Muhammad Ali game use piece

MulletKid

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Hey guys, long story short a customer of mine is willing to drop some serious coins on some Mohamed Ali Autographed and game used stuff..

I was just wondering where should i start looking.. Anyone know's some auctions house that do this kind of thing...

PLMK
Thanks
MP
 
My good friend Hersh Borenstein owns a sports memorabilia store here in Toronto use to carry Ali signed items up until a couple years ago. He recently wrote a blog on his store website pertaining some info you may not want to hear, but it will inform you of the tough task ahead finding Ali stuff. I would definitely try Steiner Sports in New York, and if they can't help you, maybe they can point you in the right direction. Here's the Ali blog, and the link it was taken from May 27th 2009! Good luck in your search. http://frozenpondauction.com/blog/

Troy


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"I believe Muhammad Ali’s last public autograph appearance was at the 2003 National Sports Collectors Convention in Chicago. My friends at Steiner Sports were running the autograph area and told me I could get a personalized 16X20 photo and my picture with “The Greatest” for the sum of $400. It wasn’t the money that scared me off, but the fact that the lineup at the time was at least an hour long and I did not have the patience to wait. So I bypassed the opportunity.

Fast forward to the present day, and Ali autographs have almost completely dried up. We are talking about a guy that signed a TON of autographs over the years and was a steady seller for us until around 2007. I always had Ali product in stock and we were sure to bring at least one item to each charity auction in which we participated. Then the prices started going up - considerably. A framed Ali photo that once sold for $999 was now retailing for double that. Boxing gloves and robes disappeared entirely. Charities were getting upset because we were no longer able to provide their most profitable raffle items. I was under the impression Ali was still participating in at least one private autograph session per year, but I now believe these events have ceased as well.

We recently had a customer inquire about an Ali autograph, so I went looking to see what I could find. The cheapest signature available to me was $1,800 U.S. and went up to $4,000 U.S. for a signed punching bag. These prices were wholesale. I know Ali’s battle with Parkinson’s disease has had an effect on “The Champ’s” ability to pen his signature, but I would be curious to know if his autographing has stopped altogether. At $2,000-$4,000 per signature, Ali would easily be the most expensive living autograph.

More than anything, I’m really angry at myself for not standing in line for an hour back in 2003."

Hersh Borenstein
 
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At his age and condition I don't think you'll see him signing any more. My grandfather had the condition also, and at that age he was not able to pick up a pen. It's a horrible thing, to have all your senses and be trapped in a body that won't allow you function.

Any way I would suggest going to the large shows like the National I always see them there, or contact other stores. I just got back from vacation and visted this store:

http://www.legendsportsgallery.net

You might want to contact them I think he had some items for sale, there was a ton of memoribilla from a lot of the Legends, it was fun to just look at all the great items.

The owner is a older man, who was very pleasant to talk with, I only wish I had the time to shop more there, he had some great items especially a ton of Bob Feller items.

I found out that Mr Feller is a family friend of his which explained the incredible amount of Feller items.

I know my brother in law has a number of items, he sat next to the Champ on a flight about 15 years ago. It was a cross country flight and Ali handed him a handfull of autos, they all were on Nation of Islam handouts as he was signing them on the plane to hand out to people who approached him. (he's not selling them as he's not a collector but holds onto any personal items he gets, he travels across the US a lot and meets a lot of people on the planes).
 
Not GU, but a nice auto from the man himself (and Frazier). The Ali auto is just where the flash went off - typical.

000_0293.jpg


I think 6 or 7 years ago I paid £200 for it and I wouldnt get rid because Ali is one of the greatest sportsmen ever.
 

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