To strip or not to strip

[schulzmc]

OK - I think I know what answer I'm going to get, but truly want to hear some perspective from all of you. I've been collecting Blackhawks jerseys for a long time, and in the last few years have begun getting jerseys from former Blackhawks minor league affiliates. While none of my Blackhawks jerseys are gamers, in order to find authentic minor league jerseys I've had to get gamers of many of those. I know to some stripping a gamer is just out of the question. But there is some appeal to me to take a jersey of a player I do not care about and make it a different player. Here are some examples:

I have an 06-07 Norfolk Admirals jersey worn by Ivan Novolseltsev, a Russian player who for some reason played 4 games with the Admirals that year. A strip and change could make it a Bolland, Brouwer, Burish, Versteeg, or Crawford. Heck - Burish wore the same 18 that Novolseltsev did. All it would take is a change to the name plate. Would you do that?

I have an 08-09 Fresno Falcons jersey for Bobby Davey - a career OHL/ECHL player. That year Brad Brown (who spent 10 years in the NHL including a couple with the Blackhawks) was winding down his career with the Falcons. Would you make the change?

Or one more - I just got a game issued Toledo Walleye - never actually worn. Would you strip it and later add a player from last year's team that makes it to the NHL?

[HawksFanInDC]

OK - I think I know what answer I'm going to get, but truly want to hear some perspective from all of you. I've been collecting Blackhawks jerseys for a long time, and in the last few years have begun getting jerseys from former Blackhawks minor league affiliates. While none of my Blackhawks jerseys are gamers, in order to find authentic minor league jerseys I've had to get gamers of many of those. I know to some stripping a gamer is just out of the question. But there is some appeal to me to take a jersey of a player I do not care about and make it a different player. Here are some examples:

I have an 06-07 Norfolk Admirals jersey worn by Ivan Novolseltsev, a Russian player who for some reason played 4 games with the Admirals that year. A strip and change could make it a Bolland, Brouwer, Burish, Versteeg, or Crawford. Heck - Burish wore the same 18 that Novolseltsev did. All it would take is a change to the name plate. Would you do that?

I have an 08-09 Fresno Falcons jersey for Bobby Davey - a career OHL/ECHL player. That year Brad Brown (who spent 10 years in the NHL including a couple with the Blackhawks) was winding down his career with the Falcons. Would you make the change?

Or one more - I just got a game issued Toledo Walleye - never actually worn. Would you strip it and later add a player from last year's team that makes it to the NHL?

I am not versed in the ways of gamers so I do not presume to tell you if it is a foul or not; but my love for Burish and Bolland runs deep so I for sure would do that change.

[cjerina]

I am assuming as the Novolseltsev was worn at the start of the 06/07 season that it has the Meigray tag. In this case, I would also remove the Meigray tag if you are making it into an Authentic jersey of another player.

Also, you may want to check if there is evidence of nameplate removal on the Novolseltsev, is it possible the team removed Burish's nameplate and replaced it with that one before sending to Meigray? (Also check with Meigray if they did sell a Burish Set 1)

[Krendelev]

I would NEVER strip and change a game worn jersey. The team issued jersey that was never worn I would have no problem changing as long as any game worn tagging was also removed. I have two game issued jerseys that had the name plates removed and I use them for playing hockey myself, another thing I would NEVER do with an actual game worn jersey.

[Nathan]

I posted this on gameworn.net as it related to added wear or substantial degradation over time:

I think in the case of a jersey being substantially different from its last worn condition (without it being a common degradation), it's as close to junk as you can get. By "common degradation", I mean something like a wool sweater that will shrink, or a collar that may lose elasticity.

I just picked up an old OHL jersey (mid-1990s) that I'm in the same boat on. It's had a number change (poorly done, I might add), nameplate removal, and what look like pen marks on the crest as well as other added wear*. From my standpoint, that's basically something that might as well be fully stripped and treated as a retail authentic.

*NOTE: I'm not accusing the person I got it from of anything; it's likely that they acquired it in that state as well, and it's possible that the person they got it from acquired it in that state too.

I'm now up to three OHL jerseys from the same time period. The one I refer to is a North Bay Centennials jersey. The other two are Soo Greyhounds jerseys that have the 25th anniversary patch (1996-97 season) on them; both are #1 with a few puck marks, but no sign of a nameplate having been on there. The Greyhounds only used two goalies that entire year: Jake McCracken (#30) and Michal Podolka (#33). These may be preseason shirts, but it would be highly circumstantial. They're also different sizes, which would lead one to believe that they may have simply been formerly blank GI's that were numbered after the fact and used for a little bit of beer league hockey. In a case like that, I wouldn't have second thoughts about stripping; the jersey can be conclusively dated, and no one on the active roster matches at all.

Also, check out this recent card from Podolka playing in the Czech League...it's the old Tommy Soderstrom cage!

[schulzmc]

I am assuming as the Novolseltsev was worn at the start of the 06/07 season that it has the Meigray tag. In this case, I would also remove the Meigray tag if you are making it into an Authentic jersey of another player.

Also, you may want to check if there is evidence of nameplate removal on the Novolseltsev, is it possible the team removed Burish's nameplate and replaced it with that one before sending to Meigray? (Also check with Meigray if they did sell a Burish Set 1)

Ahhh - good call. I had forgotten that one is a MeiGray jersey. I would certainly take off the MeiGray tag if I decide to change it and shred the LOA. Unfortunately there is no evidence of a previous nameplate on that one.

[slimcutta]

in order to find authentic minor league jerseys I've had to get gamers of many of those. I know to some stripping a gamer is just out of the question. But there is some appeal to me to take a jersey of a player I do not care about and make it a different player.

My collection focuses on the 80s and early 90s, and quite often I have no choice but to buy gamers or game issued jerseys, and have 'em switched to get the player I want.

a) because it's rare to come across the jersey in the first place

b ) if it's a big name player, chances are I won't want to drop the $$$ it'll take to buy it, or I won't be able to afford it in the first place

I've stripped several jerseys and turned 'em into what I want -

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This Tuttle in particular allowed me to get a jersey with an authentic twill on twill and ruberized '25 anniversary' Blues patch, instead of a replica, as well as the custom crafted logo on the rear hem

Although I try and find game issued instead of game worn ('cause I prefer clean jerseys), I think if I were desperate enough to get something specific that I want, I'd switch it, so I say more power to you!

Pls don't hate me game worn collectors!!!