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Player-owned/player-used vs. game-worn/game-used memorabilia


shilenj

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Hey everyone, I was wondering if you could give me your opinions on this. What are your thoughts on player-owned/player-used memorabilia? Is it just as collectible as game-worn/game-used memorabilia?

The reason I ask is because I think it'd be really cool to own a piece of memorabilia that is game-worn/game-used. I don't have any yet but I've told myself if I ever saw the right opportunity, especially if it's Sabres memorabilia, I'd like to consider buying an item and starting a little collection. I'm a Sabres season ticket-holder and am often in The Sabres Store in First Niagara Center before or after games. Usually I just check out whatever new items they might have and usually make several visits in the offseason as well. The last few summers I've stopped in, they had some player-owned/player-used equipment; eventually it sells and I haven't seen any in the store since this past summer until last night after the game. They must have just gotten them in but there were two pairs of Matt Moulson's gloves for sale. Upon inquiring about a COA and whether they were game-worn, the manager told me the gloves were given to the store by Equipment Manager Dave Williams and that the pieces the store sells don't come with a COA. The COA isn't a big deal to me, as I plan on collecting and keeping the items for myself and don't see myself selling them, so knowing where they're from, I'd have no issue knowing they're 100% authentic. However, when I asked, the manager said there was no way of knowing if the gloves were actually used in an NHL regular season or playoff game but that there was likely a good chance they were used in a game at some point and at the least were used by the player in practice or other non-game environment. If they were labeled as "game-worn" I was ready to buy them but the fact that there was no way to tell if they were used in a game or just in practice or whatever steered me away. There's no question they're authentic and did belong to Moulson but I would've felt better knowing where they were used. They had his name embroidered on them and were definitely used but I have no idea for what and when. Also, keep in mind there were two pairs, both nearly identical. I'm 110% sure both pairs belonged to Moulson at one point in time but were either of them used in a game, both of them in a game, one of them in a game, or both in just practice? There's no way to know which, if either, were ever worn in an official NHL game.

Where do you stand on this? When buying memorabilia that was at one point tied to a player, is it better to just go for actual game-worn/game-used stuff? Or is there a market for items that may not have been used in a game but still belonged to the player? I imagine there is, as it's still an item owned by a professional athlete but do many people prefer collecting items they know were used in a game? Moulson has been a player I've always liked since we got him so having an item owned by him would be pretty neat, as opposed to a lesser name whose equipment I've seen the store sell before (for instance, a pair of Andrej Meszaros' gloves and a pair of Matt Hackett's pads this past summer). Just trying to get an some thoughts because there's another game tomorrow and if someone can sway me differently, the gloves still should be there if I wanted to buy them after all.

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They're not necessarily "player owned"... they're basically team overstock. They ordered gloves for him and they went unused. Unless they were really marked up and you could tell they had been used, I'd guess they were just pro-stock equipment that had been prepared for use by him.

Without a COA, the value is going to be tough in terms of ever being able to resell it, but if its something you're fine with not knowing when or in what situation it was used, and you just plan on keeping it, then that's really your call.

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