Plainview resident Les Wolff is truly living his dream—he’s making a living collecting, buying and auctioning autographed sports memorabilia. It’s something that he’s been interested in with a passion since his early childhood.
“As a kid I used to collect the newspapers whenever the Yankees would win, but my mom would never let me keep them,” he said. “So I put them under the radiator in the hall of the apartment building in Queens where we lived. They lasted there for about six months until the janitor finally threw them out. And it just expanded from there.”
Wolff—owner of Les Wolff Worldwide Sports and Entertainment LLC—is a trailblazer of sorts, delving into memorabilia auctioning well before websites such as eBay even existed. He’s made a name for himself as the man who can get you the autographed goods that you’ve been scouring the Earth for, no matter how hard it is to find.
As time went by, Wolff continued to collect things like newspapers and baseball cards, but he didn’t truly get into what would become his lifelong bread-and-butter, autographs, until he reached high school, when he and some friends attended a New York Jets football practice session.
“Before that I thought it was silly getting someone’s autograph, but after meeting Jets such as Joe Namath and getting their autographs and talking with them, it just changed my whole perspective on the hobby,” he said. “It became an obsession and I started collecting everyone’s autograph in every sport. In fact, the only day I ever cut high school was to go meet Muhammad Ali and I ended up getting my picture in the paper with him.”
Wolff’s hobby would put him into contact numerous times with Ali, eventually acquiring a large collection of his memorabilia and even appearing on a TNT cable TV special with the legendary professional boxer.
Wolff’s collection is quite extensive; a favorite amongst the items he has acquired over the years are the official postcards that are released whenever a pro baseball player is inducted into the Hall of Fame, each signed by the athlete in question. He also has the autograph of every Heisman Trophy winner, as well as a plethora of autographs and memorabilia from boxing, football and pretty much everything, he said.
Soon, the cost of his collecting began to become rather unwieldy. Thus, Wolff said, he was forced to come up with a solution that was, at the time, both novel and, ultimately, quite entrepreneurial.
“I had to start selling my duplicate autographs in order to keep my addiction going, which is something that I continue to do to this day,” he said. “All throughout high school and college I actually paid all my own expenses by selling my memorabilia and it’s how I actually make a living today, full-time. It’s gotten to the point that all the major baseball card companies have been buying the autographs that go on the cards of deceased players from me.”
Married with two children, Wolff is fortunate enough to have found a spouse that not only allows him to pursue his hobby/career as he sees fit, but even shares in its enjoyment with him.
“My wife and I used to do baseball stadiums and to date we’ve done all of them but three,” he said. “Now that my eldest son is away at college it’s more difficult, but she really enjoyed it and is very supportive.”
In addition to being able to procure just about any item featuring the John Hancock of your favorite sporting star, Wolff can do one better by getting you the real live person who actually signed those items for your next big party or event. Over his years of collecting, Wolff has established relationships with a number of big-name sports legends and if you are interested (and can afford them), you could have just about any athlete you could dream of sitting next to you while you cut your birthday cake.
“You tell me which athlete you want to have come to an event and I’ll contact them and tell you how much money it’ll cost you. Whether it’s a Bar Mitzvah, a birthday party, a golf outing or a dinner. You name it, I’ll get them to come,” he said. “I also get a lot of athletes for events benefiting charities. Currently, I’m trying to get George Foreman to come to a dinner benefiting the Buoniconti Fund to cure paralysis.”
Other sports greats Wolff has rubbed elbows with over the years include Hank Aaron, Mickey Mantle, Bill Bradley, Joe Namath, Wayne Gretzky, Joe Frazier, Jack Dempsey, Joe Louis, Joe Dimaggio and Thurman Munson, among many, many more. It’s enough to drive any self-respecting sports fan mad with jealousy and it’s how this lucky man makes his living. As they say, do what you love for a living and you’ll never work a day in your life.
“It feels great. I’m an entrepreneur,” he said. “Not many people can wake up in the morning and say that they love what they do. I’m the reason why I do what I do. Because it’s what I love.”
To find out more about Les Wolff and to view his extensive array of authentic memorabilia for sale, visit www.leswolffsportsllc.com.
