Oh man, this is bad. This is VERY bad. Pro Football Talk posted this article about Mike Ornstein’s problems with selling fake game used jerseys, among other things. This is definitely something that the industry doesn’t need right now, especially when you consider how many questions about jersey authenticity already were present. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the way jerseys are obtained to be put in trading cards, most of them come from heavily researched and thoroughly checked sources, or from the rookie premiere. This guy, a douchebag who is under federal investigation, was supposedly one of those heavily vetted sources for jerseys, though it isnt mentioned who he was working with. Although the article states that his jerseys were cut up for trading cards, its definitely possible that he was not working with one of the big three. Is it likely that he was, im guessing yes because of how many jerseys are obtained each year to be cut up.
Bottom line is that many people already question the jersey swatches in their cards, mainly because how many people already replace the real swatches with more desirable fake ones. Now there is an added element because the real swatches may not have been real after all.
I can already say that this is going to cause some questions among collectors, mainly those who were already skeptical. Although I am not personally worried about the value of my cards, regardless of the authenticity of my own swatches, I can definitely tell you that the question is a valid one. Considering how much people pay for their cards, to think that they may have gotten fakes THROUGH THE MANUFACTURER is pretty terrible.
I guess its now only a matter of time before someone really starts to connect the dots that werent meant to be connected.
This is not good at all. I was worried about this issue and hoped it wasn’t true. I stopped buying jersey cards a while ago and currently only buy autograph cards. I am definately worried about my jersey cards now and will probably stick to autograph cards. If some of my jersey cards do contain non game used jerseys, I will never buy a jersey card again.
Does it really matter much anymore? Is a fake piece if jersey really that much worse than a jersey a player wore for a few minutes at some even months before the season starts?
It’s either actual game worn or not in my book.
WOAH!!! How does this affect my Entomology cards!! If my Topps Dung Beetle isnt legit, I don’t know what I will do. Probably eat it.
Come on….anybody who has half a brain has been asking this question for several years already, both about game-used jersey cards as well as autographed cards. It’s no secret that there have probably been thousands of “fake” cards unknowingly issued by manufacturers either because of poor quality control or willful ignorance. Do you really think a company like Upper Deck that was laying off employees right, left, and center while showing a distinct lack of ethics bothered to make certain that every single card they issued was authentic? After all, how can anybody prove that a jersey was “game-worn” or that an autograph was “authentic” unless they saw the player take off the jersey on the sidelines or the player sign the card in person, something that few of the manufacturers do.
Given the overall amount of corruption within the sports card industry, this should come as no suprise to anybody.
So its ok that card companies used jerseys that weren’t game worn, put them in products with certificates of authenticity stating they are game used?
Why is there such an uproar over patch fakers yet nobody cares that the card companies themselves could be faking patches in the factory?
this guy gets busted but NSA’s still in business? When is somebody gonna take those fools out?
I BOUGHT ME ELI GAMER DIRECTLY FROM THE GIANTS, SO IM NOT WORRIED 🙂 AS WELL AS MY SANCHEZ, THAT CAME FROM NFL.COM