Those are the old ones though. They have 7 and 9 in those.
The 2014 Illini Nike Uniforms and Rebrand
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Those are the old ones though. They have 7 and 9 in those.
Right. I can understand not making all the colors and options. BUT to have one jersey with one number option to me is simply not acceptable. Perhaps sales have declined so much with jerseys because the manufacturers (Nike is most guilty of this with college jerseys) have increased prices compared to five years ago ($59 to $90). Last year having grey and orange were good options, but to literally not be able to purchase, customize, buy an expensive authentic version... of blue or white is comical.
A simple search on fanatics for Indiana football jerseys http://www.fanatics.com/search/indiana%20football%20jersey shows both color options for them as well as multiple numbers AND they're only $65. I'm too lazy to do any more research, but I imagine that other Adidas football schools that aren't exactly marquee programs still have all their jerseys available for purchase.
So, where does the blame fall for this. If one believes Mike Waddell (no reason not to here), it's that the school gave the ability to Nike to license and sell the numbers 1, 15, 50, and 77. It is then up to Nike to decide what they are going to make to offer to retailers. I suspect that on top of that, a retailer could call up Nike and place an order for several hundred/thousand additional pieces and get it custom made, but this would likely require high volume that a program in our state is not going to be doing. While I generally feel that Nike hasn't been the one to blame for a lot of this rebrand and that it is more simply circumstantial on most of peoples' complaints, this seems to be an area that they are really dropping the ball in. I understand jerseys aren't huge money makers, but that doesn't mean you should drop the ball completely.
To add to that, I would say introduction of new merchandise for sale after the re-brand has been a complete joke as well. A t-shirt or two in the football season, a couple in the basketball season, a couple generic polos. Nike has become too cookie cutter for the most part - every shirt looks almost exactly the same for every team. Minimal swapping of colors, with a small logo on the left chest and their swoosh somewhere.
Why don't the football jerseys they have for sale have the striping on the front? I thought that was the best part of the new uniforms, and was definitely going to get one before I saw that the replicas didn't have them. I am also a big fan of the stripes because they are unique to Illinois, and Would help to distinguish us from other similar colored teams (I was asked at OSU why I was wearing a Broncos jersey a few years ago)
Very good question. I completely agree.
Nike makes three versions of their football jersey - Game, Limited, & Elite. The game is the cheapest of the three, the Limited is similar but has a few more details and sewn on one-layer numbers, and the Elite is a near-exact replica of the on-field jersey (besides a few fit features). Nike does not make the elite jersey of college teams right now, only NFL. They make the limited jerseys for some schools (Iowa, Alabama and everyone in-between).
Another school that has "patterns" on their jerseys for lack of a better term is TCU. Their "game" jerseys do not feature this pattern http://www.fanatics.com/COLLEGE_TCU_Horned_Frogs/No._5_TCU_Horned_Frogs_Nike_Replica_Game_Football_Jersey_-_Purple, but their "limited" jerseys do. http://www.fanatics.com/COLLEGE_TCU_Horned_Frogs/TCU_Horned_Frogs_Nike_Number_5_Limited_Football_Jersey_-_Purple
Unfortunately, the Illini do not move the needle enough to warrant sales of the "limited" jersey, so they only get the game jersey. My guess would be a limited version of the jersey would have full-body striping and not just the sleeves.
Eric88
E
Guest
Saw this tonight. Too bad there isn't a roster to pick a name, but rules are rules. http://www.fansedge.com/Illinois_Fi...ois_Fighting_Illini_Orange_Custom_Game_Jersey
Isn't your last name Lunt, or Dudek, or ????
Does the name you pick have to match the one on your credit card?Oskee67
- Champaign
Looks like O/W/O this week.
I'm sure this has been brought up before, but does anyone have a good reason why the stripes on the orange helmet don't match the stripes on the orange pants? I think the same issue applies with the blue helmet and jerseys.
ILLINIShox24
Orange Krush '04 & '05
It has been brought up, without solution.
I tend to not get worked up about this stuff, but it's blatant with the three pictures side by side. Doesn't make sense to have them different.
Only thing I came up with is that the stripes match with the white helmet I believe. Leading one to believe that is the primary helmet with the others being alts with different stripes.
IlliniByProxy
- St. Joseph, IL
I agree that it would look better with the matching stripes but I interpreted the consistency pitch much differently. To me consistency references logos, fonts and colors. Design is a separate issue.
wILL-INI
- Charlotte, NC
Why isnt it all encompassing?
consistency is consistency and a stripe is as important as a logo, font, color for a football team.
lstewart53x3
- Scottsdale, Arizona
I think this is the definition of #FirstWorldProbs.
TyinLex
- Kentucky
Thoughts: the orange chrome helmet has not looked good with any jersey combinations the team has worn with them. The look would be complete if the numbers were chrome or some other component of the uniform was chrome. I like the orange chrome helmet, but the rest of the uniform does not compliment the look of the chrome helmet.
I would like to see this combination: Orange Chrome Helmet, Blue Jersey, White Pants
I would like to see this combination: Orange Chrome Helmet, Blue Jersey, White Pants
For arguments sake, I thought it looked good with orange pants and a white or blue jersey in the pictures i've seen, including the look we saw saturday (even though that combo has led to blowouts between this weekend and OSU last year). Also they really aren't chrome, they're technically anodized.
Not that it matters, but my 8 year-old saw what we were wearing on Saturday and laughed. He really dislikes the orange helmet. Not being familiar with the situation, he told me that Illinois should pay a company to come up with a better uniform.
I showed him pictures of the white/blue/white and he much preferred that.
The weird Matte/Semi-Reflective Orange helmets look so out of place with their uniforms. I think they might look good on top of an all blue uniform, but even then i'm not sure. Maybe on top of all white as well. But when they wear orange jerseys or pants the stark difference in the color of the oranges looks truly awful.
Drew007 nailed it above - in the right sunlight, the color appears to match and looks awesome. However, it seems getting the right sunlight doesn't happen very often and it definitely looks like different colors most of the time.
OrangeDeeLight
- Champaign Area
Our Orange helmet looks more like it should be an IU helmet. Almost comes across as red. :tsk:
peace davids
- Colorado
I think a lot of people are confusing the uniform design and the rebrand. The uniforms will change every 3-5 years, with new styles of helmets, maybe metallic, maybe matte, maybe different facemask colors, etc.
The rebrand really only addresses the colors, fonts, and logos. I believe all of those are long term and will hold up. My only rebrand concern is the change in the orange color, which directly conflicts with the academic orange that the university uses. (those color palettes NEED to match).
The metallic orange helmets will phase out eventually (I hope sooner rather than later), just like the zig zags on the basketball uniforms, and hopefully the lack of white on the orange pant striping.
The rebrand really only addresses the colors, fonts, and logos. I believe all of those are long term and will hold up. My only rebrand concern is the change in the orange color, which directly conflicts with the academic orange that the university uses. (those color palettes NEED to match).
The metallic orange helmets will phase out eventually (I hope sooner rather than later), just like the zig zags on the basketball uniforms, and hopefully the lack of white on the orange pant striping.
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