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West Vest question

FlaUmp22

By FlaUmp22
in Umpire Equipment

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gnhbua93
gnhbua93

You should go, at least,  with a case of beer for your friend.  

Fittske24
Fittske24

No, ...that's an original Wilson West Vest, ...the predecessor to the gold, KLAH316 nailed it I grabbed one CHEAP off of Craigslist the other day, and enjoyed a nice history lesson via email with @Fi

Jocko
Jocko

The gear pimp has spoken :notworthy: Long live the gear pimp

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JaxRolo

JaxRolo

Posted
Posted
That's a gold. Take it if you don't want it send it to me.
No no no. Send it to me!!!!
Thunderheads

Thunderheads

Posted
Posted

That's a gold.  Take it if you don't want it send it to me.

No, ...that's an original Wilson West Vest, ...the predecessor to the gold, KLAH316 nailed it

 

I grabbed one CHEAP off of Craigslist the other day, and enjoyed a nice history lesson via email with @Fittske24, ...hopefully Ken will come on and give us a 'readers digest' version :)

gnhbua93

gnhbua93

Posted
Posted

 

That's a gold.  Take it if you don't want it send it to me.

No, ...that's an original Wilson West Vest, ...the predecessor to the gold, KLAH316 nailed it

 

I grabbed one CHEAP off of Craigslist the other day, and enjoyed a nice history lesson via email with @Fittske24, ...hopefully Ken will come on and give us a 'readers digest' version :)

 

Photo of your CP

Thunderheads

Thunderheads

Posted
Posted

 

 

That's a gold.  Take it if you don't want it send it to me.

No, ...that's an original Wilson West Vest, ...the predecessor to the gold, KLAH316 nailed it

 

I grabbed one CHEAP off of Craigslist the other day, and enjoyed a nice history lesson via email with @Fittske24, ...hopefully Ken will come on and give us a 'readers digest' version :)

 

Photo of your CP

 

hang on ...............

 

Nope, don't have one, didn't take one yet, and the ad picture has changed ....sorry, but...it's the same one

Fittske24

Fittske24

Posted
Posted

That's a gold. Take it if you don't want it send it to me.

No, ...that's an original Wilson West Vest, ...the predecessor to the gold, KLAH316 nailed it

I grabbed one CHEAP off of Craigslist the other day, and enjoyed a nice history lesson via email with @Fittske24, ...hopefully Ken will come on and give us a 'readers digest' version :) Yes this particular model was not called a "gold" as its known as today. This is a vintage WV by wilson. in the grand scheme of things the vantage WV was the 3rd CP in Joe West's quest to design CPs. the order goes like this.....Riddell power-> WV by Douglas-> vintage WV by Wilson-> WV gold.

The Riddell power, vintage WV and the gold have the overall same design. Joe west was the original designer of the power. When Joe decided to sue Riddell, he went to Douglas during the lawsuit. Once Riddell was told to stop producing powers, Joe moved on to Wilson and back to the "power" style design. When Joe started working with Riddell, he didn't have the CP design patented. When the Power started becoming popular Joe wanted compensation from Riddell and they basically told him to go take a hike. Joe hired a lawyer and worked on getting the design patented. Riddell kept selling during this time and never got a patent for umpire CPs. Joe was smart.... he didn't just patent the chest protector as a whole, but he patented some of the key parts of it. For example, Joe patented the attachment of plates using Velcro straps. That's why the power stopped getting made. Also that's why future CPs like the All-American and champion CPs had to change their original designs to remove the Velcro straps from their designs.

Joe west had a secondary design which became known as the platnium and that's when the vintage WV became known as the gold.

Here is Joe's patent application: http://www.google.com/patents?id=DUcgAAAAEBAJ&printsec=drawing&zoom=4#v=onepage&q&f=false

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Jocko

Jocko

Posted
Posted

The gear pimp has spoken :notworthy: :notworthy: :notworthy:

Long live the gear pimp

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Fittske24

Fittske24

Posted
Posted

Any clue why he left Douglas for Wilson? Money? I believe as Fitts stated above none of the Douglas WV models were attached with the Velcro straps.

I beleive he was concerned that Douglas wouldn't be able to keep up with the demand.

midtnump

midtnump

Posted
Posted

Fittske24,  so the lawsuit that stopped the All American and the first Champion model hardshell protectors was about the Velcro attachment only, or did the padding and plate design play into it? Oh and thank you for the great info above, I have wondered what it was all about. Do you know if the All American CP was as good as what some have said?

Thunderheads

Thunderheads

Posted
Posted

The major part of Joe's patent is Velcro. That is why Champion uses rivets now....

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ this ..............

 

Read the link Fittske posted ....it talks mostly about the West Vest 'attachment methods' ..........

catsbackr

catsbackr

Posted
Posted

Fittske24,  so the lawsuit that stopped the All American and the first Champion model hardshell protectors was about the Velcro attachment only, or did the padding and plate design play into it? Oh and thank you for the great info above, I have wondered what it was all about. Do you know if the All American CP was as good as what some have said?

I have 2 All Americans, a 13" blue one and a 15" black one. The All Americans are AWESOME.

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