The 1983 Windbreaker outfit (#10) is one of the hardest to record accurately. The only piece that is labelled is the shirt, so if the jacket and pants get separated, it’s hard to know which ones go back with which shirt. And if you’re me, you indiscriminately upgraded jackets over the years and have no idea which you did this to.
I am currently working to determine distinguishing characteristics between the jackets. This is where I need other collectors to help!
If you have even one complete windbreaker outfit I really, need your help. Please read to the end and complete the survey.
The Logo
The following pictures show the difference between Coleco, Jesmar, Tsukuda, and 25th Anniversary jackets. However, there does not appear to be a visible difference between the Coleco factory jacket logos.
The Bottom Hem
A friend and I recently noticed that the bottom hem (that is elasticized) is finished differently around the zipper on various jackets. Unfortunately, I am unsure which pattern goes with which factory.
Zipper Pull Tabs
My friend and I also noticed that there were at least two different zipper manufacturers used for the Coleco jackets.
Most of the zippers in my patch are made by the KKK Company. This is an Indian company that opened in 1980 and is now a major producer of zippers. The second is the VKK company. I found little information on the company, but the initials appear on many items from the 50s and 60s which are described as ‘fakes’. I have no idea if this is the same supplier that CPK used. Currently, there is a zipper company based out of Manila with the name VKK Manufacturing Company.
At the moment, using my small sample to try and see a pattern, the P factory used VKK, while the other Coleco factories used KKK. If that is the case, we can at least match P jackets with P shirts.
The only Jesmar windbreaker outfit that I have has TREBOO on the zipper tab. The 25th Anniversary outfits have white plastic zippers with no label on the pull tab.
How you can help
If you have a complete windbreaker outfit (it all came together and you know it), please take this survey. (Done through Google Forms, but you don’t need it, to use it.)
The survey shouldn’t take you more than a few minutes. In fact, for those of you with kids in boxes, it will probably take you longer to get the liner out of the box! You can fill out the survey repeatedly for each outfit that you have. One outfit or ten, the more feedback I get, the more accurate my conclusions will be. Please, I need your help.
