Leafs' Winter Classic Jersey Leaked?
TheHockeyJersey.co via ebay
Apparent unreleased Leafs jersey shows up on ebay
A product listing on ebay appears to show a legitimate Toronto Maple Leafs jersey, intended for the 2013 NHL Winter Classic. The game was canceled so uniforms were never released or even unveiled. That being said, it was canceled pretty late in the year, meaning merchandise like this was certainly already produced.
Last month, a couple of leaked T-shirt designs showed the same logo crest.
TheHockeyJersey.co via ebay
Seeing something like this tends to make us all skeptical. And I'd venture to say I fly the skeptic flag higher than anyone else when it comes to these things. So the fact that I'm taking the time to post this should tell you something.
But more important than whether this is a real jersey or not is the fact that, if it isn't, it's by far and away the most convincing counterfeit I have ever seen. And it would mean counterfeiters are getting scary good. So good, in fact, that it's impossible to tell the difference between real and fake. Which is why I believe this is probably the real thing.
The seller is TheHockeyJersey.co and the rest of their product catalog appears to be legitimate. However, I doubt they're officially licensed by the NHL. Because if they are, they won't be for much longer. But drop by their page, take a look at the high-resolution photos on the auction listing and judge for yourself.
Thanks to Doug B. for the tip.
So... real or what?
Chris
On Thursday night, the seller of this jersey apparently left a comment on this blog post and included a new photo of the jersey. It shows that the NHL shield on the collar is, in fact, centered properly. Here's the comment that was left:
Hi all, thanks for the comments and article about the jersey. I didn't expect quite all this when I made the listing and I didnt take the best pictures. The NHL neck logo is definitely centered, it was just laying weird in the picture. I took a new picture and will be posting it to the listing soon. I can assure you it is authentic and the shield is centered. As for the black lace, it is weird to me as well. My guess is the final release would be white. Thanks again and here is a better picture.
Can't help but notice he didn't bother to say how this jersey came into his possession. Anyway, below is the photo to which he included a link. (It's actually cropped to better fit on the page. See the original version here.)
Photo from TheHockeyJersey.co
I'll level with you guys. I feel no need to help prove that this isn't a counterfeit. I'm just here to share information. You can believe whatever you like. That being said, based on my years of research and knowledge, I'm comfortable saying this jersey came out of a Reebok factory.
But one commenter, Brads, makes a good point. If this isn't the jersey the Maple Leafs were actually supposed to wear to the 2013 Winter Classic, could it simply be a prototype? I'm not sure how Reebok produces their prototypes — are they usually of this quality? I might expect a prototype to be made of a lesser material just to give an overall sense of how the uniform would look. This one has an awful lot of details we see in the stuff on the rack.
Lastly, there were other commenters that made equally good points about the style of Winter Classic jerseys that are sold to consumers. They're certainly not the same as a regular team jersey you might buy. In other words, they're not the full Reebok Edge style. I remember a lot of readers complaining about not being able to purchase a Sabres Winter Classic jersey in the same style as what the players wore — that went for both authetics and replicas.
So all of the questions and skepticism is certainly warranted. But again, from everything I've seen over the years, I think we're looking at a genuine Leafs jersey from Reebok. This is what would've been worn on Jan. 1, 2013 — and it's probably what will be worn on Jan. 1, 2014. Only time will tell for certain.
Reader Comments (42)
It would have had the winter classic logo on it, wouldn't it?
Andy: That's just a patch so it wouldn't necessarily have to be there unless it was a game jersey on game day.
It's not an authentic one because if you look at the bottom of the jersey, it doesn't have the curvy cut. It also has the "Reebok" on the sleeve. The non-authenic jerseys (I believe Reebok calls them Premier) normally has a tag at the bottom. I guess that could have been removed, but the NHL and Reebok have liked to make the strip on the inside that reads Reebok green, instead of the silver that is shown here. Also, the black string looks weird. I don't know. Probably wrong. If this is real, why would Reebok and the NHL let it even leave the factory? Is Toronto not going to be in the Winter Classic next year? Is there not going to be a Winter Classic? If it is real, will they redesign uniforms for Toronto if they are in it?
Are all NHL jerseys "Made in Indonesia"?
Good counterfeit if it is one. Nice looking jersey for sure. The black laces are odd though, it's what makes me think it might be a fake, not being able to match the blue and all...
Im pretty sure that all Winter Classic jerseys so far have been made in Canada, premeir and authentic. I know the three I own were all made in Canada and they are premeir. This one was made in Indonesia.
Tyler: Good point on the jersey cut. I don't think we've seen an NHL team wear a straight cut since the launch of Reebok Edge. However, the AHL does use specialty jerseys from Reebok with that cut.
And I think the point is Reebok and the NHL would not have "let" it leave the factory. That's why it has to be referred to as a leak. But that said, I don't see them going out of their way to redesign and manufacture if they already have jerseys produced. We'll have to see what happens next season.
By far the greatest counterfeit ive ever seen as well (i own a purple and yellow kopitar one), but it is still a counterfeit, the nhl symbol in the collar isnt exactly centered right, which tells me its most likely a counterfeit.
Regarding the "Made in Indonesia" questions. I just checked my blue Lightning jersey, which I bought last year. Exact same tag, including the fact that it was made in Indonesia. (I'm surprised to hear any Premier jerseys were made in Canada. I thought that was only true of the authentics.)
I'm skeptical mainly because of the color, as strange as it sounds. First of all, Toronto is the road team, which leads me to believe they would be wearing a white jersey. In addition, Detroit already has a white Winter Classic jersey, as well as Toronto having a blue third jersey. Of course, Pittsburgh had two "blue" WC jerseys, so it's not out of the question to double-up. But from a marketing stand-point it doesn't make sense to me.
My bad. I have a black "Sens" jersey that does say it was made in Indonesia, but I have another Senators black jersey with the Peace Tower on the shoulders that says it was made in Canada (mind you this was bought back in 2004).
I was given a Sens heritage jersey from an older relative who didn't know better last year, turns out its a fake, but it does say on that tag it was made in Canada.
For the record I only purchase the real jerseys.
The cut of the jersey is the same as the other Winter Classic jerseys the NHL's been selling over the years. They use the Edge cut for the game jerseys, but they only sell the replicas in this cut.
The laces are the only thing that make me think this is fake. I can't see the Leafs ever using those laces. And, they simply don't match the jersey.
As for the hem cut, all of the Winter Classic replicas have been cut straight like that. I have a BOS '10 & a PIT '11 and they are both cut straight. Nice looking jersey and because Chris is posting it and he POSSIBLY knows details about the jersey that he's not able to share at the moment, I'm going to say this is real. The black laces, off centre looking NHL collar insert patch, and the thin looking Reebok wordmark on the sleeve make me sceptical. However as I said, I have learned to trust Chris when he posts something.
I could see this being a color on color game. Red and blue are different enough that it would be a great looking game.
the stiching were lace up collar is sown to the jersey also looks a little off to me, its different then lace up jerseys used in the nhl now, to me the 'v' stiching looks a little wide, i could be wrong though and just nit picking
The font on the NHL logo looks a little off, not to mention the positioning of it, as well as the black laces. Counterfeit!
I checked some of the up close pictures and compared extreme detail to my jersey. Things like the sleeve embroidery, the back neck logo, the stitching around the neck and the stitching on the silver neck tagging. I can definitely say all of this matches my replicas 100% in size and pattern. As to if it is the actual jersey or not, who can say? But I can for sure say those details match up which makes me believe it was manufactured by Reebok if nothing else.
All recent Winter Classic jerseys also have a "Winter Classic 20xx, 1/1/20xx" inscription inside the collar above the Reebok strip thing. I doubt that they are stopping that tradition. Nothing to see here.
I used to work on the design staff at Reebok and I can say this was or is extemely close to the last design I saw. Obviously I wasn't allowed to take out concepts or pictures but its basically 100% what I expected to see.
J.T.
Using some of the "Fight the Fake" article found on the Canucks website here, the NHL Logo patch does appear to be embroidered directly into the jersey, and not an actual small jersey patch. While it does appear to be a high quality knock-off, I believe it is still just that: fake.
The old Montreal barberpole throwbacks a few years ago was the boxy non-EDGE cut. The NHL logo on the collar has always looked very funky on replicas anyway.
As with the laces, perhaps they didn't have any white laces on hand and just threw in a black shoelace.
That's probably the real deal.
Fake. The NHL logo in the collar is off centre. That never happens with an authentic, or replica.
But lord, these fakes are getting better. HOPEFULLY this will force the NHL to bring down jersey prices.
Why would they use black laces and not white? It's still beautiful and I'm a Senators fan.
Absolutely real. There's no way counterfeiters could produce something this good. Plus, it's a replica, which counterfeiters don't waste their time on. If they're going to make the time to make something this perfect, they're going to make it an on-ice jersey. The reebok on the sleeve is just another detail that replicas have. Even before reebok took over making them, this was common. Authentic Edge jerseys have the wave bottom cut, but the replicas do not. The close up of the sleeve looks exactly like the airknit used in premiers. And Indonesia took over production at the start of the 2011-12 season. Both Authentic retail jerseys and replicas were made there. Although they're not making them anymore, it's a safe bet the winter classic jerseys could easily have been made there. Honestly, I've never even once seen a fake have a good looking reebok wordmark neck tag done right and this one is obviously legit, too. Counterfeiters usually just stitch "reebok" on the back of the neck, which looks dreadful. Definitely real, no question.
That jerseys looks legit. I'm pretty sure the person who took the picture used black laces just to show the jersey with laces. If it is counterfeit, it is probably a perfect counterfeit of the jersey the Leafs were going to use for the Winter Classic against Detroit.
I'm not surprised this leaked. As Chris pointed out, there's likely a warehouse full of Winter Classic Gear that's just going to sit there for the year (IIRC, the logo for this Classic has no date).
Hi all, thanks for the comments and article about the jersey. I didn't expect quite all this when I made the listing and I didnt take the best pictures. The NHL neck logo is definitely centered, it was just laying weird in the picture. I took a new picture and will be posting it to the listing soon. I can assure you it is authentic and the shield is centered. As for the black lace, it is weird to me as well. My guess is the final release would be white. Thanks again and here is a better picture - http://www.thehockeyjersey.co/images/leafs-wc1.jpg
Here's a thought, maybe it's a prototype.
Might explain some of the "flaws" noted by other commenters. Seriously, what's with the black laces?
Have we ever seen pics of a reebok prototype on this site? Only ones I can recall we're cellphone images of the kings current roads unis a few years back.
If its not the real thing, (however, i think it is) my vote is its a single fabrication by reebok.
Btw... Props for the Icethetics shout out in the eBay listing! Lol
I know these are mass-produced, but the center collar NHL logo is pretty far off center. I would think that would be caught in quality control.
This is a Toronto Maple Leafs Jersey. It is real, i can tell that it is real fabric and not computer generated. Anyone who thinks this jersey isn't physically real is silly.
I doubt that this is real. I can't put my finger on what, but something looks off.
But I hope this is legit, because that's going to look great on the ice if it is.
LOL, nobody has said that this jersey isn't physically real...
Reebok replicas and authentics don't use air knit fabric. It's only used on game jerseys at at the player's request. Unless it has a fight strap and, to a lesser extent, double stitched elbows it's probably a knockoff. That is, unless Reebok uses the old CCM construction for their winter classic jerseys.
http://www.gameworn.net/cgi-bin/GW/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=10;t=004305
Has a ridiculous amount of information about the consumer vs. game worn authentics and the new Indonesian made jerseys
Sorry, did a little bit more research and found the other winter classic jerseys do use CCM construction, so the fabric is correct. The other winter classic premiers are made in Canada, but Reebok has been shopping their authentic jerseys out to Indonesia. Authentic jerseys, previously all made in Canada, debuting last season were all being made in Indonesia, so reasonably, last years winter classic jerseys would have been made there last year if they were going to shop them out there.
Real or not it doesnt translate to a modern jersey template. They should use their white 34 uniforms with a real 35 point leaf instead.
I swear I just saw this jersey on a fan in the background of a shot in the Toronto/Ottawa game on CBC. Maybe they aren't that rare?
The fact that it looks as real as it does really doesn't mean it is (or isn't). I don't actually know (or care) if it's real, but when the Flyers were in the WC last year, the counterfeiters had totally 'real' looking jerseys up on eBay within days of each 'leak' of the design.
At any rate, this is a sweet jersey and would look nice in an actual WC game.
I think this one is real except that Reebok logo on the sleeve looks really low. That may just be because of the stripes but seemed weird. Also, I have a penguins replica 3rd jersey and a winter classic jersey and they are so different. They are both real, bought at Consol Energy Center but the winter classic is far superior.
Will they create a new one for the 2014 winter classic or how is that going to work?
I know I'm a little late on this, but I'm going to chime in anyway. I've been collecting jerseys for a while now and I know most of what there is to know as about them, especially as far as spotting fakes goes, but I'm torn on this particular jersey. Part of me wants to say it's real because replicas simply aren't faked. On top of that, the NHL shield is very obviously an accurate NHL shield, the cut is correct if we're going by past Winter Classic replicas, which used the CCM 550 cut as opposed to Reebok's typical EDGE cut on their premier jerseys. However, the couple of things that stand out, aside from the black laces obviously, are the lack of the date the game would have been played, which has typically been embroidered into the collar previous years.
There's also the Reebok wordmark on the sleeve, which wasn't present on last year's WC replicas, as well as the "made in Indonesia" tag, whereas last year's WC replicas (and the rare EDGE 2.0 authentics that were retailed) were made in Canada. Other things are the weird stitching around the inside of the crest, along with the zig-zag stitching of the crest to the jersey, when replicas generally have the crest heat pressed on. All of that said, I don't really see any red flags that would scream "fake", and I'm going to go ahead and say this is most likely a prototype rather than a fake that somebody put together. Fakes aren't made of airknit like this jersey is, and again, replicas just aren't faked. It's much more plausible to assume this was meant to be a prototype than anything else. I highly doubt it's anything else.
I'm in agreement with Sean. This was probably an initial prototype that got leaked. The black lace collar is an obvious "red flag" but to give the benefit of the doubt, someone could have easily pulled the white lace (most likely) out of the collar and replaced it with the black one.
I also own authentic versions of the Leafs current third jersey and their previous one and on the new most recent set of authentic cut they are officially made in Indonesia, although the tagging on the inside of the back collar is no longer laid out the way it is on this uniform. All in all, it's most likely a prototype. Only way to find out for sure is to wait for the official jersey release later this calendar year (early next season).