Why Not to Buy Fakes Part 1

Welcome to an informal series I've decided to call Why Not To Buy Fakes. For those who don't know the majority of the vintage jerseys I get are from eBay. I've had almost entirely positive experiences on eBay with sellers who sell their old jerseys that are authentic NHL licensed merchandise. I've been able to find several great deals on jersey I've wanted for a long time and sometimes a jersey you wouldn't think you could find, is on eBay. I think the main reasons people don't buy more from eBay is being skittish and fearful of buying fakes. I don't know how many parts there will be to this series, but so long as I keep finding laughably fake jerseys, there will be posts like this.

Our first example comes from eBay, where we have three fake Sens jerseys. The main theme of these fakes is going to be inconsistencies, as despite all 3 of these jerseys being based on the same design (one which did not change from 2007-17), there are 3 ways they are presented, all of which are wrong.

If it isn't obvious this jersey is fake, see your local optometrist and have your prescriptions readjusted. The main features here are the off centre nameplate, puffy disgusting looks and numbers, the very dull almost sickly shade of gold on the Senator's helmet, and the weird proportions of the numbers. The 8 on the back look swollen, like they got stung by a hornet, while the 6s on the arms look much too thin like it got lost in the desert for a month and had to survive on that cactus that makes you hallucinate. The font on the back is all wrong, the Reebok logo looks like a 5 year old wrote it, the RBK vector logo running under the cheap looking collar only secures in my mind this is a fake. Top it off with that poorly drawn NHL shield in the collar insert and the cheap fight strap and you've got one of the most obvious fakes I've seen. 

For those curious there was also a Mark Stone version available, with more oddly shaped numbers.

Note the sheen in the numbers and how low down the shoulder patches are on this jersey, another great way to spot an edge fake or at least a terrible customizing job.

Finally we have this Erik Karlsson jersey, and take note of the colour of the Senator's gear

All the previous issues exists if they are not worse here, the numbers look uneven on the back as do the shoulder patches, the NOB is way too large, the Reebok script looks like I wrote it, last I check CCM only makes jerseys in the CHL, and look at that sickly sweet shade of yellow on the helmet....it looks like an overexposed photo was used as inspiration. The cheapness of the collar is apparent right away and note how wide it is on the back.

These fake jerseys are a constant issue for online vendors, legitimate licensed jersey vendors, the NHL, it's 31 teams and most of all fans who want to purchase a legitimate product to support their team, and end up stuck with knockoff crap. It's a pain for Customs and Boarder Security personal who have to take time to try to keep this crap from getting into Canada and the USA, and frankly, you look like a tool if you buy these.