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It has been close to two years since I demonstrated a situation where our hobby’s faith in an exclusive game used dealer (early JO Sports Reference Thread) had been badly unfounded. Saddened as I am to do so, I today need to share observations about another marketer who is defacing our hobby and my family’s favorite athlete.
I won’t hazard a guess as to whether legal consequences will beset Kevin Freistat doing business as KLF Sports. But I am curious myself the extent to which other “exclusive” relationships Freistat/KLF or other marketers have with player agent Dan Lozano’s athletes are similarly tarnishing our hobby. I invite additional observations from other collectors who are expert in the game used items of Lozano signed players including Alex Rodriguez, Albert Pujols, and Joey Votto. In discussing the observations below with another collector, he suggested game used product problems have followed the player/agent regardless which non-team 3rd party held the then-current player relationship at the time.
My own observations regarding Freistat/KLF marketed items relate to the player my family passionately commemorates and collects, Joey Votto. Perhaps the saddest element in this particular instance is if any Votto bats/helmets/jerseys offered by KLF Sports are/were fully legitimate, their proceeds should (by terms of MLB’s CBA) be raising proceeds for the non-profit Reds Community Fund. The Community Fund provides a number of baseball themed outreach programs to under-privileged youth. While players at good member teams across the league are culturally encouraged to keep milestone items for themselves, the club has complete ownership and control of items like bats, helmets and jerseys according to the CBA. I don’t think anybody takes any issue with that. In the Reds organization, legitimate items are marketed exclusively by Reds Authentics with proceeds benefitting the Reds Community Fund. If a player’s agent did encourage the player to effectively steal items for economic use, they are usurping the charitable foundation’s economic benefit. For the person handling Joey’s economic and PR affairs, this seems a foolish counter-action to the intentions announced with Votto’s 12-year extention. It is the player who reaps or determine who reaps financial benefits (when desired) by signing their autograph. I’ve got to think that an agent directing players to steal proceeds of team owned items from a charity isn’t helping that player’s endorsement prospects. And frankly, isn’t that where there’s much more money.
Clearly, I believe an agent seeking to generate financial gain on team-owned game used merchandise that would otherwise raise money for charity is a fool’s errand. Anyway, it’s the execution of this “fools errand” that draws particular eire. I’m not a court of law and I am not going to call the marketing of these items “fraud”. That isn’t for me to determine. Rather, I’m just going to be transparent about what I know.
The purported 2010 bat used in the All Star game was auctioned through eBay and was sold to a member on our forum in October, with the bat shown in the listing inscribed “GU ’10 AS”. When our forum member received the bat, it was a different bat with different use and a different inscription. Sounds like an innocent shipping accident ; perhaps it was a shipping accident.
But here is where it gets complex. The bat our forum member received is NOT the bat inscribed “GU ’10 AS”, advertised as Votto’s ’10 ASG bat. Yet the bat was kept was kept by the buyer who says it actually was a clear photomatch to AP image 102875341 (from the actual game). Even after all this was said to be communicated to Freistat/KLF by our forum member, the only bat ever marketed which is inscribed “GU ’10 AS” is again offered by KLF on eBay.
Who wouldn’t love to buy a bat different from the one that is photomatched for $8,900? The description includes text “This bat was used during the 2010 ALL-STAR GAME”, “BAT IN THE AUCTION IS THE ONE YOU WILL RECEIVE,” and even notes “FULL LETTER FROM PSA”. The actual PSA letter states “Joey Votto has inscribed the item as being used in the 2010 All Star Game. We have reviewed photographs of Votto at the plate and though a photo match cannot be confirmed, we can confirm a model match with the same contact area on the black barrel.” Votto did have two at bats in the game. If marketed by a person/entity who knows whether he used a different bat for the other at bat, I could envision a legitimate seller advertising each bat as a bat used for one (of two) ASG game at bats.
Some other glimpses may afford a context to whether the description lacks context, or whether the inscription and marketing are blatantly false. If we look at another KLF eBay listing, we find a 2011 spring training/bp jersey (“Sparky Patch”) with a 2012 Game Used Inscription. Possibly an honest inscription error; albeit one that I can’t envision occurring under expert control standards of Reds Authentics. Even if merely negligent, I’m told the seller has been made aware of the issue. The listing still does not reflect the mismatched year.
Another KLF eBay auction recently closed provided a jersey in the MLB database not under “Game Used Jersey” but under “PLAYER COLLECTED ITEM”. The listing says “JERSEY WAS SOLD DIRECT TO KLF SPORTS, EXCLUSIVE CLIENT”. However, calls to the Reds do not confirm they were the supplier of this jersey. However little wear is apparent on the property tag, Votto may have worn this jersey. When marketed though, a fully transparent listing would specify what MLB database it is in (because the standards of authentication are different) and should not imply that it was acquired direct by the legally rightful direct supplier (per CBA, the Reds). Perhaps it’s a credit to the Reds collecting community that the jersey was not popular on eBay. It closed for far less than Jerseys raise for the Reds Community Fund through Reds Authentics. If not an instance where some questioned its legitimacy, buyers may merely show themselves content to spend more for a charity. I certainly prefer to buy with proceeds going to the Reds Community Fund.
Perhaps the most obvious problematic current KLF eBay listing is the purported game used throwback jersey. This one isn’t even in the Player Collected MLB database, and no wonder. These jerseys were worn on August 22nd, 2012. They are gorgeous and Reds Authentics raised great money for the Reds Community Fund selling a number of them MLB Authenticated as game used. Although Freistat/KLF is offering a generic LOA with Votto’s signature in the listing saying the Freistat/KLF item was “Game used by me personally”, I’ve been reminded by one of KLF’s customers who said they discussed already with Kevin Freistat that Votto wasn’t even travelling with the club at the time.
We can only speculate on who causes these items to be signed as they are signed. Perhaps one hint is embedded in an item listing that Lozano’s chosen memorabilia dealer (KLF) probably should be exclusively marketing. It is a Reds Votto jersey, and doesn’t have a Reds property tag on it. Its description reads rather clearly “JOEY DOES NOT SIGNED JERSEYS FOR ANYONE, THIS WAS AT KLF SPORTS SIGNING.”
I invite intelligent additions to this thread. I doubt Joey Votto reads this, but if he does I sure hope he knows intelligent folks do not assume he arranges his own supply contracts. I anticipate this thread might afford our community the opportunity to discuss objectively the tendency of disinterest for players represented by certain folks to adhere to the CBA with regard to team ownership of bats, helmets and jerseys – particularly when the rightful beneficiary of those items is a charity. Further, I anticipate this thread may address the difference in marketing ethics between self-interested agents/memorabilia agents in contrast to the standards we’ve come to trust in the traditional MLB game used database.
Building on the topic myself, I’d like to say that none of us should be naive. If Lozano or Votto dislike the Reds Community Fund, they could use Votto’s value to the organization as political influence within the Reds Organization to breach the CBA and Reds Authentics. To us as collectors and as a charitable community, that would be a shame.
I won’t hazard a guess as to whether legal consequences will beset Kevin Freistat doing business as KLF Sports. But I am curious myself the extent to which other “exclusive” relationships Freistat/KLF or other marketers have with player agent Dan Lozano’s athletes are similarly tarnishing our hobby. I invite additional observations from other collectors who are expert in the game used items of Lozano signed players including Alex Rodriguez, Albert Pujols, and Joey Votto. In discussing the observations below with another collector, he suggested game used product problems have followed the player/agent regardless which non-team 3rd party held the then-current player relationship at the time.
My own observations regarding Freistat/KLF marketed items relate to the player my family passionately commemorates and collects, Joey Votto. Perhaps the saddest element in this particular instance is if any Votto bats/helmets/jerseys offered by KLF Sports are/were fully legitimate, their proceeds should (by terms of MLB’s CBA) be raising proceeds for the non-profit Reds Community Fund. The Community Fund provides a number of baseball themed outreach programs to under-privileged youth. While players at good member teams across the league are culturally encouraged to keep milestone items for themselves, the club has complete ownership and control of items like bats, helmets and jerseys according to the CBA. I don’t think anybody takes any issue with that. In the Reds organization, legitimate items are marketed exclusively by Reds Authentics with proceeds benefitting the Reds Community Fund. If a player’s agent did encourage the player to effectively steal items for economic use, they are usurping the charitable foundation’s economic benefit. For the person handling Joey’s economic and PR affairs, this seems a foolish counter-action to the intentions announced with Votto’s 12-year extention. It is the player who reaps or determine who reaps financial benefits (when desired) by signing their autograph. I’ve got to think that an agent directing players to steal proceeds of team owned items from a charity isn’t helping that player’s endorsement prospects. And frankly, isn’t that where there’s much more money.
Clearly, I believe an agent seeking to generate financial gain on team-owned game used merchandise that would otherwise raise money for charity is a fool’s errand. Anyway, it’s the execution of this “fools errand” that draws particular eire. I’m not a court of law and I am not going to call the marketing of these items “fraud”. That isn’t for me to determine. Rather, I’m just going to be transparent about what I know.
The purported 2010 bat used in the All Star game was auctioned through eBay and was sold to a member on our forum in October, with the bat shown in the listing inscribed “GU ’10 AS”. When our forum member received the bat, it was a different bat with different use and a different inscription. Sounds like an innocent shipping accident ; perhaps it was a shipping accident.
But here is where it gets complex. The bat our forum member received is NOT the bat inscribed “GU ’10 AS”, advertised as Votto’s ’10 ASG bat. Yet the bat was kept was kept by the buyer who says it actually was a clear photomatch to AP image 102875341 (from the actual game). Even after all this was said to be communicated to Freistat/KLF by our forum member, the only bat ever marketed which is inscribed “GU ’10 AS” is again offered by KLF on eBay.
Who wouldn’t love to buy a bat different from the one that is photomatched for $8,900? The description includes text “This bat was used during the 2010 ALL-STAR GAME”, “BAT IN THE AUCTION IS THE ONE YOU WILL RECEIVE,” and even notes “FULL LETTER FROM PSA”. The actual PSA letter states “Joey Votto has inscribed the item as being used in the 2010 All Star Game. We have reviewed photographs of Votto at the plate and though a photo match cannot be confirmed, we can confirm a model match with the same contact area on the black barrel.” Votto did have two at bats in the game. If marketed by a person/entity who knows whether he used a different bat for the other at bat, I could envision a legitimate seller advertising each bat as a bat used for one (of two) ASG game at bats.
Some other glimpses may afford a context to whether the description lacks context, or whether the inscription and marketing are blatantly false. If we look at another KLF eBay listing, we find a 2011 spring training/bp jersey (“Sparky Patch”) with a 2012 Game Used Inscription. Possibly an honest inscription error; albeit one that I can’t envision occurring under expert control standards of Reds Authentics. Even if merely negligent, I’m told the seller has been made aware of the issue. The listing still does not reflect the mismatched year.
Another KLF eBay auction recently closed provided a jersey in the MLB database not under “Game Used Jersey” but under “PLAYER COLLECTED ITEM”. The listing says “JERSEY WAS SOLD DIRECT TO KLF SPORTS, EXCLUSIVE CLIENT”. However, calls to the Reds do not confirm they were the supplier of this jersey. However little wear is apparent on the property tag, Votto may have worn this jersey. When marketed though, a fully transparent listing would specify what MLB database it is in (because the standards of authentication are different) and should not imply that it was acquired direct by the legally rightful direct supplier (per CBA, the Reds). Perhaps it’s a credit to the Reds collecting community that the jersey was not popular on eBay. It closed for far less than Jerseys raise for the Reds Community Fund through Reds Authentics. If not an instance where some questioned its legitimacy, buyers may merely show themselves content to spend more for a charity. I certainly prefer to buy with proceeds going to the Reds Community Fund.
Perhaps the most obvious problematic current KLF eBay listing is the purported game used throwback jersey. This one isn’t even in the Player Collected MLB database, and no wonder. These jerseys were worn on August 22nd, 2012. They are gorgeous and Reds Authentics raised great money for the Reds Community Fund selling a number of them MLB Authenticated as game used. Although Freistat/KLF is offering a generic LOA with Votto’s signature in the listing saying the Freistat/KLF item was “Game used by me personally”, I’ve been reminded by one of KLF’s customers who said they discussed already with Kevin Freistat that Votto wasn’t even travelling with the club at the time.
We can only speculate on who causes these items to be signed as they are signed. Perhaps one hint is embedded in an item listing that Lozano’s chosen memorabilia dealer (KLF) probably should be exclusively marketing. It is a Reds Votto jersey, and doesn’t have a Reds property tag on it. Its description reads rather clearly “JOEY DOES NOT SIGNED JERSEYS FOR ANYONE, THIS WAS AT KLF SPORTS SIGNING.”
I invite intelligent additions to this thread. I doubt Joey Votto reads this, but if he does I sure hope he knows intelligent folks do not assume he arranges his own supply contracts. I anticipate this thread might afford our community the opportunity to discuss objectively the tendency of disinterest for players represented by certain folks to adhere to the CBA with regard to team ownership of bats, helmets and jerseys – particularly when the rightful beneficiary of those items is a charity. Further, I anticipate this thread may address the difference in marketing ethics between self-interested agents/memorabilia agents in contrast to the standards we’ve come to trust in the traditional MLB game used database.
Building on the topic myself, I’d like to say that none of us should be naive. If Lozano or Votto dislike the Reds Community Fund, they could use Votto’s value to the organization as political influence within the Reds Organization to breach the CBA and Reds Authentics. To us as collectors and as a charitable community, that would be a shame.
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