General Question on Tagging

[hiramman]

As I'm searching for game-used jerseys to purchase, I've noticed same year jerseys from the same players being sold or auctioned by different people/company's. When looking at the tags, the jerseys say they are from the same player, same home or road jersey, same size, and even the same set#. Does this make since or am I missing something? I thought each player had a certain number of jersey sets. example: 2002 size 46 Set 2. Can a player have multiple jerseys marked Set 2?

Just trying to figure this all out. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[suave1477]

hirraman can you give us examples which auctions are you speaking of?

[hiramman]

No specific auctions at my fingertips, but have noticed several instances of this in the last couple of days.

[kingjammy24]

http://www.gameuseduniverse.com/vb_forum/showthread.php?t=4888

rudy.

[jessicawinters]

hi hiram. from my research throughout the whole internet, this is what i found out. I'll type it all out for you.

at a simple level, a set refers to, literally, a set of jerseys from a manufacturer. the real issue is what composes "a set". typically (but not always), 1 "set" will have 1 home jersey, 1 road jersey, 1 alt (if applicable). this first set is labeled "set 1". hence you'll have a set 1 home jersey, set 1 road jersey, set 1 alt. jersey. the next set, labeled set 2 contains the same - 1 home jersey, 1 road jersey, 1 alt. jersey. the jerseys in this set are each labeled "set 2". and hence forth.

before mid-90s, it was common practice for many players to receive only 2 sets - ie: 2 home jerseys, 2 road jerseys. unfortunately, somewhere along the lines things changed and the number of sets/jerseys received increased.

it's been said that set numbers are relative to purchase orders. this would explain why you'd see multiple "set 1" jerseys. more specifically, within a single purchase order, a team might order, for example, 5 home jerseys for a player. each of these jerseys would be labeled with successive set numbers - set 1, set 2, set 3, set 4, set 5, as they're all within the same purchase order. however, if a team makes another/separate purchase order, say 3 months into the season, of another 5 home jerseys, then those would also be labeled set 1, set 2, etc., (instead of set 6, set 7, set 8, etc.) hence if a team made 2 different purchase orders, you'd see 2 home jerseys both labeled "set 1". essentially, set 1 is the first set of a purchase order.

it's also been noted that in some instances, sets didn't necessarily include a pre-defined, consistent mix of jerseys (eg: 1 home, 1 road). rather, there were instances where if a team ordered, for example, 2 home and 3 road, then the first 2 home might be labeled set 1 and set 2 and the 3 road might be then labeled set 3, set 4, and set 5. ie: there were never a set 1 and 2 for the road jerseys. the jerseys in a purchase order were not separated by type but rather labeled as one big group.

there's also the belief among some that set 1 jerseys are the first jerseys used by the player. that is, that they first use set 1 and then if they feel the need might use set 2 for the second half or latter part of the season. they might use set 2 or 3's for all star games or postseason games. i think this is why some collectors have a preference for "set 1" jerseys. i think in some cases this was the typical practice but not in all. i've heard that if a player was issued his 2 home jerseys, for example, labeled set 1 and set 2, then he may, without being conscious of the set, simply grab the one labeled set 2 and use it for the first portion of the season. personally, while i have no issue buying a set 1 or set 2 jersey, i tend to stay away from sets greater than 3. the set 20 vernon wells jersey on ebay was ridiculous. as well, refer to the thread on set 3 arod/palmeiro rangers jerseys. their set 1 and 2's came from meigray and typically showed great wear. their set 3's came from their marketing companies and were typically in crisp condition. i don't think it's a coincidence that 1 and 2 preceed 3 and that 1 and 2 showed good wear whereas 3 didn't.