How tough to find are 1980s-era 49ers Jerseys?

[commando]

I have a lead on a mid-1980s 49ers jersey, a white Russell, worn by a "common" player. I have not seen too many Niners 1980s shirts on the web, which may or may not mean anything. Does anyone know what the team did with them back then and how tough they are these days?

Thanks!

[solarlottry]

Shoot me an email at garciajones@yahoo.com and we can discuss it.

Depending on the player, the year and the use etc. they can be rare and expensive or fairly cheap even though they are still hard to find. The market for "common" players is a tough one as it takes a special collector with interest in either 49er shirts from that era or someone who needs that player to complete a collection they are putting together.

Another factor is where the player went to college. i know collectors who are after jerseys from specific schools or specific positions and this common might fill that void in their collection.

I recently picked up a shirt that I would NOT consider a common but most people would. He just happened to be a player I really liked and was exposed to living in SF back in the late 80s-early 90s. Is all it takes for that kind of shirt to climb in value is two collectors who value it and need to add it to their collection. In that case a 200-300$ jersey becomes a 650-1000$ shirt!

Also remember that the 49ers recycled their older gamers into practice shirts so many of the late 70-early 80s gamers where stripped of their nameplates and used for practice by early 90s teams.

I have a # of these practice shirts including Rice, Young, John Taylor, Tim McDonald and Brent Jones. I paid about 150$ each back in 1996. Wayne Otto of ProAm has TONS of these kinds of shirts for sale.

Also starting in the late 80s Bronco Hinek sold many 49er gamers to a few select collectors. He sold many different players, from superstars like Rice, Montana, Lott and Craig to commons such as Rikki Ellison, Jeff Stover and Todd Shell. Those shirts are out there although the majority are locked up in 49er collections.

I have attached some images of 80s "commons" and will email you some pics of the practice shirts I have as they are too big to upload on GUU. I really need to rephotograph them!

Please shoot me an email and I will let you know what i think.
Best
Paul
garciajones@yahoo.com

Always buying 49ers gamers and paying a finders fee!

[commando]

Thanks for the well-written explanation, Paul. I emailed pics to you -- Anthony

[chd49er]

Anthony,

I have a Randy Cross with letter from Dick Dobbins as well as the "purchased from San Francisco 49'ers" stamp like the one on the pic that Paul posted. Totally hammered with use, repairs, crotch piece, stains etc.
Shoot me an email if you are interested.

Clay
cdubois@carolina.rr.com

Always buying 49er gamers!!!

[lon lewis]

Actually, Dick Dobbins did a bulk purchase of the mid '80's jerseys in mid to late 1987 . There were 100's of them- the only 2 players he didn't receive were Joe Montana and Dwight Clark. Some of the players included Rice, Lott , Rathman, Craig and Cross.

[commando]

Actually, Dick Dobbins did a bulk purchase of the mid '80's jerseys in mid to late 1987 . There were 100's of them- the only 2 players he didn't receive were Joe Montana and Dwight Clark. Some of the players included Rice, Lott , Rathman, Craig and Cross.

That's excellent info, Lon. It is yet another example of a bulk purchase that has long dried-up over the last 25 years. Based on what you're saying, and depending on how many years of jerseys were represented, each player may have only had one or two jerseys included in the lot -- still a paltry amount compared to what is released these days!

[lon lewis]

Commando, yes the times have changed- back then most players had 1 home and road jersey for the entire season. In some cases they were carried over ( kickers) from season to season. If you can find some of the old 49er tapes from after they switched back to Wilson ( 1990) you'll see that some of the lineman were still wearing their Russell jerseys even though the "paint "was coming off. The Dobbins bulk buy for the most part were from the years 1984-86. The most expensive jerseys were listed for $ 300.00 ( Rice, Craig) the least expensive ( $100.00) were Ring, Tuiasosopo, Stover and Nixon. On a more humorous note he sold a Ron Ferrari for $ 250.00 listing it as a "red Ferrari" -"for those who can't afford the car." Most of the other players went in the $ 125.00- 175.00 range.

[coffeebeanjoe]

First time poster here. I have several 1980's jerseys I purchased from Bronco back in the 80's. They are hard to find because players were issued fewer jerseys back then. Then, alot of them were used for practice with the nameplate removed.
For example, I have Ray Wersching's home jersey from 1984. He also wore it in 1985 because of lack of wear and tear. I had it framed along with his game pants and striped game socks. I have photo matched that jersey several times and it's always the same one.
My Randy Cross home jersey from 1986 is so beat up and repaired, it looks pathetic. He got two home jerseys that year, from what Im told. Ditto for the other lineman. A very interesting piece of trivia. I remember Bronco telling me that he had between $50-75 invested in each jersey after tayloring. This was mid 1980's dollars. A little different than today.
Sometimes the jerseys were recycled. I have a Jeff Bregel rookie jersey that has the wide stripes on the sleeve and his name was heat-pressed on nameplate instead of screened. I'm thinking that Lawrence Pillars might have been issued that jersey at some point. ( one of these days I will post pics of my collection in a different thread.)
Also, there were those that were given to charities for fund-raising. They did that every year with the common player jerseys. Who knows what happened to those jerseys.
Finally, I believe the brand of jersey and the way they applied the numbers had alot to do with it. It's alot easier and cheaper to apply tackle-twill numbers and letters than to screen them on. Screening is too complex of a process for just anyone to do. A nice pair of scissors, a heat press and a good Singer sewing machine is all you need for the sewn-on numbers. That's probably one reason why you also see so many fakes today.
Just my thoughts on the subject.
Stay caffeinated my friends.

[solarlottry]

Hi "coffeebeanjoe"! Please email me at garciajones@yahoo.com when you get the chance. Ed Cooper, from SF, gave me your email and I tried to email you but it bounced back. He may have written it down incorrectly. I have a couple questions for you about some 49ers shirts.

Thanks much and hope to hear from you soon....
Best
Paul
garciajones@yahoo.com

Always buying 49ers gamers and ANY 1994 49er gamer! Paying a finders fee as well.

[hockeytigers]

Hey coffee,

Can u shoot me an email as well? Chris@toprecruitkicking.com

Would love to hear about your Wersching jersey. I collect kickers jerseys and would love to chat with you about it!

Thanks,
Chris