Riddell Power ⚡️ For Sale

[TChildsUMP]

I have up for sale a size M Riddell Power ⚡️ with retro fitted orange and black pads done this past winter by UmpGuard retrofit. I’ve had this chest protector over 5 years now and I feel it’s time now to let somebody else enjoy it. Feel free to ask any questions you might have and offers this way? All the best Troy 

[Jglopez7]

Interested in trades ? Or should I start the bid at $250

[blue32]

Are we sure this is an actual Power? Several red flags on this one...

[Velho]

 

[MadMax]

23 hours ago, blue32 said:

Several red flags on this one...

What are your flags 🚩? Maybe I can answer a few. 

[blue32]

@MadMax The grooves in the shoulder caps. Haven’t seen those in a Power. The plates don’t have the slots in them to pull the Velcro straps through to attach the pad. I’m assuming the pad is directly attached to the plates with Velcro like how Douglas does it. Haven’t seen a power with that set up either. Is this one of the later ones that ended up in a warehouse somewhere like the orange ones did? 

[TChildsUMP]

Because the pads were retro fitted and the rivets were all changed out. It’s 100% legit Riddell Power

[MadMax]

@blue32

It’s entirely possible this is one of the last Riddell Powers produced, like post-C&D Letter. The C&D Letter specifically addressed the Velcro anchor tabs, which Wilson submitted for a patent on; in doing so, it effectively ended Riddell’s and All-American’s productions of baseball CPs, and restricted Douglas’s development of their CP beyond the model we see today. It is no coincidence that all 3 companies were big rivals of Wilson’s in the football equipment – ie. shoulder pads – space. 

Or, conversely, this might be one of the first, pre-anchor tab models. 

I’m not questioning its authenticity, but I am puzzled on the production date, since three things jump out: 

1. The pauldrons are fluted, and there’s an ailette (gap protector). The Riddell Power got its name from the Power model family of football shoulder pads, because the CP used all the same parts. That fluting was actually present on the Schutt football shoulder pads; it’s possible that Riddell made pauldrons that had fluting, but they weren’t Power-model. 
2. The harness fastener is just a hook & D-ring, ala baseball catchers’ CPs. That’s quite early in the lineage. T-hooks were, again, borrowed from football shoulder pads. 
3. The black color. Black wasn’t used for football shoulder pads, primarily due to safety reasons. There was concern that when attending to an injured football player, it would be very difficult to identify the player’s body or wounds, especially at night in low-light conditions. Black shoulder pads didn’t get mainstream adoption until well into the 2000s. 

[Umpiresrock74]

On 7/13/2025 at 10:22 AM, blue32 said:

@MadMax The grooves in the shoulder caps. Haven’t seen those in a Power. The plates don’t have the slots in them to pull the Velcro straps through to attach the pad. I’m assuming the pad is directly attached to the plates with Velcro like how Douglas does it. Haven’t seen a power with that set up either. Is this one of the later ones that ended up in a warehouse somewhere like the orange ones did? 

I can attest that it is a 100% original Power, as the one who retrofitted it, the original padding, and the plates all had the Original Power Stickers on it, and tags. 

[TChildsUMP]

Still available, BUMP