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Sports history is on sale everywhere you look inside the Auction of Champions Warehouse in North Phoenix.<\/p>\n
“That’s Aaron Judge’s signature,” said co-owner Alex Krantz. “Pretty unbelievably Babe Ruth’s hand was on this ball. You can see he signed there.”<\/p>\n
Krantz gave ABC15 a tour of the items his company sells on behalf of collectors.<\/p>\n
“This is Floyd Money Mayweather’s autographed boxing glove,” Kranz said. <\/p>\n
Many people will pay a lot of money for some of their favorite athletes. Last year alone, he spent $24 billion out of an estimated $12 billion. <\/p>\n
\u201cYou know what to buy for your 10-year-old. It might be the player of the day, or a $50 autographed photo, but when you attend a game with the Hank Aaron jersey, We’re looking at hundreds of thousands of people, so it’s all over the place,” Kranz said.<\/p>\n
In February, Kobe Bryant’s jersey, worn during his only MVP season, is expected to fetch as high as $7 million. <\/p>\n
Items can be inflated in price, and while it’s a good investment and great conversation starter, it’s important to know that what you’re buying is the real deal.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe main thing in this industry is authenticity, [because] There are a lot of fakes out there,” Kranz said.<\/p>\n
Kranz said third-party authentication systems such as PSA and JSA are essential to avoid falling for fakes. <\/p>\n
When it says it comes with a certificate of authenticity, ask who can verify it. <\/p>\n
“I hate to pay $500 for an autographed Mickey Mantle baseball and a year later find out it’s not real,” Krantz said.<\/p>\n
With so much history yet to be written into the chronology of sports lore, it’s hard to say whose mark will become the next legendary collector’s item.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery piece has a story for someone,\u201d Krantz said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n