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View Full Version : When and How have ProCuts infested the hobby?



gingi79
08-23-2010, 10:53 PM
I ask you, my fellow collectors, how and when game cut, pro cut, Game Issued, Team Issued, (enter your annoying slang term here) became so easily and readily available? Are these items coming from the NFL, the teams, the players, Reebok?

It used to be game worn jerseys were easier to spot. If the sleeves were custom hemmed and the jersey was altered, it was obviously done by the team or the team's customizer. There were two terms for these shirts. Game Worn which showed a ton of wear and Team Issued which was customized to exact specs but became an unused backup. Game worns are still incredibly rare and desirable. But Team Issued were also incredibly rare and desirable shirts and owning one was something that required inside connections as they were not available publicly. While I am all for public access to these items (obviously as I am a collector ;)) how is it that there are hundreds of them available as Pro-cut or Team Issued or Game Cut? Is this the new "Authentic" jersey produced by Reebok or are people customizing them, themselves?

How is it that eBay is now overrun with jerseys seemingly customized to team specs? I am all for doing my homework, but how does one do homework on jerseys that were never used?

Let me give you an example: On eBay, there is a Tennessee Titans Throwback jersey from last season

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=250686588354&ssPageName=ADME:X:RTQ:US:1123

It is listed as Game Worn. It couldn't possibly be as Ulrich Winkler was released by the Titans on June 16, 2009. That means he never played in any Pre-Season or Regular Season games with the Titans in 2009. In fact, other than a Pre-Season game in 2007, there is no data showing he ever played on more than the practice squad. But that isn't my point.

Do teams make up jerseys for players on the Practice Squad in case they are promoted to the Active team? He never played in a regular season game in his career so why would a team or fan make up his shirt rather than Chris Johnson or Vince Young? It doesn't seem to make sense to "fake" that particular player. So where the hell are they coming from?


Those of you who follow hockey game worns most likely know of the Custom Crafted scandal. I speak only of NFL shirts for this thread however. I shutter to think these are the "new" CC Specials. Are they?

Help a confused collector out!

Aloving77
08-24-2010, 12:14 AM
As a Titans fan and collector, I think I can help you out with the jersey that you mention in your post. I can tell you with some certainty that this jersey is "authentic" or "real". The Titans have traditionally sold their game used or team issued jerseys at their training camp. This training camp has been particularly interesting because they have released some of the jerseys from the 2008 10th anniversary season and the 2009 AFL anniversary season. Some GUU members have visited training camp and purchased these jerseys. I purchased one jersey from the seller that you mention in your post and another jersey from a forum member. Both were A.J. Trapasso jerseys from the 2009 AFL anniversary season, one home and one away. Trapasso wore a blue AFL jersey in the hall of fame game, but was never on the team to wear a white AFL jersey. Despite this fact, a white AFL jersey was still made for him. Although Winkler was cut before the Titans wore the AFL jerseys, I have no doubt that the jersey you mention in your post came from the Titans and is more than a "pro cut".

Click on the following pictures to view full size.

http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u296/aloving77/Titans%20Gamers/th_SN850166.jpg (http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u296/aloving77/Titans%20Gamers/SN850166.jpg)
http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u296/aloving77/Titans%20Gamers/th_SN850167.jpg (http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u296/aloving77/Titans%20Gamers/SN850167.jpg)
http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u296/aloving77/Titans%20Gamers/th_SN850168.jpg (http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u296/aloving77/Titans%20Gamers/SN850168.jpg)
http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u296/aloving77/Titans%20Gamers/th_SN850169.jpg (http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u296/aloving77/Titans%20Gamers/SN850169.jpg)

hockeytigers
08-24-2010, 09:48 AM
This question is a good one and has been on my mind for a while. I am still fairly new to this jersey collecting hobby (a couple years) and I have seen and heard everything already...people faking use on a jersey to make it appear game used, people cutting jerseys to make them altered, people changing numbers on jerseys to make the jerseys more valuable, and on and on. I'm sure this has gone on for years, but I think the reason comes from the money involved and the teams.

There is so much money now in professional sports (NFL) and equipment managers have much bigger budgets so buying a few extra jerseys is typically not that big of a deal. Also, with styles and patches being added or changed almost every year, the equipment managers cannot reuse the old jerseys. So, what do you do with a bunch of left over jerseys...sell them. I went to a Lions game a couple years ago and they had a display of jerseys (must have been 50-75 jerseys) that were made up of Calvin Johnson. They were all different cuts, styles, and sizes but they were all game jerseys lettered and numbered up. So the Lions used their left over jerseys and sold them in their retail store as authentic jerseys.

Players are also getting a new jersey or 2 (Brett Favre) for every game. This means that there have to be a ton of jerseys made up in order to make it through a season. There will obviously be extras...

Most teams use outside companies to alter jerseys. With the price of a Favre or Petersen jersey, I'm sure it is very tempting for these companies to make a few extra jerseys and sell them out the back door...

I think the biggest reason is teams have figured out that there is a huge market for these jerseys. Teams are making money by selling these jerseys and obviously if there are a few extra jerseys, then there is more money to be made.

NFL Auctions is also contributing to this issue. I purchased and documented this issue last year where I won a game used and an autographed authentic of the same player and the two jerseys were identical.

On a side note, I am friends with a bunch of former players and they could care less about their jerseys. One of my buddies, on his way out the door, was handed a garbage bag full of his jerseys and the jerseys are still in that same garbage bag in his garage almost 10 years later. Most equipment managers don't care about this hobby...their only concern is to make sure that each player looks good as they take the field. They could care less if there are 5,000 Brett Favre jerseys out there or 5.