1988 Ruben Sierra - Ebay

[kingjammy24]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=8774751767

Boy what a treat.. a rare 1988 Texas Rangers home jersey worn by none other than ageless wonder Ruben Sierra! At least that's what the description and ASI COA say. Unfortunately, I think the truth may be otherwise. As is often the case with many jerseys of this era, the dead giveaway is the letter 'A'. Lettering shops can't seem to get the 'A' as it should be and keep using a "sharp top" 'A' when the jersey calls for a "blunt top". (The blunt top A is the same style that was used by the Jays in the early 90's before they switched to the sharp top sometime around 1995.) The Rangers used the blunt-top A from at least 87-93.
In my experience it seems that lettering shops can get almost every single letter correct except the blunt-top A which they consistently stumble on.
See image below. Other than the letter A, the fonts appear overly thick and the jersey is missing the customary strip tagging used by the Rangers during this time period.

http://img403.imageshack.us/img403/4760/sierra0zt.jpg

Rudy.

[suave1477]

King Jammy I am not doubting your expertise it sounds all logical what you are saying. I am just curious I noticed you guys point out all the wrongs of game used/issued jerseys for quite sometime. Which I think is great you guys can spot the details.

I am just curious for my own personal education why would someone go through the trouble of doctoring up a fake sierra jersey? I mean if i wanted to make money and rip people off I would do Marquee players as they would bring in the most money. Like an Arod, Pujols, Jeter. Why fake a Sierra?
Also is it possible it could actually be a game used jersey and maybe the manufacturer of the fonts made a mistake?

ALL THESE QUESTIONS IM ASKING IS JUST FOR MY OWN EDUCATION?

[kingjammy24]

Is it possible for the manufacturer/team shop to make a font error? Yes. (Coincidentally enough, the Texas Rangers were notorious for such errors in the 80's).
However, in the specific case of the Ebay Sierra jersey, it's not just one font that's off; the entire name is in an overly thick font. It's a bit of a catch-22 in that fonts are typically one thing that will trip up a fake but at the same time, manufacturers/teams have been known to occasionally screw-up a letter here and there. At the end of the day, as with all things in this hobby, you go for what's likely. The Rangers used a blunt-top A. Rawlings may possibly have screwed up, but why risk it? I'll save my money for a jersey with a blunt-top A. Plus in this case, my experience has shown me that this specific issue with blunt-top vs sharp-top A's runs across different teams, players, and years.

Regarding the question of why fake a Sierra: Sierra may now be considered to be a common player but back in 1989, he was an All-Star. He also made the All-Star team in 1991, 1992, and 1994. In the late 80's/early 90's, Sierra was a young star. This jersey may have been made back he had all that potential. Similarly, you could ask why someone would fake a Ben McDonald, Mo Vaughn, or John Olerud jersey. During their early years, many thought these players were the next Roger Clemens, Mark McGwire, or Wade Boggs. In 1990, let's say, for example, that you had a Blue Jays spare. Who would you rather have faked, Roberto Alomar or John Olerud? It's easy to say Alomar at this point when you've seen how both of their careers have played out but at the time in 1990, I'd wager that many people would've chosen Olerud. His "perfect swing" had more hype than Alomar. He was supposed to be the next Tony Gwynn or Wade Boggs. Your decision to have faked the Olerud back then would now be met with questions like "why bother? why not choose the Alomar instead?"
Hindsight's always 20/20. Point is, you can never tell where a player is going to end up. Today's common player may have been yesterday's big star.

Another reason why someone may have had this Rangers jersey lettered is because they had a team blank/spare and decided make some cash off it. Nolan Ryan would've been implausible. Perhaps at the time, Sierra was one of the more attractive candidates. Or perhaps whoever had it lettered didn't even have anything fraudulent in mind. They simply had a team blank and wanted to get it lettered with their favorite player and many years later the jersey somehow found it's way to the market and began to be billed as "game used". Perhaps it was someone's "first attempt".

It's definitely very uncommon to fake a common player jersey. This is one of the main reasons I solely collect common players. However, you can't assume that every common player jersey out there must be legit simply by virtue of the fact that it's a common player. Various reasons may account for why a common player jersey isn't legit. Personally, I look as hard at a Russ Swan as I would a Griffey Jr. I don't accept the idea that some dealers spout when they say "of course it's good. it's a common player".

Rudy.

[suave1477]

Rudy I want to applaud you, that was one of the most informative answers I have seen on here and I do appreciate you explaining thoroughly the answer and it was very articulate.

The reason why i get mad some times is bcuz people answer questions while bashing the person who asked. Or doesn't back up fully what they are saying.

I appreciate the knowledge Rudy.
Thank you!!!

[trsent]

I understand the theory Rudy gave, as at one time Ruben Sierra was one of the biggest stars of the game during the early part of his career.

What I don't understand, and this has nothing to do with an item being legitimate of not, is how much business does a seller lose by not accepting PayPal?

I figure PayPal is so easy to use, and as long as you ship to confirmed addresses, you as a seller are protected. I rarely will bid if I have to send a check or money order these days.

I thought maybe some people could shed light on reasons not to accept PayPal.

[suave1477]

Dear Trsent I am a seller who uses Paypal partially. I cannot speak for others but this maybe why others don't use it, well this is my reason any way!!!

When using paypal you have the option for credit cards, as I mentioned I accept Paypal partially. I will accept direct cash to be sent through paypal but not Credit Cards and the reason being ebay rules that if you accept paypal there is a 3.75% charge on that item. Also ( here is the real kicker ) once you upgrade your account to accepting credit card paypal, even if someone bids on your item and they dont use a creditcard and it is cash since your account is upgraded they still automatically charge you 3.75% even though there is no credit card involved. Sounds crazy but true I called them up to verify this and they explained to me just like that "I said that is not fair to the seller bcuz we lose money" They told me there is nothing they can do about itbcuz that is how there computer program is set up to automatically charge the 3.75%.

3.75% may not sound like much, but i dont sell high priced items so after listing costs and consistent 3.75% charge then i dont end up making anything. That is why i dont accept it!!

Another reason may be for people who are selling fake stuff or trying to rip you off they want straight cash with out you getting it back. With paypal if you get something fake or dont get it at all you can yank your money back. Which defeats the purpose of the seller trying to rip you off.

[MSpecht]

Outstanding post, Rudy...you hit the nail right on the head:

"At the end of the day, as with all things in this hobby, you go for what's likely."

Thanks.

Mike