louisville slugger miniature replica bats--vintage or not??

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Posted By: kg

in the last couple months i've purchased two louisville slugger mini replica ted williams bats on ebay (well, technically they were purchased off-ebay in deals made with two different sellers after the auctions ended without getting any bids); i bought the first one purely by accident as the seller neglected to mention that it was a mini-bat (he didnt mention how long it was), and in the scan of the bat in the auction listing, he had the bat resting on what looked like a king-sized bed pillow (but it was probably only a kleenex or a mini-pillow)--needless to say, as soon as i received the package (ie mailing tube) that he shipped it in, which was no bigger than a roll of paper towels, i knew i had been duped. the only reason i bought this is because i thought it was a full-sized bat, and i partially blame myself for not asking him how long it was (or if it was a mini-bat) prior to making the deal with him. (i usually do my research and have a keen eye for detail but he did a good job of "mastro-ing up" his ebay listing--ie, he said it was from the 50's and that the last one on ebay sold for $100--dont worry, i got it for less than half of that but still feel that i grossly overpaid).





that being said, if i knew it was a mini-bat, i wouldnt have bought it as i dont collect them. i dont know much about bats as i am primarily a vintage card collector who prior to buying that bat bought a nice full-sized sears and roebuck ted williams model from someone on the BST boards here and thought it would be cool to have a louisville slugger ted williams model too to complement that one. i emailed the mini-bat seller almost a month ago and told him i want to return this to him for a refund as he technically misrepresented the item and i have no use for it (even though it is kind of neat)--i havent heard back from him yet but plan on contacting him again in the next couple of days (or as soon as i hear what u guys think). however, a couple weeks ago i found another seller selling one much, much cheaper than i bought the first one for, and as i have a tendency to do, i made a deal for that one since it was only $13 delivered and also i figured i'd feel better about overpaying for the first one should the first guy not take it back. (so now i have two of them after not even wanting one of them--go figure!!)





both bats measure about 16 inches in length and are slightly different--the h&b branding as well as ted's facsimile autograph are slightly different on both of them. (i figure that this is probably the result of them being manufactured at different times and at different factories). one is actually about 16" and the other is just slightly longer at around 16-1/4". i have subsequently seen newer, more recently produced versions of them on ebay that are longer (about 18") and i went on louisville slugger's website where they are selling mini-bats that are 18" long. both of the ones i have look very old (the wood is very dark and they look indeed more vintage than the very light, almost blond colored ones that LS is selling)--i guess my question is, approximately how much are the two supposedly "vintage" ones i have worth--and also, when was the last time that LS produced a ted williams one?? (they dont currently have a williams one on their website). or more importantly, when did they first manufacture these bats?? as i already said, the first seller said it was from the 50's (which i think is a stretch because this doesnt seem like the type of collectible they wouldve made back then) and the second seller said it was from the 60's, which sounds more realistic, but did LS make these types of souvenir bats back in those days?? thanks in advance for any help and sorry for yet another longwinded post!! (and happy new year to all!!)

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Posted By: joe

I don't kmow when your bats were produced, but there are Mini bats for Detroit Tiger players from the 1930's. I'm sure some more collectors will post on the subject.

Joe

Ty Cobb, Spikes flying!

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Posted By: Tom Boblitt

can tell you how old they are. They still sell a 16" Williams last time I checked at the Museum....and I live here in Louisville. The newer ones have larger knobs on the bottom than the older ones.

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Posted By: kg

tom--here is a link to the ebay listing for the second mini-bat; the knob is very small in comparison to the ones on the bats that louisville slugger has on their website, which are much chunkier and almost look square in comparison to the knobs on the two that i have--i know the picture is small but i hope this helps--thanks!



http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=140283441811&ssPa geName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=004

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Posted By: kg

since last sunday when i posted a link to the ebay auction where i got one of the bats. before this thread finds its way to page two, i wanted to move it back up to the top of the page to see if someone could give me some help (tom boblitt, where are u???!!!)

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Posted By: Matt Hart

H&B has made mini bats since the early 1900's. Ted probably appeared on mini bats starting in the 40's. The one that you linked looks to be a 1960's bat. In general, they don't sell for much. At a show, I would expect to see the one from ebay sell for 25-35.
Let me know if you have any other questions.
Matt

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Posted By: Douglas

What if it is not endorsed by a player, is just an H&B Louisville Slugger. I have one I'm trying to determine age. I am guessing 40s or 50s, but not sure.

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Posted By: Tom Boblitt

guess I should check back more often, huh?

The Ted Williams in the picture is an old one. I'd say probably late 1950's to very early 1960's. I'd need a really close up scan of the brand to figure it out for sure.

They have been making a DiMaggio and Williams lately but the knobs on them are quite a bit larger and the branded names aren't branded, they're rolled or stamped or something. You can tell a 'real' one FOR SURE if it has the deep burned branded look on the name and oval H&B. The late 1960's and some of the later ones started using the stamped names.

Some mini's that I DID keep......probably sold over 500 from my collection over the last few years..........

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Posted By: Mark

Tom.. I am not referring to female body parts, when I say you have a great rack! Is that a vintage rack that's made to display the minis, or a more recent piece? I would love to know where to find one of those... must be rare, becasue I have looked for something like that for an eternity.

Please let us know the age of the mini rack, and where you obtained it. The bats are great too (and look terrific displyed that way). Thanks!

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Posted By: Clint

Mark, here's one my dad and I made. We made a full size one and then scaled down for a mini bat rack. It's not vintage but as close as I'll ever get.
Clint

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Posted By: Matt Hart

Great mini bats guys! Love those mini Spaldings Clint!
Matt

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Posted By: Mark

Very cool, Clint...

Maybe they aren't vintage, but probably are even nicer than the originals! Those D&M Bat Racks are so nifty. It sure is hard to effectively display mini bats in any other fashion.

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Posted By: Clint

Thanks guys. Tom those are great mini bats that you just don't see very often if at all.

Clint

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Posted By: Tom Boblitt

Same deal on the rack..............I made it. I just took 1x4's and drilled holes for pegs and then took a 1x8 or so and made a 'header' for it and then actually took some aluminum sheeting and cripmed and cut it for the top. Not really vintage but it works great for display. The other one I have is just a simple 1x4 rectangle that I made and drilled the holes at a slight angle and I just put it up on the wall like a frame. It works really well too. I'm not the consummate woodworker but can fumble around enough to get something done. On the rack, I just spraypainted it black, so it's functional although not pretty. Will try to shoot a couple more photos of the 'whole thing' for you so you can get a better feel for it.

As for the bats, I have always loved the bats but, like ALL of my collecting, I get into something for a few years and then I get out of it. Not sure it always works out the best, but that's my modus operandi. I had a lot of bats at one time, many many more of the 14" 1920's bats and Brown/Gold 1930's/1940's/1950's bats. I just, over time, sold a lot off at shows and via ebay. They are somewhat difficult to really display nicely. I've dealt with Byron McCorkle in the past and he's the undisputed heavyweight champion of mini bats I think. ID is batsbyron on ebay and if he doesn't have it, it might not have been made......he literally has (or had I guess) thousands of them.

I don't actively search them out but when I see something that pops up somehow on the radar, I try to pursue at a good price. I still have a dozen or so 14" mini's and some of the tougher ones. The blue Spalding Frisch is a really nice bat and very difficult to get ahold of. I recently sold a 22" Sisler that was a salesman's sample bat as it was a scale version of the 1915 or so bone rubbed bat with a cork handle. Hadn't seen one of those before.

Have a couple of friends that collect mini's pretty heavily, so they pick up some from time to time. Have probably 50-60 that I may pull out and sell, so keep an eye out on the BST threads. Been trying to pare down the collection a little...............

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Posted By: MikeB

Tom,
The cork handle 22inch is Harry Heilmann.