Who 23?
Customized jerseys don’t always have to be about the player you are obsessed with. Sometimes our customers are looking to make a statement. We’ve printed our share of politically incorrect jerseys over the years, including one corporate client (who shall remain anonymous!) who asked us to print a Holland jersey* with “WE ALL” above the number 8, and below “GERMANY”.
Enter Thomas Binkley. Part time New York Red Bulls supporter, full time lunatic, Tom has to be the only person possible of being named “Fan of the Year” by the Red Bulls, and then getting a lifetime ban from entering Giants Stadium (which has since been revoked). Tom is not shy when it comes to printing shirts and harassing soccer players. He came to us a few years back and asked us to print a DC United jersey** with the words “PISS ON DC” on the back, and instead of a number we printed a drawing of Calvin from Calvin and Hobbes, pissing on a DC logo. Classy. Then Tom took it to a meet and greet with the DC United players and got some of them to sign the jersey, without showing them what was on the back of course. If I’m not mistaken, one of their younger, and dumber, players even posed with the shirt.
So what better chance to grab some more attention than the David Beckham circus last year at Giants Stadium. On the day of the match, New Jersey residents opened their newspapers to see Mr. Thomas Binkley holding another shirt customized at The Onion Bag. Tom got quite a bit of press that day wearing his Who 23 shirt, including an interview with the local evening news. Now if only Tom could get Golden Balls to sign that one.
Who 23 and Tom Binkley, formally inducted into the Print Room Hall of Fame.
* This will be the subject of a future Hall of Fame post.
** Tom, if you’re reading, and I know you are, please send us a picture of your DC United jersey.
England Away 08/09 Names and Numbers
England have had their own licensed numbers longer than any other national federation. Their numbers have gone from being Lextra to more recently having diamond shaped holes cut out throughout the digits. This current version, which while at a distance doesn’t seem like much of a departure from previous models, has an interesting design when you get to take a closer look.
First of all, the digits and numbers are two colors. White and navy. The design gives the numbers a bevelled or chiseled look. The font has remained the same for England going back to 2003 when they introduced this new style with the launch of the England Home 03/04 reversible jersey. Those 03/04 numbers were a real pain in the ass to apply, by the way. Sometimes it felt like you weren’t going to be able to get the film to release from the transfer!
As you can see above, the transfers come with dots marking the center of each nameblock. This helps you align the digit properly.
While the font has remained the same, there have been several colorways through the years, including silver and gold versions. The 08/09 version is a pearlized white. The metallic shine is very subtle, but makes the number pop more than a matte white finish would.
That photograph doesn’t do the pearlized color justice.
The front number is the same, except it doesn’t have the Three Lions logo. These transfers are applied at 300 F, for 12 seconds, and then you peel the film off when warm.
As with most products from Sporting iD, these names and numbers come with security coding in each digit and letter. When you put the number under the UV light, you see the security marking along the edge. Even the letters have a small marking for enhanced authenticity.
We are currently offering the new England Away 08/09, in both short and long sleeves, as well as the womens version. Click here to buy this shirt.
Real Madrid 2008/2009 Authentic Printing
Real Madrid were one of the first clubs to commercialize their names and numbers on a large scale through their partnership with the UK firm Chris Kay. Their timing to launch their first licensed name and number style couldn’t have been better. The merchandising juggernaut that was the signing of David Beckham in 2003 gave Real Madrid tremendous exposure to their jersey world wide. Back then it seemed every person coming through the door at The Onion Bag was saying “Hi, I’m looking for a David Beckham jersey?”.
This year Real Madrid is back to black and white numbers with the club crest at the bottom of each digit, a feature that has been seen in every number since that 2003 version. The detail in the club crest makes this a very difficult number to accurately copy, although that doesn’t seem to deter the counterfeiters! The process by which these numbers are made makes it possible to reproduce the very detailed Real Madrid crest.
As you can see, the edges of the letters and digits have a gradient which is not noticeable from a distance. This is another feature which is very difficult to copy effectively.
Additionally, the Real Madrid digits have a security marking that is only visible under UV light. This mark bears “s-iD RM8″ for Sporting iD (the licensee) and Real Madrid 08, the style.
The white numbers are used on the royal blue away jersey and the black third shirt. These also have the UV marking and corner gradient elements.
Authentic Real Madrid names and numbers are available at The Onion Bag for certain players, click here to see who we are offering.
Cuchito Custom Barcelona Away LS 07/08
Barcelona Away 07/08 + Cuchito and a backwards 25.
Cuchito is a customer that first came to The Onion Bag many years ago. He is a soccer jersey fanatic and we can attest to his collection of shirts from all over the world that he and his son purchsed from our shop. Not content with just having those rare jerseys that are not common on the streets of New York, Cuchito started asking us to customize the shirts with something “crazy” as he puts it. We started out using official printing on the shirts, but then got more and more creative until we were creating one-of-a-kind pieces like the one above.
For the latest print room masterpiece, Cuchito wanted something totally crazy, something that would immediately attract attention to the shirt. We originally planned on putting one of the digits in a double digit number, upside down. Then thought it would be even more interesting if the number was mirrored, or backwards. To add to the distinct design, we then drew out a pattern composed of 25’s and Cuchito’s to fill in the digits.
Close-up of the pattern within the digits
We also like tagging his shirts with an additional detail somewhere on the sleeve, or sometimes on the hem along the bottom of the shirt.
Detail on the sleeve.
We already have kicked around some ideas for the next jersey we print for Cuchito, surely they will also make it into the Print Room Hall of Fame.
Italy Home Authentic Printing 08/09
There isn’t exactly a trick to printing these names and numbers, but there is a procedure you must follow in order to print any of these double-layer Puma shirts properly. Extra care has to be taken when you’re printing a player version authentic jersey, which is entirely thermal-welded (their term, not ours) meaning there is no stitching. Every seam is put together using heat and pressure to create the bond. That also means if you accidentaly place any of those seams under the heat press when printing the shirt, you could accidentally weld the shirt to itself. But that’s a topic for another discussion, let’s get on to the printing.
While most of the jersey is comprised of a dual layer mesh fabric, the back panel is a smooth fabric to which the numbers easliy adhere. The edges of the panel though are heat welded so you have to make sure you don’t accidentally fold them over, or catch a part of the jersey underneath. First step is to line up the transfers for the nameblock and the large digits. Put the press down for 8 seconds and let cool off.
Then you flip over the shirt to the front side, which requires a bit more effort. Each Puma double layer shirt has an opening at the bottom of the hem. This is to allow you slip a teflon sheet between the two layers in order to prevent them from being bonded to each other. Yes, that is supposed to be there. We’ve had more than our share of calls from people complaining that the shirt had a manufacturing defect!
Make sure the teflon sheet is under both the Puma cat logo and the Italian federation badge. If not, you will bond them to the layer below, causing the two layers to be stuck together. The same goes for the Puma logos on the shoulders, make sure they’re not under the heat press platen! Line up the digits, lower the press for 8 seconds, and you’re almost done.
You can start by peeling the film backer from the name and number transfers on the back of the jersey. The transfers should be warm now, if they’re still hot then it’s too soon and the transfer will pull off the jersey. The adhesive needs to cool off a bit before peeling. Once warm, it should peel off like butter. Nice job.
Once warm you can then peel the front transfers. Looking good!
And that’s all there is too it. The tricky part is the double layer mesh. Back in 2002, both Nike and Adidas presented double-layer versions of their football shirts for the World Cup. Those shirts though were pretty simple to print as the fabrics were not as pourous as the mesh front layer on the current Puma shirts. Plus the two layers moved independantly of each other, only attached at the neck and shoulder lines. Puma complicated matters by bonding the two layers together all along the bottom hem. To solve this, they left an opening big enough to fit your hand through.
As far as design goes though, these have to be one of our all time favorite name and number styles. The fine detail of the dots around the letters compliments the half-tone look of the digits. They are appropriate for a mesh jersey, and additionally are aesthetically innovative.
Click here to buy one of these unique jerseys.
