Bandwagon Jumpers!

Bandwagon-Jumpers

     This entry goes out to all of the TRUE old-school NHL fans out there. I want to address an issue that most of us are thinking, but never talk about… That subject is BANDWAGON-JUMPERS! We all hate them; come on, admit it! Don’t you just hate it when you go to a game in person, or even just to a sports bar to watch a game, and when you look around you see them everywhere…??? They stick out like a sore thumb too! Most, if not all of them will either be wearing a RBK piece of garbage, or some cheesy Asian Sweatshop rag they picked up on FEEBAY! You know the crowd I’m talking about, the tourists, and wannabe fans who want to look like real fans but don’t know how…

     Let’s get a few things straight… First, friends DON’T let friends wear Reebok hockey sweaters, THEY SUCK! Just look back through my blog entries and you will see evidence of just how poor quality they really are, and yes, I’m talking about the authentic jerseys too! When was the last time you saw a player put his head through the back of a jersey? That’s right THROUGH the back of the jersey, right between the numbers! If you want to see the video, just see my entry appropriately entitled “Reebok Hockey Jerseys SUCK!” There you can see the proof for your self! If the real Authentic On Ice Game Jerseys are that pathetic, what must the replica jerseys be like…??? I don’t even want to know…

     Secondly, the next time you see someone wearing what is CLEARLY a counterfeit jersey, let him or her know about it! Tell them straight up that their jersey is a cheesy counterfeit, and that they should be ashamed for buying and wearing it! You know the people I’m talking about… Picture the TOOL at a Penguins game who is wearing a Crosby jersey with letters and numbers made of two-layer / two-color tackle twill (or some other material) instead of the correct three-layer / three-color Glacier Twill! (See Counterfeit Crosby Jersey in pic #1 below). Those are the worst! Now, compare the Asian Sweatshop Counterfeit's lettering and numbers to that of the real / correct lettering and numbers (see pic #2 below). The next time you see that TOOL with the FAKE jersey, call him out in front of the crowd, laugh at his rag, and tell him to send it back to China and get his money back!

     Counterfeit jerseys destroy honest businesses like mine! One of the main reasons I left FEEBAY was because it has been overrun with Asian Sweatshop counterfeits, and FEEBAY simply turns a blind eye and a deaf ear to the problem and ignores it! Why…??? Because they are GREEDY! They don’t give a rat’s rear-end about anyone or anything except the all-mighty dollar! The only way for fans and business owners to fight back it to speak out! If you see a counterfeit jersey on FEEBAY, call the seller out! Then notify FEEBAY! If you see a bandwagon jumper at a game wearing a counterfeit rag, CALL HIM OUT! As a collector of 20 years, I’m sick of seeing low-quality garbage out there on the streets and at games! Thus the Jersey Jihad continues!

     In closing this rant, just let me remind you of one thing… It’s true; you get what you pay for! If you want a lame jersey that everyone else has (RBK), or one that everyone will laugh at (an Asian Sweatshop Counterfeit), then go ahead and buy one, FEEBAY is full of them… However, if you want to be the envy of your friends and all of the other fans, buy something that nobody else has! Buy something that you cannot find in any store! Separate yourself from all of the bandwagon-jumpers and wannabe fans! Buy an old school, HIGH-QUALITY CCM or KOHO jersey, or a Pro Player jersey! While the other fans are sporting their pathetic RBK garbage, you could be wearing a 1992 Stanley Cup Finals Chicago Blackhawks Ultrafil, or a 91-92 Sharks Arturs Irbe rookie jersey, or a 91-92 Hextall Flyers (2 Patch), or even an ULTRA-RARE 1987-88 NY Rangers jersey! The choice is yours… Look like the rest of the Sheeple at the game, or MAKE A STATEMENT and show the world that you are NOT a bandwagon jumper, but a LIFE-LONG OLD-SCHOOL FAN who knows his business! For those who are interested in finding the RARE and VINTAGE NHL jerseys (NOT cheesy Vintage Series Reproductions), visit my store at http://webstore.com/~goongear If you have a special request for a certain jersey / player, let me know. If anyone can find it, I can! There is also a link to my store at the top right corner of this blog.

     Lastly, I want to give a shout-out to all of my wonderful sponsor affiliates located at the very bottom of this blog! Please be sure to visit them for more great deals on fantastic NHL merchandise!

Collecting Hockey Sweaters / Jerseys

Collecting Hockey Sweaters

     I have received roughly the same question, through various channels (my blog, Twitter, etc…), asking if any or all of the hockey sweaters that appear in the right margin are for sale. In short, yes and no… Let me explain.

     All of the jerseys (sweaters) that appear in the right-hand margin were for sale at one time or another. Some of them are still for sale, while others among them were sold in the past. I keep the pictures posted so readers can see examples of the collector quality jerseys I sell in my web store http://webstore.com/~goongear . As I stated in my very first blog posting last fall, I have been buying, selling, collecting, trading, and customizing rare and vintage NHL sweaters since 1991. What started out as simply purchasing a replica sweater of my favorite NHL team (NJ Devils), quickly turned into an obsession. Or something else, depending on one’s perspective… However, words like “hoarder” and “packrat” carry with them a negative connotation, so I prefer to be called a “collector.” At one point, my personal collection exceeded 200 sweaters, all of them NHL authentic.

     While amassing my huge collection of authentic NHL sweaters, I began to take notice that there was an actual market for hoarders, I mean collectors like myself. As I was watching the hockey sweater market develop, CCM did the unthinkable and discontinued the production of Ultrafil sweaters in the mid 1990’s and went to Air-Knit. As luck would have it, I had hoarded, I mean collected MANY Ultrafils over the years. Once Ultrafils were discontinued, every serious collector on the planet made a mad dash to gobble up as many as they could find, within their budget of course (LOL)… (Now, CCM, KOHO and Pro Player Air-Knit jerseys are on the collector list as well, since Reebok took over and started producing the Asian Sweatshop-quality garbage you see today!) On the down side, I am one of those collectors that also likes to wear his sweaters. That is until some (insert expletive) who was not paying attention, burned a hole right through the sleeve of my Whalers Ultrafil. I will spare you the rest of the story. However, it was at that moment I hatched a plan to turn my jersey hoarding illness, I mean jersey-collecting hobby into a for-profit venture.

     Now I must warn you, some of you may cringe at what I’m about to tell you, but keep in mind that I had just watched my favorite jersey take a direct strike form some clown’s smoke, and I like to wear my jerseys. Now with those things in mind… Over time, I gradually sold off my collection of “authentics,” and replaced them with “replicas.” That gave me the ability to wear my jerseys without having to worry about taking a $300, $400, $500 loss or more, if the unthinkable happened again. This way, I would only be out $200 at worst. For the record, I keep my personal collection “timeline accurate.” i.e. I do not slap a name and number, or patch on just anything. For example: I ONLY use the same brand of jersey worn by the player, and only place letters (“A” / “C”), and / or patches on that jersey if they were actually worn by that player, and during that specific timeframe. In other words, I match the player, team, season, jersey brand, appropriate “A” /”C”, and special patches that go together and are legit, PERIOD! As a collector, I laugh every time I see some TOOL wearing a bogus jersey! In short, if the player was not even playing in 05-06, when the league went to RBK garbage, don’t put his name and number on the jersey, PLEASE! When I see MAKITA 21 on an RBK rag, I laugh. When I see a 1992 Stanley Cup Finals patch on a Starter jersey, I laugh. When I see a 2010 Stanley Cup Patch on a CCM jersey, I laugh! I can go on and on, but I’ll stop there, I think you get the point. I really hate the frauds that slap jerseys together and try to pass them off as legit, i.e. sell them to unsuspecting fans.

If you take the time to read some of my other entries, you will see that I point out specific examples, including photos of the fake garbage they try to pass off, mostly on FEEBAY, go figure.

     Now, back to the original subject… If you want to know what jerseys I have for sale, including some that appear in the right margin, either you can click on the link I provided earlier in the entry, or, up in the top right corner of this page you will see a link to purchase “Rare and Vintage NHL Jerseys.” Just click on that and it will take you there. There is also another link below that one if you want to follow goon-gear on Twitter (Goon24). There I post “Tweets” whenever I’m putting items on sale. I usually run a sale or two each week, so if you follow on Twitter, you will be the first to know what is on sale! I love to help new hoarders, sorry, I mean collectors get their collection going. I am always happy to help in any way I can. If you have a question regarding the timeline accuracy, or actual authenticity of a jersey (sweater), please feel free to contact me. I can tell you in seconds if the jersey is bogus or not, and tell you why it is or is not! I also have vast resources (other collectors) at my disposal (in my network), so if you have a special request for a certain jersey, please do not hesitate to ask! If anyone can find it, I can! Happy hoarding, (sorry, there I go again), I mean collecting!