Here’s the Last Uniform Style Guide That Paul’s Selling

Hello! Today I’m gong to start taking bids on the final uniform style guide in my collection. As you may recall, I’ve previously shown you MLB, NFL, and NHL guides, but this time we’re moving to the hardcourt, with the 2004-05 NBA Style Guide (plus, as a bonus, all the updated pages for 2005-06).

The 2004-05 guide is housed in a three-ring NBA binder, which I received during a meeting I had at the NBA offices in September of 2004. The front of the binder is shown above; here’s a flip-through video and a look at the spine and the back:

Although the front cover shows the WNBA and NBA Development League logos, and although teams from both of those leagues are listed on the back cover, this guide covers only the NBA — not the WNBA or the D League.

The guide is divided into three sections. The first contains logos sheets for the league and for each of the 30 NBA teams. You can see all of those sheets in this slideshow:

The next section features uniform sheets for all 30 teams. About half of the teams got just one sheet, but those with alternate uniforms got two sheets. There’s also a sheet covering the league’s NOB fonts, which had been standardized that season. You can see all of these sheets here:

The third and final section shows the league’s then-current Hardwood Classics logo database — in other words, all of the throwback logos that teams could draw upon. All of those sheets are shown here:

In addition, I have updated pages reflecting all of the design changes for the 2005-06 season, which the NBA folks gave me during a meeting in their offices in August or September of 2005, so this style guide really covers 2004-05 and 2005-06.

Some notes about these 2005-06 update sheets:

• Some of the design changes outlined in these sheets had not yet been made public at the time the sheets were given to me, so many of the sheets are stamped “CONFIDENTIAL” in big yellow lettering.
• These updates cover some interesting promotions, like the Heat/Grizzlies preseason game in Puerto Rico; the Hornets’ temporary relocation from New Orleans to Oklahoma City in the wake of Hurricane Katrina; the George Mikan memorial patch that was worn by the Lakers and Timberwolves; the 30th anniversary of the NBA/ABA merger; the Bulls’ 40th anniversary; and more.
• These 2005-06 update sheets do not have holes punched in them, so they have not been added to the three-ring binder (although you could easily punch holes in them yourself and add them to the binder if you wanted). In addition, the logo and uni sheets for each updated team have been stapled together (although, again, you could easily remove the staples if you wanted to separate the sheets).
• There’s also a checklist that runs down all the changes.

You can see these 2005-06 update sheets here:

Oddities

A few of the 2005-06 updates were really subtle. For example, the only change for the Bobcats (remember the Bobcats?) was that they shortened the serif on their numeral 1. The NBA folks highlighted this minor change by giving me old and new sheets together, with the “1” circled:

Similarly, the crown logo on the back of the Kings’ jersey, which had been slightly angled so the base of the crown was running “uphill” from left to right, was rotated slightly clockwise for the 2005-06 season, so the base of the crown became horizontal. I specifically remember the NBA people describing this change to me and showing me how they had circled the crowns on the Kings’ updated style sheet for me:

Imperfections

As you may have noticed in the slideshow of the 2004-05 uniform sheets, the last five pages in that section are upside-down, because the NBA employee who compiled this guide mistakenly punched holes on the wrong edge of those pages. Here’s another look at those pages, so you can see what I mean:

The hole punches should have been along the top of each sheet, not the bottom. If you wanted, you could punch the holes in the proper spots and reorient the pages accordingly.

Aside from that, this style guide is in near-mint shape.

Minimum bid: $300

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So that’s our final item. I’ll be selling this via silent auction, which will work like so:

• If you want to bid on this item, email your bid to me by 5pm Eastern this Friday, May 30. Be sure your bid at least matches the minimum bid of $300.
• If you submit a bid and then decide before the deadline that you want to increase it, that’s fine. Just email me with the revised bid amount.
• High bid wins (duh). In the event of a tie, I will offer the tied bidders the chance to increase their bids. If they both decline that option, I’ll flip a coin to determine the winner.
• I will contact the winning bidders to arrange payment and shipping. If a winning bidder does not follow through with payment, I will contact the next-highest bidder.
• I will provide free domestic shipping. If a winning bidder is not from the U.S., then they’ll have to cover the shipping costs.
• If you want any additional photos or information about an item before bidding on it, or if you have any other questions about all of this, feel free to contact me and I’ll respond as quickly as I’m able.
• If this item does not receive any bids, I’ll put it up for auction on eBay at a later date.

Meanwhile, looking back at the items I put up for bids two weeks ago, congrats to reader Robert Sajdak, who won the four NHL style guides (for a bid of $252), and reader Jeff Brennecke, who won the 2008 L.A. Kings brand guide ($75).

That’s it. Thanks for your consideration, and happy bidding!