Back in Black!

I love AC/DC. They recently toured North America and I got to seethed for the second time. Awesome show. Anyway, it's been a couple months since my last blog and I figured it's about time to post another!

Not too much had been going on in the jersey front as far as Gretzky jerseys go, I'm content. I just finished watching a couple sweet double tagged autos go on Classic Auctions and they only went for $400 USD however, once you convert it to CDN after tax, buyers premium, shipping and other fees it's closer $800. Not that it's a bad price but it's enough. I wanted the white Liberty and it was very tempting to bid on but with baby two's arrival imminent, I thought it was best to not buy anything right now.

Of course that all changed once I seen the BWK military jerseys that were being auctioned off on Nov 11th with proceeds going to the United Way. These ones are awesome! The camouflage look and the Wheat Kings logos make it look awesome. They used wheat stocks for the yellow trim and it just pops! I wasn't going to bid on one as I had gotten one the previous season but these ones looked so cool I had to get it! Of course the wife wasn't too happy but she got into it with me and I almost ended up with two jerseys that game! I ended up selling one of my newest BWK game worn jerseys I had recently acquired and the funds from that allowed me to get the military jersey.

I ended up making another friend who collects the same as me, Game Worn Brandon Wheat Kings jerseys. He is trying to do the same thing as me, get a jersey style fork. Each year they played. So far I've been successful. I got a home and away and a third from each style dating back to the early 90's. I even got the two retro jerseys they have used. One from 06-09 and the other that started in 2012 to current. It's prob my favourite one. He and I have talked and I sold him two jerseys so far. I asked for what I paid for them and he had no issues paying that. He's a guy who gets it. I would gladly sell him some more but I don't have any more to sell because I buy to keep!

Well thanks for reading and be sure to keep the stick on the ice!

Atrain

Is it worth it?

Well it's pretty much the middle of September already and summer is all but gone. Of course the first "official" day of Fall is September 23rd, but once the Labour Day weekend is over we all call that the end of summer. You know Fall is just around the corner when the university and college students start, school buses run, every single  coffee shop, soap shop and candle store has nothing but pumpkin flavoured or scented everything! Of course leaves start to change colours, days get longer, the weather likes to be cruel and make you wear a jacket in the morning but be hot enough in the afternoon to need A/C on, and of course the sports start! That's one thing I love about fall. MLB is wrapping up and heading to playoffs. NFL starts up, CFL is in the middle of the season, NHL gets training camps under way and the CHL and the leagues that make it up (WHL, OHL,QMJHL) begin the season. Obviously I'm a hockey fan more than any other sport but I do enjoy the others as well. I just have always loved hockey more. I guess it's a Canadian thing.

In one of my previous posts, I mentioned that I made a new friend who is in the same hobby I am. He also collects Gretzky jerseys. However he only collects authentic jerseys not replicas. And he goes for the double tagged real deal Gretzky jerseys. He has some nice ones and some of those are now my jerseys...much to the how shall I put this... Um... "Joy" of my wife ha ha...she said I'm not allowed to talk to him for awhile cause every time I do I end up spending money. It seemed like every week almost, he was emailing me pictures of a jersey he wanted to sell and I was like "man, why you gotta keep doing this to me??!!" Now here's the thing, when he has something to sell me, it's worth every single cent he says but, when he's buying something, it's not worth as much as the person is asking. I find people like that interesting. Actually people like that piss me off, A LOT, but I'm using the word interesting because my dad is one of those people ha ha. Anyway when he'd email a photo of a jersey he'd say "any interest?" Of course I'd say yes! Then he'd ask the million dollar question...."what do you want to give me for it?" I hate that question. Honestly, nothing. I don't wanna give you a damn thing so just give it to me for free. Of course I don't say it but I really really want to. Then I say well, what are you wanting for it? Then he says make an offer. I say well idk how about $x amount. Then He comes back with well I was thinking more like this amount. And it goes back and forth like that. Now comes the best part. He explains to me why his jersey is worth what he's saying it is. So he gives me this big explanation about quality and worth and rarity and blah blah blah. I'm not saying I don't agree with some of his points but the value he gives them can occasionally be ludicrous. The truth is that they're worth whatever someone is willing to pay for them. That goes for anything. You can put a price tag on it but that doesn't mean it's worth what you're asking. One particular time, I sent him an email with a picture of a sweet Nike Oilers Replica. This jersey was mint. It was made in the 90's using the same kinda material that Nike did in the 80's. The crediting was pretty good but the material was too new. The cool thing was that I bought this off of Classic Auctions so you know it's gonna be a legit quality item. Anyway I told him I wanted what I paid for it, $550. Of course he says it's not worth that much. Another funny part is he told me a Nike replica is worth max $600 only a few weeks prior to this conversation. Anyway, I said well what do you offer me? I'm at $550. He comes back with $475. That's $75 less then what I was asking for. Now I needed the cash more then the jersey so I agreed to that price. Of course the second he sees it he sees it he's all excited about it. He asks what I think about the Rangers Liberty jerseys. I say they're both nice and what not. So I knew I'd be getting an email in a few days of a jersey. Sure enough he sends me one. This one is of a Blue Liberty Rangers and one of those 1994 Gretzky 99 tour jerseys. I already have a Blue Liberty that's auto'd so not interested it that. Now the 99 tour jersey is neat. I like it and wanted one for a while. So I ask what he wants, he says make an offer, I say ok. Now before I get into this, I want to tell you that the week period he tells me about this guy who customizes jerseys and jackets etc and he has made some crests for people with vintage jerseys. I'll save this story for another post. It has to deal with an Authentic Game used Nike away jersey turned into a Gretzky. Anyway I tell him I'm not buying any jerseys right now cause we have a baby on the way plus I just spent a stupid amount of cash on a vintage away Nike Oilers Gretzky. So after him telling me that it's a rare jersey and blah blah I low ball him hard and say $500. I think a double tagged Gretzky jersey, regardless of its year and style is worth between $500 and $1000. There are some exceptions but not many. Now this 99 Tour jersey isn't an NHL jersey and it's not flashy or anything it's just one of those jerseys that I want for my collection. So he comes back with I want $12-$1300. I instantly say nope. Not interested. Maybe $800. He says I can't do less then $1100. I say well I can't but it anyway but I'll go $900. He says man I can't go low like that. $1100 lowest I can go. I tell him I'm at $1000 max. That's it. He says $1050. i say ok. But I can't get it until next summer probably. He then tells me that $1050 is way too low and I need to look at the exchange rate and blah blah and I say too bad. Not worried about exchange rate. We live in Canada. Shouldn't matter we deal on CDN $$$ not US$$. So I tell him I'm not going higher and I don't even want it till next summer anyways. So he says ok I understand. Haven't heard from him since. Haha this was only last week. And he was texting me daily all summer about buying and trading jerseys.  The point I was trying to get at was an item is only worth what someone wants to or is willing to pay for it. That goes for pretty much any hobby. I hate how people use eBay or other auction sites as the only source of price reference. There are so many variables that can influence the outcome of an auction. Timing, people bidding, market etc way too many to consider. If  these sites are gonna be reference then use the closed auctions or sold price. Again someone might be asking $3000 for something that's only worth $1000 but one sold like it for that price so it's worth that. When I buy something, I have no intention of reselling it however, sometimes I do resell. I'd like to think I'm fair with what I ask but people are forever wanting a deal. So I sometimes ask higher then I want and come down to what i really want for it and what I'd be willing to let it go for. Am I being a hypocrite? Perhaps, but I know you gotta have some wiggle room. Like I said something is only worth what someone is willing to pay.

Thanks for reading!  Keep that stick on the ice!

Atrain

When it rains....it pours!

You know that old saying that you hear from people "when it rains, it pours" well it's true. When I was a kid I never really knew what that meant. Of course as I got older I realized it had nothing to do with the weather but it was a reference to an event or something that happens. I think that's one of those old sayings that gets passed down from one generation to the next but the way we have become so dependant on technology I doubt that things like this will survive this generational leap.

Well enough about philosophy.

So as I said when it rains it pours. This is true in the sense that the last 2 weeks I have added some pretty sweet Gretzky jerseys to my collection. And not just any jerseys but 100% authentic double tags and all. Ok one isn't a double but still it's sweet!!  I've added 6 yes that's right 6 jerseys! And the crazy part is that I've been looking all over for the last few years and nothing was around. Even eBay had nothing decent. Until a few weeks ago that is.

Now, I usually go on eBay, Amazon, Etsy etc pretty much every day or every other da at least. I don't go on planning to buy anything but being a collector it happens. So I was on there a few weeks ago and  seen this really nice 1998 Gretzky authentic Rangers jersey. This thing was gorgeous. Starting bid was pretty decent price. Now instantly red flags came up as I was a little hesitant about this one. It wasn't a double tag and the pictures showed the STARTER logo going all the way through. That was a good sign. I also noticed a few other things about this jersey that made it look legit. But I still wanted to know so I emailed the seller. I asked for more photos of different angles and whatnot. The seller replied and gave me his number it was the same area code as me so I realized he lived a couple hours away. This was good. So we emailed for a bit then he said to call him. So I did. We talked and it turns out he knew a lot about jersey collecting and knew a ton about Gretzky jerseys. He even taught me a few things I didn't know! So he pulled the listing and I met up with him a few days later. The jersey was a beauty. He said he had a couple other nice ones and we kept the chat very short. I suggested we keep in touch and if we wanna trade or buy or sell or get any leads on anything to let each other know. He said great idea. And let me tell ya, a great idea it was!!! About a week later I was golfing with a good friend of mine and I get a text message from this other guy. I'm gonna call him Randy. Randy says that he has a double tagged 97 Rangers jersey and that its auto'd. He wants to know if I'm interested. I say well.... OF COURSE! He sends me some pics and this jersey looks fantastic. Now on another note I was chatting with another fellow who wanted to sell me a 91-92 Kings home jersey. However he wanted to do it privately. I was very hesitant but did it and i got this gorgeous jersey! That's another tale. Anyway I had just bought the Kings one and Randy wanted to sell this Rangers one. We got chatting about Kings jerseys and he sends me some pics of the 91-92 away jersey. Double tags and all(the 91-92 white one had double tags). This jersey had the patches and everything it was gorgeous! Of course being a collector and hardcore fan I ask what he wants for the pair. He says he's not sure about moving the black kings. Now I'm in I MUST HAVE IT mode. If you collect I'm sure you can relate! So now I up my ante, making a pretty sweet offer. We barter a little so I tossed in the game changer...... lunch at the Seafood Resturant .... Deal.....SEALED!!!!! As the Macho Man used to say; Ooooooooooooh YEAAAAAAAAH!!! of course I'm golfing still at this point and I shanked a ball hard to right... Not an oh yeah moment...

So I make the 2 hr trek again and we meet up for lunch. Have a good chat and I leave with 2 beautiful jerseys. I was pretty happy that I got these jerseys but I was happier that I made a new friend who shared my passion for the hobby and the great one collecting.

Well it wasn't even a week later that Randy texts me and says he's got some jerseys that he knows I'll love and wants to send me some pics. ..... Oh boy here we go! I said yes. Well, these jerseys were even better than the last two I got. 3 jerseys in total. 98-99 Rangers white liberty and non liberty. Both double tagged starter jerseys team Issued! And one that I have wanted for ever....1980 Sandow Oilers!!!! Unreal! We talk and agree on a price for 2. These are just fantastic jerseys to add to the collection.

So in a matter of 2 1/2 weeks, I added 6 authentic double tagged jerseys to my collection. All thanks to my new bud Randy. This is gonna be a great friendship......until the Wife finds out.....😰

Thanks for reading and keep that stick on the ice!

Atrain

To Authenticity..... And BEYOND!

I can't believe that Toy Story came out 19 years ago.... Wow I was 11.  Anywho, enough about me feeling old. Last time I went on for a while about buying an authentic jersey and how you need to be extremely careful and know what you're looking for. Again, as the old saying goes, if it's too good to be true it probably is. However, it's not just jerseys that are being counterfeited in the sports collectors market there are many other things as well. Tickets to major sporting events are a big one. Rookie cards of big players such as Gretzky, Lemieux, Michael Jordan, Bobby Orr, Gordie Howe and the rest of the Parkhurst 50-51 series. Autographs are also being counterfeited. Fake autos have flooded the market almost as much has fake jerseys. All of these counterfeits and fake mercy bring in around $1 billion U.S. That's an insane amount of money. The worst part? 80% of people know they have a fake jersey or other item and don't care because it's way cheaper to buy then a legitimate item. Which makes things difficult for serious collectors. TSN aired a program this past winter about counterfeit merchandise and how easy it is to get it. There was a sports collectors expo in Toronto and there are companies there that will authenticate your autograph. So that means they take your item, review it and compare it to the real thing, put a hologram on it and supply you with a certificate of authenticity. Pretty sweet eh? So TSN wanted to see how good these authenticators are so the asked a few art students from a major art school to replicate some signatures on pictures. They "autographed" these pics and to be honest, it looked like the real deal. The reporter took these to all the booths that were authenticating autos for people. Guess what? Only 2 companies said these were not legitimate signatures. 2 out of 8 places that know the business and sell legitimate autos knew these were fake. I was totally amazed. Of course TSN contacted these companies and said they were fake and how did you authenticate it etc and they all had a statement about the odd one getting past the process and blah blah. Long and short of it? They F^#%ed up. So what does that do now? That makes me question the legitimacy of those companies. Are they selling counterfeit merchandise? The sad part is, I bought an autographed Bure  photo ( my 2nd fav player of all time) from them a few years back. It looks like the others I have seen and I don't doubt it's legit, but it makes you wonder. What I'm trying to get at is make sure you know what you're getting and where you are getting it from. Just cause it's a company, doesn't mean it's legit. After my last post I went online and found a website selling "wholesale jerseys". This site however had some jerseys that were autographed and had MeiGray game used patches. That blew me away. I almost ordered one of these autographed jerseys just to see what it looked like. I didn't but I can imagine the quality. When looking for an autographed item, puck, jersey, photo etc I trust 3 sources completely. They are Frameworth, Frozen Pond and Hockey Ink. If you want to have an autograph verified, Beckett Grading services are good or PSA DNA from the USA is one of the most trusted sources of autograph and historic memorabilia authenticating. Again, be careful buying online. eBay is a fantastic site that offers many legit items but there are still sellers trying to sell something fake for a big pay out. BE CAREFUL!!

As a serious collector, you are gonna have to dish out some cash for good items. Trust me!

Thanks for reading, no more rants! For now....

Until next time, keep that stick on the ice!

Atrain

Authentic or not?

To be authentic, or not to be authentic. THAT is the question. The one thing that plagues the jersey collecting market are the fake ones. There's the authentic jerseys, then there's the "authentic" jerseys. These "authentic" jerseys are cheap quality knock offs that are usually sold online through eBay, Amazon etc or a website that sells these jerseys. They offer them at a wholesale or warehouse price and 95% of the time they ship from Asia. You really need to be careful when purchasing a jersey from those wholesale sites and online in general. As the old saying goes, if it's too good to be true, it probably is. For example, you can purchase an "authentic" Gretzky Oilers jersey that includes a fight strap and everything sewn on for around $20-$40. Free shipping or  a flat rate of around $15. Sounds great doesn't it? Of course it does! That's why people buy them. They are cheap and you can get 10 for what you would pay for 1 actual authentic jersey. I'm not gonna get into extreme details about how to spot a counterfeit jersey, the NHL and other pro leagues have pages on their websites about it.  If you have questions, check those out for sure. One dead giveaway is the colour. 99% of the time, the colours are off. They are either too light or too dark. The tie down is also a good indicator. It is sewn into the jersey in the centre on the back, not just some piece of loose fabric stitched on. As a serious collector, I hate seeing these jerseys on the market. It really irritates me when people try to pass these off as real items and sell them on eBay for $200 plus. Since the 2005 lockout, these jerseys have flooded the market. When people buy them they say "well the owners rich enough, besides I don't care looks fine to me". What they don't realize is that the jerseys are made in factories that don't have good working conditions and are almost always connected with organized crime. Think twice before purchasing one of these jerseys. I know what you're saying, do I own any knock offs? Yes I do. Purposely? Yes. Here's the story. A few years who I worked for a jersey outlet in the mall. One of my coworkers told me about a site that you can get wholesale jerseys from. Being a collector I thought I would check it out. Of course they have all sports teams from all major leagues. I was shocked they were only $35 with a flat shipping of $15 no matter how many you ordered. Of course red flags are going off as $35 for a pro jersey with the downs is too good to be true. However being curious I ordered a few. So 4 weeks later they arrive. As I opened the pack I instantly noticed the colour of the one was off. The letters were off and the fight strap was WAY off. Shame on me. I decided to wear it to work one day to see if they would notice. Thankfully they all did. Do I still own them? No. They are no longer in my collection. I do have 2 Gretzky jerseys that are fakes in my collection. No, I'm not a hypocrite. The first one is a Rangers white starter jersey. Anyone who is a serious collector knows that after Gretzky went to LA all the jerseys he wore from then on we're double tagged. What is that? The CCM/NHL Logos were embroidered on both the left and right bottom cuffs of the jerseys. He tucked the right side in and being the greatest player in the game, they didn't want the logo covered. When Nike supplied the Oilers with jerseys the logo was on the right. After the 82-83 season, it was on the left and remained there. In 1996 Wayne signed a deal with the Rangers. From the 96-97 season till he retired, Starter supplied the Rangers with jerseys. Until after the 05 lockout, each team had a contract with a supplier for jerseys. They weren't league wide contracts until early 2000's when CCM did whites and KOHO did darks for most. Now it's all RBK. Anyway, I was still pretty green to the jersey collecting world and happened to come across and auction for an authentic Wayne Gretzky Rangers jersey. Made by starter, size 52 (he wore 54) tie down and all names numbers sewn on. Double tagged! I thought Holy s#!t that's awesome. I think I paid $500 for it. I get it and I was so proud to own this jersey. once I got it, I opened it, tried it on, admired it then put it away in the collection. I never gave it another thought. Then a few months ago I was talking to another collector friend who said he went back through all his jerseys and found a few that were fakes....and he paid a pretty penny for them. Then I had this sickly feeling in my stomach. Oh f*^k, are any of mine fakes? Well to my sheer and utter disappointment, there were some. I do collect jerseys other then WG ones. I went through all my jerseys and found 2 non Gretzky ones were fakes. I was not happy. Then I went through my WG ones. I had another Rangers blue jersey that I bought at a retail sports card store. It was fake. I never in a million years thought my white Rangers would be a knock off. I almost didn't bother looking but I needed to be sure. Well...... It was a fake.  I was crushed. A $500 fake jersey that the person prob paid $40 for. However, this jersey was hard to tell. It was very well done. The numbers, materials were all good. The tie down threw me for a loop as it was seen into the jersey like it should be and in the middle between the 9's. How did I know it was fake?  The colour. They were too light. I was so mad at myself that I lost sleep for a few days. As I cooled down, I ended up getting a 96 CCM Rangers white Gretzky jersey they is not fake and got it for a decent price. I kept the Starter one. Paid $500 for it. What am I gonna do with it? No idea. Road hockey jersey maybe. The other one was an all star jersey I paid $100 and it was fake.

I apologize for the length of this post but it's been a few weeks since the last. Sorry. I'll give the eyes a break and continue this topic on my next one.

Have a good one Nd keep that stick on the ice!

Atrain

How it all started ... Well, sort of

I wanted to open this post with something witty. Like a classic Hello True Believers! Like Stan Lee would say or a funny quote about life or perhaps a pun. Well... I got nothing. So I'm just gonna start by saying ... Hey... What's going on? .. The 4 non-blondes song just popped in my head as I typed that and I'm rolling with it.

Welcome to my blog. As the name states, I'm a collector. Of what you ask? Well let me tell you. I collect hockey memorabilia. Mostly items related to the Great One, Wayne Gretzky. I also collect memorabilia from my fav NHL team the Vancouver Canucks. I also have some Winnipeg Jets items in my man cave cause let's be honest a Manitoba kid born and raised loves his Jets. Yes I was a kid when the first incarnation of the Jets were in The Peg. I got to see Selanne live! And I got to see the Great One in the old Winnipeg Arena. Classic. I also collect Brandon Wheat Kings items. I wanted to blog about my experiences collecting and adding great pieces to my growing collection and of course the rookie mistakes I've made. I want to help other people by sharing things I've learned over the last 16 years and other tips and tools of the trade I was shown by other hardcore collectors. Even if no one reads this, that's cool with me cause I kinda think of this as a journal. A journal that anyone and everyone can read and laugh or agree with.

Thanks for reading and stay tuned I'm debating what I wanna post next. I'm thinking either the trouble with jersey collecting and the fakes that have flooded the market or how getting that one big ticket item every collector has on their list can sometimes have an adverse effect on your collection. Trust me it can happen.

Good night, and keep your stick on the ice.

The Atrain.

First Post

Hello!

This is my first post. Welcome! I am a big collector of hockey memorabilia especially anything related to The Great One! (Not the Rock) I'm gonna blog about things like collecting and spotting fakes and all the joys that come with it. So stay tuned!