NHL Team Customizers

[mfitz804]

But they charge the same for kits and do less work. How is that a bad thing for them?

No idea. But when I asked once about buying a kit, he was upset and I just sent him the jersey. I do too many Devils jerseys to upset the team customizer.

Edited August 1, 2015 by mfitz804

[JoeM7392]

It's exactly the same amount. I dug through my email to confirm what I thought. EPS charges $20 for a nameplate with name, $40 for the set of back and sleeve numbers, and $60 for the full kit. I've ordered one kit and 2 nameplates from them. They ding you for like $12-15 shipping for a usps envelope too.

With that being said, if I were him I'd love sending out kits. Same profit margin, way less work to do. Not that it matters too much, I send everything in unless it's a special circumstance.

But I agree about not upsetting them, if they won't do it I won't press them. Had an issue on a font they sent me back a few weeks ago, I was hesitant to bring it up because I didn't want to cause a problem.

Edited August 1, 2015 by JoeM7392

[mfitz804]

To some extent, you should be able to complain if you don't get what you want, and it's sad that we have to hold back.

That being said, I don't sew so it really doesn't make sense for me to buy kits anyway.

[Brilliant!]

It's sad that you have to tiptoe about them so much. They do such amazing work and yet they're like children to deal with. Although, I guess I have them to thank because that was basically why I started to collect game-worn stuff over regular retail.

[JoeM7392]

To some extent, you should be able to complain if you don't get what you want, and it's sad that we have to hold back.

I didn't really complain, just inquired about if they would be willing to fix it. Their font for the devils red/green stuff is almost perfect except for the back #2s. My driver I got back obviously had a 2. It was missing the little vertical run at the bottom inside corner, I'll have to post a pic later. They asked what my reference was and I showed a few gamers, and that was that. They're fixing it for free right now. Josh was actually really cool about it.

[mfitz804]

I didn't really complain, just inquired about if they would be willing to fix it. Their font for the devils red/green stuff is almost perfect except for the back #2s. My driver I got back obviously had a 2. It was missing the little vertical run at the bottom inside corner, I'll have to post a pic later. They asked what my reference was and I showed a few gamers, and that was that. They're fixing it for free right now. Josh was actually really cool about it.

Well that's a good ending then. With the amount of jerseys you send them, it's the right thing for them to do. Actually it's just the right thing in general, but you know what I mean.

[Hawks2797]

Being the Devils team customizer, how could they have messed up the 2's on a Devils jersey??

[JoeM7392]

Being the Devils team customizer, how could they have messed up the 2's on a Devils jersey??

It was the older style, which EPS never actually did for the team. It would be just like sending them any other jersey that they don't do, it might not be perfect. He said I was the first one to ever suggest his devils stuff was wrong, not sure he believed me. I'm glad they're taking care of it though because I wouldn't be able to look at the jersey without thinking about it.

[LAK74]

Same thing happened to me with the back 2 of my early 90's Blues (another Custom Crafted team) with the vinyl layered numbers. The small vertical line is missing, so the borders come together instead in a sharp point, like a corner of a triangle. I just lived with it; if I knew they would be that cool about it, I might have asked them to fix it.

[JoeM7392]

Yup, that is exactly what it was. I saw it immediately when I pulled it out of the package. I told myself for three days that it wasnt a big deal and I could put up with it.

I was wrong.

Here is a picture for anybody who doesn't know what I was talking about, correct 2 on the right.

[FlyersFan376]

But they charge the same for kits and do less work. How is that a bad thing for them?

Well if they charge the same then idk

Maybe it's a pride sort of thing-- like, you're paying the same price but you'd still rather them not touch your jersey as if their quality is lacking, might feel a bit insulted as that is their business

[JoeM7392]

Well if they charge the same then idk

Maybe it's a pride sort of thing-- like, you're paying the same price but you'd still rather them not touch your jersey as if their quality is lacking, might feel a bit insulted as that is their business

Didn't consider that, but I guess that could be it. But $$$ talks, and if they would turn down selling a kit over pride, I'm not sure that would be the smartest move business wise. I mean I never had that issue as they've sent me kits without so much as a question, but I guess he can handle that however he wants whether we like it or not.

Benefits of running your own business I guess.

[LAK74]

Maybe it's a pride sort of thing-- like, you're paying the same price but you'd still rather them not touch your jersey as if their quality is lacking, might feel a bit insulted as that is their business

I believe that is a huge part of it. I just got back some stitch jobs from them, but I sent them kits to use that were made by someone else. Josh couldn't seem to understand why I would have anyone else but EPS make the kits- like I thought their quality wasn't good enough. He then rather heavily criticized the quality of the kits I provided, and said that he would rather not even use them, as it was his name that was going onto the final product. I can actually understand his point of view, although I felt that the quality was not nearly as much of an issue as he made it out to be. Anyway, I can now understand why these jobs (which were sent to them way back near the end of the Spring Sale) took so much longer to get back than other forum members' stuff, even though the finished kits were already included with the jerseys- he apparently didn't want to get around to doing them. But in his defense, if he really felt the kits were that bad, I can understand why he felt that way.

Edited August 1, 2015 by LAK74

[ted1025]

Pretty funny to think it would be about the pride of their work when some people around here recently have been mentioning that Josh isn't willing to really listen to all the small details people provide with their jerseys that they want done but EPS just does what they have on file for that jersey.

[mfitz804]

He said I was the first one to ever suggest his devils stuff was wrong, not sure he believed me.

That's what's funny about him. Look at the pictures, it couldn't be any clearer.

I had them do a 2015 ASG replica Toews, and they put the Captains C on the left side like on most teams' jerseys. The C was on the right side. You'd think he'd have to admit the mistake, but instead he mentioned that I've always been happy and I send in a lot of jerseys, and he could explain how it was the NHLPA's fault but he didn't want to get into it.

No apology, no "our mistake", but, in his defense, he did offer to correct it for free. As I was only trying to sell that jersey, I just sold it as is on eBay and was done with it.

[TMLFAN]

with the attitude they have there it really is hard to imagine how they are so successful. I absolutely loathe having to have anything done by them and I'm sure a lot of others feel the same way. We're insignificant as far as profitability for them but you have to figure the bad attitude extends to all aspects of customer service there.

It is entertaining to hear about all the exchanges members have with Josh though.

[JoeM7392]

Yeah I've heard that about him and I thought that's how it was going to go for me, but he was really good about it.

Here's the email I got back after sending him some gamer links, I'm very happy with the outcome.

"No problem, I understand. Im not trying to argue with you, I just needed a few more legitimate images. Some of our customers grab the first thing they see in Google images whether its an image, or someones jerseys that came from who knows where. Thanks for letting us know. Makes it difficult to make things authentic, why would you make a sleeve and back different? Usually just an oops, but once it goes on ice it becomes the gospel whether it was supposed to be that way or not. Just send it in with a note and we will make the correction at no charge. My apologies for the inconvenience.

Thank you

Joshua Kliebe

Exclusive Pro Sports"

Edited August 1, 2015 by JoeM7392

[mfitz804]

He's big on that too, mistakes making it out on the ice and then it becomes the "correct" way.

I often think that we as collectors put 1000x more thought into these things than the team does.

[JoeM7392]

Yeah definitely. Nobody's as picky as we are, not even the teams themselves I don't think.

But he's fixing it, so it's good in my book. I think he's just one of those guys you have to deal with carefully, it sucks but that's how some people are.

[mfitz804]

Yup, that's just the way it goes sometimes. As long as the end result is the correct one, the rest is just the guy's personality.

[FlyersFan376]

Has anyone ever successfully had Sports Haven do a Red Wings jersey for them?

I sent in a jersey like 2 months ago, called a month ago and they said it should be ready in a week or so, called back another week later and they said they mailed it but it came back to them for whatever reason, so he said he'd mail it UPS

Now I still have yet to receive it or hear from them... should I be worried or do they exaggerate timelines horribly?

Called again today, apparently the owner was having some family trouble and things weren't running smoothly-- he apologized and sent the jersey out today free of charge

Can't really complain about that, and he seemed to be in the clear as far as his troubles, so i guess it all worked out

Edited August 8, 2015 by FlyersFan376

[DC Red Wings]

Glad to hear it all worked out. I have a few I'd like done, I'll probably try my luck on Monday.

[FlyersFan376]

Package arrived today, jersey looks perfect and he even threw in a Stockholm Premiere patch on top of it

Needless to say Sports Haven is highly recommended by me, I almost want to get another jersey just so I have an excuse to pay the guys there (and an excuse to get another jersey, of course )

[ted1025]

There is a post over on reddit questioning how accurate the listed customizing information for Chicago is. It looks like the customizers list from IJ is just copied and pasted over there.

The list is in this post - http://forums.icejerseys.com/index.php?showtopic=2303&p=108840

He thinks TTS was never an official customizer for the Hawks as CSL has the following in their about us section on their website

We have been the Official Lettering Supplier to the Chicago Blackhawks since 1995

I'm sure that the information that we have listed here on the IJ fourm is correct but does anyone have any info I could pass onto this guy to show him TTS was an official customizer?

Edited September 2, 2015 by ted1025

[AngeloS76]

Unfortunately, it's difficult to confirm or deny without hard evidence like a "lettered by" tag inside the shirt. Much of the information that I managed to put together in that list is from user input on these forums. A lot of the time, the information is obtained by asking people associated with the uniforms and their sale as memorabilia (team shop employees, equipment managers, game-worn dealers like MGG, or even the suppliers themselves), which can turn into a he-said she-said game. As for the question about Chicago's suppliers, there is one member on here, who's handle escapes me (The user is Tazer19), who is a big time Chicago collector, and he's a big proponent of TTS, so maybe he can give us some input.

Edited September 4, 2015 by AngeloS76