Best Way to Obtain Game Used Items?

[padremurph]

The game used bat thread as well as all of the pickups from the Zambrano collector got me thinking about game used items. What is the best way to acquire these items? I have very little game used in my collection and both pieces came from the Padres fanfest. The fanfest seems like a solid way to pick up items but the better players are usually omitted and it's a frenzy to get the better stuff. I know there is also the online charity auctions through MLB however the Padres only participate a couple (if that) times a year. There is also a San Diego autograph dealer that has some inventory that he gets through the fanfest and through players directly when they do signings at their store but their prices are pretty steep.

Would love you hear how you all go about picking up your game used items. As a STH, I've thought about contacting the Padres directly to see if we could swing something for some sort of donation but pretty sure that wouldn't work.

 

[jondawg04]

A-Buy from team fanfest
B-Buy from retailer/dealer with connection to player/team
C-Buy from player directly
D-Buy from auction house/MLB auctions

Depending on who you're looking for, if you look hard enough you can almost surely find someone with that player's gear. You'll of course have players who hold their gear or give it to family members so that nothing really hits the market, but a lot of players have stuff out there floating around. Don't expect to pay the prices listed in that other thread though, those were all very low compared to what you can expect to pay for most legit game used items.

If you're looking for Padres stuff, there really is no better place than their fanfest. Padres items are some of the least sought after in the MLB, so you won't have too many dealers that carry many Padres players gear.

 

[Musial Collector]

A-Buy from team fanfest
B-Buy from retailer/dealer with connection to player/team
C-Buy from player directly
D-Buy from auction house/MLB auctions

All great examples
All of my Cuddyer stuff has come from A, B and D

I will add in one:
E: Player's charity auctions - For Cuddyer I have done this a couple of times

 

[zookerman182]

game used is alot different than it was 5 years ago.

tons of overpriced and fake stuff.

tons of mlb authenticated real stuff has watered it down really bad.
For example they even slapped a mlb hologram sticker on a sharpie that miguel cabrera used to autograph items and sold the pen.

The game used stuff has sadly taken a turn for the worse which is why i got back into cards but there is still some geat stuff to be had if you know what to look for.

gameuseduniverse is a helpful website, with for the most part, decent members.

 

[jondawg04]

game used is alot different than it was 5 years ago.

tons of overpriced and fake stuff.

tons of mlb authenticated real stuff has watered it down really bad.
For example they even slapped a mlb hologram sticker on a sharpie that miguel cabrera used to autograph items and sold the pen.

The game used stuff has sadly taken a turn for the worse which is why i got back into cards but there is still some geat stuff to be had if you know what to look for.

gameuseduniverse is a helpful website, with for the most part, decent members.

The Tigers have got to be the worst as far as watering down stuff goes, and they have definitely had a negative effect on their player's values. The Brewers make everything available too, but they don't go out of the way like the Tigers do to sell every little thing. The new trend is to switch out jerseys and have them used for one game only so that they can sell em. Where normally a player has 6 jerseys for the year (2 home, 2 road, 2 alternates), the Tigers (and White Sox, Rays, etc) have jerseys made up to be used for a very short period of time so that they can just switch em out and sell em. Same thing with the AFL jerseys last year, MLB auctioned off game used jerseys that were literally only used for one game. A lot of the big players didn't even play in the game they were "used" in, so they are essentially just player "worn" items.

When collecting items, obviously the jerseys are the most aesthetically pleasing, but the obscure items are truly the rarest.
Bats, average player goes through over 20. Batting gloves, easy to expect 20+ pairs over the course of the year (Votto, on the other hand, uses nearly 100 pairs per season). Jerseys, minimum 5 or so and all the way up to 20. Hats, 3-4 per year isn't out of line. Spikes, an average player goes through 4-6 pairs per year on the high end. Gloves are the truly rare items, with most players only using one glove over the year (and sometimes even multiple seasons).

 

[GiantsSuperCollector]

Talk to players, they have no issue with giving you gear, especially if you talk with them a lot and help them out when you can.

 

[mchenrycards]

I remember way back in the day giving a bat boy 5 or 10 bucks, depending on the player, and you can buy the game used cracked bats after the games. This days are gone!!

 

[Zambrano38]

A-Buy from team fanfest
B-Buy from retailer/dealer with connection to player/team
C-Buy from player directly
D-Buy from auction house/MLB auctions

Depending on who you're looking for, if you look hard enough you can almost surely find someone with that player's gear. You'll of course have players who hold their gear or give it to family members so that nothing really hits the market, but a lot of players have stuff out there floating around. Don't expect to pay the prices listed in that other thread though, those were all very low compared to what you can expect to pay for most legit game used items.

If you're looking for Padres stuff, there really is no better place than their fanfest. Padres items are some of the least sought after in the MLB, so you won't have too many dealers that carry many Padres players gear.

Really good list. You also try search Ebay or on Google. And I agree, the more legitimate, the more an item will cost.

 

[padremurph]

Thanks for all the input everyone. There's a Maybin game used autographed bat from one of the local dealers on ebay but it's pricey. When I come up with some extra dough I'll probably offer them something outside of ebay.