hblakewolf
11-11-2006, 09:26 PM
Forum Readers-
As many of you know, I'm a huge McGwire collector. As such, I recently saw a "1984 McGwire game worn Olympics helmet" featured on Ebay:
http://cgi.ebay.com/1984-USA-OLYMPIC-BASEBALL-MARK-McGWIRE-GAME-USED-HELMET_W0QQitemZ280045886407QQihZ018QQcategoryZ501 17QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
The seller noted in his description that the helmet was worn by McGwire and included a LOA from the Director of the Olympics, Ish. Although the seller provided several photos of the helmet, none provided a shot of the back that should have a black 41. From the photos, there did not appear to be any identification, either a name on the bill, # on the bill, or the 41 on back as I have seen in several photos of McGwire during his 1984 Olympic play.
The seller included his phone number in his listing, so I called him. I asked him how he can attribute this particular helmet to being used by McGwire. He said that although the LOA simply said it was worn by the Olympic team in 1984, he has to believe it was worn by McGwire as it is a size large. HUH?????????????? I asked if the LOA makes any mention of a specific player wearing it, or in this case, specifically McGwire. Again, the seller said it makes no mention, but he believes McGwire wore it based on the size. When I informed him that the team had large black numbers on the back of each helmet, he said he was not aware of this.
The auction description was never changed, and it appears to heave ended early with the "Buy it now" feature for $499. Although I have the actual red 1984 McGwire Olympic jersey in my collection, I'm glad I had a chance to investigate and do my homework on this helmet BEFORE wasting any hard earned money.
Homework, folks.............do your own homework and forget about the all-important LOA's.
Howard Wolf
hblakewolf@patmedia.net
As many of you know, I'm a huge McGwire collector. As such, I recently saw a "1984 McGwire game worn Olympics helmet" featured on Ebay:
http://cgi.ebay.com/1984-USA-OLYMPIC-BASEBALL-MARK-McGWIRE-GAME-USED-HELMET_W0QQitemZ280045886407QQihZ018QQcategoryZ501 17QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
The seller noted in his description that the helmet was worn by McGwire and included a LOA from the Director of the Olympics, Ish. Although the seller provided several photos of the helmet, none provided a shot of the back that should have a black 41. From the photos, there did not appear to be any identification, either a name on the bill, # on the bill, or the 41 on back as I have seen in several photos of McGwire during his 1984 Olympic play.
The seller included his phone number in his listing, so I called him. I asked him how he can attribute this particular helmet to being used by McGwire. He said that although the LOA simply said it was worn by the Olympic team in 1984, he has to believe it was worn by McGwire as it is a size large. HUH?????????????? I asked if the LOA makes any mention of a specific player wearing it, or in this case, specifically McGwire. Again, the seller said it makes no mention, but he believes McGwire wore it based on the size. When I informed him that the team had large black numbers on the back of each helmet, he said he was not aware of this.
The auction description was never changed, and it appears to heave ended early with the "Buy it now" feature for $499. Although I have the actual red 1984 McGwire Olympic jersey in my collection, I'm glad I had a chance to investigate and do my homework on this helmet BEFORE wasting any hard earned money.
Homework, folks.............do your own homework and forget about the all-important LOA's.
Howard Wolf
hblakewolf@patmedia.net