I really think that the bottom line here is that an A5 grade is pretty worthless. Frankly, unless I was well aware of a jerseys characteristics to the extent that I would call myself an expert, I wouldn't make a purchase on the sole basis of MEARS' rating of below an A10 without either a vey good explanation/proof or additional team, league, or player provenence.

I do think MEARS authenticates as well as anyone in the industry, with the exception of MeiGray. While there have been a number of errors, MEARS seems to make every effort to get things right. Although their rating system probably needs some revisions, it's a helluva lot better than some auction house issuing LOAs without doing any research at all.

NBA jerseys are tough, because they're so easy to pass off as game worn. In fact, I gave up collecting NBA stuff for awhile and recently got back into it because of MeiGray's involvement. Of the five NBA jerseys I own, three are directly from MeiGray (Amare Stoudemire X-Mas, Jamal Crawford St. Patty's Day and a 2006-07 Nate Robinson road that I bought for 1/2 price, during MeiGray's Facebook sale). One is a vintage Walter Davis Suns, circa 1980, which I was able to style match with other Suns jerseys from that period. Plus, I purchased it from a forum member (Warren-BTPH), who's opinion I respect with regard to vintage NBA jerseys. The other is a Kevin Garnett Wolves jersey with team paperwork. I was even somewhat skepical of the Garnett because it was cheaper than one would expect from a future HOFer, but the jersey shows good use, particularly with piling around the lower, front portion of the jersey, where the velcro would have rubbed against the material. Plus, it has the LOA from the Wolves.

If you are buying a jersey with the thought that it was game worn without either doing your own research or buying from MeiGray, you're gambling. I know I would hate to have to look at my wall wondering whether or not one of my jerseys was real or not. I want the real deal and have no interest in buying anything that might (or might not) have been game worn.

http://community.webshots.com/user/Reed97