Power Production Dates?

[GerryB]

On 1/27/2021 at 5:05 PM, MadMax said:

Stop. You're misspeaking. The WestVest was first brought to Douglas. Douglas was, and always has been, a domestic equipment producer. Through some machinations between Joe West, Douglas, and the folks at Wilson, the planform was taken from Douglas to Wilson. It was there at Wilson that the patented velcro tabs were introduced and then... well... patented. As it was taken from Douglas to Wilson it became the Gold, and at that point, Riddell and All-American – both primarily football equipment manufacturers – made their versions. Riddell's was the venerable Power. Cece Carlucci was producing his own CP and shinguard sets, as was Dan Parsons (+POS). 

Now, you're likely correct that Donzis-Easton introduced a CP that was a derivative of their football pads (at that time), but Riddell never made a/the WestVest.  

Sorry, but West designed the chest protector built by Riddell. Riddell's came before Douglas' and Wilson's WV. Your chronology is incorrect. Aside my own receipts, I reference Fittske24 right here on U-E.

"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." 

[GerryB]

Hunter wearing his father's old Donzi/Easton.

[MadMax]

15 hours ago, GerryB said:

Riddell's came before Douglas' and Wilson's WV. Your chronology is incorrect.

Well, I'll be damned. I stand corrected. 

[tpatience]

16 hours ago, GerryB said:

Hunter wearing his father's old Donzi/Easton.

That CP has also incredibly never been retrofitted in any way. It’s the same CP that he had 40 years ago. Imagine that 

[GerryB]

Yes, surprising but if IIRC the shoulders were more football and if you notice in the picture the plates didn't go down very far. The Power changed all that.

Thanks @MadMax

[tpatience]

6 hours ago, GerryB said:

Yes, surprising but if IIRC the shoulders were more football and if you notice in the picture the plates didn't go down very far. The Power changed all that.

Thanks @MadMax

The shoulder caps are actually riddell caps. I saw it in person last year at umpire school

[Razzer]

30 minutes ago, tpatience said:

The shoulder caps are actually riddell caps. I saw it in person last year at umpire school

Trevor is correct and I personally worked on this monster a few times for 21

[GerryB]

@Razzer, just a check - my memory is that the over the shoulder pad went further towards the back than current CPs do, more football like; do they?

And those caps are retro-fitted?

[kylejt]

And we wonder why foam and plastic costs so much!

Lawyers!