As with just about everything else economic, the collecting of sports memorabilia has become a global phenomenon. The recent World Cup of Soccer (football) (Futbal) is a classic example of this as collectors all around the world scramble to gather as much in the way of WC collectibles as they can. You name it, apparel, posters, key-rings, caps, fridge magnets; it’s all out there if you look hard enough. Have a look in SPN’S miscellaneous section and key soccer and you’ll find along with interesting US soccer memorabilia, there is some great World Cup material, including an item of a framed photo collage of the “head butt felt around the world.”

A Skateboard as Sports Memorabilia?

Sports memorabilia is what the sellers and buyers want it to be. Just recently my son was over visiting and we talked about all his left over stuff that’s been stored in our garage for nearly twenty years. Rather than take it back to his place, he wondered if I would sell some of it on ebay for him. I have quite a bit of experience as an ebay seller so I agreed. We started to do an inventory and besides a big collection of hockey, baseball and football cards (I now know why he always wanted to borrow money from us.) He wanted to sell his vintage 70’s skateboard. It was Tony Alva board and we then got into a discussion as to whether this was a miscellaneous item or a piece of sports memorabilia.

X-GAMES

He asked if I had watched any Extreme Games events on TV, and of course I hadn’t. He said that these guys are unbelievable athletes in their own particular events and if I watched I’d have to agree. I did and I now do agree. Therefore a skateboard, although I had thought of it merely as a casual mode of transportation and a time passer for young people, can really be thought of as a piece of sports memorabilia.

After thinking about it further, I Googled X-Games, and found out that the term was first used by ESPN and the games have been around since 1995. Some of the sports include skiing, skateboarding, cycling (BMX) and snowboarding, and they are not for faint of heart participants. Although only having been around for 11 years the X-Games are becoming more and more popular each year with new equipment being developed regularly. I can see in the future where Extreme games memorabilia will become a major part of sports memorabilia collecting.

With advent of the development of new games, increasing popularity, new athletes and new types of equipment, the collection of sports memorabilia still has a life of its own and is likely to continue as an endeavour for sports enthusiasts and collectors for a long time to come!