Van67

Templates aren't always bad. Back in the early 2000s (and some manufacturers still do it this way), major companies producing soccer jerseys had templates all the way down the line. Design was the same for everyone and name and number fonts for national teams were the same for everyone. (I specify national teams because a lot of domestic leagues have their own fonts that teams must use for league matches.) The only differences between teams were colours and logos/crests. If you had a Nike national team playing another Nike national team, it looked like a practice match. Aesthetically, It.Was.Boring. At least with what we have in the NHL, teams have some liberty with their designs. IE: No way the Canadiens were ever going to change their design, so Reebok and Adidas had to make sure their templates were compatible to keep teams happy. The only things that are the same league-wide are the shoulder dimples, collar design, NHL logo, underarm mesh and materials. That doesn't bother me.

Yup. I'm with you. "Authentic" just doesn't mean what it used to. In another FB discussion last week, I simply stated what I consider "authentic" to mean and several people argued with me that Made in Indonesia is "authentic, just not MIC authentic". Sad reality today is that "authentic" simply means not counterfeit. I'm starting to use the term "on-ice quality" to avoid confusing the kids in the hobby.

The "team issued" term has been around for a while. Reebok 6100s without the retail neck tag is when I first became aware of team issued jerseys. Reebok team issued Edge jerseys also had no retail neck tag and brought in the reinforced fight strap. I do agree there is a difference between game issued and team issued. As far as Adidas goes, well, they're all at least team issued at this point. One thing I've noticed since Adidas took over, is the acronym "MIC" is on a lot of sale listings for non-Adidas jerseys. Reebok did start the Made in Indonesia "authentic" garbage so the acronym does apply to them with relevancy... I'm talking about "MIC" as a selling point for old stuff. I recently got a Russia 2002 Olympics authentic jersey, and the seller made a point that it was "MIC". I got a decent price for it, so I held off being an a$$ and I didn't say "yeah, everything authentic was back then" lol.

No. Should have clarified that in my opinion I suppose.

The topic spilling over to the Stars game worn group is without a doubt because of this jersey... https://www.ebay.ca/itm/Dallas-Stars-Jamie-Benn-Team-Issued-Jersey-Adidas-Size-56-Made-In-Canada/184649123563?hash=item2afdf206eb:g:gXYAAOSwMZdgGys1 This jersey has wear, team repairs and the seller describes it as "Shows signs of game/practice use." Practice use? [Insert Allen Iverson here.] Obviously this is a camp and/or game worn jersey (likely exhibition games) stripped, re-customized with Jamie Benn's name and number and misrepresented as a jersey issued to him. This is all kinds of wrong and it's why some game worn collectors would call my Adidas MIC jerseys "frankensteins" or as some put it in that discussion last week, just as bad as fake jerseys (which is absolutely insane). Small consolation that the price reflects that the jersey was absolutely not issued to Jamie Benn, but it's still a blatant misrepresentation. I will echo the opinion that game worn jerseys shouldn't be stripped. I do understand completely if someone who is a no-name to us, might one day down the road, want the jersey he wore for his handful of NHL games. We see it occasionally on the FB groups and the effort to find someone's jersey for him is a good part of the community. Game issued jerseys however? Fair game to do whatever the f*** you want with (I have two more arriving today and yes, I'm stripping them tonight!) and when people like the seller of that Benn jersey come around, torch em. As for Adidas (also have to include the league with them), when the argument from their side is that it's not worth the cost to make enough MIC jerseys for retail sales, based on how many they feel fans will buy, there's no amount of pressure from people like us that will get their attention. It sucks, but it's reality.

I'm fairly certain the Olympics are Swift material for everyone, even the traditional cuts (looking at some 2018 photos, it looks like it anyway), and the regular IIHF tournaments, only Canada (and possibly USA) use them.

Yet the Canucks tell me Adidas won't let them sell any. A bit of both maybe?

The Capitals is definitely the most obvious (also has incorrect nameplate material). I did post on FB's game worn group to see if anyone has measurements, but so far no response. You're right and can absolutely guess whose work this is. Still has one of my jerseys to send back, so I'm going to wait until I post a full-blown review of my experience. The lesson I've learned is that I'm no longer sending any jerseys out without every last detail specified, beyond what I used to consider every last detail (I don't give two ****s if the companies like it or not). IE: Specifying airknit nameplate material is no longer good enough, I will be specifying "CCM airknit to match jersey material". I will also seek measurements for everything prior to sending anything out.... which segways into the Whalers nameplate. I cropped the pics to the edges of the numbers. It's not the most egregious of things, but some of us are picky enough to see such a small difference lol (and maybe the arm numbers look off because they're not flat in my photo. They look fine in person. Gamer... Mine...

Here are the pics... Gamer on top, what I have on the bottom. Capitals: Arm numbers I got are fine. Back numbers: Easiest way to tell they are too small, is the bottom left, which is well into the black stripe on what is likely a bigger jersey than my 52. Letters on the nameplate are also clearly bigger on the gamer. Sharks: Numbers are fine. Main reason this needs fixing is incorrect nameplate material, so I want to be sure I have every detail specified when getting a new nameplate. The gamer seems like the letters are a bit taller and stretched compared to what I got. Whalers: Numbers are fine. Difference in size of the letters of the nameplate is not much. Even I need to look at it a little close to see it, but if I'm going to get some new nameplates done.... when in Rome.

Most people in that discussion seem both respectful in their opinions and the fact that not everyone shares their views on the matter.. but at least one or two seem to think some of us stripping Adidas GI's (because we can't f***ing get em at retail) is going to lead to some massive jersey fraud epidemic in a few years. I must be having a rough day to have let one draw me into a goddam keyboard warrior battle on a f***ing Facebook group lol. I only have one game-worn AHL jersey so if that group wants to ban me, whatever I guess!

Legit in the sense that it's a Made in Indonesia licensed replica, though Adidas labels them authentic. It is not, however, an on-ice quality jersey.

Anyone stripping game worn/issued jerseys to re-customize.

Wow that thread on the game worn group is getting Facebook-tough. One buddy wants to publish a list of us all and run us out of the groups LOL

In a nutshell, I got a box back today and I'm in a mood. Some of it is on me, some not (will divulge when I'm in a better mood because it will need a review in this community lol). The part that's on me is I did not seek out specific measurements for some things and I'm hoping for some help for when I get around to having it all fixed. Whalers 92-93 - size of letters for the name. Sharks 94-95 - size of letters for the name. Capitals 97-98 - size of numbers (back and arms) and letters for the name. Cheers.

That's exactly why I just spent $500 CAD on a Canucks 19-20 game-issued jersey. Never hit the ice for a game, so I see no problem with stripping it. And yes, if Adidas offered them at retail I would absolutely go that route.

Update on my NSJ experience. Box arrived today and 4 of the 5 jerseys I sent and paid for were in the box. My instinct is that in the cluster he's clearly been in for months, he probably just missed getting it into the box. Bottom line though, it's paid for and not in the box. I just hope the urgent email I just sent about it gets treated on an urgent basis. Not holding my breath sadly. EDIT: I did get a prompt response. The issue will be taken care of and nothing bad happened to the jersey. He claimed to have emailed me last week about it, which I didn't get, but I will give him the benefit of the doubt on that.

The example I would use for mistakes that would upset me isn't something like a lacklustre stitching job. It's more like if I get an airknit nameplate instead of edge material, if a nameplate has 3" letters when I made clear I wanted 3.25" or if I get zig zag stitching when I specified straight stitching... Those are the kinds of things I expect my requests to be adhered to every time.

Yes Josh is still at EPS. I've had recent communication with him. In the end, with some of our detailed requests, although we're not the business that keeps their operations running, we're still paying for a service they offer. Especially at Keener now, we're paying a lot more since their price hike. They can be annoyed all they want, but we're still paying for them to get it right.

A number of people have complained that they've been met with a "we know what we're doing so don't tell us how to do it" attitude when specifying smaller details that some of us can be picky about. I haven't experienced it myself from Keener and I hope not to. I sent one jersey to them that just got delivered, and it's one that I have to pay a good chunk extra because the fonts aren't in their computers...and communication I've had about it gives me hope that I won't experience any negativity with what I've asked for. Time will tell.

Just to weigh in on customizers... To say North Star is currently challenging to work with is a bit of an understatement. Some kind of switch flipped around last fall and getting any kind of a response required multiple emails and Facebook messages, and even then it was no guarantee. I finally got a box shipped back this week from my 8-week turnaround quote that turned into over 6 months. The guy does excellent work, but right now he's clearly biting off way more than he can chew. Keener is good but a recent price hike has turned a lot of people off. I'm sorry, but $120 CAD for a one-colour kit is ridiculous. Their attitude towards customers like us has also been questionable since their business has grown substantially. That said, I had some recent communication regarding a jersey they are my best option for and it was better than I expected. EPS is good too but being in Canada, the current shipping climate (for lack of a better term) will probably have me biting the bullet with Keener for a few jerseys I need done soon.

Don't lose all hope at 2 months with cross-border items (and domestic too crossing Canada). I had a baseball jersey from Chicago take about as long stuck at the border last summer. This week is also a bad one for Canada Post's facility in Mississauga (where a lot of international mail enters Canada). A recent covid outbreak there has 220+ positive cases and Canada Post is warning people to expect delays because of it, which is obviously on top of delays already happening.

Interesting. I have a Canada 2010 Swift jersey that has the nameplate zig-zag stitched on when those game jerseys had a straight stitch, because EPS refused to do it anything but their way. It's been a while since that one, so maybe I'll try again as I'll soon need a Canucks Adidas nameplate done with only the top and bottom surged. Wish me luck lol.

I paid as the business week was basically ending. Expecting a tracking number by Saturday morning is a bit unreasonable. I'll give him a business day or two before I go harassing him for it. I do agree that the review on FB is troublesome, if accurate. No way should anyone be getting a couple jerseys in a matter of weeks when so many of us are waiting 6-7 months. It's also an online review, so many of which are complete horse**** anyway. It doesn't make sense that one person, who happens to go write a review on his FB page that's been inactive since October, got jerseys done in a few weeks when so many of us know how backed up NSJ is.

Keener did my 90s Canucks jerseys just fine... but that was also when their prices were reasonable. Regarding EPS, I've asked them for specific sewing styles for nameplates and patches (IE: straight stitch instead of zig-zag). Based on my communication with them, they might charge you an extra few dollars "if we have to sew a special way" for patches, but for nameplates (be it how they surge or sew them to the jersey), the answer I got was "we'll do it how we do it".

Another one I just gotta share before it gets re-customized.