Vintage GU Bats - Undervalued?

[sicollector1954]

I will not comment on who did the repair work but only say they have been doing this for many years and are considered one of the best in the hobby. In the future, I think I will get a letter and leave the cracks--chips, etc. alone for the next person to fix if in fact I ever decide to part with it.

[Mark17]

Originally Posted by sicollector1954

I will not comment on who did the repair work but only say they have been doing this for many years and are considered one of the best in the hobby. In the future, I think I will get a letter and leave the cracks--chips, etc. alone for the next person to fix if in fact I ever decide to part with it.

It might've been something else, like not enough use (ball, stitch marks, tar, etc.) I once had a rookie era Bench bat that was only given a GU 8 because there wasn't enough "use." His #5 in distinctive style was on the knob and there were ball marks, but not enough I guess.

Another thing you can do, and I wish I'd done this with my Frank, is get the PSA letter but just don't ask them to grade it. It'll save you some money, and then you can show authenticity without getting dinged for imperfections or light use.

I share your frustration. By the way, I had some bats restored by a guy who had been doing that kind of work for a long time. He did an excellent job, and was especially a magician with badly cracked, even shattered, handles. But he had one annoying tendency - he liked to put some stain and shiny varnish on the bats. He said he thought it made them "look better."

The last time he worked on a bat for me, I asked him very specifically to not do that, to leave the finish dull as it currently was. He replied by email, asking if I was sure I didn't want any stain or finish on it and I repeated, yes, I wanted the bat repaired, but to look as it did, which was dull (it was a 50+ year old bat.) When I got the bat back, as soon as I opened the box, I could smell the very strong odor of the varnish, and sure enough, that was the shiniest 1955-1960 era bat you ever saw. I was so angry, like the guy intentionally overruled my very specific and repeated instruction.

Anyway... I'm just glad I've got a top notch jersey guy who's done some outstanding work for me. He's got 2 of my shirts now in fact.

[Bigcatbaseball]

Any chance you still have the rookie era Bench bat?

Originally Posted by Mark17

It might've been something else, like not enough use (ball, stitch marks, tar, etc.) I once had a rookie era Bench bat that was only given a GU 8 because there wasn't enough "use." His #5 in distinctive style was on the knob and there were ball marks, but not enough I guess.

Another thing you can do, and I wish I'd done this with my Frank, is get the PSA letter but just don't ask them to grade it. It'll save you some money, and then you can show authenticity without getting dinged for imperfections or light use.

I share your frustration. By the way, I had some bats restored by a guy who had been doing that kind of work for a long time. He did an excellent job, and was especially a magician with badly cracked, even shattered, handles. But he had one annoying tendency - he liked to put some stain and shiny varnish on the bats. He said he thought it made them "look better."

The last time he worked on a bat for me, I asked him very specifically to not do that, to leave the finish dull as it currently was. He replied by email, asking if I was sure I didn't want any stain or finish on it and I repeated, yes, I wanted the bat repaired, but to look as it did, which was dull (it was a 50+ year old bat.) When I got the bat back, as soon as I opened the box, I could smell the very strong odor of the varnish, and sure enough, that was the shiniest 1955-1960 era bat you ever saw. I was so angry, like the guy intentionally overruled my very specific and repeated instruction.

Anyway... I'm just glad I've got a top notch jersey guy who's done some outstanding work for me. He's got 2 of my shirts now in fact.

[Bpm0014]

I’m not sure one can consider an ARod bat “vintage”...

[bigfanNY]

I was under bidder on the 1929 Paul Waner in REA part of bat was removed so that the 1929 NY Giants could sign the bat. Given the order records listed on the PSA letter I felt pretty strong that Waner himself used the bat and as I mentioned earlier his is a bat I have had on my wantlist for along time. My plan was to display it as a waner bat with the auto's turned to the back. I thought I had won the bat Sunday night and my bid held up until just before the final 10 minute bidding on Monday. Not happy I lost it but I was not happy about the extra day of bidding given to make up for the 4 minutes of downtime. So getting closer to a vintage bat. But as blank spot on my bat rack reminds me close doesn't count...

[Mark]

Originally Posted by bigfanNY

I was under bidder on the 1929 Paul Waner in REA part of bat was removed so that the 1929 NY Giants could sign the bat. Given the order records listed on the PSA letter I felt pretty strong that Waner himself used the bat and as I mentioned earlier his is a bat I have had on my wantlist for along time. My plan was to display it as a waner bat with the auto's turned to the back. I thought I had won the bat Sunday night and my bid held up until just before the final 10 minute bidding on Monday. Not happy I lost it but I was not happy about the extra day of bidding given to make up for the 4 minutes of downtime. So getting closer to a vintage bat. But as blank spot on my bat rack reminds me close doesn't count...

Whoever got that bat got a steal. Too bad about being outbid---do they notify you via text message if you're outbid? They notify me by emails, and I sometimes neglect to look.

[Mark17]

Originally Posted by Bigcatbaseball

Any chance you still have the rookie era Bench bat?

No. As I recall, around 2013 or so, you and I discussed the Bench and my 1965-68 Yaz bats and couldn't make a deal. I later sold both.