I only have a handful of game used items across multiple sports, and none of them from anyone famous, although a couple would be well known. I enjoy then far more than the few game used cards I've gotten from packs.
Most were fairly inexpensive. I can't afford a Cobb jersey, but could afford one from Jon Matlack. Some of the others came to me in strange ways and cost very little. Like a 50's game used bat at a flea market for I think $1.
When you think about it, a fairly average player like Matlack would have just 2 home and two road jerseys each year. That makes even a common jersey a really uncommon thing.
I saw a video years ago showing Topps Secure storage for items they'd bought for memorabilia cards. Some of the stuff they'd bought and were showing off was the sort of thing even someone famous would only have one of for years.
Like a famous actors briefcase.
Once they cut it into tiny pieces it was essentially lost to history.
I get the attraction of having a tiny part of history, but I don't agree with the concept of making it affordable to everyone. If something is truly "special" cutting it up makes it a lot less special. especially for bats, where the scrap they use is more likely from the interior, and is just a bit of wood. I have a bunch of ash scraps, and nobody would ever know the difference*.
*Sort of, there are tests that could tell how old the wood is.
|