Today at the National Sports Collectors Convention, the St. Louis based Memorabilia Factory announced its new revolutionary flagship premium baseball holder the BallDOME. This product is packed with so many features that it takes displaying and authenticating a signed baseball to new heights.

Traditionally, hobbyists have used an inexpensive square baseball holder to display their autographed baseballs. This type of holder was really designed for dealers to have an inexpensive case that they use as a tool to ship and sell a baseball. It was never really designed for the collector.

The BallDOME was designed for the collector. It was designed to attractively display and protect the collector’s cherished baseball. Display and preservation features of the BallDOME include an UV protected dome shaped enclosure that represent the surface of the ball, an enclosure that provides 360 viewing of the ball, a locking base that prevents opening during movement, an innovative stabilizing platform that can be raised to secure older balls that have shrunk due to time, a stabilizing platform that prevents the ball from moving and a unique labeling feature that gives each BallDOME a way to customizable labels with facts about the ball.

Authentication features include a unique authentication ring that will be sold only to authorized authenticators. This authentication ring is permanently secured to the bottom of the BallDOME and contains breakaway pins that if broken, destroy the authentication ring. This reveals that the ball might have been tampered with and therefore invalidates the authentication. Authorized authenticators can create a customized label that specifies facts about the ball and other authentication information. This label will eliminate the need to place authentication stickers on the ball, which prevents contamination from the sticker glue on the skin of the baseball.

“We developed the BallDOME™ to help preserve one of our national treasures,” said John Weldon, President of the Memorabilia Factory. “Look at what is happening to baseballs in the hobby today. Baseballs are being bought, sold, touched, dropped and rolled around in cardboard boxes and exposed to sunlight and florescent lights. If you look at the baseballs that were signed by Babe Ruth during the 1930’s you will see that there are only a few choice signatures left. Each of these balls were signed with similar types of ink pens. But over time the signature has slowly been destroyed from handling, hand acid, dropping or friction from the container they are stored in. At the current rate of destruction how many Babe Ruth baseballs will be left in 25 years? In the art world, every precaution is taken to preserve a Picasso. Would you throw one of these coveted pieces of art in a box? Baseballs are very young compared to many of the artifacts of the past. We need to start thinking about this now before, our generation’s Picassos are destroyed.”

The BallDOME is currently priced at $15 each or six for $72. Customized labels are $5 each.

The Memorabilia Factory is a division of INDUPlastics, an injection molding division, owned by INDUCOMP Corporation.

A Christy Mathewson autographed baseball was among the top sellers in the All-Star FanFest Auction held in St. Louis on July 14. The single-signed ball sold for $50,600 which included a 15% buyer’s premium tacked on to all winning bids.

Mathewson’s death from tuberculosis long before he reached old age makes his signature rare; his Hall of Fame career adds to the desirability.

There were several other signature baseballs up for bid in the 700-plus lots sold on the day of the American League’s 4-3 win over the National League.

Three baseballs autographed by Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig were offered, with two selling. One brought $6325 and the other $5060. The value of vintage signed baseballs depends greatly upon condition and clarity of the signatures. Other Ruth and Gehrig balls have sold for significantly more over the past fifteen years that the sports memorabilia auction business has taken flight.

Other lots sold included a high quality Roberto Clemente signed ball, which also included fellow Pirates’ Hall of Famer Bill Mazeroski ($6325) and a 1924 Washington Senators ball ($6325); the only Washington team ever to win a World Series. It included the autograph of star pitcher Walter Johnson. A ball inked by members of the 1917 New York Giants including manager John McGraw and legendary Jim Thorpe brought $5405 while another signed by 11 members of the 500 home run club sold for $1265.

The top selling item in the auction was a Lou Gehrig New York Yankees game-worn cap dating from the late 1920s or early 30s. It was purchased by another auction house on behalf of a client and sold for over $74,000.