Once again, our staff at Pointed Magazine is dedicated to bringing its readers the hottest products for the Year 2005, and with the 2005 Major League Baseball season gearing up and a new team coming to Washington, D.C for the first time in 30 years, Pointed Magazine wanted our readers to know what to do to get their hands on what is sure to be the hottest apparel in baseball this season, the authentic collection for the Washington Nationals.

In response to our last authentic collection review, our staff has taken many requests to feature new baseball related products. This review follows up to the review we first featured on Majestic Athletic in the Spring of 2001. Now our staff is focusing on the return of baseball to Washington and all of the new products Majestic has created for the Washington Nationals.

When we first featured Majestic, they had most teams in major league baseball. This time Majestic is back on our site and now they have all 30 MLB teams and we are going to look some of their best products they have produced for Major League Baseball. Baseball is back in D.C and so is Majestic, producing the look fans will see on opening day.

Just as our staff has done in all of our product reviews and apparel testing to date, we have taken each product to the limit to determine if this is a product well worth spending your money.

After covering three weeks of Spring Training and seeing some of the new Majestic apparel first hand on the field in Viera, Florida, we decided to see what fans would be able to get their hands on for opening day. What we viewed on the field was an entire new look from Majestic. This time they were swinging towards the fences of quality, which many of their competitors can't even begin to offer.

Products that we will include for our baseball fans in this review are the authentic collection premiere jacket, authentic collection gamer jacket, authentic collection batting practice jersey, authentic collection home game jersey, and authentic collection t-shirts. All of these products provide a full line-up for Nationals fans.

The first product our staff put to the wear and fashion tests were the premiere jacket and the gamer jacket. Both jackets will be found in the dugout for the first month of the season while the weather is a little on the milder side here in Washington and then again when the leaves fall off the trees and the temperatures drop for those night games.

Majestic's premiere jacket is the Bentley of athletic jackets in quality and look and is well worth the $109.99 price that it carries. This is the exact jacket you will see the Nationals players wearing in the dugout on the cooler days of the season.

The premiere jacket has full Nationals logos across the front of the jacket that is large enough so fans seated two levels up at the stadium will know your favorite team. The logo is stitched with the same quality they use in their game jerseys.

Located on the sleeve of the jacket is a large D.C logo, which over the past month has become the most sought after logo in the Washington area. If you saw how fast the Nationals batting practice caps went in Florida and at the team shop, we know everyone will also want to get their hands on this jacket for opening day.

One feature we liked about the premiere jacket is the weight of the jacket. This jacket with the embroidery and the quality makes other $100 jackets look like they belong on the shelves at the dollar store. The weight of the jacket will tell you the quality before you even zip it up. Once you get it on, it might be difficult to take it off with the comfort and softness it provides. This is a must for the serious baseball or Nationals fan.

Our second jacket was the lighter weight pull over "gamer" jacket commonly found being worn by the players during batting practice and warm-ups. Unlike most pullovers that either are too baggy and look like your older brother or father's jacket, the gamer is a perfect fit and is a great compliment to a cooler evening.

Like the premiere jacket, the gamer uses the same outside technology for its shell and features another large quality embroidered Nationals logo across the entire chest and an additional smaller D.C logo on the left sleeve.

The gamer jacket has contrasting team-colored block inserts, with a v-neck three-quarter zip and side zipper which allows for a loose vented feeling from the jacket. It has a pull zipper at neck and MLB batter logo on back neck is rubberized. Inside the jacket is a thin mesh lining and underarm side vents. It also has the Majestic logo and MLB logos around the inside of the neck.

Fans can purchase the gamer jacket for $59.99. Information on purchase will be listed at the end of the review. Great value, great jacket.

Our biggest test of Majestic's quality came when we took both jackets through some on-field practice of our own. We hit baseballs and took fielding practice for 2 hours and loaded them with sweat. Then, we decided to wash the jackets to see what type of a" new" look they retained and how the logos held up under a home wash machine and one at a local cleaners.

After washing, neither jackets showed signs of color bleeding or fading and the logos continued to look as good as new after 12 trips to the cleaners and 18 times in a machine wash. No wonder equipment managers league wide prefer the entire line of Majestic products over the competitors in the industry.

The next item we reviewed for fans was the authentic collection game day jerseys that you will see on the field on April 14th when the Nationals hit the field of RFK Stadium.

We decided to test Majestic's jersey customization process and see the quality of making your own jersey. This is the chance for fans to own a jersey of their favorite player, or design your own to see under the lights at RFK. Majestic makes this process available for all 30 teams.

Wearing exactly what the players wear on the field continues to get better year after year. In 2001, we reviewed the game jerseys from Majestic and we are happy to report the quality has only improved and the jerseys are as comfortable as they have ever been.

With an authentic Nationals jersey, the only thing that is missing is the dirt from the infield and feeling of sliding into home plate for this long awaited time in Washington. While other sporting good manufacturers have gone bankrupt over the past 10 years or have left the baseball apparel market all together, Majestic has developed new technologies and improved on the old ones to remain the only game choice of Major League Baseball.

Majestic's professional baseball success has keyed the growth outside professional baseball to the college level. Two colleges, Lehigh and Purdue Universities are sporting the Majestic look on their diamonds this season. It is a first that Majestic hopes they will attract more college teams for 2006.

Both of the Nationals home and away gray jerseys are available to be customized with your name and number for $249.99. All of the Nationals players on the opening day roster will also be available for purchase. The authentic game jerseys are made of 12oz. polyester double knit with the full logos and name on the backs of the jerseys ready to support your favorite player. The sizes also match that of many of the players with 40-52 available.

For those fans who admire that coveted D.C. logo that is becoming the fastest demanded logo in baseball, we suggest picking up one of the new Nationals batting practice jerseys. These are the best customized value at $139.99. They are also available uncustomized for $79.99

Majestic has added a lot of new features to their authentic collection over the past few years, but none stands out more than the advanced fabric technology in their Spring Training batting practice technology.

The fabric in the batting practice jerseys is designed to wick moisture from the skin; combine that with the vented mesh panels, you barely know that you are wearing a jersey. It is considerably lightweight and even with the full button up front and the logo and numbers, it feels just like wearing a t-shirt.

Our last product from Majestic's authentic collection that is a must for fans to wear under the game or batting practice jerseys. We wear tested the oversized blue and gray t-shirts with the Washington Nationals name written directly across the front. We suggest ordering a size smaller than you would normally wear, as these shirts tend to fit a little on the large side.

Both the heather gray and navy blue authentic collection t-shirts are 100 percent cotton and the quality showed no shrinkage or discoloration of the logo after 22 warm water machine washes. The "Reflective Ink" enhanced the Nationals logos and was visibly different than several other baseball game shirts we have seen in the past. The shirts are available in sizes M- XXL.

The navy blue Washington Nationals shirts may be seen by some of the players under their jerseys this season. The MLB logo can be found at the top of the lettering and on the back of the game shirts. A great way to support the team later this summer.

After we completed our full wear testing, one of the most substantial things we can say about Majestic's performance in the Authentic Collection is their focus on quality. With their Bangor, Pennsylvania domestic manufacturing capabilities and their ability to import nothing less than a perfect product each time, Majestic has ensured that every player can be fitted and sent the proper apparel each time. Majestic will leave little room for error and they pride themselves on the quality of the product.

Not only has Majestic Athletic positioned themselves to grow to their largest level since the inception of the company, they have done so behind the success of Faust Capobianco IV, president, Majestic Athletic. He was recently named as Street and Smith’s SportsBusiness Journal’s “Forty Under 40.” The “Forty Under 40” Awards recognize the top 40 executiveswho are the most influential young professionals in the sports business industry under the age of 40. He was also recently quoted after Lehigh University announced the partnership for their baseball program to wear Majestic uniforms about the growth of the company.

“We look forward to continuing to develop opportunities that connect us with collegiate athletes and fans through the apparel we create," said Capobianco IV. He certainly will make his father happy with the success and where the company is moving in the future.

For more information on the prices and products featured in our review, visit many Dick' Sporting Goods, Modells Sporting Goods stores located in the Washington area, or the team shop located at RFK Stadium, where many of the Nationals Majestic authentic apparel available for purchase, or fans can visit Majestic's website at www.majesticathletic.com or customize many of the jerseys listed above on www.shop.mlb.com

Many of the products reviewed here are available at the Niketown stores nationwide, which are also listed on their website. Some Spring 2005 products are limited editions and may be limited to on-line purchases only.