Game-used photo matches

[Runscott]

After seeing batmaster's 1960 Cleveland jersey photo-match, I'm curious how many other photo-matches forum members have been able to do?

The only one I remember clearly is Al's Munson jersey, which is simply amazing.

Please post up and mine will be coming in a few days (waiting for hi-res photos to arrive in the mail).

[jerseygary]

I write some of the descriptions for Goldin Auctions and one of my favorite things when doing that is seeing photo matches of game-used jerseys or bats. It's not very often that you can get a direct link to something that was definitively "there" at a certain moment in history, and I get quite a thrill at writing those up. That Indian jersey was great to see in the ther thread and I look forward to seeing what some of the members here have in their collections!

[Runscott]

Originally Posted by jerseygary

I write some of the descriptions for Goldin Auctions and one of my favorite things when doing that is seeing photo matches of game-used jerseys or bats. It's not very often that you can get a direct link to something that was definitively "there" at a certain moment in history, and I get quite a thrill at writing those up. That Indian jersey was great to see in the ther thread and I look forward to seeing what some of the members here have in their collections!

Speaking of Goldin, who wrote the description for the 1985 NFC Conference game-used football? I called Goldin this morning and they said they couldn't provide any additional info. I was ready to bid, but they couldn't do anything to help with my confidence.

I remember us discrediting a few items that auction houses claimed were game-used, but other than the Munson jersey, I can't remember any positive photo matches.

[UnVme7]

I think photo matching anything from the 90's and older is quite a task and is very cool. On a different note, I don't think it's very hard for someone to photomatch an item that is authenticated, so I kind of get a chuckle when people do that.

Here are a few that I have on my iPad that I will post.

1) 2013 Giancarlo Stanton game used bat.
2) Pedro Martinez game used Mets bat

[UnVme7]

Stanton

[UnVme7]

Pic 2

[thecatspajamas]

Originally Posted by UnVme7

I think photo matching anything from the 90's and older is quite a task and is very cool.

+1
I've tried it a few times, and it can be a crapshoot unless you have an incredibly large archive of images to work from or one focused on the particular player you're hunting. Even then, it can be hard to find the right image with enough visible details to match to the piece you're interested in. Newer stuff is easier because there are hi-def images of practically everything on the field.

Having done it so infrequently, it could be that there's something that I'm missing, but it makes me envious/incredulous when I'm watching something like All-Star Dealers where they get a jersey in and seemingly within 15 minutes this guy pulls up multiple images of high enough resolution to zoom in on some tiny detail. "Whew, that was a tough one. It nearly took me my whole lunch break to find a positive photo match!"

[UnVme7]

Yep! Newer stuff is much easier to photomatch with all the resources we now have.

But I will admit, it took me a while to photomatch that Stanton because I literally had to check every at bat in mid 2012(when the bat was made) until present when I found the match in a 2013 game. He carried the damn bat over to the next year and took me for-ever!

[kengoldin]

Originally Posted by Runscott

Speaking of Goldin, who wrote the description for the 1985 NFC Conference game-used football? I called Goldin this morning and they said they couldn't provide any additional info. I was ready to bid, but they couldn't do anything to help with my confidence.

I remember us discrediting a few items that auction houses claimed were game-used, but other than the Munson jersey, I can't remember any positive photo matches.

Scott: as a net 54 member, you should know
just ask for me, or email me directly
ken@goldinauctions.com
with any questions about an item in the future
sorry you missed that one

[bmarlowe1]

For a nice thread that shows a deadball era Yankees cap non-match, see:

http://www.net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=144631

[Runscott]

Originally Posted by kengoldin

Scott: as a net 54 member, you should know
just ask for me, or email me directly
ken@goldinauctions.com
with any questions about an item in the future
sorry you missed that one

I should have done that. The person who I spoke with 'left' for a moment, then came back and told me that there was no additional information. She sounded sincere in her effort, so I saw no reason to push the issue. But it did go very low for such an item.

[yanks12025]

Justin Smoak photo matched to his first career HIT and HOMERUN.

Miguel Montero photo matched to being used to hit 3 homeruns and many hits.

[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.