| | By Darren Rovell
ESPN.com
Despite card companies claims that game-worn items are authenticated, many times, there is room for doubt.
| |  | | This card, shown at www.gamejerseycards.com, isn't in question -- it contains a piece of puck used by Jaromir Jagr. |
Milt Byron of Byron's Hockeyland in Egg Harbor Township, N.J., one of the leading industry authenticators for game-worn hockey jerseys, says that while jersey cards are the hottest collectibles on the market today, he has recently begun questioning their authenticity.
Customarily, companies are present or receive the item directly from the player. Other times at third party or auctioneer is involved. That often leaves Byron questioning what's real and what isn't.
"There is no way that I, being an expert, can give an opinion of jersey card-piece as to whether it was used by a player or not," he said. "I can give you horror stories from third parties. I haven't looked at anything from them, but I think it is a problem even if it comes directly from a player. The player says to the trainer, 'Get me one jersey,' and he gets one, and that might be what you get."
Byron owns an Upper Deck Jaromir Jagr game-worn jersey card with a stripe of red on the swatch, while the card pictures him in a black and yellow Pittsburgh Penguins jersey. Hard-core collectors say that the card is an error since most of the swatch stripes are red, leading them to believe that it is a jersey Jagr wore while playing for the Czech Republic, rather than the Penguins.
The authenticity of the jerseys on Upper Deck's rookie cards have also been questioned. According to a source present at NFL rookie camp this year, players were secretly ushered into a tent where they put jerseys on, then took them off immediately. These jerseys were then said to have been "used" at rookie camp.
Despite the Jagr mix-up and the loose interpretation of the word "used," Upper Deck is still today the recognized leader in the game-used memorabilia card market and often commands a much higher price on the secondary market for the same piece of jersey than on another brand. A spokesperson for Upper Deck was unaware of the supposed uniform switch and said she would need to see the card.
Fueled by the game-worn card market, some leagues are trying to devise a authenticity system for guiding collectors. The NHL and the NHL Players Association are currently discussing the details of such a program, according to Richard Scott, product approval coordinator for the NHLPA.
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