I will NEVER buy from American Memorabilia after seeing this...

[sarahsdad]

Re: I will NEVER buy from American Memorabilia after seeing this...

And your Buyers Premium and Consignment commissions pay for this "magazine".
Sarahsdad

[metsbats]

Re: I will NEVER buy from American Memorabilia after seeing this...

There's only one word for the whole approach AMI takes in my opinion

Unprofessional

Perhaps they are compensating for something.

-David

[hblakewolf]

Re: I will NEVER buy from American Memorabilia after seeing this...

I can’t remember ever seeing such amateurish and ill-conceived antics in another sports memorabilia auction catalog. I’ve received catalogs from Lelands, Grey Flannel, Christies, Sotheby’s and Mastro to name just a few. I can’t remember the last time I saw models shooting hoops or even wearing vintage uniforms in any other auction houses’ catalog. It’s inconceivable to even think that you may see some guy or model wearing a Babe Ruth jersey and shooting hoops in the next Christies catalog.

Likewise, I’ve never been subjected to viewing pages from any of the above-mentioned auction houses of the owners self-promoting themselves, let alone in extremely “creepy” motifs. The first AMI catalog had a photo of Vic and Kieta sitting on a couch. My co-worker happened to see the photo and asked if the guy (Vic) was the little boy in the Munsters, now grown up!

Likewise, I’d be interested to know why Kieta needs to be featured in these catalogs in belly shirts and including past cover shots of her from 1980’s playboy covers? I understand she was a model in the 1980’s, but this is 2007.

Can we expect to possibly see Lou Lampson and the 100% Authentic team modeling in the next catalog?

Howard Wolf
hblakewolf@patmedia.net

[ballofbases@hotmail.com]

Re: I will NEVER buy from American Memorabilia after seeing this...

I just received the magazine/catalog the other day in the mail and could not agree more with what everyone thinks about the marketing being ridiculous for them. Has anyone contacted American Memorabilia to let them know that as a present or future customer that this is not something that wants to be seen??? Just wondering what they have to say about the matter.

And Lampson is a writer as well as an expert authenticator??? HA! who knew!?!?

Michael

[CollectGU]

Re: I will NEVER buy from American Memorabilia after seeing this...

Actually my first thought when "CollectGU" bought that obvious fake Ripken glove on eBay was how disappointed Kieta was going to be not being able to do a picture shoot with it.....

I'm curious, tell me how you were able to determine that the glove is obviously a fake? What exactly is wrong with it in your opinion? I will add that no Rawlings employee has stated that the glove had the wrong lining as was reported here earlier..

Regards,
Dave

[Nathan]

Re: I will NEVER buy from American Memorabilia after seeing this...

Eric,

I see no upside at all. Only downside as this thread clearly proves. I'm simply stating that to sat they are compromised is very strong wording. That means every time any game used equipment is tried on by someone other than the player it is compromised? Is it a stupid business idea by AMI? yes. Does it make the piece any less authentic? No (in my opinion). I've carefully tried on jerseys that I've bought of players, as have some of my friends. Did I compromise the item? In my opinion, No..

Regards,
Dave

It has nothing to do with the authenticity and everything to do with the condition being compromised. It's one thing for, say, a wool jersey to be stored for 50+ years and be partially eaten by moths. At least then it can be said that an item was unintentionally improperly stored.

But in this case, you're talking about basically a fashion shoot with valuable items from sports history being modeled. Why stop at putting a jersey on? Why not pop a football helmet on and play some two-hand tag? Maybe put a Nettles jersey on for a company softball game?

There's unintentional damage and there's intentional compromising. This definitely falls into the latter.

[ironmanfan]

Re: I will NEVER buy from American Memorabilia after seeing this...

Actually my first thought when "CollectGU" bought that obvious fake Ripken glove on eBay was how disappointed Kieta was going to be not being able to do a picture shoot with it.....

[both-teams-played-hard]

Re: I will NEVER buy from American Memorabilia after seeing this...

This isn't about a collector trying on a jersey. This is about a pathetic attempt of a sports memorabilia auction catalog trying to front like a psuedo-hip-poser fashion magazine. There are grown-folks who read the catalog and don't want to be force-fed this nonsense. Want to target an audience and widen your demographic? Then, AMI should quit the memorabilia racket and publish Maxim-type fish-wraps for 20-year-olds. Put the jersey on a mannequin and move on.

Skanks for the memories!

[sportscentury]

Re: I will NEVER buy from American Memorabilia after seeing this...

I'm not commenting on this thread again. It's already turning into another pissing match....

Hmmm, I wonder how that could've happened...

[CollectGU]

Re: I will NEVER buy from American Memorabilia after seeing this...

Eric,

I'm not commenting on this thread again. It's already turning into another pissing match....

Regards,
Dave

[CollectGU]

Re: I will NEVER buy from American Memorabilia after seeing this...

Eric,

I see no upside at all. Only downside as this thread clearly proves. I'm simply stating that to sat they are compromised is very strong wording. That means every time any game used equipment is tried on by someone other than the player it is compromised? Is it a stupid business idea by AMI? yes. Does it make the piece any less authentic? No (in my opinion). I've carefully tried on jerseys that I've bought of players, as have some of my friends. Did I compromise the item? In my opinion, No..

Regards,
Dave

[Eric]

Re: I will NEVER buy from American Memorabilia after seeing this...

Also, I would like to point out that there are collectors who buy inexpensive game worn shirts to wear around. If that's what they want to do, that is their choice. I would hope if they then re-sold the item, they would mention that the used came from the consumer and not the player.

Back to AMI, it is such a bizarre thing to see four figure items clearly being shown having use added to them by people other than the players.

Is that an overreaction Dave?
Eric

[Eric]

Re: I will NEVER buy from American Memorabilia after seeing this...

LOL. ..That's a just a tiny bit overboard, and I'm not surprised...Did you ever try on a helmet or jersey in your collection? I know some hockey fans that wear their player game worn jerseys to games. Do you think that collector's have never slipped on the jersey of their favorite player after adding it to their collection, or tried on the game used baseball glove, or the batting helmet, or batting glove they just bought of their favorite player? I think what they did was silly, but it certainly doesn't make the item less authentic or add wear.....

Dave

You're talking about two different things. If you went into a store that had the workers wearing the game used items they were selling, you might not be very happy with it.

Putting this stuff on for a photo shoot is a bizarre business decision. What exactly is the upside here? Is the sports collectibles target audience (the cross section of people you would see at a memorabilia show) going to look at that model guy and say "He looks really good in that piece, maybe I should buy it"

Dave, if you choose to put your hand in a glove in your collection, that is one thing. AMI decided it would be a good marketing strategy to hire models to wear the items being auctioned. That wouldn't have been my decision, but hey, it's not my company to run.

And Dave, what exactly did you mean by "That's a just a tiny bit overboard, and I'm not surprised." I'd love to hear what your explanation is.
Eric

[CollectGU]

Re: I will NEVER buy from American Memorabilia after seeing this...

No one should be wearing them... It compromises the pieces.

LOL. ..That's a just a tiny bit overboard, and I'm not surprised...Did you ever try on a helmet or jersey in your collection? I know some hockey fans that wear their player game worn jerseys to games. Do you think that collector's have never slipped on the jersey of their favorite player after adding it to their collection, or tried on the game used baseball glove, or the batting helmet, or batting glove they just bought of their favorite player? I think what they did was silly, but it certainly doesn't make the item less authentic or add wear.....

Dave

[JasonM33]

Re: I will NEVER buy from American Memorabilia after seeing this...

No one should be wearing them. Man, woman or child.

-Jason M