Need Your Expert Opinion On My Arod Bat

[3arod13]

Other than the market being flooded with Arod gamers; not having a photomatch; and the econoy being what it is; any ideas why my Arod bat hasn't moved? Priced too high?

I would think with the good use it shows, and the fact it was used during the last series in Yankee Stadium in 2008, it would have sold pretty fast.

Only reason I'm selling it, is because I have another arod gamer that I have been trying to obtain for the past few years. Seller is finally willing to sell it, so I'm moving some of my other nice Arod pieces to get it.

Your knowledge, comments, and opinions are not only appreciated, but are well respected.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=200378967180&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT

Regards, Tony

[mdube16]

Tony,

I think the market is just soft in general right now but its more that his stuff is just so easy to get. I would think it needs to be in the 1300 or so range to move quickly.

Just my .02

Thanks
Mark

[markize]

Tony,

it definitely is a great looking bat! I think you touched on several of the reasons it's not moving, although, I question economy being one of them. I see collectors paying top dollar for pieces they really want. The arod market is full of bats to choose from, but with the great use on yours, and more so, the final series use, I would think it'll go. That brings up a question..were you unable to find a match? If so, I think that plays into it quite a bit. Most on this site know arod will put whatever inscription on a game used item the handelers tell him to. I question how accurate some inscriptions he adds really are. I think you know first hand this fact (sorry, not pouring salt). I would guess with a solid match, it won't last long. Best of luck getting the new piece.

Mark

[3arod13]

Tony,

it definitely is a great looking bat! I think you touched on several of the reasons it's not moving, although, I question economy being one of them. I see collectors paying top dollar for pieces they really want. The arod market is full of bats to choose from, but with the great use on yours, and more so, the final series use, I would think it'll go. That brings up a question..were you unable to find a match? If so, I think that plays into it quite a bit. Most on this site know arod will put whatever inscription on a game used item the handelers tell him to. I question how accurate some inscriptions he adds really are. I think you know first hand this fact (sorry, not pouring salt). I would guess with a solid match, it won't last long. Best of luck getting the new piece.

Mark

Hey Mark, I did look for a photomatch on gettyimages, but there were so limited pictures from that series. Still searching.

Have many watchers, and a few idiots who enjoy bidding $100, $200, etc. What satisifaction that gives them, I have no idea.

The bat will sell. I have nothing invested in this bat (money that is), so it will sell. The item I'm working on getting is well worth letting this bat go for a good price, to even make the buyer happy.

Thanks, Tony

[markize]

Hey Mark, I did look for a photomatch on gettyimages, but there were so limited pictures from that series. Still searching.

Have many watchers, and a few idiots who enjoy bidding $100, $200, etc. What satisifaction that gives them, I have no idea.

The bat will sell. I have nothing invested in this bat (money that is), so it will sell. The item I'm working on getting is well worth letting this bat go for a good price, to even make the buyer happy.

Thanks, Tony

Tony,

so $200 won't get it done? I guess that $50 offer I was going to make won't work then! Lol. It's hard to imagine such a highly publicized event has so few pictures available. I would think these sites would be overloaded with pics from the series. There are definitely a few spots on the bat that should make for a good match opportunity. Is it too early to say what the chase piece is? If you don't want to put it out here, feel free to email me.

Mark
sirfuzzy@comcast.net

[schubert1970]

1. Roids - After the news broke, the value in his game used stuff has taken a dump

2. Supply & Demand - There are so many Arod bats at the same price, especially HR bats.

3. Arod stuff won't move at a high price again till he does well in the post season or makes a run at the HR record.

4. Jeter, Jeter and Jeter.

[suave1477]

1. Roids - After the news broke, the value in his game used stuff has taken a dump

2. Supply & Demand - There are so many Arod bats at the same price, especially HR bats.

3. Arod stuff won't move at a high price again till he does well in the post season or makes a run at the HR record.

4. Jeter, Jeter and Jeter.


I think all this is a perfect example right now including the Economy being bad.

Also if AROD would of comeback and had an outstanding year it would of sparked stronger interest in his stuff. But since at most he is having an average year (I say average loosely) hurts the sales of his items.

[3arod13]

Great points! I had hope being a bat he used in the last series at Yankee Stadium, vice just a bat he used in any game, would have sparked special interest.

Truly appreciate all your comments. As always, you guys are on point!

Regards, Tony

[suave1477]

Tony im not sure how desperate you are to move the bat but what I would suggest is hold on to it. See how AROD does next season. If he starts getting back on track to AROD of the past, then list it. Chances are you will get what your looking for it or more.

Or at least wait till see how he does in the post season of this year. If he starts doing well (Which would be a miracle). That may also start sparking more interest in his items.

[karamaxjoe]

Suave makes a great point. I would guess the value of AROD stuff is pretty flat right now based on his lifestyle, average season and the economy. All he needs to do is hammer the ball in the post season and win a ring and that bat will skyrocket. I would pull the bat from ebay once the post season starts and pray for AROD to make his mark.

For your sake I hope AROD turns it around this post season. My status as a Yankee hater precludes me from cheering for him.;)

[3arod13]

Tony im not sure how desperate you are to move the bat but what I would suggest is hold on to it. See how AROD does next season. If he starts getting back on track to AROD of the past, then list it. Chances are you will get what your looking for it or more.

Or at least wait till see how he does in the post season of this year. If he starts doing well (Which would be a miracle). That may also start sparking more interest in his items.

I agree that's the best way to go. But not having anything invested in this bat, and the fact that I'm chasing a gamer that I have been wanting to get for some time now, I'll move the bat. I know I'm better of holding onto it, but I think you diehard game used collectors can understand where I'm coming from.

I truly appreciate all the comments. You all are a class act!

Regards, Tony

[sammy]

Well, you have had 3 offers, which have been turned down.

Why don't you state what you are willing to take, bottom line, since you don't have any money in the bat?

Perhaps you can end this soon and buy your other item, either with a purchase through eBay, or on here.

[3arod13]

Well, you have had 3 offers, which have been turned down.

Why don't you state what you are willing to take, bottom line, since you don't have any money in the bat?

Perhaps you can end this soon and buy your other item, either with a purchase through eBay, or on here.

The offers were $200, $300, and $500. Enough said about that.

Those who have contacted me and asked, that's exactly what I did. I'm not going to state a price, when I may get offerred more. Hence the "buy it now" and "Make and offer."

[3arod13]

Well, you have had 3 offers, which have been turned down.

Why don't you state what you are willing to take, bottom line, since you don't have any money in the bat?

Perhaps you can end this soon and buy your other item, either with a purchase through eBay, or on here.

Per GUU rules, you can't post selling an item in GUU, if you're selling elsewhere (ebay, etc.).

The intent of my post was only to get the opinions of you all on why the bat wasn't selling. Many GUU members view ebay on a daily basis, so I'm sure many are well aware of my Arod bat on ebay.

There are many Arod gamers out there. Many with inscriptions that I think are useless (the house that ruth built; chicks dig the long ball, etc.).

I felt with being a gamer that Arod used in the last series at Yankees Stadium in 2008 would definately draw interest.

There are some GUU members who have emailed me via ebay and asked what I would take. I provided them a price. But for ebay, I'll let the "buy it now" and "Make an offer" do its thing.

Regards, Tony


I felt that with

[CollectGU]

Although it is a nice arod gamer, I feel that the inscription is silly and adds zero value. The fact that is was inscribed as used in the last series of yankee stadium as though that in some way enhances its value to me is silly and actually a turn off. Also, Arod HR bats from his early years can now be had for the same price as your bat and they seem to be a better investment.. Just my 2 cents, I hope that you get a good offer.

Best,
Dave

[3arod13]

Although it is a nice arod gamer, I feel that the inscription is silly and adds zero value. The fact that is was inscribed as used in the last series of yankee stadium as though that in some way enhances its value to me is silly and actually a turn off. Also, Arod HR bats from his early years can now be had for the same price as your bat and they seem to be a better investment.. Just my 2 cents, I hope that you get a good offer.

Best,
Dave

Dave, thanks for your comments. This is the reason I wanted to get all of your opinions. Collectors look for different things. Some like inscriptions; some like items signed; some don't like them signed; etc.

I personally like the inscription. Without it, it's just a signed game used bat. For me, being used in the last series of old Yankee Stadium, makes it better than just a gamer in a regular game.

Truly appreciate all opinions and comments.

Regards, Tony

[joelsabi]

There were some ARod items from the last game at Yankee Stadium that interested me and sadly lost on the bidding. I was thinking if this bat was used in the last game of the series they would have used the "last game" inscription instead of the "last series" inscription. I figured it wasn't used in the last game.

[sportscrazy13]

Me being a big AROD collector I don't like his odd long inscriptions he uses. I'd rather have just "game used" or "game used HR#". I think your bat in todays bad market would get somewhere over 1K. After he retires and hopefully gets voted in the HOF, I think it's a 5K+ bat. With it being used in the final series at OYS I think would only increase it's value as time goes on. JMO

Gary

[kingjammy24]

i do not feel the bat is likely to increase in value over time. i feel it's actually more likely to decrease. the current prices of Arod bats already have him being a HOFer built into them. people know Arod's performance. they know his stats. when he hit #500, noone was surprised and his bats didn't suddenly surge in value because when he was at #300, people knew he'd hit 500. the current expectation is that Arod will eventually hit 600 and that if he retired today, he'd make the HOF. those current expectations are already built into the current prices.

the reason i feel the bat is likely to decrease in value is because of the grotesque oversupply that is sure to continue for many, many years to come. people will be tripping over these things for decades. anytime you go on ebay, there are always around 8-10 Arod gamers with Arod certs. it's just going to get worse and worse. in 5 yrs, i imagine there'll be 20 Arod gamers any given day on ebay. he's cranking these things out like there's no tomorrow so i don't see how prices can possibly increase. so what if he has a good 2010? people are expecting him to! they're expecting that he'll hit 600. they'll expect he'll make the HOF. this isn't like josh hamilton coming back from the dead and all of a sudden his items start climbing in value. hamilton's items increased because he defied expectations. the best Arod can do at this point is meet expectations. my 2 cents: from here until he retires, Arod items will very gradually decline because of the overwhelming supply. when the world eventually ends, there'll only 2 things left on earth.. cockroaches and black C271 Arod gamers with ESM/MVP certs.

tony, your boy just killed things with the oversupply. look at griffey..mark murphy has griffey-certed game-used jerseys from the early 90s that he can't get rid of for around the mid $2k. a pujols-certed gamer by contrast would easily fetch twice that. why is that? griffey is surefire first-ballot HOFer with 600 HRs and no steroid talk! why is pujols worth twice as much? because unlike griffey, pujols hasn't flooded the market for years. pujols-certed jerseys are very hard to find. go on a search for Arod game-used bats and you'l find dozens and dozens and dozens. it's only going to get worse because it seems that every year he just cranks out more and more.

rudy.

[karamaxjoe]

The silence is deafening after your comments Rudy.

I 100% agree with you on all points except for one. I believe the value in Arods bats would spike if he finally showed up in the postseason and won a ring. There's a lot of casual, clueless collectors out there who would pay an inflated premium to have one of Arods bats once he overcomes his postseason jinx. Once the hype is over the bats would return to their stagnant level and slowly decrese with the supply constantly rolling in.

The concept of supply and demand doesn't seem to matter to a lot of collectors these days. I would guess most of the guys on this forum collects bats and jerseys from heavily marketed modern players with little care if their stuff is rare or not. I find it much more rewarding when I add a rare item to my collection rather than an item I could find at any time, but that's just my opinion. We all collect stuff for different reasons.

Didn't we learn anything from the baseball card crash in the early 90's?

[earlywynnfan]

This is why I'm happy to keep my nice, simple, autographed AROD Rangers bat. I'm not a Yankee, so I don't care if it's not NY. It matches everything, has a plain auto, and great use, and I got it for $300. If his stuff tanks, it'll have to tank a heck of a lot to go below $300.

Ken
earlywynnfan5@hotmail.com

[joelsabi]

The silence is deafening after your comments Rudy.

I 100% agree with you on all points except for one. I believe the value in Arods bats would spike if he finally showed up in the postseason and won a ring. There's a lot of casual, clueless collectors out there who would pay an inflated premium to have one of Arods bats once he overcomes his postseason jinx. Once the hype is over the bats would return to their stagnant level and slowly decrese with the supply constantly rolling in.

The concept of supply and demand doesn't seem to matter to a lot of collectors these days. I would guess most of the guys on this forum collects bats and jerseys from heavily marketed modern players with little care if their stuff is rare or not. I find it much more rewarding when I add a rare item to my collection rather than an item I could find at any time, but that's just my opinion. We all collect stuff for different reasons.

Didn't we learn anything from the baseball card crash in the early 90's?


ARod regular season bats are in large supply. There isn't a week on Ebay where there arent at least 5 regular season bats on sale. I never feel the urgency to get a regular ARod bat. I know they will always be there.


ARod may have the most documented HR bats available of any player ever but only around 10% of these bats have become available. Where are the rest of the HR bats? Were they given out as gifts? Some have. Are they in his personal collection? Maybe some milestone ones. Will these HR bats ever show up in the hobby in the future? Maybe.

I agree, one more spike if he contributes to a Yankee championship. And another spike solely due to Yankee collectors if he ends up contributing on a dynastic Yankee team.

[kingjammy24]

I agree, one more spike if he contributes to a Yankee championship. And another spike solely due to Yankee collectors if he ends up contributing on a dynastic Yankee team.

yes. because the expectation is that he won't win a ring and won't contribute substantially to a dynastic yankee team. current expectation is that he's a post-season choke artist and a clubhouse cancer. spikes would occur if he surpasses expectations. current expectations for arod are 40+ HR seasons, tons more all-star games, 600 HRs, HOF. is he really going to exceed those by a substantial margin? good luck.

rudy.

[3arod13]

Thanks for all the comments. Don't think Rudy helped my cause much, but he's right.

That's the one thing I don't like about Arod. He just floods and floods the market with way too much stuff. If you have an arod gamer, well so does everyone else, and then some. I agree that having a gamer with just a nice signature looks nicer. But there are thousands of those.

That's the reason I do like an added inscription, depending on what it is. "Chicks did the long ball" and "The house that Ruth built" I don't care much for.

Being that this bat was used in the last series at old Yankee Stadium is pretty nice. Has some added significance other than just game used in any other game or series.

I still say it's an awesome gamer bat (pictures don't do it justice), and for the price, it's a steal. I honestly am shocked it hasn't sold at even the current "buy it now" price.

As many said, once Arod gets hot again, and if he does become significant in the post season, his stuff will move again.

As always, I do appreciate all of your comments and opinions.

Regards, Tony

[kingjammy24]

If you have an arod gamer, well so does everyone else, and then some.

bingo. that's exactly it in a nutshell. honestly, i don't think any athlete in any of the 4 major sports has ever flooded the market like arod. collect arod because you're a fan of his but if you're expecting his stuff to appreciate, i think you'll likely be disappointed. the amount of his stuff out there is staggering and it's only going to get worse and worse each year. he began marketing his items way back in 1995 for pete's sake with mill creek/coast to coast. then ASI, ESM, MVP, etc., etc. and it wasn't like he only donated small amounts of really pristine items. he donated everything..socks 'n jocks, bats and caps, if he touched it for a minute, he wrote "game used" on it and sent it on down. BP bats, regular season bats, post-season bats, spring training bats, etc. i'm surprised he didn't accidentally send his daughter to MVP with "game used" written on her forehead.

i just checked ebay and mvp and as of right now, there are at least 14 gamers available all with arod certs and many of them "notable" bats. i'm willing to bet MVP doesn't put its entire arod inventory on its website. they likely have another 15-20 in the wings and those are only 2 sources. i'm guessing private dealers/collectors and other websites would probably add another 10 to the mix so on any given day you've probably got your choice of 40 or so arod gamers constantly available. i just don't see how prices can rise with this glut if all he does is continue having the seasons everyone already expects him to have. my guess is that by the time arod retires, his bats might be going for less than $1k a piece because, as tony said, everyone has one and then some. he's not a very popular player and already is no longer considered the best player in baseball even though he's in his prime so where's all the demand going to come from to keep this huge supply at high prices? he's producing more bats than there are arod fans.

http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/1412/arodt.jpg

conversely, i typed in "albert pujols game used bat" on ebay and here are the current results:

http://img199.imageshack.us/img199/9638/pujolsr.jpg

pujols bats with upper deck? 0. pujols bats on the pujols family foundation website? 0.

rudy.

[MSpecht]

when the world eventually ends, there'll only 2 things left on earth.. cockroaches and black C271 Arod gamers with ESM/MVP certs.


rudy.

Hmmmmm...I wouldn't bet against Keith Richards.

Mike jackitout7@aol.com

[joelsabi]

I still say it's an awesome gamer bat (pictures don't do it justice), and for the price, it's a steal. I honestly am shocked it hasn't sold at even the current "buy it now" price.



Tony,

Your buy now price is very fair. I would rather have your bat at $1400 than the regular 2009 game used bat that just sold for $1300.

[3arod13]

Tony,

Your buy now price is very fair. I would rather have your bat at $1400 than the regular 2009 game used bat that just sold for $1300.

Joel, I agree. A 2009 gamer...nice. A 2008 gamer used in final series at old Yankee Stadium in 2008, nicer.

I'm just selling this bat away from getting my dream gamer. From the time I saw this bat, I wanted it. Asked the owner to contact me if they ever decided to sell it, and they recently did. Since then, I'm now scrambling to sell whatever I can to obtain the funds to buy it.

I sold my Arod HR#1 Signed Ticket and my 3 1994 Arod signed baseballs. That's how bad I want this gamer. And when I get it, you will all understand.

Regards, Tony

[whatupyos]

Tony:

Just thought I'd ask a simple question. Are you dear set at your price? I'm just thinking out load here. If I came across a piece that I really wanted such as you have....would it kill you to come down in price, enough to where you'd get a good amount for it, just less than what you have? I feel you on the tiny offers of like $200.00. I'd assume you know this already, and if you do, forgive me but cant' you set an automatic decline on tiny offers? I.E. set the BIN price at $800.00 as an example, so that EBAY automatically declines all offers smaller than that?

I'm not suggesting that you lower it to try and buy the bat myself at a cheaper price so please don't think I'm trying to do that. I've tried to sell stuff so I could at least get what I paid for it (tough to do since I am more than happy to go over a fair market price for a piece I want), but its a suggestion.

Good luck to you, I hope you can make it all work out in the end.

Aaron

[3arod13]

Tony:

Just thought I'd ask a simple question. Are you dear set at your price? I'm just thinking out load here. If I came across a piece that I really wanted such as you have....would it kill you to come down in price, enough to where you'd get a good amount for it, just less than what you have? I feel you on the tiny offers of like $200.00. I'd assume you know this already, and if you do, forgive me but cant' you set an automatic decline on tiny offers? I.E. set the BIN price at $800.00 as an example, so that EBAY automatically declines all offers smaller than that?

I'm not suggesting that you lower it to try and buy the bat myself at a cheaper price so please don't think I'm trying to do that. I've tried to sell stuff so I could at least get what I paid for it (tough to do since I am more than happy to go over a fair market price for a piece I want), but its a suggestion.

Good luck to you, I hope you can make it all work out in the end.

Aaron

Aaron, thanks for you comments and advice. I'm struggling with how to do this. Don't want my "Buy it now" price to be too low, because buyers will then expect to get it for even a lower price. If I keep the "Buy it now" price too high, then many assume I won't go too much lower than my "Buy it now" price.

I got offers from some here, but many want it way too cheap. Some so they can resell to make a proffit. Understandable, as I do the same myself to support my collecting.

I have a certain price I want (need) to get for it. I believe a very fair price for this bat. Maybe I can indcate that in my auction comments. First to offer $_______ will get it. Maybe that would help.

I understand Arod's numbers aren't his usual this year (well, he has missed a lot of games this year), but we all know, if he does something in the post-season, and the Yankess win the World Series, then that changes everything.

The price I hope to get for this bat is a good deal for boy myself, and the potential buyer. Bat shows great use.

Regards, Tony

[3arod13]

Aaron, thanks for you comments and advice. I'm struggling with how to do this. Don't want my "Buy it now" price to be too low, because buyers will then expect to get it for even a lower price. If I keep the "Buy it now" price too high, then many assume I won't go too much lower than my "Buy it now" price.

I got offers from some here, but many want it way too cheap. Some so they can resell to make a proffit. Understandable, as I do the same myself to support my collecting.

I have a certain price I want (need) to get for it. I believe a very fair price for this bat. Maybe I can indcate that in my auction comments. First to offer $_______ will get it. Maybe that would help.

I understand Arod's numbers aren't his usual this year (well, he has missed a lot of games this year), but we all know, if he does something in the post-season, and the Yankess win the World Series, then that changes everything.

The price I hope to get for this bat is a good deal for both myself, and the potential buyer. Bat shows great use.

Regards, Tony

Best offerred I received was $950. Maybe indicating in my auction a bottom line price would help, so people know what I'm looking for.

[kingjammy24]

tony

from a basic economic perspective, if an item isn't selling then it's usually because the price isn't right. even with undesireable items, there's always a price low enough for it to sell to someone. look how well walmart does. there are a few things i don't understand here:

1) you say you have nothing invested in the bat yet you apparently won't go below a certain monetary amount. $950 isn't good enough for a bat in which you have $0 invested? that's a $950 profit on a bat. how much more profit do you want? if you'd bought the bat at $950 and sold it only a few months later for $1900 everyone would say you made a killing yet that's still the same $950 profit. you're gonna sit and twist in the wind for who knows how long over another $300? by that time, will your grail even still be available?

2) why don't you run it like a normal auction and let the market decide what the bat is worth? you say you have a certain price you want to get for the bat. the price you want is irrelevant for the sake of the bat selling. the bat will sell for the market rate, regardless of the price you need or want. if you want to sell the bat, then let the market sort out the price. or you can be like rob mitchell and his black betsy and let the thing sit there for years on end because he and the market apparently don't agree on the worth. you believe the price is "very fair" and "a good deal" but if it were both wouldn't it have sold? you can't stop the market from acting. if something really is a good deal, wouldn't you necessarily get multiple bidders? or is everyone just sitting on the sidelines stupidly refusing to buy a good deal?

3) the other thing i don't understand is your apprehension in pricing the bat "too low". you've got it in an auction. it's not a fixed-price system. there is no such thing as "too low" because the market will naturally bid it up to its real worth. the lower the opening bid, the more people will be involved and they'll naturally bid against each other up to the market rate anyway and, if a bidding frenzy mentality sets in, then it may even go above the market rate. if it ends up selling at $950, then that's what the bat is worth. you say that people who've made offers want to buy the bat cheaply so they can resell it and make a profit. to who? to buyers that apparently you can't find? you don't have buyers at $1400 but they do? you've got it on ebay for pete's sake..it's exposed to at least 50 million people. why don't you deliberately underprice it and see what the market does? can't afford to let it potentially go at $950? sure you can ..you have $0 invested in it. everything above $0 is just gravy.

anyway, looks like my hypothesis of arod gamers one day selling for under $1k is already happening. lelands doesn't have many auctions but it seems to me the auctions they do have typically fetch good prices. june 2009 auction that recently ended, heavily used arod bat with arod's "game used" inscription on a 2005 gamer:

http://www.lelands.com/bid.aspx?lot=586&auctionid=905

rudy.

[schubert1970]

I know for a fact that AROD has a few milestone bats that you'll need to fork out big bucks, and he's willing to wait. The bat that passed Mick on the All Time HR list - 20k. The dealers won't give Alex the 20k, because they beleive with their markup on the item, no one will buy it. Since Alex isn't hurting for cash, he'll just hang on to it.

I forked out big $ for my bat, but it didn't buy it for profit, just for my enjoyment and wanted something really special. Knowing what Alex now wants for milestone bats, glad I got mine because I could afford 20k. Will my bat retain it's value...don't know. It's only worth what someone is willing to pay.

I think Rudy makes a lot of valid points.

[gamer35]

I am chiming in late on this thread, but how do you not "have anything invested " in this bat? Are you implying that you received it for free?

Also, I agree with Rudy, the best indicator of the true market value is to let the auction run its course in a normal auction setting with the high bid representing the true market price.

[kingjammy24]

assuming the auction is 100% clean, it's the most accurate and purest way to ascertain true market value. put it into the market, let everyone place their bid and the highest bid wins. the unfettered spirit of the free market at its best. what a beautiful thing. you can sit here and talk all day long about how much the bat should be worth and what it might sell for but it's all useless conjecture. you want to know what the bat is really worth? start it out at $1, no reserves, and let the infallible laws of supply and demand take hold. ebay gives you that remarkable opportunity at a very low cost and exposes it to a global audience.

"I know for a fact that AROD has a few milestone bats that you'll need to fork out big bucks, and he's willing to wait. The bat that passed Mick on the All Time HR list - 20k. The dealers won't give Alex the 20k, because they beleive with their markup on the item, no one will buy it. Since Alex isn't hurting for cash, he'll just hang on to it."

even if dealers had 0 markup, who'd pay $20k for an arod bat these days? for $20k you could buy yourself a mantle gamer and have the bat of a guy who didn't juice, didn't flood the market with bats, and will be regarded as one of the most popular icons in all of american sports for decades to come. there are no more mantle gamers coming down the pipe, the supply is fixed. conversely, there'll be boxloads of arod bats coming out every year for the next 6+ yrs. whatever their value is now, is it going to increase when 500 more bats are released onto the market?

anyway, i love the story of mr. $500mm not willing to sell his bat for anything less than $20k. rather than keeping such a great bat, he's selling it for what amounts to pocket change for him. even better is the fact that he won't sell it for $10k because he really wants to get $20k for it. maybe he needs the extra $10k to finally get that 1991 buick regal he's always wanted? classic arod. i imagine he spends friday nights clipping coupons and hunting local grocery stores for day old bread.

"I'm keeping everything, are you kidding me?" said Rodriguez, who then showed reporters the bat he used and the jersey he wore on Tuesday. "This is my daughter's jersey at some point, you know?"

not if someone can cough up $20k! sorry kid, daddy needed the money.

http://img44.imageshack.us/img44/2497/arodl.jpg

rudy.

[3arod13]

Thanks for all comments and opinions. Truly appreciated.

Regards, Tony

[schubert1970]

even if dealers had 0 markup, who'd pay $20k for an arod bat these days? for $20k you could buy yourself a mantle gamer and have the bat of a guy who didn't juice, didn't flood the market with bats, and will be regarded as one of the most popular icons in all of american sports for decades to come. there are no more mantle gamers coming down the pipe, the supply is fixed. conversely, there'll be boxloads of arod bats coming out every year for the next 6+ yrs. whatever their value is now, is it going to increase when 500 more bats are released onto the market?

rudy.

I would still think the bat that passed Mantle would be a 1 of 1. How would there be more of these hitting the market? Although they are overpriced, I still think they are unique.