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-   -   Prices for current players’ game used bats (http://www.net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=253828)

ooo-ribay 04-14-2018 09:48 PM

Prices for current players’ game used bats
 
Looking at Goldins current auction, as an example, I am amazed at what Judge, Trout, etc. bats are fetching. They’re good bats, with good provenance, but the prices seem crazy. Judge may or may not be a HOFer. Trout most likely is.

Still, I bought an early SF Bonds bat, years ago, for $350. Yes, steroids, but also the all-time single season and career HR leader. In the 1990s, I got a legit early 1960s Mays gamer for $2500.

Is it just me or are the current prices crazy? Another reason I think people are overpaying is because, unlike the days of Mays, game used bats are now purposely kept and “sent to market.” A lot of Willie’s bats ended up in the Candlestick Park dumpster.

ooo-ribay 04-14-2018 09:53 PM

I would also cite Rizzo and Bryant but do I understand the “Cubs curse is over” surcharge. Still, overvalued IMO.

Dewey2007 04-15-2018 12:14 AM

I was thinking the exact same thing about crazy prices when I saw the Trout bat at $31K...

yanks12025 04-15-2018 04:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dewey2007 (Post 1767507)
I was thinking the exact same thing about crazy prices when I saw the Trout bat at $31K...

The Trout bat was also used for his first career MLB hit.. So if he ends up being the great player that everyone expects he'll be, this would probably be the greatest bat to own then..

ooo-ribay 04-15-2018 07:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by yanks12025 (Post 1767520)
The Trout bat was also used for his first career MLB hit.. So if he ends up being the great player that everyone expects he'll be, this would probably be the greatest bat to own then..

Very fair point.

I would put Jeter in the overpriced category as well, due to the nimbers of bats that always seem to be in the market.

I want a good Posey but am not going to pay through the nose. Buster seems like a good bet to me seeing as he has 3 WS rings, a batting title, a ROY, MVP, comeback player of the year and a WBC ring. Sadly, for this Giants fan, he may not see any more hardware. :(

MGHPro 04-15-2018 09:06 AM

Quality jeter bats are much more scarce than it seems. While there's a ton of jeter bats on the market , there really aren't that many with heavy/pounded use . And there's a good amount of bats being sold as used by him which aren't .

The trout bat is underpriced at 31k IMO. If it was Jeter's first hit , I'd expect it to go over 100k . I feel like trout is just as popular as jeter is/was.. if trout was a yankee his bats would demand more because of the ny market .. which leads me to Judge . His bats demand what they do because he's in NY. They'd be half price if he was on basically any other team.

MGHPro 04-15-2018 09:09 AM

Good buys on both but the vintage market has skyrocketed since the 90s. People buying quality gamers in the early 90s would make a fortune if they held on to them and sold now . I'll buy the mays if you want to make a nice profit :D


Quote:

Originally Posted by ooo-ribay (Post 1767491)
Looking at Goldins current auction, as an example, I am amazed at what Judge, Trout, etc. bats are fetching. They’re good bats, with good provenance, but the prices seem crazy. Judge may or may not be a HOFer. Trout most likely is.

Still, I bought an early SF Bonds bat, years ago, for $350. Yes, steroids, but also the all-time single season and career HR leader. In the 1990s, I got a legit early 1960s Mays gamer for $2500.

Is it just me or are the current prices crazy? Another reason I think people are overpaying is because, unlike the days of Mays, game used bats are now purposely kept and “sent to market.” A lot of Willie’s bats ended up in the Candlestick Park dumpster.


Forever Young 04-15-2018 09:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by yanks12025 (Post 1767520)
The Trout bat was also used for his first career MLB hit.. So if he ends up being the great player that everyone expects he'll be, this would probably be the greatest bat to own then..

Trout bat is an insane piece. Personally, i think he is already a lock for the HOF. The only way he won’t have career numbers is if something TRAGIC happens. As in, death or horrible injury. I am sure people will disagree with me on this and they would not be wrong probably. But the guy is INSANE. If he were on the Yankees, his stuff would be worth DOUBLE.
His bats are pricy.. I paid up for a hr bat of Hernandez.. but man.. it sure is a beautiful bat:)

As for Judge.. He is a Yankee and had a monumental rookie season(in the books) so he will always have that. But.. his bats should be nowhere near say trout.

As for comparing to old hof’ers: I agree with op on the thought process. If a trout bat is say going for 31k, an equal mays first hit should be 310k or more. The thing is.. the old guys bats are not rock solid provenance many of the times. To compare a trout 10 bat first hit to any 60s mays bat is not a good comparison. There is a leap of faith. Also, you are comparing prices you paid in the 90s. Bat prices/market has obviously gone up since:) I would rather have a Mays bat much more than a trout bat if all things were equal though no doubt and pay much more.

Forever Young 04-15-2018 09:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MGHPro (Post 1767584)
Quality jeter bats are much more scarce than it seems. While there's a ton of jeter bats on the market , there really aren't that many with heavy/pounded use . And there's a good amount of bats being sold as used by him which aren't .

The trout bat is underpriced at 31k IMO. If it was Jeter's first hit , I'd expect it to go over 100k . I feel like trout is just as popular as jeter is/was.. if trout was a yankee his bats would demand more because of the ny market .. which leads me to Judge . His bats demand what they do because he's in NY. They'd be half price if he was on basically any other team.

It looks like we were thinking all the same things.. you just got two in before i hit post:) oh.. and OP.. i will also buy your mays bat:)

Dewey2007 04-15-2018 09:54 AM

I didn't even bother reading the full listing for the Trout bat. If it's a bat used for his first career hit then in that case it might be worth it in the long run as long as Trout doesn't turn into Josh Hamilton!

Westsiders 04-15-2018 10:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Forever Young (Post 1767594)
Trout bat is an insane piece. Personally, i think he is already a lock for the HOF. The only way he won’t have career numbers is if something TRAGIC happens. As in, death or horrible injury. I am sure people will disagree with me on this and they would not be wrong probably. But the guy is INSANE. If he were on the Yankees, his stuff would be worth DOUBLE.
His bats are pricy.. I paid up for a hr bat of Hernandez.. but man.. it sure is a beautiful bat:)

As for Judge.. He is a Yankee and had a monumental rookie season(in the books) so he will always have that. But.. his bats should be nowhere near say trout.

As for comparing to old hof’ers: I agree with op on the thought process. If a trout bat is say going for 31k, an equal mays first hit should be 310k or more. The thing is.. the old guys bats are not rock solid provenance many of the times. To compare a trout 10 bat first hit to any 60s mays bat is not a good
comparison. There is a leap of faith. Also, you are comparing prices you paid in the 90s. Bat prices/market has obviously gone up since:) I would rather have a Mays bat much more than a trout bat if all things were equal though no doubt and pay much more.

Congrats on the Trout HR bat off of King Felix (assuming it’s the #36 HR bat)! Beautiful Bat! It’s the only modern day Bat that I regret selling. I should have kept that one, but we all know how that goes...selling one Bat to fund another.

Forever Young 04-15-2018 11:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Westsiders (Post 1767607)
Congrats on the Trout HR bat off of King Felix (assuming it’s the #36 HR bat)! Beautiful Bat! It’s the only modern day Bat that I regret selling. I should have kept that one, but we all know how that goes...selling one Bat to fund another.

Yes sir. That is the one. Hard not to love this guy and msybe..just maybe this supporting cast will help him get to the playoffs. Postseason needs trout.

ooo-ribay 04-15-2018 12:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MGHPro (Post 1767584)
Quality jeter bats are much more scarce than it seems. While there's a ton of jeter bats on the market , there really aren't that many with heavy/pounded use .

It seems to me the reason for that is that Jeter and many others consciously send bats to the market. Isn’t Steiner a large part of that? McGwire was doing the same during his 70 HR season.

Years ago, I had a phone conversation with Vince Malta. It was actually right about the time McGwires were going for insane prices. Vince theorized that Mays probably went through 750 bats in his career. Of those, he figured half were gone forever (dumpster, etc). Of the remaining 375, he figured half of those were in collections and would never be resold. So that left maybe 180 total Mays bats to be recycled through the market. I would put my Mays in the “never to be re-sold” but who knows what my wife will do with it when I’m gone...

MGHPro 04-15-2018 12:59 PM

Yes . Steiner has their hands in many teams game used items at this time .

As for mays - I doubt 375 honestly still exist .. unless there's a stash of them sitting somewhere unknown to the hobby .


Quote:

Originally Posted by ooo-ribay (Post 1767668)
It seems to me the reason for that is that Jeter and many others consciously send bats to the market. Isn’t Steiner a large part of that? McGwire was doing the same during his 70 HR season.

Years ago, I had a phone conversation with Vince Malta. It was actually right about the time McGwires were going for insane prices. Vince theorized that Mays probably went through 750 bats in his career. Of those, he figured half were gone forever (dumpster, etc). Of the remaining 375, he figured half of those were in collections and would never be resold. So that left maybe 180 total Mays bats to be recycled through the market. I would put my Mays in the “never to be re-sold” but who knows what my wife will do with it when I’m gone...


bat_master 04-15-2018 06:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MGHPro (Post 1767683)
Yes . Steiner has their hands in many teams game used items at this time .

As for mays - I doubt 375 honestly still exist .. unless there's a stash of them sitting somewhere unknown to the hobby .

Agreed. I wouldn't be surprised to find out that the number of Mays bats in existence was in the 100-150 range. The numbers get even smaller the further you go back.

Mark 04-15-2018 07:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bat_master (Post 1767778)
Agreed. I wouldn't be surprised to find out that the number of Mays bats in existence was in the 100-150 range. The numbers get even smaller the further you go back.

Interesting estimate. When writing about the Louisville Find in 1992, Michael Montbriand estimated in the SCD that there were only about 800 bats in that find of pre-war, game used bats that carried the names of HOFers and star players.

Huck 04-16-2018 05:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ooo-ribay (Post 1767491)
Looking at Goldins current auction, as an example, I am amazed at what Judge, Trout, etc. bats are fetching. They’re good bats, with good provenance, but the prices seem crazy. Judge may or may not be a HOFer. Trout most likely is.

Still, I bought an early SF Bonds bat, years ago, for $350. Yes, steroids, but also the all-time single season and career HR leader. In the 1990s, I got a legit early 1960s Mays gamer for $2500.

Is it just me or are the current prices crazy? Another reason I think people are overpaying is because, unlike the days of Mays, game used bats are now purposely kept and “sent to market.” A lot of Willie’s bats ended up in the Candlestick Park dumpster.

In my opinion prices are insane for some of the current players. Yadier Molina game used bat with an asking price of $800-$1000?? When did he die an enter the hall of fame? In this day an age, everything a player touches is considered memorabilia. For the current player, supply is not limited. The card companies need game used material for cards. Game used is hot.

ooo-ribay 04-16-2018 02:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bat_master (Post 1767778)
Agreed. I wouldn't be surprised to find out that the number of Mays bats in existence was in the 100-150 range. The numbers get even smaller the further you go back.

Well. Vince Malta's estimate was 375 Mays bats in existence but only half of those "available."

packs 04-16-2018 02:23 PM

Modern game used prices are insane to me too but sometimes it's the only way to get something "unique" for a modern player. As discussed, there is an abundance of material out there for any one player, but when you factor in game used, sometimes you can find yourself a totally unique item for an oversaturated market and player.

For example, here's my Mike Trout career hit #410. There is only ever going to be one of these, which makes it a cool Trout item and is much more interesting to me than a bat he used for batting practice that is technically "game used":

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4640/...3ecc83f41b.jpg

parker1b2 04-16-2018 03:33 PM

I think some of the bats are also purchased by non-collectors in a sense that they just want to show off a "trophy" for the lack of a better term. For example, my accountant is not a collector but does have Jeter bat he got from Steiner in his office.

mr2686 04-17-2018 09:14 AM

As someone that has a future interest in purchasing 5 or 6 game used bats for a bat rack in the memorabilia room, I find the prices on these things (considering the provenance, or lack there of,) a bit silly. Does anyone have a suggestion for a good book/reference material etc. for game used bats? I may end up looking at some secondary players...ones that are easily known but won't make the HOF and were good solid players.

packs 04-17-2018 10:12 AM

Mears and PSA authenticate game used material.

Mark 04-17-2018 11:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mr2686 (Post 1768253)
As someone that has a future interest in purchasing 5 or 6 game used bats for a bat rack in the memorabilia room, I find the prices on these things (considering the provenance, or lack there of,) a bit silly. Does anyone have a suggestion for a good book/reference material etc. for game used bats? I may end up looking at some secondary players...ones that are easily known but won't make the HOF and were good solid players.

Vince Malta's A Complete Reference Guide Louisville Slugger Professional Player Bats 2006 is the standard text, but it is out of print and hard to come by.

MGHPro 04-17-2018 12:33 PM

There's plenty of affordable hall of fame player bats . Once you get pass the top 20-30% most popular or extremely desirable players, many become much more affordable .. don't be intimidated by what milestone bats sell for.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mr2686 (Post 1768253)
As someone that has a future interest in purchasing 5 or 6 game used bats for a bat rack in the memorabilia room, I find the prices on these things (considering the provenance, or lack there of,) a bit silly. Does anyone have a suggestion for a good book/reference material etc. for game used bats? I may end up looking at some secondary players...ones that are easily known but won't make the HOF and were good solid players.


mr2686 04-17-2018 02:01 PM

Thanks guys!

ooo-ribay 04-26-2018 07:50 PM

As a Giants collector, current prices for this sorry team might be:

Posey $2000+
Belt $400
Crawford $400
Panik $500
Pence $500
Bum $2000

Only Posey and Bum have any upside, IMO.


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