The holy grail

[Umpire43 49]

I was lucky enough to aquire this one. And it fits like a glove. Im shocked because im not an xl anything guy. 

[Thunderheads 2,861]

Is this from Facebook?  I thought I saw a guy who retired with a Power in a box sending it off.

I know it's "the cool factor" but I just don't understand this being the holy grail:  This has the same plates as a Gold (basically) and moreso, the Champion (w/ velcro back quite a few years) ....

@Umpire43 ..... Did you get a steal?

[Umpire43 49]

@Thunderheads it was not from facebook and i did get it for a good price. I like my gold but the shoulder caps are massive and this feels lighter. Its still in great shape  too.

[acpar72 168]

Its from Facebook...wasn't sold on Facebook but it was pictured on FB.  Guy retired and sold it.  @Umpire43 make sure you sell it when you retire. 

[GreyhoundAggie 129]

Still love my platinum.

[Thunderheads 2,861]

10 minutes ago, acpar72 said:

Its from Facebook...wasn't sold on Facebook but it was pictured on FB.  Guy retired and sold it.  @Umpire43 make sure you sell it when you retire. 

that's what I meant!

[wolfe_man 576]

47 minutes ago, Thunderheads said:

that's what I meant!

Then, why didn't you just say so in the first place?

[Thunderheads 2,861]

6 minutes ago, wolfe_man said:

Then, why didn't you just say so in the first place?

yeah yeah yeah   .... what I meant to say / ask is:  Is that the Power from Facebook, not necessarily "did you buy it from facebook" .... ok, I'm done here

[Umpire43 49]

@Thunderheads i didnt know it was posted on facebook. A third party connected me to the seller. And @wolfe_man we have missed you in the forums!

[Umpire43 49]

@acpar72 i have a long way to go before that hopefully!

[Umpire43 49]

@Thunderheads or @acpar72 what was the facebook post?

[MadMax 2,038]

@Thunderheads, it’s not quite the holy grail of CPs, but when you compare it against its contemporaries, it was the best, only outshone in terms of fit by the bespoken Carluccis. Riddell just got it right. That planform wasn’t unique – Riddell, All-American, and Wilson all were extremely similar. Even Douglas was vaguely similar, but keep in mind, Joe West took the WestVest concept to Douglas first. The reason all four of these models look so similar is because all four companies are (or were, in the case of AA) manufacturers of football equipment.

What makes the Riddell and the All-American CPs so special isn’t because they’re necessarily better; they’re special because it took a hail-Mary legal action by Wilson to “beat” them. It all has to do with those little, petty Velcro tabs, and the staggering amount of money that Wilson was demanding out of Riddell and All-American in order to continue, in relation to the market position the two companies had over Wilson vis-a-vís in football.

Riddell also used slightly less, or thinner, foam in the pad jacket in comparison to Wilson. Also, because Riddell combined the CP in their production runs of their football shoulder pads, the units were boxed and shipped like football pads – pre-curved. Wilson instead ran the Gold, and the follow-on Platinum, in their own separate production runs, and in order to optimize the number of units shipped per box, typically shipped flat. Hand it to a neophyte, out of the box, and more often than not, it was worn like a shop apron, and did not create an ideal fit. It often cut a hulking silhouette, and succeeded on sheer bulk.

It’s a shame. All-American went under, Riddell left baseball and concentrated the majority of effort on football, and Douglas – which is still made in the USA – was handicapped to stick with their existing planform and discouraged from progressing it (whether financially or legally). Yeah, the Schutt looks vaguely like the Gold’s planform, but it doesn’t use the “patent violating” attachment system, instead using (as @wolfe_man opines) a weak direct-Velcro arrangement. Champion skirted under the radar for awhile, using the same planform and the patent-violating Velcro tabs until Wilson slapped them on the wrist, and they immediately switched back over to direct rivets. Besides, the C&D letter was directed at Wilson’s football competitors, which Champion isn’t even in the same league as.

That patent has caused all the headache. The reason why Team Wendy had to have you ship your CP in to have the pad vest custom built wasn’t because they were incapable of making a vest to size, sell, and ship, it’s because if they did so, they’d be violating the terms of the patent.

I have this itch at the back of my skull to learn how to work an industrial sewing machine, source me some advanced foam (such as 3DO), some wicking fabrics, and just count the days / hours / minutes down until the patent expires, and then start making pad vests for Riddells, AAs, Golds, Platinums, and Douglases alike.

[acpar72 168]

1 hour ago, Umpire43 said:

@Thunderheads or @acpar72 what was the facebook post?

An umpire retired and took a picture of his (your) Power almost all the way boxed up and ready for shipping.  

[Thunderheads 2,861]

6 hours ago, acpar72 said:

An umpire retired and took a picture of his (your) Power almost all the way boxed up and ready for shipping.  

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^  THIS  

[Thunderheads 2,861]

7 hours ago, MadMax said:

@Thunderheads, it’s not quite the holy grail of CPs, but when you compare it against its contemporaries, it was the best, only outshone in terms of fit by the bespoken Carluccis. Riddell just got it right. That planform wasn’t unique – Riddell, All-American, and Wilson all were extremely similar. Even Douglas was vaguely similar, but keep in mind, Joe West took the WestVest concept to Douglas first. The reason all four of these models look so similar is because all four companies are (or were, in the case of AA) manufacturers of football equipment.

 

Not my words .... the Power has been called the holy grail on here for quite some time.  I've never really understood it, to be honest.  I mean, the Champion velcro version was really just about identical to it.   That being said, you're wisdom on the history of all-things-cp never ceases to produce a smile on my face!  

[kylejt 710]

Y'all are missing a key component to this. The cool factor.

My dad had a 1967 Shelby. Now a modern, off the shelf Mustang has more power, air conditioning, power everything, and 100 times more computing power than what NASA took to the moon. But cool? When I drove the '67, I was the coolest kid in town (or so I thought). Roll out to Florida in January with TW padded Riddell, and you are too.

Is that Power much better than the Champion? Not really. But why is a plate coat better than wearing a tucked in jacket? Both will keep you warm. Because you look cool in The Coat, and like a dork with a tucked in jacket (sorry, but you do, and your friends should tell you).

Never discount the cool factor, my friends.

 

[Thunderheads 2,861]

7 minutes ago, kylejt said:

Y'all are missing a key component to this. The cool factor.

My dad had a 1967 Shelby. Now a modern, off the shelf Mustang has more power, air conditioning, power everything, and 100 times more computing power than what NASA took to the moon. But cool? When I drove the '67, I was the coolest kid in town (or so I thought). Roll out to Florida in January with TW padded Riddell, and you are too.

Is that Power much better than the Champion? Not really. But why is a plate coat better than wearing a tucked in jacket? Both will keep you warm. Because you look cool in The Coat, and like a dork with a tucked in jacket.

Never discount the cool factor, my friends.

 

WHOA WHOA WHOA ..... you missed something in my post!  

I know it's "the cool factor" but I just don't understand this being the holy grail:  This has the same plates as a Gold (basically) and moreso, the Champion (w/ velcro back quite a few years) ....

[kylejt 710]

15 minutes ago, Thunderheads said:

WHOA WHOA WHOA ..... you missed something in my post!  

I know it's "the cool factor" but I just don't understand this being the holy grail:  This has the same plates as a Gold (basically) and moreso, the Champion (w/ velcro back quite a few years) ....

My bad. Thanks for covering it.

As for being the current Grail (remember, a +POS SUL mask fetched over $200 a decade or so ago. Now, not so much), it's availability, perceived quality, and what "famous" people are wearing them. I think if suddenly the F3 mask went out of production, they'd be the next Grail at some point. (hey, if we could predict it, we'd all hoard them in our basement, right?)

So maybe white pocketed polywools, the original  gray +POS scrapper brush, or Reebok Zig plate shoes could be next?

 

p.s. I have a basement full of Beanie Babies I need to unload. So that didn't work out...……….