Junk Game Used

[frikativ54]

The A-Rod HR bat thread got me thinking: is there a certain point at which game used stuff becomes too junky to be desirable? I mean, if a player takes 15 hacks and hits homer 32 of his career, what in and of itself makes that non-milestone HR bat valuable in the first place? In my opinion, it's one thing if you can photomatch the bat, and it came from a legitimate milestone, but signing every bat for a different HR seems a bit junky to me.

Moreover, a legitimate game-used piece retains its value because it was pounded with and used until it was beaten up or cracked. I wouldn't want to own one of those A-Rod bats because the inscription seems too contrived to me. The same is the case for some of the so-called limited edition pieces from Steiner. If there are 300 game-model gloves for Alex Rodriguez, what makes any one of those unique? Anyone else feel the same way? Have a differing opinion? I am anxious to read your thoughts on the matter.

[Vintagedeputy]

I think that even a 'run of the mill' home run bat has a slight premium attached to it. The home run is the gem of being a hitter. Its the most popular type of hit, if you will. Lok how many game used bats are broken on foul balls. Sure it was used in a game, but it was lost to an unproductive at bat.

For a player now who hits the 19th HR of his career, its not a big deal. When they retire and have 500+ plus homers, it becomes more important.

[emann]

I agree with the thought regarding the "limited" game model items. Those to me are mostly garbage. I personally even feel that way on game model (or game ready to use a buzzword) bats from any player.

It makes some sense on players that most people could never possibly own (a limited run of game model auto'd Mantle bats for example). But it seems like most of those products center around current players. Why would someone buy a Frank Thomas limited/signed model bat for $200+ when you can get a GU one for another $100 or so?

[frikativ54]

I agree with the thought regarding the "limited" game model items. Those to me are mostly garbage. I personally even feel that way on game model (or game ready to use a buzzword) bats from any player.

Why would you consider "game ready" to be a buzzword? I would pay more for game-ready than game-issued or game-model...

[emann]

Just my opinion on that term... I've seen it dropped into a number of auctions or sellers placing alot of emphasis on that term. To me, it's still not the direct connection to a player that GU has and isn't far above game issued items (and a good amount of times, it might be some unscrupulous type adding a number to the knob and some tar/rack streaks).

[frikativ54]

Just my opinion on that term... I've seen it dropped into a number of auctions or sellers placing alot of emphasis on that term. To me, it's still not the direct connection to a player that GU has...

But, by definition, isn't a game-ready item prepped by a player? For example, a game-ready glove may have oil in the pocket, a few dirt marks, a couple of ball marks, etc. Isn't that still a connection to the player? Maybe it's just me trying to feel better about a game-ready glove that's in my possession...

[skyking26]

HR bats are rare and would be highly sought after as long the provenance matched up and the price is right.

I had an opportunity to buy a Kingman final slam bat this past year. Awesome looking bat, letter from Kingman, signed and denoted on the bat. However, it was a C243 and I had a bat in my posession just like it (virtually identical). While it would have been nice to have for historical purposes, after all the dough I went thru in 08 the significance did not outweigh the pricetag. The bat has sold. I'm glad another owner got a cool piece from a great power hitter.

At the end of the day, we all evaluate and make decisions based on a number of factors...

[frikativ54]

HR bats are rare and would be highly sought after as long the provenance matched up and the price is right.

I had an opportunity to buy a Kingman final slam bat this past year. Awesome looking bat, letter from Kingman, signed and denoted on the bat. However, it was a C243 and I had a bat in my posession just like it (virtually identical). While it would have been nice to have for historical purposes, after all the dough I went thru in 08 the significance did not outweigh the pricetag. The bat has sold. I'm glad another owner got a cool piece from a great power hitter.

At the end of the day, we all evaluate and make decisions based on a number of factors...

That's really cool. But did it say "final slam bat"? It would be one thing if Kingman had a few bats he signed as HR bats; it would be quite another if he were to have used a different bat for every other HR like A-Rod did with ASI. IDK, but there's something about what A-Rod did that cheapens the value of his game-used items. I mean, it seems like every day another A-Rod item is offered on eBay. It is like A-Rod is artificially manufacturing collectibles, and for that reason, I wouldn't want one of those bats in my collection.

[emann]

Actually, I think a game ready glove is a bit better than a bat. The glove at least was probably broken in a bit and it's game used conterpart would be pretty expensive... A significant premium added to a bat that may have had some tar smeared on it or the number added to the knob in sharpie just seems of little interest to me.

I think it also just depends on the collector. If the glove you have is a Bagwell one and you pretty much exclusively collect his items, I can see where any level of his items has value to you.

[godwulf]

It is like A-Rod is artificially manufacturing collectibles, and for that reason, I wouldn't want one of those bats in my collection.

I'm sure we all know the stories about players who supposedly (and maybe they did, in some cases) went into the locker room and changed jerseys between each inning of an historic game. Talk about "manufactured" collectibles!

As for retiring, inscribing and selling each game-used home run bat, that seems like something that most players I've talked with about their bats would never think of doing...not until the bat was broken, anyway. Most players who hit a HR with a bat seem to want to make sure they take that same bat with them to the plate the next time they're up. Doing anything else just strikes me as being unprofessional.