San Jose Bills Fan Posted July 1, 2011 Share Posted July 1, 2011 I know there's been tons of uniform related posts in the wake of last Friday's uniform launch, but apparently here's a guy whose sole purpose is to critique and evaluate the uniforms of professional sports teams. I'm not familiar with his work or who he is but this is his gig and he likes the Bills new unis… but also offers some criticisms as well. "Of somewhat greater concern: the striping, which is sort of a hybrid of shoulder stripes and sleeve stripes (can't have it both ways, guys -- pick shoulders or sleeves and stick to it), and the logo above the nameplate (the Vikings and Cardinals are the only other teams that pull this stunt -- is that really the visual company you want to be in?)" http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=lukas-110630_bills_NHL_unis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homey D. Clown Posted July 1, 2011 Share Posted July 1, 2011 (edited) that was the one thing I didn't care for(logo and bills on the jersey), but wasn't a deal breaker for me. I also would have liked the logos as large as the ones they replace on the red helmets, and I am a take it or leave it on the widening of the helmet striping. Everything else I loved, and really hope the blue pants do not make a return, the all white look is just so classic. Edited July 1, 2011 by McKinleys Curse Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Senator Posted July 1, 2011 Share Posted July 1, 2011 I know there's been tons of uniform related posts in the wake of last Friday's uniform launch, but apparently here's a guy whose sole purpose is to critique and evaluate the uniforms of professional sports teams. So this guy is a sort of NFL 'Mr. Blackwell'??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amstel Posted July 1, 2011 Share Posted July 1, 2011 I don't mind the "Bills" on the front in fact, I kind of like it. However, I dont like the chargin buffalo on the back. I LOVE the charging buffalo logo however I think its just too much having it on the jerseys. And on the pants? Unecessary. Other than that I like the uniforms although Im not sure about the widening of the stripe on the helmet. I havent gotten a good look at it yet........ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homer Posted July 1, 2011 Share Posted July 1, 2011 Im just glad the Bills have a uniform that at least makes them look like they play NFL football. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Van_phelaN1 Posted July 1, 2011 Share Posted July 1, 2011 that was the one thing I didn't care for(logo and bills on the jersey), but wasn't a deal breaker for me. I also would have liked the logos as large as the ones they replace on the red helmets, and I am a take it or leave it on the widening of the helmet striping. Everything else I loved, and really hope the blue pants do not make a return, the all white look is just so classic. At first glace I didn't like the logo on the back of the jersey and i liked it even less when i found them on the pants as well. But after thinking about it, it does make sense. If you want to distinguish and grow the brand, slapping that charging buffalo on everything makes sense. I remember back in the early 90's people always assumed I was a Giants fan because of the jersey similarities. Of course that wouldn't be a problem now but I can certainly understand trying to make your brand stand out as much as possible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
purple haze Posted July 1, 2011 Share Posted July 1, 2011 that was the one thing I didn't care for(logo and bills on the jersey), but wasn't a deal breaker for me. I also would have liked the logos as large as the ones they replace on the red helmets, and I am a take it or leave it on the widening of the helmet striping. Everything else I loved, and really hope the blue pants do not make a return, the all white look is just so classic. They had to make logo on helmet smaller because of the widening stripe down the center of the helmet. Had to leave room for NFL required decals. I love the logos and name mark on the jersey. Now folks have no doubts about what team we root for. Would have liked to see a Blue pants option and lose the widening stripe for a normal set, but outside of that I love the new uni's. Simple and classic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bowery4 Posted July 1, 2011 Share Posted July 1, 2011 Would have liked to see the throwback strips on the arms and blue pants white jersey away unis but it is definitely an improvement over the recent past. I wouldn't mind a new Buffalo too actually, well they can and probably will redesign things again when RW passes so if they stay, we can all look forward to this again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chandler#81 Posted July 1, 2011 Share Posted July 1, 2011 Intersting that 'Mr. Blackwell' doesn't like the semi-shoulder/semi-sleeve striping. Neither do I. I suspect it's because I anticipated them looking closer to the '74-'83 design, when, if fact, they're a blend of old & new. The new stripes will take a while to grow on me, but they said the same thing about the Bronco uni with the connecting side stripe on jersey & pants. Winning SB's goes a long way to uni favortism i guess. The Bills -on the other hand- never figured out how to apply that design.. Probably a good thing as the whole '00's uni has been scrapped. Thank God! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zulu Cthulhu Posted July 1, 2011 Share Posted July 1, 2011 I like the "Bills" and logo above the numbers on the front and back - small modern touches on what is largely a throwback uniform. Less impressed with the logos on the top of the pants - those seem a bit unnecessary. The widening of the center stripe on the helmet is very subtle, at least to my eye. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UConn James Posted July 2, 2011 Share Posted July 2, 2011 (edited) I like the "Bills" and logo above the numbers on the front and back - small modern touches on what is largely a throwback uniform. Less impressed with the logos on the top of the pants - those seem a bit unnecessary. The widening of the center stripe on the helmet is very subtle, at least to my eye. It goes from 1" to 2 1/2". That's not a very subtle change. All told, this was not unlike the Chargers' redesign a few years ago. Everyone there wanted the "powder blue" throwbacks... but what they got was powder blue with navy-outlined features. They're probably figuring that people will drag their old duds out of the attic instead of buying new $100-$200 pieces of cloth with a name and number on it. The half-hearted approach to throwbacks (most often, returning to traditional color-schemes, striping patterns, etc.) can be OK if it looks good. But there is every chance it can look like crap, come off as gimmicky, or smack of doing something just to be different. This is often the mother of abortions like the Sluggalo, the NY Islanders' Gorton Fisherman logo, Broncos orange side-gussets, Oregon Ducks unis, and the like. One of the few examples I can think of where new components blended in well with old colors/designs was the Vancouver Canucks' return to blue green and white, and changing the colors on newer logos. I would place several of the Bills' redesign elements in the "doing something just to be different" category. It's certainly better than the navy pajamas. But was it everything fans wanted (which, by far, was a "return to a traditional look")? No. I can't think of anyone who didn't like the '64-'65 throwback set. It would've been the easiest thing to change it to the throwbacks --- they were already designed, as for screen-testing... they've been used on TV before, they were/are immensely popular. I don't get why they had to go do something different when a great set was already in place. I'm not going to carry the torch on this topic, but I'm also not going to be buying the new merch. Edited July 2, 2011 by UConn James Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobbyC81 Posted July 2, 2011 Share Posted July 2, 2011 I don't get why they had to go do something different when a great set was already in place. Why did the Bills change to the prior ugly unis in the 1st place? Why did the Sabres change from blue & gold to red & black? Why are there throwback unis?? It's called selling merchandise. Anything to make a buck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ARTnSocal Posted July 3, 2011 Share Posted July 3, 2011 Why are many of you referring to the new uniforms as classic look, especially the road whites .... I don't get that. Blue pants came out in '73 Leaping Bison came out in '74 In the 10 years of the white helmet with the leaping Bison, we never ever wore white on white with the leaping Bison white helmet. All they had to do was peel off the grazing Bison logo and replace it with the leaping Bison. Add the word-mark below the NFL shield and have optional blue pants.... next case! The white on white look in 2009 for AFL-50 never looked that good in 1965. The black shoes made a big difference. Click below and tell me that these weren't a work of perfection BILLS in 2009 for AFL-50 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
San Jose Bills Fan Posted July 3, 2011 Author Share Posted July 3, 2011 Why are many of you referring to the new uniforms as classic look, especially the road whites .... I don't get that. Blue pants came out in '73 Leaping Bison came out in '74 In the 10 years of the white helmet with the leaping Bison, we never ever wore white on white with the leaping Bison white helmet. All they had to do was peel off the grazing Bison logo and replace it with the leaping Bison. Add the word-mark below the NFL shield and have optional blue pants.... next case! The white on white look in 2009 for AFL-50 never looked that good in 1965. The black shoes made a big difference. Click below and tell me that these weren't a work of perfection BILLS in 2009 for AFL-50 Those are my faves. I realize the new unis had to be different due to merchandise sales but if I had to pick one uni, those would be the ones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nanker Posted July 3, 2011 Share Posted July 3, 2011 I'm not a fan at all of the armpit stripes on the game jerseys. The replithentics sleeve stripes are far better IMO. But the white stripes around the V-neck on those looks like a coach's whistle lanyard and weakens the overall effect - as does the too heavy dark Sharpie outlining of the numerals. Overall though, they're a much better set of threads than the clown suits of the past era. May those be buried in the trash heap of infamy - along with the inglorious memories of futility and despair... forever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coastalpika Posted July 3, 2011 Share Posted July 3, 2011 I cannot believe how many people are complaining about the most ridiculous things when it comes to the new uniforms... waah there is no blue pants , OOO the stripes look weird or ewww I don't like the charging buffalo logo on the back of the jersey... At the end of the day these were much needed upgrades to get rid of those horrible jersey's that do nothing but remind us fans of a lost decade. I cannot wait for this lockout to end already! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nucci Posted July 6, 2011 Share Posted July 6, 2011 Why are many of you referring to the new uniforms as classic look, especially the road whites .... I don't get that. Blue pants came out in '73 Leaping Bison came out in '74 In the 10 years of the white helmet with the leaping Bison, we never ever wore white on white with the leaping Bison white helmet. All they had to do was peel off the grazing Bison logo and replace it with the leaping Bison. Add the word-mark below the NFL shield and have optional blue pants.... next case! The white on white look in 2009 for AFL-50 never looked that good in 1965. The black shoes made a big difference. Click below and tell me that these weren't a work of perfection BILLS in 2009 for AFL-50 Those are great!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ramius Posted July 6, 2011 Share Posted July 6, 2011 (edited) I'm not a fan at all of the armpit stripes on the game jerseys. The replithentics sleeve stripes are far better IMO. But the white stripes around the V-neck on those looks like a coach's whistle lanyard and weakens the overall effect - as does the too heavy dark Sharpie outlining of the numerals. Overall though, they're a much better set of threads than the clown suits of the past era. May those be buried in the trash heap of infamy - along with the inglorious memories of futility and despair... forever. Its because the game cut jerseys are often sleeveless. Where do you put sleeve stripes on sleeveless jerseys? Edited July 6, 2011 by Ramius Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UConn James Posted July 6, 2011 Share Posted July 6, 2011 Its because the game cut jerseys are often sleeveless. Where do you put sleeve stripes on sleeveless jerseys? The only ones I remember being "sleeveless" by way of Hojo's alterations are Schoebel and Kelsay. There was a photo of one of Kelsey's game jerseys where the underarm gusset is entirely removed. I dunno. Maybe the guy needs constant access to his 'pits for some reason.... Some players use the elasticized sleeve hem so there's less fuss they have to correct after a play; it's bunched up, but there is a sleeve. Other than that, I don't recall any players who actually didn't have sleeves. Regardless, we'll see how the ambiguous shoulder-arm stripes will look once players have them altered. The one thing I keep coming back to is, why would I go buying one (especially an authentic) when the whole league is switching to Nike next year and doubtless there will be changes? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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