Acme Soccer & Widget Works
Half comic book, half soccer catalog…that’s probably the best way I could describe the Acme Soccer & Widget Works catalog. Each catalog followed Billy Preston and his team FC Nil. Bill and his teammates would face different obstacles in each catalog. Billy gets his Acme Boots Stolen in this issue…quickly needing another pair of quality boots at a reasonable price…before FC Nil faces off against the mighty Bayern Monster.
Acme was kind of like Eurosport’s older brother Kyle. You know Kyle…he’s the kid who moves above the garage and spends a good portion of his time trading Dead shows from 77. He’s conscientious about the environment and doesn’t seem all that interested in turning a profit. He does what he does because he likes to…not because he has to. Yeah…Acme was that guy.
Acme was great for finding rare gems at great prices. It was rare that you came across a pair of Hi-Tec or Patrick boots in the other catalogs…Acme sold them…and sold them on the cheap. I always assumed that Acme sold all of the inventory that Eurosport didn’t want to sell in their catalog…either because it was a few years old…or they just had a surplus of gear.
Acme was green before it was cool to say you were “green.” Their catalogs were printed on recycled paper with soy inks. They urged subscribers to recycle their catalogs. I’ve been recycling this catalog for about 15 years…as the wear and tear depicts.
This particular catalog was created and illustrated by Jeff Poe and Candis Rivers.
Acme was the best, they had the best prices on some of the best stuff around. You could get last years $50 and up keeper gloves for $15. Kits from all over the world for a better than fair price. This was before you could just order anything online. Living in middle America, Acme catalog was a gem of football culture to me and helped make me the proudly football obsessed man I am today.
Exactly! That’s what I loved about it.
Growing up we used to always hit the Adidas factor outlet in Spartanburg, SC on the way home from Hilton Head. It wasn’t like an Adidas store in an outlet mall…it was an actual factory. You’d have to rummage through a pile of Adi Spezials to find your size, you’d have to sift through a box full of replicas to find the jersey you wanted…everything was cheap too.
Acme reminded me of the Adidas Factory Outlet. You would never find the latest gear…but you would always find rare gear. It was a great place to find things that your friends didn’t have, Hummel apparel, and old PSV Eindhoven jersey, patrick boots.
I’ve been out of the loop for years, does Acme still have a catalo & mail-order service? I haven’t been able to find anything online, just an N.C. location (not sure if it’s current).
I ordered the heck out of some Acme gear back in high school!
Is there anything like Acme around today? I have looked, and I have not seen any thing comparable in quality and price to Acme back in the day.
I used to look thru the catalog and sometimes I would order some stuff, but sometimes they would be sold out of my size…but the art work was amazing..loved
it!
Acme was D-Best!!! I used to read their little comics they put on thier catalogs in the 90’s. I assume the company just desappeared or got bought by eurosoccer. In prices there was no comparison, Acme kick *#&$*& out of Eurosport.
I cannot believe this website exists. Big thanks to whoever runs this site. Acme catalogs were dope. They were the TJ Maxx of soccer catalogs. I remember getting 2 Hummel windbreakers for $10 ea. While Eurosport is good for the essentials and the photography, Acme took care with the comics and lounge stuff like sandals, warmups, and t-shirts. I have to go listen to Nirvana now.
I miss this company! I need some shorts! They were so much cheaper than buying in town or from Eurosport. This is where we got all our stuff from. I don’t play soccer anymore, but I still love to wear the gear.
I loved Acme! Back in the days of having little access to world football, it was always awesome to scoop up replicas on the cheap of teams at the time I couldn’t even identify. Hell I still have a Borussia Mönchengladbach jersey I scooped up which I conveniently donned when Bradley was playing there. For a decade I didn’t even know what team it was for 😉
I wish Acme would come back, though in the day of the inter-webs there probably isn’t any point.
Here’s that BM jersey, btw:
http://www.oldfootballshirts.com/en/teams/b/borussia-monchengladbach/old-borussia-monchengladbach-football-shirt-s29474.html
Loved Acme back in the day! Cheapest soccer gear anywhere! I still remember the comics they used to print…always gave me ideas to use on the field. My playing days are long over, but this was one of the best memories.
I remember Acme’s sales – waiting up ’til midnight to be one of the first to order so I could get some great gear for an amazing price in my size – then subsequently getting a busy signal because the lines were tied up with people doing the exact same thing as me…good times! Sucked when the catalog went away and it was just Eurosport/Soccer.com.