Esports Memorabilia : The HOT Collectible of the Future.

by Jodi "PunkLit" McClure

Collectors love to imagine a magical scenario where they can go back in time and buy some incredibly rare piece of memorabilia. Baseball card enthusiasts might seek out an original Honus Wagner card. Football fans might purchase an original team jersey or a banner. Star Wars fans would ransack toy stores, buying out Luke Skywalker figures, mint and still in the box. And then, all these collectors would do something extremely important with those items, but I'll get to that in a minute. 

First, let's jump forward in time instead.

It's 2054, and a gray-haired man is sitting in a rocking chair outside his nursing home. Between his stiff, gnarled fingers, he clutches the gilded edges of a framed poster. To his side, his great grandchild stares through the glass in wonder. "It was signed by Reginald," the child says, his voice filled with the kind of reverence we reserve for uttering names like Ruth and DiMaggio. 

"I got that a week before he announced his retirement." The old man smiles at the memory. "It's worth half a million now, and I'm giving it to you." 

Lucky kid. 

Some people buy collectibles as an investment while others buy them for the pleasure of displaying them in their homes. Their value is based purely on what someone else is willing to pay for them, but generally, the rarer and more sought after the item is, the more it is worth. So what makes me think eSports memorabilia will grow in value? Let's take a look at some facts:

1. eSports' popularity is growing at a fantastic rate, and the more fans there are, the more demand there will be for fan items. When eSports explodes into the mainstream, demand for certain items (like early signed posters) will multiply tenfold. Also, the more popular pros become, the less interactive they can be with their fans, which will further limit supply.   

2. Right now, teams are small and there's not many of them. Rosters frequently change and evolve, making many team-signed items extremely unique. Seasons and splits further break up items (Like...Is it signed by the S3 Dignitas or the S4 Dignitas?) Because of player turnovers, oddities like a TSM poster showing Xpecial - but signed by Gleeb - are exactly the kinds of things that collectors love.

3. People wanting memorabilia of the most popular players will look to acquire their signatures on anything they can get. Players signed a TON of stuff the past four years, between the LCS, tournaments, conventions and personal appearances, so fans will believe these items to be obtainable and actively seek them out. Just like in other sports, a collector might want items from different points in a player's career. Perhaps a rookie card or a stand-out year.   

4. We already know the demographic that follows eSports has money to burn, and they are highly passionate about their teams. When eSports hits the mainstream, they're exactly the kind of guys who'll spend big bucks on these items JUST to have something to show off to their friends. It's not enough to tell all these new fans that you've been a long time CLG supporter. You've got to prove your devotion.

5. Sports memorabilia is the Number One most commonly traded collectible.  

The most important factor, though, is that human fault will be in play, and it's the reason certain items will become ridiculously valuable. Yes, players signed tons of stuff. But what will the average person do with that stuff? They'll take that poster home and stick it up on the wall in their computer room with a  push pin in each corner. And that poster will sit up there for years. Slowly, the paper will grow brittle and crack. Perhaps one corner will tear. The poster will be exposed to dust, smoke, and moisture, and over time it will yellow slightly. It may become creased. It may be folded. It may...eventually...be stowed away in a box and eaten up by mildew. Only a sparse few of those posters will be put in a frame under glass. And those are the ones that will be truly worth the big bucks. 

That Honus Wagner card our collectors went back in time for? That football jersey and the Star Wars figures? They're gonna treat those with kid gloves, ensuring that they are kept in immaculate condition until the future comes. They'll be framed or kept in dust free mylar bags, and they will never see a push pin or a damp basement.

So take care of your eSports memorabilia if you're lucky enough to get it. Time and interest will do the rest. Even now you can do a search on ebay and find people selling signed posters and other eSports items, which is a very good indicator that the interest is already there. Keep it in mint condition for a few dozen years and who knows...maybe someday you'll be that wealthy gray-haired old man!

The Off-Season Report

By Joshua Kon and Jodi McClure


Covering rumors and confirmations and all news that has taken place these past few days!

Positions Still Up For Grabs -

1. CLG's Top Lane *assumed to be Seraph but no official word yet*
2. Gambit's Mid Lane *niQ will play for them first week but nothing official*

Confirmed Retirees - Bischu, Benny and Cruzerthebruzer have all officially announced their retirements.

Confirmed Benched -

1. Nien - Benched himself from CLG feeling his performance was not up to his standard. He is currently a CLG Sub and does not look to be coming back for any team this split.
2. Migxa - The European support for Super Hot Crew has been benched after his record-breaking death performance last split. Leading player to replace him right now is Leduck.
3. Goldenglue - Put aside in favor of Shiphtur.
4. BunnyFuFu - Put aside for Xpecial.

Moved to non player positions - 

1. The Oddone - Stepped down and will remain with TSM as a coach. 

Confirmed Left Their Teams -

1. Forg1ven - 

Confirmed Movement - 

1. Shiphtur and Zion - officially joined Dignitas
2. Amazing - officially joined TSM as their new jungler.
3. Xpecial - officially moves to Curse. Yes...Curse. 
4. Gleebglarbu - becomes TSM's new support.  
5. WeWillFailer - joins Supa Hot Crew as their new support.
6. Woolite and Airwaks - join C.Wolves's as ADC and Jungle.
7. Alex Ich - Joined a reworked Ninjas in Pyjamas with k0u, Freeze, mithy and Nukeduck.

Team Disbandment - Every season we see teams and organizations break up when failing to enter or re-enter the LCS and this season was no different.

1. Complexity Red - After Black made it to the LCS, it didn't take Complexity much time to disband their other amateur team.
2. SK Gaming Prime - Confirmed to be disbanded
3. Reason Gaming - Confirmed to be disbanded

Not Disbanded -

1. XDG Gaming - Despite rumors to the opposite, XDG is not disbanding. The team owner, Marshall Alexander, confirmed that he is in talks with other teams to buyout/trade player's contracts. XDG will continue as a challenger team, but Alexander is trying to be accommodating to players who wish to remain in the LCS.  
2. Coast Gaming - Reorganizing for challenger, most likely with a whole new roster, although Daydreamin, Nintendudex, and Wiz still under contract until October.

Today, We're All Sad Hamsters.

Xpecial's Benching Rocks the LCS Community.

by Jodi "PunkLit" McClure

Community isn't just a made-up word in eSports. It's part of what drives the scene. Fans have access to players streams, feeds, and vlogs and we're able to communicate with them on a very intimate level. We see them in videos and interviews and in Riot's game day features, and we learn of their struggles and dreams. In short, we don't just casually know the pros....we are given the opportunity to love them. And when we speak of our community, it includes them. They are family to us, and that's what makes it especially hard when we hear of one being cut or benched.

The summer promotion series made this weekend tough enough - losing two entire teams from the NA LCS - but the most difficult news came after the studio lights had been turned off. Late Sunday night, during TSM Xpecial's stream, he quietly mentioned he'd been benched from the team. Fans in his chat room immediately assumed their beloved hamster was joking. TSM had just finished the season in second place after a highly successful split. There was no way this could be possible. And yet something in Xpecial's weak voice and sad eyes insisted his words were all too real.

Within minutes of his announcement, a Reddit thread was started, repeating Xpecial's announcement, and worried fans swarmed his stream looking for confirmation. Twitter started to light with speculation, questions and doubts as more information trickled in.

"They're starting scrims tomorrow and I won't be playing in them, so, head's up. It's not for performance..." Xpecial said, addressing a question in this twitch chat. "It was mainly a management decision. The team didn't have much say in it... I'm not sure what's going to happen in the future. I don't want to speak on it more now."

Towards the end of his stream, Xpecial broke his silence to give further confirmation. "I'm pretty trolly, but I'm not trolling about this. People kept asking why I was home, and I don't like having to lie about it."

Word of the benching traveled fast among the LCS community, and even Chaox made a sudden guest appearance in his ex-teammates chat. Xpecial ended his stream saying, "I got benched because of attitude. It's not something I'm completely against, I would say. I'm not 100% for it, but yeah, I just think there should be an announcement."

Anger spread quickly among TSM's legion of fans, with Reginald being their main target. Known for his occasionally antagonistic manner, posters assumed TSM's manager had to be at the heart of this problem. Twitter chat virtually exploded with an outpouring of love for Xpecial and heart felt expressions of hurt and dismay. "Bench Xpecial? More like bench my fking heart and feelings," one anguished twitter fan wrote. "Xpecial is the sole reason I'm such a huge TSM fan. He's the reason I main support & he's been my favorite pro forever," wrote another.

As the evening progressed, additional tweeters weighed in with some plausible responses. "It's not the communities interest who the team will keep and bench as players. I'm sure that Reginald has his teams interest as #1 priority," CLG's Dexter suggested, and another writer agreed, "People seem to forget that Regi is 3 for 3 on roster swaps improving the team. If he thinks Xpecial needs to go, he probably does."

By 1:00 am, the shocking news had spread throughout the eSports world. Flooded with tweets from impassioned fans, #Xpecial started trending on twitter. "Just goes to show how big TeamSoloMid and lolesports has gotten," someone posted. "When Xpecial out trends Game of Thrones you know it's been a crazy day."

Reginald addressed the community on Facebook in the wee hours of the morning, stating, "Xpecial was benched because of his attitude. After hearing feedback from the entire team, I made the decision to bench him. In this period of time, I hope that he will refocus and review his actions. League of legends is a team game; just because you have the best players on a team does not mean you have the best team. I have always made my roster decisions based on the entire team's feedback and would never make a business decision because of personal reasons."  

While he gave a rational response to a frustrating situation, it doesn't change the fact that we, as a tight knit family of fans, strongly felt the repercussions. We're involved, and we care, and these stirring micro-dramas are part of what has always made eSports so incredibly compelling. Thankfully, with social media, we have the means with which to express our emotions. Xpecial might be going through a rough patch tonight, but at least he knows he's loved. The feels. They're for real. And we're all in this one together.

*Screenshots from MachinimaVS - Chasing the Cup: Split Ends [Season Finale]