Henry Vega has “horrible luck” buying 49ers jerseys — until this year, he hopes.
His past purchases came the same seasons in which knee injuries struck NaVorro Bowman (2013), Jimmy Garoppolo (2018) and Nick Bosa (2020).
None of those players are from Reno, however. Vega, 30, is from there, as is wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk.
“This year, I bought a Brandon Aiyuk jersey since he’s the hometown kid, so I hope the curse is over,” Vega, 30, said of adding Aiyuk’s No. 11 to his collection. “Knock on wood.”
Aiyuk is coming off a strong rookie season. The 49ers are not. That hasn’t dampened fans’ hopes for a rebound.
Skyrocketing jersey sales reflect that. Why are jerseys a hot topic this year? A couple of reasons:
THROWBACK MODEL
If the 49ers had their way, they’d wear throwback uniforms for all 17 regular-season games (yes, a game was added this year).
“I made that request early to see if we could wear throwbacks for the entire season because it’s our 75th anniversary,” said Alex Chang, the 49ers’ chief marketing officer.
“The league typically allows up to two games per season (in throwbacks),” Chang added. “After some back and forth, it landed with six regular-season games.”
For those keeping score, the 1994 red throwbacks will debut in the Sept. 26 home opener against Green Bay, the first of four games in that same look from their last Super Bowl win.
The ’94 white throwbacks — as regaled in the 2019 team’s road to the Super Bowl — will reappear for two road games. The four other home games feature regular red jerseys, and the other seven road trips will be in regular white garb.
How popular are the much-anticipated red throwbacks?
“In the first 48 hours, around 10,000 throwback jerseys were sold,” Chang said. “That was the largest NFL alternate jersey launch in Fanatics (online store) history.”
For jersey collectors, throwbacks are a must-buy, even if the ’94 theme might be getting a little tired. “I like how they’re doing it. It gives a nod to the other teams,” said San Jose native Anthony Cassillas, 38. “But I’m living a little in the past, especially when they keep going with the ’94s. We’ve got to do something so this team doesn’t live in the past for that ’94 era.”
A 26-year Super Bowl victory drought hasn’t stopped fans from buying jerseys.
“I used to collect them a lot as a kid,” said Sergio Carmona, 34, of San Jose. “And as I grew older, it morphed into about one a year, especially when they come out with these throwbacks from our last Super Bowl (winning) season — that’s really fond in my heart.”
The throwback also proved irresistible to Jeff Vilardi, a 46-year-old fan living in Kane’ohe, Hawaii.
“I recently purchased a standard, red Bosa jersey and a throwback, ’94 red (George) Kittle one,” said Vilardi, who in 40 years as a fan has collected more than 60 jerseys.
“It’s really hard to invest in any more Garoppolo merchandise at this point, but I’m one of the few that still believe Jimmy can get it done,” Vilardi added. “A Trey Lance jersey will be ordered soon.”
The 49ers ordered up Lance with the No. 3 overall draft pick. The popular rookie will wear the No. 5 jersey, and the throwback model sold out barely 24 hours later in sizes small, medium and large.
SINGLE DIGITS
An NFL rule change this year allows single-digit uniform numbers for all players except linemen. Only quarterbacks, kickers and punters were previous one-digit wonders.
Sure enough, several players preferred the slimming look of a single digit and changed their numbers. That includes the 49ers starting defensive backs: Jimmie Ward (No. 1), Jason Verrett (No. 2), Jaquiski Tartt (No. 3) and Emmanuel Moseley (No. 4).
“When I saw (the rule change), I thought about going back to those TCU days and rockin’ that No. 2,” Verrett said.
The only single-digit unavailable among 49ers: Steve Young’s retired No. 8.
Lance is the only NFL rookie to claim No. 5. He may not want to throw in the direction of No. 5 when he faces the Los Angeles Rams, because All-Pro cornerback Jalen Ramsey switched to that from No. 20.
New jersey numbers mean new jerseys for fans who collect them — and more money for the teams and players. For example, linebacker Fred Warner switched from Nos. 48 to 54 after his rookie year — and he may have flirted with going to No. 4 this year upon the rule change.
“When Fred came in with (No.) 48, I had to get another jersey to get it signed,” said Cassilas, who now lives in Newman. “I like that they get the numbers they want, but for the fans, one year you bought a jersey then you’ve got to get another. It hurts the fans, but they’ll buy it anyway.
“At least, I will.”
Ward invoked his seniority as the longest-tenured 49er to beat wide receiver Deebo Samuel to the No. 1 jersey, but he’s no stranger to the jersey-changing game. The defensive back is changing his number for the third time in eight seasons with the 49ers (previously wearing Nos. 25 and No. 20) and will be the first 49er to wear that digit during a regular-season game since quarterback Troy Smith in 2010.
COST OF BUSINESS
Jersey fanatics are, in Chang’s words, “super passionate and every detail matters to them.” So, when online orders arrived, many fans fumed that the 49ers’ 75th-anniversary, diamond-shaped patch was ironed on rather than stitched. That went for all NFL teams, and online descriptions were amended. But the stitched patch was sold exclusively at the 49ers’ team store at Levi’s Stadium.
The online price tag for jerseys: typically $139 to $169. The price goes up with stitched numbers and names or, as Chang described it, as “the chassis of the jersey becomes more advanced and gets closer to what’s on the field.”
Colin Kaepernick’s initial NFL jersey, from his one-play debut in 2011 at Philadelphia, fetched $128,000 in an online auction in December. Julian’s Auctions claimed it as the most expensive NFL jersey sold at auction.
Three 49ers ranked among the NFL’s top-30 selling jerseys the past year: Kittle (No. 8), Garoppolo (No. 25) and Bosa (No. 29).
While throwback jerseys remain trendy, the NFL offers fewer options than the NBA, for example, which has more games and can do more city-edition jerseys or promote civic efforts.
Ah, but the 49ers do have helmets they can alternate, and an NFL guideline this summer advised teams to have special helmets that pair with throwbacks to recreate the historically accurate look. For example, the 49ers’ 1994 throwback helmets are actually a version worn by the 1955 team, whose helmets were red with a silver stripe down the middle.
A red helmet would not be in play until next year. But the 49ers likely won’t be swayed from their golden domes.
“There always could be minor updates but our look is so classic and stands the test of time,” Chang said. “Both our standard uniforms and alternates, we’re really happy with them.”
So are the fans, whose closets are lined with seemingly every color, version, number and star from the current team, as well as from decades gone by.
