A's Fanfest - Frank Thomas, Huston Street, Bobby Crosby, Rich Harden For Sale

[hippo916]

I just returned from the Oakland A's Fanfest, and the volume of game-used memorabilia sold was incredible. When the doors opened at 10:00 a.m., there were nearly 100 collectors in line for the sale. The line remained at least 20 to 25 deep for the duration of the sale, which ended at 3:00 p.m. In the 10 years I have been attending Fanfest, the lines have never been this constant. In fact, by the end of the day, the only items left were jerseys of common players and jerseys of star players that appeared game-issued. What was amazing was that people who were clearly not involved in our hobby were buying $800 to $1,000 jerseys, which was unusual. In past years, I would see those same people spending $25 on a Scott Hatteberg bat or $150 on an Adam Melhuse jersey, which you would see them wearing at an A's game.

On a related note, there were many more game-used bats, as well as caps, for sale than in past years. But there were no vintage pieces as in past years. For example, in the past, 1970's era suitcases, bags, warm-ups, parkas and jackets would be available. In a find a few years back, a friend purchased Reggie Jackson's and Rollie Finger's bullpen parka for $20 each.

As with the jerseys sold at the 2006 Fanfest, the presence of year tags was inconsistent. Some jerseys had year tags and others, including those absolutely hammered with use, did not. I asked A's Equipment Manager Steve Vucinich about the inconsistency, and was told that jerseys, especially those of stars, are replaced throughout the year for various reasons. And when they are replaced, a correct sized blank is used whether it has a previous year's tag, current year's tag, or no tag.

As for prices, the most expensive jerseys were Frank Thomas at $1,000, Barry Zito at $800, Huston Street at $800, Nick Swisher at $700, and, interestingly, Tim Hudson and Mark Mulder at $600 each. Also, unlike past years, there was no limit on the number of jerseys one could purchase nor the number of a specific player's jerseys one could purchase.

Now, the bad part is that, in all the excitement and frenzy, I purchased a alot more jerseys than I should have. So I am listing several of them for sale in order to lessen the upcoming credit card hit. No games, no secrets, no negotiations, no playing one collector off another. You know my purchase price and sale price. And it's first come first served. All include the original A's COA, a copy of the A's Fanfest program, and A's memorabilia sale price list.

Frank Thomas - green alternate @ $1,300 - as Steve Vucinich said to me, "You can't pass it up, he's a future Hall of Famer."
Huston Street - green alternate @ $900
Bobby Crosby - green alternate @ $600
Rich Harden - green alternate @ $575

I also have two green alternate Eric Chavezes from prior years @ $700 each.

Randy

[whatupyos]

I too was at FanFest...I have to rant a second because the line seems to go no where fast...the first 4-5 people in took tons of stuff...to me, there should be a cap to make it fair for everyone. I wanted a Jason Kendall bat, there was 13 availble. I was number 29 in line and when I got in an hour and 40 minutes later they were gone! Same with Thomas' bats, you'd see people walking out with 9 jerseys 8 bats, just arm full loads of stuff. I remember last year some dude was trying on like 9 different common players jerseys and smelling them...I bet thats the type that would buy an athletic support of one of the players.

Anywho, I bought a Bobby Crosby white 2006 jersey with the Holy Toledo patch! Pretty sweet, hammered with use, seeing as he only played about a quarter of the year. The 2006 flag tag is so faint the only way you can tell its a 2006 is because of the Holy Toledo patch! Also bought a Dan Haren bp jersey and a bp hat. I'm a fan of Dan Haren, he came to speak to my class when I was a student at UCSB. I see him around town a lot and also saw him at Barry Zito's Strikeouts for Troops benefit. He's a solid person!

Aaron

[STLFan2003]

how much did they sell the common game used jerseys and bats for?

[hippo916]

By the time I got in, the jerseys with the Bill King Holy Toledo patch were gone. According to the sales staff, they sold-out within the second hour. But there were still a number of very nice star jerseys without the patch.

In regards to Aaron's comments, I tend to agree based on history. After the second A's Fanfest, which was held at Jack London Square in Oakland, the A's began to limit the number of jerseys a collector could purchase. The reason for the rule was because a dealer, who was first in line, spent two hours in the memorabilia sale, and cleaned-out everything, including $300 Rickey Hendersons and $250 Mark Mcgwires, out; it was to the point that he was buying game-used duffle bags and suitcases just to hold the jerseys. Not surprisingly, the people behind him complained. And the next year, at the third Fanfest, the A's limited the number of jerseys a collector could purchase. Unfortunately, they disclosed this rule weeks before the Fanfest. So, the dealer hired fathers and sons to stand in line and purchase the jerseys for him. It was absolutely mind-numbing to watch 10 year-old boys pull wads of bills from their pockets to purchase $600 Ben Grieve jerseys. The next year, children were prohibited from purchasing jerseys. And the purchase limit continued until this year, or, last year per Aaron. I think the reason there is no longer any limit is that because the jerseys have gotten so expensive, that even for dealers, the cost is prohibitive. In fact, several years ago, after significant price increases, I asked Steve Vucinich why the prices had gotten so high. His response was that they did it to discourage the dealers, and ensure fans got a chance at the jerseys.

As for the bats, the high was Frank Thomas at $100, and the low were no-names at $10. The A's have always been very low on the bats. "Common" -- everyone has a different opinion as to who is "common" -- jerseys ranged from $75 to $350. But would you spend $75 on a Mike Neu jersey?

[DonTheLegend]

wouldve been nice if the Cardinals implemented the same limit at the Winter warm Up.

there were people walking out with ,literally, dozens of jerseys , bats and hats.

at least give the first few hundred folks a chance instead of the first 10 - 20 "dealers " and their shills.

and for the record, a friend of mine was waiting in line for a pretty well known dealer. he used the dealer ID and got in before the doors opened. needless to say i wasnt very happy about it.

[www.jerseydave.com]

Randy, hello sir, please e-mail me about the Huston Street jersey that you got.. I am interested... thanks for your time..

David
Jerseydave@sbcglobal.net

[chakes89]

I would have paid $75 for a Mike Neu jersey. And thats only because he was with the Reds.

[pietraynor]

If anyone picked up any Jay Payton items, I'd be interested. ldonalds@columbus.rr.com
Thanks, Jay

[Kid4hof03]

For those who attended the Fanfest, where there any Ron Gant items laying around?

Abe

[hippo916]

Several Jay Payton jerseys remained at the end of the day. No Ron Gant jerseys.