Game Used Questions
 

Now I have bought some game-used items over the years, but very few as I have never had the knowledge and was already into buying too many things. If I was smart I would have been buying more, especially when I was much younger. I don't have many items but a few of those items are among the most prized items I have now.

I would like some advice on any books or web sites I could look over to educate myself on the subject?

Now, when it comes to baseball, like with baseball cards, I would rather have their minor league jersey(or card) than their major league jersey(or card). Not that I would like both or try to buy their major league one if I see one I can get. In any sport, I would rather have their college or even high school items over their pro items, just my preference. My problem is believing they are legitimate that persons and that it is indeed game used. I do try to research items I am thinking about going after, which is a lot easier with the internet than it was when I started without it.

I see more companies offering photo-matching services, but I don't know if I can trust any photo-matching service. I can just imagine that there are companies that are allowing fakes to go through just like the grading companies are. Now when I was thinking of putting something up for sale on REA a little over a year ago, I was asked to send it off to Mears or another company but I can't remember what the other company was.

What photo-matching companies can I trust their authentication services on items? And who else can I trust their LOA's if it's not photo matched?

Any advice at all would be greatly appreciated.

Have you seen Game Worn by Wong and Grob? Its a great book. I collected some game used items in the 80s. I don't have much of it left, maybe 10 pieces. I was afraid I was venturing into deep waters and did not know how to even swim and avoid the sharks. Pre Google, around 1989, I traded a game worn 1987 Larussa and Glenn Davis rainbow jersey for a 1983 powder blue expos Gary Carter. Later I searched the internet for a photo match. I never found one. The more I looked at the jersey the more I became convinced that I had been swindled. Although the tagging looked correct the name font and number were different than any of the thousands of photos I saw on the internet. Disgusted with myself, I put the jersey in a bag and threw it in the closet. Then about three years ago I was cleaning said closet and found it once again. I threw it in the trash bin. Then I retrieved it. I decided to keep it as a painful reminder to stay in my own lane. Shortly thereafter I found two game used jerseys sold by Heritage that had Carter LOAs. Both matched my jersey exactly. Of course I was relieved that I rescued it from the trash. Nonetheless, I remain cautious when viewing such items. It seems that for the uninitiated game used stuff floats in deep murky waters. I long ago decided that there be dragons there and I needed to stay away unless there was impeccable provenance.

There used to be a site called game used universe? The folks at Grey Flannel auctions and Mears were helpful as well.

No, I will look for that book thank you. And I am sure everyone will love the story, thanks for sharing and I am also glad you dug it out of the garbage. I have a box of items I really don't believe are legit but never threw it out for fear that one item might be good. When I dig it out I will be more diligent of looking into the items.

I will look up that site as well, but I had a few people on here saying that Grey Flannel was a bit suspicious or something along those lines, don't remember details though. They have a lot of game-used items in their auctions, some have some providence or credentials but many just say: 'This jersey is properly tagged, was presented to us as game-used and in our opinion shows appropriate use.'

If I heard on here enough they were as trustworthy as REA or Heritage, I probably would have bid on more items in their auction tonight.

$40 for the full PDF but well worth it if you get more into MLB jerseys.

https://gamewornguides.com/

I second this, Bill Henderson's book is worth every cent. Lays out tagging, styles, patches, etc for every team.

Check out the Facebook groups, MLB Game Used, MLB/MiLB Game Used Bats-- Buy, Sell and Trade. A lot of the most trusted experts and collectors hang around there and are very helpful.

Sorry, I can't recommend a Photo Matching service, never used one, they can get very expensive. Try Getty Images to try to photo match an item yourself. A good photo match is always better than a COA from anyone.

You can easily search and go through the archives of REA, Hunt, Lelands, Grey Flannel, Mears, Huggins, SCP, Heritage and the others. This is especially helpful with regard to tagging (which can differ year-by-year).

For example, the 1970s and 80s Reds used Wilson and Rawlings, and the tags could be in the neck, inner tail, or outer tail, depending on the year. Same holds true for many other teams. The 1960s Dodgers used 5 different manufacturers... Spalding, McAuliffe, Rawlings, Goodman and McGregor. It varied year by year, so checking auction archives and prices realized is a very helpful tool.

The other resources mentioned above are also very helpful. But you have a completely free wealth of knowledge at your fingertips with the internet as well.

Don't trust the inscriptions
 

Also of note - just because the athlete autographed an item and he (or someone else) wrote "game used" on the item, such as a bat, jersey, cleats/shoes, or batting gloves does NOT make it so.

There is a prominent, active professional athlete in Atlanta who has been doing this for the last few months with his items, even though there is zero chance that the items could have been game used. (Some of the items were actually made AFTER the Covid pandemic shut down sports.)

Bottom line - be smart and educate yourself and trust the seller's history and reputation. We have an Atlanta-area seller on Facebook who is knowing selling this player's material to unsuspecting buyers, even though I and others have pointed out to him that the items cannot possibly have been used in an actual game.

Buyer beware.

I wouldn't waste my time on Game Used Universe website. That place is a joke. Crickets over there Years ago when Chris Cavalier had it, it was great. People on there all the time with questions and answers for you, a great buy and sell section to. I ended up with 10 or 15 bats over the years from there. Now its worthless since Ken Goldin took it over promoting his auctions on there. Used to be a good website but went down the tubes in my opinion. Every now and then somebody will post something new.

Agree, haven't posted there in a while. Once Goldin took over, they ran it into the ground.

Thank you, the book look like a great reference book after I read through it.

Thank you for the recommendations but I don't do facebook since my wife died still because of certain memories.

Now I will have to try looking over Getty Images but it would seem the older items have to be really hard to find pictures let alone getting them to match.

Thank you, I have used Heritage to search on many items before, their site makes it easy to search for past items as reference. Some of those other companies sites are as easy to navigate or go through, but your right, it is a great free reference if I can find what I am looking for.

I appreciate the note: But a question, what about when you see the players name or number written on the tags on the inside of pants or jerseys, how much weight does that hold?

Thank you for that info as well.