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Okay, let me preface this with: I appreciate sellers taking the responsibility to carefully and thoughtfully protect items that are being sent to buyers.
That said, I am really having bad luck with game used bats recently. A bat I purchased a couple months ago (from Canada - draw your own conclusions or insert your own punchlines) was wrapped in an old jacket and what appeared to be chaps... they were... wooly type material... kind of fur like... and had a really bad stench. I immediately sanitized myself after discarding. The main beef with this was the pine tar collected random samples of this wooly furry wrapping. So, my $150 bat, now shows nice use with seam marks, rack marks, ink transfers, cleat marks, moderate pine tar, and 60's era fur pants remnants.
A month ago I got a fresh bat that was placed in a USPS triangle tube and filled with peanuts. I spent the next 45 minutes arduously picking off hundreds, literally hundreds, of tiny specks of packing peanut particles. On the bright side, I now have a huge collection of peanut specks with varying light to moderate pine tar.
Now today, I just received a bat, for which I paid several hundred dollars (my biggest single bat purchase to date). This bat was recently used. Thankfully, no knappy old clothing was used, nor packing peanut particle dust, but the bat was *tightly* wrapped with bubble wrap, bubble side in. Since the bat was recently used, the pine tar is still very wet and tacky. So, now I have a pricey bat with nice ball seam marks, ink transfers, and moderate pine tar with random circular patterns.
But I guess as an added bonus, I have a sheet of bubble wrap that now shows evidence of game use with a light coating of pine tar.
So, I guess my point, if I have one, is... THESE ARE WOOD BATS, they are designed to be very sturdy they are designed to be swung at 90mph speeds into a tightly wrapped ball that is hurled at 90mph+. I do not see the need to ruin them with packing materials that provide little to no significant protection. If the sturdy cardboard package is slightly mistreated, no harm will come to the solid piece of wood. If the package is horribly mangled, a single layer of bubble wrap will not stop the damage.
Obviously broken bats may need a little added support... I guess I'd just prefer a carefully double boxed package to any of the above three options that have made my bats less than ideal and less than their original game used condition. And thereby less than what I thought I was paying for...
Of course if something were not properly wrapped and seriously damaged, I'd be equally frustrated. Cake and eating it too, would be nice. There are ways to safely package without the protection damaging the item...
There is irony for you Alanis Morisette - forget the rain on your wedding day and sing about the bubble wrap that messed with my pine tar.
Personally, I ship all bats in bat tubes inside a sturdy mailer... Seems less damaging to the bat and provides better support and protection.
Thanks for letting me vent, I know its silly, but these three bats have been frustrating, despite the best intentions of the packager - though maybe not the knappy fur pants, I think that was out of spite.
any other peeves? - And I dont want to hear "people that complain about packaging materials messing up their pine tar"
That said, I am really having bad luck with game used bats recently. A bat I purchased a couple months ago (from Canada - draw your own conclusions or insert your own punchlines) was wrapped in an old jacket and what appeared to be chaps... they were... wooly type material... kind of fur like... and had a really bad stench. I immediately sanitized myself after discarding. The main beef with this was the pine tar collected random samples of this wooly furry wrapping. So, my $150 bat, now shows nice use with seam marks, rack marks, ink transfers, cleat marks, moderate pine tar, and 60's era fur pants remnants.
A month ago I got a fresh bat that was placed in a USPS triangle tube and filled with peanuts. I spent the next 45 minutes arduously picking off hundreds, literally hundreds, of tiny specks of packing peanut particles. On the bright side, I now have a huge collection of peanut specks with varying light to moderate pine tar.
Now today, I just received a bat, for which I paid several hundred dollars (my biggest single bat purchase to date). This bat was recently used. Thankfully, no knappy old clothing was used, nor packing peanut particle dust, but the bat was *tightly* wrapped with bubble wrap, bubble side in. Since the bat was recently used, the pine tar is still very wet and tacky. So, now I have a pricey bat with nice ball seam marks, ink transfers, and moderate pine tar with random circular patterns.
But I guess as an added bonus, I have a sheet of bubble wrap that now shows evidence of game use with a light coating of pine tar.
So, I guess my point, if I have one, is... THESE ARE WOOD BATS, they are designed to be very sturdy they are designed to be swung at 90mph speeds into a tightly wrapped ball that is hurled at 90mph+. I do not see the need to ruin them with packing materials that provide little to no significant protection. If the sturdy cardboard package is slightly mistreated, no harm will come to the solid piece of wood. If the package is horribly mangled, a single layer of bubble wrap will not stop the damage.
Obviously broken bats may need a little added support... I guess I'd just prefer a carefully double boxed package to any of the above three options that have made my bats less than ideal and less than their original game used condition. And thereby less than what I thought I was paying for...
Of course if something were not properly wrapped and seriously damaged, I'd be equally frustrated. Cake and eating it too, would be nice. There are ways to safely package without the protection damaging the item...
There is irony for you Alanis Morisette - forget the rain on your wedding day and sing about the bubble wrap that messed with my pine tar.
Personally, I ship all bats in bat tubes inside a sturdy mailer... Seems less damaging to the bat and provides better support and protection.
Thanks for letting me vent, I know its silly, but these three bats have been frustrating, despite the best intentions of the packager - though maybe not the knappy fur pants, I think that was out of spite.
any other peeves? - And I dont want to hear "people that complain about packaging materials messing up their pine tar"
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