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Team USA jersey 1984 Sarajevo Olympics - fan sale replica, or elaborate fake?


crimsongriffin28

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Looking for help with provenance on this odd jersey, tagged as Pederson's. 1984 Team USA Olympic jersey. Came across it on Yahoo auctions Japan, thought why not and got it for about $20.

Sorry about the monster post. Better quality pics in the links at bottom.

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Here's the question - did Pederson's ever made 1984 Team USA jerseys available to the public for sale? I've found Cooper's, Eaglewear and Reachwear 1984 Olympic jerseys, but none tagged with Pederson's. Aside from the real team jerseys, which only saw some exhibition games.

The story of the actual team jerseys from their exhibition games is odd. They went on auction around 2005, after Pederson's was sold off and they found the team jerseys in storage.

Quote

In 1984 the Team USA jersey contract went out to Pederson's of St. Cloud Minnesota. Pederson's at the time also had contracts with the University of Minnesota and the Minnesota North Stars and in 84-85 they would handle the New York Islanders. Unfortunately for Pederson's they cut the sleeves too short and some time in December Team USA dropped the contract and signed on Cooper to make the jerseys for the rest of the exhibition season and the Tournament.

The jerseys were then signed and then returned to Pederson's were they sat for almost 2 decades, in their warehouse. Until recently when Pederson's was bought out and the son of the new owner found these jerseys in a box in the warehouse and put them on Ebay were they were purchased on a buy it now. 

(Quote Source with Pics of the Team Jerseys)

(Gameworn Auction of one of the jerseys.)

Looking at the authentic ones used by the team as seen on the link above, mine is similar, but a size medium, so I'd say it's def not for on-ice.

Logo and tag - the neck tag position is different from the team jerseys but consistent with other jerseys made by Pederson's.

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Embroidered logo on the hem is similar - mine has a slight bluish tint, which mostly came out with Oxiclean. Ink staining? I don't know how they handled embroidery on older jerseys, whether they embroidered over an inked paper pattern with stabilizer in the back or...?

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Fabric - fabric type is the same pinhole polyester. Lettering fabric is same sort of twill satin. Neck ribbing is the same, but lacking the reinforcement over the V point.

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Pattern and cut - same curved style armhole. The blue sleeve stripe on the player jerseys have piping, which mine doesn't. Proportion and width of stripes matches.

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Lettering and appliques - Material type for lettering and positioning of USA on the front matches. Size/style matches. Star on sleeve is correct.

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Stitching and seams - No extra piece for the elbow reinforcing on mine. No top-stitching to strengthen side seams. Stitching color for hems is correct. Overlock stitching at collar is different color from team jersey, though I noticed on some of the team jerseys the hem stitching was in either red or white, so I don't think it means much.

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Letter stitching is a bit sloppy with skipped stitches. (Change your needles, people.) An overlocked side seam is unravelling at the bottom.

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Don't know if it matters but when I got it, it was musty as all get out (storage smell) and had yellowing consistent with age, which I removed by soaking it in Oxiclean. The seller only listed it as vintage, didn't say where it came from, or if they'd bought it themselves back in the day.

Where did this piece come from? It's bizarrely close in many respects to the authentic jerseys, and very close to what Pederson's made for fan jerseys (see vintage Minnesota North Star jerseys for examples.) It would be a lot of effort to replicate something like it, and hardly anyone bothered doing fakes back in the 80's. Anyone else have one like it? I'd contact Pederson's but... they're gone. I still would like to have some opinions on this tiny beauty.

So, jersey people: what do you think? Test jersey? Made for sale replica? Elaborate fake?

Thanks for any help!

Imgur album with more and higher res pics.

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I don't think it's anything beyond a replica. There was a outside company that replicated the design about ten years ago. I had one back in like 2010. They were good quality but they didn't have the double elbows like the game ones and the mesh was slightly wider and thinner. It might be another of them. Either way, it would be worth getting customized. There were some good options on that team. Chelios, LaFontaine, Iafrate, Millen, Olczyk, etc. 

For the record, here's one of the actual used ones from that year:

2v299ru4Cx2YANR.jpg
2v299rumLx2YANR.jpg

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Thanks for the reply! Sweet jersey for Iafrate - yours?

I wasn't expecting mine to be an authentic, I mentioned that mine has no elbow reinforcement, for example. I only wanted to know if Pederson's had made replicas for sale. As I researched and noted in the post - I have seen three jersey makers doing this jersey - Coopers replicas, Coopers authentic, Eaglewear replicas and Reachwear replicas. Aside from the original team jersey that were auctioned I haven't found any Pederson's replicas.

Eagle Sportswear Replica - very close, wrong brand. Seam in back yoke. No tail logo. Missing white stripe on bottom the original authentics (and my replica) have.

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Reachwear Chock Full O' Nuts Promo Replica Jersey on Ebay, on Worthpoint

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Maurine's (Pederson's) on Worthpoint, wrong label, DCS tail logo.

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Authentic Pederson's Game-worns from Drop the Puck jersey history site.

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My weird little jersey.

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I did find the originals - I included links to those, as well as having the side-bit side examples in my pics in the original post?

So, the question is still up for answering:

Did Pederson's ever make their 1984 Team USA jerseys available to the public for sale?

 

 

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17 hours ago, Brilliant! said:

 


2v299rumLx2YANR.jpg

The back #'s are puffy. It's a Chinese knock off! 
You should mail it to me so I can properly dispose of it.  :D

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Hey, if you want to find me a Chelios or Olczyk from the same tournament, it's all yours!

Back to the question at hand, I highly doubt Pederson's ever made the pro versions available at retail. I think CCM was really the first company to truly produce the on-ice product for sale to the general public. Anything you might have found back then could have been leftover team stock.

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