Brian Urlacher “Bear Hug” Poster – Today’s Michael Jordan “Wings”

If imitation is the highest form of flattery, then the brains behind the all-time best-selling Michael Jordan “Wings” poster must be feeling very good right now! Nearly 20 years after Nike first released the legendary wall-sized poster featuring a black-and-white shot of the Chicago Bulls superstar with his arms outstretched, a local Chicagoland sporting goods distributor has taken the concept to the gridiron with “Bear Hug”, a nearly-identical design, but this time featuring the most famous defensive player in the NFL, Brian Urlacher of the Chicago Bears.

I don’t know the entire story behind this poster, but I do know how difficult it is to find. Apparently, it was originally published in December 2005, but due to licensing issues, was never shipped to stores. Then, after a local licensing agreement was reached, the posters made it into Chicago grocery stores as a Christmas item in November 2006. No national retailer was able to purchase the poster, and by the end of 2006, all stores were completely sold out.

Checking eBay, it seems that plenty of $250+ signed and framed editions are available for big spenders. For the poster only, SportsPosterWarehouse.com has a limited quantity available for a current price of $29.95.

“Wings”, when made available on eBay, sells for upwards of $100 these days, and given that this Urlacher poster was probably published in a quantity of less than 1/100 that of “Wings” (which was constantly in-print for over a decade), this is one of those items that serious poster collectors (and serious Bears fans) will want to snap up now, before it’s too late.

For those who forget – here’s “Wings”, which every Bulls fan remembers very well:

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