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