[Mark17]

Several years ago when I was starting my bat collection, I came across an ebay auction for a Louisville Slugger bat of a guy named Owen Bush. The bat looked pretty old and the auction was ending in less than 8 minutes. The high bid at the time was less than $100.

There were no inch marks on the knob, so I figured I was about to score a valuable bat, since Owen Bush is, of course Donie Bush, famous Tiger shortstop of the Ty Cobb era. Even if it was a vintage store model, I figured I'd be doing okay if I could get it for around $200. Well, I did snipe that bat for something like $150 and spent the rest of the evening patting myself on the back.

A few days later, a USPS medium flat-rate box was delivered to me and inside was the bat. Turns out... it was a mini bat! I frantically went back and looked at the auction listing and sure enough, the measurement of the thing was in the listing, which I hadn't noticed because I was so caught up in the moment, and with the auction ticking down, and so on.

It was my fault of course. I didn't complain to the seller, just learned my lesson and sold it a couple years ago for about a hundred dollar loss. The education was well worth it.

So... don't feel too bad, you have a nice display piece, and it's your hobby. Some people have hobbies like going on cruises, or hitting the casinos, where they might spend a few thousand a year and justify it as "entertainment." And that's fine, but it sounds like your hobby has been basically dollar-neutral, so that puts you way ahead.