NY Rangers pre-EDGE (1990-2007) kits. Help, Please!

[Blue Seat Spartan]

Hi folks, I have a question and need your help on this:

I've been involved in the jersey hobby for over 5 years and - as my username implies - specialize in my favorite team, the NY Rangers, to the extent that I'm familiar with their jersey history from 1994 onwards. Also, I've relied on the services of Gerry Cosby's in NYC for my customization jobs. In that time, I've also taken to sewing kits on jerseys myself to save on service & shipping costs.

However, it seems that Cosby's is no longer able to do customization work for pre-EDGE jerseys. From what I've heard, Jim - who was the resident expert on Rangers jerseys - no longer works at Cosby's. Also, the younger associate I was talking to at Gerry Cosby's (I think his name was Nick), mentioned that they no longer cut the numbers/lettering for Rangers jerseys in-store. Instead, they get their kits from Stahl's which are cut in the RBK Edge style; although it is odd that they still carry the larger pre-Edge captaincy letters in stock. I found out about this when I stopped by the store back in October when I was looking for Jagr and Lindros kits (yeesh!) to purchase for jerseys I was working on then.

My BIG question is: Are there any customizers or merchants who stitch or sell Rangers jersey kits in the style used from 1990-2007, i.e. classic-cut, pre-Edge kits?

(P.S. I'm aware that Arena Wear is the current customizer for the New York Rangers, and they also handle stitching for orders placed at Gerry Cosby's and the NHL Store in Manhattan. It's just that I'm unsure if Arena Wear can do classic-cut Rangers kits, which is why I had to ask in the first place.)

[thebiggoalie]

Contact Brilliant (Mike) this forum. He can definitely help you out. He's done at least a dozen Rangers jerseys for me, mostly pre-edge, and they've always been pretty spot-on to the actual gamers from previous eras.

Let's go Rangers!

[LAK74]

Did Cosby give a specific reason why they can no longer do the older kits? Is it just because Jim is gone and no one else knows how to do them? Really curious (not to mention disappointed) about this!

[CJ Matthews]

Wow... I didn't know that. Just because Jim isn't there there's no reason they shouldn't be able to do these jerseys, especially since they don't sew on site anyway. This is the worst news ever.

[BanthaBeard]

I was in Cosby's today, as I was looking to get a few jerseys done up after a year or so out of the hobby and I can confirm everything Blue Seat has said. I spoke to a couple of guys there and they do indeed get their kits from Stahl's, no mention of cutting the kits themselves in store.

They did say, though, that if they have any old kits lying around then those could be used but they most likely wouldn't be for the most popular players (so your Leetch, Graves and Richter orders will likely need to go elsewhere for true accuracy). Best to call them first when you're looking to customize that Tom Poti jersey you've always wanted .

I'm interested as to why they get the kits from Stahl's if they use Arena Wear for the sewing. Surely it's easier to just have them do all of it?

[Nathan]

If you guys want to give me a couple days, I have a handful of loose kits from around the league that I'm going to be getting into and sorting. I clearly remember there being some number of Rangers kits from the pre-Edge era, including Messier.