Doing your due diligence is the name of the game when dealing with memorabilia. Impulsive purchases, particularly from vendors they have no experience with, have left many a collector with items that, at best, were not 100% as described, and at worst complete misrepresentations worth less than pennies on the dollar. Sometimes merely a few minutes of research and questions could have saved the person a lot of cash and grief, while in some cases, particularly on more high end purchases, putting in some more legwork, bringing other knowledgeable individuals into the mix, and quelling the need for instant gratification would be essential to preventing the situation.
All this being said, even individuals and/or organizations with typically adequate vetting and oversight into their acquisitions can sometimes find themselves in a position of not being able to verify the authenticity of one of their items. Such was the case this week when the Hockey Hall of Fame was forced to open an investigation into whether a stick they have displayed as being used by Darryl Sittler during his 1976 10-point game is in fact the real deal. According to Kevin McGran of the Toronto Star, when Sittler was informed of the inclusion of the particular stick in a recent display dedicated to the centennial season of the Toronto Maple Leafs, his reaction was one of hope. Hope, because, as Sittler proceeded to inform McGran:
“All I know is it was lost in a fire.…
What proceeded was a story of uncertainty around whether a singe or multiple sticks were used in the game, was the stick present in a subsequent home fire, and how did the stick in question end up at the Hall of Fame labelled as “the 10-point game… stick but without any documentation as to how the stick came too be in their possession. While the story, which can be found here, offers no firm answers for these questions, there promises to be more information coming down the pipes as the folks at the Hall look into the matter in further detail. In the meantime, let this be a reminder to us all about how things in the memorabilia world may not always be as they seem! This is not to suggest that there is always ill intent involved in these matters, as the case of Sittler’s stick likely illustrates, but that, again, knowledge is power when informing our purchases, whether it is something as detailed as determining the authenticity of our purchases or as basic as knowing exactly what we are agreeing to buy.
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Do you have a piece of treasured memorabilia that has a great story behind it? Let me know and you can be featured in an article. Doesn't matter how big or small the piece is, how valuable it may be, or whether it's a common item or more oddball. If you think it has a story, contact me via the information below and we'll chat. In the meantime, check out some previous "Display Case" articles via the links below to see what others have submitted in the past...
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Shawn Gates
shawn.gates@hockeybuzz.com
Facebook: Shawn Gates
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