Official Mitchell and Ness Thread: Jerseys, Hats, Shirts, Shorts, Questions POST EM UP

[jaechiney23]

Personal sentiment.

I feel like brands like M&N, Stall&Dean, Ebbett's main products have been surrounding old-school sports nostalgia and the main products should always be authentic jerseys, wool hats, and quality wool or leather team jackets (they used to make some crazy nice jackets via contracts with DEHEN, etc).

I see Just Don products as mainly a "spinoff" of these products. it's cool and all but the concept of having the team plate on "basketball" shorts doesn't really translate across sports platforms lIke NFL basketball shorts and Baseball basketball shorts. Certain pieces are more timeless than others but overall these gimmick collabs take away from the core of the brand/team/player etc. I cant get myself to pay $200+ for Dons, but if they have authentic shorts that have pockets @ the price range of $150 USD I'm sure they could have easily expanded their market without going down the path of over 50% of their products being gimmick gollabs.

If you look more closely - the above also takes away the focus on the quality of the main product lines. Jersey sizing became inconsistent, the number and player name sizing being off, etc...I don't know the sales numbers but either there is a huge market demand for non-core products (I personally don't believe so) or current management is pushing in this direction. Both will result in a high probability of going down trends in companies we've all seen growing up.... Karl Kani, sean john, fubu etc.

I am crossing my fingers and hoping for the best of this brand going forward. The amount of time wasted online scrolling past filler products like "swingmans with a fade/ camo print/ bs anniversary collections" is getting to me.

Edit: I know, S&D is acient history, just using it as an example.

 

[jordanhead718212]

Well I did some research, and apparently Mitchell and Ness were accurate (in regards to the round plate vs rectangle)... interesting.
Here's the original Reebok version. IDK how I never noticed this.

Game Worn:

 

[bmandagod]

Personal sentiment.

I feel like brands like M&N, Stall&Dean, Ebbett's main products have been surrounding old-school sports nostalgia and the main products should always be authentic jerseys, wool hats, and quality wool or leather team jackets (they used to make some crazy nice jackets via contracts with DEHEN, etc).

I see Just Don products as mainly a "spinoff" of these products. it's cool and all but the concept of having the team plate on "basketball" shorts doesn't really translate across sports platforms lIke NFL basketball shorts and Baseball basketball shorts. Certain pieces are more timeless than others but overall these gimmick collabs take away from the core of the brand/team/player etc. I cant get myself to pay $200+ for Dons, but if they have authentic shorts that have pockets @ the price range of $150 USD I'm sure they could have easily expanded their market without going down the path of over 50% of their products being gimmick gollabs.

If you look more closely - the above also takes away the focus on the quality of the main product lines. Jersey sizing became inconsistent, the number and player name sizing being off, etc...I don't know the sales numbers but either there is a huge market demand for non-core products (I personally don't believe so) or current management is pushing in this direction. Both will result in a high probability of going down trends in companies we've all seen growing up.... Karl Kani, sean john, fubu etc.

I am crossing my fingers and hoping for the best of this brand going forward. The amount of time wasted online scrolling past filler products like "swingmans with a fade/ camo print/ bs anniversary collections" is getting to me.

New wool jackets up

 

[sleepybluedemon]

(they used to make some crazy nice jackets via contracts with DEHEN, etc).

This was the part that I found interesting. I own 3 MN letterman jackets and love em. They're MIUSA and so I always wondered who actually make em. Was DEHEN the primary company?

Also, I'm even more curious about by who and where their MIUSA wool baseball jerseys were made. I own a couple of those too and like them a lot, but it's clear they've moved away from MIUSA wool jerseys to made in China polyesters.

As for the rest of your post, I disagree with your urban wear comparison. Those brands were a fad that died whereas retro sportswear brands are much more a niche market. And interest in sports isn't going anywhere.

But yeah, Ebbetts being aquired by fanatics is definitely the beginning of the end of their quality.

 

[beh235]

Well I did some research, and apparently Mitchell and Ness were accurate (in regards to the round plate vs rectangle)... interesting.
Here's the original Reebok version. IDK how I never noticed this.

Game Worn:

It varies....but the round nameplate should have covered the whole area

 

[jaechiney23]

This was the part that I found interesting. I own 3 MN letterman jackets and love em. They're MIUSA and so I always wondered who actually make em. Was DEHEN the primary company?

Also, I'm even more curious about by who and where their MIUSA wool baseball jerseys were made. I own a couple of those too and like them a lot, but it's clear they've moved away from MIUSA wool jerseys to made in China polyesters.

As for the rest of your post, I disagree with your urban wear comparison. Those brands were a fad that died whereas retro sportswear brands are much more a niche market. And interest in sports isn't going anywhere.

But yeah, Ebbetts being aquired by fanatics is definitely the beginning of the end of their quality.

Yeah, Dehen was a supplier for both EFF and M&N for their varsity jackets, wool and leather, but not sure about the wool baseball jerseys.

Regarding the comparison to urban wear comparison - I used to work at one. Karl Kani & Sean John were both power houses in the clothing industry where they both had peaks of product quality (i.e, quality leather jackets, and clothing article pieces).

The decline is very noticeable when they started mass producing to "capture" larger crowds. I'll share a personal story - Karl Kani at one year mass produced a VERY generic and lower quality carpenter style Jean that ended up costing the company money due to the following reasons:

1) the bigger the brand awareness became, the logical/lazy excuse was to meet the demand with products that may not be the core product, by doing so the less exclusive the brand name became with time and therefore less saught after - you start to see pieces hit outlets like burlingtons/ ross that further degraded the brand exclusivity.
2) Its a vicious cycle that prevented products selling - which means the less money made meant that it started cutting corners into other staples for the brand like thicker material tee shirts that had stitched "kani" logo + the metal kani plates (IYKYK) are now translating to crappier, thinner material graphic tee prints using gels that cracked after a few washes.

Its a vicious cycle and I see M&N going down similar paths. I agree that the interest in sports will not go anywhere, but I am starting to notice that the product quality not necessarily matching the asking price ($325 retail and of course $400 just Dons). I mean, think about it, single stitched authentics were very close in quality to the first gen swingman before M&N lowered the quality to heat pressing logo/number/names. The general public didnt catch up at first so that transition made M&N good money, but sales of heat pressed jerseys have declined significantly along with the number of gimmick releases its pushing out.

I'm sure what I'm saying above have logic fallacies somewhere - but all in all my point is that its a vicious cycle for a brand like M&N unless someone at the top of the company invests in quality more. Bigger don't always mean better but I'm sure capitalism would argue otherwise.

 

[Nipsey3000]

Yeah, Dehen was a supplier for both EFF and M&N for their varsity jackets, wool and leather, but not sure about the wool baseball jerseys.

Regarding the comparison to urban wear comparison - I used to work at one. Karl Kani & Sean John were both power houses in the clothing industry where they both had peaks of product quality (i.e, quality leather jackets, and clothing article pieces).

The decline is very noticeable when they started mass producing to "capture" larger crowds. I'll share a personal story - Karl Kani at one year mass produced a VERY generic and lower quality carpenter style Jean that ended up costing the company money due to the following reasons:

1) the bigger the brand awareness became, the logical/lazy excuse was to meet the demand with products that may not be the core product, by doing so the less exclusive the brand name became with time and therefore less saught after - you start to see pieces hit outlets like burlingtons/ ross that further degraded the brand exclusivity.
2) Its a vicious cycle that prevented products selling - which means the less money made meant that it started cutting corners into other staples for the brand like thicker material tee shirts that had stitched "kani" logo + the metal kani plates (IYKYK) are now translating to crappier, thinner material graphic tee prints using gels that cracked after a few washes.

Its a vicious cycle and I see M&N going down similar paths. I agree that the interest in sports will not go anywhere, but I am starting to notice that the product quality not necessarily matching the asking price ($325 retail and of course $400 just Dons). I mean, think about it, single stitched authentics were very close in quality to the first gen swingman before M&N lowered the quality to heat pressing logo/number/names. The general public didnt catch up at first so that transition made M&N good money, but sales of heat pressed jerseys have declined significantly along with the number of gimmick releases its pushing out.

I'm sure what I'm saying above have logic fallacies somewhere - but all in all my point is that its a vicious cycle for a brand like M&N unless someone at the top of the company invests in quality more. Bigger don't always mean better but I'm sure capitalism would argue otherwise.

In addition, there's just no incentive to producing high quality, expensive authentics anymore.

The real money is in the swingman for the companies.

I came to this conclusion during my last trip to the NBA store in Manhattan. It was jam packed full of all races and sexes buying their favorite team/player jerseys at a swingman level for a decent swingman price.

Spending 2-3x said price on a jersey just because it's "authentic" isn't even on their radar.

I use the weird "authentic" very loosely.

 

[mmelton2]

The real money is in the swingman for the companies.

I came to this conclusion during my last trip to the NBA store in Manhattan. It was jam packed full of all races and sexes buying their favorite team/player jerseys at a swingman level for a decent swingman price.

Spending 2-3x said price on a jersey just because it's "authentic" isn't even on their radar.

This^ I never in my life purchased an authentic until I found this thread. I honestly always considered the authentics stupid. The VAST majority of the population sees no difference, and arent going to spend $200 more for the same jersey.

 

[jaechiney23]

I honestly always considered the authentics stupid

... it was hard to read this with the glare from those heat-pressed numbers

 

[mmelton2]

... it was hard to read this with the glare from those heat-pressed numbers

This is a good point that references the original post. The only people who care about stuff like that are the very few of us in this thread (and even some of us don't care). 99% of the population doesn't give a second thought about heat pressed or stitched numbers; its all the exact same thing. They are all just jerseys, and one is $200 more than the other.

 

[blazers21ntnp]

Shoot, the majority of people don’t even care enough to buy a legitimate product. Never any shortage of folks in arenas with fugazi joints.

 

[jaechiney23]

#sadness

 

[eyanks]

And the few who do care about authentics won't buy unless there's a massive sale.

 

[witnesskb24]

I buy authentics and have like 2 swingmans I got for below $50 that I couldn’t pass on. I couldn’t care less what the average person buys.

Unless you’re into jerseys, the average person isn’t going to know or care that someone is rocking an “authentic” over a swingman

 

[g-time]

I buy authentics and have like 2 swingmans I got for below $50 that I couldn’t pass on. I couldn’t care less what the average person buys.

Unless you’re into jerseys, the average person isn’t going to know or care that someone is rocking an “authentic” over a swingman

Only therealest1 would lol

 

[jaechiney23]

Only therealest1 would lol

just avoid red robins and apple store and you completely mitigate the risk of being judged

 

[g-time]

Or the mall in general.

 

[jaechiney23]

Or the mall in general.

specifically the one in northridge, CA

 

[witnesskb24]

I know one thing, a dude wearing an authentic ain’t gonna run his mouth to a dude wearing a swingman because he’d probably catch a fade in his $300 jersey

 

[Deklef Schrimps]

The authentics might not be real authentics (they're not), but they're much better quality garments than the swingman jerseys.

I personally don't care whether people notice the difference.

But I value quality - and if you like to have good quality pieces, then authentics are a no-brainer over swingmans.

I obviously don't blame the casual fan who buys a swingman jersey at the arena or in the store to rep their team or buy a souvenir. But they are awful in terms of quality - which isn't to say that the authentics are perfect either.

 

[fenixconnexion.]

I don’t wear authentics for other people

 

[g-time]

Man, when Mitchell and Ness catches on and sees the amount of stuff you been getting for free, has your name and delivery info, and what the theft charge may look like with thousands of dollars of “free” goods…lol.

 

[DYNAMICS]

And the few who do care about authentics won't buy unless there's a massive sale.

Damn right.

After spending thousands on authentics, pro cuts and M&N jerseys at full price from 2002-2006, waiting for sales is the much smarter move.

 

[geno90221]

Man, when Mitchell and Ness catches on and sees the amount of stuff you been getting for free, has your name and delivery info, and what the theft charge may look like with thousands of dollars of “free” goods…lol.

Sound like a true hater

 

[g-time]

I had the same happen with a couple of my M&N orders. I’ve heard some stories of some ppl doing it with other companies and it catching up with them.