Identifying fake wear on jerseys

[kingjammy24]

I found this really interesting. Although it pertains to hockey jerseys, I think the lessons can be applied to jerseys of all sports. Fabric is fabric.
Fake wear/use spans all sports. Whether it's a puck mark or a pine tar stain, the lessons remain the same.

http://www.byronshockeyland.com/fake_jersey_pages.htm


Rudy.

[Swoboda4]

Rudy-Milton seems like a nice guy with an honest business and an informative web site. A good find.
Robert

[trsent]

Milt also has one of the best collections of professional wrestling videos available. The 3 VHS collection of "The Rock and Sock Connection" is one of my favorites that I bought from him in the past.

http://www.byronshockeyland.com/wrestling_video's.htm

[Nathan]

Milt is regarded as one of the godfathers of hockey collecting; he's known for his expertise in Philly Flyers gear, his outrageous hair, and his marginal literacy;)

Milt was also the main player in breaking up the infamous Custom Crafted ring, which saw a ton of collectors get bilked out of hundreds of thousands of dollars in counterfeit jerseys.

Yes, fabric is fabric, which is why a good deal of familiarity with what to look for is crucial. No one worth a dang would take a jersey, look at the numbers and letters, and immediately pronounce it to be the genuine article. With any sport, there are a ton of minor circumstantial bits that all add up into a woven tapestry of authenticity.

For example, with hockey, the presence of salt is a good circumstantial indicator. Hockey jerseys are equipped with what is known as a fight strap; the newer ones are a long white elastic band stitched into the back of a jersey that extends down into the back of the pants and is fixed with a velcro-and-snap system. The purpose is to keep the jersey firmly on a player during a fight instead of coming up over the head. What happens is that a player sweats profusely during a game, and when the jerseys are laundered it washes out most of the water that composes sweat; the salt in sweat becomes deposited in the fight strap and stays. Over the course of a season, the salt continues to build up into deposits and corrodes at the metal snap. Thus, having salt in a fight strap and a corroded snap is a nice circumstantial piece of evidence. A jersey lacking that salt can be reasonably inferred to have not been laundered as much (or simply not have been sweated in very much); if a first-liner like a Gretzky, Lemieux, or Bourque has a tremendous amount of wear to a jersey but no salt, then that's a huge red flag.

Board paint is another piece of minor evidence. The advertisements on the boards of a hockey rink are made of a particular kind of paint/ink; hitting the boards at high speeds can transfer this paint onto the sleeves of a jersey. With experience comes the discerning eye that can distinguish board paint from other things; a telltale sign of the Custom Crafted fakes was that they would have small red marks on the sleeves that was supposed to be board paint (but clearly was not). Even today, it's derisively referred to as "CC Lipstick"

Puck and stick marks are another story as well; most of what is applied during games is done at such high speeds that it becomes part of the fabric permanently, while those that are minor impacts wash out. I had a nice white Nashville Predators jersey a couple years ago that had a tremendous number of these marks on the body of the jersey that wouldn't launder out (not that I tried, but the jersey smelled nice and clean).

Blood is an interesting thing too. It's not uncommon, particularly in hockey or football, to see blood spill onto a jersey. Knowing the rules pertaining to blood in a particular league, as well as how a team would treat the jersey, is VERY important. Blood on a jersey will leave different marks based on everything from outside weather to what section of fabric it's on to how the team launders their gear. Even coaching at a high school level and working around all this stuff will help you gain an appreciation for what exactly happens.

For sports such as football and baseball, it's important to educate yourself on what will do what to fabric. What effect does tobacco spit have on the fabric of a baseball jersey? What sort of fabric damage can be seen on football jerseys even if there is no corresponding marks? What will dirt and grass stains do to a jersey?

Keep in mind that there isn't really one thing that is a slam dunk or not. When you see a jersey, assume it to be good, then gradually mark it down based on the circumstantial factors. If there are tobacco stains on a jersey from someone who didn't dip and never played on turf, what would that mean? If a player who has had the same modifications to a jersey over a 10-year period suddenly has a jersey turn up on the market without them, what's that mean (i.e. Peyton Manning's sleeves)? The only ways to mark a jersey up are based on more concrete evidence, like photo or video.