Adjustments made to tagging in Mets jerseys? Why? Why so many?

[Number9]

Can one of you Mets guys fill me in on why so many Mets jerseys have tags altered by the team? I am looking for Wright, Piazza, Olerud, Ventura jerseys, just one or two of the four, and as I do my Mets research I come across countless Mets jerseys where the tag stitching has been removed or replaced in order to add set or customization tags, or either the set tags have been removed etc etc. I am confident the jerseys are legit as most have Steiner and MLB authentication, plus clearly this is a pattern with Mets jerseys, but WHY are so many Mets jerseys altered?

Does anyone else stay away from them for this reason? My concern is if I bought one and ever had to sell it, since it was coming from an unknown collector like me, potential buyers would say 'hey you did something to the tags, what are you hiding?' even though evidence clearly shows the Mets do this a lot.

I have collected for 11 years and I know to me personally, altered/missing tags is generally a thing that makes me stay away from an item. But here it is as a consistent characteristic with Mets jerseys.

They seem to be the only team I see altering tags this much. Why are they doing this? Why aren't the jerseys coming from Majestic with set tags, customization tags already stitrhed in as part of the Majestic tag stitching, like other teams?

I am particularly baffled to see the usual size tag, 46, 48, etc, restitched often. That's not even a customization tag.

See photos below for a few examples. Have found countless jerseys like this
Why is this so common on Mets jerseys?
Thanks.

Mike

[Number9]

Just to reiterate, I am NOT saying these jerseys are bad, I am saying they are GOOD. I am just asking why so many Mets jerseys have the tags altered, especially compared to other teams.

You order a jersey from Majestic with extra length I assume, so why isn't the tag applied then on Mets jerseys? Do the Mets? etc etc.

The jerseys clearly are legit.

[jetersbatboy]

Hey!!!! That's my Matsui jersey tagging!!!!!!!! LOL:eek:

[Number9]

Hey, sorry bout that, I was just looking for examples of legit jerseys, which yours certainly is. Just tryin to learn about all these Mets jerseys.
Thanks.

[jetersbatboy]

No problem, I was just teasing... As to answer part of your question, I had asked a steiner rep. about this. I was told that pre 2007, steiner was buying jersey from the Mets and selling them, before the exclusive contract. He said 90% of the jersey they received had the set tagging removed, and he was unsure to why. he also told me his best guess to why they removed it was, it was some kind of security measure. hopefully some one has a better answer as I would also like to NO too!!!!!

[Number9]

Hi Scott,
Thanks for letting me use your pic, and thanks for the info.

I could be wrong but I don't think the Mets are pulling out the tags AFTER use because there seems to be plenty of them that are MLB authenticated to specific games, still with dirt stains on the jerseys. So that implies MLB gets them right after the last game it was worn in (and authenticated for).

I could sorta understand if they pulled out set tags because they had to use jerseys that did not match the current set, but I don't understand why so many jerseys have the customization and set tags added, which is what a couple of the photos I attached show, extra stitching to sew tags in.

On all the jerseys I have of other teams, the stitching that sews on the Majestic tag also holds the other tags in place. But not on a lot of these Mets jerseys. They have extra stitching that implies the Mets added these tags later.

Thanks.
Mike
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[Metsfan808]

It depends where the jerseys come from. The Mets order jerseys from Majestic at the beginning of the season for their players like all the other teams do. The equipment manager also orders blank jerseys to keep in stock in his office. Whenever a player needs a jersey or a player is called up during the season, rather than ordering from Majestic and waiting for it, the Mets take one from stock and have it customized locally. The jerseys that come from the in house stock usually do not have the year/set tags because they can be from previous years and the tag is removed or it came from Majestic without the tag since it was not ordered for a specific year, it was ordered to be held in stock for whenever it was needed.

[Number9]

Extra stitching circled:

[Number9]

Hi Metsfan,
Thanks for the info. I understand teams make up jerseys for callups and such but it seems like with the Mets MOST of their jerseys have had the tagging stitching altered, star players too... Here's some examples, just a few I found in 5 minutes or so:



Wright jersey with extra stitching:


http://www.americanmemorabilia.com/Auction_Item.asp?Auction_ID=44661&aucsearch=mets%20game%20jersey&AucListType=closed&TitleDesc=0&period=&offset=10

Wright jersey with thread missing and extra stitching:


http://www.americanmemorabilia.com/Auction_Item.asp?Auction_ID=30776&aucsearch=mets%20game%20jersey&AucListType=closed&TitleDesc=0&period=&offset=10


Piazza jersey with different stitching above set tag


http://www.americanmemorabilia.com/Auction_Item.asp?Auction_ID=17420&aucsearch=mets%20game%20jersey&AucListType=closed&TitleDesc=0&period=&offset=10



Loduca playoffs jersey with extra stitching:


http://www.americanmemorabilia.com/Auction_Item.asp?Auction_ID=36757&aucsearch=mets%20game%20jersey&AucListType=closed&TitleDesc=0&period=


Thanks for your insight.
Mike