Late night post

It's about 3:30 am and I'm wide awake and have been so for about 2 hours. Why not post??!!

Pink the Rink was a huge success. Over $28,000 was raised for the Cancer Socirty! The game itself was awesome as Brandon won 8-3. The auctions were great too. It was fun to be on the other side of the table and watch the bidders get into a war for the jerseys. Lots of fun!

I was talking with the "wife" I say "wife" cause we aren't married yet but we are a common-law couple so she's the wife. Actually we did recently set a date for our wedding which will happen in 2017. Unless I acquire more jerseys then maybe not ha ha ha. We were talking the other day and she said to me, why do you collect things? Idk I said, I just do. Then I wondered, why do I collect the things I do? Is it genetics? My dad collects well let me rephrase that, hoards things that he calls a collection. Maybe that's where it started? To be fair he isn't a hoarder like you see on tv but he doesn't like to get rid of things and he collects a bunch of stuff. Toys, advertising items, antiques, money etc. If you've ever seen the show American or Canadian Puckers, that's the kind of stuff he likes to collect. So maybe it started there. I really don't know why I collect I just do. It makes me happy and is a hobby that greatly interests me. It's a fun hobby albeit an expensive one but fun for sure!

That's it for now, have a good night all!

Atrain

Pink...is my obsession !

Welcome back!

So as I mentioned last post, the Wheat Kings are having their Pink the Rink night on Friday Feb 19th.  The Canadian Cancer society, westman chapter, sells pink the rink shirts and raffle tickets to help raise aweness and money for cancer society. Of course the big draw are the special Pink the Rink jerseys the players wear that night. They do a live silent auction from the start of the game and closes the end of the second intermission. Now, the cool thing is these auctions and shirts along with raffles raise around $30K. All for a great cause.

So the auctions get....interesting ha. The first year they did this was 2014. First time the BWK ever did a specialty jersey night. Of course the game worn guys like myself were excited! A one time jersey cool! Now I did bid a little but my cap was low and these got over that fast. So didn't put much more thought into it. Then last years pink the rink happened. I was now bound and determined to get a jersey. This is where it gets entertaining....

So, I tried the on air radio auctions got outbid both times. Then at the game I bid on one and it went high real fast. So I waited around at the table and decided that I would get any jersey didn't matter the player. Now they said the auction is over at puck drop to start the 3rd. Well some people don't understand that. The big problem is people rely on the time clock. Well it doesn't always count down to zero. In fact they stop it at 1 min or so. Now some bidders thought they were cheated out of a jersey. I snagged mine at the last second and royaly pissed off the older lady who had it won. I waited until they started grabbing sheets and wrote on it. Anyway I walked over to the pay table and squared up. Well there was a guy there who was cussing out the ladies that he was cheated and blah blah blah this is fixed. He carried on for about 2 mins and finally one of the WK people,had to tell him he lost sorry get over it. Well you can imagine how well that went off!

So a few weeks later the jerseys were ready to be picked up. I went to get mine and the lady in charge told me that there was a lot of angry emails and phone calls afterwards regarding the jerseys and auction. Hate mail to the cancer society. Can you believe that?

I ended up befriending the lady and she's a great person. I actually volunteered for the first time ever last sept for a CCS road hockey tournament. It was fantastic.

Well Feb rolls up and she sends me a msg. Hey Pink the Rink is Feb 19th. You wanna help out? Of course I say yes! I wanna be on the other side of the table when the sh^t hits the fan. I told myself and my wife, no matter how cool they look, I'm not gonna bid. Ha well... They realeased a picture of the jerseys....yup they look freaking awesome! So now I'm like hmm... Well I'll bid once and that's it. So the first love on air auction starts and I said to her, put a bid of $600 on it start this auction out properly! I of course, assumed I would be outbid no problem. Well guess what.... Nope! So I won the auction. Cool....now how do I pay for this... Oh man. I couldn't believe no one else wanted it. So it's going to be a fun night watching the shenanigans on Friday.

Well that's it for me. Have a good Loius Riel day !

As always, keep that stick on the ice!

Atrain

New year new jerseys! You bet!

Hello! Once again it's been a couple months since my last post. I apologize. As you read last time, my wife was due any day and that day happened shortly after that. We had beautiful girl born Mid Nov! There were some complications which forced her to have an extended hospital stay but, all is good now and we haven't looked back!

So as you are well aware, I collect Gretzky jerseys. I also collect other WG memorabilia but jerseys are my main focus. My other focus is Game Worn Wheat Kings jerseys. Well I was on FB and thanks to the power and wonder of social media, I found a page that was dedicated to game worn jerseys. I also found several other pages dedicated to teams and leagues from all over. A whole game worn community! This is great I thought! Then it hit me.... I've been collecting before FB was invented, and after all this time why would I not think to look online? I think of the jerseys that I could've had or ones that I might have sold ......oh man.

I happened to become friends with a few other guys who like BWK jerseys. The Jets and Canucks. Most of these other collectors like to trade rather than sell or buy but if the price is right, cash is king! I ended up adding 5 jerseys off those pages! If I had tons of cash I could prob add about 40 more but two kids and a house and all that responsible adult stuff happens to be more important. I also added 6 others thanks to folks on theses forums that led me in the right direction. It's amazing what fellow collectors will do for you. Of course you get guys wanting to trade or buy and vice versa, but I just don't wanna sell right now.

So Pink the Rink night is coming up for the BWK and they wear special jerseys for the game that are auctioned off. That gets INTENSE....like really intense. I'll tell the story next post!

For now, good night!

Keep that stick on the ice.

Oh and it was the Great One's Bday on the 26th Happy B Day Wayne!

Atrain

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