Joe DiMaggio Game Glove?

[ScottWNJ]

Any thoughts?
http://cgi.ebay.com/Yankees-Joe-DiMaggio-1920-30s-GAME-GLOVE_W0QQitemZ290405724556QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item439d87b18c

[BretMan]

My initial though probably isn't suitable for print on a G-rated discussion board!

Interesting that, according to this seller, Joltin' Joe had an endorsed glove model as many as 15 years or so before ever reaching the big leagues- possibly at the ripe old age of ten!

Other than that...That's a beautiful store model Dimaggio, apparently a top-line glove that could easily sell for about 1/100 of the opening bid.

[softball66]

I emailed the seller for provenance or link to use by Joe D. I'm with Bret, looks like top model and the model # is 117 or 107? Marvel Spalding 1939 or '40. maybe a 202?
The seller has only 33 pos. so he's relatively new.
Andy Michael was supposed to have had a gamer Dimaggio.

The seller just emailed me with this information and it's not very substantive .
"I had bought the glove about 15 years ago at an estate auction. The Estate was from a person that had numerous game items from that period of time, many were from Yankees. Many programs, a couple of balls and bats. The glove was listed as a DiMaggio game glove. No LOA was provided, but it was said glove was in family for years."

With that information, one calls it a 'Game Used Joe Dimaggio Glove"? I've emailed him and asked if this is all he has on it and asked for the glove's model number.

[BretMan]

When I saw this auction, the first thing I did was blown up the photo to check the model number. With the picture enlarged, it's clearly a #107.

Naturally, the second thing I did was go straight to Joe's glove collecting guides!

The books don't list a Dimaggio-endorsed model #107 as being either cataloged or found. The only glove with that model number is labeled as the the "Professional" model and it doesn't appear in the Spalding catalog until 1950. It was the most expensive glove in their line-up.

So this one is kind of a mystery- but I'd be hard pressed to call it a $15,000 mystery! There's certainly nothing there to back up the seller's claim that this is a "1920's or early 1930's" glove, let alone any providence to say this is a game-used Dimaggio.

Still, it is one of the most beautiful Dimaggio store models I have seen.

[vintagebrett]

Hunt's had a black Spalding DiMaggio for sale a couple times in the past two years - I saw it at the last two nationals - I don't remember the model # but it looked exactly like this glove, right down to the silver in the signature. I tried searching their completed auction database but it's worthless when you want to use more than one word.

[murphusa]

http://www.huntauctions.com/LIVE/imagev ... &lot_qual=

[vintagebrett]

Thanks - that's the one. Maybe the reason it's not cataloged is because it was one of the Spalding models made in Canada??

[BretMan]

The Hunt's glove appears to be a different model- two tunnel loops instead of three, no thumb protector along the thumb seam.

And their estimated value is only three or four times too high, instead of 100!

[jpop43]

Here is a link to our site, and images of our Joe DiMaggio, made in USA, Spalding Marvel #107...it is the second one that we have owned. Hope this adds some insight into any questions we might all have about the #107, as we have never seen it listed anywhere either.

http://www.dugouttreasures.com/productDetail.cfm?sID=1&prodID=480

Same glove pictured on Jim's BGC site....

http://www.baseballglovecollector.com/gallery/index.php?album=spalding&image=Joe+DiMaggio+Spalding+107+2+Front+Popovich.jpg

Best,
Jonathan
www.dugouttreasures.com

[softball66]

Gentlemen, way to do your research! Our seller doesn't have much to go on as far as any documentation. Also doesn't have many feedbacks. This is another of the "send it up the flagpole to see if anyone salutes," attempts I would say. Here's his latest response to my ebay question followup>>

Greetings,
The glove was in a private collection for 60+ years, before I acquired it. It was before the time of COA. As far as a photomatch, I remember Upper Deck had a contest for a game used DiMaggio, that looks very similar to this glove. The glove is a Spalding MARVEL model 107. As far as other items, being sold, they had numerous games bats and a couple of jerseys of lesser players. This was the only item I had purchased at that time.

[Mr. Mitt]

The example listed on eBay is a very nice example of a "somewhat" rare Spalding DiMaggio #107. I say "somewhat" because it's definitely not as plentiful as the #133 model, but still found in quantities enough to not categorize it as seldom seen. As Jon pointed out, he's owned a few, I've had three different ones in the past 15 years and I know a few other guys who have examples. It's a very well made glove, black Marvel leather, but it could be Canadian made. There's no Spalding patch to determine country of origin (white Spalding patches usually suggest Canadian made), but there is another clue. The buttons, on the ones I've handled, don't have the Spalding insignia. Instead there's an air plane or a blank button. If I'm not mistaken, only Canadian-made Spaldings had air planes on the button. In any event, a nice glove is a nice glove, but this one's definitely not a gamer. At a proper price, it's a cool example to add to your collection.

As an aside, I'm out of the country and can't access my yahoo email, but I can access this site and get PM here... way to circumvent the firewall, Brett ! ! !

[murphusa]

May I be so bold as to ask, Why is the glove so black when the signature on both the ebay glove and the DT glove remains silver

[Mr. Mitt]

The one's I've handled have white in the stampings, not silver. Unique for gloves, but consistent with all the DiMaggio #107's I've seen. To answer your question as to why the stampings remain so vivid... all I can say is that whatever white "ink" was used on these did not deteriorate like their silver counterparts.

[murphusa]

Just kidding based on our discussion about the Collins glove

[Mr. Mitt]

No worries. It's actually a great question for this particular model. Though it may look silver in the photos, the ones I've handled have actually been white and have held up very well over the years, better than the average ink on gloves from that time period.