at national right now.....

[mariner_gamers]

Your collection is like mine. I don't move things often. I plan on creating a will where I will ask my kids to hold onto certain pieces so they can be carried on. As passionate as I have been with all this for 30 years - I would hope they'd do me that favor (son and daughter).

30 years, holy cow you got me beat! I have been at it since 1987, 1996 as far as game used items go. Passing it on sounds so inviting perhaps I should stop collecting and start having kids!!

[lund6771]

What kind of Cowboys stuff did they have? I was talking to Chris through e-mail about Eddie George items, but he stopped replying. Thanks.

I didn't see anything from Eddie George...I think they were all from last season, but don't qoute me on that...all unwashed with great use

I can tell ya one thing...when you see these shirts they are awesome...then go to a ot of other tables, the other jerseys don't compare wear wise

Barry Meisel talked about this in a post many months ago when he got a lot of Eagles items...(I think it was the Eagles)...Anyways when you look at them there is 100% no question when seeing the use..you can't manuacture wear like this...and most of these were only worn for one game...I looked at many older jersey from the 80's, when they were worn for many more games, and there wasn't 1/2 the wear...that throws up red flags immediately and shows how rare the old good stuff really is

For all newer football collectors, I would highly suggest buying one of these jerseys...Not just because of how nice they are, but more for training your eye into knowing what a REAL jersey should look like...(they have lots of affordable commons)...It might save you thousands of dollars and many head aches down the road

[mfsquirrelmaster]

Moustache Gang I have a few A's flannels I may be looking to sell. If interested
mfsquirrelmaster@yahoo.com

[salukidave]

I've got to believe sales of autograph tickets are way down at the National because of the economy.

There's lots of deals to be had if you have money to spend in this economy.

[skyking26]

I was there early Thursday and many people were livid regarding the web posted $15 admission and actual cost at show of $18, plus $11 to park. $30 spent before you walk in the door, plus hotel and gas for most. Ouch.

[G1X]

Not meaning to hijack the thread, but I wanted to add some observations to lund6771's comments of seeing older football jerseys from the 1980's - back in the days when they were worn for many more games - that didn't seem to show near as much wear as some of the newer jerseys worn in only one game.

There is a reason that older jerseys will sometimes not show as much wear as current jerseys. Current football jerseys are made somewhat differently (especially in the shoulder area and the tapering of the body) and most importantly, worn much more tighter than they were back in previous decades. This leads to current jerseys being prone to showing more wear in a shorter period of time.

I have a number of older jerseys in my collection and have been involved in a few bulk buys from teams consisting of older jerseys. Some of these jerseys will look almost mint at first glance. However, upon close examination, there will be signs of use such as a team repair, scrape marks (I love screened-on numbers for that reason), etc. For example, I collect WFL jerseys (1974 and 1975), and many of the teams had only one set of jerseys. Some will look hammered, but others will look almost new, especially teams that used Russell jerseys as they seemed to be very durable and not reflect much use, even for players who were starters. The same holds true for the Atlanta Falcons - a team that I also collect - as they wore Russell for many years.

See the below Detroit Wheels WFL jersey (made by Sand Knit). At first glance, it looks just as "mint" in person as it does in the photo. I assumed that it was mint when I obtained it until I found several nice team repairs and other subtle signs of game-use. I have a number of older jerseys that fall into this category as does other collections that I've observed over the years.

Of course, many older jerseys will look just as hammered as the newer ones (especially linemen), and sometimes will look even more battered. However, I wouldn't necessarily run from an older jersey that looks mint if everything else looks right about it. I would assume that is "team-issued" at worse as back in those days, store-bought replicas were not made near as well as they are today.

In my observations and opinion, I am more suspicious of newer jerseys looking mint (even one-gamers) than older jerseys looking mint.

Mark Hayne
Gridiron Exchange
gixc@verizon.net

[scottanservitz]

I just got back from the National last night at about 2:30a.m. It was ok. It was very expensive, but I plan on that since it is only once a year. As far as game used, I guess I am of the opinion that it had some of the nicest stuff, but it is all auction consignments. Ugh. I saw the Sid Luckman jersey at AMI. My brother and I actually had a nice 20 minute discussion with one of their employees. He told us about he and Terry Bradshaw and going out recently. Very funny story. But anyway, I saw atleast 3 or 4 Clemente gamers. One recently sold but the dealer let my brother and I hold it. I believe Lelands had 3 or 4 Steeler gamer helmets from Lambert and Joe Greene. They appeared the real deal as far as I can tell. I saw a Ted Williams gamer. All nice stuff, but as far as buying, there were a few bat guys with good stuff, but very expensive. There was Hartel with tons and tons of jerseys from all sports. I did not have time to look through it, but they were displaying some nice stuff. So all in all, I guess there was some nice eye candy. But for the heavy hitters, you will have to go the auction route. As far as I can tell, the economy is only affecting the middle and lower class as the prices on high end is still there and from some of the dealers perspectives both on cards and memorabilia, the good stuff is maintaining its price and it is selling. I guess that is all I have. It was fun, but we were stuck in traffic for 2.5 hours just getting out of Chicago. Big bummer.

Scott