GREEN BAY - The Packers Pro Shop has thousands of T-shirts and jerseys, hundreds of hats and dozens of items you won't find anywhere else.
You can buy things valued anywhere between $1 and $10,000 — things that scratch your Packers-fan itch or that just make you scratch your head. Some are sensible, like mugs and water bottles, and some are just plain odd, like a foam Cheesehead skating medal. Car Air Freshener Car Logo
"It all sells," said store manager Derek Dimmer. "Somebody is buying."
Here are some of the unique things we found recently during a swing (or two) through the Pro Shop:
Who wouldn't want a $10,000 crystal-covered helmet for their Packers-themed basement? A crystal football is only $5,000, and if that's still too much for you, a mini-helmet can be had for $2,500.
You might think those are pricey, and would anyone really spend money on such things? Dimmer said they've sold several of each.
If crystal isn't your thing, a real Riddell SpeedFlex helmet like players wear is priced at $699.99, which is good if $700 would be too much. A Salute to Service version, colored olive drab, is $749.99.
If you've always wanted to own a piece of Lambeau Field and your square of Lambeau sod from two decades ago disintegrated in your freezer, sections of fence railing from the stadium are guaranteed to hold up longer.
The sections, which are 6 to 10 feet long, are $3,500 each. It's not something the average buyer would shell out for, which is partly the point. Dimmer said they did not want the fences scooped up by speculators looking to make a buck by reselling them. Also, the fences are guaranteed to have been in use since the opening of what was then New City Stadium, later named Lambeau Field, when it opened in 1957. They are original, rare (they have about two dozen of the big ones) and even pre-date Hall of Fame coach Vince Lombardi.
The Pro Shop sold out of smaller sections that were $1,500 each.
As would be expected, triangular foam Cheesehead hats are readily available in the Pro Shop. There's a pickup truck full of them in the middle of the store, but this year the shop added a special display that includes all things Cheesehead, some made of foam, some of other materials with the distinctive orange, Swiss cheese pattern.
Some items are not strictly Packers related, unless you consider everything Cheesehead as Packers related — an argument can be made for that. Dimmer said their supplier had some excess Cheesehead merchandise and the Pro Shop figured "Why not?"
The list includes — best read in your Bubba from "Forrest Gump" voice — Cheesehead bottle openers, Cheesehead door mats, Cheesehead arm sleeves, Cheesehead gnomes, Cheesehead cups, Cheesehead waste baskets, Cheesehead totems, Cheesehead beech towels, Cheesehead key chains, Cheesehead oven mitts, Cheesehead skating medals and Cheesehead cook's aprons.
The most unique item, in his estimation, was a Cheesehead coin purse. Among the most popular items were Cheesehead daggers, as in announcer Wayne Larrivee's catchphrase, "there is your dagger!" when a Packers win is assured. They sold out of the daggers and are not sure when they'll have more.
The offerings include ceiling tiles with a Cheesehead square in the middle. Suggestions for their use, other than an entire Cheesehead ceiling, include hanging them on a wall as art, or as one Pro Shop employee suggested, ask your dentist to put one in the ceiling over his chair to give you something comforting to look at while he drills away.
There is something both cool and creepy about the Day of the Dead skull statue in the Pro Shop. It's certainly not a traditional Packers item, but it looked interesting, so Pro Shop merchandise buyers agreed to give it a shot. Packers fans will go for anything as long as it includes a "G" or two.
The store also has Day of the Dead T-shirts.
Packers jewelry is extensive. It includes watches, rings, necklaces, earrings, bracelets and enamel lapel pins reminiscent of the kind athletes like to trade at the Olympics. The pins have every kind of Packers symbol and some unusual subjects. Two have barns on them and another includes a bean-bag-toss board, a staple of tailgating parties. There are even some pins left from last summer's Bayern Munich-Manchester City soccer match.
Packers-branded batteries are useful, but not the most efficient way to show the colors.
Chicago fans would be distressed at the number of Teddy and other style bears throughout the Pro Shop wearing Packers clothing, or even made out of material printed with Packers symbols. It's an opportunity for every Packers fan to own the Bears.
For fans who feel their lives are lacking magic, or magnetism at least, there's the Packers hover helmet. The helmet hovers and spins in mid-air, and could go next to that $10,000 crystal beauty in a Packers basement.
Bobbleheads have long become a fan favorite. The Pro Shop even has a Spongebob Squarepants one — though it wouldn't be accurate to call it a bobblehead. The anatomy of Mr. Squarepants is such that the whole thing is a bobble.
For the tailgater who thinks they have everything, the store offers two styles of remote-controlled coolers shaped like Hummers. The fully foam-insulated vehicles have real LED headlights, Bluetooth speakers and two built-in cup holders. They hold about 30 cans with ice.
Pet owners haven't been left out. The Pro Shop has an entire display of collars, leashes, harnesses, chew toys, beds and more for the discriminating Packers-loving dog.
In one of their jewelry cases, the Pro Shop has an ice cream scoop and bottle opener with handles made from wood recovered from the original benches in New City Stadium. As rare as the stadium fence railings, the ice cream scoop goes for $159.99 and the bottle opener for $134.99. There's also a money clip and billfold that includes game-worn jersey material.
Finally, if $10,000 is too rich for your purse, a dollar will get you a squished penny at the Packers penny press. Five designs are available: Packers logo past, Packers logo present, a Lambeau Field penny, a Go Pack Go penny and a football player and football penny.
Pressed penny are a thing for collectors and there's even a website, PennyCollectors.com, that keeps track of where machines are located, down to their location in the store. For example, it tells you the machine in the Pro Shop is near the old truck in the middle of the Pro Shop, and it's not wrong.
Car Air Freshener Customised Contact Richard Ryman at rryman@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @RichRymanPG, on Instagram at @rrymanPG or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/RichardRymanPG/.