I'm not convinced this $1,500 is for "Hack" Wilson.

[mjkm90]

Take a look at this completed auction. This seller took some liberty with the description.

First, the image on the mug looks little like Hack.

Second, if they were trying to feature the star of the team they likely would have gotten the name right.

Third, there was a Harry Wilson with the Cubs minor leagues in 1933 who may have attended spring training with the team.

What do you all think?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=290637832006

[sycks22]

Look at the bidding. That's the definition of shill bidding. There was a guy with 0 feedback who has 80% of his bidding with this seller.

[Scott Garner]

Definately NOT Hack! Only in Vegas...

[jerseygary]

The first thing I thought was that it looks like an "A" on the cap - which said Los Angeles Angels in my mind which was a farm team of the Cubs back in the 30's and sure enough as mjkm90 said there was a Harry Wilson on the '33 Angels roster. So I figure this was some kind of spring training gift given to the team when they trained on Catalina Island before the 1933 season.

[thecatspajamas]

Shill bidding aside, if you scroll all the way down to the bottom you can see where he added a correction, probably provided by a concerned board member.

[perezfan]

The seller admits it's Harry Wilson in his description (addendum from 11/29 at the bottom of the text). Someone just overpaid by roughly $1,450 (so no big deal) :p

Edit - Lance beat me to the description part. Hopefully the "winning" bidder (and I use that term loosely) has some recourse, or can retract his bid (based on the shilling and the faulty descrition). The final shilling raised the price over $550.

[mjkm90]

probably shouldnt say who the high bidder was.

[perezfan]

I stand corrected on the post I made at 12:53. A VERY well respected NET54 member just informed me how rare and desirable this piece actually is. The fact that it is not Hack Wilson is of no consequence...

The apparent shill bidding would personally bug me, as it appeared to take the price up a lot higher than otherwise. Hard to believe that 2 people with zero feedback would bid so aggressively (and in such a non-conventional way).

But apparently this is a gem so rare that few of us could even comprehend its value. I was way off on my valuation, and stand corrected. It is a super-rare and desirable piece! :o

[cincicards]

Pcl

[Wite3]

Rare is an understatement...these were given to the Angels in 1933 as they trained at Wrigley Field West on Catalina. Have only seen 2 or 3 ever. I collect Catalina stuff every now and then and these are very difficult and desirable. It is indeed Harry Wilson. The price was in line with demand in my opinion.

Joshua

PS If you ever get a chance to get to Catalina Island, it is very nice and they have a few neat pieces at the Museum featuring the Cubs and some visiting teams. The field is no longer there but there is a plaque to visit and the site must have been spectacular to play at!

[thekingofclout]

Look at the bidding. That's the definition of shill bidding. There was a guy with 0 feedback who has 80% of his bidding with this seller.

Although I agree with Mark/perez fan that I too find it a bit odd that two bidders with zero feedback both made substantial bids, I don't believe that this auction was shilled.

Take a look at the bidding history below and you'll see that the winning bid was sniped with just 6 seconds left in the auction.

The bidder with the user name 9***j made a cap bid of $1100 on Nov 30 at 13:51:58 PST. That would have put him the high bidder at $986.98 with still just over two hours left in the auction!

After an hour and fifty four minutes passed and with less than 10 minutes remaining in the auction, he felt the need to bump up his cap bid. I will go out on a limb and say that just about everyone on this board has done that at least once. At that time he bumped it to $1200. Seconds later he went to $1250. And at 15:51:39 he made his final bump to $1520 only to lose out in the closing seconds.

So, the question that must be asked is "If he was shilling, just who was he shilling?" as the eventual winner's snipe had not yet been placed, and he (9***j ) was still the high bidder with a cap set at $435 higher than his current high bid!!

It is my belief that 9***j was not a shiller at all, but a person who knew exactly what he was doing and what the mug's true value was. What I think happened was that 9***j did not want opposing bidders and/or friends to know that it was 'He' who won (if of course he had won) the mug.

We all know that it's not that difficult to track bidders, even with ebay's attempt to disguise user IDs especially those already known to you. So many have chosen the route to add another ebay account in order to fly under the ebay radar. As there are times that one might not want a friend or fellow collector to see every purchase they make on ebay.

Well, that's what I think happened. This is what happens to you when you're always up by yourself all night, every night, for a few decades. You look for things to help pass the time... Thank God for the Internet! ;)

Member Id: e***n( 3899) US $1,545.00 Nov-30-11 15:54:27 PST
Member Id: 9***j( 0 ) US $1,520.00 Nov-30-11 15:51:39 PST
Member Id: 9***j( 0 ) US $1,250.00 Nov-30-11 15:46:05 PST
Member Id: 9***j( 0 ) US $1,200.00 Nov-30-11 15:45:42 PST
Member Id: 9***j( 0 ) US $1,100.00 Nov-30-11 13:51:58 PST
Member Id: 9***1( 5412) US $976.98 Nov-28-11 15:48:48 PST