Vote in our MLB jersey Madness poll!

July 2021 - MLB Jersey Madness - We started with 64 MLB jerseys and every day we reduce the field by one - it's MLB Jersey Madness! VOTE HERE

Thursday, July 12, 2012

Hey Atlanta Braves Fans - Vote for your favorite Braves throwback uniform

Greeting Braves fans!

We're having a little fun and would love your help!

We are doing a poll over the next six months and asking fans which of 12 Braves uniforms they would most like to see used as the basis the the next "Throwback Uniform" worn by the Atlanta Braves. When we're done we will make the results public and share them with the powers that be at MLB and Majestic (the jersey guys).

To take part, just click on your favorite uniform below - you can select up to three uniforms. Then hit "Vote" at the bottom and you're done!

And if you like this, please share the poll with your friends by emailing them this page's url (http://blog.heritagesportsart.com/2012/07/hey-braves-fans-vote-for-your-favorite.html)!



Just a quick word about the images used in the poll - The actual original watercolor paintings shown in this poll are the same images used in the well-known Braves poster shown below,



and these actual original paintings - not reproductions, the originals - are available for sale in a beautiful framed format from Heritage Sports Art. These framed pieces would make an incredible, one-of-a-kind gift for a huge Braves’ fan.

Thank you for being a Braves fan and thanks for voting!

As always, feedback is welcome and encouraged.

Scott Sillcox

Monday, June 4, 2012

St. Louis Arena - Can you imagine drawing 17,984 seats by hand?

Greetings!

This posting is directed at fans of the St. Louis Blues and/or anyone who loved the venerable and magnificent St. Louis Arena, aka Missouri Arena, aka Checkerdome, aka The Barn.

St. Louis Arena photo circa 1940's or 1950's
St. Louis Arena, circa 1940's

St. Louis Arena photo circa 1940's or 1950's
St. Louis Arena, circa 1940's or 50's

St. Louis Arena photo circa 1970's
St. Louis Arena, circa 1970's

St. Louis Arena - Checkerdome circa 1980's photo
St. Louis Arena in 1980 when it was known as The Checkerdome

St. Louis Arena photo February 27 1999
St. Louis Arena on the day it was imploded, February 27, 1999

To learn more abut The Arena, please see what our friends at Wikipedia and Ballparks.com have to say.
St. Louis Arena on Wikipedia
St. Louis Arena on Ballparks.com

The Arena was closed in May 1994 (imploded five years later in 1999) and shortly thereafter the city offered much of the contents for sale in an auction. I bought 3000 of the wonderful seats that had been installed prior to the Blues inaugural 1967-68 NHL season. The seats were still in great shape after 30 years of use, although the backs of the seats were incredible filthy from 30+ ears of spilled beer and soda and popcorn and peanuts. (I will expand upon this story another day.)

St. Louis Arena seat - seats
St. Louis Arena seat - seats

We stored the seats in a dodgy part of town and we used a lot of pressure washers to clean them (I seem to recall we bought at least six). We had a lot of fun selling them to fans of the Blues and fans of the Arena itself, and it took about three years to sell almost all of the seats. We ran radio ads and newspaper ads, did the usual PR efforts and generally hustled as best we could. One lesson in life - selling the 1st 500 of anything is a whole lot easier than the last 500.

It may never have occurred to you, but two adjoining seats share the same arm-rest "bracket" such that when you separate the seats, you end up losing every other seat because it doesn't have its own armrest. So when I say we sold almost all of the 3000 seats, I really mean we sold 1500 individual seats.

I will tell the story of the seats in greater detail another day, but this story isn't actually about the seats!

It was important to us when we were removing the seats to make note of the location of each seat. Thus we asked the building officials if they had a floor plan that would help us in the process of identifying each seat location. What they were able to come up with was a wonderful (but undated) seating plan of the Arena.

St. Louis Arena seating plan - floor plan St. Louis Arena seating plan - floor plan St. Louis Arena seating plan - floor plan St. Louis Arena seating plan - floor plan

I am reasonably confidant that this seating plan is from the early 1980's - it looks and feels even older but I believe the early 80's is correct because it shows EXACTLY 17,984 seats which is almost exactly the reported building capacity from that era.

What is so brilliant about this seating plan is the incredible level of detail - literally every one of the 17,984 seats is shown. And it has all been done by hand!!! I wish I could say I counted each seat, but it appears that someone did!

St. Louis Arena seating plan - floor plan

The one other thing that I love about this seating plan is that it refers to the St. Louis Arena as the "Missouri Arena", not a name the building generally went by. I would love to know the full story!

And if you want to see this 28" x 44" floor plan live and in person, it will soon be proudly hanging in Frankie G's on Telegraph Road in St. Louis. When I know it is on display, I will update this post so you can see it in person.

If you have any questions, feel free to call me at 416-315-4736 (Toronto) or email me.

Many thanks!

Scott

PS from Fall 2021: To purchase a reasonably priced 8" x 24" plaqued mounted version of the Blues poster that's ready to hang on your wall, please visit Heritage Sports Stuff.


Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Hey Phillies Fans - Vote for your favorite Phillies throwback uniform

Greeting Phillies fans!

We're going to have a little fun and would love your help!

We're doing a poll over the next six months and asking fans which of 12 uniforms they would most like to see used as the basis the the next "Throwback Uniform" worn by the Phillies. When we're done we will make the results public and share them with the powers that be at MLB and Majestic.

To take part, just click on your favorite uniform below - you can select up to three uniforms. Then hit "Vote" at the bottom and you're done!

And if you like this, please share the poll with your friends by emailing them this page's url (http://blog.heritagesportsart.com/2012/05/vote-for-your-favorite-phillies.html).



Just a quick word about the images used in the poll - The actual original watercolor paintings shown in this poll are the same images used in the well-known Phillies poster shown below,



and these actual original paintings - not reproductions, the originals - are available for sale in a beautiful framed format from Heritage Sports Art. These framed pieces would make an incredible, one-of-a-kind gift for a huge Phillies’ fan.

Thank you for being a Phillies fan and thanks for voting!

As always, feedback is welcome and encouraged.

Scott Sillcox

Monday, March 5, 2012

New home for "An Insider’s Guide to the World of Licensed Sports Products in 12 Parts: Practical Lessons from the Trenches"

Greetings!

In 2011 I posted a highly popular 12 Part series called "An Insider’s Guide to the World of Licensed Sports Products in 12 Parts: Practical Lessons from the Trenches". It proved so popular that it made sense to move the entire series from this blog to one dedicated to the world of licensed sports products.

So please come on over to the blog's new home.

And I am delighted to announce the latest addition to the Scott Sillcox family - a brand new, free, searchable Online Directory of North American Licensed Sports Products Companies - it’s called LicensedSports.net and it can be found here. This is a highly searchable directory of licensed sports products companies in North America, companies that have been licensed by various sports leagues. I am really proud of this new product, and best of all, it's completely free to the user!


If you're looking for a licensed sports products company, this directory likely has the answer.

Looking for companies that hold licenses for the NFL, MLB, NBA and NHL? You'll find them.

Looking for a company(ies) based in Massachussets licensed by the NHL which sells apparel? You'll find them.

Looking for a list of "all" NBA licensees? Or a list of NFL licensees? Or a list of Nascar licensees? You'll find some pretty thorough lists - maybe not every single licensee as they can change weekly, but as good a list as you'll find anywhere on the net!

And in most cases the directory gives you key contact info including email addresses, phone numbers and even Linkedin urls!

So come on over to LicensedSports.net and Search Away!

Thanks - Scott Sillcox
Email: ssillcox@rogers.com
Cell: 416-315-4736

Saturday, January 21, 2012

Washington Nationals uniforms

Greetings!

The Washington Nationals were 2019 World Series Champions! For the first time since the franchise began as the Montreal Expos in 1969, the club won a World Series (4 games to three over the Houston Astros). And the last time a team from Washington won the World Series was in 1924 when the then-Washington Senators (now Minnesota Twins) beat the New York Giants 4 games to three. The Washington Senators also made it to the World Series and lost in 1925 and 1933, then never made it back before the franchise moved to Minnesota in 1961.

Just the quickest of blogs to let you know that I have recently loaded all the Washington Nationals (formerly the Montreal Expos) uniform images, seven images in total, to Flickr and to our Heritage Sports Art site.

Heritage Sports Art: You can see all the Washington Nationals uniforms here.

Flickr: You can see all the Washington Nationals uniforms here.

These are highly detailed, original watercolor paintings, created to celebrate the history of the jerseys of the MLB Washington Nationals (formerly Montreal Expos) franchise. Each of these five original paintings, and more than 1500 other MLB, NFL, NHL, NCAA football and CFL uniform paintings, is available for sale at our Heritage Sports Art Washington Nationals web page.

Each original painting can be purchased in one of two formats - unframed and Classic Framed - but it appears that almost all of our customers seem to prefer the Framed version as shown below (please click on the image below to see a detailed image - in this case the original 2007 Washington Nationals uniform watercolor painting):


Many thanks for being a fan and as always, please let me know if you have any questions!

Thanks -
Scott Sillcox

PS from Fall 2021: To purchase a reasonably priced 8" x 24" plaqued mounted version of the Nationals poster that's ready to hang on your wall, please visit Heritage Sports Stuff.



Tampa Bay Rays uniforms

Greetings!

Fall 2022: To purchase a reasonably priced 8" x 24" plaqued mounted version of the Tampa Bay Rays poster that's ready to hang on your wall, please visit Heritage Sports Stuff.



Just the quickest of blogs to let you know that I have recently loaded all the Tampa Bay Rays uniform images, four images in total, to Flickr and to our Heritage Sports Art site.

Flickr: You can see all the Tampa Bay Rays uniforms here.

Heritage Sports Art: You can see all the Tampa Bay Rays uniforms here.

These are highly detailed, original watercolor paintings, created to celebrate the history of the jerseys of the MLB Tampa Bay Rays franchise. Each of these four original paintings, and more than 1500 other MLB, NFL, NHL, NCAA football and CFL uniform paintings, is available for sale at our Heritage Sports Art Tampa Bay Rays web page.

Each original painting can be purchased in one of two formats - unframed and Classic Framed - but it appears that almost all of our customers seem to prefer the Framed version as shown below (please click on the image below to see a detailed image - in this case the original 2007 Tampa Bay Rays uniform watercolor painting):


Many thanks for being a fan and as always, please let me know if you have any questions!

Thanks -
Scott Sillcox


Arizona Diamondbacks uniforms

Greetings!

Just the quickest of blogs to let you know that I have recently loaded all the Arizona Diamondbacks uniform images, four images in total, to Flickr and to our Heritage Sports Art site.

Flickr: You can see all the Arizona Diamondbacks uniforms here.

Heritage Sports Art: You can see all the Arizona Diamondbacks uniforms here.

These are highly detailed, original watercolor paintings, created to celebrate the history of the jerseys of the MLB Arizona Diamondbacks franchise. Each of these four original paintings, and more than 1500 other MLB, NFL, NHL, NCAA football and CFL uniform paintings, is available for sale at our Heritage Sports Art Arizona Diamondbacks web page.

Each original painting can be purchased in one of two formats - unframed and Classic Framed - but it appears that almost all of our customers seem to prefer the Framed version as shown below (please click on the image below to see a detailed image - in this case the original 1998 Arizona Diamondbacks uniform watercolor painting):


Many thanks for being a fan and as always, please let me know if you have any questions!

Thanks -
Scott Sillcox

PS from Fall 2021: To purchase a reasonably priced 8" x 24" plaqued mounted version of the Arizona Diamondbacks poster that's ready to hang on your wall, please visit Heritage Sports Stuff.