Fake vs. Officially Licensed: The New Adizero Jerseys

Everyone knows someone who tries to justify their fake jersey by saying things like "It looks just like the real thing, no one can tell the difference!"  Those people couldn't be more wrong. The fake jersey industry was quick to start producing Adidas jerseys, but as you'll see, they are as awful as all the other fakes before them. Purchasing a fake jersey makes you look bad for a number of reasons including the fact that you'll literally look bad wearing it and that it supports an illegal industry driven by criminals. The reason fake jerseys are so cheap is due to the fact that they're made from low-quality materials, and feature a number incorrect aspects. Hopefully, you've learned a thing or two about spotting fakes from our last post detailing the differences between fake and official Reebok NHL hockey jerseys. In this post, we'll look at the differences between a fake and officially licensed Adidas Adizero NHL hockey jersey. Most of the differences seen in this post will apply to any brand of jersey that is being faked.

 

In each picture, the knockoff NHL jersey is shown on the left and the official Adidas Adizero NHL jersey is shown on the right.

 

Please note: This article is meant to be used as a guide to help you identify what to look for when buying officially licensed NHL hockey jerseys. If you are unsure of whether a jersey is legitimate or not, ask for second opinions from experienced collectors/jersey buyers.

 

Neck Tag:

 

 

Knockoff: The knockoff jersey shows obvious differences to the official jersey. The size tag on the neckline doesn't stretch all the way across, the Adidas logo stitching is visible, and the Vegas wordmark on the top is completely off. The jersey even states that it's made in China.

 

 

Adizero: The size tag on the neckline extends the full length of the collar, the "climalite" logo is featured underneath and the Vegas wordmark on the neck is a soft, rubbery material that is accurate to the team font. All retail Adizero jerseys are made in Indonesia.

 

 

NHL Shield:

 

 

Knockoff: The NHL shield is a plastic, off-center patch with sloppy stitching around the border.

 

 

Adizero:  The NHL shield is centered and heat-pressed directly to the jersey. It is made from Chroma-Flex material. 

 

 

Team Crest:

 

 

Knockoff: The crest is bubbly and made of a combination of stitching and plastic-y material. In this case, the logo doesn't feature a lot of the details you would find on the official crest such as the floral pattern. The gold thread used here doesn't have the same sparkle as the official crest and isn't even the correct color. By turning the jersey inside-out, you can see that much of the crest is embroidered directly to the jersey with a paper-like material backing it.

 

 

Adizero: The crest is a smooth, embroidered patch that is stitched to the jersey. The logo features all the correct details including the floral pattern and gold sparkle. Looking at the stitching from the inside, only the outline of the jersey is stitched directly to the jersey. 

Fight Strap:

Knockoff: The fight strap is stitched with a small rectangle that has extra cloth hanging. The fight strap itself is a thin, short and stretchy material with only one button. Looking from the outside, the fight strap is stitched very high up on the jersey and is a small rectangle with stitching going from corner to corner. 

 

 

Adizero:  The fight strap is zig-zag stitched to the jersey via a rectangular white twill patch.The Adizero fight strap is a thicker material that has little to no stretch at all. It also features two buttons for adjusting the strap. From the outside, the stitching appears as a large rectangle with a smaller rectangle inside of it. All stitching on the fight strap will always be a clean zig-zag. 

 

 

Adidas Neck Logo:

Knockoff: The Adidas logo is a shiny material that does not match the color of the jersey

Adizero: The Adidas logo is embroidered on a twill patch that is the same color as the jersey.

Jersey Colors and Details:

 

 

Knockoff: The colors of the jersey, if you haven't noticed already, are way off. The knockoff doesn't have the proper gold thread for the crest, and arm stripes and the grey of the jersey is too light. The colors do not represent the official team ones. You can also see that the sleeve pattern is very pronounced. Someone decided to get a little creative here and add some red under the armpit for some reason which is obviously not accurate. The shoulder dots are simply screen printed white dots that (surprise surprise) are not accurate.

Adizero: The colors of the jersey are vibrant and accurate to the team. The correct gold thread is present as well as the proper grey. The sleeve pattern here is more subtle and the armpit is a grey mesh material. The shoulder dots are actually small dimples in the fabric almost like those of a golf ball.

Customization: 

 

 

Knockoff: Oh boy, these are brutal. The numbers are a plastic-y material that is embroidered to the jersey with screen-printed "perforations" that are too big and not even straight. Looking at the inside stitching, a white paper backing is visible as well as the sloppy embroidering.

Adizero: The numbers here a beautiful multi-layer twill with actual perforations and are professionally zig-zag stitched to the jersey. In this case, Vegas' numbers are kiss-cut and feature the correct gold twill material. Turning the jersey inside out you will see a nice, clean professional zig-zag stitch outlining the numbers. 

Unique Differences:

Knockoff: As you can see, apart from the wrong colors, the waist stripe features the same pattern as the sleeves which is definitely not accurate. This is likely only isolated to fake Vegas jerseys but shows just how wrong these can be. The jersey also does not feature the Adidas tagging in the bottom corner although some other fakes will have a comically large one.

 

 

Adizero: The colors are correct, there is no pattern in the waist stripe and the Adidas "button" tagging is present. 

 

 

UPDATE: Adidas has made a decision to omit the Adidas "button" from all future jerseys they manufacture. They will slowly be phased out over the course of the next season or so. 

 

 

Hopefully, by now you can see just how different the knockoff is from the official Adidas jersey. Overall, the official product looks nicer and is much better quality. Producing and purchasing knockoffs is illegal and needs to be stopped. You can always shop at CoolHockey.com with confidence that you're getting the real deal! #FightTheFake