VINTAGE (/ˈvɪntɪdʒ/):

adjective

1. relating to or denoting wine of high quality: “vintage claret” synonyms high-quality, quality, prime, choice, select, … more

2. denoting something from the past of high quality, especially something representing the best of its kind: “a vintage Sherlock Holmes adventure” synonyms high-quality, quality, prime, choice, select, superior, best, classic, ageless, timeless, enduring, old, antique, veteran, heritage, historic, old-world, age-old (definition from Oxford Dictionaries)

If you are a collector of old-school sports jerseys, you have probably seen the word “vintage” thrown around a lot… maybe even a little too much. Before reading any further, please take note of the definition of “vintage” above.

Now look below at this vintage California Golden Seals jersey.

Now that’s what I call vintage! It looks perfect. Just compare it to actual photos of the 1971-74 Seals.

See what I mean? I’d spend a few hundred bucks on one of those. This induction, however, has nothing to do with the above featured jerseys. Rather, it has everything to do with the terrible replica jerseys that are floating around the Internet. Trust me when I say that none of these are “vintage”. Remember the synonyms? In case you’ve forgotten, they are: high-quality, quality, prime, choice, select, superior, best, classic, ageless, timeless, enduring, old, antique, veteran, heritage, historic, old-world, age-old. Now ask yourself if any of those words apply to this…

What the hell is wrong with the “S”es in “Seals”? My four-year-old could have done a better job with the pair of all-plastic scissors we bought him when he went to daycare. At $49.99, however, it’s definitely a bargain as you’ll soon see. Let’s move on…

This one doesn’t even make an effort to get the logo right at all. Why didn’t they just use florescent pink or neon blue? The “4” on the left is also dripping onto the white stripe, and for some reason looks to be in a completely different font than the “2”, not to mention is about twice the size. “Vintage” indeed…

And what the hell is this? Can you believe someone is selling this on eBay for $174.95!?

Just for the record, this is what the Seals’ 1971-74 home jersey looked like.

Notice the similarities? If your answer is anything other than “nuh uh”, you are officially dumber than a monkey with a low I.Q.

Uh, let’s move on, shall we?

What do we have here?

Apparently, someone did introduce some new colours to the Seals jersey. “Vintage” indeed! At a sale price of $63.68 Canadian, it’s actually a bargain compared to the last jersey catastrophe. And it is a hell of a lot more accurate than this next jersey, by far the absolute dirt-worst of them all!

Holy sh*t!!! That’s all my brain can manage to tell my fingers to type out! Seriously, I had to wait six minutes for my grey matter to reset before I could move on and write the last two sentences. There is literally nothing right with this thing! Not only did the team never use the leaping seal logo during its “golden” era, this leaping seal logo is nowhere near correct. Again, just for the record, this is the real “Oakland Seals” logo…

See, this is a nice-looking replica jersey worthy of your hard-earned money. Sure, you’re never going to find an exact replica of your favourite defunct NHL franchise, but you’re going to want to find something that at least looks like the manufacturer made an effort. Please promise me that if ever you see one of these inducted jerseys on eBay or some other site claiming to sell vintage jerseys, please do your due diligence, go to Google Images and find a few photos of the team in question and ask yourself whether or not it is worth your money to look like a complete tool in front of other fans of the team.