Game-used photo matches

[Jim65]

I bought a 1987 Keith Hernandez jersey on EBay that was advertised as an autographed retail, I thought it looked like a legit game used jersey so I bought it, I was able to photomatch it to several Mets games I have on tape and to a pic on Getty of Keith and Rodney Dangerfield from Rodney Dangerfield Day at Shea Stadium. Still my favorite jersey score.

[drcy]

Some modern gu collectors only buy what they can photomatch and I'm sure many tape every game they can. Errors in NFL COAs, such as a genuine game used jersey but from a different game than listed (NFL LOA's usually list the specific game the item is from), are found from photomatches. No doubt the current Giants issues were discovered by photomatching collectors.

For older game used where photos are scarce, there's the 'style match,' meaning the jersey (cut, font, emblems, arm stripes, etc) matches up with jerseys documented to have been worn by the team, even if the only pictures available are of different players. Many collectors demand at least a style match, and don't understand how an LOA can be issued where there's no known documentation that the team ever wore that style of jersey.

I once had a pair of 1990s high top shoes supposedly worn by an often photographed NFL star that came with an LOA from a coach. I even heard from a collector of that team that the coach was a reliable source and I had seen shoes from the same coach given LOAs from MEARS. The only problem was the player heavily taped his shoes every game (60+% of the shoes would be covered in white tape), making even style matching near impossible. I had no reason to doubt the provenance or coach, but was never comfortable with the shoes without a style match.