“The shoe came back with Jordan’s signature and a certificate,” Stephen recalls with delight.
Fearing he might get scammed, Stephen sent only the right half, paid the amount, and waited a couple of months. The price they agreed on was $1250, or roughly P60,000. And he came across a site that offered this service.Īmong Ron's Kobe Bryant collection: Upper Deck authenticated and inscribed MVP Jersey Panini authenticated Mamba Mentality book Panini authenticated game-worn shoe vs the Boston Celtics () He researched online how he could make His Airness sign a pair of shoes he bought. When he saw Ron’s authenticated Kobe memorabilia, he got pretty envious. But not unlike Ron, he was also a sneakerhead. Ron’s friend Stephen Songco, on the other hand, is a different story. It was an expensive mistake, but it also became a huge learning experience that drove him to learn more about the hobby of collecting sports memorabilia. “So basically, the ball I purchased turned out to be one with a fake signature.” I didn’t know that it had to have certificates,” he recalls. “Back then, I didn’t know that it had to be authenticated.
So to appease himself, he went on eBay and purchased a Spalding basketball autographed by Kobe. But he also found himself utterly disappointed he didn’t get one of the basketballs with the NBA superstar’s signature. That September day he saw Kobe, Ron was overjoyed. At that time, Ron was already a big sneakerhead, collecting every kind of Lakers footwear or merch he could get his hands on. Ron knew that to get his hands on one of those signed balls was a long shot, and that it was clearly impossible to get near Kobe, much less have anything signed by him. Like the others, Ron also made the trip to Ultra where the American baller played an exhibition game and gave away a couple of autographed basketballs.
He was one of the many die-hard LA Lakers fans who lined up overnight at the Nike store in Bonifacio High Street to get a glimpse of the NBA superstar. Kobe Bryant fan Ron Uy clearly remembers the day in September 2007 when the Black Mamba visited Manila.