Category: Nike Tees and Sneakers

This is a gallery of the rarest and most expensive t-shirt relics from the company formerly known as Blue Ribbon Sports. It all began in 1972 when Nike made t-shirts for the Olympic trials – and the company’s founders were hot-pressing runner’s names on the rear of the tee. The rest, as they say, is history. Nike started as footwear company, tees weren’t initially on their radar, so keep in mind many of their t-shirt designs from the 1970s had yet to feature Nike tags, which became a staple in the 1980s. Some values are based on sales, others are ... Read more

The Men’s 1972 U.S Olympic Trials for track and field were held from June 29 to July 9 at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon. Could this be the perfect opportunity for a sportswear company headquartered in Beaverton, Oregon to showcase their new wares? Nike was originally founded in 1964 as “Blue Ribbon Sports” by Bill Bowerman, a track-and-field coach at the University of Oregon, and his former student Phil Knight. The two showcased the newly launched Nike brand shoe at the trials in 1972, and this relic is the first-ever piece of Nike apparel described as such by Geoff Hollister, ... Read more

One of my favorite Nike’s and very hard to find!

A comprehensive resource of defunct t-shirt labels manufactured prior to the year 2000. Brand #23: Nike Circulation: Varies Era: 1970s-present Information: According to our pals over at Wicked Threadz each of the above tags were circulated during the following years: Pinwheel (1978-1980) Orange Sportswear (1980-1983) Blue (1984-1988) Grey (1989-1993) Have a photo of a tag design we missed? Please share it by clicking on “+image” below the comments field! View the previous Wolf brand.

Vintage Heat and Defunkd (in blog format) began around the same time in 2008 and we immediately became link partners given our mutual passion/obsession with vintage gear. Plus, a vintage tee and a pair of old Nikes is a damn complimentary style, a-la DJ AM, need we say more? I checked in with VH daily as Karl explored the trials and tribulations of collecting in the vintage Nike universe. eBay Buyer, seller, occasional wearer – Vintage Heat documents this niche hobby through the eyes of a Nike expert. But much to my and many readers’ dismay the blog went dormant ... Read more