Hi all, although i am new to this board i have been a fan of Fax for many years. I have joined the forum as i have misgivings regarding XBlades ability to offer the fans and the Halifax club true value for money regarding merchandise options in the long term. Thus far their product as far as i can see is in the main cheap and tacky and of low quality. If rumours are true then they would be insolvent if it wasnt for one of our own Directors helping them out (maybe he should get his money back and get out while he can). Surley its time for the club to consider other options before we end up with a half empty club shop for another season. Last season you could clearly see the embarrassment on the faces of the shop staff on a Sunday. Sorry if i appear harsh but everything last season apart from the NRC shirt was garbage. Im not trying to stir up trouble, just hoping for something better moving forward...what do you all think?

You raise some very valid points, when X-Blades first came on board there was the promise of more stuff in the shop ect as they'd be able to cater for a smaller club with smaller orders, as opposed to Kooga who'd want large orders if they were to supply gear for the stuff. But they failed to deliver on these.

My family and I used to buy quite a few things from the club shop when Malcolm used to be in charge of the buying. The availability and more importantly the quality was better. Although the look of the new shirt seems ok we wont be purchasing any again its down to quality value and availability - unfortunately thats where X Blades dont get anywhere near!

I've just bought a new shirt online. I hope it is better than last years shirt which was very poor material and fit.



I understand why the club needs to partner with the right manufacturer - minimum orders, short runs etc. It just seems a shame that we can't get the best of both worlds - it is Halifax RLFC who lose out because of it.



Here is an example of what I mean.....



Last year I bought a shirt - thats all. Just one solitary shirt. I would not have wasted my money on anything else because of the poor quality.



In the year where the kit was supplied by Canterbury I bought a shirt, 2 polo shirts, a training jacket and a rain jacket. Why? Because the quality was fantastic. Whats more - all of those items are going strong today.

I bought 4 polo shirts last year, two with Championies 2010 on and two with Northern Rail Finalists on.

They were all of good quality and are worn very often.

To be fair you should see the quality of items a host of supposed 'leading' brands give supporters nowadays, anyway to cut costs they will take it. Badges just being stuck on or part of the material have taken over (rather than proper embroidery), loose stiching everywhere, dodgy zips etc. X blades aren't alone.



The only worry I've got with X Blades, as was pointed out the other week, was whether the Club get any of the money when the fans buy the stuff. Going off HalifaxJohn's purchases last year (as an example) which are upwards of £200, the Club were seemingly only getting about £15 of that.

Until I see the shirts in person, I wont be buying (or asking father xmas) for one of the new ones. Not taking anything away from the design, because I think they have done well with the home shirt, just the quality of the materials used. I am usually a home and away shirt each year. The thick cotton we had 2 seasons ago was the best shirt for years.

I saw a couple of games last year at fax (grandfather a fax lad) and i bought him a decent quality blades polo shirt and jacket. I think 'Sharpy' might be a sacked employee or something coming on with that as his first post...

But as the shirt is a replica of rhe players it has to be in the same material.

It's not really poor quality just a different material.

X Blades are only interested in the shirts and training tops when they can be bothered to get some stock in but what about having a shop full of other stuff we can all buy like most sports clubs??

Lost opportunity for me and its not the shop staff's fault its this bum deal as X Blades get money on all shop sales even if they aint made it!

I think you're missing the gag of what replica means there. It's called (whatever 'it' is) a replica because it's similar in size and appearance, but not the actual thing. The player's jerseys shouldn't be like the one's the fans get. ISC are the best at doing it as you can see with Hull FC and Wire etc where their fans have collars on their jerseys, looser fitting and such.

Players and supporters shirts are not always the same material and this has been the case for many a year. However if you are correct, and I am not saying you are not, then all it means is that HRLFC have unfortunately signed a deal with a kit provider who, [iin my opinion[/i is providing both players and fans with gear which is average at best. Being best in the division involves every aspect of the game both on and off the park. This includes selection of kit provider. On the subject of kits, I am also a little dubious as to who is driving the we need a new kit for this, that and the other game. Is it the club or xBlades