I guess, for me, it's like this:
I can pay $114.99 (plus shipping in some cases) for a replica jersey. I can pay $300 (plus shipping in some cases) for an authentic jersey. OR I can pay $85 (which I have multiple times) for a jersey that was actually WORN in a game by that player and has seen live hockey action night after night that sets it apart from my neighbor guy or the guy who sits next to me at the local team's games being able to just make a 10 minute trip to the mall, and as long as he's willing to pay the same amount, get the same exact replica or authentic jersey that I have.
It's like the time that I met Mandy Moore a few years ago. I had always seen her on TV and on magazine covers in the checkout line at the supermarket and thought "man, she's hot!". But 3 years ago, when she sat right next me behind home plate at a Los Angeles Dodgers game, that was the real deal. I mean, it wasn't a magazine cover or an image on the TV anymore. It was her, in the flesh. And it doesn't get more real than that.