Rocky Colavito bat.....get signed or not?
 

Guys...........This bat was pictured earlier this month in the pick-up thread. It's a H&B 125 K55 signature pro model. It measures 34.5" long and weighs 32 oz. No uniform # on the knob. I don't know for sure if Rocky used it, but there's a chance I suppose. The bat has a terrible handle crack with an amateur repair.

My question is whether or not to get it signed by Rocky? He's 88 years young and signs through the mail, but it's kind of expensive at $170 for bats according to his agent's price breakdown. The signing window is closing and his signature is pretty shaky, but it's better than nothing at this point. What would you do? I was leaning towards 'yes', but now I'm not sure. Thanks for your opinions.....Matt

1955-59 it looks like, so a really early career bat for him. He had over 40 HRs in 1958 and 1959 so it would neat to be able to pin point it to one of those years.

With regard to having him sign it, I think it would depend on just how shaky that signature is. I know Musial had some autographs that were barely recognizable as his signature. In my opinion, a bad sig would be worse than no sig. My two cents.

Great bat!

I would go for it, it will be awesome!

I would get him to sign it. Great bat

That’s my opinion, too. I hate to see guys’ signatures decline as they get old. Signing a bat might be particularly hard for him. :(

I would leave it as-is. But it is a personal choice, of course.

$170 is actually very cheap. I think it costs about 10 times that for a Jeter signing, and even more for Tom Brady, etc. Even Mariana Rivera signings are no less than $400…. clearly these guys are on a different level than Rocky, but it just puts in perspective how reasonable $170 is.

The signature can be removed if you don't like the results

I might be in the minority but a signature on any game used item looks horrible. I like game used items to be as close to original as possible.

Guys, thanks for the replies. I've always liked game used items signed by the player as it adds character, but for some reason (probably signature quality or cost), I've been hesitant on this one. Here's a couple recent items he signed back in December via SCN's website. Slowly signed, but still presentable. I think I'm going for it!

Matt,
After seeing the state of his current signature, I would totally go for it.
The Rock still has a very presentable sig, IMHO! :cool:

It does look pretty good but I still wonder how it will come out on the rounded surface of a bat.

+1 Agreed I think the signature would be sweet

I don't care how great or how shaky his signature might be. It's Rocky Colavito. He's not in the HOF and never will be. His signature is worth a fraction of what he charges to do it. Whoever came up with his pricing is almost as crazy as anyone paying it. Do not waste your money. Nobody cares $170 worth. $30? Sure. $170? Laugh and walk away while putting your wallet back in your pocket. That signature will never add $170 of value on top of it.

Or one of us can mail Matt a lighter and he could just torch his $170...

If it helps, here is a thread from a few years ago from another member who went through the same thing with Hank Aaron. He went for it and ended up liking it. https://net54baseball.com/showthread...ighlight=aaron

Have you ever overpaid for anything just to have it in your collection? If so then your argument does not hold true. If not then you are an elephant in a sea of lemmings.

Are those comments really necessary? They don't add anything to the discussion.

Besides the worry about strength of Colavito's current signature, my take is that the OP wants to know if it's worth it to have it signed at $170. It is not. He wanted opinions, and that is mine. If money wasn't part of the question, then the $170 figure wouldn't have even been mentioned. Adding a signature will never give $170 extra value to that piece. This is not Hank Aaron we're talking about. Your example with Aaron is an entirely different scenario if we're talking about adding more value to an item.
In the case of Aaron, of course you'd have ponied up the even larger asking price to have a game used bat signed. It's as much of a no-brainer as not having the Colavito bat signed at $170 happens to be. If it makes someone happy to pay $170 to get that bat signed then do it, but it's not economically logical.

Don't knock The Rock!
 

No pun intended...
If Todd is a huge Rocky Colavito fan (he did spend 4 years with the Tigers, after all), then maybe having the bat signed may complete his vision of what he wants his collection to look like.

Having an exit plan on value is good, because we can't take it with us.

That being said, I can totally relate with Todd.
I collect Johnny Vander Meer and he's not a HOF'er either.
Maybe not a great investment with possible ROI like collecting HOF'ers, but as they say, collect what you like. ;):cool:

It's only money...get the signature on the bat. It's always nice to have items like a GU bat signed instead of baseballs or photos. How many signed Colavito gamers do you see around? Not many. How many signed baseballs/photos do you see? A lot. So DOOO ITTT

I get it.
 

Billy.....I understand where you're coming from with investing that amount for his signature and a future turnaround in value.

I thought about it for a few days, then decided to send it out.

I'm a big Tiger fan with fond memories of the old stadium in the 80's, my Mother always mentioned 'Rocky Colavito' first when going to games in Detroit in the early 60's, and I didn't want to regret missing this chance someday down the road after his passing.

Thanks again for your thoughts and I was a bit torn, but I feel good about my decision. I'll post results hopefully within a week when it returns!

Looking forward to seeing it!

Good decision. When I'm bidding on things at auction, I try to fast forward a couple years and ask myself, will I regret not winning this, or will I regret putting hobby money here instead of keeping my powder dry for the next item I'll chase. Usually, I decide to try to win, because I seldom have buyers' remorse, but often have regrets when I miss out.

In your case, there will be a time, in the not too distant future unfortunately, when it will be too late to get Rocky to sign anything. I'd spend the $170 (plus postage) to avoid kicking yourself later.

One other thought. K55 is a pro stock model for Colavito if I'm not mistaken, meaning, if the bat doesn't have his use characteristics evident, it may not have been ordered by, or used, by him. By getting it signed though, it does personalize it to Rocky, since you now have proof he, at minimum, held it in his hands when he signed it.

Good on ya! At the end of the day you will look at this signed bat and not think a whit about how much you paid to get it signed. You will look at it and enjoy it for what it is. I am sure that any collector friends who really appreciate the memorabilia side of collecting will feel the same way.

I also know exactly where you are coming from. Along with my Olympic photography collection I also collect items related to Olympic photographers, including tickets. Yes, they need tickets for the events. I just spent about $600 to get photographer tickets for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics. I could have picked up press or broadcaster tickets for less, but they are not the same. I also spent about the same amount for about a dozen photo tickets for the Tokyo games including a full set for athletics (track and field). Will they ever be worth that in the open market? I do not care. They fit in my collection which will go to my college when I pass.

If he croaks tomorrow, you'll never get it signed. When he takes his dirt nap, you'll kick yourself for not popping the $170. Sounds pretty cheap to me for somebody who was an icon in the '50's - '60's.

Thanks for the further thoughts guys.

Mark, I had this same feeling in my opening post. I don't know for sure if he actually used it because I don't have access to the H&B shipping records for non HOF players. I know the stamping dates it to his rookie era where he might have been trying out different models, so maybe or not?

Matt, what's the length on the Colavito? I'd be shocked if he had pro stock bats out there that early in his career.

34.5", 32 oz.

One thing I would be hesitant on would be the thru the mail part. If this was an actual signing and you were ok with the risk of being a so so auto from his age, and the difficulties signing a bat, I'd say go for it. But a lot can happen when trying thru the mail. Could get lost, smudged, wrong color, wrong pen, etc etc.

Let us know how it goes if you decide to try it.

Generally speaking, I'm in agreement with these thoughts.

If there's one silver lining here, it's that the fellow who handles Colavito's mail (I want to say it's his son in-law) is very responsive and careful from all accounts I've seen. No personal experience with him, but for $175, I'm sure he'll be happy to follow all instructions/requests. Just send him a detailed email of what you want done (and obviously send your own proper packing materials and marker). It definitely wouldn't hurt to forward a mock-up of how and where it should be signed for good measure.

It's already been shipped out, return tracking shows it was scanned in this morning and is expected back this Thursday, so we'll see what the results are. I sent a new black sharpie, as I don't like the look of faded blue sharpie on bats long term.

It's back!
 

Bat was delivered today before lunch. He signed it with my provided black sharpie and overall, I'm happy with the results. I knew it wouldn't be a perfect '10' signature due to his age, so I set lower expectations and was actually expecting a much shakier signature. The sharpie bled into the grain in a few spots unfortunately, but I'm still glad it's signed.

Very nice, Matt! Mission accomplished. Congrats! :cool:

Congratulations Matt! Glad it came out well, and that you like it.

Very cool! :cool:
Congrats!

Looks great. I think that roll of the dice paid off and in the long run, there will be fewer signed gamers in the hobby.

Very cool. I don't think you'll ever regret getting it signed but you probably would have if you didn't get it signed and he passed away.

Thanks Guys. This was the thought I kept going back to. The window was closing.

Good move. And now, it is definitely a "Colavito" bat, regardless of the provenance of the wood.

Looks great. Congratulations!

Great decision and very nice looking signature