Umm there's clear evidence of this! Here's an example, the Archie Thompson jersey signature card, who ended up with all the Victory crest patches? The two main distributors (I believe you tried to buy the two off of them?). I did ask them about why they always received the better patches then regular collectors, his response: "I deserve it as I spend a lot of money on Neil's products'. Sums it up really. Many members on this site have mentioned this too so I'm not alone. Look at the Lyon patch cards, ebay too and you will see the better patches were given and on sold by the distributors.