I have an opportunity to purchase some Hawaii-related Mets player jerseys. However, being relative new to this collecting arena, I am looking for information to verify the authenticity of the Sid Fernandez and Benny Agbayani jerseys which have become available.

Unfortunately, I do not know how to scan items to share with a posting. Consequently, the best I can do is provide a brief description and ask some questions which GUU members may be able to answer for me.

The first is a 1993 Sid Fernandez Mets road jersey. The manufacturer is Russell Athletic and there is a cloth wash tag and a Diamond Collection logo with size 52. Is Russell Athletic the correct manufacturer? There also appears to be the remnants of a white plastic-like tag under the maufacturer's wash tag, but it appears that what was originally not under the cloth tag was clipped so no information is available. I have seen other Russell Athletic wash tags, but they tended to have the white plastic-like tag which indicated 100% polyester or some information like that. There is no other tagging to indicate uniform number, size, year, and set #, which I believed the Mets used to do in the mid 1980's. The New York is in blue/orange/white script with a blue/orange/white bar below the city name. The blue in the middle of the New York is dark blue with no texture to the material. There is a velcro strip on the inside of the button line on the front in place of a button. There is a round Mets ball/skyline logo on the left sleeve which seems to be authentic. There is no neck-to-sleeve trim running along the shoulder down to the arms as other Mets uniforms may have had. There is an embroidered blue R on the right sleeve and the number 50 on the back with no other number shown on the front. Are there any other characteristics I should check out?

The second is purported to be a 1998 Mets white home jersey. The manufacturer is Russell Athletic and there is a cloth wash tag and a Diamond Collection logo with size 52 and a white plastic-like tag attached and showing below the cloth tag which reads 100% Polyester. The number 39 appears on the left front breast and on the back, unlike the more customary number 50 used for most of Agbayani's career. Benny may have also worn this jersey in 1999, but it appears more likely that this was a 1998 issue. Both the New York and number on the front and Agbayani and the number on the back are blue/orange/black with the blue portion having a diamond shaped ribbing texture like in 1999. The Mets in front is in blue/orange/black script with no line below the team name. There is a velcro strip on the inside of the button line on the front in place of a button. There is a round Mets ball/skyline logo on the left sleeve which seems to be authentic, including the trademark R in a circle near the 4 o'clock position of the sphere. There is no neck-to-sleeve trim running along the shoulder down to the arms. There is an embroidered blue R on the right sleeve. Are there any other characteristics I should check out?

The third is another Agbayani jersey which I believe is a 1999 Mets alternate road black knit Benny Agbayani jersey. The manufacturer is Russell Athletic and there is a cloth wash tag and a Diamond Collection logo with size 52 and a white plastic-like tag attached and showing below the cloth tag which reads 100% Polyester. Is Russell Athletic the correct manufacturer? The number 50 appears on the left front breast and on the back. Both the New York and number on the front and Agbayani and the number on the back are blue/white/orange with the blue portion having a diamond shaped ribbing texture. The New York is in an old style lettering and not in script. There is a velcro strip on the inside of the button line on the front in place of a button. There is a round Mets ball/skyline logo on the left sleeve and the skyline is in black, rather than the usual blue. However, there also is no trademark R in a circle around 4 o'clock in the white field of the sphere as it is in most of the logo patches I have seen. There is no neck-to-sleeve trim running along the shoulder down to the arms as other Mets uniforms may have had. There is an embroidered blue R on the right sleeve. Are there any other characteristics I should check out?

Again, I apologize for not having a photo scan, but I think my descriptions are pretty thorough. I would appreciate anyone's insight into what I am looking at. I am primarily interested in knowing if these jerseys are authentic team-issued items by the manufacturer. I don't really care if they happen to be game-used or not at it would be difficult to authentic that aspect of the jerseys. Thank you in advance for any insight you can provide.

Please contact Zeenuts@hawaii.rr.com if you can be of assistance. Thank you.