I've seen it said a couple of times on the forum that counterfeiters won't bother to produce something that isn't worth a lot of of money. So there's a chance that you'll run into a fake Nirvana heart shaped box, but unlikely that you'll run into a 1982 March of Dimes 10K or the 1989 Wiggins family reunion.
If that's the case, I'm trying to wrap my head around what's going on with shirts like these. I came across two sellers with listings for these obvious repros
- a indy tag.png (440.31 KiB) Viewed 532 times
One of the sellers has it listed for $31 and the year of manufacture listed as 1970-1979. The other seller has it listed at $56 and just says "Vintage Festival." Port & Company doesn't even exist until 1998!
This is a shot of the original front, apparently, so the repro isn't even that good
- a indy real.png (323.14 KiB) Viewed 532 times
My first reaction is that the sellers just don't know what they're listing, it's just another bit of product that comes their way, and that's very possibly the case.
The second seller has this one listed as "Vintage 1980's" for $26
The second seller also has some other things that look a little odd to me, but I'm hoping that you'll say I'm in the wrong. The stedmans I've seen have all been unfolded tags. This one is folded, has no binding on the edges, and looks like it's on guaze. It's listed as 1980s NOS at $86
- folded stedman fiber polo shirt tag
Lastly, this screen stars on a 1986 Nitty Gritty Dirt Band shirt for $105. I'm not sure what to make of this. It seems like some screen stars tags have a kind of cream colored/yellowish tint to them, so this first picture looks potentially reasonable. You might argue about whether the T is too closed off or not, or if the color is off, or if the material looks too rigid.
but in this second picture the coloring looks insane. Maybe it's just a weird lighting for the photo?
- a nitty tag.png (309.39 KiB) Viewed 532 times
Hopefully I'm wrong about the stedmans and screen stars shirts.
Presumably, the port & co stuff were legit reproductions that weren't meant to be fooling anyone, and maybe all the buyers are knowledgeable enough to know that they are obviously modern, but it makes me wonder if the idea that the only thing being faked is super expensive really holds.
The very expensive wares will get a lot more scrutiny, since nobody wants to drop 1000+ on something that's not real, but if you're pricing things in and around $50, maybe it's a slower income stream, but it might still add up and it probably won't get a lot of intense inspection into whether it's authentic or not. And even if you're a knowledgeable buyer, if the port & cos had been listed without tags, I think you'd have a harder time knowing off the bat whether they're vintage or not.
