What I'm Wondering Is, Why The Hell Is There Not More "Vintage" Hockey Gear?
The Atlanta Thrashers Played Their Last Season In 2011. I Liked Those Guys. True, They Never Did Much, But It Was Always A Good Time Watching Hossa, Heatly, And Kovalchuk. That's Where We Were Introduced To The Now Dallas Stars Goalie, Kari Lehtonen. Good Stuff.
Any Way, I'm Looking For Some Thrasher Fan Gear And There Is Little To None To Be Had. You May Find A Hat Or Two In Not Your Size, Maybe A Mouse Pad, Stuff Like That. No Player Stuff, No Logo Stuff. Is It Too Much To Ask For Somebody To Print Some Thrashers Shirts? There Has To Be A Market For Merch From Teams From The Past.
Teams Like The Minnesota North Stars, Hartford Whalers, And The Quebec Nordiques Get Gear. Sure. Their Clubs Are Smart. The North Stars Are Now The Dallas Stars. The Nordiques Are Now The Colorado Avalanche And Hartford Is Now The Carolina Hurricanes (Who Just Cleaned Out Their Coaching Staff, BTW).
The Thrashers Were Relocated Due To Financial Difficulty. They Are Now The Winnipeg Jets. (And Seriously Winnipeg, Does Every NHL Team You Get Have To Be The Jets?) You Would Think They Would Be Capitalizing On A Brand They Now Own. You Would Think They Would Be Selling The Shit Out Of Thrashers Gear In Atlanta. I Would.
Other Examples Of Missing Merchandise Opportunities:
NHL:
St. Louis Eagles
Kansas City Scouts
MLB:
Buffalo Bison
Cleveland Spiders
Louisville Colonels
New York Highlanders
Seattle Pilots
NFL:
Boston Bulldogs
Brooklyn Lions
Dallas Texans
Evansville Crimson Giants
Houston Oilers
Milwaukee Badgers
Newark Tornadoes
St. Louis Gunners
NBA:
Buffalo Braves
Dallas Chapparals
Seattle SuperSonics
Vancouver Grizzlies
There's More. I Just Thought These Were The Coolest Ones I Could Find Without Trying Very Hard. This Isn't Even Taking Into Consideration All The Minor League Teams That Are Now Defunct Or Have Been Relocated, Who Generally Have Way Cooler Mascots And Logos. Look, I Don't Know If There's A Market For This Stuff Or Not. I'm One Guy. Mitchell And Ness Comes Up With A Couple Of Somethings Every Now And Then, But Would I Like To Take A Stab At Reviving The Seattle Pilots Logo? Sure. What About The St. Louis Eagles? Why Not? I'd Probably Give Someone $30+ For A Midland Angels T-Shirt With The Texas/Halo Logo On It. For Real. I Used To Love To Watch Warren Moon (Oilers) Or Gary Payton And Xavier McDaniel (SuperSonics) Play As A Kid. I'd Love To Have That Jersey. I Wasn't Alive When The Chapparals Were In Dallas, But I'd Rock That Shirt. Dallas Is My Neck Of The Woods(-ish) And That Roadrunner Logo Is Cool As Hell. If Spurs Fans Know Their History, They Might Want One Too. (The Chaps Moved To SA In '73 To Become The Spurs, In Case You Were Wondering.) A Lot Of These Things Not Only Represent Memories For People, But Franchise Pride, And Area Or City History.
People Are So Quick To Forget About Things. I Think Reminders Of The Past Are Essential To Remind Us Of Times And Places...And People, But More Importantly, To Remind Us That Atlanta Just Can't/Won't Support A Hockey Team. The Thrashers Was Strike 2 Guys.
On A Seperate, But Related Note, I Was In Idaho For Work Last Week. Once Again, I Have Proven Myself Right On These Missed Opportunites. I'm In The Idaho Steelheads Office Trying To Get A Couple Of Shirts Or A Hat Or Anything Really To Take Back To Texas. The Steelheads Are A Minor League Affiliate Of The Stars (And Are In The Conference Semi-Finals Right Now). They Have No Merch. Maybe 15-20 T-Shirts Total, A Couple Of Scarves, And Roughly A Box Of Velcro Caps. All The Designs Are Horrible, Besides One That They Didn't Have My Size In. Merchandising Should Be Run For What It Is, A Business. It's An Alternative Income...And If You Can't Handle Your Own Branding, Their Are Companies That Do Only That. Your Team's In The Playoffs And You Have No Fan Gear? For Shame. For Real. Not Cool. - BB
Currently -
Listening To The Nerdist Podcast
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