What is considered vintage on this forum ?

[RJB44]

I collect 70s and 80s era baseball jerseys and was wondering if it is more appropriate to put discussions for those items in the Vintage section.

[commando]

I collect (and research) the same era as you. I think that many collectors consider the decline of Sand Knit in the late 1980s the beginning new chapter in jersey history. It also happens to be around this same general time that the uniform collecting hobby really began to grow, as well as the huge money coming into the leagues themselves, which virtually ended the era of jersey recycling and repair by professional teams.

No one will say that post-1988 is a brick wall with no exceptions (regarding a few team repairs or recycled jerseys), but you sure as heck see a huge drop-off right around there. Sure, you can still find Urlacher Bears jerseys with tons of use and repairs, but it is usually the result of just one or two games.

Finally, since 1988 was 25 years ago (yikes), enough time has passed to make a case that jerseys from this era can be considered vintage. Baseball had a huge turning point in 1971-72 with the change from flannel to knit, so obviously that was a huge landmark within the vintage era. Football also made the change from dureen to mesh around that same time, so there's also a huge transition for that sport as well.

Highbrow collectors might laugh at calling a 1982 Sal Butera Twins jersey "vintage..." But hey, that thing is over 30 years old, and there ain't tons of them out there. Ya know?

[sox83cubs84]

To me, jerseys from the mid-1980s back (before the NBA and MLB signed agreements with specific suppliers as official uniform sources) would or could be considered vintage. MEARS uses 1987 as the dividing line for issuing their top authentication grade sans provenance, and I am basically in agreement with that approach.

Dave Miedema

[helmets]

To me, it is any football jersey prior to 2012 when Nike took over and made them so tight I can no longer wear them...