What's it worth? Frank Thomas rookie cap

[Roady]

Re: What's it worth? Frank Thomas rookie cap

Your in the minority Palehose for life. This hat has 3 loa's/coa's including a physical examination by a expert, matching via tagging from the manufactures own history, provenance from a clubhouse attendant who recovered it, PSA authentication on the new autograph and Frank himself on video saying the original auto is his and this hat was his in 1990. This hat impressed him enough to say to me " call the hall and see if it can be out in my display"
Come on Palehose...how much more do you need. I have down the legwork. What item do you have with this much provenance???

Look at you! Glad to see you standing up for yourself a little stronger.

[stasman]

Re: What's it worth? Frank Thomas rookie cap

Your in the minority Palehose for life. This hat has 3 loa's/coa's including a physical examination by a expert, matching via tagging from the manufactures own history, provenance from a clubhouse attendant who recovered it, PSA authentication on the new autograph and Frank himself on video saying the original auto is his and this hat was his in 1990. This hat impressed him enough to say to me " call the hall and see if it can be out in my display"
Come on Palehose...how much more do you need. I have down the legwork. What item do you have with this much provenance???

[Chess2899]

Re: What's it worth? Frank Thomas rookie cap

Not to rain on your parade Bro but a good rule of thumb is whatever you paid from Ball Park Heroes is well over market value in my experience from buying from them.

Correct me if I'm wrong here but from what I have gathered from the never ending Thomas hat saga is that the only thing that was ever proven was that the original autograph was authentic.

Even though there is a good chance the hat was worn by Frank you don't have conclusive proof which is what you would need to get any type of high end or even real value from the hat from any intelligent Sox's or Thomas collector. No one but a fool is spending big bucks on something that can't be proven and I don't know of many big time Sox's collectors who would.

You need a photo match not a style match to prove your point here that LOA doesn't mean much too me its not proof and I would like to know whats its based on certainly not proof. Do you really think that Big Frank can remember a hat that HE MIGHT HAVE worn once 24 years ago???? Seriously?

I think its been shown on here many times that players are the worst at authenticating their items that being said even if it is true all you have is a nice story it still can't be proven to this point.

It doesn't matter what you think you know it comes down to it only really matters what you can prove. I would spend more time trying to prove what the hat is thru a photo match or trying to match the #35 written on the hat and less time worrying what the hat might be worth.

My hope is that you are able to find the proof to prove conclusively that Thomas did in fact wear the hat his rookie season cause then you might actually have something here.

This hobby is a treasure hunt & I would suggest that you start hunting and doing your own leg work as your case to this point is weak/inconclusive at best IMO on proving that Thomas wore the hat.

I think the video, plus Frank's GU 1990 documentation and signature is good enough for proof. Photo matches were very difficult to obtain in 1990.

[stasman]

Re: What's it worth? Frank Thomas rookie cap

And you know I have been one of your biggest supporters since this whole thing began so my value of the hat is just that, mine. I am a bit on the cheap side so if I say I would give $500 for something others will most likely give more.

You're the best Roady!!!!

[Roady]

Re: What's it worth? Frank Thomas rookie cap

And you know I have been one of your biggest supporters since this whole thing began so my value of the hat is just that, mine. I am a bit on the cheap side so if I say I would give $500 for something others will most likely give more.

[stasman]

Re: What's it worth? Frank Thomas rookie cap

No problem Tony... I like reading all the info and opinions. . Thanks. go Sox.

[spartanservitto]

Re: What's it worth? Frank Thomas rookie cap

Just a comment - I wasn't trying to downplay the hat - I think it's fantastic , that was just my opinion and how I formulated it.

-Tony

[stasman]

Re: What's it worth? Frank Thomas rookie cap

This particular hat was used in the final home series in 1990. During that year the Sox wore red, white and blue uniforms. They introduced their new uniforms ( the current black and whites) to the fans before the 1991 season so the fans could check them out. So this is Franks first Black white sox cap. I being a huge Frank fan and life long White Sox fan I really love this hat. I don't think I would ever sell it but, I could understand if a collector would make an offer like that how it would be difficult not to sell.

[salukidave]

Re: What's it worth? Frank Thomas rookie cap

As a White Sox collector, if I owned the hat, I wouldn't even think about parting with it for less than $1,000, and I probably wouldn't sell it for twice that. As was just alluded to, how would you even go about replacing it? The significance of this hat is not about just hat collectors. It's an amazing piece to Frank Thomas collectors, White Sox collectors, 500 HR Club collectors and Hall of Fame collectors. It's a part of baseball history and certainly a museum-worthy item.

For reference, I sold a special White Sox hat to a player collector for $2,000. I had no intention of selling the hat, but the offer kept being raised until I finally felt like I had to sell it. That's how badly the collector wanted the hat and, being a collector, I'm sure he remains thrilled with the deal. (I apologize for not revealing more details about the hat, but I don't want to for a couple good reasons, including respecting the collector's privacy.) My point is that a true rarity with significance is, I believe, worth more than simply double the price of a normal specimen.

[gingi79]

Re: What's it worth? Frank Thomas rookie cap

Just an FYI, insured value (i.e. replacement cost) and resale value are two different things in the collectible world. With car insurance, your car is one of hundreds of thousands if not millions of examples of (theoretically) the same item and therefore is insured for what it would cost the Insurance company to buy you a new one with almost the same year/mileage/use/options etc. If your repairs exceed that number (or approach it), it is considered a total loss and they pay you that price. If it is much less, they pay to fix it, with second hand/used parts.(normally, but I digress)

This hat is, as far as I can tell, the sole example of a rookie season (model year) worn hat (rare in itself) dual signed by Frank with documentation (excessive post-base model alternation with respective insurance detailing such) and exactly zero known exemplars to match those characteristics. Therefore if it were destroyed lost in a fire, how much would it cost to find this exact item for sale again?

[Phil316]

Re: What's it worth? Frank Thomas rookie cap

I do not collect hats myself. I wonder what years they provided different MLB teams with hats.

Got the info I need from the search button. Thanks

[Phil316]

Re: What's it worth? Frank Thomas rookie cap

they have provided professional teams with hats for use in games in the past.

I do not collect hats myself. I wonder what years they provided different MLB teams with hats.

[ironmanfan]

Re: What's it worth? Frank Thomas rookie cap

Never heard of the maker Sports Specialties before. That might reflect the price of that supposed used cap.

they have provided professional teams with hats for use in games in the past.

[Phil316]

Re: What's it worth? Frank Thomas rookie cap

Any idea what year this is from? Might help you gauge value:

http://www.lelands.com/auction/Aucti...d-Baseball-Cap

Never heard of the maker Sports Specialties before. That might reflect the price of that supposed used cap.

[MikeKam]

Re: What's it worth? Frank Thomas rookie cap

Any idea what year this is from? Might help you gauge value:

http://www.lelands.com/auction/AuctionDetail/35425/January-2007-Lelands-Gaynor/Internet-Only/Game-Used-Baseball/Lot92~Frank-Thomas-White-Sox-Game-Used-Baseball-Cap