Tell me why the use on this bat looks fake

[kingjammy24]

it was shown that this bat was originally purchased as a mint, perfectly clean "game issue". ( http://www.gameuseduniverse.com/vb_forum/showthread.php?t=5196 ) it was then doctored with fake use. i'm interested in having some bat experts point out if and how they can tell whether any of the specific use on this bat looks questionable. i imagine one red flag is that, for a bat that's supposed to be around 12+ yrs old, the pine tar looks remarkably fresh. what other specific pieces of "use" look odd? what are some signs that the use on a bat has been manufactured?

http://img113.imageshack.us/img113/82/batwv4.jpg

http://img185.imageshack.us/img185/6725/bat2qx5.jpg

thanks,

rudy.

[staindsox]

i think you're on to something here. just like the pine tar, those nicks, dings, and gouges in the wood sure look fresh and clean for being that old.

[Swoboda4]

The pine tar should be dry to the touch by now. I recently purchased a bat with pine tar and after a couple of months the pine tar was not sticky anymore. To tell you the truth the number 33 written on the top and bottom of the bat looks very good. That's the best part of this fake.
And like what was just mentioned the dings are too fresh looking exposing very clean wood.

[GameBats]

Considering the amount of pine tar applied the bat should be hammered with ink transfers and seam marks.

[metsbats]

I'm not a Canseco expert, but of all the Canseco gamers that I"ve owned I 've never see the pine tar where it is on this bat. I've typically had Canseco gamers with the pine tar concentrated on the handle. I've seen this type of pine tar on a 90's Worth and 2 1999 Rawlings Devil Ray Home run bats which I obtained direct from Juan Iglesias.

-David

[CansecoPower33]

This bat looks familiar.

I had the bat sent to my fiancee before picking it up, and the first thing she mentioned was the tar being somewhat tacky. From the first photos I saw of the bat, the placement of the tar above the handle raised some suspicion. You're right metsbats, Canseco rubbed tar on the handle only, and never this thick.

The ball marks on the bat are nowhere near as deep the marks on other Canseco gamers I've seen, and the "rack marks" look overdone.

Most Cooper gamers I've seen have better grain. Maybe that's why this one never saw so much as a swing.

[Canseco44]

I have two game used bats from Jose's stint at Long Beach this summer and the tar is still tacky so much that if you grip the bat your hands will still be sticky. I have to agree also, out of my nearly 30 game bats, not one has the tar extend that far. I have also never seen that much tar on one before. And I'm sure he has done it before, but 99% of the time his number will not be on the end of the barrel, also you have to ask yourself why it is not cracked. Usually the only way a collector will end up with an uncracked bat is if it has some significance.

Todd Ricks

[cjmedina1]

A red flag for me is why green 33 on the knob and black 33 on the top.:confused:

[CansecoPower33]

A red flag for me is why green 33 on the knob and black 33 on the top.:confused:

Done at different times by a different hand. The hand writing doesn't match.

[eGameUsed]

Looks to me as if the bat was once signed in green, with an added #33 on the barrel to the left of the barrel markings. Anyone else see that?

[GrndSlm]

I tend to agree that the pine tar should have been dry by now...Jose stopped using that lable Cooper in the early to mid 90's. I remember a fan in Boston asking him to sign a Cooper bat like this one and Jose switched it for one of his ZETT models that he was using at the time. That was in 1996 and Jose could not obtain those model Coopers anymore. So, if that bat was used during that time the tar must not be sticky at all... Now, the number 33 being in different colors does not worry me as much. There could be a number of reasons for that but Jose normally did not number the top of the barrel. He has but not normally......

thanks,
Juan Iglesias
GrndSlm@aol.com

[CansecoPower33]

Yeah, there was an inscription wiped off the barrel when I received it. It was in faded green marker. It's my belief that someone tried to fake an inscription also, but later thought better of it and wiped it away.

Hope you're all having a wonderful Christmas.