[Editor’s Note: Today we have a special post from our founder, and Editor Emeritus, who is offering up several pieces of UW merch, including some rare and one-of-a-kind items. If you’re looking for a specific item you may have missed or you just want to add to your collection, then you’re in luck! Here’s Paul. Enjoy — PH]
Hello! I recently received emails from a couple of readers who wanted to know if certain items of Uni Watch merchandise were still available. That prompted me to do something I’d been meaning to do for a while: I inventoried all of the items I have here at the house, including some very special one-of-a-kind items.
Before I go any further: Teespring is no longer a reliable or reputable platform. They’ve stopped paying out the money they owe their creators (including me), they’ve had tons of staff turnover, and it looks like they’re teetering on the edge of going belly-up. As a result, I recently archived all of the Uni Watch product listings on their site. So all of those items — T-shirts, hoodies, pint glasses, Naming Wrongs, etc. — are now out of print. I suppose I could re-launch the designs on a different merch platform, but that would be a lot of work, and sales of the Teespring items had already slowed down considerably over the past year, so I’m inclined to just let them go.
However, there are several items that I always sold directly from Uni Watch HQ, plus I have some T-shirts and other apparel items that I saved but never wore (because it usually felt a little weird to wear a shirt for my own website), plus-plus there are some unique collector’s items that I had set aside for myself but am now ready to part with.
As you’ll see, most of these items are “one and done” — first come, first served. Prices do not include shipping. If you’re interested in making a purchase, get in touch with your address and I’ll give you a price that includes shipping charges. And as a bonus, anyone who spends at least $50 before shipping will get a free one-year subscription to my Inconspicuous Consumption column on Substack.
Ready? Here we go!
Uni Watch 25th-Anniversary Patches
Quantity available: Lots.
Details: The perfect way to commemorate Uni Watch’s first quarter-century. Measures 4″ across.
Price: $10 each.
Uni Watch Seam Rippers 
Quantity available: 2 SOLD OUT
Uni Watch Trading Cards
Quantity available: Lots.
Details: I was going to be featured on my very own official Topps trading card, but then MLB put the kibosh on that, so I decided to make my own card instead. Each comes with a relic swatch of the Uni Watch jersey I was wearing in the photo that served as the basis for the front-card illustration by the great Rob Ullman. I’m happy to sign these for you if you like.
Price: $2 each.
Uni Watch Baseball Bat
Quantity available: 1. SOLD OUT
Complete Set of 24 Uni Watch Pin Club Pins 
Quantity available: 1.
Details: Designer Todd Radom and I collaborated on a monthly series of limited-edition enamel pins in 2020 and ’21. Although most of the designs sold out, I saved a few of each pin to give to friends, to trade, etc., and I still have enough left for a complete set of all 24 editions. The graphic above shows the basic designs, but the pins look much cooler in real life, as you can see in this slideshow:
Each pin is individually numbered on the back. And the two bobblehead designs (July 2020 and September 2021) actually bobble!
Price: $450 for a full set.
Individual Uni Watch Pin Club Pins
Quantity available: Varies from 1 to 5, depending on the pin.
Details: In addition to the one full set, I have a few more of each design except for April 2020, March 2021, and December 2021. So if you’re looking to plug any holes in your collection, now is the time.
Price: $10 each.
Uni Watch 2021 Press Pin
Quantity available: 1.
Details: I have one remaining 2021 Uni Watch Press Pin. These are numbered on the back, just like the monthly pins. (The 2019 and 2020 Press Pins are now sold out, sorry.)
Price: $12.
Uni Watch Precision-Fit SpeedFlex Helmet (2017)
Quantity available: 1.
Details: In 2017 I wrote an ESPN column about Riddell’s then-new “precision-fit” helmet program. They even scanned my head and used the scans to create a genuine, full-size Uni Watch helmet, rendered in their familiar SpeedFlex model. Like all Riddell custom-fit helmets, it includes a little nameplate on the back with my signature (team equipment managers typically remove these) and an embroidered interior tag, also with my signature (just like NFL players have in their custom helmets). Here are some additional photos:
This is a pretty amazing one-of-a-kind memento and a unique conversation piece. After having it displayed in my home for many years, I’ve decided it’s time to let it go. If the purchaser wants me to autograph it, I’m happy to do that.
Price: $1,500.
Uni Watch Precision-Fit SpeedFlex Helmet (2019)
Quantity available: 1.
Details: In 2019, the Riddell folks developed a new form of 3D-printed latticework interior padding for their custom helmets, so they sent me another Uni Watch lid, this time with different striping and side logos. This one doesn’t have the backplate but does have the interior signature tag, plus it has a green chinstrap cup. Here are some additional pics (the last of which provides a good view of the latticework padding):
Again, this is a one-of-a-kind collector’s item, and it’s time to let someone else enjoy it. Again, I can autograph this if you want.
Price: $1,500.
Theoretical T-Shirts
IYKYK.
Uni Watch Lapel Pin
Quantity available: 1. SOLD OUT
Uni Watch Classic Strapback Cap 
Quantity available: 1. SOLD OUT
Uni Watch Color Remix Cap
Quantity available: 1. SOLD OUT
Uni Watch Bottle Opener
Quantity available: 1. SOLD OUT
Uni Watch Key Ring
Quantity available: 1. SOLD OUT
Uni Watch Acrylic Logo Fob 
Quantity available: 1. SOLD OUT
Uni Watch T-Shirt Club 2016 Baseball Design
Quantity available: 1. SOLD OUT
Uni Watch T-Shirt Club 2016 Basketball Design (Green)
Quantity available: 1. SOLD OUT
Uni Watch T-Shirt Club 2016 Basketball Design (Black)
Quantity available: 1. SOLD OUT
Uni Watch Hockey Goalie T-Shirt
Quantity available: 1. SOLD OUT
Uni Watch Hockey Jersey
Quantity: 1. SOLD OUT
Uni Watch Soccer Jersey (Stripes)
Quantity available: 1. SOLD OUT
Uni Watch Soccer Jersey (Sash)
Quantity available: 1. SOLD OUT
Uni Watch Cycling Jersey
Quantity available: 1. SOLD OUT
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That about covers it! Again, if you’re interested in making a purchase, get in touch with your address and I’ll give you a price that includes shipping charges. I’ll update this post as items are sold. And remember, if you spend at least $50 before shipping, you’ll get a free one-year subscription to my Inconspicuous Consumption column on Substack. Happy shopping!
for someone who hates “merch” and the commercialization of sports… he really did produce a lot of stuff over the years! lol
I hoped his dislike for merch would decline over time as he saw the benefit. Merch helped keep this site running and is a big reason sports companies can pay for good design to work on sports uniforms.
Even with that minor disappointment, I’m still eternally grateful of what Paul created for us.
Paul: if you still read comments, thanks again.
You’re very welcome!
Actually, I’ve never said I’m opposed to merch-as-merch. If a team wants to make T-shirts, key rings, foam fingers, etc., that’s all fine by me. I mean, I don’t particularly care about buying any of that stuff myself, but I don’t see anything wrong with it.
My only complaint was (and is) when merch concerns *drive the on-field uni program.* We all know the only reason teams wear black (or camo, or City Connect, or whatever) is so they can sell it. So teams end up looking like shit on the field/court/ice just so they can sell some shirts and caps. That’s my gripe.
I still fully agree with this.
I agree still and thought that take always shone through your writing.
if it helps them make money, seems like a good business plan.
There are a lot of things businesses can do to make money. Not all of them are good ideas.
Mine, too. Always has, always will. -C.
Agree 100%
This was great as a trip down memory lane. I remember the pin club as being a welcome distraction during the stay-at-home years and wound up purchasing one. As I scrolled today I felt that closeout, last chance opportunity but everything I wanted was sold out. Again, a lovely time of witnessing Paul create and offer neat stuff to this group of very pedantic people (self included)!
That sucks to hear that about Teespring. I liked the quality of their shirts and enjoyed treating myself to too many shirts over the years. I started taking some of the best Uni-Watch shirts out of regular rotation awhile ago, will have to do something with the ones I have left to keep them looking good.
This was a fun look back at a lot of great projects that happened over the years! I was thinking the other day how I won’t be getting another purple shirt this May(between my Uni-Watch and LSU shirts, purple makes up a third of my shirts colors) and felt a little sad. I know things have changed, but look forward to when something happens and another t-shirt project organically presents itself.
This is not a criticism of the price, as I honestly don’t know what would be reasonable for such an item, but $1,500 for the helmets? How was that price derived?
Arbitrary personal whim, same as all the other prices.
Truly One Of a Kind, very fair price…
Glad I bought my stuff back back when…
Thanks Paul, great colors, schemes…
Hungry for some Seattle Sushi and I’ve sad I missed earlier opportunities!! If anyone has a LARGE quantity to get rid of, let me know! ;)
*I’m
as a fan of both you and the site – i’d ask to please stop pinning this post over the MLB rundown Phil did such a good job with, i was hoping that’d be pinned for more days given how much work went into it
Just curious, has anyone sent their Uni Watch Paul Lukas baseball card to one of the various grading companies to get it graded and “slabbed”?