Washing a game used jersey

[jbean023]

All I'm saying is the jersey has lost value being cleaned or washed by the collector. I wish all this years Hunt SB auction winners would chime in and say yeah if a collector would of washed the Tom Brady jersey i would of spent 24K on the jersey still or the Gronk,Rodgers,etc. Wheres Mulligans in all this? He has what I have seen to be the highest valued modern era football collection. Would you fork out that kind of money if a collector altered a jersey? Also the 2 bears collectors that have the big name player collections. Any game used item that is altered by a collector loses value!! A jersey that sells for 6K at auction and you personally wash the jersey, the value is no longer 6K and if you're honest with collectors saying you washed the jersey, you will never see 6K again.

[esquiresports]

I'm wondering if the people who strongly prefer/require unwashed jerseys for football feel the same way about baseball, basketball and/or hockey. Almost all the focus has been on football.

I only have baseball jerseys and one racing suit, all of which came clean. Never even thought about it until seeing some of the NFL jerseys. I can see how it's pretty cool to have a game photo of the player wearing your jersey next to the jersey itself, reflecting the same game use. Not sure if this translates well in other sports. It may tie to those jerseys being repeatedly worn and washed in regular use. In baseball, you can get some grass and dirt stains at least, but not sure if this carries the same weight in your eyes.

[Mulligans]

Too funny.....whenever this topic comes up, I run for the hills.

Its like talking politics.....my view on Football Jerseys and politics are pretty similar as I am pretty opinionated.....I know I'm going to piss off some people if I share my thoughts on a couple of these posts

I collect Jerseys because they are dirty and beat up and the thought of washing them or freshening them up has really never even crossed my mind??

[slab0meat]

All I'm saying is the jersey has lost value being cleaned or washed by the collector. I wish all this years Hunt SB auction winners would chime in and say yeah if a collector would of washed the Tom Brady jersey i would of spent 24K on the jersey still or the Gronk,Rodgers,etc. Wheres Mulligans in all this? He has what I have seen to be the highest valued modern era football collection. Would you fork out that kind of money if a collector altered a jersey? Also the 2 bears collectors that have the big name player collections. Any game used item that is altered by a collector loses value!! A jersey that sells for 6K at auction and you personally wash the jersey, the value is no longer 6K and if you're honest with collectors saying you washed the jersey, you will never see 6K again.

I don't have that kind of money, so I'll never be in that situation. I also collect to keep, not worry about the value at selling time.

And in my personal situation, what did I physically alter about my game used Spencer? Will it lose value for SOLELY an olfactory change?

[jbean023]

Esquire yes this does apply to other sports, if you look on ebay for instance and search sold items Miguel Tejada game used you will see a jersey that is beat up pretty good. A clean Tejada wouldnt of brought that kind of money. I have a couple mlb jerseys caked with dirt. Majority of mlb jerseys are taken off right after the game and authenticated without being washed. Hope this helps. And thanks Mulligans finally chimed in i knew you were reading !!

[G1X]

With regards to baseball, I can only speak for the two teams that I generally collect, the Giants and Nationals, and a few other team shops I have visited in the past couple of years. I saw very few unwashed baseball jerseys. Most of the Washington Nationals jerseys I observed at their game-used kiosk on various occasions last season appeared to have been laundered by the team, and every Giants jersey I've purchased on line from their game-used shop over the past three years had been laundered by the team. (According to the holograms, some of the jerseys are stated to be game-worn, others team-issued.) The only Nationals jerseys I observed that were unwashed were jerseys from a specific landmark game such as last year's opener.

This raises an interesting question regarding the chain of custody in the MLB authenticating process. Is the hologram applied when the player removes the jersey, or is it applied after the equipment staff has unloaded the jersey from the washing machine or dryer (to be sure it sticks securely)? If anyone has had any first-hand experiences with the MLB authenticating process, please share.

I am also interested to hear from others about the game-used MLB jerseys sold by their favorite team at the gift shop, fan fest, etc. Are most of them washed or unwashed? What about Steiner's Yankees jerseys - are most washed or unwashed?

Mark Hayne
Gridiron Exchange
gixc@verizon.net