Any signs of changes to the Adidas retail "authentics" format and MIC not being available at all?

[Lightbringer]

So we are entering the 4th season with Adidas and they have kept the same system thus far. With almost every shop everywhere dumping prices like insane, is there any chance that there might be changes made?  We saw MICs being sold in smaller sizes on the all star jerseys. Is it possible the MICS might enter retail at for example 300$? 

Or are the shops just clearing stock because of corona? I just dont understand why places seem to want to clear everything at any cost if the teams will be wearing the same jerseys next season and everything will stay the same.

Just wanted to throw it out there, its probably just my desperation for the MICs in smaller sizes I guess 😄  

Edited September 10, 2020 by Lightbringer

[Phil the Thrill]

Honestly, I have my doubts we ever see them and if we do, it'll be towards the end of the contract when there is probably a bunch of extra overstock.

I just don't think it's worth selling them financially for any additional profit they may receive (which is probably minimal for the additional extra effort). Adidas probably knew from Reebok having the contract what kind of margins and sales data they were working with. The MICs are significantly more expensive to produce and the people who collect them represent such a small niche. Jersey collectors as a whole are their own niche and people who actually care to have the on ice product is a fraction of that.

I hope eventually we can get them or JerseyBaron gets TI stock like we did with the 2.0s, but I'm not optimistic. 

[mfitz804]

44 minutes ago, Phil the Thrill said:

The MICs are significantly more expensive to produce and the people who collect them represent such a small niche. Jersey collectors as a whole are their own niche and people who actually care to have the on ice product is a fraction of that.

I think that’s probably right, I think they’d sell them to more people than just collectors if they had them available, but probably not enough for it to make sense. 

But that said, authentic jerseys were available at retail for a really long time before the Edge. Have things changed so much that it’s no longer worth it?

Even if so, I think the teams should still get extra stock to sell. The panache of having the EXACT jersey would lure some in. They could probably sell a hundred or two a season for $300 a piece (at the arena, maybe more). Maybe that doesn’t make them rich, but it makes a couple hundred fans happy. 
 

 

 

Edited September 10, 2020 by mfitz804

[Phil the Thrill]

11 minutes ago, mfitz804 said:

I think that’s probably right, I think they’d sell them to more people than just collectors if they had them available, but probably not enough for it to make sense. 

But that said, authentic jerseys were available at retail for a really long time before the Edge. Have things changed so much that it’s no longer worth it?

Even if so, I think the teams should still get extra stock to sell. The panache of having the EXACT jersey would lure some in. They could probably sell a hundred or two a season for $300 a piece (at the arena, maybe more). Maybe that doesn’t make them rich, but it makes a couple hundred fans happy. 
 

 

 

This is what I wish. The Jets have done it (while the price tag is high at $450CAD, it's still an option). They aren't advertised publicly on their website, so you have to email directly (likely so Adidas doesn't know). 

Only reason I can think team stores don't sell them is because they they can't order extra/Adidas won't allow (which points more than likely to production capacity).

[Van67]

Highly doubt it. I tried to get the Canucks to sell me one this week and they absolutely refused after they told me to buy them in the team store and had to tell them I know the difference between what's in their store and what's on their players' backs. Then the answer I got was to bid on a game worn when available.

Edited September 11, 2020 by Van67

[Schlepprock32]

The Panthers team store recently sold me a team-issued Edge 2.0 from the '16-'17 season.  The store manager actually went to the equipment manager to see if they had any extra team-issued Adidas lying around but they didn't, otherwise they would've sold it to me.  I guess it never hurts to ask.  It depends on the team.

[KB67]

I think only EQM’s have access to ordering the MiC jerseys, they likely each have an account and order them directly from the SP Plant in Quebec that makes them, whereas the retail ones likely can only be ordered through the local Adidas rep, and they would only have access to the retail Indo’s, so it’s likely two different platforms, and only comes together as it has in this Jets example where the Team Store manager probably has a connection with the EQM and they work together, and can get some MiC’s in the store. 

[mdwsta4]

17 hours ago, mfitz804 said:

The panache of having the EXACT jersey would lure some in.

But the jersey I bought at Dicks is 'authentic' and it has a fight strap! 😛

[mfitz804]

2 hours ago, mdwsta4 said:

But the jersey I bought at Dicks is 'authentic' and it has a fight strap! 😛

You mean a fighting strap?

[Van67]

2 hours ago, mdwsta4 said:

But the jersey I bought at Dicks is 'authentic' and it has a fight strap! 😛

I'm convinced they added the cheap fight strap to the Indozeros so the average fan thinks it's the same jersey, especially given that the Canucks' retail ops manager's initial response to me was to order on Vanbase. They know most fans don't know or care about the differences, thus can be sold on the jerseys in stores being what the players wear. (Yes, I am 1000% bitter over this lol)

[mfitz804]

8 minutes ago, Van67 said:

I'm convinced they added the cheap fight strap to the Indozeros so the average fan thinks it's the same jersey, especially given that the Canucks' retail ops manager's initial response to me was to order on Vanbase. They know most fans don't know or care about the differences, thus can be sold on the jerseys in stores being what the players wear. (Yes, I am 1000% bitter over this lol)

That's old school mentality, back in the day a fight strap meant 100% it was an authentic, there were no fakes, etc. Not the case anymore. But, I don't think its a good thing for the actual manufacturer of the real jerseys to be making the cheap knockoffs themselves lol.

[Van67]

9 minutes ago, mfitz804 said:

That's old school mentality, back in the day a fight strap meant 100% it was an authentic, there were no fakes, etc. Not the case anymore. But, I don't think its a good thing for the actual manufacturer of the real jerseys to be making the cheap knockoffs themselves lol.

I'm no lawyer, but in my simpler point of view, it's blatant false advertising. Why else would Adidas put fight straps in jerseys that are so obviously not on-ice quality? It's because of just that... fight strap = what players wear. When I was still in sports retail, people would come in to show me their $40 fake jersey and tell me I'm wrong because it has a fight strap. 

I don't doubt that Adidas doesn't want teams selling on-ice jerseys (that's the term I'm now using instead of authentic lol), but at the same time with the Canucks in particular, they did offer to sell me one a couple years ago, so what changed? My guess is they want the dollars from the game worns, which for the Canucks usually have starting bids that are unaffordable for most people. I'll try again after that auction happens and they get that money.

[jsh139]

I'm guessing that they aren't selling the on ice jerseys because of cost.  Plain and simple, people just do not want to spend $400 (or whatever the cost of a MiC blank is) for a hockey jersey.  Adidas would be stuck with so much overstock if they mass produced them.  They probably learned over the years that most people are cheapskates and just want something that looks good from 10 feet away.

Edited September 11, 2020 by jsh139

[guam64]

I doubt it'll ever happen because Adidas sold off CCM including the Quebec factory that makes on-ice jerseys so they are contracting out the MiCs.

[Phil the Thrill]

55 minutes ago, jsh139 said:

I'm guessing that they aren't selling the on ice jerseys because of cost.  Plain and simple, people just do not want to spend $400 (or whatever the cost of a MiC blank is) for a hockey jersey.  Adidas would be stuck with so much overstock if they mass produced them.  They probably learned over the years that most people are cheapskates and just want something that looks good from 10 feet away.

This what I think is most likely. They knew from the EDGE 2.0 days that it wasn’t worth it. And any additional revenue/profits were marginal at best. 

[LetsGoCaps]

I get that the market for REAL authentics at retail is small.

But REAL authentics were available at retail for decades.

What changed?  Is it just so small, that it is not worth the effort?  Why produce all the retail 6100's back in the day?

I would also be interested in what the actual cost is to produce an authentic Adidas, or Edge 2.0.

Maybe I'm missing something (I have no background in textiles), but aren't machines just sewing different panels of fabrics together?  Or is it somehow really labor intensive?  Just asking for edification.

[jsh139]

There must be a significant cost differential. Why else would they farm out the labor and materials to Indonesia? It’s no different than tech companies subbing out software development to India and Russia. I see it all the time in my industry. 
 

When you accept that just about everything in business boils down to money and profit, the actions and motivations of companies becomes much, much clearer. 

[jsh139]

Think of it this way. Let’s say a MiC jersey costs $25 to produce. And the wholesale price is $300. That’s a $275 profit for each unit. Let’s say market research tells them they can sell about a 100,000 of them per year. 

Then, let’s say the Indozero jersey costs $5 to produce. And the wholesale price is $150. That’s a $145 profit for each unit. Let’s say market research tells them they can sell about 500,000 of them per year. 
 

The net profit realized from the MiC sales is $27,500,000.  Not bad. However, the net profit realized from the Indozero sales is $72,500,000!! That’s almost 3x the profit. I’m not an economist, but that’s a no brainer. 

Edited September 12, 2020 by jsh139

[mdwsta4]

On 9/11/2020 at 12:30 PM, Van67 said:

I'm no lawyer, but in my simpler point of view, it's blatant false advertising. Why else would Adidas put fight straps in jerseys that are so obviously not on-ice quality? It's because of just that... fight strap = what players wear. When I was still in sports retail, people would come in to show me their $40 fake jersey and tell me I'm wrong because it has a fight strap. 

Well don't forget, back in the day the fan jerseys were called 'replica'. When most people hear the word replica, they probably think fake/knockoff. Adidas simply uses 'authentic' as a way to say it's an authentic licensed jersey for the team. I don't agree with it, but it is what it is

[Van67]

1 hour ago, mdwsta4 said:

Well don't forget, back in the day the fan jerseys were called 'replica'. When most people hear the word replica, they probably think fake/knockoff. Adidas simply uses 'authentic' as a way to say it's an authentic licensed jersey for the team. I don't agree with it, but it is what it is

Oh I understand that... which is why I'm starting to use the term "on-ice" for what I want. Sadly though, using the term "on-ice" didn't stop the Canucks retail ops manager from telling me to order one from Vanbase, which tells me that some teams are absolutely trying to sell the "authentic" jerseys in team stores as what the players are wearing. 

Edited September 13, 2020 by Van67

[Schlepprock32]

1 hour ago, Van67 said:

Oh I understand that... which is why I'm starting to use the term "on-ice" for what I want. Sadly though, using the term "on-ice" didn't stop the Canucks retail ops manager from telling me to order one from Vanbase, which tells me that some teams are absolutely trying to sell the "authentic" jerseys in team stores as what the players are wearing. 

I think that a lot of the people that work at the official team stores don't know the difference between the two themselves.  There was team store I contacted at the arena where I inquired if they sold the Canadian-made on-ice blank authentic jerseys there, not retail ones that are made in Indonesia.  Her response was, "Oh...you mean the ones with the fight straps?  Yes we do."

Edited September 13, 2020 by Schlepprock32

[Van67]

The average part-time employee in a team store wouldn't know the players wear something different, I have no doubt. However, a team store's retail operations manager absolutely does. I think I got a response he sends anyone who asks (and I know I'm not the only one lol) and he had an "oh s***" moment when I replied telling him the team store doesn't sell what the players wear. It was then that I got the "bid on a game worn cause Adidas won't let us sell team stock" answer. 

All we can do is keep trying and maybe we'll get lucky, and you never know. Although patches are obviously not an Adidas issue, the Canucks went from just as blatantly refusing to sell loose 50th Anniversary patches in February to having them available on Vanbase once the pandemic hit. 

Edited September 13, 2020 by Van67

[KB67]

The Canucks has the exclusive on the 50th patches until the end of the regular season, so the day the season was officially canceled, they new that National Emblem and Patch Collection we’re going to start selling them way cheaper than they were selling them for, so they decided to post them on the website to try and move as many of them as they could before people saw that they were now available elsewhere.

[Devilsguy]

On 9/12/2020 at 8:40 AM, jsh139 said:

There must be a significant cost differential. Why else would they farm out the labor and materials to Indonesia? It’s no different than tech companies subbing out software development to India and Russia. I see it all the time in my industry. 
 

When you accept that just about everything in business boils down to money and profit, the actions and motivations of companies becomes much, much clearer. 

IIRC, didn't that customizer/manufacturer who used to post on here a bit (handle is on the tip of my tongue) mention once that one of the fabrics (not air-knit) on the Edge jerseys cost more per yard than most materials used to make wedding dresses?

That would explain why Reebok/Adidas probably started making the Indo's because their cost were significantly higher than the 6100's.

[jsh139]

11 minutes ago, Devilsguy said:

IIRC, didn't that customizer/manufacturer who used to post on here a bit (handle is on the tip of my tongue) mention once that one of the fabrics (not air-knit) on the Edge jerseys cost more per yard than most materials used to make wedding dresses?

That would explain why Reebok/Adidas probably started making the Indo's because their cost were significantly higher than the 6100's.

I know who you're talking about (@HannuVirta, I think? Or maybe it was @JunkyardAthletic)  But I don't recall him saying that.  But, yeah, that supports my theory of high cost of materials + high cost of labor and not enough demand for the high-priced resulting product leading to the outsourcing of jerseys.