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What’s It Worth: Uni Watch and Grey Flannel Auctions Team Up to Announce New Appraisal Service

Longtime readers know that we periodically run ads from Grey Flannel Auctions and that I periodically run “Auction Action” entries in which I showcase some of my favorite items from GFA auction catalogs. (Just for the record, there’s no quid pro quo there. GFA began advertising after I was already writing about their auctions, and the main reason I write about their auctions is that they always send me a printed catalog, which is my preferred medium for browsing through auction listings.)

Anyway: Over the years I’ve developed a good relationship with GFA’s director of operations, Michael Russek (that’s him at right). In an industry that can sometimes be a bit sketchy, Michael has always impressed me as a stand-up guy. When my friends Sonya and Tony Abrego recently acquired a 1905 Princeton football jersey and asked me if I had any suggestions on how they could sell it, I sent them to Michael because I knew he’d treat them right, plus I knew GFA would reach the right audience to bring the best price for the jersey. (It ended up selling for over $50,000.)

GFA is a family-run business that was founded in 1989 by Michael’s father, Richard Russek. Dozens of big-name athletes have trusted GFA to sell their personal memorabilia, including Rick Barry, Bob Pettit, Joe Morgan, George Gervin, Orel Hershiser, and Evander Holyfield.

But you don’t have to be a big-name athlete to consign your collectibles to GFA. Indeed, sometimes the most interesting and valuable items come from out of the blue, like Sonya and Tony’s Princeton jersey. That’s why Michael and I are proud to announce a new service for Uni Watch readers: If you have any potentially valuable collectibles, you can submit photos and descriptions to GFA and receive an appraisal within 72 hours, with no charge and no obligation. Think of it as a pop-up online version of Antiques Roadshow.

So: Do you have some sports or pop culture memorabilia that you think might be valuable? Have you ever wondered how much it might actually be worth? Now’s your chance to find out. Here are the details:

1. Items that can be reviewed include game-used and game-worn jerseys, bats, and equipment; vintage sports and historical autographs; championship jewelry, trophies, and awards; pre-1960 trading cards (all sports); and entertainment, rock ’n’ roll, political, Americana, and historical memorabilia.

2. For each item, provide several photos (front, back, tagging, maker’s mark) and a detailed description regarding the item’s condition and provenance.

3. Also include your name, phone number, and email address.

4. GFA only handles items with a perceived value of at least $250. If your item doesn’t meet that threshold, you may get a response indicating that the item doesn’t fit the parameters for a GFA appraisal.

5. Full disclosure: If you end up consigning an item to GFA and the item sells, Uni Watch will get a cut of GFA’s fee. (And in case you’re wondering, I did not receive anything for the Princeton jersey. That was just a favor I did for Sonya and Tony.)

Okay, ready to see what your treasures are worth? Email your photos and descriptions to GFA. You’ll get a response in 24 to 72 hours.

Have fun with it, people. We’re excited to see the treasures you share with us.

• • • • •

NBA torn-jersey update: A little birdie tells me that he was recently chatting with a Nike representative and got the scoop on why the NBA’s jerseys were tearing so often earlier this season. It’s not entirely satisfying, but here it is:

Basically it all came down to this: Nike got all the jerseys late from the factories — so late, in fact, that Nike shipped the jerseys to the teams unfinished, without player names or numbers. So the teams had to apply the names/numbers themselves. Apparently that’s where the issue arose, because the numbers were not applied correctly in keeping with Nike’s sewing standards (whatever those are). Thus, the jerseys became weakened — how, I have no idea — and were susceptible to tearing.

I was told a few more very small detailed bits of information regarding how the jerseys were made, but I really only internalized the main points and can’t recall those details.

I don’t really understand how a jersey could be “weakened” by a team sewing on a number (especially since teams throughout the sports world have had their own seamstresses pretty much forever), and it seems a little too convenient for Nike to shift all of the blame onto the teams. But still, that’s the story they’re apparently telling. I’ll try to find out more.

• • • • •

And I like the color scheme, too: Sprite unveiled a new commercial yesterday, featuring LeBron James as, of all things, a baseball relief pitcher. Someone on the production team must be a Uni Watch reader, because the spot is loaded with good uni details, including tequila sunrise-style fauxbacks, clever NOBs (“Big Taste,” “Thirst”) and numbers (“12 oz.” and “99º”), Sprite-themed catcher’s gear, and — wait for it — LeBron in stirrups!

Who says I don’t like advertising?

(Big thanks to Uni Watch alum Mike Chamernik for tipping me wise to this one.)

• • • • •

Click to enlarge

Magnetic attraction: Everyone likes fun fridge magnets (even if your fridge is in a cramped, poorly lit nook that’s difficult to photograph, like mine), so I wanted to remind you that Uni Watch magnets, like th ones shown above, are available from our friends at StickerYou. Check them out here.

StickerYou also makes stickers (duh), and reader Jason Von Stein recently got in touch to let me know that he’d slapped a Uni Watch shield logo sticker — designed, of course, by the great Rob Ullman — on his guitar case. As you can see, it’s in very good company (click to enlarge):

The magnets and stickers are all available here. My thanks, as always, for your consideration.

• • • • •

The Ticker
By Paul

’Skins Watch: The English rugby union team Exeter Chiefs have a new pink kit this season with a pretty significant Native American theme. “The two mirrored heads are the team’s logo blown up bigger,” explains our own Jamie Rathjen. “The kit is only to be worn in the European Rugby Champions Cup.”

Baseball News: The Orioles have announced their promo giveaways for the coming season (from Andrew Cosentino). … Also from Andrew: The Orioles are the latest team to extend the netting at their ballpark (and also at their spring training stadium). … New helmet logos and matte shells for Kentucky. … The “Field of Dreams” in Iowa was recently vandalized, so there’s a GoFundMe page to help restore it (from Dean Richard). … Chipper Jones played his entire career for the Braves and Trevor Hoffman played almost his entire career for the Padres, and Jim Thome played more than half of his career with the Indians, so it’s obvious which cap logos will appear on their Hall of Fame plaques. Vlad Guerrero split the bulk of his career pretty evenly between the Expos (seven seasons) and the Angels (six season), so that’s a tougher call, but I’m hoping he goes with a Montreal logo because it’ll probably be the last opportunity to get that logo onto a Hall plaque. … Speaking of Hoffman, check out the uniform he wore back in 1990, when he was a shortstop with the Charleston Wheelers (from Ian Aretz). … Great new striped stirrups for UGA. … The Trenton Thunder will become the Trenton Pork Roll for Friday home games this season. Pork roll, of course, is also known as Taylor ham, depending on which part of New Jersey you live in. Nice touch that they depicted all the pork roll slices with little notches cut out of them, which is the proper way to keep the slices from curling and puckering in the skillet (thanks, Phil). … New uni design with a brutal pant design for Cal.

NFL News: “Philadelphia 76ers team president Christopher Heck announced during a radio interview on Wednesday that they’ll be adding Eagles green to their arena,” says John Livewell. “He said the arena will be all green for the nationally televised game on the Friday before Super Bowl. He said, ‘The team’s colors are now red, white, blue, and green.'” … Interesting story on the gear worn by Super Bowl volunteers. … Police officers in Saint Paul, Minn., can purchase Super Bowl-themed badges, to be worn up through the big game (from @Natron44).

College Football News: Washington State QB Luke Falk, who normally wears No. 4, will wear No. 3 in the Senior Bowl in memory of former teammate Tyler Hilinski, who recently committed suicide. … Mark Cooper found this pretty cool Penn State travel bag.

Hockey News: It’s been a long time since the Rangers’ early-1970s line of Jean Ratelle, Vic Hatfield, and Rod Gilbert was known as the “GAG line” — short for “goal a game” — but at least one Rangers fan still remembers. Dan Klein spotted that license plate in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. … New logo and jerseys for the Estonian Hockey Federation. … Interesting to see how squared-off the corners of the rink appear to be in this postcard from the 1960 Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley, Calif. (from Josh Cohen). … The Eugene Generals will wear military appreciation jerseys on Saturday (from Alex Stimson). … Thirty years ago yesterday, Neil Sheehy of the Whalers became the first NHLer to wear No. 0 (from Chuck Loads).

NBA News: While I don’t know this for a fact, I have reason to believe that the NBA All-Star uniforms, which have already leaked, will be officially released sometime today. … Cross-listed from the NFL section: “Philadelphia 76ers team president Bryan Colangelo announced during a radio interview on Wednesday that they’ll be adding Eagles green to their arena,” says John Livewell. “He said the arena will be all green for the nationally televised game on the Friday before the Super Bowl. He said, ‘The team’s colors are now red, white, blue, and green.'” … Speaking of the Sixers, last night was Australian Heritage Night, so they put a kangaroo graphic on the backboard post. … The minor league baseball trend of renaming the team after a local food specialty for one night is spreading to the D League, where the Erie Bayhawks will become the Erie Pepperoni Balls on March 9. … What’s with this weird courtside seating configuration that the Clippers are using? (From Andrew Schmidt.)

College Hoops News: Brutal kerning on Kansas G Malik Newman’s NOB (from Matt Wilcott). … “Kansas State has gotten some Ticker mentions for wearing those lavender throwbacks last Saturday, but TCU also wore throwbacks in that game,” says Kary Klismet. “More info here. Also, Iowa and Wisconsin went color-on-color on Tuesday night.” … DePaul went with black numbers and NOBs on their blue jerseys last night, which rendered the typography pretty much illegible (from @bryanwdc). … Nevada and Wyoming went pink vs. yellow last night.

Soccer News: New training gear for the Columbus Crew. “I didn’t realize they had a different training advertiser,” says Ed Żelaski. … Reaction to Leeds United’s new badge design was so negative that the team is now rethinking the design (from Alex Evans and Paul Smith). … Miami’s MLS expansion team will be officially announced on Monday (from @igTXSalazar).

Olympics News: Here’s a slideshow of the Team USA speedskating uniforms (thanks, Phil). … The Norwegian curling team will once again be wearing crazy pants (thanks, Phil). … Cross-listed from the hockey section: Interesting to see how squared-off the corners of the rink appear to be in this postcard from the 1960 Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley, N.Y. (from Josh Cohen). … Here’s a piece on the negative reaction to those Team USA fringed gloves.

Grab Bag: New identity system for the UNC statewide system (from James Gilbert). … With the Oscars and Grammys celebrating their 90th and 60th anniversaries, respectively, the two organizations have rolled out somewhat similar anniversary logos. … This is bizarre: South Carolina’s state flag is not standardized, so there are several different versions of it floating around. Crazy stuff (from Anthony Nuccio). … Several readers noted that Simona Halep, the top-ranked women’s tennis player in the world, has been wearing an unbranded dress and a plain “AO” cap at the Australian Open. That’s because she doesn’t currently have an endorsement deal. How refreshing. … New Era, already the official headwear supplier for IndyCar, is now the official apparel outfitter — not just headwear — for Schmidt Peterson Motorsports (from Alex Núñez).

• • • • •

A hard liver with a hard liver: Word came down yesterday afternoon that Mark E. Smith, the longtime frontman of the Fall, had died at the age of 60. Given his notoriously self-destructive approach to life and his increasingly sallow visage in recent years, lots of people no doubt thought to themselves, “What took him so long?”

Smith was, by most accounts, a remarkably unpleasant person (and a famously irascible bandleader — he hired and fired over 60 members of the Fall over the years). But he was also a one-of-a-kind original who influenced two generations’ worth of underground bands. Over the course of 40 years and nearly as many albums, he never strayed too far from his signature sound of post-industrial guitar churn, throbbing bass, stream-of-(un)consciousness gutter poetry, and, most of all, an unmistakable and irresistible vocal style best described as a staccato nasal British drawl that lurched and heaved in odd rhythms but always sounded righteously charismatic (seriously, Smith could read the phone book and it would sound cool). At its best, mostly over the Fall’s first decade or so (I’m partial to the albums Live at the Witch Trials, Hex Education Hour, Slates, and The Wonderful and Frightening World of the Fall), these sonic elements gelled into some super-powerful and oddly catchy music that pretty much created a post-punk category unto itself.

And if you’re looking for a sports angle, there are lots of soccer references in the 1983 song “Kicker Conspiracy”:

And then there’s the song “Octo Realm/Ketamine Sun,” which I’m not going to embed because it’s pretty awful, but it does include the very Uni Watch-worthy line “You’re a walking tower of Adidas crap.”

I heard the news of Smith’s death as I was heading to the airport yesterday for a work-related trip. I wrote part of this little appreciation on the plane and finished it late last night in my hotel room. It felt really weird and somehow oddly appropriate to be sitting in a hotel in the middle of nowhere, knowing that I was probably the only person in a 50-mile radius listening to the Fall. I think Smith would have liked that. R.I.P.

 
  
 
Comments (102)

    Sad to say none of the links I tried are working – baseball, football, olympics, grab bag.

    Happy travels

    Same here. Looks like they’re all directing to htt] and htt]s instead of http and https, which is causing the errors.

    Yeah, same here. Looks like its adding “https://staging.uni-watch.com/htt[://”in front of the link

    Proofreading:
    “Bob Petit” Pettit
    “the Friday before Super Bowl”
    “Neil Sheey” Sheehy

    And the ticker link problem that others have described.

    Also, Sheehy was the first (and only) skater in the NHL to wear 0. Apparently, 1940s goalie Paul Bibeault also wore the number at some point in his NHL career, though I haven’t been able to find any details (e.g. for which team, as he played for four) yet.

    I decided to look up recent media guides for Bibeault’s four teams (Boston, Montreal, Chicago, and Toronto), and none of them have any listings of him ever wearing 0. I’m starting to wonder about the veracity of the reports of his wearing the number.

    Though whether Bibeault actually did or not, Sheehy is still the only non-goalie to go with the single bagel.

    And, of course, there were the two goalies who wore 00 – John Davidson for one season with the Rangers (link, no less), and link for three games with Buffalo (note the 00 on his neck protector!).

    At some point after Biron’s short stint (at which point he returned to the QMJHL), the NHL decided to ban further use of 0 and 00, reportedly due to issues with scorekeeping software.

    Yes — irrespective of the coding issue (which has now been fixed), the site appears to be sluggish this morning. It’s working, but it’s slow. Have asked the webmaster to investigate.

    Weird; something is (was) going on, it kept killing the performance of my desktop. Had to close it out twice after it was using 2.7Gs of memory.

    Norwegian curling teams wearing colourful pants at events is pretty much the norm. Always fun to see the designs they break out. As seen here at recent 2018 Continental Cup of Curling this month, this is a Norwegian team (Team Ulsrud) who was part of Team World for the competition against Team North America.

    link

    I would be shocked if they wore regular pants.

    For Norway, conservative pants would be an interesting surprise. At this point, “Norway unveils wild new pants design” is about as noteworthy as “Oregon wears different uniform this week.”

    While the rest of the world seems to be sticking with conservative pants at the Olympic level, I see a fair amount of Loudmouth pants on the ice at the club level, both locally and bonspieling, and I’m not always the only curler on the ice with knickers and stirrups.

    Correction for the hockey & Olympic sections. Squaw Valley is in California. Beautiful looking rink

    I always thought that arena was just beautiful; if you were to imagine a smaller arena in California, that would be it. Shame they weren’t able to save it; I’m willing to bet that current engineering could duplicate it.

    The present-day home of the OHL Petes, Peterborough Memorial Centre, is known for similarly square corners.

    link

    link.jpg

    Seems like you could make a new blog called Refrigerator Magnet Chronicles, just like Key Ring Chronicles. I bet people have some unique ones with stories.

    Nike blaming the jersey malfunctions on the teams is delightful. Perhaps they can also pin the blame for the terrible designs used for the majority of the alternate jerseys on the teams as well.

    The uni designs are the teams’ responsibility, though. Whether they had Nike involved in the design process, kept it in-house with the NBA, or commissioned an outside designer, the teams are the ones who sign off on them in the end.

    While the teams have the overall say, Nike pushes design gimmicks on the teams, and sometimes they give into it, i.e. Olympic Hockey jerseys.

    I don’t know if Nike had a heavy hand in the NBA ending the “home” and “road” designations, but none of the actual designs this year suggest to me that they were the ones pushing any particular looks for any of the teams.

    Just so you know, most of the recent NBA redesigns were not executed by Nike. They were done by the design firm Rare Design:
    99u.com/articles/55836/its-not-all-about-the-logo-and-other-lessons-from-the-small-studio-redesigning-the-nba

    Sixers’ President since September 2017 is Christopher Heck. He made the announcement on 97.5FM Philadelphia.

    Thankyou thankyou thankyou for that photo of Trevor Hoffman in his Charleston Wheelers uni. I lived just a couple of blocks away from the Wheelers’ ballpark from July 1990-July 1992 and fondly remember watching him play shortstop in my frequent trips to the park. Who’d have thought back then that he would end up making the Hall of Fame as a *pitcher*?

    Another great Fall song with a tie-in to soccer is “The Theme from Sparta F.C.”, from 2003’s Country on the Click. Having heard many recommendations, but not knowing where to start given the band’s oppressive prolific catalog, I came to the Fall a little later…not until the late 90s…so my appreciation for them is all over the place. I like some of the newer records a lot, including the aforementioned “Country”…but for my money the purest lead-in is “This Nation’s Saving Grace”, a great place to start if you’ve never listened to them at all.

    Interesting side-note regarding the wearing of zero or double-zero as a uni number.. As a HS student, in the late ’80’s, I remember reading an article on the legendary Yankee announcer Bob Sheppard. Jeffrey Leonard was coming to Yankee stadium and he wore double zero with the Brewers. Bob Sheppard’s quote was that he “refused to announce ‘number zero’ or ‘number double zero’ ” because zero was not actually a number! This fascinated me. I know it’s occasionally debated.

    I currently announce the Boys and Girls basketball games at the HS where I teach… and when a player is wearing those two options I opt to not use the term “number”! Hat tip, Bob Sheppard!!

    NBA All-Star unis will probably be released today because Steph Curry and LeBron are picking their teams this afternoon

    The Expos already have Dawson and Raines representing them in the HOF. The Angels have NO ONE representing them, and they are a much older organization. Their only hope would be Steve Trout when he retires, but that assumes he plays a majority of his career with them. So let’s get off of the Expos in the HOF kick! The Angels deserve it!!

    Oops. Thanks about that. Looks silly on my part when I am making an argument for the Angels, when I get the name of one of their players wrong. LOL

    I think you may be conflating the AL Angels with the PCL Angels. The PCL club moved to Spokane in 1958. The only real connection is the name, which Gene Autry had to buy the rights to from Walter O’Malley.

    The AL Angels started in 1961, just eight years before the Expos. In terms of decades, that’s not “much older” – they’re both part of the 1960s expansion period.

    “… a much older organization.”

    The Angels began play in 1961, the Expos in 1969. Both are older than Apollo 11 but younger than Sputnik. Unless we’re talking about children, eight years is never a matter of “much older.” If they were people, the Angels would be 57, the Expos 49, and on average nobody could reliably guess who was older.

    Does MLB allow Thome to go in with chief wahoo? I don’t think wahoo is on a plaque yet but could be wrong

    Pretty sure you’re right – I don’t think any player has entered Cooperstown having played even a plurality of seasons with Cleveland in the Wahoo era. Which says more about the team’s management than its identity.

    Good catch! The Indians only wore that cap logo for four of the ten seasons Wynn played in Cleveland.

    Thome presents an interesting conundrum for the Hall of Fame. The Hall seems to take cap choice and historical accuracy seriously, which makes it a no-brainer that Thome should and will wear an Indians cap on his plaque. But I also suspect the Hall does not want to preserve another Chief Wahoo logo on a plaque for all posterity.

    My guess is that they put the block “C” on Thome’s hat. He played the vast majority of his games in a Chief Wahoo hat. In fact, I’m having trouble finding any photographic evidence that Cleveland wore the block C at all during his first stint with the Indians from 1991 to 2002. But Cleveland did wear the block C for at least some games in 2011, during Thome’s second stint with the team:

    link

    So, problem solved, at least as far as the Hall is concerned. It passes the historical accuracy test (even if just barely) to put Thome in a block C cap, and he still reps the team for whom he played the majority of his career.

    It would be very disappointing for MLB to rewrite history. Thome wore that cap, that is what people think of when they think of him, and he should wear it on his plaque

    It’s not rewriting history per se. It’s just emphasizing a certain (rather small) sample size. The Hall of Fame has done that before – see Nolan Ryan in a Rangers hat, for example, instead of the Angels or Astros.

    Yes, block C for Thome might be even more of a stretch than that, but it seems like an imperfect solution to a problem the Hall of Fame would probably prefer not to deal with.

    Paul had some cool articles on behind the scenes Cooperstown stuff, including how plaque pictures are selected and then rendered. Apparently it’s not uncommon to have a picture selected for the pose, but with a special instruction to swap out the cap logo. So imagining Jim Thome with a block-C cap and not a Wahoo…it would not *look* right to me because I remember the late 90s, but I could accept that it is technically not wrong.
    link
    link

    Be the first to get the new Columbus Crew training gear! It can be found in stores throughout the Austin, Texas metro area.

    Could it stand to reason that the “new” fabric used for the NBA jerseys becomes susceptible to tearing if the seamstress uses too large a needle, the wrong thread, or too tight a spacing between stitches?

    I don’t relish being seen as defending Nike, but it seems plausible, and I don’t really take it as blaming or scapegoating since they haven’t come out and made the excuse publicly or tried throwing the teams under the bus.

    this is exactly what i was coming to say, having worked in sportswear, a perfomance fabric cna be quite delicate and if an applique isn’t attached correctly , its likely to create a weaker fabric around the application

    much like drilling too many holes close together in dry wall,

    its why many premier league teams use transfers for badges and names on there on filed kits as it doesn’t weekend the fabric ( or chafe against a players skin ) .

    That’s the most interesting use of the word “weekend” I’ve ever seen. Did you type that in on a phone, or use voice-to-text?

    Agreed. I know basically nothing about the subject, but it does seem plausible that a fabric could be weakened by sewing other fabrics onto it in an incorrect manner.

    Well I think the answer to that would be the material is very fragile such that standard practice for equipment managers is too harsh for them?
    I think it is pretty simple, Nike keeps pushing the “lightweight” performance gear as benefit, that will somehow improve performance, when in truth it is just less material / cheaper / doesn’t last as long.

    Some non-matching socks in this pic of the first-year 67-68 Pittsburgh Penguins. The guys on the far left and far right are wearing the white socks that would go with the white jerseys; the other players are wearing the correct powder blue socks to go with the jerseys, although it’s hard to tell from the pic…

    link

    Jet

    Speaking of those first-year Pittsburgh Penguins, this pic of a game-worn jersey #17 has the number “1” UPSIDE-DOWN! (look at the drop-shadow)…

    link

    That is a fair question, not only for major league baseball but all professional sports.

    I have never visited a Hall of Fame; if so, I would be more interested in viewing artifacts rather than tributes to individuals.

    Considering that the crowds are bigger than ever during induction weekend in Cooperstown, I’d say fans definitely do care. The Baseball Hall of Fame remains a remarkable place to visit, not just for the gallery of plaques, but for the 150 years of history on display.

    The corners may have had less of an arc than modern rinks do, but the more interesting thing to me about Blyth Arena is that one side didn’t have a wall!

    (Okay, well, technically, the arc is the number of degrees, so it’s 90° either way – it’d be more accurate to say that the arc has a smaller radius, then.)

    The Wells Fargo Center has been lit up green for a few weeks now. I drive past it twice daily. Most of the other programmable lights in the city (Liberty One, Ben Franklin Bridge, etc.) were only green last weekend and Monday.

    RE: the NBA seating.

    Others do this, as I have seen it watching the Bucks. (I don’t recall off the top of my head if it was a home or road game, though).

    I believe the small tables are where the local broadcasters – both cable sports net and radio – are seated. I could ID the Bucks’ FSW team sitting at one.

    although if it was reference to the bottom of the screen, I can’t make any of it out…

    link

    “I think it is safe to say that they are looking at Grey Flannel,” said an attorney for one dealer who requested anonymity to protect his client’s identity.

    A spokesman for the United States Attorney in Chicago declined to comment. Grey Flannel president Richard Russek did not return calls for comment.

    The subpoenas stem from the seven-year investigation into fraud in sports memorabilia conducted by the Chicago FBI and other federal agencies. Several hobby executives, including one-time memorabilia king Bill Mastro, have been indicted as a result of the investigation.

    link

    whew, Paul! better load up on the soap!

    PATHMAN v. GREY FLANNEL AUCTIONS, INC.

    Defendant Richard Russek (“Russek”) co-founded Defendant Company Grey Flannel Auctions Inc., (“GFA”) as an authenticator of game-worn sports memorabilia. Russek currently serves as President of GFA. In 1999, GFA began auctioning, brokering, and selling high-end sports memorabilia. On June 10, 2002, Plaintiff Wayne Pathman (“Pathman”) visited GFA’s website to view items that were scheduled to be auctioned on June 12, 2002.2 Plaintiff was interested in and bid on a 1947 Joe DiMaggio New York Yankees Game-Used and Autographed Road Jersey (“Jersey”) which was advertised as being worn by DiMaggio during the 1947 season, when DiMaggio led the Yankees to a World Series win. On June 11, 2002, Plaintiff alleges that he called Russek from the his home in South Florida to learn more details regarding the specific qualities of the Jersey. Plaintiff alleges that during that conversation Russek made several oral representations including that he had conducted an investigation as to the authenticity of the Jersey by comparing the Jersey to photographs of DiMaggio wearing it during the 1947 season and 1948 World Series. He also allegedly stated that the Jersey was an authentic-game used Jersey most likely worn by DiMaggio during the 1947 World Series. In addition, Plaintiff alleges he was told the Jersey was personally signed by DiMaggio and that there was a picture of him signing it as evidence. Based on the description of the Jersey on the website
    [741 F.Supp.2d 1321]
    and Russek’s representations, Plaintiff decided to bid on the Jersey. Plaintiff bid approximately $35,000 and on the morning of June 13, 2002 was informed that he was the highest bidder for the Jersey in the auction. Plaintiff paid for, and received his Jersey. From 2002 to 2009, Plaintiff purchased many other items from GFA totaling approximately $500,000.00. Then, in 2009, Plaintiff decided to sell the Jersey to raise capital to enlarge other aspects of his sports memorabilia collection. At that time he contacted GFA and inquired whether they would be interested in brokering the sale of the Jersey. Plaintiff spoke with GFA’s auction director T.J. Favilla (“Favilla”), and asked him to estimate how much he thought the Jersey was worth. Plaintiff alleges that Favilla discussed it with Russek and received a call two (2) days later letting him know that the DiMaggio Jersey had gone out of favor, and was only worth what Plaintiff originally paid for it, which was $35,000. Plaintiff alleges that quote made him suspicions because it was not consistent with what he had found in his own investigation of the current value of DiMaggio game-worn Jerseys. Plaintiff proceeded to contact another authenticating company by the name of Memorabilia Evaluation and Research Services (“MEARS”) and asked them to conduct an independent examination of the Jersey. After doing so, MEARS issued a detailed letter (“MEARS Opinion”) concluding that they could not authenticate the Jersey because it did not possess all of the characteristics that one would expect to find in a 1947 Joe DiMaggio New York Yankees Game-Used and Autographed Road Jersey.3 Based on the MEARS Opinion, Plaintiff sent Defendants an e-mail and letter via U.S. mail and asked them to remedy the situation. Plaintiff alleges that Defendants refused to answer his letter or return his calls. On April 12, 2010, Plaintiff filed the two-count Complaint (DE # 1) in the above-styled action alleging Fraud in the Inducement and Negligent Misrepresentation. In the instant motions, Defendants argue that Florida courts lack personal jurisdiction over them, and that this case should be dismissed pursuant to Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 12(b)(2) and (3) as a result.

    Paul,

    the two best things about your site are the Q&As you do and your integrity. you are NO sellout

    perhaps, you can do a Q&A with GFA and get them to answer what they wouldnt comment on before (such as here link “The corked bat is no longer listed on the website of Grey Flannel Auctions, which did not return a call and an email seeking comment.”)

    I thought the Baseball Hall of Fame selected the cap inductees would be identified with after some players abused the privilege. Wade Boggs comes to mind.

    What you mean to say is that he says that his Hall of Fame plaque will depict him wearing an Angels cap. link

    I don’t think the phrase “going in as” a member of a particular team is really the best way to speak of this dynamic. He is going in to the Hall of Fame as himself, which is a really good baseball player, regardless of which team or how many teams he played for.

    Congrats to the UniWatch crew on the new partnership. I personally apreciate how all of your advertising on your page is relevant to uniform related companies. Best of luck with your new venture.

    lets hope it ends better than it did for Grey Flannel Auctions when they got HAMMERED on The Peoples Court

    link

    1. Those Kentucky helmets are about the worst they could have done: black as main color instead of blue, blue logo on black, no K or UK, and the “wildcat head”/“birds doing missionary” logo. (Once you see it that way, you can’t unsee it.)
    2. Vlad is an Expo. It is where he made his name.
    3. Good on ya, Trenton. Pork roll is what it is, unless you want to call it a slice of heaven.

    I will never watch the Detroit Tigers again. Brutal move. Mr. I is rolling over in his grave.

    I completely disagree. I’ve always preferred the hat logo, and I actually like this change. And it’s so relatively minor, average people probably wouldn’t notice it if nobody called attention to it.

    I know it’s late in the day but Exeter chieves (for those in the Ltbp community) won’t be wearing that kit in Europe anymore, as they were eliminated this weekend.

    Noticed that in the Aussie Heritage Night pic that the fans were holding Wendy’s logo distraction signs. Maybe I missed a memo and this is some inside joke or something but I hope this isn’t yet another corporate sponsor invasion.

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