Q: is game-used worn by the player on the card?

LarsEL · 09-25-2019, 02:50 PM

Hi! I'm new to the forums and have recently started collecting basketball cards again after a 20 year hiatus (I collected them as a child and decided to begin collecting Shaquille O'Neal cards as he was always my favorite).

First of all, I apologize if this question has been brought up before (I can't seem to find any posts like it, but maybe you can).

Anyway, I'm wondering if all these relic cards with "game-worn" materials contain materials worn by the athlete itself.

On all cards it seems almost intentionally vague. It always says that it was "worn at a game", but it never ever actually says "this was worn by <athlete name> at a game".

In theory, the materials could be worn by an audience member at the game and the card manufacturer would still legally be in the clear. I know I sound paranoid, but it seems that the manufacturers go to great lengths to not state in clear text that it was the actual athlete that wore the materials.

What do you think? Can and should we assume that the manufaturers mean that the athlete used it, or are we being fooled?

ClipsandVols · 09-25-2019, 03:03 PM

First post is a conspiracy post...I like this guy already!

Welcome to the boards. Game-worn is implied to be worn by the individual on the card, but you are right....we really have no way of knowing whether or not it truly is worn by the individual.

There have been many examples of cards saying game-worn and clearly being replica jerseys (Mitchell & Ness tags, for example). With some of the QC issues, I think it's safe to say that at least a few GW cards have had jerseys from other players/photo shoots/etc.

cardmole · 09-25-2019, 03:16 PM

Mostly it will say game-worn (good) or player worn (bad).
For Shaq probably not so bad, as the weaker jersey stuff is usually for rookies.

hche · 09-25-2019, 03:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LarsEL

Hi! I'm new to the forums and have recently started collecting basketball cards again after a 20 year hiatus (I collected them as a child and decided to begin collecting Shaquille O'Neal cards as he was always my favorite).

First of all, I apologize if this question has been brought up before (I can't seem to find any posts like it, but maybe you can).

Anyway, I'm wondering if all these relic cards with "game-worn" materials contain materials worn by the athlete itself.

On all cards it seems almost intentionally vague. It always says that it was "worn at a game", but it never ever actually says "this was worn by <athlete name> at a game".

In theory, the materials could be worn by an audience member at the game and the card manufacturer would still legally be in the clear. I know I sound paranoid, but it seems that the manufacturers go to great lengths to not state in clear text that it was the actual athlete that wore the materials.

What do you think? Can and should we assume that the manufaturers mean that the athlete used it, or are we being fooled?

We have seen wrong jersey being used, patches from fake jersey being inserted, autopen autographs (without being caught and released to collectors), questionable shaq "authentic" shaq and luka autos, so anything is possible. You believe in what you want to believe.

alexlazarevich · 09-25-2019, 03:45 PM

Some cards will say what game the jersey swatches are from. Some cards (mid 2000's Donruss, for example) would actually have a picture of the jersey on the back of the card from which the swatches were cut. I trust these cards more. There seems to be a push away from "game worn" and towards "player worn", both Topps and Panini seem to be doing this now. Gross. Not that I fully trusted "game worn", but still, "player worn" is gross. Except in Rookie Patch Auto cards (RPA's), you almost never find game worn in those RC cards, so a nice player worn patch is okay, I guess. I own some RPA's with player worn. It's the only player worn crap I'll put in my collection.

Welcome back dude. Shaq is awesome. Take out a 2nd mortgage on your house now so you can really get back into the hobby like a champ.

salthill · 09-25-2019, 03:58 PM

There’s a consistent take, coming from ignorance, that because the “game worn” wording on the card doesn’t say by whom, it could be a high school jersey in the same colors worn by a random kid in a HS game. No it can’t. That would be fraudulent misrepresentation.

The question of the manufacturer putting the wrong patch in accidentally is different.
ie... https://www.beckett.com/news/mistake...ures-football/

Ken735i · 09-25-2019, 04:05 PM

Also keep in mind the different relics... game worn, event worn, specific to event (Olympic worn) or photoshoot warn. Sometimes the jersey won't match the photo or even team played for in the photo.

I personally love old upper deck. Player name and nba game specific. Multi colors or autos bring premium of course

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

rhigh2390 · 09-25-2019, 04:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ken735i

Also keep in mind the different relics... game worn, event worn, specific to event (Olympic worn) or photoshoot warn. Sometimes the jersey won't match the photo or even team played for in the photo.

I personally love old upper deck. Player name and nba game specific. Multi colors or autos bring premium of course

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

Agreed! I believe UD stopped using that terminology sometime in 05-06 products. It was nice though seeing cards say "worn by (insert player) in an NBA game."

LarsEL · 09-25-2019, 05:15 PM

Thanks for all the replies!

I know it's a conspiracy post, but there's just that little lizard brain of mine that can't get over the wording on the cards. Never thought of that fraudulent misrepresentation bit though.

And it's also funny about the jerseys not matching the team logo on the cards. I saw a Shaq card once with a Orlando Magic jersey relic, Lakers jersey on the photo and the Miami Heat logo on the card. Might have been a different order, but 3 teams were represented on the card.

I don't own a Shaq relic card yet, but I will try to get one from Orlando Magic or Lakers some day and hope that the relic was worn by Shaq at a game.

On a final note, I can bring up a card that's for sale right now that is almost comically vague. It says:

"Congratulations! You have received an Ultimate Auto Memorabilia card from 2019 Leaf Ultimate Sports. On the front of this card is a piece of game-used memorabilia and an authentic autograph of: Shaquille O'Neal.

The autenticity of this autograph is guaranteed by Leaf Trading Cards. We hope you enjoy your piece of history!"

Surely, people other than me must react to the fact that they never use "authentic" in combination with "game-used" and only mentions the autograph when talking about autenticity?

IronMonkey415 · 09-25-2019, 06:00 PM

Welcome to the family. I will protect if you anyone wants to harm you.

RSCard · 09-25-2019, 06:00 PM

This is not answering your question directly but you can see panini uses a hawk jersey piece and states it was worn as a toronto raps, so what you can do is to trust them smh.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/2018-19-Pan...IAAOSwwzldhiTb

SHowley2003 · 09-25-2019, 07:54 PM

Welcome to BO! You are absolutely correct regarding the language on the cards. If you are new to the modern hobby I highly recommend checking out the Wax Museum podcast. Kyle does an entire episode breaking down the relic cards and how to decipher the background of them.

LarsEL · 09-26-2019, 05:06 PM

Thanks for all the welcomes from you guys!

Will definitely check out the podcast

TBarn291 · 09-26-2019, 08:52 PM

Personally, I think it has more to do with the added cost. They make jersey cards for soooooo many players in sooooo many products. It is more cost effective to be able to print the same thing on each card vs changing it for each player. Just a guess though. I feel like Panini is a big enough company and under enough scrutiny that it wouldn't be worth the risk of intentionally using wrong jerseys knowing they can fallback on a legal loophole.

09-25-2019, 02:50 PM	#1
LarsEL Member Join Date: Sep 2019 Posts: 20	Q: is game-used worn by the player on the card? Hi! I'm new to the forums and have recently started collecting basketball cards again after a 20 year hiatus (I collected them as a child and decided to begin collecting Shaquille O'Neal cards as he was always my favorite). First of all, I apologize if this question has been brought up before (I can't seem to find any posts like it, but maybe you can). Anyway, I'm wondering if all these relic cards with "game-worn" materials contain materials worn by the athlete itself. On all cards it seems almost intentionally vague. It always says that it was "worn at a game", but it never ever actually says "this was worn by <athlete name> at a game". In theory, the materials could be worn by an audience member at the game and the card manufacturer would still legally be in the clear. I know I sound paranoid, but it seems that the manufacturers go to great lengths to not state in clear text that it was the actual athlete that wore the materials. What do you think? Can and should we assume that the manufaturers mean that the athlete used it, or are we being fooled?

09-25-2019, 03:03 PM	#2
ClipsandVols Member Join Date: May 2017 Posts: 3,757 ClipsandVols	First post is a conspiracy post...I like this guy already! Welcome to the boards. Game-worn is implied to be worn by the individual on the card, but you are right....we really have no way of knowing whether or not it truly is worn by the individual. There have been many examples of cards saying game-worn and clearly being replica jerseys (Mitchell & Ness tags, for example). With some of the QC issues, I think it's safe to say that at least a few GW cards have had jerseys from other players/photo shoots/etc. __________________ I don’t expect apologies because I know there is too much ego and pride in the human race- Gabriel Seraf

09-25-2019, 03:58 PM	#6
salthill Member Join Date: Sep 2017 Posts: 8,527 salthill	Q: is game-used worn by the player on the card? There’s a consistent take, coming from ignorance, that because the “game worn” wording on the card doesn’t say by whom, it could be a high school jersey in the same colors worn by a random kid in a HS game. No it can’t. That would be fraudulent misrepresentation. The question of the manufacturer putting the wrong patch in accidentally is different. ie... https://www.beckett.com/news/mistake...ures-football/ Last edited by salthill; 09-25-2019 at 04:01 PM.

09-25-2019, 07:54 PM	#12
SHowley2003 Member Join Date: Mar 2013 Location: Boston, MA Posts: 6,788 SHowley2003 SHowley2003	Welcome to BO! You are absolutely correct regarding the language on the cards. If you are new to the modern hobby I highly recommend checking out the Wax Museum podcast. Kyle does an entire episode breaking down the relic cards and how to decipher the background of them. __________________ "My name is Shaquille O'Neal and Paul Pierce is the MFing Truth."

09-25-2019, 03:16 PM	#3
cardmole Member Join Date: Jul 2018 Location: Redondo Beach Posts: 3,266	Mostly it will say game-worn (good) or player worn (bad). For Shaq probably not so bad, as the weaker jersey stuff is usually for rookies.

09-25-2019, 03:45 PM	#5
alexlazarevich Member Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Champaign, Illinois Posts: 4,038 alexlazarevich*cardboardaddict alexlazarevich	Some cards will say what game the jersey swatches are from. Some cards (mid 2000's Donruss, for example) would actually have a picture of the jersey on the back of the card from which the swatches were cut. I trust these cards more. There seems to be a push away from "game worn" and towards "player worn", both Topps and Panini seem to be doing this now. Gross. Not that I fully trusted "game worn", but still, "player worn" is gross. Except in Rookie Patch Auto cards (RPA's), you almost never find game worn in those RC cards, so a nice player worn patch is okay, I guess. I own some RPA's with player worn. It's the only player worn crap I'll put in my collection. Welcome back dude. Shaq is awesome. Take out a 2nd mortgage on your house now so you can really get back into the hobby like a champ.

09-25-2019, 04:05 PM	#7
Ken735i Member Join Date: Mar 2018 Posts: 453	Also keep in mind the different relics... game worn, event worn, specific to event (Olympic worn) or photoshoot warn. Sometimes the jersey won't match the photo or even team played for in the photo. I personally love old upper deck. Player name and nba game specific. Multi colors or autos bring premium of course Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

09-25-2019, 05:15 PM	#9
LarsEL Member Join Date: Sep 2019 Posts: 20	Thanks for all the replies! I know it's a conspiracy post, but there's just that little lizard brain of mine that can't get over the wording on the cards. Never thought of that fraudulent misrepresentation bit though. And it's also funny about the jerseys not matching the team logo on the cards. I saw a Shaq card once with a Orlando Magic jersey relic, Lakers jersey on the photo and the Miami Heat logo on the card. Might have been a different order, but 3 teams were represented on the card. I don't own a Shaq relic card yet, but I will try to get one from Orlando Magic or Lakers some day and hope that the relic was worn by Shaq at a game. On a final note, I can bring up a card that's for sale right now that is almost comically vague. It says: "Congratulations! You have received an Ultimate Auto Memorabilia card from 2019 Leaf Ultimate Sports. On the front of this card is a piece of game-used memorabilia and an authentic autograph of: Shaquille O'Neal. The autenticity of this autograph is guaranteed by Leaf Trading Cards. We hope you enjoy your piece of history!" Surely, people other than me must react to the fact that they never use "authentic" in combination with "game-used" and only mentions the autograph when talking about autenticity?

09-25-2019, 06:00 PM	#10
IronMonkey415 Banned Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: 44,118 ironmonkeyfromsf	Welcome to the family. I will protect if you anyone wants to harm you.

09-25-2019, 06:00 PM	#11
RSCard Member Join Date: Aug 2014 Posts: 953 SRBasic	This is not answering your question directly but you can see panini uses a hawk jersey piece and states it was worn as a toronto raps, so what you can do is to trust them smh. https://www.ebay.com/itm/2018-19-Pan...IAAOSwwzldhiTb

09-26-2019, 05:06 PM	#13
LarsEL Member Join Date: Sep 2019 Posts: 20	Thanks for all the welcomes from you guys! Will definitely check out the podcast

09-26-2019, 08:52 PM	#14
TBarn291 Member Join Date: Jul 2013 Location: Ohio Posts: 4,538 TBarn2911	Personally, I think it has more to do with the added cost. They make jersey cards for soooooo many players in sooooo many products. It is more cost effective to be able to print the same thing on each card vs changing it for each player. Just a guess though. I feel like Panini is a big enough company and under enough scrutiny that it wouldn't be worth the risk of intentionally using wrong jerseys knowing they can fallback on a legal loophole.