Game Used, Issued, Etc.

[Rmmm912]

On the subject of Game Issued vs. Game Used, I feel compelled to post as we do get caught inadvertently in the crosshairs when one of our items gets misrepresented.

We take this breach of trust very seriously, as it affects every honest collector and reseller in the industry—and if the industry is tainted, we all are to some degree. That being said, in instances where individuals have been clearly identified as engaging in this type of activity, we reserve and enforce the right not to sell Game Issued items to these entities--and have "blacklisted" parties known to buy with intent to defraud (such as buying game issueds and reselling as game used). We cannot monitor every item as it makes it's way through the marketplace, but eventually, patterns do tend to emerge.

In addition, we have recently begun the practice of marking Game Issued jerseys (in a place that is not visible from the outside), to further help identify these items as Game Issued in the secondary marketplace.

If you are presented with an opportunity to buy a Game Used item that likely originated here at Steiner Sports—especially a high end item, feel free to contact us and we can tell you if similar items have been sold as Game Issued. That doesn't mean we can validate it one way or the other--you still need to be careful, as this doesn’t necessarily offer conclusive evidence, but at least you will have additional information with which to base your decision. Naturally, we cannot divulge confidential customer details, but we can probably help in instances where we see patterns of dishonest activity.

Lastly, even with these precautions taken, there are no guarantees; markings can be removed, LOAs can be forged, people can buy under assumed names, and there will always be instances in which fraud succeeds. We will continue to monitor this and hopefully learn and adjust to these challenges in the marketplace.

Bob Malandro
Yankees-Steiner Collectbles/Mets-Steiner Collectibles

[allstarsplus]

Bob - I applaud you and your company for many of your efforts. You personally truly are a breath of fresh air in this game used arena.

I have catalogued old Steiner Yankee inventory lists to do the same thing as I did to see the vast #'s of the blank jerseys as well as the specific player game issued. By you "Blacklisting" some buyers, this will help.

I think that in the future if Steiner can put a permanent stamp on the blanks and game issued, then hopefully, hopefully, hopefully, we can put this mostly to rest. Going to #'d matching holograms is a great tool also. It still won't stop people buying the commons and changing the jersey numbers which as we all know we can't stop all the frauds out there.

Andrew

[JETEFAN]

As far as Yankees items, Steiner has done it's damage. Too much "issued" out there already. Too little too late. It's nice to see Bob on the site though!!!

George

[JETEFAN]

As far as Yankees items, Steiner has done it's damage. Too much "issued" out there already. Too little too late. It's nice to see Bob on the site though!!!

George

As far as contacting Steiner with high end help to "see if a similar "game issued" has been sold" are you kidding!, I think the only thing "issued" that I haven't seen yet is a pair of the Bosses boxers!!! Everthing and everbody else...been there done that!!

[Eric]

As far as Yankees items, Steiner has done it's damage. Too much "issued" out there already. Too little too late. It's nice to see Bob on the site though!!!

George

George-

Not sure it's fair to say too little too late.

They are allowed to sell game issued items. How has the damage been done exactly? If you see a game used yankees item with a steiner letter, you know what it is. If you see the same item in an auction listed as game used with a lampson letter, which are you going to buy?

I don't understand how you can be critical of them for taking a step of banning people who buy game issued- thus costing steiner sales.

Eric

[JETEFAN]

George-

Not sure it's fair to say too little too late.

They are allowed to sell game issued items. How has the damage been done exactly? If you see a game used yankees item with a steiner letter, you know what it is. If you see the same item in an auction listed as game used with a lampson letter, which are you going to buy?

I don't understand how you can be critical of them for taking a step of banning people who buy game issued- thus costing steiner sales.

Eric

Eric,

I'll tell you why, Steiner has sold "game issued" items, many, many times more than 1, for just about anything Yankees related you can think of. The damage, which translates into a brilliant marketing strategy by Steiner, is clouding all items, which includes many legit and properly obtained ones. For instance, by publishing the fact that they sold a "game issued" Mattingly jersey just like the one that Donnie himself pulled out of his trunk and personally gave me. (Hypothetical), I later had the jersey authenticated by Lampson or anyone else for that matter. Eric, to address the issue you brought up about an auction item with a Steiner cert and a Lampson Cert. Would my item personally given to me by Donnie himself and Lampson authenticated be any less valuable than the same item with a Steiner cert. which was not given to them by Donnie and most probable as with most of their items, they couldn't even tell you if he or someone else wore it because it's been sitting in an closet for 20 years!!! That's my beef , Steiner is entitled to be in buisness and sell whatever they want, but let's not codem all items not Steiner . I'll leave you with this thought, the fact that Steiner is trying to remedy , blacklist and correct authenticity issues with Yankees items to me is acknowledgment that they have contributed in creating a big problem for the very people who are the base of their business, the Yankees collector. If you give someone an unloaded gun, you know it's only a matter of time B4 someone puts a bullet in it!! Too little to late but thanks to Bob and Steiner for at least now trying to stop the bleeding.

George

[Eric]

Eric,

I'll tell you why, Steiner has sold "game issued" items, many, many times more than 1, for just about anything Yankees related you can think of. The damage, which translates into a brilliant marketing strategy by Steiner, is clouding all items, which includes many legit and properly obtained ones. For instance, by publishing the fact that they sold a "game issued" Mattingly jersey just like the one that Donnie himself pulled out of his trunk and personally gave me. (Hypothetical), I later had the jersey authenticated by Lampson or anyone else for that matter. Eric, to address the issue you brought up about an auction item with a Steiner cert and a Lampson Cert. Would my item personally given to me by Donnie himself and Lampson authenticated be any less valuable than the same item with a Steiner cert. which was not given to them by Donnie and most probable as with most of their items, they couldn't even tell you if he or someone else wore it because it's been sitting in an closet for 20 years!!! That's my beef , Steiner is entitled to be in buisness and sell whatever they want, but let's not codem all items not Steiner . I'll leave you with this thought, the fact that Steiner is trying to remedy , blacklist and correct authenticity issues with Yankees items to me is acknowledgment that they have contributed in creating a big problem for the very people who are the base of their business, the Yankees collector. If you give someone an unloaded gun, you know it's only a matter of time B4 someone puts a bullet in it!! Too little to late but thanks to Bob and Steiner for at least now trying to stop the bleeding.

George

I have to disagree with you on this. Steiner is allowed to sell team issued items. If you have a mattingly that was handed to you by mattingly, the fact that steiner sells game issued mattingly does not make your jersey bogus. You have the provenance which you would include when trying to sell your mattingly.

The problem, in my opinion is when you see post 1996 yankees items without steiner letters but with a lampson letter, or no letter at all. This is an odds game. The odds are, if it had a steiner letter saying it was game used, it's more likely to have been game used. If there is no steiner letter, you have to take a larger leap.


Also, understand there are legitimate Yankees game used items which do not have a steiner letter. People just have to calculate the odds on those items' legitimacy for themselves before opening their wallet.

In your example- you got a jersey handed to you by Mattingly. Why then would you go get a letter from Lampson? It's the real thing.

I also disagree with your last statement. Blacklisting people is not acknolwedgement that Steiner has done anything wrong. That's ridiculous.
It is a good business practice, actually and good for the hobby. Steiner is costing themselves short term business by not selling these game issued items to certain individuals, to protect the value of the legit ones they sell. That's good for the hobby and yes, good for their business which I have no problem with. I think that's a win-win.
Eric

[Eric]

To Bob and those at Yankees Steiner

This is a monumental step.

I offer my thanks to you in doing your part to keep the hobby clean. I urge others including the NFL to follow the example set by Yankees Steiner.

Recently, I have had email conversations with NFL Auctions about this exact topic.

After showing some recent examples of people manipulating their items, I asked,

"Is there something you can do to prevent these people from defrauding the public using your items?"
"Are the game issued jerseys marked in any way so they can't be sold as something they're not?"
One person responded basically, Nothing we can do. It's up to the buyer to do his homework.

I followed up with someone else who said they were in the middle of working on the Super Bowl auction and once that was over, this topic would be addressed with their legal department.

It is my hope that NFL Auctions follows up on this.

But back to the topic at hand. A gold star for Bob and Yankees Steiner. This is the right thing to do. Thanks for informing us.

Eric

[PK]

In addition, we have recently begun the practice of marking Game Issued jerseys (in a place that is not visible from the outside), to further help identify these items as Game Issued in the secondary marketplace.

Bob Malandro
Yankees-Steiner Collectbles/Mets-Steiner Collectibles

Bob, thanks for the post and glad to see you here. Can I ask that you share what is exactly put in the Game Issued jerseys so collectors know what and where to look for it?

Thanks

[Rmmm912]

Bob, thanks for the post and glad to see you here. Can I ask that you share what is exactly put in the Game Issued jerseys so collectors know what and where to look for it?

Thanks

We are marking the jerseys on the inside (armpit area) with a blue or black "dot"; we are also considering marking the game used jerseys with an invisible ink. I know, not very high tech, but for the time being, its an improvement.

In response to the business/moral issue...I respect your opinion, but please also understand that most people look to buy game issued jerseys for legitimate reasons--whether that is because they want to wear them, or because they are economically priced (compared to the used jerseys)...in many instances, I have sold Yanks & Mets issueds for $100 or even less--lower than the price of a Majestic off the rack in a retail store, so taking them out of circulation is not just a business issue (or a moral one), in my opinion--because it also enables the average person to own a cool item that belonged to a player on their favorite team.