Miken Ultra II Info Please

[ramseiert]

Alright guys, until this year, I never got into the history of softball bats. After learning about the Ultra II, I was determined to get one in my possession. The OG Ultra II is get rarer and rarer to find these days, especially one without the senior stamp on it. Long story short, I did a nationwide craigslist search and found a guy selling one in Boise, ID. The listing had two poor quality pictures of the bat, but it was being sold for $55! I called the guy, who turned out to be the nicest 80 yr old man, and told him that I'd buy it immediately. He didn't care about the details of the bat nor did he know much about it, just that his son left it behind years ago and he wanted to get rid of it. SOLD! Did it the old fashioned way, money in an envelope thru the mail, then the bat was sent. I had no idea if the bat I just bought was going to be a senior Ultra II or a more modern ultra II or maybe even a counterfeit bat. Today it arrived and my jaw hit the floor as I pulled off the original grip! I'll let the pictures do the rest of the talking. FYI, I edited out most of the serial number engravings so that it can't be recreated. Also notice the production date. This had to have been one of the first ones seeing as how the year says 2002. And btw, the bat is in amazing condition (no cracks or endcap separation)

What would you estimate this bat retail for today?

(Clicking the link will take you to all the photos)

http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/...6-1F71-4B4F-A767-447A72726C6E_zps6wubdtct.jpg

 

[Train44]

Alright guys, until this year, I never got into the history of softball bats. After learning about the Ultra II, I was determined to get one in my possession. The OG Ultra II is get rarer and rarer to find these days, especially one without the senior stamp on it. Long story short, I did a nationwide craigslist search and found a guy selling one in Boise, ID. The listing had two poor quality pictures of the bat, but it was being sold for $55! I called the guy, who turned out to be the nicest 80 yr old man, and told him that I'd buy it immediately. He didn't care about the details of the bat nor did he know much about it, just that his son left it behind years ago and he wanted to get rid of it. SOLD! Did it the old fashioned way, money in an envelope thru the mail, then the bat was sent. I had no idea if the bat I just bought was going to be a senior Ultra II or a more modern ultra II or maybe even a counterfeit bat. Today it arrived and my jaw hit the floor as I pulled off the original grip! I'll let the pictures do the rest of the talking. FYI, I edited out most of the serial number engravings so that it can't be recreated. Also notice the production date. This had to have been one of the first ones seeing as how the year says 2002. And btw, the bat is in amazing condition (no cracks or endcap separation)

What would you estimate this bat retail for today?

(Clicking the link will take you to all the photos)

http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/...6-1F71-4B4F-A767-447A72726C6E_zps6wubdtct.jpg

Not to burst your bubble, but it appears that the bat you have in your possession is a warranty return bat. That's what the imprinted "W" on the end cap stands for. At least that's what I remember, I could be wrong.

Never the less, that is a great find and the bat is in great shape for being 13+ years old. Don't swing it to much, they were fragile...lol

 

[ramseiert]

Thanks for the heads up, Train. Don't laugh at me for asking, as I'm just a newbie when it comes to softball bats seeing as how I recently started buying my own even tho I've played softball for about 8 years now, but does the imprinted "W" on the endcap of the bat diminish the value of the bat? Also, I'm guessing that since there is a "W" imprinted on the endcap, which you say stands for "warranty return", this bat was returned to the factory due to a defect, then returned to the owner once the defect was repaired? Or the owner sent a defected bat back to the factory, then Miken sent a new bat to the owner with an imprinted "W" endcap?

I doubt that I'll swing it much since the league I play in only allows ASA approved bats, but I might do a little BP with it just to feel and witness what all the hype was about. I'm just shocked at how good of condition this bat is in. It just goes to show that there are bats out there sitting in storage with no value to the person who has possession of it that someone else would love to have.

 

[shaad]

The W on the end cap is just saying that the bat can not be warrantied. Who ever owned the bat got it as a warranty replacement of an Ultra that probably busted and was sent in. Trust me the hype is real and you will see miss hits that would normally be a can of corn clear the fence. Good find.

 

[23cnhit]

Great find. Warranty replacement or not, it is a great deal. Just maybe my thinking, the U2 were great bats, I admit. But to me the original gray ultra was the best bat ever.