Please help get rid of the Sabres new logo!

[Gothamite]

Besides, most people were waiting for the vintage jerseys to be sold and if I am not mistaken the NHL did not distinguish the sales between the vintage and the slug uniform.

If so, this raises some interesting questions. Surely the team knows the ratio of modern jerseys/throwback jerseys sold, even if they won't disclose it.

Many of us suspect that the Brewers are looking closely at merchandise sales, to see if the retro uniforms should become the primary. If so, that's all we as fans can ask for. Give us a real choice, and let us vote with our wallets.

[eSabre]

Besides, most people were waiting for the vintage jerseys to be sold and if I am not mistaken the NHL did not distinguish the sales between the vintage and the slug uniform.

If so, this raises some interesting questions. Surely the team knows the ratio of modern jerseys/throwback jerseys sold, even if they won't disclose it.

Many of us suspect that the Brewers are looking closely at merchandise sales, to see if the retro uniforms should become the primary. If so, that's all we as fans can ask for. Give us a real choice, and let us vote with our wallets.

I can tell you as someone with very close ties to this, the new uniforms have blown away the vintage ones in sales. It's not even close.

[fonz]

To the team, $lug = Money. So it will stay.

[daschuck77]

I was a little dismayed when I saw the leaked Sabres logos that people call the slug when it was just on a logo sheet. When it was translated to the uniforms, it looks much better. I learned to like it.

I made the same mistake with the capitals new logo. I thought it was hideous, but then I saw it on the jersey and it looks right.

Good luck tilting at windmills.

The uniform except for the logo looks great, I would agree 10,000 percent.

I would give anything to see the ideas the Sabres threw away...My whole point is who is to say that a bunch of 30 donkeys in a focus group can accurately dictate what the legions of fans will like...is flawed.

The Capitals new look is terrific as well...I liked the logo before the release of the uniform. As mentioned in another topic, it was a great way to have a modernized throwback uniform. It seems that most of the Caps fans like it alot. I personally like it better than their previous uniforms. And the Bruins'...Love it. Even the BJ's look much better.

If you think about it, why in the hell did the Sabres rush ahead and change to blue and gold a full year before the RBK Edge jerseys anyway? That doesn't make sense either...And in all my polite letters to the Sabres, they have yet to provide me that simple answer.

[Coast2CoastAM2006]

i'm actually convinced you can design a jersey with dog on it and dress it on a winning team that it will be tops in sales and be used for 10 years. if that slug logo came out with the sabres in the basement, then the slug would be gone by now. The only reason my fisherman went extinct after a year was because the year they unvieled it, the team was a basement team. If the isles at the time was on the cusp of the stanley cup finals, then fisherman would still grace the team instead of LI.

as for the slug, that thing is here to stay for about 10 years.

[IceCap]

Besides, most people were waiting for the vintage jerseys to be sold and if I am not mistaken the NHL did not distinguish the sales between the vintage and the slug uniform.

If so, this raises some interesting questions. Surely the team knows the ratio of modern jerseys/throwback jerseys sold, even if they won't disclose it.

Many of us suspect that the Brewers are looking closely at merchandise sales, to see if the retro uniforms should become the primary. If so, that's all we as fans can ask for. Give us a real choice, and let us vote with our wallets.

I can tell you as someone with very close ties to this, the new uniforms have blown away the vintage ones in sales. It's not even close.

Only because the team isn't giving the fans a real choice. Despite the fact that the vintage jerseys are (were?) listed as the official alternates, the team doesn't sell them proportionally.

Take the NY Rangers for example. They sell their Liberty alternates in the same quantities as they do their home and road jerseys. It's as easy to get a Liberty alternate as it is to get a blue home or white road sweater. Likewise this is the case for most NHL teams with alternate sweaters.

Not so with the Rangers. Despite the fact that the Sabres list the throwbacks as official alternates, Reebok still only sells them as part of the NHL Vintage line. Therefore, the vintage Sabres jerseys are produced and sold in significantly less numbers then the regular Sabres home and road BuffaSlug jerseys. Therefore more Slug jerseys are sold, simply because it's easier to get them. The team refuses to have the throwbacks produced and sold in the same quantities that other teams produce and sell their alternates.

So basically the Slug out-sells the throwbacks because of availability, not because Sabres fans prefer the Slug. In fact I would bet that if given a fair choice Sabres fans would choose the throwbacks over the Slug sweaters, which is probably why the team refuses to have the throwbacks produced and sold in the same quantities as the two slug sweaters.

[Fjm]

Have patience. In a few years, when the slug jerseys are no longer in the top 10 in sales, and the ownership wants to make more money, they'll change the jerseys again.

[daschuck77]

Besides, most people were waiting for the vintage jerseys to be sold and if I am not mistaken the NHL did not distinguish the sales between the vintage and the slug uniform.

If so, this raises some interesting questions. Surely the team knows the ratio of modern jerseys/throwback jerseys sold, even if they won't disclose it.

Many of us suspect that the Brewers are looking closely at merchandise sales, to see if the retro uniforms should become the primary. If so, that's all we as fans can ask for. Give us a real choice, and let us vote with our wallets.

I can tell you as someone with very close ties to this, the new uniforms have blown away the vintage ones in sales. It's not even close.

Only because the team isn't giving the fans a real choice. Despite the fact that the vintage jerseys are (were?) listed as the official alternates, the team doesn't sell them proportionally.

Take the NY Rangers for example. They sell their Liberty alternates in the same quantities as they do their home and road jerseys. It's as easy to get a Liberty alternate as it is to get a blue home or white road sweater. Likewise this is the case for most NHL teams with alternate sweaters.

Not so with the Rangers. Despite the fact that the Sabres list the throwbacks as official alternates, Reebok still only sells them as part of the NHL Vintage line. Therefore, the vintage Sabres jerseys are produced and sold in significantly less numbers then the regular Sabres home and road BuffaSlug jerseys. Therefore more Slug jerseys are sold, simply because it's easier to get them. The team refuses to have the throwbacks produced and sold in the same quantities that other teams produce and sell their alternates.

So basically the Slug out-sells the throwbacks because of availability, not because Sabres fans prefer the Slug. In fact I would bet that if given a fair choice Sabres fans would choose the throwbacks over the Slug sweaters, which is probably why the team refuses to have the throwbacks produced and sold in the same quantities as the two slug sweaters.

The leak and initial outcry caused Larry Quinn to push up the unveiling about a month...and then they announced 15 home games that the vintage alternate would be worn...He is sooo lucky the Sabres were playing well...Unfortunately I do not hate the logo enough to pray for the Sabres to be basement dwellers to get rid of the logo quicker...But I do want fans to know there are better looks out there and they should have input into these creative decisions of the organizations. Like the Seahawks letting the fans vote on the new color for their helmet...while not acutally giving them the keys to the car, the team threw its fans a nice little bone and gave them the impression that they had a voice and say with the team.

I feel the same way about the Bills...I hope they don't keep that color explosion of a uniform forever... They should update their throwbacks as well and be looking toward that since they have been around 5 years now.

[CubsFanBudMan]

So basically the Slug out-sells the throwbacks because of availability, not because Sabres fans prefer the Slug. In fact I would bet that if given a fair choice Sabres fans would choose the throwbacks over the Slug sweaters, which is probably why the team refuses to have the throwbacks produced and sold in the same quantities as the two slug sweaters.

I don't know... guess I haven't been trying to buy a throwback Sabres jersey to know just how hard it is, but like I said to STL, if the Cubs come out with a cubbaslug and I don't like it, I'm not buying it. If I'm a Sabres fan and the choice, as you suggest, is wait for a "vintage" Sabres jersey to come available or buy the readily available buffaslug, I wait.

I just don't believe that hundreds of Buffalo fans are snapping up buffaslug just because the vintage jerseys aren't available. I think we all might be in denial a bit that the slug is a hit... unless we find out that the reason for the increase in sales is because of vintage alts, as some have suggested.

I think we have to give the Sabres fans some credit -- not necessarily for taste (although I am not as anti-slug as some), but at least for not buying something just because it's new and available.

[OnWis97]

i'm actually convinced you can design a jersey with dog on it and dress it on a winning team that it will be tops in sales and be used for 10 years. if that slug logo came out with the sabres in the basement, then the slug would be gone by now. The only reason my fisherman went extinct after a year was because the year they unvieled it, the team was a basement team. If the isles at the time was on the cusp of the stanley cup finals, then fisherman would still grace the team instead of LI.

as for the slug, that thing is here to stay for about 10 years.

I agree with this post (except for the premise that the ridiculous fish stick logo is better than the classic Isles logo and that the logo would already be gone if they were in the basement). If the Islanders had been a perennial contender, they'd still have that sill jersey.

The circumstances were pretty well set for the Slug to do well.

1. Any time a team changes, their sales do very well. People want the new thing, regardless.

2. Good teams sell well.

3. Some people on top of things may have recognized that the new jersey was designed for the new RBK jersey style and that they'd better buy now because next year's model will be unflattering, more expensive and possibly of diminished quality.

And yes, you are looking at at least a decade before it changes. And Frankly, I think chaging after two seasons would be unfair to the people that invested in all of the new products with the new logo. It seems like the desires to go back to a previous identity were somewhat ignored--They hit the colors, but the logo is a head-scratcher.

At any rate, I agree with "get over it." Not because I actually thinnk the fans like it (I suspect most, given a choice would have chosen something that rang with the past better), but because, for better or worse, it was chosen And because it's not going away for a while. And get used to it because you don't want to have to spend the next ten years waiting for them to correct this only to be disappointed AGAIN when they go to black along with whatever other color is in at the time.

Don't buy the merchandise. But don't let this get in the way of cheering for your team. I know why we are all here (and I am really into this stuff, too), but it's just the uniforms. And most people on this board, I suspect, care more about the result on the field than they do the logos.

[Gothamite]

I'm very curious about this, as well.

I can only speak from my own experience - the Brewers have had and continue to have a strong fanbase (even before the recent on-field upswing), but have lagged in merchandise sales except Cooperstown Collection.

That tells us that the fans prefer the old logo to the new. Well, that plus all the fan votes, in which they overwhelmingly choose the old logo every time.

[I Am A Flaming Douche Bag]

Money talks.

Hey Id love to see them ditch the slug but they had the highest selling jersey last season and I doubt theyll change it unless you get over 100 000 signatures on a petition.

[OnWis97]

So basically the Slug out-sells the throwbacks because of availability, not because Sabres fans prefer the Slug. In fact I would bet that if given a fair choice Sabres fans would choose the throwbacks over the Slug sweaters, which is probably why the team refuses to have the throwbacks produced and sold in the same quantities as the two slug sweaters.

I don't know... guess I haven't been trying to buy a throwback Sabres jersey to know just how hard it is, but like I said to STL, if the Cubs come out with a cubbaslug and I don't like it, I'm not buying it. If I'm a Sabres fan and the choice, as you suggest, is wait for a "vintage" Sabres jersey to come available or buy the readily available buffaslug, I wait.

I just don't believe that hundreds of Buffalo fans are snapping up buffaslug just because the vintage jerseys aren't available. I think we all might be in denial a bit that the slug is a hit... unless we find out that the reason for the increase in sales is because of vintage alts, as some have suggested.

I think we have to give the Sabres fans some credit -- not necessarily for taste (although I am not as anti-slug as some), but at least for not buying something just because it's new and available.

Fans tend to identify the team with its current primary, not its alt-retro. Therefore, most are going to buy the primary. It's worn for more games, the logo is on all the promotional items, on TV, etc. I think, forgetting about looks, the alt is at an automatic disadvantage for all teams--particularly an alt that diverts alot from the primary. I think the Brewers fans LOVE the ball in glove, but I suspect that the primaries are selling more. I guess I don't knwo that though.

I don't think this sends the message that the Buffalo fans like the slug more than the original. I think it sends the message that most fans are not that concerned with such things and buy merchandise to show support for the team, regardless. I suspect, that if you asked the fans that had the merchandise, that most would prefer the classic logo, but just want to support the team (and therefore do not hate the slug as much as we do). But I don't think it is a hit. Obviously, though, I cannot back any of this up.

Therefore, I think that the big sales does not mean that they should keep the slug because people like it. I think it means they do not have run out and change because people don't care about logos that much.

[IceCap]

So basically the Slug out-sells the throwbacks because of availability, not because Sabres fans prefer the Slug. In fact I would bet that if given a fair choice Sabres fans would choose the throwbacks over the Slug sweaters, which is probably why the team refuses to have the throwbacks produced and sold in the same quantities as the two slug sweaters.

I don't know... guess I haven't been trying to buy a throwback Sabres jersey to know just how hard it is, but like I said to STL, if the Cubs come out with a cubbaslug and I don't like it, I'm not buying it. If I'm a Sabres fan and the choice, as you suggest, is wait for a "vintage" Sabres jersey to come available or buy the readily available buffaslug, I wait.

I just don't believe that hundreds of Buffalo fans are snapping up buffaslug just because the vintage jerseys aren't available. I think we all might be in denial a bit that the slug is a hit... unless we find out that the reason for the increase in sales is because of vintage alts, as some have suggested.

I think we have to give the Sabres fans some credit -- not necessarily for taste (although I am not as anti-slug as some), but at least for not buying something just because it's new and available.

You're looking at it through the eyes of a logo/uniform fan. As OnWis pointed out, the majority of fans will always want to but their team's latest gear, regardless of what they think of the logo. The NY Islanders were #4 in sales when they first unveiled the Fish Stick uniforms.

Unlike the Islanders though, the momentum of having fans wanting the new uniform was sustained through the team playing some of the best hockey in club history.

A new look, paired with winning, will produce sales regardless of the actual design.

[daschuck77]

Money talks.

Hey Id love to see them ditch the slug but they had the highest selling jersey last season and I doubt theyll change it unless you get over 100 000 signatures on a petition.

Minus the B.S. Signatures, there are about 30,000 on Drew Celestino's so far from www.fixthelogo.com...

Please read above...The Sabres switch was a cash grabbing lighting in a bottle scenario...(Great team, fans happy for the blue and gold return, and bandwagoners) All the other teams with their new Edge designs will outsell Buffalo, especially considering the outlook of on ice success is shaky at best next season and there will be no available vintage 3rd as well.

I'd buy a new Bruins Edge jersey right now before I would ever buy a current Sabres jersey with its horned yellow penis flare.

[I Am A Flaming Douche Bag]

I signed the petition...jus so u no.

[eSabre]

Besides, most people were waiting for the vintage jerseys to be sold and if I am not mistaken the NHL did not distinguish the sales between the vintage and the slug uniform.

If so, this raises some interesting questions. Surely the team knows the ratio of modern jerseys/throwback jerseys sold, even if they won't disclose it.

Many of us suspect that the Brewers are looking closely at merchandise sales, to see if the retro uniforms should become the primary. If so, that's all we as fans can ask for. Give us a real choice, and let us vote with our wallets.

I can tell you as someone with very close ties to this, the new uniforms have blown away the vintage ones in sales. It's not even close.

Only because the team isn't giving the fans a real choice. Despite the fact that the vintage jerseys are (were?) listed as the official alternates, the team doesn't sell them proportionally.

Take the NY Rangers for example. They sell their Liberty alternates in the same quantities as they do their home and road jerseys. It's as easy to get a Liberty alternate as it is to get a blue home or white road sweater. Likewise this is the case for most NHL teams with alternate sweaters.

Not so with the Rangers. Despite the fact that the Sabres list the throwbacks as official alternates, Reebok still only sells them as part of the NHL Vintage line. Therefore, the vintage Sabres jerseys are produced and sold in significantly less numbers then the regular Sabres home and road BuffaSlug jerseys. Therefore more Slug jerseys are sold, simply because it's easier to get them. The team refuses to have the throwbacks produced and sold in the same quantities that other teams produce and sell their alternates.

So basically the Slug out-sells the throwbacks because of availability, not because Sabres fans prefer the Slug. In fact I would bet that if given a fair choice Sabres fans would choose the throwbacks over the Slug sweaters, which is probably why the team refuses to have the throwbacks produced and sold in the same quantities as the two slug sweaters.

Completely incorrect. Every jersey the Sabres sold at HSBC Arena was customer ordered. The team was unable to stock anything due to such high demand, so everything produced for the store was requested individually.

Again, it wasn't close. The new uniforms moved dwarfed the number of alternates.

Your theory is wrong.

Besides, most people were waiting for the vintage jerseys to be sold and if I am not mistaken the NHL did not distinguish the sales between the vintage and the slug uniform.

If so, this raises some interesting questions. Surely the team knows the ratio of modern jerseys/throwback jerseys sold, even if they won't disclose it.

Many of us suspect that the Brewers are looking closely at merchandise sales, to see if the retro uniforms should become the primary. If so, that's all we as fans can ask for. Give us a real choice, and let us vote with our wallets.

I can tell you as someone with very close ties to this, the new uniforms have blown away the vintage ones in sales. It's not even close.

Only because the team isn't giving the fans a real choice. Despite the fact that the vintage jerseys are (were?) listed as the official alternates, the team doesn't sell them proportionally.

Take the NY Rangers for example. They sell their Liberty alternates in the same quantities as they do their home and road jerseys. It's as easy to get a Liberty alternate as it is to get a blue home or white road sweater. Likewise this is the case for most NHL teams with alternate sweaters.

Not so with the Rangers. Despite the fact that the Sabres list the throwbacks as official alternates, Reebok still only sells them as part of the NHL Vintage line. Therefore, the vintage Sabres jerseys are produced and sold in significantly less numbers then the regular Sabres home and road BuffaSlug jerseys. Therefore more Slug jerseys are sold, simply because it's easier to get them. The team refuses to have the throwbacks produced and sold in the same quantities that other teams produce and sell their alternates.

So basically the Slug out-sells the throwbacks because of availability, not because Sabres fans prefer the Slug. In fact I would bet that if given a fair choice Sabres fans would choose the throwbacks over the Slug sweaters, which is probably why the team refuses to have the throwbacks produced and sold in the same quantities as the two slug sweaters.

The leak and initial outcry caused Larry Quinn to push up the unveiling about a month...and then they announced 15 home games that the vintage alternate would be worn...He is sooo lucky the Sabres were playing well...Unfortunately I do not hate the logo enough to pray for the Sabres to be basement dwellers to get rid of the logo quicker...But I do want fans to know there are better looks out there and they should have input into these creative decisions of the organizations. Like the Seahawks letting the fans vote on the new color for their helmet...while not acutally giving them the keys to the car, the team threw its fans a nice little bone and gave them the impression that they had a voice and say with the team.

I feel the same way about the Bills...I hope they don't keep that color explosion of a uniform forever... They should update their throwbacks as well and be looking toward that since they have been around 5 years now.

First, the unveiling was pushed up two weeks. It was originally going to be the first home preseason game, the 30th, and they moved it up to the 16th to avoid anything else being leaked.

Second, it was already decided the team would use the "vintage" jerseys as a 3rd, but the number of planned appearances changed from about 10 to 15.

[SenatorJake]

I like the slug... well not really.

But compared to the angry devil goat. (Black and red ??? WTF?!?)

And compared to the other old logo with a buffalo and some sabres in a circle. (Classic but stupid if you look at it objectively.)

The slug is... sadly... the best logo they've ever had.

[STL FANATIC]

I'll accept the reasoning that the Sabres won't change the look because fans are buying it.

But I won't accept the reasoning that because fans are buying it it means they like it.

It simply means they care more about supporting their team than they do the visual identity of the team, as they should.

Nah... there is plenty of throwback blue-and-gold to buy if they wanted to show their support of the team. Seriously, if the Cardinals abandoned the birds on bat for some crazy update, you'd feel the need to buy all new merchandise because otherwise you wouldn't be supporting the team?

I know if the Cubs did something like that, I'd still be wearing the jerseys and caps I have now. (For example, I didn't touch that new BP cap with earflaps... and I prefer a blue '80s Cubs road to the current road, so I never bought one.) I buy what I like, not what the team tells me to like. I don't think that makes me less of a fan.

Oh, that's not what I'm saying at all.

Reebok can't seem to manufacture an accurate Rams jersey anymore, so I refuse to buy one. I wear my outdated jerseys with gold side panels.

My Fighting Illini football and basketball teams swtiched to terrible uniforms last year. I'll wear my old stuff until they get good looks (actually, I flipflop on the football look).

And I'd do the same if the Cardinals or Blues got awful looks.

But there's a lot of people who aren't that concerned with it. And they want to wear what the team wears regardless. They just aren't concerned with the logo on the merchandise (because the logo, while ugly, doesn't actually make an entire piece of clothing ugly if that makes sense).

Now, I do believe that a fan should care more about the people within the organization than the visual identity. But I didn't mean to imply that for a fan to do that he has to be willing to buy whatever is the current logo. We're the types of fans who care enough about the visual identity that we won't buy a bad logo but will still support the team. But the majority of fans who bought the merchandise probably don't care for the logo, but also just plain don't care.

[Gothamite]

My Fighting Illini football and basketball teams swtiched to terrible uniforms last year. I'll wear my old stuff until they get good looks (actually, I flipflop on the football look).

And I'd do the same if the Cardinals or Blues got awful looks.

That's what I did. I haven't bought a single piece of Brewers merchandise in seven years, except for retro gear.

Never stopped being a fan, although I did stop buying stuff.