Smitty Poly Wools at Ump-Attire

[celt62]

I just saw that Ump-Attire is having a sale on their Premium Smitty Poly Wools.  Regularly $59.99, the plates are now $49.95 and the base pants are $39.99. it doesn't say how long that they'll be on sale for.  I just bought a pair of each.

[alex7]

@celt62   do you have any experience with these pants?  I've only purchased the Honig's polywools in the past, but if you had feedback on the Smitty Premium version, that'd be great.

[BALL4]

Check Purchase Officials price, Joe DeRosa  use to own Purchase

 

[celt62]

1 hour ago, alex7 said:

@celt62   do you have any experience with these pants?  I've only purchased the Honig's polywools in the past, but if you had feedback on the Smitty Premium version, that'd be great.

The old Smitty Polys were not very good.  I have the newer Premium ones with the proper color pockets and all and I like them very much. They're night and day compared to the old ones.  I've had the Honig's in the past.  Don't get me wrong, the old Honig's were the greatest and I haven't seen another pant that comes close outside of the MLB Hardwicks.  But I think the new Premium Smittys are better than the new Honig's which are absolute crap.  I have not tried the Davis' so I have no opinion on them.

[kylejt]

The handwriting is on the walls (read: golf pants).

 

[BT_Blue]

8 hours ago, celt62 said:

The old Smitty Polys were not very good.  I have the newer Premium ones with the proper color pockets and all and I like them very much.

Gosh darn it! I knew that they had a weird color pocket. I'm not nuts!

I brought my Davis-by-Fechheimer pants in to get tailored today. Very simular to the original Honigs.

Purchased a pair of the new Polydex pants and they just don't look right on me at this point. Will probably buy a pair next season.

[celt62]

I bought plate and base polydex pants when they were on sale last month after seeing them first hand in Baltimore.  They are very nice but noticeably darker than most charcoal pants so I can't see wearing them during the regular season unless you all have them because you won't even come close to matching. I will definitely wear them for summer ball though in the heat and humidity.

[kylejt]

11 hours ago, BT_Blue said:

Gosh darn it! I knew that they had a weird color pocket. I'm not nuts!

 

I gotta ask, what is the proper colored pocket for umpire pants?

I've got black ones on my Honig's, and white ones on my Hardwicks.

[celt62]

53 minutes ago, kylejt said:

I gotta ask, what is the proper colored pocket for umpire pants?

I've got black ones on my Honig's, and white ones on my Hardwicks.

same color as the pants that way everything blends in

[BT_Blue]

12 minutes ago, celt62 said:

same color as the pants that way everything blends in

Or black

[kylejt]

2 hours ago, BT_Blue said:

Or black

So the Hardwick pants that the MLB umpires have been wearing for years, with the white pockets, are wrong?

 

Dang, I'll have dump mine in eBay.

[BT_Blue]

31 minutes ago, kylejt said:

So the Hardwick pants that the MLB umpires have been wearing for years, with the white pockets, are wrong?

 

Dang, I'll have dump mine in eBay.

Probably. They sound defective to me.

[JimKirk]

@kylejt is right. @BT_Blue and @celt62 I love you guys but you are way overthinking it.

Feedback with leadership at several levels we have shared these pants with before and after they came on the market is they understand it's a different fabric, and therefore won't be (and can't be) the same color as another fabric.

The other side of it is you won't be standing next to each other outside of a plate meeting or a conference, and even then it's not as if the difference is a heather grey / charcoal grey kind of a difference.

One more note is not only have these been the best selling pants of the season (even selling out of many sizes with 72 hours) but we have offered free returns (and still are) and thus far the return rates are less than 1%.

My biggest concern is not color but stock. Our second shipment is coming this week. Stay tuned.

[kylejt]

Thinking down the road, I wonder what Under Armour will do, if anything, with umpire uniforms. Perhaps they'll take this new golf pants cue as a signal to update the whole uniform at the MLB level. No one has seriously looked at branding, yet MLB umpires get a TON of television time. The Under Armour folks are no dummies about marketing, and I'd be willing to think they'd take advantage of that 9 inning billboard behind the plate, and outfit them from head to toe. Including revamped pants.

 

I wouldn't be surprised to see UA plate shoes, either. Why would leave out that opportunity?

 

 

[BT_Blue]

Agreed. The color is only noticeable from up close.

I am sending mine back because I didn't feel like they fit me properly. That and I had just bought a pair of pants last November. So I do not need an extra pair.

But I do plan to purchase them again before next season and get them into the rotation. I was impressed by the materials and the feel. Just did not fit quite right at this time.

However, I do plan to promote the living heck out of these pants. As I feel these are the wave of the future.

[JimKirk]

48 minutes ago, kylejt said:

Thinking down the road, I wonder what Under Armour will do, if anything, with umpire uniforms. Perhaps they'll take this new golf pants cue as a signal to update the whole uniform at the MLB level. No one has seriously looked at branding, yet MLB umpires get a TON of television time. The Under Armour folks are no dummies about marketing, and I'd be willing to think they'd take advantage of that 9 inning billboard behind the plate, and outfit them from head to toe. Including revamped pants.

 

I wouldn't be surprised to see UA plate shoes, either. Why would leave out that opportunity?

 

 

Interesting thoughts. I can only speculate based on what Under Armour did at the NCAA level this year for football.

There they found suppliers already making shirts and pants and simply put their logo on them. Nothing new was offered per se and nothing was changed to the uniform.

Same on their catchers' gear. It's All-Star gear but with the UA logo.

So who knows, maybe the pants they offer are the new poly spandex ones made by Smitty but have the UA logo. Again, I am only speculating.

Knowing what I know about the industry, the Under Armours and Nikes of the world do not want to get into manufacturing officials' uniforms (it's too complicated for the small amount of profits available compared to the player market).

However, they DO want their logo to be seen ON them as you say @kylejt a 9-inning billboard.

[celt62]

1 hour ago, JimKirk said:

@kylejt is right. @BT_Blue and @celt62 I love you guys but you are way overthinking it.

Feedback with leadership at several levels we have shared these pants with before and after they came on the market is they understand it's a different fabric, and therefore won't be (and can't be) the same color as another fabric.

The other side of it is you won't be standing next to each other outside of a plate meeting or a conference, and even then it's not as if the difference is a heather grey / charcoal grey kind of a difference.

One more note is not only have these been the best selling pants of the season (even selling out of many sizes with 72 hours) but we have offered free returns (and still are) and thus far the return rates are less than 1%.

My biggest concern is not color but stock. Our second shipment is coming this week. Stay tuned.

Perfect. Right on.

[kylejt]

53 minutes ago, JimKirk said:

However, they DO want their logo to be seen ON them as you say @kylejt a 9-inning billboard.

Which, of course, is why you need to market a Little League umpire shirt. All that ESPN/ABC Sports time every August, is going to waste.

 

Someday, Jim, someday...................................

[conbo61]

1 hour ago, JimKirk said:

Interesting thoughts. I can only speculate based on what Under Armour did at the NCAA level this year for football.

There they found suppliers already making shirts and pants and simply put their logo on them. Nothing new was offered per se and nothing was changed to the uniform.

Same on their catchers' gear. It's All-Star gear but with the UA logo.

So who knows, maybe the pants they offer are the new poly spandex ones made by Smitty but have the UA logo. Again, I am only speculating.

Knowing what I know about the industry, the Under Armours and Nikes of the world do not want to get into manufacturing officials' uniforms (it's too complicated for the small amount of profits available compared to the player market).

However, they DO want their logo to be seen ON them as you say @kylejt a 9-inning billboard.

I am glad that you just confirmed I am not losing it.  I saw a UA catchers helemt today with the I-Bar vision decal.  I was confused...

[JSam21]

2 hours ago, conbo61 said:

I am glad that you just confirmed I am not losing it.  I saw a UA catchers helemt today with the I-Bar vision decal.  I was confused...

All-Star has been making their catchers gear from the beginning 

[BT_Blue]

5 hours ago, JSam21 said:

All-Star has been making their catchers gear from the beginning 

Buster Posey has been rocking All Star gear with the UA logo since he came up.

[JSam21]

15 hours ago, kylejt said:

Which, of course, is why you need to market a Little League umpire shirt. All that ESPN/ABC Sports time every August, is going to waste.

 

Someday, Jim, someday...................................

Market a shirt with the LL patch or design a whole new shirt just for LL?

[BT_Blue]

6 hours ago, JSam21 said:

Market a shirt with the LL patch or design a whole new shirt just for LL?

Willing to bet the answer is probably going to be "yes to both."

[conbo61]

19 hours ago, JSam21 said:

All-Star has been making their catchers gear from the beginning 

I was surprised at how OBVIOUS it was.  I would have thought that UA would have required All-Star to remove any markings that identify the equipment as made by them.  Otherwise, why bother?

Looks like the UA version of the FM 25 is $7 cheaper than the AS version.  Slight difference in pads.

Again, why does UA bother if it is clear that the equipment is made by a competitor?  I realize that some appliances are made by one company, but if you by a Kenmore refrigerator, they do not have a Whirlpool emblem. 

[JSam21]

1 hour ago, conbo61 said:

I was surprised at how OBVIOUS it was.  I would have thought that UA would have required All-Star to remove any markings that identify the equipment as made by them.  Otherwise, why bother?

Looks like the UA version of the FM 25 is $7 cheaper than the AS version.  Slight difference in pads.

Again, why does UA bother if it is clear that the equipment is made by a competitor?  I realize that some appliances are made by one company, but if you by a Kenmore refrigerator, they do not have a Whirlpool emblem. 

Because it is cheaper for them to do it that way. At least now the UA chest protectors for the catchers look a slightly different from their AS brethren. When I was coaching I had a kid tell me that he didn't like All-Stars equipment but really liked Under Armour's catchers gear... I just smiled and nodded my head.