Dear Forum Members:

Over the past couple of weeks a situation has been brought to my attention; after several days of wresting with the issue, I have come to the conclusion that it is for the better of the hobby that the facts of this situation be known. I say "facts" specifically, as that is what I intend to post below. While these facts have led me to much additional conjecture and speculation, that is not my position to promote these, nor is this the proper venue even if it were my place.

To wit...

In early December I had done some initial pre-purchase authentication work for a customer who was looking to bid on a game-used John Elway Broncos' jersey. The jersey in question was offered by Historic Auctions’ jersey (http://www.historicauctions.com/index.cfm?&fuseaction=search.List&auctionid=31664) and had been authenticated by Bernie Gernay of Pro Sports International (PSI), under contract with Global Authenticators. Contacting Bernie at PSI by phone to see what could be determined about the provenance of this particular jersey, he had indicated that this jersey was procured from the collection of 49ers equipment manager Bronco Hinek along with a number of other like-era pieces that he had consigned to the auction. Personally aware that Hinek indeed had procured a sizable collection during his tenure with the 49ers, I relayed this information to my customer who placed the high bid and purchased this jersey, but not before learning that, just hours before the auction ended that PSI had placed a nearly identical jersey for sale at eBay (item #8732166668 - http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=8732166668&rd=1&sspage name=STRK%3AMEBI%3AIT&rd=1).

This eBay item was in fact so “nearly identical” that PSI initially chose to use the same photos from the Historic Auctions’ web site in the eBay listing, setting off a number of red flags including the initial posting to another thread on this forum (see http://www.gameuseduniverse.com/vb_forum/showthread.php?t=520). This Historic Auctions' bidder was also none too happy to learn of this, wondering just how many of these jerseys PSI had available. After both I and the bidder had follow-up communications with Bernie at PSI, the bidder was reassured PSI had in fact “acquired two jerseys from the same collection which were in nearly identical condition”. Based upon this, the bidder hesitantly completed the transaction (something which he initially threatened to withhold doing).

Due to the "photo borrowing" flap, after ending the original eBay listing and re-listing the eBay jersey with new photos (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=ADME:B:BCA:US:11&Item=8739034829), this auction ended without having met reserve price. Following the close of this auction listing, the jersey was sold (in a transaction outside of eBay, which I believe is a violation of eBay seller rules) to Steve Silverman. In researching this jersey on his own, Steve was also told that this was the 2nd of the two Hinek jerseys. Upon receipt he requested that I examine the jersey and upon examination I gave my blessing based on both physical characteristics and on Bernie's word regarding its known provenance.

Having watched as Bernie's name had seemed to have taken an unfair beating on the GameUsedUniverse forum as of late, I was quick to jump up an post a positive note, noting the fact that I had full confidence in the above reference jersey and posted a .jpg image of my letter of opinion on the forum (See post #8 at thread http://www.gameuseduniverse.com/vb_forum/showthread.php?t=520). Within a day of posting this, I was contacted by another forum user, who had indicated that, he had purchased a third nearly identical Elway jersey directly from PSI. As the under-bidder on the eBay auction, Bernie had contacted him and offered him what was also described as the “2nd of two Hinek jerseys”, a plausible story to this buyer as well since he was unaware of the Historic Auctions’ jersey or Bernie's interest in it. He did not become aware that his jersey was actually one of 3 until my posting of the above mentioned post re: the LOO in which I mentioned 2 others. Also, in his communications with Bernie it was revealed that the so-called "Hinek Collection" purchase was actually a bulk purchase that Bernie made in partnership with noted collector/authenticator Lou Lampson.

This above information is concerning on a few points...
  • Two similar jerseys coming from the same collection, while unusual, would not be unfounded, based upon Mr. Hinek’s status. Three 20-year-old, nearly identical jerseys from ANY source, would be nearly impossible to fathom without rock-solid, concrete provenance. During the 1983-'88 period, John Elway can be identified as having worn three distinct jersey styles from Russell Athletic--each style with its own uniquely identifiable collar style--the fact that all three of these have the exact same style collar date them all to within a 1-2 year period (1985-'86) within the above identified Russell Athletic run. We have compiled a fairly detailed database, having actively tracked the sales of Broncos' jerseys since 1999. During this period, I know of a total of six mid-'80s road Elway jerseys being sold publicly--of these six, four transactions have occurred in the past 3 months--the three mentioned here and a 4th which sold at Broadway Rick's Strike Zone auction on 1/26/06 (http://bid.strikezoneauctions.com/Bi...on_uid1=626820). Though identical in (collar) style, this 4th jersey--authenticated by Lou Lampson (consignor unknown)--differs in sizing and tagging (includes the "100% Nylon" tag) from the 3 mentioned above.
  • In and of itself, the one examined jersey stands on its own, with the only point of concern having been the absence of the "100% NYLON" flag tag which is typically found on this style/period of Russell jersey. On occasion, however, this tag is missing and such absence can be discounted as a manufacturing anomaly. When all three jerseys are presented together, however, the absence of this tagging on each is more concerning as this is no longer an anomaly, but rather a pattern that would seem to stretch the bounds of statistical probability.
  • To four different people--myself and, more importantly all 3 customers--Bernie clearly represented each of the three jerseys was "one of two" purchased from the Hinek collection. Such clear misrepresentation raises credibility questions and some concerns about the integrity in general of other jerseys purporting to have come from this "esteemed" collection.
I offer this information as a word of caution to anyone who may have an opportunity to purchase a jersey where the provenance of said jersey traces back to this particular collection and/or purchase. This is not presented with the intention of warning off collectors from a particular dealer or authenticator, but rather so that, in performing their due diligence when considering a purchase in the future, they not take for granted the "Bronco Hinek Collection" provenance and ensure that each piece under consideration actually does stand on its own merits.

Finally, I should also point out that Bernie was contacted by me via e-mail on the morning of February 1st regarding this matter. Presented with these same facts, he was given ample opportunity to come forward to address these issues proactively on his own, prior to my making them public. While he owed no direct response to me, he has also chosen to not reply to the e-mails/phone messages of 2 of the 3 involved customers who have made attempts to follow up with him and obtain clarification on this matter.

Respectfully,