Damaged WWII baseball trophy - Not sure what to do now...
 

One of the coolest items I had in my WWII baseball collection was a trophy that former MLBer Barney McCosky received for having the most RBI's in the baseball league they held in Hawaii for troops. I picked as part of a collection of WWII items years ago.

Recently I traded the trophy as part of a deal for a different really cool WWII baseball item, but as you can see in the pictures, it did not survive the trip with USPS.

I had insurance on the package, but the Post Office says regarding filing that there needs to be some substantiation of the value.

I am sure that many people here have dealt with damaged items that did not have any clear market value.

I'd love any thoughts on how to handle the situation.

Thanks

USPS insurance is a joke. You’re not going to get anything. Looks like it can be repaired by a knowledgeable trophy expert, but probably something that now gets to stay in your collection. Not sure what it’s worth, but everything over 1k I send registered mail and overpack it with bubble wrap and packing peanuts. It’s always sad when something that has managed to survive 50-100 years gets trashed by the post office. UPS and FedEx are no different. Good luck

trophy
 

Looks pretty fixable to me. Maybe talk to a local trophy shop for assistance.

At least the damage seems very repairable. If the top photo is how it will display after the damage I would epoxy the pieces myself. The value is the McCoskey provenance. Very cool piece! I’m intrigued by the team photo. I have a nice Great Lakes pennant from 1943 with Cohrane.

Alway take apart a trophy for mailing

The base can probably be repaired. I would scour eBay for a similar base of that exact size (on a non-baseball trophy of lesser value). There will be many to choose from.

Was the Bat in his hands when you sent it, or did it break off as well? The Batter's arms and body are blocking that space in the lone "before" photo. If the bat broke off, and if you still have it, that will be a tougher repair which will likely require a professional restorer.

If you repair it and want to sell, you'll need to disclose the restoration. So as stated above, perhaps it's now permanently slated for your personal collection. I hope the PO comes through for you, but wouldn't hold my breath.

Last year I had my first "lost package from USPS" normally I don't insure but it was late November and it was going to Ca. My first request for payment from USPS was declined, But..They sent me rules, so at least I understood what to do. Even then I was turned down all the way until final appeal. I won because I broke down the rules and showed exactly how I had provided proof for each one. Took almost 6 months and alot of time.
My Suggestion is that you have the trophy repaired right away. Then your fight iwith USPS s for the repair costs, which you can establish. I say right away because there are strict timelines. If repairs are going to take some time then file with your estimate.
If you could establish value by estimates from dealers you might win the fight but the trophy would go to the USPS which would trash it. That seems like a real shame.
Any specific questions send me a PM or an email.
Hope this helps
Jonathan

I appreciate the responses.

I actually traded away the trophy as part of a deal, so trying to figure out how to get USPS to cover the damage, and then separately will need to figure out what the value is with the damage, to make the other party whole. The latter part I am sure I can work out with the person I traded with, but the first part is more challenging.

A friend had a cylinder phonograph damaged in the mail, and had to provide a quote for repairs.
Fortunately there was a local business that sold serviced and repaired them, so getting a quote was easy. USPS paid based on the quote.

Does such a phonograph have collectible/historical value? A trophy like this one definitely does, and the damage impacts that.

I filed a claim with USPS based on other baseball trophies of similar size. None were for the exact same thing of course, but sent a range of them and hope they will agree that the value should likely fall somewhere in that range. We will see...

sorry to hear.
Good luck with it and keep us up to date