Thursday: Super Special Thursday

Hey everyone! Welcome to another Thursday post.

Like my title? It was recommended to me by my girlfriend and friend-of-the-blog.  Why is this post so special?  I'm not sure actually.  I will be naming my favourite Mallards concept, and debuting a different look to my reviews, but that's about it.

My personal favourite Mallards concept is... mine!

Alright, I'm kidding of course.  Although, I'm really happy with how this concept turned out.  I know I'm not as skilled as most of HJC's artists, and I've been making a terribly low amount of concepts for the last year, but this is probably my favourite concept I've created up to this point.

And then there's this concept by Christian...

If I had to pick a favourite from this competition, it would be his.  Not just because it's fairly similar to mine (although that's a plus), I love the inclusion of their old logo and light blue colour.  Fairly simple, but clean, sharp, and awesome.

But there's so many concepts that could win this concept, and that is a strong statement to the depth and skill of the HJC community, so I'd like to give a huge congratulations to everyone.

Alright, now it's time for today's concepts!

COTW Oct 27-Nov 2 vote (ends Friday @ 11:59pm Eastern)

COTW Mailing List (email to join!)

If I had to pick a favourite from this competition, it would be his.  Not just because it's fairly similar to mine (although that's a plus), I love the inclusion of their old logo and light blue colour.  Fairly simple, but clean, sharp, and awesome.  

But there's so many concepts that could win this concept, and that is a strong statement to the depth and skill of the HJC community, so I'd like to give a huge congratulations to everyone.

Alright, now it's time for today's concepts!

New York Rangers - Tristan M.

+ Presentation and detail 

+ Dark colours 

+ Simple traditional stripes

- Arched text (I know they have it on their uniforms, but I've never been a fan of it)

- Not to much of an alternate 

- Don't like the "C" over yoke stripes

Overall:  The concept looks great, and is presented very well.  The biggest problem for me is the fact it doesn't look a ton different from their main jersey, so it makes for an uninteresting alternate.  8/10

Oakland Seals - CPM

+ Very nice modern twist on an old classic

+ Fits Seals identity very nicely

+ Love the unique arm style, and how it works with the TV numbers

+ Digging the "Seals" mark in front of the collar

- Back numbers look too small, TV numbers too big

- Yellow text outline on white background doesn't work well

Overall:  A concept that definitely doesn't fit the 70's, but it does fit the unique team identity (and quirkiness) of the Seals franchise.  Well designed and presented.  8.3/10

New York Rangers - CPM 

+ Inclusion of Lady Liberty logo (seriously, it needs to happen)

+ Interesting, believable twists to current jerseys

+ Presentation is top notch (as we've seen for this entire series)

- Arched text (see above)

- Looks too similar to their existing uniforms to get excited about this concept, besides the LL logo

- Not sure if I like how high the TV numbers are on the arms

- Top of blue jersey really needs a yoke, or a shoulder patch, or something other than more blue

Overall:  Another well done concept, but not "different" enough to keep my attention for long.  Love the inclusion of the Lady Liberty logo.  7.8/10

Pittsburgh Penguins - Timmy Q.

+ After seeing so many baseball and soccer concepts, love seeing a football set for a change

+ Use of "old" Pittsburgh colours is much better than their modern pukey-gold colour for football

+ Not sure why, but I really love the "Penguins" text design

- Helmet logo needs outline, shouldn't blend with helmet

- Pants logo should be bigger, and pants should have something more for it's design

- Would rather see actual black used, and not this brownish-black.

- "Penguins" and front number should be moved down to give some space between it and the collar

- Weird pixel issues all over jersey, and helmet logo looks very low-res

Overall:  Interesting, and nice to see a football concept, but this definitely doesn't match up to their Steelers counterparts.  6.8/10

Chicago Blackhawks - Phil B.

+ Nice to see something different done with the Blackhawks' stripes, while not drifting too far from their roots

+ A black 3rd is such a natural look for the Blackhawks

+ Equipment well designed

- Contrasting shoulders and arms really doesn't fit with the rest of the jersey.  I'd probably prefer black arms with white/red stripes similar to hem design

-  Seeing a jersey like this makes me realize that a black/white/red version of their logo would be so much better for an alternate.

Overall:  I love seeing new things done to the Blackhawks uniforms, and this is a good start, but the arms look like they were taken from one jersey and sewn onto another.  But play around with this concept more and I'm sure you'll find something amazing.  7.2/10

Rochester Americans - Dylan N.

+ Some teams look good in vintage white, some teams look bad.  The Americans look fantastic.

+ "So stripe, much star, plenty American, wow" - Doge

+ It's a good nod to previous Americans' jerseys, but this stands out on its own and would look good in any era of the game

- Wish there was a name on the back, so this beauty would be wearable today.  You could say it's meant to be a jersey from an old era, but then explain the standard "Reebok" patch on the back?

- Laces, where art thou?

Overall: This is probably the nostalgic in me talking, but this is one of my favourite concepts I've seen on HJC for quite a while! Love it!  9.5/10

So my COTW nominee is Dylan's Rochester Americans concept!

Do you forget to vote for the COTW? Would that change if you were reminded, say, via email?  Well you're in luck! HJC is starting an HJC mailing list, which you can sign up for to remind you to vote for our weekly, monthy, and the grand finale yearly COTW votes, as well as for the various competitions we have.  Interested? Check out the link above for more info!

That's all for me today, thanks for reading and have a good weekend!