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How to Secure Autographed Sports Memorabilia

By AppleSnack

The house I just purchased has a sweet setup in the basement with a bar and storage area.  Everything is pretty much done in neutral colors along with a light wood color for accent on trim, bar stools, and cabinets within the bar.

 Now, I have a collection of autographed sports memorabilia going back to when I was 9 years old (28 now) and I would love to display them.  I have them in their appropriate collectors casing of see thru UV protection boxes etc.  The simple solution is make a shelf and or some sort of border around the room.  My trusting friend pointed out it might not be a good idea to have (valuable) things easily accessable for when we have a number of untrusting guests over.  I agree... I would be heart broken if my Mickey Mantle auto baseball ended up in someone elses collection or in my son's toy bin.  The other problem is that it's not just balls in my collection.. I have hockey pucks, baseball bats, jerseys, hats, and footballs.  I have a larger collection of baseball stuff so I would tend to decorate as such.



 If it helps... I'll post some pictures of the room tonight because there is a LOT of room to work with.  Here are some ideas I'm thinking of myself:

  • Build my own Sports lockers with (3) actual openings to hang jerseys (Least likely to walk off)
  • The lower hanging "I" beam which is dry walled I would mount my bats.  Need to find a way to do it so that the bats wont get ruined on display.  Seen custom racks people have built that stand the bats upright along a wall rather than laying horizontally across the i-beam (Least likely to walk off)
  • I could do a curio cabinet for the baseballs... Seems such a typical way to display them though and they need to be secured.

I love the leather, rich, antique look... Think baseball glove type worn in vintage sports type feel.  Any suggestions would be SUPER...

 

Tagged:
Sports memoriabilia vintage security display




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January 17, 2007
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About: I'm your typical Husband, Father, and Computer Geek, on a quest to make unique functional...


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AppleSnack

January 22, 2007

Keter,

Do you know of any place that sells prefab wooden T's?  I checked the local home depot and some other stores but nothing fit the bill.

Thanks in advance

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AppleSnack

January 18, 2007

I didn't think about the moisture issues and I'll probably need to pick up a dehumidifier for the room just to be sure.

I think the T' wood blocks would be a simple and functional solution to displaying cards and I can take a blind eye to the content of the cards and let the colors lead to interesting patterns (as per chapinerika). 

You're right about the bats, I'll have to float one around the room until it fits.  I want to be careful so that I'm not making my basement look like TGI Fridays or some other chain restaurant.

I apologize for not posting pictures as we are STILL moving from our old house to the new one.  The wife has me picking up things that would be in the garbage if I had it my way.

I promise to have pics put up tonight when I get off work. 

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Keter

January 17, 2007

Basements can be problematic for collections...moisture, poor air circulation, artificial light, mold, dust.  I would recommend sealing all of your really valuable or vulnerable articles in plastic cases at the least, and be sure you know and avoid any areas that tend to be prone to moisture...this is not always obvious in a new (or recently renovated) house.

I've seen a wall done with vertical wooden Ts to create slots into which plastic card cases were dropped.  This created wall art and prevents casual theft.  (Somebody ripping up your wall would be pretty obvious.)  You could do something similar with any same-sized plastic case, such as ball cases or t-shirt frames.

A cheap way to display t-shirts or jerseys is to stretch them over artist canvas stretchers (if you use stainless steel staples you minimize damage) or to use dowels to hang them by slipping the dowels through the arms.  Fold in the sleeves to maximize hanging room.  If the logos are all near the top of the shirt, consider tying the bottom with a ribbon to create a pennant effect.  Hang these high to minimize the chance they might get splashed with food, drink, craft paints, etc.

Look for unexpected places to display the bats, like hanging from the ceiling (horizontally, not where they might use heads for practice) or tie wrapped to shelving uprights or underneath shelf fronts.  One weird (and probably expensive) display I remember turned stair risers into lighted display cases.  The cases had plexiglass fronts to prevent breakage.

If you're into a particular team, you might want to use their colors to upgrade your paint scheme!  Because this is a basement, I would be careful with the leather accents, such as using it on barstools or to cover small nooks.  There are printed ultrasuedes out there that are durable, easy to work with, and mimic almost any leather pattern.

Have fun! 

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erika

January 17, 2007
Wow sports huh? I am not a sports kinda gal but I understand that everyone else on the planet thinks that sports are neato. However- with all of the sports paraphernalia err I mean memorabilia  that people collect the one thing that they forget is how to be creative in displaying it.  I'm not trying to insult you, stick with me here;  try not to just line everything up in rows on your wall. Don't just hang everything you have for the sake of hanging it. Select the ones that mean the most to you  and try hanging things in groups based on colors  or contrasting shapes rather than just everything hockey here and everything football here and everything  lumberjacking here.  But most of all- because you are a capable person who could prolly figure out how to use a tool or 2, pay tribute to your sports teams buy making some spiffy shelves that don't fit the norm.  The best way for me to discribe it to you is to show you. I'm going to post some stuff in my clippings for you. I hope it helps.
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benmoore

January 17, 2007
I'll think about it, but look forward to seeing some pics.  It'll be easier to come up with ideas when seeing the space..