,celebrity memorabilia or sports autograph in person the show gives you many opportunities to do this as there is a vast choice of sports memorabilia stores, f1 memorabilia stalls, stalls dedicated to Star Wars memorabilia not to mention Star Trek memorabilia and of course Hollywood memorabilia. So it’s advisable to bring lots of money with you.

   

I am not only going to the show to get celebrity memorabilia or rare autographs, I will be calling in past my friends at the show to see how they have been keeping and to catch up on all the celebrity gossip. Many of them sell sports autographed memorabilia such as autographed footballs, signed shirts, but my favourite stall of my friends is Gary 

Harvey’s who sells autographed music memorabilia, I have bought several items of Queen memorabilia and have even purchased a Bob Marley autograph to add to my personal collection of black music stars.

The dates for the show are November 20th and 21st. If you are a collector of movie memorabilia, whether it be signed movie posters the occasional actor autograph or Frank Sinatra memorabilia, this is the place to be on this weekend as there will be loads of celebrities and a great chance for you to get them to autograph photos or even signed jerseys as I forgot to mention there will be stars of the football world attending and you can even collect autographed football memorabilia!

So be there or be square!!!!!!

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For many years now I have collected celebrity autographs in all kinds of weather, waiting for movie stars at film premieres to get authentic autographs or waiting in line at sports memorabilia shows to meet the occasional sports personality and after many hours of queuing coming away with a smile on my face and genuine autographs.     

Nell McAndrew

In October I am braving the cold Scottish wind in St Andrews at the Dunhill Links Championship to collect golf memorabilia, mostly signed photos and with luck some signed football shirts along with the occasional piece of movie memorabilia, as the Dunhill Links Championship is a golf event which attracts celebrity amateur golfers as well as the professional golfer. I have collected many items in St Andrews over the years I have even managed to get the most famous James Bond autograph, Sir Sean Connery on the steps of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club.                                                

Buying autographs has now become a very risky business, what with bogus autograph dealers and forgeries rife in the market place it is very difficult for the collector of signed memorabilia and hand signed photos to garner authentic sports memorabilia, music memorabilia or movie memorabilia. With this in mind I have tried to put together a guide below for the novice to obtain authentic autographs and memorabilia and eliminate the collectors worst nightmare a FORGERY!!!  

      

   

The easiest thing in the world is for somebody to get a photograph and forge a famous signature and low and behold a piece of Frank Sinatra Memorabilia or item of music memorabilia which to the untrained eye looks like a genuine collectible autograph.

 My advice to anyone who wants to collect a genuine autograph is try and get the celebrity to sign the item for you. I would strongly advise that you do not try and get signed movie posters as these are easily damaged in a crowd looking for famous autographs (made that mistake already!).This is not always possible and the next best thing is to use a trusted autograph dealer especially if you collect vintage autographs or even more so if you collect rare autographs.       

The question you are probably asking yourself now is who can I trust?

That is not so easy if you are a novice but these words of advice may help you get that item of authentic sports memorabilia without the worry of “Is it Real?” There are several associations that promote genuine  autographed memorabilia the most famous being the U.A.C.C. ( Universal Autograph Collectors Club). They have two types of membership, Registered Dealers and members. The first is highly recommended as the selection procedure is very strict and to add  substance to this statement there are less than 275 members worldwide who have achieved this lofty status. Memorabilia 4U, my company is RD 292. A person who is a U.A.C.C. member is just someone who has joined the club and has no accreditation other than being a member.  

How To Collect Authentic Sports Memorabilia

For those of you interested in collecting signed sports memorabilia, I will try and pass on some valued information I have acquired over the years collecting authentic sports memorabilia. It is very difficult to collect all types of memorabilia and autographed photos unless you have autograph collectors working for you. If you have you have got to make sure they are indeed collecting the autographs and not simply buying sporting memorabilia from another collector, which in turn could lead to the possibility of fake memorabilia. So with this in mind you have to know who is getting the hand signed autographs for you and check to make sure they are indeed collecting sport autographs and not buying them in. This you can do buy getting the collector to date when the signed shirts or autograph photos were collected along with visual proof if possible.

I prefer to collect my own autographed football memorabilia or for those in the States soccer autographs. I have managed to collect some awesome

 

Tiger Woods autographs as well as many items of signed sports memorabilia and have even collected Pele memorabilia on my travels overseas. This however is costly so to keep costs down try and collect locally and concentrate on visitors coming to your area. Another way you can collect is if a company is launching football merchandise they will often have autographed photos of players or the players themselves autograph sports memorabilia at the venue. One of my favourite haunts for collecting sports autographs are golf courses. I have managed to find a golf tournament which not only has sportsmen but celebrities playing as well and have collected autographed music memorabilia, autographed posters, movie autographs and many hand signed autographs all at one venue (a collectors dream!!) Another area where you can collect autographed footballs is at football stadiums I have a famous football team virtually on my doorstep, however I prefer to get an autographed football from the visiting team, what I do is find out which hotel they are staying at and try and get the visiting team to autograph sports memorabilia the night before the match, then I wait at the stadium before and after the game to get the signatures of the players I missed earlier. This is often very time consuming, you need loads of patience and warm drinks. 

Autographs memorabilia and f1 memorabilia are not always easy to collect, I spent years trying to get a Michael Schumacher autograph, I went to practice sessions, events, race tracks and after several years of trying I bumped into him in a hotel in London and got him to sign my favourite piece of formula 1 memorabilia….. the back of my business card. It was a strange weekend as I was going down to collect cricket memorabilia and hopefully get cricket autographs at Lords. I ended up having more success spotting celebrities in my hotel and the restaurant’s 

I frequented. I got many famous signatures on menu’s, cards and even a signed shirt ( the one I was wearing) as I ran out of cards. But the highlight of the weekend was getting a Chelsea shirt signed for my nephew by Frank Lampard.

The one thing I have learned about collecting autographs is ALWAYS carry an autograph album and a sharpie pen with you at all times as you never know who you might bump into!!!