Tampa Bay Bucs Collectors -- Prepare for Heart Attack

[commando]

We know how tough it is to find early Buccaneers jerseys. Where are they? Well, in a Sports Collectors Digest from early 1981, Hartel Sports ran an ad where they were selling well over 100 jerseys from the Bucs' first five seasons. Someone somewhere bought quarterback Steve Spurrier's inaugural 1976 orange jersey for under $60! Early LeRoy Selmon and Ricky Bell jerseys were the most expensive, at $200 each.

You have to wonder if one person with some cash made a deal and purchased ALL of these (or most of these). Oh, to go back in time...

[Larry Pelliccioni]

Not many on this Forum remember the senior member of Hartel Sports, Mr. Floyd Hartel who was one of the early pioneers of this great hobby and a fine gentleman to deal with. His greatest legacy, his son Bruce, carried on his father's tradition of being fair and honest to deal with. Both men of great integrity. Now that Mike has taken over most of the inventory one would think that he is a "missing" Hartel son as he is equally fair and great to deal with. If you have a chance to deal with anyone in this hobby, you may want to consider Hartel Sports as a great resource and fair dealer in my opinion.
I have a few of these Tampa Bays, Ricky Bell, Mike Boryla and Terry Hanratty and they are among the favorite things I have in my collection.

Larry Pelliccioni

[commando]

Not many on this Forum remember the senior member of Hartel Sports, Mr. Floyd Hartel who was one of the early pioneers of this great hobby and a fine gentleman to deal with. His greatest legacy, his son Bruce, carried on his father's tradition of being fair and honest to deal with. Both men of great integrity. Now that Mike has taken over most of the inventory one would think that he is a "missing" Hartel son as he is equally fair and great to deal with. If you have a chance to deal with anyone in this hobby, you may want to consider Hartel Sports as a great resource and fair dealer in my opinion.
I have a few of these Tampa Bays, Ricky Bell, Mike Boryla and Terry Hanratty and they are among the favorite things I have in my collection.

Larry Pelliccioni

Congrats Larry, I would love to see photos of those shirts. The Boryla would be from the inaugural year of 1976, while the Hanratty would be from 1978. The Bell must be incredible, too. I'm not a Tampa fan, but I can appreciate how incredible these jerseys are.

[34swtns]

Thanks so much for sharing that. As soon as that time machine is available......

Larry has an amazing early Ricky Bell that I hope he leaves me in his will.

Meantime, here's a 1981 Bell I'm proud to own. This was his last season with the Bucs.

[Larry Pelliccioni]

If you want to see pics of the Tampa Bay Hanratty's, Ricky Bell jersey and Hugh Green helmet, please email me at llpell@wowway.com
Larry Pelliccioni

[jake33]

I was only 1 years old at the time, but would have loved 'em still.

[Buccaneer Madden]

Would be sweet to have a "classic" bucs jersey but man $450 for a nobody might be a bit much for me no matter how tough those jerseys are to find.

[legaleagle92481]

the prices you quote are preinflation. in todays money its alot more. 200 bucks was alot back then.

[commando]

the prices you quote are preinflation. in todays money its alot more. 200 bucks was alot back then.

Pre-inflation? The inflation rate in January of 1981, based on the Consumer Price Index, was 11.83%, one of the highest inflationary rates in our nation's history.

But I do agree that $200 was quite a bit for a jersey 30 years ago. I'll gladly take the Spurrier for $60.

[mariner_gamers]

$200 bucks in 1981 is roughly equivalent to $486.93 today. Oh and those jerseys are awesome!!