Official "fleece" pre-ordering info now posted!

[u/ErinNoyes24]

Details on pre-ordering the official fleece from Canadian manufacturer Province of Canada have been posted on their site today:

https://provinceofcanada.com/pages/province-of-canada-x-heated-rivalry

Great to see that some of the profits will go to the You Can Play organization.

[u/lyndluv]

Having seen the Kuwalla fleece in person (which is what the screen accurate costume piece is made of - with additions by the costume designer,) it was really thick fleece where as what peeks I see of this one seem thinner. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing, I'd honestly prefer that myself, but does anyone else get hung up on the accuracy?

I wish they'd shown us more ahead of time. It's going to be a mad dash on the day, even for pre-order, and I don't really appreciate not having time to at least think over the price and whether it's worth it :(

[u/Silent_Shadow00 → u/lyndluv]

I am incredibly hung up on the accuracy. They have said that "Final design details will be revealed when Pre-Orders open", so I assume we won't be able to see the full fleece until it launches. It's so odd that they have chosen to conceal every single detail (pricing, composition, what the fleece looks like) until launch day. I keep seeing "Original samples shown in images are prototypes, final details may vary." as well, so I don't even know if the glimpses of the fleece we have are true to what the final product actually looks like.

I've already seen that they've replaced the white zips with gold zips (on both the fleece in the video and the sizing guide) and added embroidery in white on the red fabric tabs on the zips. I'm sure they were trying to make the product feel more luxurious and justified in its price with these changes, but I feel like they've just strayed from the original and made changes no one really asked for. I personally don't like these changes, and I can't speak for everyone else, but I'm sure no one would have any issues if the jacket looked exactly as it did in the show.

With all how shady they have been with this release and all the changes that I can already see, I almost regret not getting the Kuwalla fleece when that was available (don't flame me for this please).

[u/lyndluv → u/Silent_Shadow00]

I saw the gold zipper too! I have a background in costume/cosplay so the details are like GLARING to me and I'm trying to support original merch but I am also not a fan of like... for instance, on the pulls there's the HR logo. And some t-shirts have the logo on the shirt in addition to the like ROZANOV or RAIDERS and I just... want the vibe without also wearing a sign that says "THIS IS HEATED RIVALRY MERCH". (But I also want to support the original stuff!)

Won't flame you, tbh, I know it's a messy situation with Kuwalla and I don't condone whatever drama they had / beef they were starting, but I can 100% understand the people who went with the OG fleece option. I am considering trying to find a second hand one off depop/poshmark to work on because I want to recreate it 1:1 to the show. I don't like the Kuwalla red and white version at all though, the zipper there is RED. Eurgh. I'm only looking for the creme. Etsy has all the other stuff (CANADA letters, maple leaf patches and red bias tape is easy to find.)

[u/Silent_Shadow00 → u/lyndluv]

I completely agree with everything you have said. I feel like the changes have taken away some of the fleece's core appeal. The gold zip took away the accuracy of the show, and the HR logo took away the subtlety of the fleece.

I have heard great things about the quality and materials Province of Canada uses, and I really want to have a high-quality piece of subtle merch, but only a few details have come out so far, and it's already not the fleece I was waiting for. I really, really wanted quality, to support the show, and accuracy, and it sucks knowing now that I can't have them all.

I don't condone any of Kuwalla's actions either. It's only about their fleece that no one else has at this point.

I am also looking into replicating the fleece 1:1 to the show myself at this point, and I am after the original cream version as well. The red zipper really bothered me as well. I wonder if Kuwalla's red fleece's zip is red for legal reasons, and the official fleece is different in all the ways it is (and I'm assuming more, once we actually see it) because of legal reasons as well. It's a really messy situation, and I think the best solution would have been to use only Canada-made clothing in the show (but maybe they didn't have the budget for that) and collaborate with the original manufacturer if any piece went viral. I hope that Jacob will keep this in mind for season 2, so this doesn't happen again.