Jim Kelly Gamer Collection

[Townshend2372]

Nice!

Since the Bills never do their own garage sale, we are going to do essentially the same thing in late Aug, early Sept.
When we have some dates solid, if anyone is interested I'll be sure to update!

Hi!

If this hasn't happened yet, I would love to stay in the know! I would love to hear about the helmets especially!

Thanks,
Brian
jeffries.brian @ hotmail.com

[gobills1212]

Nice!
we have since hooked up on IG I believe. I'm Yellowsub73 - I update new acquisitions there as its much easier to upload pics. Its funny to look back at this though. I'm up to about 20 Kellys now as well as a 90s practice jersey. My non Kelly collection has also grown quite a bit as well. Fun stuff! Anyone interested can view current pics over on Instagram.

News of Note - The company I work for, recently purchased a GIANT collection of Bills memorabilia from a former EQPT staff member who just retired. I've spent the last 2 or 3 months inventorying everything and its just amazing. HUNDREDS of jerseys (1987-2015 ), Hundreds of pairs of pants, tons of cleats, new, used, and autographed, some helmets, visors, cut ups, mouth gaurds, stadium flags, signs both big and small, the logo from the old locker room carpet, thousands of gloves, shoulder pads, laundry bins, storage lockers, locker room stools, game balls, presentation game balls, frqmed pictures from offices from before the remodel, etc - you name it, it was in the collection.

Since the Bills never do their own garage sale, we are going to do essentially the same thing in late Aug, early Sept.
When we have some dates solid, if anyone is interested I'll be sure to update!

[sixburgh]

Is your Pro Bowl Bennett game worn, issue, or just authentic. Not sure if 93 Pro Bowl jerseys were available to fans for sale yet?

They weren't available to the public but in '93 each player was issued 2 jerseys.

It matches a pic of him wearing it with other Bills players, but i couldnt find a decent pic of him playing so im not sure if they had 2 and 1 was worn the day before and 1 in tue game or if it was all the same.

The off center red inner portion of the '7' matches the jersey he was wearing for the members of the Bills team photo.
I have seen instances where the player wore the same jersey for both the photo and in game and times when 2 different ones were worn.
Thurman even wore #32, John L Williams number, for the Bills photo in '91 but #34 in the game.
I have the game on DVD (I'm obsessed with that era of PB games) and could take a look and try to get a definitive answer for you if you would like.
I also collect '89-'94 Pro Bowl jerseys would also be interested in purchasing the jersey if you ever decide to part with it.

eminenjerseys@yahoo.com

[Kelly12]

Would love to see some pics of your game used Bills memorabilia from the 90’s

[gobills1212]

1990 Blue Kelly, nice to finally fill this hole as its been a tough year to procure for whatever reason...

[mancuso8918]

Hey Guys, I know there are a lot of Buffalo collectors on this site.
I have a huge collection of Super Bowl Era Bills game worn memorabilia.
Helmets of : Kelly, Thomas, Reed, Smith, Tasker, Hull, and many Standing Bills Gamers from the 60's on and on.
Jerseys of Kelly, Thomas, Reed, Smith, Tasker, Bennett, Metzelars, Bemiller, Devlin, Richter. Christie, Norwood, Lofton, few others.
Also have original chairs, turnstiles, and signs from the Rock-Pile

I would be interested in trading for 1970's Buffalo Sabres Gamers is anyone has them
Please let me know
Thanks

[gobills123]

Re: Jim Kelly Gamer Collection GRAIL ADDED

Well, I got REALLY lucky and got 'A little help from my friend' as he was kind enough to spot the Craigslist post that had a couple Bills jerseys framed from the 90s a seller was parting with. He asked me what I thought and went and picked them up and we ended up working a deal as he was looking to expand his 80s/90s Bills collections and I had some doozies for trade bait. In the end, we both were happy and I was able to add a piece to my collection that while not game worn and a backup at best - isnt something I ever thought would come my way OR be able to afford. So, yesterday was a great day as should be the case when you obtain your grail. Lucky to have a collector friend keeping an eye out as well.

[gobills123]

Re: Jim Kelly Gamer Collection

Went to a local card show yesterday and stumbled onto this 1996 gem. Only the 2nd from his last year ive seen so it was high on my want list. Made my day!!
Lighting is WAY to bright here and the filter white it out, but theres actually some nice turf wear and sweat stains etc. great piece!

[gobills123]

Re: Jim Kelly Gamer Collection

Hello gobills,

I just wanted to add that I had the honor of meeting Mr. Kelly in Cleveland last year at the HOF induction.

I didn't know I was going to meet him as he came into the restaurant in the hotel very late one evening. Someone introduced us and we spent somewhere between 30-45 minutes talking.

Turns out Mr. Kelly is also a collector and he told me that he was one of the first people to start exchanging his jerseys with other players.

I think you mentioned he is your hero in one of your previous posts and I will say I think you picked a good one. Even without meeting him, anyone who watched the 'Four Falls of Buffalo' documentary on ESPN can easily see that he is a quality individual along with people such a great player.

Btw, on a side note, today is the feast day of one of my heroes...Saint Teresa of Calcutta.

-Chris

That sounds like an AMAZING experience Chris!!! Very very cool, and that must have been pretty fun to hobnob with a former NFL QB.
He seems to have certainly grown up over the years, just from an outside perspective. Its not uncommon to hear stories of Jimbo and the crew from the 90s glory days and their 4am adventures. Lets just say they seemed to be stuck in their 80s partying ways and living like rockstars... which they were. I cant pretend to know what he thinks, but I'd imagine blows like losing Hunter and then the Cancer would send a man one of two ways. Luckily, he seems to have embraced life and his family, taken the highroad, and is all the better for it.

I remember staring at his PROLINE card as a kid with my mouth open in awe at the collection he has. I will say that my work has him in for personal signings a few times a year and although he collects - I dont think he pays much attention to the details. In fairness, when your collection comes from the source (after game swaps etc) and you know its the real deal there isnt the same process of vetting the shirt. As I think I mentioned way back in the post - he didnt know very much in re: to the details of his jerseys. Some of the earlier Champions I brought in were thought to be Ferguson's until I showed him pictures of him wearing a style match. He got a kick out of that, but it was then I realized the 'source' wouldnt be very helpful in answering my questions.

It is odd however, that when you think of the premier Bills player to own a jersey of you'd probably think of #12 (maybe #78 or #83 but even still). The thing is, he gave out SO many shirts over the years and to make matters worse there are SSSSOOOO many 'retail authentics' that people either pass off as gamers or just dont realize they arent (even selling for 1K plus via auction sites) theres just a ton of his stuff out there. I think thats one of the reasons I tend to prefer pre 1991 Bills/Kelly stuff. Its not as 'uniform' as the post 91 AND there are not retail authentics to clutter and confuse things. Sadly, they are harder to come by BUT little by little I've been able to add. I paid $500 for my Norwood (after a 7 yr search) and thats far and away the most i've ever paid. All the rest have been 'finds' (pawn shops, estate sales, CL, 'framed that turn out to be gamers' etc) or trades. Anyway, my point is I'm glad I picked a player who isnt totally obscure and as a result there is enough stuff out there to keep me busy with out having to break the bank. For example, the 1991 from last week the owner was happy to get $100 for it. He didnt know or didnt care what it was. He was just happy to get $$ for something sitting in back of the closet since it was given to his son after his weekly show where he gave away the previous weeks gamer some 26 yrs ago. For me, it was $100 well spent!!!

[ChrisCavalier]

Re: Jim Kelly Gamer Collection

Hello gobills,

I just wanted to add that I had the honor of meeting Mr. Kelly in Cleveland last year at the HOF induction.

I didn't know I was going to meet him as he came into the restaurant in the hotel very late one evening. Someone introduced us and we spent somewhere between 30-45 minutes talking.

Turns out Mr. Kelly is also a collector and he told me that he was one of the first people to start exchanging his jerseys with other players.

I think you mentioned he is your hero in one of your previous posts and I will say I think you picked a good one. Even without meeting him, anyone who watched the 'Four Falls of Buffalo' documentary on ESPN can easily see that he is a quality individual along with people such a great player.

Btw, on a side note, today is the feast day of one of my heroes...Saint Teresa of Calcutta.

-Chris

[gobills123]

Re: Jim Kelly Gamer Collection

1991 Kelly Gamer walked through the door yesterday. One of the ones given away after his weekly show. Eventually in later yrs these were just retail authentics. At this point however, still real deal

[gobills123]

Re: Jim Kelly Gamer Collection

I guess this has turned more into a Bills gamer thread so Ill post another.
This one is an oddball. The spacing and tagging is pre-1986 and is probably from between Foley and Smith. I've found a pic of bruce holding this old style jersey - so they were around still BUT a simply check of his rookie card shows at that point he was wearing the new style sand knits with more space inbetween the numbers. Name plate marks could go either way as well as it was a short plate... 5 letters max. Both those players have a short name. This does have repairs and marks.... but its not HAMMERED as youd think a Foley or Smith would be. Im not familiar with the older sand knit to make an educated guess other than I assume its a player who briefly wore 78 between the 2. Id guess this is still white helmet era, but again... old sand knits arent my focus so I dont know its origin yr. If anyone can help or has any guesses, PLEASE feel free and lmk!

Thanks!!

[gobills123]

Re: Jim Kelly Gamer Collection

And from a thrift shop no less! I guess ya never know where youll find a diamond in the rough!

[gobills123]

Re: Jim Kelly Gamer Collection

Thanks Dave!!!

[sox83cubs84]

Re: Jim Kelly Gamer Collection

That has to be one of the prime USFL game used jerseys in the hobby. GREAT acquisition!

Dave Miedema