The Philadelphia 76ers Go Retro

In an unprecedented move, the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers have decided to change its primary logo and color scheme and revert back to its “traditional ‘76ers basketball’ logo and red, white and blue color scheme. The basketball logo was last used during the 1996-97 season and consists of a color scheme that was originally established in 1963 and used during the Sixers’ two championship seasons in 1966-67 and 1982-83.” (link)


I can’t even begin to tell you how happy this makes The Blot. The logo you see above is a classic and something that should have never been abandoned in the first place. The 76ers tried to become “hip” with a modern logo and dark color scheme, and you know what? It failed. The team had a few good years with Iverson, but ever since he left the franchise it has been searching for an identity…an identity it has had all along. Just by reverting to their classic logo and traditional red, white and blue color scheme the franchise will be able to remind its city of their championship years and reenergize its fan base.


What it is that makes teams feel like they need to mess with their look? It always seems to be for a piss poor reason, like the opening of a new stadium, the drafting of a potentially amazing player or to give a facelift to a team in rebuilding mode. But whatever the reason is, it’s typically the wrong decision. Just think of all the classic team logos and color schemes in the four major North American sports leagues and I can almost guarantee not a one of them has changed their logo or colors: teams like the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees in baseball, the New York Giants and Dallas Cowboys in football and the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers in basketball. Thankfully, we can now add another franchise to that list…the Philadelphia 76ers.

Michael Lau x Mindstyle The Godfather Marionette Vinyl Figure

The Blot is a HUGE fan of The Godfather movies, so when the news that Michael Lau, the godfather of urban vinyl, would be designing a Godfather vinyl figure first hit the internet I freaked out. I had all these different visions of what a Lau designed Marlon Brando vinyl figure would look like…and now we know. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine Lau would go with a marionette theme, but it def works in tying in The Godfather logo with the image of Brando’s Vito Corleone.


The creation of this figure was made possible due to a licensing agreement between MINDstyle International and Paramount Pictures, and marks the launch of their new The Godfather art toy collectibles (ATC) line. In my opinion, the only downfall to this figure is the announcement that this figure will have two alternate limited edition colorways available from select retailers. How they could possibly feel a designer vinyl figure of Vito Corleone could possibly need additional colorways is beyond me! You just don’t mess with a classic.


This original version of The Godfather (with marionette) is packaged in a special limited edition collectors box and will launch at the “Family Tradition” art exhibition curated by Ron English in Los Angeles on Sunday, July 19th at De la Barracuda. The figure will also be available in extremely limited quantities at MINDstyle’s San Diego Comic Con booth #4545.


The Michael Lau x Mindstyle The Godfather Marionette Vinyl Figure is 8 inches tall (12 inches with the marionette attached) and has a limited run of 300 figures. The Godfather OG colorway is expected to retail for around $175.