Walter Payton original jersey from mid 1980's mint condition

I need to ascertain its value. I have some pic's, but I can't attach them on this site. Here's the jersey's specifics.

Color - navy
Material - nylon mesh
Numbers - white numbers with orange outline, heavy plastic-like substance that seems to be melted onto the material
Name - same as numbers , but "PAYTON" sewn onto jersey with separate name panel
Measurements - 38" long, 48" wide from sleeve tip to sleeve tip
Tag - sewn white tag on jersey's front bottom left says "Wilson, made in U.S.A., machine wash ..."
Condition - mint, never worn, never washed, stored in closet since mid 1980's
Provenance - given to my relative by Walter's long time agent

Welcome,

Send me the pictures at nfljerseysuk@hotmail.co.uk and I will post them for you, then we can give you a better idea.

Nice early Wilson jersey. I've seen these go for $90-120

Billsfan wrote:

Nice early Wilson jersey. I've seen these go for $90-120

I just sold this jersey and received the cash via Pay Pal for $1,300. Thanks for your insight!

$1300??? Was it a game issue jersey???

No way...

Scoop999 wrote:

Billsfan wrote:

Nice early Wilson jersey. I've seen these go for $90-120

I just sold this jersey and received the cash via Pay Pal for $1,300. Thanks for your insight!

Great price. you must have had some provinence evidence behind it then. My price was for a retail Wilson jersey. So it was a team issue was it?

Did team issue/retail authentics not have the shield till 91 then??

Yes, the word is "provenance", and I want to say this as respectfully as possible, but knowledge and opinion can be two entirely different matters.

Theres no need to be pedantic about grammar mistakes Scoop999. And i'll say this as respectfully as possible, don't ask for someones advice and mock them if they are wrong

Thanks for pointing out my spell check failed. It would have been easier to give an accurate value if more evidence of it's provenance was supplied, all you said in your original post was it was given to a relative by his agent. That doesn't mean it was game worn, which brings the premium price, it could have been a retail authentic. You haven't said that there was any paperwork or COA with it. Without any evidence I can only go on what I can see and a what I quoted is about right for a retail authentic.

Without all the knowledge, all you get is opinion based on what is supplied.

Old topic, but if you sold an issued Payton for $1300, you gave your buyer one heckuva deal! *edit* I forgot to state that I've seen retail authentics go for up to ~$200 US--Billsfan's estimate is pretty accurate on a good day.

Brian P Moran bought it off him

mrhead2k wrote:

Brian P Moran bought it off him

Gotcha. As far as I know, Payton wore a 42--not to say he couldn't have ever worn a 44, but obviously the point is that $1300 is JUST SLIGHTLY overpriced for a retail authentic and slightly underpriced for a Payton TI Heck, Briggs and Urlacher issueds can almost sell for that!

I'm pretty sure it was confirmed that it was his

mrhead2k wrote:

I'm pretty sure it was confirmed that it was his

Mr. Moran got a sweetheart deal then, I'll have to touch base with him as I missed that pickup! Thanks for the info.

Tbf i've seen payton "game worn" jerseys from size 42 through to 46. I couldnt bring myself tO part with that much money unless i had physical evidence to back it up.

obinug wrote:

Tbf i've seen payton "game worn" jerseys from size 42 through to 46. I couldnt bring myself tO part with that much money unless i had physical evidence to back it up.

Wow, I didn't know that about Payton, that's a pretty big range! 34swtns' same-period gamer is a 42, which led me to the initial assessment of this one. A size up or down is fairly common obviously. Still, to your other point it is indeed a ton of cash to take a chance on unless you have legit paperwork or first hand knowledge of the ownership trail--the latter preferred IMO given the age of the item.

From what ive heard, its common for players to go up a size if they have an injury to accomodate the strapping needed. The guy had a pretty solid story behind it, but i've seen a lot of customised game/team issue jerseys, the older ones especially arent that hard to copy.

I did buy that from him. The first thing that caught my eye was there is no GSH on the sleeve which makes it pre-1984 or 1985 can't remember which. They only started making retail Bears jerseys in '86 after the super bowl win....so I knew immediately it was something. Upon closer look at pictures, the screen printing was also very precise....as many of you that have Retail Wilson Bears jerseys....they are not always precise. Beyond that, speaking with the gentleman and the background and story of the jersey...there were a lot of details there that you just can't make up. He was a nice man and really was just trying to find out it's value. He had it on ebay first and pulled the auction after getting so many BIN emails....thought maybe he had something more valuable than first thought. I believe he approached MEARS....they said it was game issued and would take a look at it for any possible wear. I believe he also sent many detailed photos to the Chicago Bears directly and got them to verify that it was a 1977-83 Game Issued Payton. When I got the jersey in person....it really is awesome. Apparently Walter had a certain amount of his jerseys made up by the team to give away to business associates, friends, etc. I believe this is one of those jerseys.

So theres the answer from the horses mouth. As long as there was a legitimate back story That added up and i had the cash i would have bought it. Its not something you're likely to come across again. It seems alot of players have done that, im sure i saw a Brady uniform for sale somewhere, complete team issue, although there was never any intent to actually use the jersey except for promotional jerseys. Kind of like what Nike did recently with the scavenger hunt. I wish i could have afforded that Urlacher that was for sale on her.

I'm buying that Urlacher too

Well then, that is a truly awesome piece! Glad I stumbled into the thread, albeit a little late. Thanks for sharing the backstory, Brian.

Brian your wardrobe must be like an aladins cave for Bears fans!