Quote Originally Posted by Eric View Post
My theory is that a lot of the new nfl jerseys we are seeing at auction are game cut jerseys obtained from reebok. I have a theory on how, but cann't post it because i need to connect a few dots.

These game cut jerseys don't have the proper customizations or the patches added by the teams. Sometimes they are without nameplates.

That's how you see things like a customized Shaun Alexander with wear but the wrong nameplate or a blue Eli Manning from 2004 missing the 80th anniversary patch.

Eric

Here's a bit of fuel to be added to the fire in support of this theory. In a recently received e-mail, an individual states...
"Recently a friend of mine visited the Ripon factory in Berlin, WI and got for me a 2002 season Al Wilson away jersey.... From what I understand, teams apparently return excess jerseys to Ripon, some used and some unused, for whatever reason(s). I have examples of practice jerseys as well as game jerseys from Ripon..... It has no signs of game use whatsoever."




The 'Outlet Store' page of Ripon's web site states, "All manufactures are left with an assortment of products that are remnants of the sales and production process. Our store offers a variety of these factory seconds as well as products made from discontinued fabric and from short roll ends of fabric."

The only visible/possible detractors are the absence of the manufacturer's Reebok tail tagging, and possibly the sizing (of the 6 tracked sales of Wilson's jerseys from 2001 through 2006, two, which were both 2003s, were of known sizing--48). While a jersey such as this would cause some concern if offered as "game-used" due to the tagging issue and lack of wear, is it possible that some of these factory seconds are offered with all tagging intact? If so, we all know how easy it is to approximate evidence of "light game wear" through a rough-and-tumble session in the back yard and a few excursions through the laundry cycle.

In addition to the confusion added by the "game-issued" and "team-issued" offerings that are so prevalent, do we now need to add a "manufacturer-issued" category to further pollute matters?

Regards,