rays' fanfest!

[momen55]

anyone here go? it wasn't bad. got few game used items, but by the time i got to the yard sale, most of the good stuff was gone. got a couple throwback helmets and justin ruggiano's home jersey.

[jlew22]

I was there. Got in line about an hour and a half early and was one of the first 20 in line. Unfortunately, the selection of game used at the yard sale this year was not even close to the quality or quantity of last year.

The best I picked up were a Price #48 jersey (still trying to figure out what it is), and a McGriff coaches jersey. The rest were common players. I thought I had picked up 5-6 solid jerseys from current/recent players (Including Matt Moore), but they all turned out to be retail authentics. It was really unfortunate, as the Rays implied everything is game used and people were being suckered left and right.

The Rays had an employee roving through the jersey section asking if anyone had any questions. Time and time again, I saw her giving misguided information on the "Game Use" of items for sale. For example, I saw an older couple checking out a cheap Evan Longoria replica jersey with the store tags on it. They asked this employee what the jersey was, and she proceeded to tell them it was game used. I had to intervene and explain to the couple why it wasn't game used. This happened several times.

Most of the people there were common fans, not collectors with knowledge of whats real and what isn't.

On the other hand, the Hat Shop on the left field concourse had a solid collection of cheap MLB authenticated items from players who left. The staff there was great, and I was able to pick up a sweet Roberts jersey for $75 that shows tons of use.

[momen55]

hat shop? what hat shop? i was down the left field picnic area where the game used stuff was. was there another section? i saw some stuff over by the left dugout, where the sports cards vendors were, but nothing else.

[jlew22]

Most of the stuff was in the Yard Sale where you were in the left field picnic area. The Hat Shop is on the left field concourse, or what the Rays call "Left Field Street". I was walking my Yard Sale purchases out to my car when I did a double take at The Hat Shop. To my surprise I noticed several game used jerseys hanging up in there. The crowd was sparse, and the Rays did a pretty bad job of advertising it. I was just lucky enough to notice it was there.

There were GU/GI jerseys from Kelly Johnson, Jamey Wright, Farnsworth, Scott, Rodney, Torres, and Roberts at $75-$100. Even saw some team issued/GU World Series jerseys hanging on the racks for $100 each. I'd say about 50 jerseys total were in the shop.

They Also had a barrel full of bats for $50 each, but it looked to be mostly Lobatons.

Everything else was autographed photos, baseballs, and also Rodney GU baseballs from his last save from 2012.

[detaildevil]

Had pretty much the same experience as you guys. I'm not a big autograph guy by any means but it seems like the yard sale experience at fanfest is starting to mirror the autographs in that its getting more expensive (often more than its actually worth), and used to be much more accessible to fans of all budgets. The main store (which is open during the year) didnt appear to have any discounts at all.