droop685
05-20-2016, 04:52 PM
I recently wrote this piece that I wanted to share. I would love your feedback. It's a fun read for any collector at heart. Pertains mostly to the NBA, but a great read for any fan of jerseys. It's long, so enjoy. (It still needs some fine tuning, so if you spot and grammatical errors, please let me know)
THE SECOND TAG
We all collect things. Some people collect high end items like horses, cars, or even planes. Some people collect smaller valued items like stamps, coins and even rocks. Heck, I bet you could find someone who really puts their toe jam in a jar. I remember growing up my grandfather had a 30 year long collection of stamps that he couldn't get to pique my interest away from basketball cards no matter how many "limited edition" one out of a million stamp sets he would give to me. What do I collect? Well that's not really the question to ask me. A more prudent question to ask is, Who am I? Well I am a jersey collector. A rare, but not uncommon breed that comes along with being a part of a small, and sometimes highly competitive sub-community that for the most part solely exists online.
This piece may not hit home for everyone. Who am I intending to reach? Well if you once dreamed about owning one of those replica jerseys and begged your parents for years until you actually got one, this one's for you. If you saved up every dollar until you hit forty to buy one of those champion replicas, then this is for you. If you were a teenager who watched TRL or 106 & Park during the early 00's just to see which rapper was wearing which throwback then this one is for you.
First off, let me start by saying I am a thirty year old man who is the biggest kid at heart. I do not have the slightest obsession with wearing another man's shirt bearing his name. He certainly wouldn't wear mine. Do I have the biggest collection in the world? No. Do I have the most valuable collection in the world? Hardly!! What draws me to collect the pieces that I have is a personal connection that I have to the jersey one way or the other. This may be a favorite player from childhood, or a player that I have now become friends with through various business endeavors. My obsession with the hobby started when I was eight and is an obsession that I never grew out of. It all started from going over to my best friend's house and watching NBA on NBC with him, and he had all of the shirts I was seeing on television. He had to have had at least ten of them. I clearly remember he had Ewing, Barkley, Jordan, Magic and Kevin Johnson. We used to put them on when we played basketball in his driveway and we each pretended to be the player we were wearing. I never had my own though. I wanted one more than anything. His mom told me she would get them from a flea market, and I begged my mom to take me to the flea market even though I didn't know what a flea market was, nor did I have any interest in fleas. My passion for the hobby doesn't stem from anything related to my life now, but rather a growing and continuing interest in the hobby ever since those days in my friends driveway before I ever got my first one.
I'll never forget that moment. I probably begged my parents for an entire year until I got that black Shaquille O'Neal champion replica jersey for my 9th birthday. My parents surprised me with it by packing it in my suit case for my birthday weekend that I spend at my grandparents. I left on a Friday, and they told me I couldn't open it until my birthday on Sunday. It was killing me all weekend. I knew it was finally going to be my first jersey, but I could never figure out who it would be of. The wax wrapping paper was somewhat see through, and I could tell it wasn't a Knicks or Bulls (my two top choices) and I was dying to know. When I opened it and saw it was Shaq I screamed!! I was officially in the game, not only having my first jersey, but a jersey my friend didn't have in his collection. I was hooked. Shortly after due to other celebrations my collection was starting to take shape. Six months later I was given a blue Patrick Ewing jersey. Six months after that for my 10th birthday which was shortly after Jordan returned to the NBA in 1995, I was given his brand new red #45 jersey. It only kept growing from there. Divorce is awful for a child, but probably the only perk is double the presents and I started raking it in. I added an Anthony Mason, Dennis Rodman, Larry Johnson, Charles Barkley, and Penny Hardaway all within a couple of years. I was closely closing in on my dream and goal of having ten jerseys in my collection.
Only one problem though. One day while walking around the mall I came across a jersey that reflected something of much higher quality. I stumbled across my first authentic jersey. What was this I was seeing? Heavy duty mesh!.... pinstripes!!..... sewn on numbers!!! I thought that my jerseys were like wash cloths compared to this. I now had a new birthday wish, but at $100 a pop I knew that it would always remain at that, a wish. A wish that was finally met for my thirteenth birthday as a gift from my cousins. I'll never forget reaching into this gift bag and feeling for the first time this heavy duty mesh, and dual layered tackle twill sewn on numbers. It also featured a special tag at the bottom of the jersey. Made by started for the first time this special tag stated words no other replica or authentic jersey ever stated. It was a tag that any jersey collector only dreamed about having attached to one of their replica jerseys.
What is the fascination with collecting game worn jerseys. Well to real collectors it's all about that second tag. I'm not talking about the neck tag, or the washing instructions tag. I'm talking about that tag you could never get. When I say the word "get" I also mean buy. The second tag I am referring to was non-existent on your replica jerseys. It was non-existent on your authentic jersey. Up until a certain point due to demand It was non-existent on any retail store jersey all together. The only way you knew it even existed was seeing this anomaly on television or basketball publications. It piqued your interest so much you would stare at your television when a players jersey became un-tucked or that magazine picture showing the same un-tucked jersey that the NBA frowned upon and players would receive technical fouls for, to figure out what that second mystery tag was on the real players jersey. More so than that, you were constantly asking yourself how come you never had one of those tags on one of your jerseys, and what do you have to do, and where do you have to go to see that tag up close. As a 10 year old I spent at least a year looking at every basketball card, or picture I had trying to figure out what that tag was all about. Dennis Rodman would always throw his jersey into the crowd after home game, or when he got ejected and I would try to just grab a glimpse to figure out what this mystery was. It wasn't until I went on a tour of Madison Square Garden and had the opportunity to go in to the Knicks locker room. Upon entering my mouth hit the floor. My extensive year long research which to an 11 year old is equal to an eternity, was about to conclude. I lunges ahead of the rest of the tour group toward the jersey, turned it over and looked down and what I saw is what made me a jersey collector for life. DESIGNED AND TAILED EXCLUSIVELY FOR THE 95-96 NEW YORK KNICKS. My first thoughts were both filled with happiness and disappointment. I finally figured out the mystery, I thought how cool it was that every team had their own custom tag. Then the disappointment hit when I realized I could never own one. It could never be bought. It's exclusive not ever to be made to the public.
This was all before eBay. This was all before memorabilia auction houses were as popular as today. eBay changed everything for everyone. Between eBay, Amazon and websites like Fresh Direct you can live without ever leaving your house. You can find anything you ever dreamed of and that includes game worn memorabilia. Through just a couple of specific keywords like "PRO CUT JERSEY", "GAME WORN JERSEY", you are taken to a collectors fantasy dreams. Hundreds if not thousands of game worn jerseys for you to sort through and pick which player you want to add. Don't like what's there today, wait until tomorrow and there will be 30 jerseys posted over night. If you're still not happy there are at least three game used memorabilia auction houses that run monthly auctions. The once unattainable is now the over saturated.
This hobby like many other hobbies in the world is filled is with people who try to make a quick buck even if it means deceiving individuals. There are more counterfeits in this hobby than there are legitimate authentic jerseys. Factories in China produce knock offs at an alarming rate at a price that is a fraction of a retail jersey. The most scary example of problems in this small but huge small community of jersey collectors are the eBay sellers who guarantee their items for sale are game used when they aren't even close. These individuals spend their days buying blank jerseys in bulk, and customizing them to a B or C level player and then re-listing that once blank jersey to a game worn jersey. Sometimes they will even take the unique exclusive tag from one jersey, and reapply it to another hoping that it will sell for more money attached to another name. They also know the average buyer will assume, "hey who would ever fake a bench warmer?" I see individuals post their newly acquired jerseys like this all the time on social media or in forums. They are all excited about their latest acquisition just to learn later from experts that they were duped because the font on the back is wrong, or realizing a 7 foot center could never actually wear a 44+2.
The scariest part about all of the counterfeits, and reproduced blanks are once they hit the secondary market and then brought to high end auction houses who are thirsty for high buyer premiums. Here is the play: John Doe buys one of these custom blank jerseys from Josh Doe. John Doe then takes it to one of these auction houses and tells them that it's game used. They go ahead and list it in their current online auction as game used with the description reading, this jersey was presented to us as game used and in our opinion is game used. Wait a second, read that back to yourself and the statement "in their opinion". It was presented as one thing without any certifications or photo match and in their opinion it's game used because some random individual with no actual knowledge of the history of the jersey told them so?! I should tell them Michael Jordan chewed my double mint in game 6 and to have them run that as game used as well. If only these auction houses did a quick completed auction search on eBay they would see that the jersey in front of them was just sold by a known counterfeit seller 2 weeks earlier. By now Josh Doe's once blank jersey has circulated around the market enough times that if a high end auction house does complete the sale then the newest owner is 100% assured that their once blank jersey is game worn because they got it from said auction house, and that auction house may even provide their own letter of authentication, which is authenticating an item they never fully researched to know if it's authentic. At the end of the day though what does the auction house care though? They cover themselves by saying it was presented to them one way, and use the word "OPINION" to state it's game worn. Opinions are never facts, and through terminology they can never be held accountable. They have hundreds of jerseys listed a month and made 30% off of each sale for doing nothing more than listing your item on consignment. Pretty smart on their end, pretty unfortunate for the collectors like myself.
Everything involved with this hobby has changed now. It all starts from the root of the manufacturer, and the products they are releasing. The quality of jerseys are not the same. Granted everything is designed now to be lighter and more ventilated for players comfort but the lack of high quality craftsmanship had led collectors to resort back to the vintage champion uniforms. Look back at the history of uniforms. 70-80 years ago they wore flannel, a thick heavy weight material almost like a sweater. Number were hand cut and sewn. Over the decades, materials became lighter. Technology also allows for mass production. Players used to be given 4 jerseys a year, two home and two away. Nowadays due to companies like Meigray and Steiner Sports, two of the industries leaders in memorabilia who both possess exclusive deals with teams to deliver game worn items directly to fans from the teams' locker rooms with guaranteed provenance, players are wearing a new uniform every game. Some players like Lebron James often switch uniforms at half time so that their team can sell more game worn uniforms at a 5 digit price.
Scarcity is key. There a more Lebron and Stephen Curry game worn jerseys on the market from one season then there are jerseys from individuals entire careers who played during the 90s or previous decades. It's the vintage Champion uniforms that collectors want. Not even the 80's Sand Knit jerseys have the same appeal. True collectors will scope out these vintage uniforms from 20+ years ago and pay a premium for a no name player just because of the uniforms scarcity, or perhaps feature a unique screen printed design like that of the 90's Phoenix Suns fireball jersey, or the Atlanta Hawks mid 90's uniform that featured a huge bold red hawk with wide spread out wings from pit. By a certain point it's not even about the player it's all about the design. The most popular designs from the 90's that will forever carry a premium include: Atlanta, Phoenix, Toronto's purple dinosaur theme, Vancouver Grizzlies, and the Orlando Magic. A unique example of choosing quality over design can be learned from the Golden State Warriors lightning bolt design that were worn famously during the Latrell Sprewell choking era. Here is a uniform that carries all of the characteristics of other unique screen printed designs from the 90s. Bold and colorful. Very colorful. Joseph would be salivating. However, champion no longer held the exclusive and these uniforms that were made by Starter, and then Puma lacked the same quality that the other team's uniforms possessed. To this day one of the most unique designs is often looked over in the premium dollar category due to it not being manufactured by Champion. It is interesting to note that of all of the teams that were just mentioned for carrying a premium, all 5 of those teams with the exception of the Raptors maintained their contract with Champion through 2002 while Nike, Puma, and Starter had contracts split among the other teams. While the Raptors switched to Nike in 1997, Nike kept the original template that Champion manufactured with minor tweaks until 1999 when they changed the uniforms to resemble the same template being used by other teams like the Lakers and the Mavericks. Suddenly, originality was being replaced by fabric technology.
When champion lost the exclusive contract in the NBA in 1997 the downward spiraling quality shift was set to full speed ahead. By 2001, majority of the teams who were supplied by Nike all featured the same template adorned with their own team colors. Competing brands like Adidas and Reebok began to adapt their own dri-fit materials and applied them to the teams uniforms that they held the contract with. Once Reebok acquired the exclusive NBA contract across the league in 2003 the once high quality thick polyester, sometimes double layered, was now a thin nylon. Double or triple layered twill was now a double layered kiss cut twill about half the thickness that uniform numbers used to be. To go with the hip hop culture store bought authentic jerseys were also approximately 4 inches longer than they were 5 years earlier making them almost un-wearable to the average sports fan but were selling highly to the MTV and BET generation. On team issued uniforms The unique exclusive tagging system that champion utilized for 10 years that collectors went crazy for was gone now too making way for a much more simple generic tag save for each teams logo affixed to the tag. When you take the letters and numbers off, look at a Knicks and Timberwolves jersey from 2003-09. There is no difference whatsoever other than the neck and arm holes. This is the same for many teams during that time frame.
When Adidas took over the exclusive agreement with the NBA they tried to capitalize off of both the average and high end collectors retailing 4 different levels of jerseys. There are replicas that feature screen printed name and numbers closely resembling that of what a kid would see on TV close enough that a kid feels satisfied to be wearing their favorite players jersey. Then there are the Swingman jerseys. A concept started by Nike in 2000. Combining the lesser qualities of a replica mixed with the sewn on numbers of an authentic jersey. A manufacturer logo would be affixed to the shoulder strap as well separating even from a distance any confusion between a Swingman and authentic. Then there are the authentic jerseys. Up until recently, the closest a collector could get to the real thing on the retail market. Almost identical to what the players wear save for a generic tag and sizing system. Sizes ranging from 40-60 in intervals of 4.
Adidas took it one step further knowing that there are collectors out there who won't even wear an authentic and will only wear pro cut or better which at one point were only available to the players. Pro cuts to those with no knowledge are tailored to each players specification to fit their torso accordingly. To give you and idea, Allen Iverson who stood at a giant 6 foot even, and weighed 165 pounds soaking wet, wore a 44+4. MJ at 6'6, 220 wore a 46+3. Shaq standing at 7'1", 350 pounds plus, started in Orlando wearing a 52+3 and by the time he retired he was up to at 60+6.
In 2010 Adidas issued limited edition retail pro cuts that came in a special box and were all sequentially numbered. These jerseys retailed for an astronomical $350 and were made of only star players. How Danilo Gallinari ever got one, beats me but never the less it gave fans the first opportunity at acquiring jerseys with Adidas latest technology of mesh numbers, the thinnest most breathable uniform numbers placed on any uniform in any sport. While collectors did go crazy for these when they first come out and not shying away from dropping a pretty penny they quickly saw that even these high quality pro cuts were nowhere near the quality of the standard game jerseys players wore not 10 years ago. Now you can get one of these boxes jerseys on eBay depending on the player for $60 and up on eBay.
So where does this bring us all to today? Well up until the early 00's, only a few teams had one alternate jersey saved for special occasions. Now some teams may wear six or seven styles on one season. Why? Well for no other reason than for the league to sell more merchandise. Which brings me to the current state of where the league is right now with uniforms. Unfortunately for lifelong jersey collectors like myself, our biggest hobby nightmare has come true. Starting next season the NBA has announced that advertisements will start appearing on uniforms where the NBA logo once appeared for almost 30 years. What happened to tradition? People have asked me my thoughts, and my response has been the same three words to all of them. I hate it! This move only continues to steam roll ahead that this game once fueled by blood, sweat and tears, is now fueled by money more so than ever. Could you imagine if Burger King sponsored the Bulls uniforms of the 90's and Michael Jordan, a lifetime Nike endorser was flying towards the hoop with a big burger patched on to his uniform. On the other hand, maybe to the new collector these patches will be like the new second tag to us older collectors. Maybe seeing that their replica jersey is missing the State Farm patch they see on TV and one day dream to own that jersey with that patch they just saw but is not available in stores. One thing will always remain the same though, and that's the quality of what has now become vintage. Hard to believe that what I once saw on TV as a kid only twenty years ago is now considered vintage, but as the saying goes..... they don't make 'em like they used to.
THE SECOND TAG
We all collect things. Some people collect high end items like horses, cars, or even planes. Some people collect smaller valued items like stamps, coins and even rocks. Heck, I bet you could find someone who really puts their toe jam in a jar. I remember growing up my grandfather had a 30 year long collection of stamps that he couldn't get to pique my interest away from basketball cards no matter how many "limited edition" one out of a million stamp sets he would give to me. What do I collect? Well that's not really the question to ask me. A more prudent question to ask is, Who am I? Well I am a jersey collector. A rare, but not uncommon breed that comes along with being a part of a small, and sometimes highly competitive sub-community that for the most part solely exists online.
This piece may not hit home for everyone. Who am I intending to reach? Well if you once dreamed about owning one of those replica jerseys and begged your parents for years until you actually got one, this one's for you. If you saved up every dollar until you hit forty to buy one of those champion replicas, then this is for you. If you were a teenager who watched TRL or 106 & Park during the early 00's just to see which rapper was wearing which throwback then this one is for you.
First off, let me start by saying I am a thirty year old man who is the biggest kid at heart. I do not have the slightest obsession with wearing another man's shirt bearing his name. He certainly wouldn't wear mine. Do I have the biggest collection in the world? No. Do I have the most valuable collection in the world? Hardly!! What draws me to collect the pieces that I have is a personal connection that I have to the jersey one way or the other. This may be a favorite player from childhood, or a player that I have now become friends with through various business endeavors. My obsession with the hobby started when I was eight and is an obsession that I never grew out of. It all started from going over to my best friend's house and watching NBA on NBC with him, and he had all of the shirts I was seeing on television. He had to have had at least ten of them. I clearly remember he had Ewing, Barkley, Jordan, Magic and Kevin Johnson. We used to put them on when we played basketball in his driveway and we each pretended to be the player we were wearing. I never had my own though. I wanted one more than anything. His mom told me she would get them from a flea market, and I begged my mom to take me to the flea market even though I didn't know what a flea market was, nor did I have any interest in fleas. My passion for the hobby doesn't stem from anything related to my life now, but rather a growing and continuing interest in the hobby ever since those days in my friends driveway before I ever got my first one.
I'll never forget that moment. I probably begged my parents for an entire year until I got that black Shaquille O'Neal champion replica jersey for my 9th birthday. My parents surprised me with it by packing it in my suit case for my birthday weekend that I spend at my grandparents. I left on a Friday, and they told me I couldn't open it until my birthday on Sunday. It was killing me all weekend. I knew it was finally going to be my first jersey, but I could never figure out who it would be of. The wax wrapping paper was somewhat see through, and I could tell it wasn't a Knicks or Bulls (my two top choices) and I was dying to know. When I opened it and saw it was Shaq I screamed!! I was officially in the game, not only having my first jersey, but a jersey my friend didn't have in his collection. I was hooked. Shortly after due to other celebrations my collection was starting to take shape. Six months later I was given a blue Patrick Ewing jersey. Six months after that for my 10th birthday which was shortly after Jordan returned to the NBA in 1995, I was given his brand new red #45 jersey. It only kept growing from there. Divorce is awful for a child, but probably the only perk is double the presents and I started raking it in. I added an Anthony Mason, Dennis Rodman, Larry Johnson, Charles Barkley, and Penny Hardaway all within a couple of years. I was closely closing in on my dream and goal of having ten jerseys in my collection.
Only one problem though. One day while walking around the mall I came across a jersey that reflected something of much higher quality. I stumbled across my first authentic jersey. What was this I was seeing? Heavy duty mesh!.... pinstripes!!..... sewn on numbers!!! I thought that my jerseys were like wash cloths compared to this. I now had a new birthday wish, but at $100 a pop I knew that it would always remain at that, a wish. A wish that was finally met for my thirteenth birthday as a gift from my cousins. I'll never forget reaching into this gift bag and feeling for the first time this heavy duty mesh, and dual layered tackle twill sewn on numbers. It also featured a special tag at the bottom of the jersey. Made by started for the first time this special tag stated words no other replica or authentic jersey ever stated. It was a tag that any jersey collector only dreamed about having attached to one of their replica jerseys.
What is the fascination with collecting game worn jerseys. Well to real collectors it's all about that second tag. I'm not talking about the neck tag, or the washing instructions tag. I'm talking about that tag you could never get. When I say the word "get" I also mean buy. The second tag I am referring to was non-existent on your replica jerseys. It was non-existent on your authentic jersey. Up until a certain point due to demand It was non-existent on any retail store jersey all together. The only way you knew it even existed was seeing this anomaly on television or basketball publications. It piqued your interest so much you would stare at your television when a players jersey became un-tucked or that magazine picture showing the same un-tucked jersey that the NBA frowned upon and players would receive technical fouls for, to figure out what that second mystery tag was on the real players jersey. More so than that, you were constantly asking yourself how come you never had one of those tags on one of your jerseys, and what do you have to do, and where do you have to go to see that tag up close. As a 10 year old I spent at least a year looking at every basketball card, or picture I had trying to figure out what that tag was all about. Dennis Rodman would always throw his jersey into the crowd after home game, or when he got ejected and I would try to just grab a glimpse to figure out what this mystery was. It wasn't until I went on a tour of Madison Square Garden and had the opportunity to go in to the Knicks locker room. Upon entering my mouth hit the floor. My extensive year long research which to an 11 year old is equal to an eternity, was about to conclude. I lunges ahead of the rest of the tour group toward the jersey, turned it over and looked down and what I saw is what made me a jersey collector for life. DESIGNED AND TAILED EXCLUSIVELY FOR THE 95-96 NEW YORK KNICKS. My first thoughts were both filled with happiness and disappointment. I finally figured out the mystery, I thought how cool it was that every team had their own custom tag. Then the disappointment hit when I realized I could never own one. It could never be bought. It's exclusive not ever to be made to the public.
This was all before eBay. This was all before memorabilia auction houses were as popular as today. eBay changed everything for everyone. Between eBay, Amazon and websites like Fresh Direct you can live without ever leaving your house. You can find anything you ever dreamed of and that includes game worn memorabilia. Through just a couple of specific keywords like "PRO CUT JERSEY", "GAME WORN JERSEY", you are taken to a collectors fantasy dreams. Hundreds if not thousands of game worn jerseys for you to sort through and pick which player you want to add. Don't like what's there today, wait until tomorrow and there will be 30 jerseys posted over night. If you're still not happy there are at least three game used memorabilia auction houses that run monthly auctions. The once unattainable is now the over saturated.
This hobby like many other hobbies in the world is filled is with people who try to make a quick buck even if it means deceiving individuals. There are more counterfeits in this hobby than there are legitimate authentic jerseys. Factories in China produce knock offs at an alarming rate at a price that is a fraction of a retail jersey. The most scary example of problems in this small but huge small community of jersey collectors are the eBay sellers who guarantee their items for sale are game used when they aren't even close. These individuals spend their days buying blank jerseys in bulk, and customizing them to a B or C level player and then re-listing that once blank jersey to a game worn jersey. Sometimes they will even take the unique exclusive tag from one jersey, and reapply it to another hoping that it will sell for more money attached to another name. They also know the average buyer will assume, "hey who would ever fake a bench warmer?" I see individuals post their newly acquired jerseys like this all the time on social media or in forums. They are all excited about their latest acquisition just to learn later from experts that they were duped because the font on the back is wrong, or realizing a 7 foot center could never actually wear a 44+2.
The scariest part about all of the counterfeits, and reproduced blanks are once they hit the secondary market and then brought to high end auction houses who are thirsty for high buyer premiums. Here is the play: John Doe buys one of these custom blank jerseys from Josh Doe. John Doe then takes it to one of these auction houses and tells them that it's game used. They go ahead and list it in their current online auction as game used with the description reading, this jersey was presented to us as game used and in our opinion is game used. Wait a second, read that back to yourself and the statement "in their opinion". It was presented as one thing without any certifications or photo match and in their opinion it's game used because some random individual with no actual knowledge of the history of the jersey told them so?! I should tell them Michael Jordan chewed my double mint in game 6 and to have them run that as game used as well. If only these auction houses did a quick completed auction search on eBay they would see that the jersey in front of them was just sold by a known counterfeit seller 2 weeks earlier. By now Josh Doe's once blank jersey has circulated around the market enough times that if a high end auction house does complete the sale then the newest owner is 100% assured that their once blank jersey is game worn because they got it from said auction house, and that auction house may even provide their own letter of authentication, which is authenticating an item they never fully researched to know if it's authentic. At the end of the day though what does the auction house care though? They cover themselves by saying it was presented to them one way, and use the word "OPINION" to state it's game worn. Opinions are never facts, and through terminology they can never be held accountable. They have hundreds of jerseys listed a month and made 30% off of each sale for doing nothing more than listing your item on consignment. Pretty smart on their end, pretty unfortunate for the collectors like myself.
Everything involved with this hobby has changed now. It all starts from the root of the manufacturer, and the products they are releasing. The quality of jerseys are not the same. Granted everything is designed now to be lighter and more ventilated for players comfort but the lack of high quality craftsmanship had led collectors to resort back to the vintage champion uniforms. Look back at the history of uniforms. 70-80 years ago they wore flannel, a thick heavy weight material almost like a sweater. Number were hand cut and sewn. Over the decades, materials became lighter. Technology also allows for mass production. Players used to be given 4 jerseys a year, two home and two away. Nowadays due to companies like Meigray and Steiner Sports, two of the industries leaders in memorabilia who both possess exclusive deals with teams to deliver game worn items directly to fans from the teams' locker rooms with guaranteed provenance, players are wearing a new uniform every game. Some players like Lebron James often switch uniforms at half time so that their team can sell more game worn uniforms at a 5 digit price.
Scarcity is key. There a more Lebron and Stephen Curry game worn jerseys on the market from one season then there are jerseys from individuals entire careers who played during the 90s or previous decades. It's the vintage Champion uniforms that collectors want. Not even the 80's Sand Knit jerseys have the same appeal. True collectors will scope out these vintage uniforms from 20+ years ago and pay a premium for a no name player just because of the uniforms scarcity, or perhaps feature a unique screen printed design like that of the 90's Phoenix Suns fireball jersey, or the Atlanta Hawks mid 90's uniform that featured a huge bold red hawk with wide spread out wings from pit. By a certain point it's not even about the player it's all about the design. The most popular designs from the 90's that will forever carry a premium include: Atlanta, Phoenix, Toronto's purple dinosaur theme, Vancouver Grizzlies, and the Orlando Magic. A unique example of choosing quality over design can be learned from the Golden State Warriors lightning bolt design that were worn famously during the Latrell Sprewell choking era. Here is a uniform that carries all of the characteristics of other unique screen printed designs from the 90s. Bold and colorful. Very colorful. Joseph would be salivating. However, champion no longer held the exclusive and these uniforms that were made by Starter, and then Puma lacked the same quality that the other team's uniforms possessed. To this day one of the most unique designs is often looked over in the premium dollar category due to it not being manufactured by Champion. It is interesting to note that of all of the teams that were just mentioned for carrying a premium, all 5 of those teams with the exception of the Raptors maintained their contract with Champion through 2002 while Nike, Puma, and Starter had contracts split among the other teams. While the Raptors switched to Nike in 1997, Nike kept the original template that Champion manufactured with minor tweaks until 1999 when they changed the uniforms to resemble the same template being used by other teams like the Lakers and the Mavericks. Suddenly, originality was being replaced by fabric technology.
When champion lost the exclusive contract in the NBA in 1997 the downward spiraling quality shift was set to full speed ahead. By 2001, majority of the teams who were supplied by Nike all featured the same template adorned with their own team colors. Competing brands like Adidas and Reebok began to adapt their own dri-fit materials and applied them to the teams uniforms that they held the contract with. Once Reebok acquired the exclusive NBA contract across the league in 2003 the once high quality thick polyester, sometimes double layered, was now a thin nylon. Double or triple layered twill was now a double layered kiss cut twill about half the thickness that uniform numbers used to be. To go with the hip hop culture store bought authentic jerseys were also approximately 4 inches longer than they were 5 years earlier making them almost un-wearable to the average sports fan but were selling highly to the MTV and BET generation. On team issued uniforms The unique exclusive tagging system that champion utilized for 10 years that collectors went crazy for was gone now too making way for a much more simple generic tag save for each teams logo affixed to the tag. When you take the letters and numbers off, look at a Knicks and Timberwolves jersey from 2003-09. There is no difference whatsoever other than the neck and arm holes. This is the same for many teams during that time frame.
When Adidas took over the exclusive agreement with the NBA they tried to capitalize off of both the average and high end collectors retailing 4 different levels of jerseys. There are replicas that feature screen printed name and numbers closely resembling that of what a kid would see on TV close enough that a kid feels satisfied to be wearing their favorite players jersey. Then there are the Swingman jerseys. A concept started by Nike in 2000. Combining the lesser qualities of a replica mixed with the sewn on numbers of an authentic jersey. A manufacturer logo would be affixed to the shoulder strap as well separating even from a distance any confusion between a Swingman and authentic. Then there are the authentic jerseys. Up until recently, the closest a collector could get to the real thing on the retail market. Almost identical to what the players wear save for a generic tag and sizing system. Sizes ranging from 40-60 in intervals of 4.
Adidas took it one step further knowing that there are collectors out there who won't even wear an authentic and will only wear pro cut or better which at one point were only available to the players. Pro cuts to those with no knowledge are tailored to each players specification to fit their torso accordingly. To give you and idea, Allen Iverson who stood at a giant 6 foot even, and weighed 165 pounds soaking wet, wore a 44+4. MJ at 6'6, 220 wore a 46+3. Shaq standing at 7'1", 350 pounds plus, started in Orlando wearing a 52+3 and by the time he retired he was up to at 60+6.
In 2010 Adidas issued limited edition retail pro cuts that came in a special box and were all sequentially numbered. These jerseys retailed for an astronomical $350 and were made of only star players. How Danilo Gallinari ever got one, beats me but never the less it gave fans the first opportunity at acquiring jerseys with Adidas latest technology of mesh numbers, the thinnest most breathable uniform numbers placed on any uniform in any sport. While collectors did go crazy for these when they first come out and not shying away from dropping a pretty penny they quickly saw that even these high quality pro cuts were nowhere near the quality of the standard game jerseys players wore not 10 years ago. Now you can get one of these boxes jerseys on eBay depending on the player for $60 and up on eBay.
So where does this bring us all to today? Well up until the early 00's, only a few teams had one alternate jersey saved for special occasions. Now some teams may wear six or seven styles on one season. Why? Well for no other reason than for the league to sell more merchandise. Which brings me to the current state of where the league is right now with uniforms. Unfortunately for lifelong jersey collectors like myself, our biggest hobby nightmare has come true. Starting next season the NBA has announced that advertisements will start appearing on uniforms where the NBA logo once appeared for almost 30 years. What happened to tradition? People have asked me my thoughts, and my response has been the same three words to all of them. I hate it! This move only continues to steam roll ahead that this game once fueled by blood, sweat and tears, is now fueled by money more so than ever. Could you imagine if Burger King sponsored the Bulls uniforms of the 90's and Michael Jordan, a lifetime Nike endorser was flying towards the hoop with a big burger patched on to his uniform. On the other hand, maybe to the new collector these patches will be like the new second tag to us older collectors. Maybe seeing that their replica jersey is missing the State Farm patch they see on TV and one day dream to own that jersey with that patch they just saw but is not available in stores. One thing will always remain the same though, and that's the quality of what has now become vintage. Hard to believe that what I once saw on TV as a kid only twenty years ago is now considered vintage, but as the saying goes..... they don't make 'em like they used to.