Won this Urlacher Jersey....

Hello!

I won this in a raffle at a local bar. I was told it was an authentic jersey (for whatever that's worth) It did not have any tags on it when I got it.

I've done some research on this site and others, there are things that make me think it may not be authentic, and others that make me think it is.

See pictures below. What do you guys think I have here? I'm not a collector, but I want to make an educated decision if I sell it.











Things I think look suspicious;
-NFL "shield" on the collar isn't embroidered very well, and also sewn on with white thread, and slightly crooked. (realized thanks to this site)
-Letters aren't REALLY shiny, but are not a matte finish at all, also slightly bubbly but feel solid not loose.
-There seem to be a lot of lose, un-trimmed thread on most all of the stitching, I would not be happy if I payed $200+ for this and it showed up with all these threads loose and long...

Things I think look official;
-Size is 52 (not xl or whatever)
-Red NFL logo on the locker tag looks correct.
-Spandex sides.
-Reebok embroidery looks correct.
-Mesh upper where the shoulder pads would be.

Things I'm unsure about;
-Stitching on the numbers is very good, unlike the NFL logo on the collar.
-Made in Taiwan, I've read that made in China is a fake right off the bat, but haven't seen anything about Taiwan.
-Sleeve cuffs are that "springy" cloth material...can't think of the name...

Questions: (based on authenticity)
-What is this jersey worth?
-Would it be something that will increase in value?
-Should I have it signed?
-Are there any differences in jerseys & authenticity for different countries? (I'm in the US)
-Not having the original tags? What does this do?

Anyway, thanks for the help. I can take more pics if you want. I'm a photographer so I can get very detailed photos.

-Chris Newman
www.zigphoto.com

Fake, as you said, the NFL Shield looks terrible: the stars are terrible quality and the football does not look football shaped. Based on the larger photo on the bottom, the numbers are puffed up; Reebok glues the numbers down on real Authentic jerseys before sewing them down, and counterfeiters do not. The numbers are also very shiny. The NFL Equipment strip inside of the collar looks pretty bad as well. The v-neck collar should extend to the diamond mesh body portion of the jersey; there should not be a vertical line extending from the V to the body.

To answer your questions, the jersey is a fake, so it is worth very little monetary value. It will not increase in value, and I'm not exactly sure having it signed would increase the value, as you would basically be selling a signature. As far as i know, there is no differences in different countries; all the jerseys are manufactured by Reebok. Not having the original tags on an authentic simply means the tags were removed; it's usually easier to judge a jersey's authenticity based on the swing tag.

Thanks for the reply. When you guys say "FAKE" you mean it's a fake authentic reebok jersey. Therefor, someone or some company took a white jersey of some sort, sewed on a re-printed reebok tag (as shown in the 4th pic) sewed on fake lettering, numbers, NFL logo, locker tag. Then screen printed the sleeve cuffs...

All this seems like a lot of work to make a counterfeit jersey??!? Granted if the "company" could sell these for 200 bucks a pop as an authentic it's plausable.

Anyways, thanks again. Hopefully a couple more people will chime in just to confirm the situation.

-Chris

It's a knock-off made in a sweatshop somewhere. Made cheaply. The whole jersey is made of cheap materials.

As the guys have said the jersey is a counterfeit, and for the reasons stated. Reebok and the NFL wants the Authentic to be an 'exclusive' item so it demands a high price. I think it's too high as are the other two styles. I believe that this is the major factor in the explosion of fake jerseys as people want them but don't want to pay what Reebok is asking. Also moving production outside the US to the far east for financial reason had a huge part to play.

Reebok have a terrible record in stopping the fakes and this is one of the reasons the NFL have awarded the contract to Nike from 2012. Fake jerseys are part of a much larger counterfeit culture in China where it's a huge part of their economy and they fake everything from shoes to medicines. I get people defending the trade all the time saying they won't pay $300 for a genuine when a $50 fake is just as good, most of these good people are from the US, which in the past has had a huge problem with communism and the countries that adopted it as their form of government. I suspect the majority of these fake buyers would not give money willingly to a communist country, but they are happy to do so if they get a poorly made knockoff football jersey in exchange. Perhaps the Cubans should get in on the act? Now I'm ranting. In the UK counterfeit products cost the national economy roughly £3 billion a year, which we could do with right now. I don't have the US figure but I suspect it's higher than us.

That's why they go to the trouble of making them, it's good money. That's why I started this site, there are genuine Reebok jerseys out there for decent prices and the sellers on the legit lists are the places to go for them.

The only way that you can increase the value from nothing to something is to get Urlacher to sign it, then it's worth the same as if he signed a piece of paper, as the signature has value.
Do what I did with all the fake jerseys I had and use them for DIY jobs around the house, doesn't matter if they ruined then.