Blog Archives
Direwolves Jerseys Are Done
Click To Enlarge
Good News Everyone!
I am pleased to report the Direwolves jerseys were completed Friday evening, and are being shipped out today. Doesn’t it look awesome? Hopefully worth the extended wait. You’ll notice the name letters are bigger since the last update - I felt they were too small, and Rinkgear addressed it.
The Extended Edition:
Several people have written expressing their frustration that this order was taking too long, and rightly so. I too grew impatient, as I hoped to receive my jersey by the beginning of October. Having organized this order, I did not want to disappoint anyone. These jerseys represent me and the davesgeekyideas ‘brand’ to a large extent — last thing I want to do is leave a negative impression.
But once I sent off the art (something I should have been faster in doing - sorry) I was essentially another customer; it was all out of my hands. I am not profiting from these. This was essentially a team order, but for a ragtag group of fans from all over the world.
I have learned to view delays in a positive light, being from the video game industry. Delays are to the benefit of the final product, and I think we’re going to see that in this instance. I am impressed with what I see. I used to hate the 90′s Los Angeles Kings teams on which this jersey design is based, now I cannot wait to wear their colors.
Rinkgear went the extra mile and affixed the stripes to the jersey, instead of having those printed on as part of the sublimation process. That bonus addition slowed down the process a bit. With all the letters and numbers and crests being individually stitched onto 40+ jerseys, you have the makings of a prolonged production schedule.
At $60 each we are getting an amazing bargain. Many places charge $70-$90 for the letters and numbers alone! The base price is now $65-$70 from Rinkgear - before twill crests. I think they got tired me of saying really? That’s all you’re charging?
I am currently talking with Rinkgear to streamline the ordering and production process. They are a startup and I am new to putting together buy-ins, hiccups were inevitable. I knew the order process went too smoothly!
Thank you all for your patience. The messenger ravens are inbound now.
What’s Next:
As for more Game Of Thrones jersey offers: soon. I am working on some designs which I hope to reveal in the near future. The design process will involve polling this time, allowing people to vote on particular logos, colors, and jerseys styles. I am also mulling having a design competition too. Decisions, decisions.
Many people have written asking to be notified as to the next time the Direwolves jersey will be on sale, and I honestly cannot do that. Too many people to keep tabs on! Please stay tuned to this site or my Twitter feed for any announcements.
How Do These NHL Socks Not Exist?
You can buy NHL-branded socks that feature the team colors, logo, and nickname. But what about socks that look just like the ones the players are wearing? No such thing exists!
What is even more baffling, is that you don’t need an NHL license to produce these. That is because these designs are simply an arrangement of colors and stripes - no team nicknames or logos. You’d think some company would capitalize on this.
I personally would love to throw on some red Calgary Flames socks on game day. Being socks they don’t have much visibility, so I can safely wear these when I am out and about here in Vancouver*.
This could also be done with NFL, MLB, NBA and FIFA too. Well, the teams that wear colorful striped socks. Appears to be an endangered species in the NFL, and seldom seen in the NBA or FIFA.
Note: This was going to be a part of the Geeky Fashion series, but this is not quite geeky.
*When I wear my Flames jersey in Vancouver, I usually end up reminding Canucks fans how many Stanley Cups my team has won (just the one - 1989) with a count of fingers. I don’t use my index finger. Ha.
Direwolves Hockey Jersey Pics
Rinkgear is putting the finishing touches on the Direwolves jerseys, and they will be shipped out in the next few days. They were nice enough to provide some pics of a finished jersey.
One of the first things you’ll notice is that the stripes ar esown into the jersey, instead of being printed as part of the sublimation process. Nice little bonus!
That’s a fine-looking logo, though I am biased. Love the stitching. I want to make a joke about having a wolf’s head stitched to your person, but it may be spoilerish. Some of you know what I am getting at.
We are looking at someone’s 32 Stark jersey. I think the number is a family break down: 3 boys, 2 girls, but that is only my guess. Stark and Snow were hands-down the two most popular names, with Arya a distant third. 7 was the most popular number. Interesting tidbit: someone with the actual last name of Snow placed an order. That person is among the few to get their own last name affixed to the jersey.
These jerseys are nearing completion in the next few days, thanks to everyone for being patient. Rinkgear did go the extra mile for the stripes and stitching, so it is worth the wait in my opinion.
Another Direwolves Jersey Update
Sean from Rinkgear wrote to me today:
Just wanted to touch base and let you know the jerseys will be wrapped up next week.
We had some delays with matching the crests and stripe materials.
I’ll have photos for you first thing next week.
Thank you again for your patience,
-Sean
Sorry for the bad news. I had really hoped to have these by the start of the NHL season. At least we’ll get these by the time Game Of Thrones Season 2 starts airing. Definitely before the sixth ASOIAF book. I am kidding! Within a few weeks.
I have been bugging Sean for pictures of them in production, so you’ll see them soon, at least. I will post those as soon as possible.
I’d like to ask for everyone’s continued patience. Please remember I am in the same boat: I want my jersey too!
On a related note, Rinkgear will have their merchant site up soon, and I will post a small selection of GoT jerseys there - probably a few other geeky designs too. The Direwolves jersey will be among the offerings for those who missed out.
A Mixed Bag Of Goods + Hockey Jersey Update
I ran to Kinko’s yesterday to print the Mario Skytrain poster. It looks amazing - like a large screen HD image of Mario 3. I’ve never made a production poster before. A few notes - I left the white border on, the prints from imagekind.com would be cropped to the black border. Also, I have since fixed the locations of the ‘Stations’ legend, making the icon and text more centered in their field.
Rant: Dear Kinko’s: your printing policy to round up the square foot charge is ridonkulous. This poster is 5.2 square feet, but you charged me for 6, despite my protests (loved how your employees shrugged non-nonchalantly, morale is high there!). That extra .8 of a foot is the last of my business with your company. Enjoy it!
You may have noticed the storefront I added to the sidebar in the last few weeks. This was a response to the Direwolves jersey I designed, and many people wanted the logo on a shirt. So I found the Printfection service (via Puckdrawn) and decided to set it up.
I received my Direwolves hoodie today from Printfection, and it is better than I expected (see previous link) in some areas, but disappointing in others. The white is very vibrant and from a distance, you’d think it was silkscreen printed (it is actually heat-pressed). Unfortunately there is a pink hairline around the white, almost as though a pink base was applied before the logo. The pink is noticeable on the outer edge of the logo (top right of the shield in the pic), and can also be seen upon close inspection along any white border. Up close, the logo has a sandpaper texture in appearance. Lastly, some wrinkles marred the print, from the way the shirt was folded in shipping - hopefully I can remedy that with a wash or two.
The verdict: The pink base makes this a marginal fail. It’s quite common for hairline errors in printing (take a look at one of your T-shirts, there is probably a hairline border from the white base), but the pink base is an odd choice. If not for that, I would be impressed with the application of colors on dark fabrics with a heat-press, especially for an inexpensive on-demand process. This heat-press technique needs some refinement.
I am removing the store for now, but will change the selection to all light-colored fabrics. I’ll also add a few new items.
Direwolves Hockey Jersey Update: The jerseys are nearing completion, and will be shipped next week. Our large order of 40 crested jerseys is taking a bit longer - mostly due to all the stitching of the crests to the jerseys. It was also delayed initially by art (my bad) and the supplier changing the jersey sizes.
Hopefully I can write a glowing review. From what I’ve seen and read of Rinkgear’s work, these should look excellent. Can’t wait.
Rinkgear’s merchant front is also nearing completion, so expect to see more Game Of Thrones hockey jerseys soon.
Ice Hockey 2 Please!
I have a new nemesis. I dub this enemy 'Pixel Art'.
Yesterday Nintendo announced a new Mario Tennis for 2012. The Mario Tennis franchise has been released on the Game Boy Color, Nintendo 64, Game Boy Advance, and GameCube (which saw a re-release on the Wii). While Tennis gets a lot of love, I feel Nintendo should resurrect a title they haven’t touched since the NES* - Ice Hockey.
In this blogger’s opinion, Ice Hockey was the first great hockey video game. It had a simple mechanic: create a lineup of 4 players, choosing between skinny, normal, and fat body types. Skinny players were fast, but easy to flatten with a body check. Fat players were physical and had a booming slap shot, but were very slow on the ice. Normal players were average across the board.
That core mechanic could remain for a sequel. The only major addition would be the inclusion of Mario characters, much like the other Nintendo sports games. Luigi could be the skinny player, Mario the normal player, and Wario the fat player. Many other Nintendo characters like Yoshi and Donkey Kong could be included as well.
This game would be ideal for the 3DS. You might be able to fit the whole rink in the top screen. Stick-handling, passing, and shooting could be done with the stylus on the touch-screen.
*I’m going to ignore the Stanley Cup game they released for the SNES, and the hockey mode in Mario And Sonic Go The Winter Games for Wii.
EA NHL 94 Action Figures
Jeremy Roenick, celebrating yet another improbable goal - likely a backhand from the blue line.
I own a few McFarlane NHL figures (mostly Calgary Flame players), and they are awesome sculpts that are very detailed and lifelike. What I am proposing is the opposite of that: pixelated figures that celebrate the video game sports legends of the 16-bit era.
These nondescript blocky versions of athletes would only need to be 2-4″ tall, as it would look a bit too weird in the 6-7″ range (the size of McFarlane sports figures). The small size would be perfect for collecting a whole bunch, perhaps even assembling a re-creation of the video game (arena and all). Because the players of the 16-bit erea didn’t feature any names or numbers or likenesses, you could probably buy entire teams by the bag full (like green army men).
Though the current model in which McFarlane releases figures - a select series of several players released annually - would be fine as well. Standout players like Jeremy Roenick could receive the star treatment, like the design above.
Speaking of Roenick and NHL 94, it would be sorta cool/slightly disturbing to see a ‘Gretzky bleeding’ figure too. Well, it would be a humorous release that is for sure. UPDATE: added it!
This is all reference to the classic scene from Swingers, which Jeremy Roenick recently reenacted (language is NSFW):
Some basic pose-ability would be nice (like a Lego minifig), but is not essential. Obviously this idea can be applied to other sports video games like Madden, NBA Live, Tecmo Bowl, FIFA, etc. Even non-sports video games would have a lot of potential for ‘pixelated action figures’, such as Mario and Zelda and the like.
UPDATE: Here is a goalie figure:
Direwolves Jersey Last Call
Above is the final jersey design for team Direwolves, which I just sent off to Rinkgear. Two small changes: I made the ‘Direwolves’ word in the chest logo a bit bolder, and instead of the subtle watermark on the right sleeve that said “Winter is Coming”, I made an NHL-esque shield that will sit on the back tail. Pretty cool logo if I may say so.
This Friday August 26th is the final deadline to get your order in to buy a jersey. Though between you, me, and the fence post - if you sneak your order in over the weekend we’ll be none the wiser. Monday morning Sean at Rinkgear will slap his hands together Mr. Miyagi-style and start the production process for these jerseys. If you want to join in click here for details.
I’d like to thank all those people who have hopped on board to make this group buy-in possible. It’s humbling that people like this design (and idea in general), enough to sink their own money into it. Though much of the credit should be attributed to the Song of Fire and Ice property, which is embraced by one of the coolest fandoms in existence, something I have learned over the past five months.
I’m getting a lot of questions about what jersey is next, and how will I go about following this up. I’m not entirely sure, I’m just in a holding pattern right now.
I would like to call upon all the sports apparel companies out there to seek out the license for creating sportswear based on the Game of Thrones property. It would be very lucrative. Like I stated originally, the many Houses from Game of Thrones translate so well into sports teams. Maybe GRRM and HBO should pursue this line of merchandise themselves. Either way, there needs to be a legitimate option for fans of the show to buy this kind of merch.
Outdoor Street Hockey Courts
An outdoor street hockey court would be comprised of a pavement surface featuring painted lines (like a basketball court), and would have permanent goal fixtures (like a soccer field) and a chain-link fence to encircle the court (like a tennis court). People can play street hockey or roller hockey here.
These courts probably exist - but where? Everywhere I go I see basketball and tennis courts. Soccer and baseball fields also litter the landscape. Even the “scourge” of society - skateboarders - get skate parks filled with ramps and rails to shred up. But what about facilities aimed at street hockey players?
Currently street hockey players enlist basketball courts to play, bringing their own nets. However shooting wide will likely result in chasing the ball some ways, as not every basketball court has an encircling fence like tennis courts do. Tennis courts are too small to use for hockey, and usually have permanent nets installed.
I keep referring to basketball and tennis courts because they set an established precedent. They are permanent facilities where you just have to show up with your own equipment. Why these hockey courts aren’t more commonplace - especially here in Canada - I haven’t the foggiest idea.
There may be more safety concerns compared to basketball and tennis, but having played a lot of street hockey I’ve never seen any incidents. Everyone plays a very composed, restrained game.
The only ones who would oppose these hockey courts are the people who truly own and operate Canada - hockey arena operators, or “gatekeepers” as they are more commonly referred to. Ain’t no one playing hockey for free! No way no how.
I believe the odd basketball court can be modified to become a hockey court. Even all-new facilities wouldn’t coast much more than a tennis court - we’re just talking pavement and chain-link fence here. If you build it they will come.
Also I’m curious: do you have outdoor hockey courts in your area? Are they comparable to the description above? Let me know.
Game Of Thrones Hockey Jerseys Part 4: The Targaryens
This awesome Targaryens hockey jersey was sent in by a designer who wishes to remain anonymous*. I think you are looking at the next Game of Thrones jersey offering, once we get the Starks jersey offer out of the way.
The logo is inspired by the Targaryen sigil which features a red three-headed dragon on black. The Targaryens have my favorite motto after the Starks: “Fire and Blood”, and this jersey features a fiery design and lots of crimson. Can’t ask for more!
But why wait for a jersey? This would make for the perfect tattoo. I imagine a lot of people are Daenerys fans who’d proudly wear this tribal-like design.
*Apparently there is still a lot of shame for some people who don’t want to reveal their geeky side. I implore this designer to just come out and admit: I’m a geek and proud! I can no longer hide my geek self. Society will still shun you of course, but you’ll find other geeks. You can openly attend Comic-Cons, a safe haven for people like us. Yes, I said us. You’re one of us. One of us! One of us!
