Wednesday, May 30, 2012

The Reebok Edge Jersey!


Edge 1.0 Material Tag
The Reebok Edge jersey first appeared at the 2006-07 All-Star game, then adopted by the NHL for the 2007-08 season. The Edge jerseys are a form fitting jersey that fit smaller then previous jersey styles, like the Reebok 6100 series. This first jersey is widely known as Edge 1.0 which is made up of an Xtrafil material and was only used for part of the 2007-08 season as players found that it pooled/trapped their perspiration in the gloves and skates. This forced Reebok to come up with a modified version of the Edge jersey which retained the form fitting shape, but replaced the shoulders, front panel  and on some jersey designs portions of the arms with Air Knit material (this material is what jerseys from prior seasons where made of). These new versions are widely referred to as Edge 2.0 and were a bit more roomy then the previous 1.0. The Edge 1.0 jerseys ranged in size from 44 - 60, however there was no 48. This is where the confusion just starts. Not every player/team switched to 2.0 jerseys, a few players from Nashville, Boston, Calgary, Ottawa, Washington for instance kept the 1.0 jersey as well as the whole Edmonton Oilers team. As of the 2010-11 season according to the MeiGray population report (available here)  there was 410 1.0 jerseys used and 3617 2.0 jerseys. 



Edge 2.0 Material Tag
For those that don’t know MeiGray is a game worn jersey selling site. They get most of their jerseys from partnerships with teams directly, other jerseys come from consignment. The teams that are signed on with MeiGray actually attach a patch in the hem of the jerseys to “inventory” the jersey as well help prove authenticity when being sold on the secondary market.
MeiGray Jersey hem patch

Edge 1.0 Anaheim Ducks Neck Tag 7187A
Edge 2.0 Winnipeg Jets Neck Tag 7187A
Back to the jerseys! The 1.0 jerseys had a neck tag of 7187A, Made in Canada as well as a hanging tag indicating the same, however when 2.0’s were put in production they kept the same 7187A tagging on the neck tag but the hanging tag now indicated 7287A. Edge 1.0 jerseys became available at retail during the 2007-08 season but Reebok stopped production on them during the 2010-11 season. The Edge 2.0 jersey was never fully made available at retail for NHL, but there was/is a few exceptions. The 2010-11 and 2011-12 All Star jerseys where retailed as 2.0, although most collectors found the material to be a bit thinner than the 2.0’s teams use during the season, none the less the hanging tag indicated 7287 Canadian made jersey and did have an Air Knit front. Another jersey retailed 2.0 was the 2011-12 Winter Classic jerseys which was between the New York Rangers and Philadelphia Flyers. These were limited run and hard to find. An interesting side note, the replica jerseys for the Winter Classic where more like the CCM 550 semi-pro replica days and have straight cut instead of the Edge form fitting cut. The last jersey available retail 2.0 was the Winnipeg Jets when they rejoined the league relocating from Atlanta in the 2011-12 season. It seems however that this was only meant as a temporary solution to get authentic jerseys in the hands of fans/collectors at the start of the season as part way through the season the new Indonesian made Edge starting appearing, which is what existed for every other team since the start of the season if you wanted a jersey with the Reebok word mark on the back instead of the vector. Another interesting side note is throughout the 2011-12 season there has been players spotted with the vector instead of the word mark, it is believed that these are recycled jerseys that the equipment manager threw together for when someone got called up. Also, at the start of the season the New York Rangers appeared to be playing with vector jerseys but with a patch with the word mark covering the vector. Later in season it appeared they switched to actual word marked jerseys. For those that don't know, players wear several sets throughout a season and even more in the play-offs. 

Edge 2.0 7287A Hanging Tag
2007-11 Reebok used the vector
image on the back of  the jerseys
Yes there is a 3rd Edge jersey; this one debut in the 2011-12 season which also saw Reebok move from using the vector logo on the back of the jersey to using the Reebok word mark. It’s an Indonesian made “authentic” jersey marketed as what the players wear on ice but it’s nowhere near the quality of a 1.0 let alone 2.0 (which where both Canadian made) and never worn on ice (players are still wearing mostly 2.0 and some 1.0 jerseys). This “IndoEdge” jersey has a neck tagging of 7231 and is made of 100% Polyester, no Xtrafil or Air Knit like the 1.0 and 2.0's. These jerseys have inconsistencies like the spacing between letters in the team's name, bad stitching with the inside green collar border showing through the back, fight strap attached differently just to name a few points.
2011-12 Reebok switched to the word
mark instead of the vector

This move infuriated collectors and fans due to the fact that if they wanted to be true to having a 2011-12 jersey match what their favorite player wore on ice it was pretty hard. Other than the aforementioned 2.0’s the only other way to get an NHL 2.0 (besides buying a game worn) is to get a team issued or game issued jersey. Some teams (like Vancouver) have been known to sell these in their team store; however getting the right size for you can be troublesome. Most teams their smallest player wears a 54 or 56 with a rare team or two with players wearing a 52 (Martin St. Louis, Danny Briere, Brian Gionta, Jordin Tootoo, etc) so they usually don’t get jerseys below that size from Reebok. A size 52 Edge 2.0 jersey would be considered approximately a men’s XL, whereas the Edge 1.0 in 54 or 56 would be close to XL. So if you are a smaller person looking for a jersey not looking to be swimming in it, good luck. That being said the Edge jersey do a way better job the the previous 6100 series Reebok jerseys that where straight cut so typically you can get away with wearing a couple sizes too big. For those of you that follow/collect CHL jerseys, the CHL has been using Edge 2.0 at retail! Happy collecting everyone!
Edge 1.0 Anaheim Ducks Bobby Ryan jersey

Edge 2.0 Winnipeg Jets Evander Kane jersey

No comments:

Post a Comment