Our 1st Nike kit. Were there 2 versions?

Alfie shhh!

Alfie shhh!

Well-Known Member
Bear with me here. One for our kit geeks.

I got our first Nike kit when it came out and I distinctly remember the red stripe was diffuse, with a brighter red fading into a darker red.

I've also seen versions with a solid bright red stripe with no diffuse effect. This was different from the one I got.

Look closely, the photos on the left were the darker diffuse stripe one I got. But there's definitely a brighter non diffuse one.

Am I going mad or were there actually 2 slightly different versions of this kit?

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These 2 are on ebay:

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Totti said:
I know we ran it for 2 years. Is it possible one was 97-98 and the 98-99 one was the brighter one? Maybe the photos are of different seasons.

Total guesswork as I was I was about 10 so not 100% sure.
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That's a good shout actually. Forgot it was for 2 seasons.

I only noticed when I went to get a replica and I knew immediately the red stripe wasn't like the one I had as a youngster.

So now I'm pretty sure there was 2 slightly different versions, unless someone posts that I'm imagining things B-)
 
Pretty sure the shirt was always the same shade of blue.
I had the short sleeved and the long sleeved, and both, as far as I can recall, were the same shade of royal blue.
As for the Center Parcs. I think that was a one off against Strasbourg.In the blue that was.
No McEwans Lager advertising due to French advertising restrictions on alcohol.
Apparently never was available as a replica.
 
L&D RSC said:
Could it be as simple as the ones on the left being wetter from rain / sweat?
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Good shout but I'm certain it was like that dry, the ebay ones are dry too and show the difference. Who knows though!

Laudrup11Cooper said:
Pretty sure the shirt was always the same shade of blue.
I had the short sleeved and the long sleeved, and both, as far as I can recall, were the same shade of royal blue.
As for the Center Parcs. I think that was a one off against Strasbourg.In the blue that was.
No McEwans Lager advertising due to French advertising restrictions on alcohol.
Apparently never was available as a replica.
Click to expand...
Yes same shade of blue but it's the difference in the red stripe I noticed. One's diffuse, going from a lighter to a darker shade on the outside, whilst the other is not diffuse and more of a solid coloured bar.
 
Laudrup11Cooper said:
As for the Center Parcs. I think that was a one off against Strasbourg.In the blue that was.
No McEwans Lager advertising due to French advertising restrictions on alcohol.
Apparently never was available as a replica.
Click to expand...

Not keen on the logo, there is a few online. Possible match worn shirts?

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Removing the sponsor shows the different blue shades nicely though. Overall a slightly strange kit!

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I was at the NARSA Convention, summer 99? when the new home shirt, the one that followed this one, was held aloft by one Martin Bain.
The Nike 99-2000 shirt.
That particular shade of blue did not meet with much approval.
“That’s never a fukcen Rangers shirt!”
Mind you.The murmurs of discontent might also have been directed at the person, holding it up?
Never can tell.

I believe it went on to be one of the most popular shirts.
 
Bad production process or possibly different suppliers?
Recently read an article of the legendary Holland ’88 top. There were something like 8 countries licensed to make it and every single one is different whether it’s the colour, pattern, badge style/size or the position of the trefoil.
Some of the bad ones look like dreadful fakes but are worth a fortune.
 
Definitely not different seasons as each pair of pictures you posted is from the same season. I remember my top being the duller red, it certainly wasn't a bright red.
 
TN8 said:
Those 2 pics of Gio will be from the 2nd season of it. Rino would be the only one who wore it both seasons.
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Rino pictures are also the same season. First image has SFL sleeve badges and second image is cup final defeat to Hearts, the second season with this kit (Gio images) was SPL sleeve badges.
 
Ive a brand new one in a bag with nike tags bought off here about 10-15 years ago

Didn’t greaves sport find a bag full? I remember a few of us bought them

I’ll dig it out tonight and see what version it is, definitely original as compared it to my old one that had bobble and clicked up sure it has the nike hologram’s on the tags (could be wrong aint touched it since day it arrived)
 
Totti said:
I know we ran it for 2 years. Is it possible one was 97-98 and the 98-99 one was the brighter one? Maybe the photos are of different seasons.

Total guesswork as I was about 10 so not 100% sure.
Click to expand...

Van Bronckhorst only played 98-99, second and last season of that kit.
 
Slightly off topic but I remember that people had that shirt weeks before it officially came out. If memory serves me right there was some sort of “leak”.
 
1BadMouse said:
Ive a brand new one in a bag with nike tags bought off here about 10-15 years ago

Didn’t greaves sport find a bag full? I remember a few of us bought them

I’ll dig it out tonight and see what version it is, definitely original as compared it to my old one that had bobble and clicked up sure it has the nike hologram’s on the tags (could be wrong aint touched it since day it arrived)
Click to expand...
There were loads of them found about 3 or 4 years ago, in the hundreds. Classic Football Shirts and Cult Kits and a few other sellers had them, all with tags and packaging. The majority of them seemed to be a Medium. They'd been sitting in storage somewhere for 25 years.
 
Blue Lew said:
Bad production process or possibly different suppliers?
Recently read an article of the legendary Holland ’88 top. There were something like 8 countries licensed to make it and every single one is different whether it’s the colour, pattern, badge style/size or the position of the trefoil.
Some of the bad ones look like dreadful fakes but are worth a fortune.
Click to expand...

This is the answer. Nike didn’t make shit. They outsourced the tops production to various companies in the U.K.

The quality and consistency of the Nike stuff we has was average at best.

I’ve argued with folk on here about fake versions of this top. I worked in the shop and must’ve handled 10s or thousands of the Nike tops. They were simply badly made.
 
Coza said:
This is the answer. Nike didn’t make shit. They outsourced the tops production to various companies in the U.K.

The quality and consistency of the Nike stuff we has was average at best.

I’ve argued with folk on here about fake versions of this top. I worked in the shop and must’ve handled 10s or thousands of the Nike tops. They were simply badly made.
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Cheers mate, answers a lot. So the version I had and the players sometimes wore was a different production company, hence why the difference in the red stripe?

I preferred that one, the one with the solid bright red line looked like a cheaper process.

Crazy to think our home top could vary because of different production companies handling it.
 
Alfie shhh! said:
Cheers mate, answers a lot. So the version I had and the players sometimes wore was a different production company, hence why the difference in the red stripe?

I preferred that one, the one with the solid bright red line looked like a cheaper process.

Crazy to think our home top could vary because of different production companies handling it.
Click to expand...

Pretty much. There was one maker of the next Nike top that literally everyone came back damaged after one wash. The tops were a riot on a par with Castore tbh. People just remember the nice tops now and don’t remember the bobbling, the pulls etc.
 
1BadMouse said:
Ive a brand new one in a bag with nike tags bought off here about 10-15 years ago

Didn’t greaves sport find a bag full? I remember a few of us bought them

I’ll dig it out tonight and see what version it is, definitely original as compared it to my old one that had bobble and clicked up sure it has the nike hologram’s on the tags (could be wrong aint touched it since day it arrived)
Click to expand...
That would be good ta.

Will be interesting to see if you got the one I had in the 90's (the photos on the left) or the one's on the right.

Like I've mentioned, the one I had looked better production quality with the nice effect it had on the stripe.
 
Bob Belcher said:
There were loads of them found about 3 or 4 years ago, in the hundreds. Classic Football Shirts and Cult Kits and a few other sellers had them, all with tags and packaging. The majority of them seemed to be a Medium. They'd been sitting in storage somewhere for 25 years.
Click to expand...

Cult kits found them. I offered to buy the box from them but they said no: sold a good few then sold a job lot to one of the rangers shirt sellers who drip feeds the market with them to keep the price stable.

I got two from that find one is still in packet tucked away and the other I wear for fives. In no doubt they are a legit deadstock find.
 
Jim Prideaux said:
One of my favourite kits.

Am absolute belter.
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I was a full kit wanker as a kid, i remember how good the quality of the shorts and socks were on this kit.

The material for the shorts wasn't this shiny polyester shite you get, it was a thicker cotton like material. The socks were thicker too. Almost felt like wool B-)
 
Alfie shhh! said:
That would be good ta.

Will be interesting to see if you got the one I had in the 90's (the photos on the left) or the one's on the right.

Like I've mentioned, the one I had looked better production quality with the nice effect it had on the stripe.
Click to expand...
I’ll digging tonight mate it’s still in polythene bag
 
Coza said:
Cult kits found them. I offered to buy the box from them but they said no: sold a good few then sold a job lot to one of the rangers shirt sellers who drip feeds the market with them to keep the price stable.

I got two from that find one is still in packet tucked away and the other I wear for fives. In no doubt they are a legit deadstock find.
Click to expand...

we had a long discussion about this when they came out and I took the plunge, it is a 100% legit deadstock find.
 
Quality wise nowhere near the Nike kit that followed it the 1999 one.

Whatever material was used in that kit, it felt cool to wear, never bobbled, and kept its shape and look fantastically well. It’s one of the few I kept and is in the loft somewhere.
 
immortal7 said:
it is a 100% legit deadstock find.
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Sorry to be a bore with my repetitive chat, what version of the red stripe did this find have?

I'm starting to realise the newer versions had the solid bright red stripe and my earlier launch kit had the diffuse darker stripe.
 
Tuppence worth, that’s all, but the photographs on the left are not in the same sharp focus as those on the right, it’s not just the red lines that are “blurry”.
 
Coza said:
This is the answer. Nike didn’t make shit. They outsourced the tops production to various companies in the U.K.

The quality and consistency of the Nike stuff we has was average at best.
Click to expand...
One of the reasons we ditched them and went straight to the makers, then sold 'manufacturer' naming rights to Diadora. More money in cutting out the middle men.
 
Alfie shhh! said:
Sorry to be a bore with my repetitive chat, what version of the red stripe did this find have?

I'm starting to realise the newer versions had the solid bright red stripe and my earlier launch kit had the diffuse darker stripe.
Click to expand...

the stripe was 2 tone if i recall, ill check when i am home or @Coza can tell you.
 
immortal7 said:
the stripe was 2 tone if i recall, ill check when i am home or @Coza can tell you.
Click to expand...

Honestly think it’s supposed to be two tone but I have three versions of this top all real and all different. One has a really narrow two tone line, one thick, one next to no two tone.
 
The photos on the right are generally much better quality and resolution. You can make the red any degree of shade or brightness you like in photshop (or indeed 10 bob software).
 
aayjay said:
The photos on the right are generally much better quality and resolution. You can make the red any degree of shade or brightness you like in photshop (or indeed 10 bob software).
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Well my eyes must have photoshopped my own top in real time :p

Think it's now been established that there were a few different production companies used by Nike and there was a difference depending on what producer you got.
 
Coza said:
Honestly think it’s supposed to be two tone but I have three versions of this top all real and all different. One has a really narrow two tone line, one thick, one next to no two tone.
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That explains things nicely, and confirms I wasn't going mad after all these years. Cheers!
 
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