If you commit to buying, don’t come up with lame excuses for backing out……

[JimmyC]

Originally Posted by 3arod13

Yeah, I’m a member, but it’s not interactive enough. Mostly, items are posted for all to look at. You can’t make treads, but you can make a comment in their chat or blog. Sharing information and helping each other is what it’s all about.

Talking about hockey, I’m amazed how much hockey stuff is posted on their site. I had no clue of the amount of hockey collectors.

Hockey posted: 9,030
Baseball posted: 3,638

Hockey is off the charts….been collecting GU hockey for years….there are a ton of collectors out there…..way more than baseball / football / basketball……not even close…

[SyrNy1960]

Originally Posted by JimmyC

Hockey is off the charts….been collecting GU hockey for years….there are a ton of collectors out there…..way more than baseball / football / basketball……not even close…

Jim,

Blew me away! I had no idea hockey collecting was so huge. Good for hockey!

Tony

[JimmyC]

That’s individually - meaning hockey is bigger than the other 3 individually with baseball a very close second…..you have to remember how large hockey is as a sport across the world….and for a long time….

I’ve been fortunate to correspond with collectors in Finland, Russia and Canada to name a few…..

Try to buy a 1980 USA Russia ticket these days…..very expensive…

[Jewish-collector]

If you see hockey GU collector/dealer Tom Coleman, tell that SOB (saying it like Costanza told the owners on Seinfeld) that we miss him on the east coast.

beer chug.gif

[JimmyC]

I’ll be sure to let Tom know!

Here is the type of work we did at GUU…….this is an article I wrote back in 2007 regarding team index bats….amazing it was 16 years ago……

https://www.sportscollectorsdaily.co...luable-lesson/

[Vintagedeputy]

Originally Posted by JimmyC

Here is the type of work we did at GUU…….this is an article I wrote back in 2007 regarding team index bats….amazing it was 16 years ago……

https://www.sportscollectorsdaily.co...luable-lesson/

As the owner of a Joe DiMaggio team index bat, I remember that article very well. Nicely written!

[JimmyC]

Originally Posted by Vintagedeputy

As the owner of a Joe DiMaggio team index bat, I remember that article very well. Nicely written!

Thanks Jim! A lot of people learned about team index bats the hard way…..what’s even more interesting than that and I speak to it in my book, is that players in the 40s , 50s and 60s could order other players signature model bats…..

I found an Aldo Caravello game used bat back in the early 90s in an auction and I bought it - cool bat - from the 40s…my name is not very common and Aldo played in the PCL back then and never made it to the big leagues…my dad and I did a lot of research and Aldo was not directly related to us, but he couldn’t have been too far off the main trunk on the family tree..when I received the bat, I reached out to my contact at Louisville Slugger and asked her to send Aldo’s records….

Upon arrival, I found that Aldo of course had his own signature model bat just like the one I own, but he had several orders of Joe Dimaggio bats during his career with identical specs to what Dimaggio ordered in the 40s…..

So yes - there are Dimaggio bats out there in personal collections that a very, very distant relative of mine used…..and I am sure there are other players who ordered Dimaggio bats during their career as well - Aldo was a PCL player, not even a Major Leaguer….

That’s why identifying specific player attributes are so important when buying game used bats…