Be aware of this ASG bat and LOA

[dplettn]

After Chris' comment about the recent situation "dougiedshow" ran into, I think its important to share a terrible experience and an LOA/bat other collectors should be aware of.

To be clear, I am not suggesting that the dimpled "ball" (compression) marks weren't already on the All Star Game bat at the time Sports Gallery bought the bat from Barry Larkin. But the "game used" LOA and the dimpled nature of the only compression marks I or any collecting friends could find on the bat are in sharp contradiction. Neither the text nor pictures embedded in the LOAs clearly show (or address) the dimpled compression marks. Both LOAs are scanned and attached here in pdf form. The Larkin signatures were not original and the seller (in a brief period of contrition) admitted to me the LOA writer told him Larkin never represented knowing what the "use" was from.

I trusted the LOA and bought the bat before examining it. As a Larkin collector, it seemed like an amazing opportunity even under my understanding (and the seller didn't admit to knowing even worse) that "game use" would have likely been from only other game(s) than the ASG. An actual ASG-used bat from that year was sold by a very reputable seller.

After purchase, I inspected the bat personally and quickly saw the dimpled compression marks... got stories, possibilities, and then came to learn Larkin had represented NOTHING about the bat's use. I was pressured to a hasty return where neither my wife or I could make it to my son's baseball game just to get my cash back before the seller's refund (I was warned) was to be revoked.

I'll never have back my items I sold to raise the cash for the opportunity. I felt bullied by both the LOA writer and his friend who sold me the bat in many ways before and after getting my cash back, including damage to MY reputation as the BUYER! Lots of innuendo was lobbied about that I was a troublesome buyer.

The seller actually booted me from a popular local social media hobby forum for which he is an administrator... without any explanation of cause, of course. And I'm perceived by some in the local hobby as myself being "blackballed" by the LOA writer's store (at which I have zero interest to do business, of course).

Sad, sad situation. Anyway, if anyone tries to sell a forum member this bat, please don't rely on the just the text and limited pictures in its LOAs.