If painting your face green or getting a tattoo is a little too extreme to show your support for the Eagles, consider buying a jersey of your favorite player.

According to local merchants, the recent success of the Eagles in the playoffs and their victory in the NFC Championship has led to increased merchandise sales.

"We noticed a big increase the last couple of days, heading up to the playoffs," said Jay Goldman, manager of Rapid Transit Sportswear, 115 S. Allen St. "We had a big rush Saturday and Sunday before the game."

One special item is an Eagles "light-up" hat, which features an Eagles logo that lights up after pushing a button inside the hat.

Goldman said he had hoped for a Steelers and Eagles Super Bowl this year because the merchandise sales would have boosted business further.

"I couldn't believe how many people were looking to get jerseys," Goldman said. "We sold more Steelers and Eagles jerseys than probably [any time] in 21 years."

Rapid Transit owner Terry Losch said they probably would have sold even more jerseys, but they were running out of sizes.

"We knew it was going to be big, but the demand was much bigger than we expected," he said.

Goldman said the store is experiencing impulse buying during the playoffs.

"There's a lot of bandwagon fans who want to be part of it," he said. "We sold 18 jerseys [Sunday], about half [of them] Eagles."

Tim Husser, manager of Champs Sports in the Nittany Mall, said the sale of football merchandise, especially Eagles brands, has picked up.

"Anytime you have a team doing well and in the conference championship, you'll sell a lot," he said. "Everybody likes a winner."

Husser said the pink versions of Eagles merchandise were popular items when they were released last year.

"It was a hit with a lot of merchandise, shoes and jerseys," he said. "It was very popular last year. This year, it slowed down quite a bit."

Husser said Steelers and Eagles jerseys were the top two sellers last week.

"We've been getting requests for [Brian] Dawkins and [Brian] Westbrook," said Quan McCray, assistant manager of Footlocker at the Nittany Mall. "We don't have them now, but we can probably get them to people by calling a different store."

Footlocker also sells Terrell Owens, Donovan McNabb, Jerome McDougle and Jevon Kearse jerseys, McCray added.

JC Penney, also at Nittany Mall, carries Eagles sweatshirts and jerseys.

"We've had some people come in for Pittsburgh apparel, but we anticipate that changing since the Eagles won,"

Pam Naugle, JC Penny senior customer service specialist, said. "If they win the Super Bowl, we will see an increase in sales."

Husser said other Eagles items, in addition to the jerseys, were very popular with customers.

"Owens was a very big seller until he was injured and McNabb sells well," he said. "All the knick knack items; flags, blankets, helmets sold extremely well this year, too."

Husser and Goldman both said they have shipments of NFC Championship and Super Bowl merchandise arriving today.

Losch said Rapid Transit was expecting a shirt delivery yesterday.

"We're definitely expecting more people to come in during the next two weeks," he said.