Hello Everyone-

I believe one of the critical issues facing the game used collecting community today is the need to figure out whether an item is actually game used by a player (assuming they are looking for a "game used" item) before making an acquisition. Unfortunately, this is not always an easy task.

For example, there has been a move in the authentication community to title bats that have been authenticated "Professional Model" bats rather than "Game Used" bats. What does this mean to the collector? As a collector you now have more responsibility than ever to do your own due diligence to figure out if an item was actually used by a player. Since the "Letters of Opinion" do not say "Game Used" you are now more responsible for making that determination. In fact, you will notice that some auction houses (like Robert Edward Auctions) have already begun listing the title of items "Professional Model Bat" rather than "Game Used Bat" since that is what the "Letters of Opinion" now say.

Along these lines, Jim Caravello has just posted two blogs in the Experts' Corner of our site that address this issue in regards to a recent Eddie Mathews bat that was sold on eBay. These blogs are an absolute must read for bat collectors as well as collectors of any game used item as the factors discussed are not limited to bats.

Here is an excerpt to give you an example of what Jim explains "My points for the original posting were to help educate the collecting community foremost – to let them know that there is more than one type of Louisville Slugger factory record – to inform them that other players ordered bats of different players... – to inform them that they need to dig deeper and not just accept a COA because it says that a bat matches factory records and become comfortable with that – to inform them that more information might change their opinion of the bat’s provenance and value before they make a decision to bid or buy an item.

I URGE YOU TO READ THESE BLOGS AND THEN ASK WHATEVER QUESTIONS YOU NEED TO MAKE SURE YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT IS BEING DISCUSSED. THE INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THEM CAN SAVE YOU THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS. IN FACT, I HAVE LOST MANY THOUSAND OF DOLLARS MYSELF IN THE PAST BECAUSE I DID NOT UNDERSTAND WHAT JIM HELPS EXPLAIN IN HIS BLOGS.

You can find his blogs by clicking on the Experts' Corner link in our global navigation. Or, if you prefer, here is a link to the first blog entitled "Professional Model Bat - or Factory Documented Bat?" :

http://www.gameuseduniverse.com/blog/post.php?topic=178

Part two of this blog can be found at:

http://www.gameuseduniverse.com/blog/topic.php?forum=26

As you know, one of the main purposes of this site is to help the collecting community with valuable information and resources that you may not have access to otherwise. Blogs like these, as well as forum posts like the one recently by Mike Specht are, in my opinion, invaluable to the game used collector. I hope you take the opportunity to benefit from what is shared.

Sincerely,
Christopher Cavalier
CEO - Game Used Universe