ISA-Chuck
11-25-2010, 08:26 AM
As the prices escalate for vintage soccer jerseys, especially star players, the ugly face of counterfit examples rear up.
With recent jerseys of Pele, 1966 World Cup players and David Beckham jerseys selling for near $50,000 at recent auctions, the appearence of dubious copies have surfaced.
In a recent ebay auction (the biggest culprit to the problem) - a 1970s jersey (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=360319472680&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT) - attributed to Manchester United great, George Best, is suspect.
Having sold for $1,811.87 - it begs the question to identification through photo matching. On closer inspection, there are no existing photos of Manchester United wearing a complete red shirt. All versions from this time period had white cuffs on the sleeves and a white collar. The shirt is also devoid of club crest.
There has been at least one ebay seller, who has profited from the misinformation and deception in their listings. This seller vends jerseys that are often from the proper time period, but are "enhanced" with screen print logos and numbers to "appear" legitamate.
This is just one of the gross practices used to lure unsuspecting collectors into a web of deception. Jerseys that use quality twill and material in their crest and numbering are usually genuine.
The greatest number of counterfit jerseys are of course the legendary PELE -the former Brazil and New York Cosmos player. Because of his world wide fame, he traded his shirt after games, often even twice or three times during a single match !
More recently, David Beckham jerseys have flooded the market.
However, the tracking of their matches and game history can be helpful. Beckhams career is better documented from the modern era and should be easier to research.
When it doubt, ask questions and do your homework.
Happy Collecting !
With recent jerseys of Pele, 1966 World Cup players and David Beckham jerseys selling for near $50,000 at recent auctions, the appearence of dubious copies have surfaced.
In a recent ebay auction (the biggest culprit to the problem) - a 1970s jersey (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=360319472680&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT) - attributed to Manchester United great, George Best, is suspect.
Having sold for $1,811.87 - it begs the question to identification through photo matching. On closer inspection, there are no existing photos of Manchester United wearing a complete red shirt. All versions from this time period had white cuffs on the sleeves and a white collar. The shirt is also devoid of club crest.
There has been at least one ebay seller, who has profited from the misinformation and deception in their listings. This seller vends jerseys that are often from the proper time period, but are "enhanced" with screen print logos and numbers to "appear" legitamate.
This is just one of the gross practices used to lure unsuspecting collectors into a web of deception. Jerseys that use quality twill and material in their crest and numbering are usually genuine.
The greatest number of counterfit jerseys are of course the legendary PELE -the former Brazil and New York Cosmos player. Because of his world wide fame, he traded his shirt after games, often even twice or three times during a single match !
More recently, David Beckham jerseys have flooded the market.
However, the tracking of their matches and game history can be helpful. Beckhams career is better documented from the modern era and should be easier to research.
When it doubt, ask questions and do your homework.
Happy Collecting !