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Fort Wayne Komets Replicas & Gamers


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I received yesterday a 1963-64 Len Thornson replica, done by David Frost of Myrtle Beach, SC. This is what the K's wore when I saw my first live Komets game after spending years following the team via the radio while growing up in Pittsburgh.

FortWayneKometsJerseys016_zps75068b8e.jp

This gives me four Thornson Komets replicas (L-R):

* 1961-62

* 1962-63

* 1963-64

* Thornson's last Komets jersey, 1968-69

FortWayneKometsJerseys012_zps943a326b.jp

And, I recently picked up a 2012-13 Daniel Maggio game worn. Paired with defenseman Brent Henley, Maggio was the best Komet on the ice during a game at Wheeling which I attended last December. Maggio played just 43 games for Fort Wayne before being called up to the American Hockey League when the lockout ended. He was selected to play in the ECHL All-Star game, but didn't make it due to his move to the Lake Erie Monsters.

FortWayneKometsJerseys028_zpsd1cb7dfb.jp

This gives me four Komets gamers. The other three (L-R):

* Jason Kean, 2004-05

* Chad Grills, 2001-02

* Carey Lucyk, 1993-94

FortWayneKometsJerseys018_zps8b3a74de.jp

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Nice jerseys especially the gamers - congrats. Have one Komets gamer myself - 96/97 Sean Gagnon home white from the season where he put up 457 PIM's. Jersey is absolutely trashed with wear. One of my favorite jerseys - don't see them like that anymore!

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  • 2 weeks later...

I picked up these two 1982-83 Fort Wayne Komets game worns this week from J & J Distributing of Ellwood City, PA. Since 2000, J & J has been the exclusive distributor of Pittsburgh Penguins game worn jerseys. I found these beauties on the J & J Web site:

http://jjdistributing.weebly.com/index.html

J & J owner Joe Tomon says he believes both were manufactured by General Athletic of Greenville, OH, with screened on numbers, crest and stripes. Joe purchased both several years ago from a former employee of the Komets. During the 1960s, 70s, and 80s, General Athletic manufactured jerseys for many of the teams in the American Hockey League, the old IHL and a few NHL teams.

The orange #20 was worn by Wayne Bishop and the white #3 was the jersey of Al Bremner.

When I picked up the jerseys, Joe was kind enough to show me his extensive personal collection of Penguins jerseys, goalie masks, sticks and other memorabilia. It was like a walk down memory lane for this Penguins fan. To say Joe is sitting on a gold mine, would be an understatement. His jersey collection includes goalie Les Binkley's white road uniform from the Pens' first season, 1967-68. He also has a very extensive collection of Jaromir Jagr jerseys, including the jersey Jags wore when he scored his first NHL goal.

On a wall were the framed first contracts of Binkley and Mario Lemieux. According to Joe, Binkley was the first player to sign an NHL contract with the Penguins. So, Joe has the first player signed by the Penguins, and the rookie contract of the Penguins' greatest player.

In case you're interested, Bink made $12,000 in 1967-68 and Mario signed for a base salary of $150,000, plus a $100,000 personal loan. Mario's contract also stipulated that the team would pay to bring his family to Pittsburgh for either his first press conference or first game. Times have certainly changed.

Here are the two Komets jerseys:

LatestKometsFront_zpsaccf1ead.jpg

LatestKometsRear_zps1e1ce5dd.jpg

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  • 5 months later...

Awesome Komets jerseys there Lou! I have one of the same year that I just bought from Joe. #19. If you ever want to let these go, give me a holler. The Thornson replica jerseys are pretty cool too! I played hockey with Len's sons Mike and Brian. Man, I sure would like to get one of those old Komet jerseys from the 50's or 60's. Hence my nickname "Spaceman" lol. :skaterblu:

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I picked up four Fort Wayne Komets gamers via HJimm's recent garage sale. It's a very interesting group from the late 1980s and early 1990s.

As I told Jimm when they arrived, if you're unloading this kind of quality, I'd love to some day see the jerseys you have kept.

The jerseys are:

* No. 17, Jean-Marc Richard. This was an alternate throwback to what the Komets wore during the mid-to-late 1960s (See second picture, far right, in this thread). Fort Wayne has gone through a number of different logos since setting up shop in the fall of 1952, but none is more recognizable than the iconic Kaptain Komet crest. According to Jimm, the K's wore this one as an alternate during the 1990-91 season. The players loved it so much they continued to wear it on special occasions in 1991-92 and 1992-93. Fort Wayne won the Turner Cup in 92-93

* No. 12, Carey Lucyk. This is the home jersey during the 1989-90 season.

* No. 15, Bob Curtis. This is the road jersey during the 1987-88 season.

* No. 8, Brian Hannon.This is the road jersey during the 1988-89 season.

KometsJean-MarcRichard_zpsada9fd99.jpg

KometsLucyk_zps187f0600.jpg

KometsBobbyCurtis_zps1c4c73ae.jpg

KometsHannon_zps9015fe6f.jpg

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  • 1 month later...

Lou,

Joe Tomon got both of those from me. I traded 3 of them to him for something (I can't remember). I bought the whole set (10 whites and 13 oranges) from a guy who used to coach the Komet pee wees back in the 80's. The team gave them to him and he placed them in a box and stored them in their equipment room at the rink. Fast forward to 2005 and he finds them in his garage. He asked on one of the Komet Fan Forums if any one was interested. Luckily I was just cruising thru and bought the whole set.

And the white Kapt Komets were 1st worn for an old timers game in 1990. The players wanted to wear them and boom....

Edited by HJimm
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Jimm:

By my count, six of my 10 Fort Wayne Komets gamers at one time or another made their home in your closet. As I said above, I'd love to see the Komets gamers you have kept.

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  • 11 months later...

I still have it. I'll send you a message.

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  • 2 months later...

Are any of these Komets jersey for sale? I would be intersted in the Jason Kean. Please Pm and let me know. Thanks

Edited by slimcutta
why are you quoting everything?
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  • 1 month later...

And finally, a 1986-87 gamer worn by Komets goalie Michel Dufour:

Komets%20Dufour_zpseeo7cidv.png

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 3 months later...

Lou,

My name is Brian Thornson, those are my father's jerseys you have on display. I would love to get the spaceman jersey for him if you're willing to sell it! I could do one better and get him to sign your other jerseys for compensation. Let me know!

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Brian: I'll send you a message.

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