Halos Heaven

I grew up poor in the I.E.

You know, knock off crap from swap meets, bring your favorite brand of bologna to thanksgiving dinner. So considering that I am an adult living on my own, I’d much rather order from the jack in the crack budget menu, and splurge on authentic merchandise.

halofolife - March 11, 2009 reply

Or wear NO team merch at all if you can't afford it

Doesn’t make you any less of a fan. That sounds even less conformist to me and it’s a better protest against the high price of official merch than buying shit made in Mexican sweat shops and sold by people in what is basically a criminal enterprise.

Higz - March 11, 2009 reply

Buy 2nd Hand at Ebay...

I got a Reggie ‘86 Mitchell & Ness #44 for $39 on ebay a few years ago. Actual retail is $300. It was used, but looked brand spankin’ new. I get “cool jersey” comments every time I wear it.

I also bought a “retro” Eric Dickerson jersey on ebay that had his “autograph” on it (looks just like his authentic signature, but I seriously doubt it is real). I wore it to a SF 49ers – Rams game in 2003 and had a strange 49er fan following me offering me $300 for it. I had paid $40 on ebay. Should have taken it off my back, but then I would’ve been shirtless walking around a cold, frigid Candlestick park.

Downing Rules - March 11, 2009 reply

I don't see the difference between this an downloading "free" music from the internet.

If I want it, I will pay for it. If I can’t afford the authentic stuff, there are other options. For years, I wore a T-shirt I got as a give-away at one of the games.

This is from a guy that bought a “Panther” HH T-shirt last year, that I will proudly wear in Mesa in a couple of week.

sothball - March 11, 2009 reply

No Problem with the Bootleg gear

But where in the hell is the “HALO”

Angel Gear has to have the HALO

P237 - March 11, 2009 reply

Rev, I actually dig that cap...

but both A’s need doggone Halos on them. Back to the sweat shop with that thing.

Downing Rules - March 11, 2009 reply

Interesting point

My view has always been that I want what the players wear. Not really sure why, but part of it is probably feeling camaraderie when I watch Lackey in the dugout trying, in vain, to bend the brim of his 5950 crap cap.

Carl Johnson - March 11, 2009 reply

Props for trying to save a buck...

but there is no way I would have ever pegged that thing for an Angel hat. I would guess independent league team from a city like Akron, or maybe some soccer club in Mexico if I ran into you in the street.

Wytelitning - March 11, 2009 reply

i sported a knockoff in 2002

i was pretty annoyed that the team changed logos again, and figured this change could have been as temporary as the last, so i bought a rip off for 8 bones outside of the pond. i’ve since decked myself out in the authentic stuff, but i’m not going to hate if someone can’t afford the real deal.

Of Angels and Angles - March 11, 2009 reply

Not sure if I follow the message here, Rev.

On the one hand you wear your iconoclasm on your sleeve, and this is in keeeping with that faith. On the other hand you are deep in a world which has the principal of intellectual property rights as its very foundation.

Is the line of demarcation between these two that point where the knock-off is accidentally dirivative, unimaginative, un-compelling, and basically crap? And, therefore, since this is so fugly it disqualifies any/all IP issues and falls into the iconoclastic wheelhouse? Does the un-inspired enable non-conformity?

I could work with that. It would allow me to not worry that I need not purchase this because I choose to support the licensor of protected artistic rights. No, in this case, I could simply not worry that I need to purchase such a thing simply because this thing is fugly!

Stirrups - March 11, 2009 reply

Two Things

1. I wouldn’t buy bootleg merch that isn’t an exact duplicate of the real thing because then, IMHO, it’s just not an Angels hat. It’s just a red hat with an A. But I wouldn’t be showing support for my team; I’d instead be supporting an imaginary one [aside: years ago, in France, I got a good laugh out of stores selling, and people wearing, what appeared to be merchandise from some kind of professional team, but in reality was simply for make believe teams such as the New York Rockets or Washington Pirates].

2. I respect the value of the team’s logo, and its right not to have other people making money from it. I want that money to go to the team and benefit the team, not to someone else.

jjackflash - March 11, 2009 reply

Okay, good times

I say ‘cool.’

I will never buy any of it. But I’m glad it’s out there. Why? Because bootleg merch is one of the best validations this franchise has received. It means we’ve made it.

Think of musicians: Grammies shmammies. But if you get parodied by Weird Al, you’re hot shit.

You know how many seriously welfare “L A” caps I’ve seen in the southland? It’s pathetic. It’s about time the Halos earned the respect of being pirated.

Zoe Necrosis - March 11, 2009 reply

What the hell are the odds of this topic being made

I was at my mom’s helping her clean out some old stuff today, and we found an old Angels knock-off button down shirt from about 5 years ago that was going to inspire me to make this same topic as a fanpost. The button-down is not bad, and I definitely approve. I have authentic/replica stuff all over the place, but nothing wrong with the occasional knock-off.

Caseys Kiss of Death - March 11, 2009 reply

I am still kicking myself for not buying the furry leopard Lakers cap in Bangladesh

It was the most delightfully hideous cap I’ve ever seen.

My rule of thumb when deciding what is OK to purchase among unlicensed merchandise — it must register high on the cheesiness scale. Items must grossly fail to approximate the Real McCoy, kind of like wearing Payless Shoes’ Pro Wings plastic waffle cleats to laugh in the face of Nike Air spikes.

The cap Rev posted above may qualify; the apparent fishing line that was used to stitch the hat, coupled with the lack of a proper halo, carries it into the acceptable level of cheese…

Big Easy Halofan - March 11, 2009 reply

ON the soapbox

To put the enormity of the problem in financial terms, the U.S. Customs Service estimates that counterfeiting activity costs the U.S. more than $200 billion annually and has resulted in the loss of 750,000 American jobs. Recently, the FTC stated that eradicating counterfeit auto parts could create 200,000 new jobs in the U.S. auto industry alone. The International Chamber of Commerce estimates that counterfeiting drains more than $350 billion each year from the world’s economy – this is 7 to 9 percent of total world trade. And each dollar lost to law-abiding, hard-working American citizens and companies winds up lining the pockets of criminals.

Counterfeiting frequently is part of a larger criminal enterprise involving the theft of legitimate goods. Criminals responsible for distributing counterfeit goods are also often the ringleaders of organized retail theft. They have become expert in mixing counterfeit goods with stolen goods to "sanitize" the stolen goods and move them back into the supply chain. They feed on those buyers or distributors who are willing to turn a blind eye in return for a good deal. Sometimes, the buyer is innocent. We have documented evidence of a U.S. retailer buying back the very stock stolen from it a few weeks earlier. Counterfeit distribution networks also ease the transport of illegal drugs into U.S. markets. Recently, heroin was discovered stitched inside fake Louis Vuitton and Chanel handbags recovered in the Northeast.

The danger of counterfeiting goes beyond mere financial harm and theft. Organized crime and terrorist groups use the sale of counterfeit goods to raise money for illegal activities and violence. The Basque separatist group, ETA, has been linked to the sale of counterfeit clothing and handbags. Paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland have funded terrorist activities through the sale of pirated products, including copies of Disney’s The Lion King. Protection rackets in Italy no longer demand just money from retailers; instead, they want shelf space to sell counterfeit goods. Most alarming is that those who aim to terrorize United States citizens look to counterfeiting to help them achieve their deadly goal: Seized Al Qaeda training manuals recommend the sale of fake goods as a financing source for its terrorism.

In addition to aiding those who would intentionally harm us, counterfeiting leads directly to human suffering and death. Every day, thousands of sick people take counterfeit drugs that do nothing for them or, worse, hurt them. In the United States, there are dozens of recent cases involving everything from fake Viagra to phony meningitis vaccine. In China, the government-owned Shenzen Evening News estimates that 192,000 Chinese died in 2001 as a result of taking fake drugs. In a documented case in Nigeria, 100 children died after ingesting antifreeze that had been sold as a popular cough syrup.

We also know that fake automotive and aerospace parts are causing accidents with inevitable tragic consequences. In particular, the FAA has estimated that 2% of all replacement parts used on commercial airliners are fake, putting passengers at risk.

Counterfeiting is not a victimless crime. On the contrary, it causes devastating financial and physical harm to United States companies, employees, investors, consumers, patients, and citizens.

OFF the soapbox

ladybug - March 12, 2009 reply