If you read the other guide and bought your new kit and upon arrival are still a little skeptical here are some extra tips with pictures. I had a friend order one from what seemed like a reputable place and wound up with a counterfeit kit. Which led to the opportunity for this guide before we return it back and get his money back.

For our purposes here we will use the '07-'08 Arsenal International Kit.


Authentic on R / Fake on L

Notice both shirts have Nike tags on them the embroidered crests / swoosh logo were pretty spot on along with the sponsor.

1) Look at the coloring. It looks washed out on the fake one.
2) The material they use on the fakes is pretty shoddy. If you have ever owned an authentic kit you'll notice immediately.
3) Lets look at the tags. On the fake the Nike football logo is printed on the paper instead of embossed. Also the corners of the tag should be [b]rounded[/b] not come to sharp corners. I confirmed this with the new '08 away kit I picked up at the Armoury last week.



Details, Details Details
Here the screening in the collar looked as if it was photocopied and then printed and blurry on the fake (bottom). On the authentic the wording and imagery were clear and easy to read. It was also lined up with the collar while the fake was haphazardly ironed on and wasnt even straight.

The sponsor on the front should be screened and not ironed on.

And the fine details like the club name on the color is of a much higher quality and is crisp and clear.



Numbers / Names: While there are some kits that have iron on number Im pretty sure all EPL kits use Lextra felt names and numbers. Not plastic feeling iron-ons.
Also just like ladies handbags check the stitching. Crap stitching = crap shirt.
Finally on all of the 9+ kits I own all of the embroidery backing paper has been removed prior to purchase.

Hope this helps you avoid the scams and counterfeits.
KidGT