Photomatching help for my '93-94 Neely Set 2

[BPerkins]

Well, to me the paperwork looks good. This jersey hasn't been passed around much and Milt Byron was the first person outside of the Bruins organization to get his hands on it (if the paperwork is accurate). And since he's the expert on Custom Crafted Specials and he's had this jersey and authenticated it to the best of knowledge as being a game worn jersey from the 93/94 season, then it would seem to be a big check in the plus column for this jersey. He authenticated it in 1996, which, by my reading of information posted on this issue, was well past the time when he had already identified the Specials and he deemed that this one wasn't. I suppose that he could be mistaken, but my understanding was that Byron's Hockeyland purchased this entire set of jerseys directly from the Bruins. So, if that's true, then that's another big plus I would think.

Any additional help, or even counter opinions, are welcomed.

Milt is good, but not infallible. Meigray recently used video to show a Kypreos "gamer" with a Milt letter wasn't game used after all. The one drawback with Milt's letters are the opinion and "best of knowledge" wording.

If you can't find a photomatch, I'd recommend sending the shirt in for reauthentication. Either have Milt re-look the shirt without providing the original letter ... letting the jersey speak for itself, or see what Meigray has to say. With the CC specials floating around, you can't be too careful or do too much homework documenting this jersey.

[Gr8erade]

^{Clearly I'm looking for a photomatch.}

^{If Hockeyland obtained the jersey directly from the Bruins (as the claim says it was) and it was authenticated as game worn by Milton Byron, an acknowledged expert in authentication AND the guy who spent a great deal of time separating Specials from real game worn jerseys, it would seem to me that this jersey is on good footing.}

^{If I had a LOA from practically anywhere else and then I said I also sent it to Milt Byron for authentication, I believe we wouldn't be having this same conversation. I realize there are doubters here, and I realize that the couple of red marks on the jersey have been identified as a potential sign of being a Special, however, again, Milt Byron, who clearly calls it like he sees it, has seen it,, has looked at the jersey, knows where he got it from, and looked at all the markings on the jersey and authenticated it. And he was the original seller. I'll also point out that there are several photos of Neely in jerseys bearing red marks on them (see the first post of this thread and numerous other photos) so it is not uncommon for his jerseys to have such wear. In fact, the red mark in the first post is ALSO on his chest. The one in the auction that was linked to has one on the TOP of the shoulder. So again, I realize that without the photomatch that there are doubters. But I've got the paperwork, the acknowledged expert in Specials has authenticated it himself, and the paperwork suggests that it came directly from the Bruins.}

[slimcutta]

^{I've got the paperwork, the acknowledged expert in Specials has authenticated it himself, and the paperwork suggests that it came directly from the Bruins.}

Nope. Fake. $10.

Pls just let me know where to send the payment, thank you.

[Gr8erade]

Nope. Fake. $10.

Pls just let me know where to send the payment, thank you.

LOL.

[Bobcat1988]

I'm not sure why there's much hoopla about these jerseys anyways. They're not even green...

[Girouxsalem]

I'm not sure why there's much hoopla about these jerseys anyways. They're not even green...

Just try and photomatch that one!

[ilkka]

Both my Whalers Shanahan are CC Specials. The road jersey is a size 48 or 50 but tagged 54 by CC. The white jersey is marked as "Not Game Worn".

There's bunch of "CC Specials" in the hobby with "Not Game Worn" written inside the jersey with black marker (if I remember correctly above the fight starp).

This was done by private collector who acquired lot of these fakes around 10 years ago when the CC bubble burst.

There was even a class action suit filed agaist Custom Crafted by handfull of collectors.

I'm not expert on Bruins jerseys but I did follow development and turns of this CC case pretty closely over ten years ago.

For me the wear looks exactly like those CC specials.

Mostly faked jersey were

Blues from 88/89 and up

Whalers from 91-92 and up

Bruins from 90-91 and up

Carolina Hurricanes

And 91-92 Sharks

Like mentioned here in previous post Milt knew lots back in the days but still without a solid photomatch it's still only one person's opinnion on the jersey. Those who have followed gameworn hobby in past years know the current situation of Milt and that he's no longer active in the business.

If this was my shirt and solid photomatch is not available I would send it to MeiGray for their opinnion.

If owner wants and is okay with it I can post this to gameworn.net so we can hear some expert opinnions through there.

[Gr8erade]

I'm fine with providing a link over there. I don't have an account there yet, but anyone over there can take a look.

I guess my main point about Milt Byron is that he's the one who is supposed to have obtained the entire set from the Bruins. Then he sold this one, along with authenticating it, in 1996. I'm looking for good sources of photos from that season. Any help on that would also be appreciated.

[BPerkins]

I'm fine with providing a link over there. I don't have an account there yet, but anyone over there can take a look.

I guess my main point about Milt Byron is that he's the one who is supposed to have obtained the entire set from the Bruins. Then he sold this one, along with authenticating it, in 1996. I'm looking for good sources of photos from that season. Any help on that would also be appreciated.

"supposed to have obtained" differs from documented to have obtained directly. Milt did a lot of good for the hobby, but his letters are opinion based and a few have been proved incorrect. Maybe this LOA is right and the shirt is good .... maybe it's a CC special that got past Milt. Unfortunately, the only way to find out is going to cost $$$$.

[Gr8erade]

"supposed to have obtained" differs from documented to have obtained directly. Milt did a lot of good for the hobby, but his letters are opinion based and a few have been proved incorrect. Maybe this LOA is right and the shirt is good .... maybe it's a CC special that got past Milt. Unfortunately, the only way to find out is going to cost $$$$.

I'm well aware of the semantics. What I have is a LOA that says that Milt Bryon originally had the jersey, authenticated it as game worn and sold it in 1996. What I have is another piece of information that Hockeyland purchased that entire set from the Bruins. What I don't have is confirmation of the purchase of the entire set, but I am working to track that down. I've found several game worn jerseys from that season that have been sold in reputable auctions that are from that same season and are also from Hockeyland, and that suggests that Hockeyland did have a substantial number of Bruins jerseys from 1993-94 at one time.

And I'm also trying to get help in finding good photos from that particular season to try and match them to the jersey.

What I have is far more in the way of documentation that any Custom Crafted Special had, however.

[Gr8erade]

Ilkka, I saw you posted this over there. Fyi, I've identified both previous owners as being members at gw.net and obviously Milt too. I've reached out to all three of them and am hopeful for further information. All three are very well regarded.

[ilkka]

Ilkka, I saw you posted this over there. Fyi, I've identified both previous owners as being members at gw.net and obviously Milt too. I've reached out to all three of them and am hopeful for further information. All three are very well regarded.

Yes I made the short post about the shirt. Hopefully we get some answers and opinnions. Good that you were able to track the previous owners, since they are gw-forum members maybe they make some public comments regarding the shirt.

Like I wrote there, besides all the fakes there are loads of good and legit CC gamers out there, let's hope this one is a real deal because it is very very nice looking shirt.

[Gr8erade]

I'm still looking for help identifying good sources of photographs from the early to mid 90s so that I can attempt to photo match this.

By way of update, I've been in touch with both previous owners of this jersey. Both of whom are very well regarded in the gameworn jersey hobby. Both are members of gw.net. The first owner is well known to have a huge game worn Bruins collection, and has owned many game worn Neelys. He has no doubts about this jersey's authenticity, and as a personal friend of Milt Byron, he said that Milt would never have passed along the jersey to him if there was any doubt about the jersey in the first place. Like Byron, the first owner of this jersey has seen a large number of CC Specials in person, and he pointed out that that the marks on this one are not the same as on CC Specials he's seen. He also said he would never pass on a jersey that he wasn't 100% sure was real, and given his reputation in the hobby, I believe him.

Interestingly, on gw.net, one poster referred me to a recent eBay listing of a genuine Garden era Neely to compare my jersey against. Well, that recent eBay listing was for THIS very jersey.

So anyway, I've got a LOA from Milt Byron, the stellar reputation and experience of the first owner, and people pointing to my jersey as being a genuine Garden era Neely without fully realizing it. For now, I'm not very worried that this is a CC Special. There's too much information suggesting that it isn't. This is a jersey that I can trace back to Milt Byron, who originally acquired it. CC Specials simply don't have this lineage. So anyway, I'm looking for suggestions on good sources for photos from 18 years ago. I have a feeling that given the wear on this jersey, I'm looking for a small number of games.