Other hobbies perception of Usage

[joelsabi]

I was wondering is there any hobby out there beside GU collecting where there is increased value with more usage. For most hobbies, people try to keep the items at the same state they are in and if it gets more use in any way, it loses value, ie. baseball card collecting, comic book collecting. While we are terrified of dropping a baseball card or comic on the floor, a dropped bat wouldn't faze me.

More use means worse condition and less value for most hobbies but not the case with GU.

I just cannot think of one but there must be something similar or are we that unique.

[jake33]

Really it would be just some items that fell under "memorabilia", while like you said comic books or sports cards are memorabilia, but condition matters a great deal in those niches.

Even within the game used hobby the more gmae use does not always equate into more value.

For example, look at locker nameplates. IF some player marked up his nameplate (without documentation of coarse) to wear the name is barely legible, it likely wouldn't be worth as much. But if it was documented some how, then that is another story.

Or another example is on the lower tier game used items. Some people would like to get a game used jersey from their favorite team for $50-$75, in that case they are more concerned with fit, comfort, and/or style. A dirty jersey probably doesn't interest some bueyrs as much on the low end items. Those buyers are not the same buyer who is getting a hammered Adrian Peterson jersey.

Also, look at game used bats. I am not a huge game used bat collector, but the more use a bat has (from my point of view) would mean that a cracked bat shows the most use. However, a lot of bat collectors want uncracked bats, however showing heavy use.

This hobby isn't an exact science, as many of us have expierenced.

[Jags Fan Dan]

I think collectors of war and military memorabilia like to see usage on a lot of the items. I can't remember what show it was, but there was a belt buckle from the civil war with a bullet stuck in it and everyone went on about what an awesome piece it was.

[godwulf]

For example, look at locker nameplates. IF some player marked up his nameplate (without documentation of coarse) to wear the name is barely legible, it likely wouldn't be worth as much. But if it was documented some how, then that is another story.

I think that locker plates, like lineup cards and maybe a few other things that GU collectors routinely collect, are only GU using the broadest possible definition of the term. That's why "use" and miscellaneous damage to those things is less meaningful.

Some people would like to get a game used jersey from their favorite team for $50-$75, in that case they are more concerned with fit, comfort, and/or style. A dirty jersey probably doesn't interest some bueyrs as much on the low end items. Those buyers are not the same buyer who is getting a hammered Adrian Peterson jersey.

Are you talking about people who buy a GU jersey TO WEAR? Well, the less said about those people the better.

Also, look at game used bats. I am not a huge game used bat collector, but the more use a bat has (from my point of view) would mean that a cracked bat shows the most use. However, a lot of bat collectors want uncracked bats, however showing heavy use.

This one, I'm with you on. Personally, a cracked bat does not bother me in the least, in terms of collectibility, but I've known collectors who wouldn't have one in the house. I don't get that.

I can't remember what show it was, but there was a belt buckle from the civil war with a bullet stuck in it and everyone went on about what an awesome piece it was.

This made me think about a Japanese bayonet and scabbard that my late father-in-law brought back from Tarawa, having liberated it from a deceased enemy soldier. In the metal near the top of the scabbard is an indentation that is very obviously from a bullet. Of course I hope that this particular item remains in the family for a long, long time, so increased value from "use", in this case, is pretty irrelevant.

[CampWest]

Yeah, I would say military/war memorabilia is a definite parallel.

An unused surplus M1 Garand bayonet might be $25-50. Like an issued bat.

But a documented M1 Garand used in WWII or Korea could go for many multiples of that.

Firearms, cannons, swords, helmets, etc are usually enhanced value if they can be linked to usage in a major event.

Also maybe movie worn/used memorabilia. My grail would have to be Clint Eastwood's revolver from the spaghetti westerns. I guess I could always get a replica though thats not as intriguing but would be a ton cheaper.





Also, FYI, the Civil War belt buckle with a bullet in it was on Pawn Stars.

[godwulf]

Not to further derail the thread or anything, but I remember a few years ago reading the catalog of items in the John Wayne estate sale that his family put on. WOW! I've forgotten how much it went for, but the item that I most coveted from that auction was the beret he wore in The Green Berets.

[godwulf]

I thought of another collecting hobby wherein, at least part of the time, "use" is considered a plus in determining value: book collecting...specifically, when the book in question was owned by a famous person, perhaps an authority in the same field, maybe even the author of the book himself, and he has not only obviously used the book frequently but made many notes in the margins.