Want to give the gift of Uni Watch this holiday season? We’re offering discounted gift rates for our membership program.

The heart of the program is the official Uni Watch membership card, which comes fully laminated and which you can customize with your own name and number on the back, just like a uniform. You can either choose to go with Uni Watch colors (in which case you can opt to have your name lettering be vertically arched, radially arched, straight, below the number, or no name at all), or you can choose the design style of your favorite team. Most MLB, NFL, NHL and NBA teams are available (sorry, no NCAA; and, in keeping with longstanding Uni Watch chromatic policy, absolutely no teams with any purple in their uniform), plus we can do some throwback designs, and you officiating types can opt for zebra stripes. We also consider special requests (that one was in honor of Roger Bannister) on a case-by-case basis. You can see a gallery of all the rear-card designs that we’ve created so far here.

Keep in mind that if you opt for a team-based treatment, your name must appear in the style used by that team — in other words, you can’t ask for a Phillies treatment with vertically arched lettering, or a Yankees treatment with any name at all. Teams that use nameplates (as opposed to direct-sewn lettering) will have a little nameplate outline visible on their cards.

Here are the membership benefits and the discounted gift rates:

Level One — Wool Flannel ($25 $20): Benefits are as follows:
• Official Uni Watch membership card
• Uni Watch fridge magnet
• Three bonus entries in all Uni Watch raffles
• Your name featured on the Uni Watch “Active Roster” membership listing

Level Two — Vertically Arched ($60 $50): All of the benefits listed above, plus a special members-only Uni Watch T-shirt, this year’s version of which is available in your choice of a blue ringer, red ringer, black ringer, orange on navy, or blue on gray. A new T-shirt design will be made available to new or renewing members each year on May 17th, the anniversary of this blog.

Level Three — Chain-Stitched ($100 $90): All the benefits listed above, plus a CD containing the digital art files for three rare, hard-to-find uniform style guides: NFL 1972, XFL 2001, and MLB’s 1999 “Turn Ahead the Clock” series.

Level Four — Leather Helmet ($250 $225): All the benefits listed above, plus Uni Watch design director Scott M.X. Turner will create a logo for your team, fantasy league, company, civic association, church group, or just for you.

Level Five — Satin Piping ($500 $450): All the benefits listed above, plus I will conduct a “Uni Watch Profiles” interview with you, a transcript of which will be posted on the blog. During the interview we will discuss your favorite uniforms, your uni-related pet peeves, your cap collection, or anything else uni-related that you want to talk about. You will be uni-king for a day!

Level Six — Striped Stirrups ($1000 $900): All of the benefits listed above, plus I will fly to your town (or to the nearest city with an airport) and host a Uni Watch party at the local venue of your choosing. Probably your best chance at attending a Uni Watch party if you live in, say, Wichita. Continental U.S. only. If you live within a 100-mile radius of New York City, I will take you and a guest out to dinner either before or after the party. If you and some friends pool your resources to come up with the fee, you will all receive membership cards.

Please note: In order to qualify for these discounted rates, you must order by November 15th in order to ensure delivery by Hannukah, or by December 5th for Christmas delivery. Here’s what to do:

Decide upon the membership level you want to give and PayPal the appropriate membership fee to paul_lukas at earthlink dot net (plus, if you’re feeling extra-generous, toss in a few extra bucks to cover PayPal’s transaction fee). If you’re not PayPal-ish, send a check, money order, or well-concealed cash to Paul Lukas, 671 DeGraw St., Brooklyn, NY 11217.

Please be sure to include all of the following information:

• Your name and shipping address. Please note that everything will be sent to you, not to the gift recipient. (Sorry, but it would just be too much of a logistical nightmare to do it any other way.)

• The name that you want to appear on the front of the membership card. Please note that this name must be different from your name, or else you won’t qualify for these discounted rates. Nicknames are fine, although really stupid or offensive ones will be assessed on a case-by-case basis. Whatever you choose for the front of the card, that’s the name that will appear on the membership roster.

• The uniform number that you want on the back of the card (don’t worry if someone else on the membership roster already has that number — duplicate numbers are allowed on the Uni Watch team). If possible, please provide a quick explanation for why you chose that number, so we can include that info on the membership roster.

• The name, if any, that you want to appear on the back of the card. Last names are preferable, but first names or nicknames will be considered and honored whenever possible (except for “He Hate Me,” which is off-limits).

• The design treatment you want for your name and number on the back of the card. If you’re choosing Uni Watch colors, indicate if you want the name to be vertically arched, radially arched, straight, subscript, or no name at all; if choosing a team-based design treatment, indicate home or road (or dark jersey or light), and also give a second design option, just in case we don’t have the typeface for your first team choice.

• If you’re giving a Level Two membership or above, indicate which T-shirt style and size you want.

• If you’re giving a Level Four membership or above, explain what sort of organization or group you want Scott Turner to design a logo for, and provide a phone number so he can contact you to discuss the project.

• If joining at Levels Five or Six, provide a phone number so I can discuss interview and/or travel logistics with you.

• If you don’t want the recipient’s name to appear on the membership roster until after the holidays, let me know. Same goes for their card design appearing in the card design gallery. If you don’t indicate a preference on these matters, I’ll assume it’s OK to update the roster and design gallery right away.

Ho-ho-ho, dashing through the snow, etc.,
Paul