dan someone please school me?are swingman jerseys replicas?then why adidas' swingmans are the more expensive w stitched on letters?and of course legit?im kinda confused on the replica-swingman-legit crap.help a greek brother out.i got this from ebay,what is it?is it fake -replica?is there a guide somewhere which i can use for reference in future purchases?appreciated.
That nike sprewell looks like a swingman too me. Looks legit can you show the tag on the bottom left that would help.
For adidas jerseys there's 3 tiers
1) retail authentic
2) swingman
3) replica
I'm not on my computer so I can't really post examples now. But replicas are low quality
I'll add my .02 and anyone else please feel free to jump on board here...
Replica:
These seem to be more like cheaper mesh and cut almost like a sleeveless T-shirt rather than the cut of an actual jersey. The names and numbers are SCREEN PRINTED on, and many of the finer details of the jersey's are gone. Such as this LeBron...there is no side piping on the replica...
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Swingman:
These are higher quality and not mesh, but not authentic Clima Cool or anything like that either. I think the cut of the jersey is pretty exact to the Pro/Authentic specifications. The name and numbers are screen printed twill meaning that they are sewn on, but if any of the letters or numbers have a 2 tone color as many of them do, the top layer of color is printed on top of the base color, complete with printed "stitching" and then the whole thing is sewn on. This jersey is primarily what I have and I think they are great for the money and if you take care of them and wash them properly you'll get tons of use out of them and they will continue to look new. This pic below is mine from the LeBron iD thread but show the newer Rev 30 Swingman, and the Hardwood Classic Throwback Swingman.
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Authentic:
This is as real deal as you're going to get. Pretty much what NBA players wear on court. They are made from Adidas' Clima Cool material (right guys??) and everything is sewn on, double tackle twill when appropriate meaning if the letter or number is 2 tone then a top color is sewn onto the bottom color and then the whole piece is sewn on the jersey.
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And as far as "legit checks" go, let's clear some stuff up.
The Replica, Swingman, and Authentic jersey's from Adidas are of course, all "legit". However the only fake jersey's we really tend to see on eBay and CL are I guess what you would equate to Swingmans. IMO there is no reason to make fake Adidas type Replica jereys, as they are already only like $50. Actual Authentic jerseys are a little more difficult to make fake versions of basically due to the nature of the newer material used on the Adidas ones. However, that being said I don't have too much info on older Authentics when other manufacturers made them like Nike or Reebok. I think some older Authentics used that shiny "dazzle" material but not certain. Basically jock tags and overall "cut" of jersey's are dead giveaways when looking for fakes.
It's easy to get a blank fake jersey and just sew some numbers and letters on it, just gotta do some research on the particular player you're looking for. Did, let's say Nike, or Adidas make that particular team jersey when that logo or color scheme was used etc?
I bought a fake Kemp off ebay a few months ago. I knew it was fake as soon as I received it, but one of the cats here said that Champion up until recently had ever made an authentic Sonics Kemp jersey and it was not the style which I bought, which was supposedly Nike. Stuff like that...
I hope this helps a little and didn't sound like rambling lol...