Buyer Beware on this "Aaron Gamer"

[JimH5]

Despite this eBay seller's high rating, I would offer suggest a heaping helping of caveat emptor for any who would be interested in this 1976 Aaron jersey.

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-Milwaukee-Brewers-Hank-Aaron-Game-Used-Jersey_W0QQitemZ380222950498QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUS_Baseball_Fan_Shop?hash=item58870dcc62

 

I'm not an authenticator by training or profession, but the numerals look too close to the letters on the front. They also appear to be too small, and in the wrong font on the front and rear.

 

Not sure about the 1976s, but many jerseys from that era had player identification tags or chain stitching with the player's name.

 

Plus, a real Aaron would be offered in Mears, Heritage, Grey Flannel, or another big house--with full authentication.

 

 

It may be real, and I may be passing up on a great buying opportunity--but I'll be fine with staying away.

[BREWCREW5]

I would still buy it if it went low enough. Pretty sweet.

[Paul77]

Let me just say I am NOT an expert in Hank Aaron jerseys.

 

Buying old jerseys is always hard. Always do your homework - especially with Hank Aaron and most especially with any Aaron jersey produced by McAuliffe, like the one in the auction listed above. In 1976 the Brewers -at least officially- used two different manufactures for their jerseys, Wilson and Sand Knit. Both produced home jerseys and Sand Knit did "all" of the road jerseys.

 

This is where it gets fun. There are several other companies - including McAuliffe - that claim to have provided Aaron with both home and road jerseys in 1976. No one really knows for sure, but many people look at McAuliffe Aaron jerseys as junk or garbage. However, to add to the confusion, Aaron himself has donated "game used" McAuliffe jerseys to museums that do not match the "official" jerseys the rest of the Brewers wore. A jersey on display at the Smithsonian is a perfect example.

 

Specifically, regarding the jersey up for auction, it is missing the chain strip, which in 1976 I believe would have been on the lower left hand portion of the jersey. But, again, I'll point to the Aaron jersey on display at the Smithsonian (donated by Aaron as game used) that is also missing the strip tag. I've also seen other Brewers jerseys that are lacking strip tags (from Rollie Fingers to Joe Dillon, it happens)

 

Also this jersey does have a blue border around the red "1976" which - I believe - would be consistent with a proper manufacturer's tag for a game used jersey, but don't quote me on that.

 

And while the "S" in Brewers is very close to the "4", it's not all that uncommon to see variations like that in jerseys from that era. As for the font, the official font was called "sand knit brewers varsity" but I've seen jerseys with rock solid provenance that have differently cut numbers. And if McAuliffe really did provide Aaron with jerseys, they most likely would have used their closest variation on the varsity font which would account for the difference.

 

While the jersey may be real, all of the questions surrounding it and the negative connotations from some in the collecting community will certainly drive many people away. There have been a few other examples of McAuliffe Brewers jerseys, but most of the time they are Aaron jerseys. Officially, McAuliffe never made on field gear for the Brewers. And until I can find even one photo of Aaron actually wearing a McAuliffe jersey, I'm also staying away.

[Paul77]

I was shopping today and came across this photo as an example of the letters being very close to the numbers, similar to the jersey in the auction.

http://images.yuku.com/image/jpeg/344150189e1c5002296656b1950d5d3dab760e8.jpg

 

 

[JimH5]

Great posts, 20fry. . .Terrific insight on the 1976s, tagging, fonts, etc.

 

I recently bought this 1976 wire photo of Aaron on eBay. . .

 

The numerals seem to be placed lower on the photo. These numerals are serif (with horizontal lines at the bottom of the 4s). This jersey seems to have a lot of puckering, while the one for auction looks to have none at all. The letters seem to be placed a bit lower on this jersey than are placed on the one for auction. So clearly, the one for auction is NOT the same as the one in the photo.

 

Though, it's also true that the consignor makes no such claim. I wasn't aware of all the variations in the 1976s. The lettering in the Howard photo seems to have a whiter color than the yellow color of the trim on the rest of the jersey.

 

The font issue is probably the thing that is most troubling to me--though I also add the disclaimer that I don't have enough experience to know if there are other Brewers jerseys using numerals sans serif.

 

http://i904.photobucket.com/albums/ac241/DarianWork/Darian70/image0000002B0000022A.jpg