Retro White Sox Jerseys from 1976-81

[RJB44]

Hi - Is anyone aware of a source for the retro white sox jerseys of 1976-81. I have not come across much information on these online. It doesn't appear that M&N has these (not sure if they did at one time). I did come across one source that may have had them at some time (Distant Replays) I found a photo online, but when i went to there website, they didn't seem to have any retros from that era (from any team). Is M&N the primary source for quality retro or TBTC style jerseys? Did the Sox ever wear this style for any TBTC games?

Thanks

[TNTtoys]

At one time, M&N was the only licensed source of these MLB 'throwback' jerseys; however, that must have changed recently, as Majestic is making them for turn back the clock games (sub par of course).

I believe Mitchell and Ness ran out of these a long time ago and has not put them back into production (so their resellers like Distant Replays would not be able to get them either if they too have run out of stock).

Interestingly enough, the jersey you showed in your OP is not accurate, as it is missing a NOB. Is your photo of a M&N or a knock-off?

[dcrules01]

If it is an older style Mitchell and Ness depending on the tagging they did not have a license agreement to put the players name on the back.

[chakes89]

A company called "AIS" does special minor league jerseys

Im not sure if they do MLB stuff as well but I thought I would throw it out there.

[RJB44]

I believe the photo in my earlier post is a older M&N (tagging). I have been told the picture has been around for some time, so that leads me to believe that this is a very early M&N item, maybe mid to late 1990s?

[dcrules01]

Jersey is legit I saw pictures of it at retro throwbacks. The pictures also had no name.Under the jersey it said sold out but you can always contact them.

[dcrules01]

Just a heads up looks like Mitchell and Ness is releaing these again

[RJB44]

Thanks for the update on the White Sox Jerseys.

Is it fair to say that the M&N jerseys are more historically accurate then those of the the Majestic Cooperstown Collection. I was just on the Majestic website and didn't get the feeling that their jerseys were consistent with actual gamers. I feel that M&N has a much better representation of period. Is that the consensus from others?

RJB44

[Jayworld]

I would answer that it depends on the team and era. I have owned in the past two M&N Padres jerseys. Both were 1978 period. The white home was incorrect in that the bands at the bottom of the sleeves were too thin, and the small brown San Diego above the large "padres" was not the right font. The 1978 gold alternate is just totally wrong. The correct jersey should be brown sleeves, brown v-neck, and thick gold band at the bottom of the sleeves. The M&N version has a gold v-neck and the gold band is neither thick nor at the bottom of the sleeves, but instead emulates the band on the 1978 brown jersey (road) version.

I contacted M&N about this problem in 2006, and they responded by sending me the Padres home jersey from 1978, my choice of size, for free, and they stated that any future releases of the 1978 gold alternate would be correct. At the time, they released both a Gaylord Perry and Dave Winfield version of the gold alternate. To my knowledge, they have never re-released it, and if they have, it is still incorrect.

From the comments I've read of other forum members, it looks as if other teams M&N jerseys also have problems. Personally, for the money it costs for a M&N, I'd buy the real deal.

[TNTtoys]

Thanks for the update on the White Sox Jerseys.

Is it fair to say that the M&N jerseys are more historically accurate then those of the the Majestic Cooperstown Collection. I was just on the Majestic website and didn't get the feeling that their jerseys were consistent with actual gamers. I feel that M&N has a much better representation of period. Is that the consensus from others?

RJB44

I was actually referring to the modern Majestic turn back the clocks, not the "Cooperstown Collection."

When Majestic made the Cooperstown Collection, they were not licensed to make authentic reproductions of past MLB jerseys; Mitchell and Ness had an exclusive license. So, what Majestic did was create a line whereby they would product jerseys with the "look and feel" of old time jerseys and the character of some of the classic jerseys of the knit era.
The lettering (team logos, etc.) were all done in FELT, not twill, and each jersey would need to have some characteristic (or multiple characteristics) that were different than the original. For example, their "1987 Mets jersey" had white stripes on the sleeve endings and sides. In all cases, the jersey material was different to the original (some of them were even cotton blends) and no sleeve patches were applied. Though these were not accurate by any measure of the imagination, they were popular for wearing out (at the time, they retailed for $99.99 when Mitchell and Nesses were $350). I for one bought a few of these for wearing, while my M&Ns were tucked away in the closet. As my collection matured, I began getting rid of the Majestics little by little until only 1 or 2 left (strictly because I beat the hell out of them). And I also began to sell off my Mitchell and Ness jerseys when more desirable game used jerseys became available.