Last week my fiancée text me that she had acquired a Bills sideline cape from the 90s. Looking at the cape, it has a Puma logo, which would peg it at 1999-2000, but looking closer it appears that the Puma logo is a patch which might have been added later when they switched, so theoretically is could have been used for games prior to 1999. It also should be noted that this is the lighter variety of sideline capes, probably more for rainy games than cold weather games. I love a good sideline cape. There is nothing more iconic than the old shots of muddy, cold players from the 1950s and 1960s standing on the sidelines. I especially like the ones with the city or team names on the back. This one I have doesn’t have either. I’m not sure how I will display this item. I might just occasionally display it on game days. It also could come in handy for those rainy days when I need to stay dry, but don’t need to use my arms.

Some of the old sideline capes were amazing. Like this Boston Patriots. Here is a good look at an old Cowboys sideline cape. This one has a Cowboys helmet! A blue and gold Packers cape. New York Titans. Pittsburgh Steelers. The Steelers one was auctioned off for a pretty steep price. The old font the colts used to use is featured on this Baltimore Colts cape. I also love this one featuring my favorite Colts logo. They also used it on this sideline jacket. A silver Raiders Cape with a fading football behind the script. They also used it on this sideline jacket. A silver Raiders Cape with a fading football behind the script.

More Fleer Stickers

Combining my love of unopened wax packs and Fleer stickers I picked up these three packs of 1982 Fleer NFL In Action Cards, which included three team stickers. The cool part about the 1982 and the next few years of Fleer stickers, was that the schedule for each team was on the back of the stickers. The unique part about the 1982 stickers is that the schedule is not accurate with seven games being cancelled between September 16th and November 21st. The stickers also have great helmet art, still using the two bar designs which is my favorite and my inspiration for my 3D wood helmet project. Most of these stickers back in the 80s were probably quickly affixed to notebooks, lockers and bedroom doors, so it is definitely cool to have ones in great condition. I have started a binder that I will fill with all my fleer sticker sets.

Last week I told you all about my great Draft Party Haul. Well the reason the stuff was so cheap is because it was all autographed stuff the team had in their inventory and with the players either out of the league or playing on other teams, they decided to liquidate their inventory. This meant, for more than half the price you could get yourself a retail authentic helmet, if you didn’t mind the signature of a former player being on it. On my stuff I had a mini helmet with Tyrod Taylor and a full size with wide receiver Sammy Watkins. After some thought, I decided to remove them. This is apparently very disturbing and anger-inducing to many of my followers, who couldn’t stand the site of me removing a perfectly good signature from the memorabilia. In my mind though, the signatures are ruining the helmets, which I consider art pieces. In general I do not want autographs on my helmet. In fact, and I know this is hard for people to believe, I’m not really interested in autographs at all. If I get an autograph card in a a pack or if I see free autograph signings at a show or event, I will be excited, but I don’t ever seeing myself paying top dollar for any autograph. With exceptions for legendary players like Bo Jackson or something. I wouldn’t even consider asking a current player for an autograph. I mean, it seems silly for a guy in his late thirties to ask someone 10-20 years younger for a signature, but that is just me. Sometimes when I see the free autograph tables at events I just get them for the 8×10 picture I can hang on my wall. Others said I could sell the helmet for enough money to buy another blank one, but that would require me finding a buyer, getting the top price and that would be hard without a certificate of authenticity. Here is how I removed the signatures, but please do not scroll any further if you find this disturbing.

Using just a magic eraser and a tiny bit of acetone I was able to completely remove both autographs. I will warn you though, that acetone can damage the clear coat, so be careful not to use so much. There are less harmful paint thinners out there, but this was all I had on hand. Once I removed them I took a little plastic polish and polished them up. It was like they were never there.