Now showing up on Google, new spam comments from Steiner! Tom Palomino has done his time, and now "Sam Enriquez" is making the rounds with new, more to-the-point ad comments on unsuspecting blogs. Looks like he started in early November, and while he hasn't found my blog yet, I'm guessing more of his "work" will soon start showing up in searches.

In the meantime, ol' Tommy Palomino's shill bids have shown up in more Steiner auctions, using the "Palomino2" moniker. Yes, Steiner Sports has their own workers bid on their own memorabilia, making the actual customers pay more money. Sick.

Another crappy thing I've realized with Steiner is the method they must use to sell game-used merch from the Yankee clubhouse. Here's what Brandon Steiner said about how his partnership with the Yanks started:

[The Yankees] had a problem in the stadium with things leaking out of the clubhouse. I explained to them that there's a way for us to put a system together that would make you guys feel more comfortable so that you don't feel like things are getting stolen or leaking out of the clubhouse. I'd be accountable to you, and I can explain to you the products that I'm creating*, what I'm doing, and you'd have input to make sure that your fans, which is your prized possession, are getting an authentic deal.

To me, that's not so much "let's be business partners" as it is "let's be partners in crime." Steiner pays the Yanks to produce equipment strictly for the purpose of selling it later as "memorabilia," and both sides make out like bandits. The result is stuff like this: A Xavier Nady "game used" World Series hat. Is there really anything special about this hat? (Side note: Nady wasn't even on the Yankees' World Series roster, which brings up yet another issue with this company--how do they define "game-used"?) When I look at these hats, I don't see a well-worn piece of history with a connection to who wore it. I see a product, given to a player who knows ahead of time that they'll be giving it right back so it can be sold. I mean don't you think Xavier Nady would want to pass something like that on to his kids? That tells me they can produce as many hats (bats, jerseys, etc.) for each player as they want, solely for resale purposes. And as if it couldn't get any more mechanical, look how on those auction pages they don't even bother to take more than one picture of each hat, using three pics common to each auction.

And then, of course, if you really do want any of these sanitized-for-your-protection, barely-worn hats, you have to bid against Steiner's minions as they jack up the price. (In the case of the Jeter hat, it's up to $2,800 dollars, but the reserve price has not yet been met.)

And people will say that these companies can charge this much for this crap because people will buy it. That always seems to be the excuse: "Hey, as long as someone's willing to pay the price, yay capitalism!" But have you noticed the people who say this are always the ones who aren't interested in buying that particular product? When it's gas prices, we all complain. If it's something you need, you're protesting in the streets, if it's something you don't, you say "That's business." Gimme a break. If all the bread companies started charging 25 dollars a loaf, guess what? The richest people will still buy it. Does that mean we should all be okay with it and praise the "fair market system"? No, we should hang 'em up by their Buster Browns like the criminals they are. So think about that next time you use that argument. Are "people" buying this stuff, or are "rich people" buying it? There's a big difference.


*Did you catch that language? Products he's creating! That's where things like the "locker nameplate" (like the one their employee is bidding on above) come from. Invented items made strictly for the point of selling later.