I meant more in the sense that Lip's stick is, uh, Lip's Stick, and to have Lip as a playable character with her stick being a large part of her moveset all the while giving every other character the ability to use it would be a little nonsensical. More than is normal in the Smash universe, even.
Think of it this way: the homerun bat is just a generic bat, it's not like it's Ness or Lukas' bat. Bob-ombs are entirely different from the bombs that Link uses, and etc to all the other examples you listed. It's not that there are items that are similar to moves used by characters in the game [it's not an issue of clones], it's that this is an object that would potentially be held at all times by Lip if she's a playable character, but then it's also an item that anyone can pick up. My question is basically one of prediction: would it make sense for Sakurai to include Lip's Stick as an item if he was also planning on including Lip herself as a playable character? I don't know, but I was kind of aiming towards that item's inclusion reducing the likelihood of Lip appearing as a playable fighter.
I tried to think of examples that would serve to counter the idea [Warp Star, Screw Attack, Star Rod], but there isn't any single one that perfectly replicates the situation with Lip. Marth's Sword, for example, isn't an item in Melee because Marth uses it at all times. Likewise, the Master Sword isn't an item because Link is using it. Same goes for Samus' blaster, Mario's cape, Ness' yoyo, etc. That was what I was getting at when I asked the question -- whether Lip was still considered a viable candidate even with her Stick returning as an item.
