Ebay : The weird, the wonderful and what we want

By Admin@SwiftHalf
January 5 2005

So what has the worlds largest market place got to offer the discerning Saddlers fan? We take a brief look at ebay.

^{E-Bay is home to a whole new generation of Arthur Daley and Del Boy like characters – trying to make their way in the world. It’s the place where budding David Dickinson’s all over the world, battle it out for someone else’s junk.} 

^{There have been hundreds if not thousands of Walsall items put on over the last couple of years. Two items that stick in the mind belonged to Mr Steve Corica. One of his match worn shirts (size XL?????) was put up for auction (and yes, someone did win it) . As did a pair of his unworn Predator boots (this was a hoax).}

^{Anyway, we have decided to put together a brief guide to e-bay}

^{The annoying things.}

^{The advert reads: RARE – Walsall FC Vs Doncaster Rovers FC match programme from 1990-1991 season. Mint Condition - Errrrr, hold on. IF you look at the geezer’s profile that is flogging it, he is a Leyton Orient fan. How the heck would some pikey from Leyton know about a rare Walsall programme. Who is likely to bid for this item?}

^{Signed Shirts – Ah great, something really worth a bidding war. That is until you see that some cheap skate (who clearly isn’t a Saddler) has got hold of one of last years shirts and got a couple of dozen of this years team to sign it. By the time it makes it on to e-bay and through your letterbox - 3 of them have left to play non-league football – and the only signature you can make out belongs to the bone-idle midfielder that isn’t really that liked by the crowd.}  

^{Match worn Shirts – How do you know they’re genuine? Well, would you bid for a Simon Osborn away shirt (someone might) if it were size XXL? Or would you place a bid for Neil Emblen’s training top if it were size “S”. The answer to all of these is no. Then again, if you do happen to find a former strikers shirt caked in sweat, blood and tears, it may well prove to be a collector’s item (just like his goals for the club) . As would any shirt worn in the play-off final of a couple of years ago.} 

^{Signed Football – Ooooh, very interesting. That is until you realise it’s a Sport Soccer £3 special Football - that some Chav without a job got signed by the Reserve Squad the other week.}

^{And finally. Has anyone ever noticed that the same old car magnets, mousemats, aerial photographs and sunglasses are on sale every time you log on to e-bay. Now, there are two reasons for this. Either nobody wants them, or some Del Boy down in Croydon has a massive stash of Saddlers gear he didn’t shift at the Play-Off Final (Or Liverpool Milk Cup game).}

^{The delights of e-bay}

^{If you do happen to want an obscure programme, the good news is that hardly anyone bothers to bid for them. The only time you find that people bother to bid for a Walsall programme is if it’s against someone like Arsenal or Man United (and then they are usually United fans from Singapore or Shanghai)}

^{Things you can’t get in the shops do usually appear. The Milk Cup Programmes are commonplace. You can see why these are collectable. Fair play. You won’t find them down WH Smiths.}

^{We currently have a true football legend at the helm of our Club. If anyone has anything signed by Merson (and rumour has it that 79.8% of our fans do) they can mark it up as being signed by an Arsenal legend (and make a few bob – this kind of thing is growing steadily).}

^{What we want more of...}

^{We want quality items. We like match worn shirts with mud on them (but don’t get a numbered shirt then go play in the mud at the Arbo – it’s just so easy to spot you are fake)}

^{We want quality presentation sets like the things that are offered the Chelsea and Newcastle fans. Just because we support Walsall doesn’t make us 3rd class citizens.}

^{It would also be nice to see player’s hair being put up for auction. If a snippet of Beckham’s hair can fetch thousands. Just imagine what a strand of Emblen hair could attract.}

^{Oh, and if anyone has any Walsall Subbuteo teams, put those up for auction as well, because that Heavyweight team that doubled up as Poland is supposed to be worth a few quid. And there are loads of us who as kids broke their own (or someone else’s) Walsall team and are still looking to replace them.}

^{We want bits of memorabilia relating to people like Bert Williams and Jonny Hancocks to appear on e-bay. These are just 2 of many players the Wolves have taken from us over the years. They have adopted these Walsall greats as their own heroes. Wouldn’t it be nice to beat in obtaining items that remember their greatness (or is that just being bitter?)}

^{In Summary}

^{Our journey in to the world of ebay has been an interesting one. There is no doubting that it’s full of a lot of Walsall FC related rubbish. But one mans junk is another man’s…}

^{E-bay provides an excellent service for those fans that love collecting Walsall stuff. Pin Badges, Programmes, Shirts and Polish Subbuteo teams will always prove popular.}

^{As people become more aware of the  fact that they can make serious money from e-bay, then the magic of being an anorak could well diminish. So our final word on e-bay bidding is  beware of Pikeys from Croydon with naff stuff.}