Thursday: Throwback Thursday
After a quick looksie of these concepts earlier this week, I immediately thought "this is the most throwback-y review day ever, I love it!". Not every concept today is a throwback/retro/vintage/classic/traditional jersey, but there are a few, and they're glorious.
So wait, what is the difference between a throwback, retro, vintage, classic, and traditional jersey anyways? They're words that I use all of the time to describe jerseys that look...well...old. There's a certain charm that these jerseys have, otherwise they would be just called "old". But all of the other lingo gets thrown in and abused by everyone, myself included. It can get confusing, but in general, all of those words mean that its not a new style, and it looks great.
You know what else looks great? The concepts nominated for COTY 4th Quarter, as well as the whole pile of concepts nominated for COTW. Regardless of the title, these are important votes, and we need your input. If people don't vote, then we might as well let one person decide the fate of these concepts. That's no fun. What if it was me deciding? I'll give you a Throwback Thursday example for you:
Caleb F.
TG
Yay: We start off with the Steel City Penguins. At least, thats what they would be called if they were wearing these. These jerseys don't venture off too far from the Penguins look, but the addition of a grey "steel" design on the arms and yokes is interesting to say the least. It's really cool because it's a look that I've never thought I'd see, yet it looks pretty decent. A+ for originality.
Nay: The thing is, I'm not sold on it yet. If it was just a goofy one-off concept, I'd leave it as such. But I really think this could have potential for an awesome look for the Pens. It does however need work. The dark grey works for the steel look, but there needs to be more of it, on the equipment perhaps, or even on the logo somehow. Even the "chromified" logo would go something more "metallic" for this jersey. I think there just has to be more "steel", so the existing parts don't look out of place.
Overall: I really like these jerseys, and they're executed well. But I think it has the potential to be so much more than it is currently. 8.1/10
Adirondack Phantoms Concept - Kaner88
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Yay: Here we have an interesting 3rd jersey for the Baby Flyers. To compare to other Phantoms' jerseys, this would be most similar to the "retro" jerseys from 2009, except the black and orange for the letters swapped, and the arms are now plain white with stripes. This is a very college-ready uniform, and it would definitely fit the bill as a retro jersey as is.
Nay: The Phantoms' retro jersey had the problem that "Adirondack" is a pretty long name to throw on the front of the jersey. In this case, "ADK" looks way too short, so that its hard to feel any connection between the 3 letters spaced so far apart. There's a bit of pixelation with the shoulder patch logos, and the hem stripes should be right on the trim of the jersey, to match the back (or the back stripes should be raised and straightened, either or). The stripes should be a bit thicker as well I think.
Overall: I like the approach, but if this was a retro jersey, it would be better off staying in the past. 7.2/10
Team Canada Concept - Stephen T.
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Yay: Finally, a simple Canada jersey that we can (mostly) all agree on. I'm personally not a fan of all of the "razzle dazzle" Canada puts into their jerseys come Olympics time. We don't need to look the best, we just have to be the best.
Sorry, my inner Don Cherry came out with that comment. I love the simplistic approach here. Canada's colours are red and white, not grey, gold and black. I like the logo, I like the simplistic design, and there's nothing to complain about execution-wise.
Nay: I have two problems with the jersey. 1) I'm not a huge fan of totally plain arms. If you throw in some stripes, even just a couple plain, straight white ones, I think it would be perfect, nothing too fancy. 2) This white jersey is good, but how about a red one? Assuming the jersey stayed the same but inverted, you'd either have red pants to look fully red, or *gasp* white pants. Not even the Oakland Seals were that crazy.
Overall: Simple is better here, but it may be a little too simple. Great Canadian look though. 7.4/10
Tampa Bay Lightning Concept - Avi S.
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Yay: Tampa isn't a classic team, so I never understood why they changed to a simpler look. I'm a huge fan of their original jerseys, and this 3rd jersey by Avi goes back in that direction. The white yokes and blue collar definitely bring me back to the 90's, but the stripes are kind of their own beast. The striping pattern is cool, the jersey is believable, and it covers a few different eras of Lightning history, without making it "vintage", so good work.
Nay: I've always hated the "Bolts" wordmark logo, but I guess it can pass here. The thin grey stripe is too thin, and barely noticeable against the larger white stripe and the black of the jersey. Peaking ahead to your next concept, I noticed that you probably kept the shoulder patches white on both concepts. Thing is, you have a white yoke, so those logos are kinda sorta not there. And finally, Lightning Pants, or Thunder Thighs? Never a fan of the lightning bolt pants.
Overall: This jersey has a lot going for it, but it also could use a lot of work. I wouldn't mind Tampa bringing back this sort of look though. 7.5/10
Tampa Bay Lightning Concept - Stephen T.
Yay: As mentioned, here is Avi's other concept for today: Another Lightning jersey. Essentially, the jersey looks like their current 3rd jersey, with the hem stripes being the biggest difference. The striping pattern is the same as the last concept, with the colours swapping and the last stripe becoming thicker and the middle being thinner. Like the last jersey, it's a good look, but this one sticks to a more modern approach.
Nay: Last time, the grey stripe was too thin. Now, its the white stripe. The white is noticeable this time, but I think it needs to be thicker anyways. The jersey design is pretty much the same as the last concept, so I don't have much more to add, besides its good to see the shoulder patches this time.
Overall: Execution-wise, this jersey is better. But the nostalgic in me is liking the black jersey more. Since they're very similar concepts, I'll call it a draw. 7.5/10
Milwaukee Admirals Concept - Kyle N.
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Yay: Since we had the MilwAUkee* Admirals contest a while back, I've reviewed quite a few of these jerseys. I can't remember if this was in the contest or not, but so far I'd guess it would've been one of my favourites. I love the white jersey, like the 3rd, and feel indifferent about the dark one. The striping pattern on the white and 3rd are really stellar. The stripes on the 3rd jersey give it a real retro look to it, especially by the yoke.
Nay: As you may have noticed with my first sentence, you've spelt Milwaukee wrong. Sorry, I get ODC with those kinds of things. On the dark jersey, there needs to be some more white somewhere in the jersey, and the thin blue strips look a little lost against the black background. And I'm not sure if the TV numbers are that large on purpose on the 3rd jersey, but I think they're a tad too big.
Overall: I love seeing full sets of jerseys, but if this concept just had the white jersey, it might get rated higher. 7.8/10
Team Canada Spengler Cup Concept - Ted N.
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Yay: A little bias here, as much as I love the World Juniors, the Spengler Cup is easily my favourite hockey tournament of the year. The designs are so different from what we see here in North America, yet the Canadians still look great, and would do the same here. It has everything a Spengler jersey would; low logo, tons of advertisements, a cool retro Canadian logo, and a funky but awesome striping pattern. Even the number on the front looks great, and I hate those usually.
Nay: I know they tend to squeeze the advertising on these jerseys, even on the socks, but I think the logo and number on the socks is pushing it for Canada. I think it looks goofy seeing "Davos" or other advertisements on the socks, the piece of equipment moving around the most, besides maybe the sticks. Small logos and numbers would be just plain impossible to read unless the player is still, and you have easier numbers to read at that point.
Overall: I know its the biased patriot talking here, but I'm having a hard time finding anything bad about this set. I love it. 8.5/10
Los Angeles Kings vs San Jose Sharks Concept - Justin S.
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Yay: Last but not least, we have the yellow and purple vs the yellow and green. Why San Jose would ever want to represent the old Seals jersey is beyond me, but it would be a fantastic throwback game. These jerseys are terribly plain, but thats the way they were, so at least they would be accurate. I've seen yellow vs blue, yellow vs red, and blue vs red, but yellow vs green would be a cool game to watch.
Nay: If these jerseys were meant to be accurate, you did a pretty good job. However, the Seals jersey is missing a hem stripe pattern. Even if accuracy wasn't an intention, I'd still add the stripes there. And there are no names? Is that another attempt at accuracy, or just forgot them? Either way, wrong. The Seals jersey here is definitely after 1970, and they began putting names on jerseys by the time these jerseys popped up, at least on the Seals jerseys. The Kings waited until 1977, but after that they added the name and changed nothing else, so would it be that hard to add names here?
Overall: If it's meant to be accurate, it's not completely perfect. If it's not meant to be accurate, then it's kind of a simple concept with a few fix ups needed. Not great, but still an interesting concept. 6.7/10
All of this "throwback, retro, classic" talk is making me feel old. That (and because it's my favourite jersey today) is why I'm picking Ted's Team Canada Spengler Cup concept as my COTW nomination. It's pretty modern, which I'm usually not a fan of, but that one looks fantastic!
I hope you all enjoyed this post, and as always thank you for reading. Have a good weekend!
So wait, what is the difference between a throwback, retro, vintage, classic, and traditional jersey anyways? They're words that I use all of the time to describe jerseys that look...well...old. There's a certain charm that these jerseys have, otherwise they would be just called "old". But all of the other lingo gets thrown in and abused by everyone, myself included. It can get confusing, but in general, all of those words mean that its not a new style, and it looks great.
You know what else looks great? The concepts nominated for COTY 4th Quarter, as well as the whole pile of concepts nominated for COTW. Regardless of the title, these are important votes, and we need your input. If people don't vote, then we might as well let one person decide the fate of these concepts. That's no fun. What if it was me deciding? I'll give you a Throwback Thursday example for you:
Feast your eyes on my first ever jersey concept (#2, because I made an error on my first attempt). At the time, I thought this was brilliant. Now... I can't bear to look at it for more than a few seconds. And YET, I'd vote for this for COTW, probably every week. Why? because I can.
Do we want that? I'm guessing no. So do the right thing and vote!
4th Quarter Vote (ends Friday @ 11:59pm Eastern)
COTW Jan 6-12 vote (ends Friday @ 11:59pm Eastern)
AHL Stadium Series Entries (Due Friday, January 17, 2014 @ 11:59pm Eastern)
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And just before I get to the concepts today, I know some of you were really enjoying my Rival Colours series. It's been on hiatus because I lost the template file and had no time to make it up. Well... it's been done! There should be some concepts already in the pipeline, and more will make its way to HJC in a few weeks.
Until then, on with the show!
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AHL Stadium Series Concepts:
Asle T.
Caleb F.
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Pittsburgh Penguins Concept - Stephen O.
Yay: We start off with the Steel City Penguins. At least, thats what they would be called if they were wearing these. These jerseys don't venture off too far from the Penguins look, but the addition of a grey "steel" design on the arms and yokes is interesting to say the least. It's really cool because it's a look that I've never thought I'd see, yet it looks pretty decent. A+ for originality.
Nay: The thing is, I'm not sold on it yet. If it was just a goofy one-off concept, I'd leave it as such. But I really think this could have potential for an awesome look for the Pens. It does however need work. The dark grey works for the steel look, but there needs to be more of it, on the equipment perhaps, or even on the logo somehow. Even the "chromified" logo would go something more "metallic" for this jersey. I think there just has to be more "steel", so the existing parts don't look out of place.
Overall: I really like these jerseys, and they're executed well. But I think it has the potential to be so much more than it is currently. 8.1/10
Adirondack Phantoms Concept - Kaner88
Yay: Here we have an interesting 3rd jersey for the Baby Flyers. To compare to other Phantoms' jerseys, this would be most similar to the "retro" jerseys from 2009, except the black and orange for the letters swapped, and the arms are now plain white with stripes. This is a very college-ready uniform, and it would definitely fit the bill as a retro jersey as is.
Nay: The Phantoms' retro jersey had the problem that "Adirondack" is a pretty long name to throw on the front of the jersey. In this case, "ADK" looks way too short, so that its hard to feel any connection between the 3 letters spaced so far apart. There's a bit of pixelation with the shoulder patch logos, and the hem stripes should be right on the trim of the jersey, to match the back (or the back stripes should be raised and straightened, either or). The stripes should be a bit thicker as well I think.
Overall: I like the approach, but if this was a retro jersey, it would be better off staying in the past. 7.2/10
Team Canada Concept - Stephen T.
Yay: Finally, a simple Canada jersey that we can (mostly) all agree on. I'm personally not a fan of all of the "razzle dazzle" Canada puts into their jerseys come Olympics time. We don't need to look the best, we just have to be the best.
Sorry, my inner Don Cherry came out with that comment. I love the simplistic approach here. Canada's colours are red and white, not grey, gold and black. I like the logo, I like the simplistic design, and there's nothing to complain about execution-wise.
Nay: I have two problems with the jersey. 1) I'm not a huge fan of totally plain arms. If you throw in some stripes, even just a couple plain, straight white ones, I think it would be perfect, nothing too fancy. 2) This white jersey is good, but how about a red one? Assuming the jersey stayed the same but inverted, you'd either have red pants to look fully red, or *gasp* white pants. Not even the Oakland Seals were that crazy.
Overall: Simple is better here, but it may be a little too simple. Great Canadian look though. 7.4/10
Tampa Bay Lightning Concept - Avi S.
Yay: Tampa isn't a classic team, so I never understood why they changed to a simpler look. I'm a huge fan of their original jerseys, and this 3rd jersey by Avi goes back in that direction. The white yokes and blue collar definitely bring me back to the 90's, but the stripes are kind of their own beast. The striping pattern is cool, the jersey is believable, and it covers a few different eras of Lightning history, without making it "vintage", so good work.
Nay: I've always hated the "Bolts" wordmark logo, but I guess it can pass here. The thin grey stripe is too thin, and barely noticeable against the larger white stripe and the black of the jersey. Peaking ahead to your next concept, I noticed that you probably kept the shoulder patches white on both concepts. Thing is, you have a white yoke, so those logos are kinda sorta not there. And finally, Lightning Pants, or Thunder Thighs? Never a fan of the lightning bolt pants.
Overall: This jersey has a lot going for it, but it also could use a lot of work. I wouldn't mind Tampa bringing back this sort of look though. 7.5/10
Tampa Bay Lightning Concept - Stephen T.
Yay: As mentioned, here is Avi's other concept for today: Another Lightning jersey. Essentially, the jersey looks like their current 3rd jersey, with the hem stripes being the biggest difference. The striping pattern is the same as the last concept, with the colours swapping and the last stripe becoming thicker and the middle being thinner. Like the last jersey, it's a good look, but this one sticks to a more modern approach.
Nay: Last time, the grey stripe was too thin. Now, its the white stripe. The white is noticeable this time, but I think it needs to be thicker anyways. The jersey design is pretty much the same as the last concept, so I don't have much more to add, besides its good to see the shoulder patches this time.
Overall: Execution-wise, this jersey is better. But the nostalgic in me is liking the black jersey more. Since they're very similar concepts, I'll call it a draw. 7.5/10
Milwaukee Admirals Concept - Kyle N.
Yay: Since we had the MilwAUkee* Admirals contest a while back, I've reviewed quite a few of these jerseys. I can't remember if this was in the contest or not, but so far I'd guess it would've been one of my favourites. I love the white jersey, like the 3rd, and feel indifferent about the dark one. The striping pattern on the white and 3rd are really stellar. The stripes on the 3rd jersey give it a real retro look to it, especially by the yoke.
Nay: As you may have noticed with my first sentence, you've spelt Milwaukee wrong. Sorry, I get ODC with those kinds of things. On the dark jersey, there needs to be some more white somewhere in the jersey, and the thin blue strips look a little lost against the black background. And I'm not sure if the TV numbers are that large on purpose on the 3rd jersey, but I think they're a tad too big.
Overall: I love seeing full sets of jerseys, but if this concept just had the white jersey, it might get rated higher. 7.8/10
Team Canada Spengler Cup Concept - Ted N.
Yay: A little bias here, as much as I love the World Juniors, the Spengler Cup is easily my favourite hockey tournament of the year. The designs are so different from what we see here in North America, yet the Canadians still look great, and would do the same here. It has everything a Spengler jersey would; low logo, tons of advertisements, a cool retro Canadian logo, and a funky but awesome striping pattern. Even the number on the front looks great, and I hate those usually.
Nay: I know they tend to squeeze the advertising on these jerseys, even on the socks, but I think the logo and number on the socks is pushing it for Canada. I think it looks goofy seeing "Davos" or other advertisements on the socks, the piece of equipment moving around the most, besides maybe the sticks. Small logos and numbers would be just plain impossible to read unless the player is still, and you have easier numbers to read at that point.
Overall: I know its the biased patriot talking here, but I'm having a hard time finding anything bad about this set. I love it. 8.5/10
Los Angeles Kings vs San Jose Sharks Concept - Justin S.
Yay: Last but not least, we have the yellow and purple vs the yellow and green. Why San Jose would ever want to represent the old Seals jersey is beyond me, but it would be a fantastic throwback game. These jerseys are terribly plain, but thats the way they were, so at least they would be accurate. I've seen yellow vs blue, yellow vs red, and blue vs red, but yellow vs green would be a cool game to watch.
Nay: If these jerseys were meant to be accurate, you did a pretty good job. However, the Seals jersey is missing a hem stripe pattern. Even if accuracy wasn't an intention, I'd still add the stripes there. And there are no names? Is that another attempt at accuracy, or just forgot them? Either way, wrong. The Seals jersey here is definitely after 1970, and they began putting names on jerseys by the time these jerseys popped up, at least on the Seals jerseys. The Kings waited until 1977, but after that they added the name and changed nothing else, so would it be that hard to add names here?
Overall: If it's meant to be accurate, it's not completely perfect. If it's not meant to be accurate, then it's kind of a simple concept with a few fix ups needed. Not great, but still an interesting concept. 6.7/10
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All of this "throwback, retro, classic" talk is making me feel old. That (and because it's my favourite jersey today) is why I'm picking Ted's Team Canada Spengler Cup concept as my COTW nomination. It's pretty modern, which I'm usually not a fan of, but that one looks fantastic!
I hope you all enjoyed this post, and as always thank you for reading. Have a good weekend!
Thursday: Throwback Thursday
Reviewed by Unknown
on
January 16, 2014
Rating:
Reviewed by Unknown
on
January 16, 2014
Rating:
9 comments:
Kaner's hem stripes do go along the trim. That template (SP Apparel) has a straight front hem line and curved on the back.
I would have nominated Kyle N's Admirals if he had ONLY sent in that blue alternate. It's fantastic!
Hey William, I actually left off the shoulder logos on the first Lightning concept, I guess I forgot to take the secondary logo out of the final image. My bad
-Avi
@Ryan Ah okay, thanks for the info. Definitely didn't know that, my bad.
@Avi That's understandable. I thought it was a little strange to do that, but that does make sense. I like the plain white yoke on that jersey anyway.
Will, according to nhluniforms.com, the Seals never had names on green jerseys. I don't know if they did put names or not, but, that's how I determined wether or not to put NOBs.
Thanks for the kind words on the Steel City Penguins concept! It's the first jersey concept I've ever attempted.
@Justin
I usually rely on sportlogos.net for my research, and on there it shown that it has the names. So obviously there is conflicting info on that.
I honestly don't know whether they had names on their jerseys at some point or not, but I found this game-worn jersey that suggests that they did. http://gameusedonly.com/joey-johnston-71-72/
Ted N. for COTW, love the Spengler and the quirky ads
Regarding the names on the back of the Seals jerseys, I believe both Justin and William are correct. Looking at game photos of the Seals wearing those jerseys, some have names on the back and some have no names.
Also, prior to the 1977-78 season I believe the home team could decide whether or not the road team was allowed to wear names (the reason was that team's believed names on jerseys cut down on the sale of programs). This is backed up by the game photos I was looking at, when the Seals wore playing teams like the Canadiens who did not have names on their home jerseys then the Seals would have no names on their jerseys, but the Seals did have names when they wore playing teams like the Flyers who had names on their home jerseys.
Finally, the Kings did have names on their home jerseys during the time when the Seals wore wearing these green road jerseys, so I believe when they faced each other back then in these jerseys both teams would have names on the back of their jerseys. Which means if Justin wanted to be super accurate, both jerseys in his concept should have names (if I am correct, I could be wrong).
@Steven Well that definitely explains why there is conflicting info and pictures regarding the names on the back. It seems silly to do that now, but with program sales being a bigger deal back then, I can see the logic behind it. Thanks a lot for that insight, Steven.
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