In the 1980s and '90s, these jackets were manufactured by Starter (New Haven, CT). The company was licensed to produce gear for all the major professional teams (baseball, hockey, basketball, and football). Starter's business peaked in 1992, when the brand made $350 million in sales. The most popular product was the winter-weight jacket... The apparel was marketed to kids in their teens and early 20s. But the gear was so popular that numerous kids became crime victims. In 1990, 17-year-old Uland Tiggs was shot and killed after he gave up his New Orleans Saints Starter jacket to a pair of robbers. In 1993, 17-yr-old Karla M. Benner was gunned down in Youngstown, OH for her Starter jacket. In 1992, 14-year-old Dewayne Williams Jr. was killed for his Raiders Starter jacket. In Chicago, 4 separate teens were murdered for their Starter jackets in 1990 alone. There were numerous other incidents reported all around the country. But the potential danger that accompanied owning a Starter jacket certainly didn’t stop very many people from buying one. I remember my Miami Hurricanes Starter Jacket like it was yesterday! We'd flip them around if we were on the move, got me out of trouble, a time or two. Skratch Bastid made a whole mixtape about Starter, and the video below was the classic Jazzy Jeff and Rodney Dangerfield commercial. Times have definitely changed.