Ballpark Pens
Sports fans will love these unique ballpark pens!
If you'd like to give someone a piece of genuine sports history, it's hard to beat a ballpark pen. These are clever pieces of sports memorabilia literally carved from the wooden seats salvaged from sports stadiums during remodeling or demolition.
Each pen is one of a kind, measuring 5.5 inches long by a half-inch in diameter, and comes in a cool presentation case with a certificate of authenticity. The makers have engraved the origin info right in the wood.
What's the Big Deal?
At first glance, ballpark pens seem like just another entry in a rather saturated memorabilia market.
After all, everyone including the team water boy has his own card in most major league sports these days, and sometimes the minor league players do, too. There are also lots of gimmicks available, from cards packaged with scraps of game jerseys to autographed foil versions and reinserted cards from old sets.
Beyond the Cards
Memorabilia vendors are savvy folks, having long since realized that collectors tend to graduate from pasteboard rectangles to more substantial fare. For example, framed game jerseys from stellar performers can fetch thousands of dollars each, especially when signed.
Ditto for equipment -- sticks, clubs, balls, helmets, gloves, shoulder pads, pucks, balls, what have you, as long as they're authentic and can sport a certificate saying so. And if they're autographed, so much the better. Folks even collect signed sneakers.
And let's not even get into the photographs and portraits, signed and otherwise.
Some observers find the whole process a bit cynical, and maybe it is. But in general it's all good fun, it's all valuable to some extent, and it's a great way for the players to earn extra cash. Win-win-win, all the way around!
So What Makes These Pens Special?
First of all, can you actually write with a baseball card or a hockey puck? Hmmm? Probably not... at least, not and keep the collectible intact.
In all seriousness, these ballpark pens don't celebrate individual players, as most memorabilia does, but the stadium the pen originated from -- and by extension, the sports played there. They're literally pieces of sports history, imbued, if you will, by the passion of the generations of fans who sat in those seats over the years.
You've Got a Point There...
Plus, did we mention they're one of a kind? Not mass-produced in the thousands, like most sports gifts, but made in small lots from limited amounts of material.
The cost reflects that, too. Depending on the origin, each of these ballpark pens varies in price from $170 to $260 -- but that's a small price to pay to make a true fan happy.