USED HART HIGH '95 HELMET: PRICELESS.

Byline: GERRY GITTELSON Staff Writer

NEWHALL -- What a marketing tool employed by former Hart High football player Jeff Caravetta of local sports memorabilia store Big League Sports.

It's an authentic Hart High football helmet from 1995's Southern Section Div. II championship team -- complete with opposing-helmets ``stick'' marks and a series of little award stickers.

The Hart helmet is the only item not for sale at Big League Sports, which has been in business on Lyons Avenue for two years and includes such items as $1,495 autographed Michael Jordan jersey.

``Oh, the helmet is priceless,'' said Caravetta, 26, a former reserve lineman. ``Or, let's put it this way: No one has ever made me an acceptable offer.''

At any rate, the helmet draws in a lot of customers, and business is steady.

``At first, a lot of people think it's Kyle Boller's helmet,'' Caravetta said.

Caravetta and his father, Ralph, 55, run the shop.

Ralph has been in the sports memorabilia business on and off for 30 years, starting as a collector of Wayne Gretsky items before opening his first Santa Clarita shop two decades ago. He retired in 1990 after the store got burglarized -- a crime that remains unsolved with no suspects -- before taking a suggestion from his son a couple of years ago to partner in a new sports memorabilia business.

``I think as much as anything else, a store like this is good because it keeps kids off the street,'' Ralph said. ``Business is good, but it's changed from the beginning, when it was just about baseball cards.''

Among the promotions at the store have been autograph sessions with former USC football stars Charles White and Anthony Davis, along with recent appearances by members of the U.S. national softball team. On Saturdays, the store organizes a weekly Yu-Gi-Oh! tournament.

``That tournament really keeps the kids off the streets, too, because we usually have about 30-40 kids in here,'' Ralph said.

Interestingly, the kids admire the Hart helmet as much as signed items from professional sports.

Sometimes, Jeff's longtime friend Marty Crowder, a starting Hart lineman in 1994-1995, switches his own Hart football helmet for Jeff's.

``We don't mind, actually, because Marty's helmet has more stars on it than Jeff's,'' Ralph said. ``It doesn't matter which one we have, though, because they're both marked `priceless.'''

The sports memorabilia business is much more global than it used to be after starting informally among a group of collectors. These days, autographed items must be authenticated, and most of inventory comes from one of four large corporations specializing in wholesale sales.

``I don't know how many times I've seen people come in with stuff, and I tell them, `Hey, I don't think that's real,' and I have to run them off,'' Jeff said. ``There's a lot of stuff I wouldn't touch and wouldn't put in my store.''

Not the cherished Hart helmet, of course. That will be in the store window forever, at least until someone makes an acceptable offer. And who knows when, of if, that will ever be?

gerry.gittelson(at)dailynews.com

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Photo:

Jeff Caravetta, left, and his father, Ralph Caravetta, own and operate Big League Sports in Newhall.

David Crane/Staff Photographer