Dumb Luck Ended Two Years of Futility

[LouMarcon]

All of us who collect hockey jerseys -- either game worn, authenic or replica -- are a little wacky. At least I'll admit it and step to the front of the line when they have that roll call.

A case in point is the following story:

Since my hockey heyday was the 1960s and 70s, when I got into this crazy hobby I quickly realized that going the game worn route was going to be too expensive. Hence, I jumped into the collection of replicas head first.

Whenever I purchase a replica, its always with the idea of customization. Getting it to look as much like the original as possible. I get my kicks via the search, finding the right sweater and then searching for the right patch or the vendors who can provide the individual pieces that match as closely as possible the original jersey.

Of my two dozen or so replicas, my latest project -- the very rare 1961-63 Pittsburgh Hornets road sweater -- has proven to be the most difficult as far as getting it right. And, in the end it is probably my most satisfying project since I started collecting some five years ago. Despite my best efforts I was unable to get the project done right, until plain, dumb luck came my way last month.

For some 24 months I had worked with three different jersey vendors in a vain and increasingly frustrating attempt to get the base jersey design correct. Nobody could get the gold yoke correct. I made mistakes, the vendors made mistakes and along the way, I collected three different versions of a jersey that the expansion Pittsburgh Hornets wore on the road for two seasons, 1961-62 and 1962-63. All were flawed, the most glaring error on all three being the gold yoke. On the original jersey it was squared at the top of the arms. On my three jerseys, the yoke was rounded at the ends, like the old Edmonton Oilers uniforms.

I thought I was finally going to get it right when I ordered a very expensive ($375) custom Pittsburgh Blue from Ebbets Field Flannels, only to be told about 4 months after making the order that the jersey couldnt be completed. I figured it made no sense to yell and scream, but I was discouraged and about ready to give up in my attempt to get this one correct.

Since I liked the work EFF had done on two previous custom hockey jerseys, rather than take a refund, I purchased a couple off-the rack items, one of which was their 1960s Buffalo Bisons jersey. But, while waiting for the Buffalo sweater, I realized I didnt really want it.

So on a whim, I contacted EFF, canceled the Buffalo sweater and asked instead for one of their off-the-rack Pittsburgh Blue Hornets sweaters.

While it had a rounded rather than the squared yoke that I wanted, I reasoned that perhaps there was someone who could alter the yoke to make it appear like the original. Except for the yoke and a couple of cosmetic issues that could easily be fixed, the off-the-rack EFF Pittsburgh Blue was spot on with the original. I knew it was a long shot finding someone who could fix the yoke, but at that point I really didnt have an alternative plan when I switched the order.

Then something really crazy happened that nobody at EFF could explain.

My jaw dropped to floor when I opened the EFF box. Inside was a Pittsburgh Blue that was certainly not the same jersey that EFF is currently advertising on its Web site. This one had the elusive squared yoke like the 50-year-old original. In fact, it met all of the custom specifications that I made many, many months earlier for a jersey that the EFF brass subsequently told me could not be completed.

Talk about blind, stupid, dumb luck! The rush of emotion was unreal as I looked over the newest addition to my collection. Hallelujah! Christmas 2012 had arrived in March!

Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, I just e-mailed a sincere thanks to my EFF contact. And, despite the craziness of this order, I'll continue to do business with EFF.

Once I had an accurate base jersey, the rest of this never-ending project was a piece of cake. I already had a larger, fully embroidered 9-inch crest made by a California vendor to replace the smaller 7-inch felt crest from EFF.

And, I found a video on You Tube that showed the rare Pittsburgh Blue. From the video I learned that the numbers were actually gold and the team had put numbers on each sleeve after the season began. I saw the Hornets wear their blue roadies in two early season TV games, but at the time they did not have numbers on the sleeves and I recalled the numbers on the back were white. But, 50 years has a way of fogging the memory.


I asked my Pittsburgh needle and thread guy to replace the white felt WFF number with gold twill on the back and on both sleeves, and to replace the existing crest. I got the finished jersey back this afternoon.

It was a long struggle, but Im very happy with the results. I'd say this replica is about 95% accurate. The crest isn't perfect, but because of its cost, I'm thinking right now that Ill stick with what I have.

The first pictures are the completed sweater; the third is an original, gameworn jersey; and the last two are the EFF jersey before it was customized:

[Brilliant!]

That's really sharp. It almost looks like the old Blues style before they added red.

[LouMarcon]

[Thelonious Sphere Monk]

Lookin good old timer!!

[HockeyMusic]

All of us who collect hockey jerseys -- either game worn or replica -- are a little wacky. At least I'll admit it and step to the front of the line when they have that roll call.

A case in point is the following story:

Since my hockey heyday was the 1960s and 70s, when I got into this crazy hobby I quickly realized that going the game worn route was going to be too expensive. Hence, I jumped into the collection of replicas head first.

Whenever I purchase a replica, it’s always with the idea of customization. Getting it to look as much like the original as possible. I get my kicks via the search, finding the right sweater and then searching for the right patch or the vendors who can provide the individual pieces that match as closely as possible the original jersey.

Of my two dozen or so replicas, my latest project -- the very rare 1961-62 Pittsburgh Hornets road sweater -- has proven to be the most difficult as far as getting it right. And, in the end it is probably my most satisfying project since I started collecting some five years ago. Despite my best efforts I was unable to get the project done right, until plain, dumb luck came my way last month.

For some 24 months I had worked with three different jersey vendors in a vain and increasingly frustrating attempt to get the base jersey design correct. Nobody could get the gold yoke correct. I made mistakes, the vendors made mistakes and along the way, I collected three different versions of a jersey that the expansion Pittsburgh Hornets wore for only two months of the 1961-62 season. All were flawed, the most glaring error on all three being the gold yoke. On the original jersey it was squared at the top of the arms. On my three jerseys, the yoke was rounded at the ends, like the old Edmonton Oilers uniforms.

I thought I was finally going to get it right when I ordered a very expensive ($375) custom Pittsburgh Blue from Ebbets Field Flannels, only to be told about 4 months after making the order that the jersey couldn’t be completed. I figured it made no sense to yell and scream, but I was discouraged and about ready to give up in my attempt to get this one correct.

Since I liked the work EFF had done on two previous custom hockey jerseys, rather than take a refund, I purchased a couple off-the rack items, one of which was their 1960s Buffalo Bisons jersey. But, while waiting for the Buffalo sweater, I realized I didn’t really want it.

So on a whim, I contacted EFF, canceled the Buffalo sweater and asked instead for one of their off-the-rack Pittsburgh Blue Hornets sweaters.

While it had a rounded rather than the squared yoke that I wanted, I reasoned that perhaps there was someone who could alter the yoke to make it appear like the original. Except for the yoke and a couple of cosmetic issues that could easily be fixed, the off-the-rack EFF Pittsburgh Blue was spot on with the original. I knew it was a long shot finding someone who could fix the yoke, but at that point I really didn’t have an alternative plan when I switched the order.

Then something really crazy happened that nobody at EFF could explain.

My jaw dropped to floor when I opened the EFF box. Inside was a Pittsburgh Blue that was certainly not the same jersey that EFF is currently advertising on its Web site. This one had the elusive squared yoke like the 50-year-old original. In fact, it met all of the custom specifications that I made many, many months earlier for a jersey that the EFF brass subsequently told me could not be completed.

Talk about blind, stupid, dumb luck! The rush of emotion was unreal as I looked over the newest addition to my collection. Hallelujah! Christmas 2012 had arrived in March!

Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, I just e-mailed a sincere thanks to my EFF contact. And, despite the craziness of this order, I'll continue to do business with EFF.

Once I had an accurate base jersey, the rest of this never-ending project was a piece of cake. I already had a larger, customized 9-inch crest made by a California vendor to replace the smaller 7-inch EFF crest.

And, I found a video on You Tube that showed the rare Pittsburgh Blue. From the video I learned that the numbers were actually gold and the team had put numbers on each sleeve after the season began. I saw the Hornets wear their blue roadies in two early season TV games, but at the time they did not have numbers on the sleeves and I recalled the numbers on the back were white. But, 50 years has a way of fogging the memory.

I asked my Pittsburgh needle and thread guy to make all of the numbers gold and to replace the existing crest. I got the finished jersey back this afternoon.

It was a long struggle, but I’m very happy with the results. I’d say this replica is about 95% accurate. The crest isn’t perfect, but because of its cost, I'm thinking right now that I’ll stick with what I have.

The first pictures are the completed sweater; the third is the original jersey; and the last two are the jersey before it was customized:

Congrats.....it feels really good to find something you have been looking to find for a long time.

I have recently experienced this as well....

Though hockey jersey collecting is a very minor thing in the grand scheme of things.....it still does provide some happiness and I am glad you were able to find what you were looking for.....

Enjoy it, I am sure it will provide some fond memories, and if you have kids and they are into hockey, would provide a good conversation piece from a better era in hockey....