New to Game Used

[bmjock69]

Hello everyone. Im very new to game used and I have a couple of questions that have probably been discussed here before. If you have links, that would be great. The reason Im making the new thread is so I can resource this one thread. So...without further adieu...

1. How do you go about photo matching items that are 10, 15, 20 years old or even older?

2. Is there a resource that can date hats, jerseys, batting gloves, etc by the way the item is made like stitching, tags, etc?

3. What is the common opinion if you have a player inscribe "game used" when they sign the item?

4. How do people feel about auction houses "attributing to..." with no other documentation?

If I think of any more questions, I will post them. But for now, these are the things I want to know the most.

Please be patient with me...Im new to this!

[sportsnbikes]

Re: New to Game Used

Welcome! I don't really have a ton of answers but a lot of very knowledgeable people on here. Someone can answer them!

[spartakid]

Re: New to Game Used

Bunch of view without a response, so I'll thrown something out there.

1. Much more difficult for obvious reasons, but I've seen it done. Just have to comb through the available pictures/newspapers, etc and hope you find something. Definitely more difficult than matching a bat from a year ago for example.

2. Not sure on this

3. All about personal preference, some people like their items signed, others don't. Though if you choose to get an item signed, I think most would agree them inscribing is as GU would increase the value/desire for the item.

4.DO YOUR OWN HOMEWORK. You'll see countless threads about this, even MLB has been known to mess up on holograms (though much less likely when compared to other things). Unless of course it comes with a letter from Lou Lampson, in which case it's worth it's weight in gold (Do a search on him).

[Misha]

Re: New to Game Used

2. I found this for some general New Era cap tag info

http://ballcapblog.blogspot.jp/2010/08/chronology-of-new-era-cap-tags.html

For jerseys I think this is fabulous and worth every penny

http://mlbstyleguides.com/

3. I think if you are getting the sig/inscription then it's just up to you, but I personally wouldn't rely on a GU inscription to buy a jersey. I don't know if someone else just added that on afterwards

4. I would have though an auction house would have checked everything, but after reading everything on this forum I'm shocked how poorly many of them research. I think asking in the auction thread of this forum is the most trustworthy source of info

[Christ0pher]

Re: New to Game Used

Hope you get a lot of answers as I would also like to know the answers to these questions.

Getting a player in person to put "game used" can be tricky from my experience. Most do whatever you tell them to put lol but some won't do it even if they just handed you the item. Not sure its because they have deals with companies or what but that is just my experience. Hope others can share as well.

[frikativ54]

Re: New to Game Used

Welcome, Barry, to GUU. You emailed me a couple of days back. Some of your questions have been discussed in detail in the past years on the Game Used Forums; you can access those threads by using the search function. There is great information to be had there. Good luck!

[bmjock69]

Re: New to Game Used

Thanks for all the replies thus far!
Barry

[bmjock69]

Re: New to Game Used

Welcome, Barry, to GUU. You emailed me a couple of days back. Some of your questions have been discussed in detail in the past years on the Game Used Forums; you can access those threads by using the search function. There is great information to be had there. Good luck!

Thanks! As soon as I get the Bagwell hat I will do some research to see if I can find a photo match for it.

[frikativ54]

Re: New to Game Used

Thanks! As soon as I get the Bagwell hat I will do some research to see if I can find a photo match for it.

Sounds great!

[jpipes]

Re: New to Game Used

>3. What is the common opinion if you have a player inscribe "game used" when they sign the item?

This is an interesting question. For starters the question would seem to imply you have a game used item in your possession and you seek to take it to the player himself and have him sign it and inscribe GU on it.

For me personally if I collect a game used item I want it pretty much how it was received from the player or team. It's "original state" if you will. Some teams wash their jerseys and store them and later offer them for sale as part of a house cleaning effort or charity event or tent sale, some teams very selectively take game used jerseys and immediately pair them with a COA and offer them for sale, sometimes players will keep game used items and for whatever reason down the road sell them or make them available, I even believe some players have literally taken the shirt of their back and handed it to a fan or signed it and made it available, just to name a few possible paths. In all cases I'd consider the above mentioned jerseys "legitimate original state" (my term, not sure that is used anywhere officially) since it's however it was when received via channels that are both direct and official. Once you get into doing things to a jersey after the fact (and by after the fact I mean once it's been sold/received/acquired - basically once it's parted ways from the official source be it the team or player or players representative) I start to get uneasy. This would include washing a game used jersey (I know some people do that as a matter of due course but I find that sort of at odds with collecting game used stuff, sort of like cleaning the patina off a rare coin or piece of furniture), getting them signed by a player down the road, or adding or removing elements to the jersey physically (I have some jerseys where an official event patch was removed but I would never consider re-adding a patch back in it's place).

That's an awfully long way around me saying that game used item I receive from a team or player I consider legit, and anything done to it after the fact I consider illegitimate. I can certainly see a good reason to want to get a player to sign a game used item you have, especially if you never plan to sell it or it's something very personal to you. But I as a collector would tend to think twice before I would want to purchase game used items where I begin to know stuff has been done to it after the fact.

[jpipes]

Re: New to Game Used

btw, I sort of spoke specifically about jerseys as that is my area, but in retrospect I am sure their are subtle differences with other game used items, especially stuff like cleats, balls, bats, maybe even helmets.