BALLS TO THE WALL
Words : Nick Santora | Images : Costacos Brothers
If you could live the life you ’ ve always imagined , what would it look like ? Most people can ’ t dream big enough to believe that anything is possible , but a select few are able to remove all fear and doubt , to make it happen . The most influential people in the world provide the rest of us with a glimmer of hope through their accomplishments . The Costacos brothers inspired a generation of young sports fans through awesome posters of their childhood idols brought to life as comic book superheroes . John Costacos discusses how the perfect combination of confidence , ignorance and luck helped he and his brother sell over thirty million posters from 1986 - 1996 .
How did you get started in the sports world ?
John Costacos : It started with the Washington Huskies “ Purple Reign ” shirt . I gave one to one of the local sportscasters , and he showed it on the air and then it really took off , so that was my first lesson . If you ’ re lucky enough to hit something that has that much publicity behind it and a good team , then people will get excited and buy it . I sold 23,000 of them , and I didn ’ t even know what I was doing .
How did you go from t-shirts to posters ?
After the season , I was at this store that sold fan stuff in downtown Seattle called The Locker Room and asked the girl working what people were asking for that they didn ’ t have , and she immediately said , “ A poster of Kenny Easley .” I literally didn ’ t know anything about printing posters . This type of stuff used to drive my brother crazy and probably still does . This is how this works in my head : “ Hmm . There ’ s somebody selling posters . I see them out there , so there must be some sort of way to make money .” I didn ’ t spend the time researching the logistics of it . I just called the Seahawks and asked for Kenny Easley ’ s agent ’ s number . They said Leigh Steinberg , so I called and left a message for him . I get this call back from Jeff Moorad , who was his new partner at the time , and he said Kenny wanted to meet with me .
Did you tell them you wanted to shoot in a dark alley with explosions going off behind him ?
Actually , yes . That came from seeing the “ Iceman ” poster that was made by Peter Moore and Nike . I always loved what he did . I know people at Nike who thought we did the “ Iceman ” poster , and I was like , “ No . Peter Moore did it . That guy ’ s our hero !” I think he had just left Nike around that time .
Volume 1 | classickicks . com | Classic Kicks | 53