Sport All Sports

I received the first of my ridiculously large collection of NFL football helmets when I was merely 8 years of age. Way back then mini NFL helmets were not so easily available so I did not have much choice but to stuff the one I had with a face towel in order to get it to fit my tiny little 8 year old head. I recall it being the holidays and being the son of an avid sports fan meant that my brothers and sisters and I often received some sort of sports product for birthdays and other occasions which would be customary for gifts to be handed out.

By the time I was 15, I had a selection of Majestic MLB replica jerseys from various teams. My room looked more like a sports shrine. My desk and shelves were covered with my popular sports memorabilia collection. My wardrobe was full of NFL replica jerseys. Even my lamp shades were sports logo items.

People who had been to my bedroom had commented that I had more NBA merchandise than a sports merchandise shop. With all that merchandise, the main concern I had was the shortage of space. It was not the fabled ultimate frontier, so the movie line goes, but it was still a challenge. The ironic thing was although my siblings and I had accumulated enough sports memorabilia to fill the USS Nimitz, my dad had a relatively sparse collection.

I have been a fan of sports since the first time I played ball with my dad in the back yard. And I am fortunate enough to have never received a sports related gift I did not like. I was given everything from logo door mats to books on MLB trivia. But my favorite sports collectables are still my sets of NFL football helmets. Most of which are signed. Those are the ones I keep in the attic. Painstakingly kept to ensure the signatures do not get accidentally erased. And away from bothersome friends and children who insist on trying every single one of them on every time they visit. I am not being selfish but those helmets are worth quite a little fortune. Particularly the autographed ones in a complete set. Those of you who posses valuable sports collectibles like these should put in extra effort in making sure they are maintained in excellent condition. You would not believe how much they might be worth in the future.

My collection of collectibles has evolved to include mini NFL helmets as well as the ones on keyrings. Suffice to say, it is almost impossible to get the keyring helmets signed so I thought of getting them thumb printed. But sadly I was told that, that would just cause a lot of legal complications. So I will stick to commonly sized goods from now on.

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